A Lavender Bath

Well, our master bath room is finally almost finished.  :)  When I looked through last year's posts to link up to this one when we first got our new pipes, I could hardly believe that it was back in August!  We were without that bathroom in working order for quite a while.

But, at length, the ceiling was patched, the tile work in the shower was fixed, and we could finally use the paint which I purchased for it, oh, back before we did Gemma's nursery.  Of course the bathroom hasn't been out of commission for quite that long, thankfully, but it felt good to finally work on it!  

I thought we had more "before" pictures, but apparently there's only this one.  Like most of the rooms in the house, the walls were sort of a nondescript off-white.  It's probably a good choice of color when you're putting a house up for sale, but we don't plan on doing that for a while . . . and since our shower curtain and all our linens are white, the room seemed like it needed more color.  

I love herbs, especially lavender.  :)  It was lavender that the flower girls in our wedding dropped on their way down the aisle, and lavender which our guests pelted at us as we ran off to our honeymoon.  We decided a couple of years ago that this would be our lavender room, and the paint color we chose was indeed called "Brushed Lavender" (by Valspar).

This is a wider view of the same sink!  It actually looks better now because John has put the light fixture back, though!

Panning left, here is the shower!  All the expense of this room was in the plumbing and tiling fixes.  The shower curtain came from my hope chest (and originally from a garage sale!) and the bath mat was a wedding shower gift from Target's Simply Shabby Chic line.

Continuing left, we have the second sink!  The lighting in these photos probably isn't the best, but there are no windows in this room, so daylight is no help.  Thankfully there are two beautifully big mirrors!  The hamper was also a wedding gift.

A different shot of the same sink.  I originally took down the two Norman Rockwell prints, thinking they were "old person's art," but John liked them, so they're back up.  I just spray painted the frames white first.  The funny circular thing on the wall is a candle holder I made in Interior Design class in college.  It's nice to finally use it somewhere!

Fun little details!  The clock was John's and the soap and dish were a gift from my college roommate (Sarah, of course!  We have the same taste!).  The vintage glass medicine bottle came from Grandma Smith when she was cleaning things out a couple of years before she was forced to leave her home.

The picture above was taken shortly before John purchased the house.  It came furnished and included all these kitchen things, in particular the wire basket in the corner below.  It looks like it was intended for milk bottles.  I finally found a place for it in the bathroom and an arrangement I'm happy with.

John had the Mason jars and the little package of soap is from Williamsburg.  :)  I'm thinking of adding some color or texture to the handle with a ribbon or bit of fabric, but I'm not sure yet.

So . . . that's our bathroom!  Finally almost done . . . the ceiling still needs painting.  But we're quite happy with it!

Places to Go and Things to See!

Gemma's at a fun age where she enjoys doing things, like playing at the playground and the library.

The first time she ever went on a swing was actually in January, when we were visiting my friend Sarah in the Boston area.  We were walking around the town and passed by this little park, and I asked John if we could stop and Gemma in the swing.  She looooved it!

She also loved pulling up to a stand in this old toy car!

The slide in the nursery at church is also fun!

We finally went to the playground at the end of "The Trail."  :)

And the library is great fun, too!  Board books for baby and Selah CD's for mommy . . . we even went to a German Storytime one Saturday morning.  There are lots of programs at the library for when she's a bit older.

This photo is from last Friday, when the three of us took a trip to another local park.  I think it looks like Gemma's at the end of a throat or something.  ;)  

How is she growing up so quickly?

New Spring Skirt!

Remember how I said I don't have anything on the knitting needles at the moment?  Well, I do have a pile of sewing projects to do!  

I made this little skirt before we went to Florida!  I found the tutorial via pinterest, but it's from here, and it's supposed to be a 20-minute skirt.  :)  It's too bad that it took me 71 minutes . . . yes, I actually timed it . . . but it was still fun and worth it.  :)  I'm sure that it would be a 20-minute skirt for a more skilled seamstress who, perhaps, didn't keep running downstairs to press her seams . . . 

Since it is such a basic skirt "pattern," I knew that I would have to choose a really pretty fabric in order to pull it off.  John says it looks like something a woman carrying a basket of bananas on her head would wear.  :)  

The wide elastic is supposed to give you the option of the belted-skirt-at-the-natural-waist look.  Well, I tried it on that way and both my husband and I just thought it looked too weird.  So, the elastic hides under my long shirts for now.  It always takes me longer than the average bear to acclimate to new fashions . . . plus, I cut my elastic a bit too long so it doesn't sit well at my waist anyway.  Perhaps it will be good for a maternity skirt.  Hopefully I will need a maternity skirt again someday.

Oh, and while you're looking at the skirt tutorial, don't you just love the Ruffles and Stuff blog?  I do!  She has loads of good ideas, and lots of them involve reusing or upcycling things you already have!  And she's a Christian!  I'd really love to try the jersey skirt tutorial sometime.  Wouldn't Gemma look cute in a little grey bubble skirt from one of John's old tees?

