The Cottage on the Hill

My computer crashed, so I won't be blogging as often as before.

Thanks to Candy at www.myblessedhome.blogspot.com for awarding me a blog award! I'll have to post it on my blog later. I'm short of time this evening. As Bubby would say, "Mom got a prize!" (He may only be 2 1/2, but I'm very rarely "mommy." Instead, I'm "Mom." At least he doesn't call me "Kate" anymore! It was rather disconcerting and funny to hear him say, "Hey, Kate!" when he wanted me.) I'm making Baby Girl's Christmas stocking. I made it a bit big, but it's still cute. I dug through my fabric boxes and found some red wool and vintage black velvet. I made a ladybug stocking since that's one of her nicknames. At Walmart, I found ladybug buttons, so I'm going to sew them onto her stocking. Samplers used to adorn quiet corners of houses with comforting or convicting phrases or verses. Nowadays, we have paste-on words for our walls or painted-on verses or shabby-chic signage to hang a...

Hubby cleaned out his stuff from the closet in the nursery, so I moved Baby Girl's dresser into the closet. This left a space in the nursery for a the next baby's cradle. (No, that's not a hint. I'm not preggers...yet.) To fill that space, I took the next baby's little dresser and put a lamp I got for $1.00 at a garage sale earlier this year on it. Then, I took my lady's arm chair out of the living room where it somehow became a magazine rack and put it in the empty corner. Now, I have a cozy space in the nursery where I can read books to my babies. Bubby loves it and he's not one to sit still through a book! Out in the living room, I set up Baby Girl's pack-n-play so she has a safe place to wiggle and have tummy time without worrying about a 45 pound dog running her over or a big brother playing too roughly. (And mommy doesn't have to worry about any of big brother's toys finding their into her hands.) Bubby hated his pack-n-play, but B...

FINALLY!!! Ever since we moved into our little cottage on the hill, I've been fighting the battle against soap scum and whatever else coated our bathtub and shower walls. I tried so many things and nothing could get rid of that nasty build-up and back down to the original shower and tub surface. A suggestion from an online acquaintence and a coupon for Ajax did the trick. I bought one of those plastic, no-scratch scouring pads for dishes and no-scratch Ajax and put in some oomph of my own and it WORKED!! Ok, calling all homeschoolers out there. Do any of you have a DVD of algebra I could borrow (I'll pay shipping.) A CD-Rom won't work...computer's too slow and sick. A VHS won't work...I don't have a VHS player. If so, please e-mail me at scottlass at juno dot com.

My wonderful, fantastic, handy, handsome hubby put in heating in the basement. He also did some major cleaning. The basement is warm, dry, smells so much better and there's space!! It is slowly turning into a livable, usable space, which is important to us because our house is so small. I read a question on another website about what the Biblical basis is for going "green." I found this odd because do we really need a Biblical basis for every tiny little thing we do in our lives? Is there a Biblical basis for playing volleyball, going fishing for pleasure, watching a Jane Austen movie, or planting a flower garden? Of course, what we do as Christians should reflect our walk with Christ. But, is there a Biblical basis for going "green?" In a round-about way, perhaps there is. After all, God made us stewards of His creation. A steward takes good care of his charge. Taking care of the environment by living more "green" certainly is good stewardsh...

Emergency Preparations have been on my mind lately. They're a reoccuring thought when one lives in the great Northeast. Winters can be unforgiving at times. I would love love love to find a small cast iron wood cookstove. My father found one at a garage sale for $25.00, but he didn't buy it and he didn't tell me until a few days later. AUGH!! I'd have put it in my basement so we could have heat and be able to cook should the power go out. A great source for emergency preparedness supplies is Sportsmans Guide. You can get stuff like MREs, camping equipment, battery-less radios and flashlights, etc.

November hasn't meant an ease-up in our difficulties, but we're happily plugging away. I've been working out every day this week. It's already paid off. I can get my engagement ring back on! That's no small feat. I was 105 lbs when I got engaged. I was skinny ! Granted, I'm not 105 lbs now. Add about 30 lbs to that and you've got me. :) I also feel stronger and more flexible. I'm actually amazed at how strong I've gotten just in this past year and just in these past 2 months! Even hubby has squeezed my bicepts and said that I'm getting "ripped." Tee hee. It's all that baby lifting! It isn't uncommon for me to have an infant on one hip and a 2 year old on the other! Motherhood...my own personal gym. Anyhoo, I've been doing The Firm, Yoga and Pilates (I recommend Denise Austin as she doesn't get into the religious part of Yoga), and my own strength training. Some times I'll mix it up with step aerobics,...

Hold fast fellow Christians. It's going to be a bumpy ride!