{Where Ya Been, Jenn?}

..Oh I've been around.

We had our first official snow day in I-can't-remember-how-long last week. See, WKU never closes. Honestly, I have no clue what prompted the closure last week (I heard icy walkways on campus) but we were ever so happy to oblige and have a lazy day at home!

The snow has continued and I am completely and totally over winter. (We got two more inches last night!) Isn't that always the way? In August, we are begging for cooler days and in February all we want is some warm sunshine and a pool? As a matter of fact, NO you cannot make me happy. Thanks for asking! But seriously, I wanna punch that Groundhog! (Don't tell Pappaw Pete!)

We've been busy decorating, cleaning out the old house, and SEWING.

My Pop made the very wise suggestion to take one room at a time as not to get overwhelmed. So that is what I have been trying to do. I think we have just about every picture hung and I have been working on the knick knacky stuff. I am not a big fan of crap sitting around everywhere. But some amount of crap sitting around everywhere is what gives a house its character so I see it as necessary.

I actually have more cool stuff that I thought I did. :) Brandon and I have come across some real treasures in unpacking. And by unpacking, I mean things that have been in storage for nearly two years. We have things we forgot we had! Brandon has a lot of very very cool stuff that his Pappaw Pete brought back from WWII. We also found some wood carvings his Pappaw Pete made that I really love. I found my Grandma's china and some adorable dessert cups that Brandon's Granny gave me a few years back. Some other favorites that I found were both mine and Brandon's sterling silver baby cups. OH and how could I forget my bunny collection! Yes, I have been collecting bunny figurines since I was a little girl and I found them in my parents' attic last week. I am going to paint a shelf (that I have also had since I was a little girl) and put the bunnies on a shelf in Ellie's room. Cool stuff, people!

I hung these shelves in the kitchen a few weeks ago thinking I would display some of the many pitchers I have collected. But this arrangement just didn't suit me so I have been working on it.

Here is the current display. Plus I added mine and Brandon's baby cups. I kind of love these shelves. You'll note: a teacup from my Grandma'a china, a bunny woodcarving from Pappaw Pete, a military issue lantern from WWII, and that picture.

Here's a better shot:

Our wonderful neighbor when I was growing up in Alabama, Mrs. Barwick, is an artist. My parents' house is full of her work and my Pop brought this picture to me Ellie last week. Mrs. Barwick gave this to my Pop for his birthday when I was about 5 and when she brought it over and I saw it I said "That's me and my Daddy going to church!" (You see the obvious humor in this, right?)

Brandon's deer was finally ready this weekend and Brandon was only too pleased to get the ladder out and hang up his trophies. The deer on the left is the deer he shot back in October. This is the first buck he has killed on our farm.

I think he turned out quite nicely.

Ellie got Lincoln Logs last year (2008) for Christmas and we got them out for the first time this weekend. She played alone, building a city for about 1 1/2 hours!

Ellie told me a BIG story last night during dinner.

And Mason put his place-mat on his head.

Do you ever have one of those days? Our family had one yesterday. Brandon's car kind of bit the dust. Then my favorite spatula BROKE when I flipped Mason's grilled cheese. And not only did the handle break....

There was another crack as well! I seriously considered gluing this back together. I have no clue where we got this thing. It is very possible, probable, even that Brandon has had it since he moved to Kentuck and acquired all the things neither of his parents wanted anymore. (But really, WHO would not want this spatula???)

So I soothed my soul with a little sewing. OH. MY. WORD. I cannot even explain to you the absolute overwhelming JOY that my new sewing room brought me!