Welcome, Spring!

(Two days late!)

This is the nicest, prettiest time of year in this part of the country, I think.  :)  Yesterday was no exception.

 I thought I'd see if Gemma still fit into her birthday tutu outfit.  She does!  But when, despite my best efforts, she got spaghetti sauce on the little pink top during lunch, I changed her into her Grove City tee shirt on the spur of the moment.  What a beautiful day to take her photo to finally send in to the alumni magazine! 

So many of them came out well!  Even iPhone photos look great outdoors, I think!

It helped having our neighbor's beautiful flowers in the background . . . 

. . . and some flowers of our own to play with and chew!

Oops!  I didn't mean that you should literally chew them, little one!  Time to put the camera away . . . 

A Pinteresting St. Patrick's

Saturday was Saint Patrick's Day.  :)  And this year we actually were invited to a cookout/party!  When I heard that my sister was hosting  party of her own and making her own ice cream flavored with Bailey's, I knew what I wanted to bring.  That sounded amazing.

Source: thepioneerwoman.com via Gretchen on Pinterest

So, of course, I checked pinterest, and found this recipe and started it the night before.  I only used half the Bailey's, because I didn't realize it was going to be so expensive . . . I bought four mini bottles and it came to about $10!  I guess it's a once-a-year (or less!) treat.  Anywho.  That was plenty of Bailey's to give it a very strong flavor, so I wouldn't recommend using any more.

The recipe didn't make a huge amount, but since about half of the people at the party were pregnant ladies understandably a bit skittish of taking more than a taste, it worked out, haha!

Source: crushculdesac.tumblr.com via Gretchen on Pinterest

Anyway.  I also really liked this simple little tutorial for felt shamrocks.  In spite of having real shamrocks growing in pocket-handkerchief front yard, I stitched up a couple of them on our way to the party and made this little pin!  I love it.  The felt and the silk violets were left over from a little corsage project back in December, so it was quite free.  And I could have put a pin back on it which was also left over, but since I was making it in the car, I just affixed it to the shoulder of my top with a straight pin.  :)

So, my must-make-something urges were satisfied this past weekend thanks to pinterest. :) 

In Sunday School the next morning, we were surprised to hear Pastor Andy share with us a portrait of the life of Patrick of Ireland.  I was so excited that I took three pages of notes! He stuck to original documents for his sources--Patrick's Confession, which was likely modeled after Augustine's autobiographical work of the same name, and a Letter to Coroticus.  In other words, the lesson was heavy on fact and very light on the many myths surrounding him as a historical character.

The neat thing is that apparently Patrick was a very strong Christian with a mission-mindset unusual to his time.  He spent the better part of his adult life as a missionary to Ireland, which at the time (4th century) was the ends of the earth, and certainly outside the protection of Roman England in which he grew up.  He was the type of missionary who preached the gospel without really trying to change the culture of the people around him.

I shared some musings on celebrating Saint Patrick's Day a couple of years ago (here they are, if you're interested).  Since then, I have learned much about the man, Patrick.  And while we certainly feel no religious obligation to observe the day as a holiday and have no desire to be affiliated with the drunkenness so commonly associated with it, I think we have new reason and freedom to celebrate it as we wish.  :)

Our Favorite Books

**Edit, April 2015:  here's an updated list of our favorite books for preschoolers!**

If you could only pick “five brilliantly written and illustrated children’s books” to keep on your bookshelf, what would you choose?  

That's the question put to us by yesterday's post at ylcf.org, and I thought I'd answer.  :)  Plus, they're giving away a $10 Amazon gift card as an incentive, and I already know what I would spend it on . . . you have to read on to find out.  :)

As a novice Mom, I feel a bit inadequate to make an all-time list of all children's books.  I'm picking five that we own and love, and, truly, if we could only keep five, we'd keep these!

1.  My Little Word Book by Roger Priddy.  This is Gemma's favorite book to "read" in the car.  It's all simple pictures accompanied by their words, and she loves it!  She once stayed happy flipping through this book for an entire hour on a car trip!  Her cousin has the same book, and is actually on his second copy because the first one fell apart.  :)

2.  Eloise Wilkin Stories by Golden Books.  Oh. oh.  This is my favorite of Gemma's books, and it's also her favorite one to read together.  Actually, it may be tied with My Little Word Book for Gemma's favorite to read independently, but with its rippable pages, I don't usually let her have it to herself.  When we're sitting in her rocking chair with this book nearby, she will often whine and reach for it until I start reading!

When my mom-in-law gave me this book before Gemma was born, I was ecstatic.  It has We Help Mommy and Baby Dear!  I grew up hearing my mother read Little Golden Books to me, and this collection contains nine, including some of my favorites.  Now, this is one of my favorite baby gifts to give.  :)  (And you can often find it at Marshalls, by the by!)

Gemma Grace has loved this book ever since I started reading to her when she was four months old, and I think it's because of the pictures.  Eloise Wilkin's illustrations are equal to none.  She simply knows how to draw babies, with their chubby little arms and wispy bangs.  The stories themselves are sweet and family-oriented, as you might expect stories written in the 1950s and 60s to be.  And in spite of my trying to protect it from damage, we are already on our second copy. :)

One of the books included is the My Little Golden Book about God, and though in some ways it is sweet and true, in other ways its theology is lacking, which brings me to book #3 . . . 

3.  The Big Picture Story Bible by David Helm and Gail Schoonmaker.  It's a children's Bible with big pictures, right?  Yes, but that's not entirely where its title comes from.  As I first read through this book with Gemma over the course of several weeks, I was surprised by a few things.  The prophet Daniel is mentioned, but not the story of the lion's den . . . ?  That seemed strange, until I realized that this book was the children's version of what we were learning in my adult Sunday School class:  God's salvation plan throughout the Scriptures.  Following the fall of Adam and Eve, the entire history of the world is the giant story of God preparing His special people for His special place where they will be ruled by Jesus, His forever King.  

In the interest of following this theme of God's covenantal dealings with His people throughout history, this book leaves out some of the more popular Bible stories told to children, like the account of Daniel in the lion's den.  But I believe that it seeks to compensate for the common misunderstanding that the Bible's primary purpose is to provide children with character role-models.  To view the Bible as simply a collection of moral tales is tragically wrong. 

The illustrations are brilliant and fresh--for one, Adam and Eve come alive as real people instead of just the naked version of the famous farmer couple, with long hair instead of a bun and bushes instead of a pitch fork.  You can even see some family resemblances between Abraham and the Israelites generations later.  :)

4.  Read Aloud Bible Stories by Ella K. Lindvall and H. Kent Puckett.  This series of books fills in some of the story gaps left by The Big Picture Story Bible, and it does so with simple, captivating pictures and vocabulary which even toddlers can understand.  We actually only have volume 2, but we certainly would be happy to add to our collection (*cough, cough*).  :)

[edit: Oh, I wanted to add that one thing we really like about this series is how they treat pictures of Jesus.  Puckett gives the reader a visual of Jesus in a white robe to make Him stand out from the crowd without ever showing His face.  I truly appreciate the illustrator's mindfulness about the 2nd commandment in this respect!  The Big Picture Story Bible is not as careful.]

5.  The Olivia books by Ian Falconer.  Sometimes I think these books are just for Mom.  :)  My little one is too young to smile at the antics of Olivia the pig, who is such a precocious version of an ordinary little girl in such a funny looking pig-body.  :)  Someday she will appreciate them, though . . . I hope.  For now, we read the board book version of the original Olivia book together along with Olivia Counts, which is a sweet and fun way to learn the numbers 1-10 with illustrations which are very easy on the eyes.  

So . . . what are some of your favorite children's books?

She Can Stack!

Gemma got homemade blocks from Aunt Heidi for Christmas, and last week she showed me that she knows how to stack them!  

She also started taking her first steps last week!  There were two on Monday, and seven on Friday and eleven yesterday!  These are exciting days . . .

A bit of Florida

A few weeks ago, we returned home from a happy time in Orlando with John's side of the family.  Since our last family trip two years ago, a lot of changes have taken place!  Now, there are two more babies on the outside and two more on the inside . . . John's younger brother and his wife are expecting twins this summer!  We all had a grand time together.

Gemma did very well on the planes both there and back, nursing during take-offs and landings and sleeping for the majority of both flights!  The flight to Orlando wasn't full, so we were able to set up her car seat next to us even though she was ticketed as a lap child.  Funny, though . . . we never ended up using it.  :)

We spent most of the week relaxing at the pool, playground and tennis courts and eating out in the evenings.  This meant that Gemma hardly missed a nap, which was excellent.  :) 

 A fun day on the tennis courts . . . 

. . . becomes even more fun with tennis balls!

Gemma loves the water, and I'm very glad for that!  She wasn't clingy and wasn't afraid to stretch her body out and try to swim!  I thoroughly enjoyed doing some informal baby swimming lessons with her!

Of course, the best part was time with Grandma and Grandpa, uncles, aunts and cousins.  

It was especially fun to since Gemma is now old enough to interact with them!

The whole family eating at Earl of Sandwich in Downtown Disney

But we did also spend a day at Magic Kingdom all together!   

It was different having a baby with us.  The whole group moved more slowly, and we "did" less while we were there, but it was also exciting thinking about our little one taking in everything for the first time. :)

Thankfully she did get a bit of a nap in the stroller.  :)

All in all, she had a grand time!

Oh, and we also had a special breakfast where we got to meet some Disney characters!  Gemma was indifferent to the lei-crown but was very excited about the maraca the servers handed her later.  

She definitely liked Mickey Mouse's nose.  ;)

Let's see . . . just a few more.  There are so many good ones.  :)

Funny faces!

Her first carousel ride!

Waiting for the plane to go home.  

Well, I think this post may set a record for the most pictures I've ever used at once!  Hope you enjoyed.  :)