Log Home House Tour! Come on in!

 Normally our house is so overtaken by toys that I don't like people to just stop by.

However, this past weekend I hosted a brunch for new moms to twins, and after a solid twelve hours of cleaning (you know, the type of cleaning where you scrub floors by hand and clean light switches and window panes) I decided to take a few pictures.  I was positively giddy to have such a clean house, just for a day.  I even hid a good number of toys in closets (and outside!), and I felt like I had a grown up house for a short time. 

 I love our house.  Paul and I designed the floor plan ourselves.

It's small but feels so homey :-)

We also did some of the work ourselves - Paul built the countertops and we did all the painting and staining.

A view of the loft -

This is Pierce's room - and no, it's not normally this clean.  And I'm not sure his bed has ever been made before...

The twins' room -

A view inside the loft.

I'm a big reader!

Master bedroom -

 We also have a guest room but I didn't think to take a picture of it.

 Someone brought me this calla lily to the brunch.

Isn't it beautiful?

If I plant this outside is it one of those things that will come back next year?  Anyone know?

Well, by the time this post publishes, there will be piles of dog fur on the carpet and raisins smushed into the hardwoods again.  But it was so nice, just for a day, to feel a sparkling house.

Fighting the Inner Hoarder

I blogged a couple of weeks ago about finding 17 phone books and something like 16 water bottles when cleaning out the kitchen.  I was trying to make space for Pierce's art supplies, which had gotten out of control in my pantry.  One thing led to another and I am happy to report that things are slightly reorganized in a much happier fashion.

What started out as art supply overload:

Turned into Pierce's own little cubby cabinet:

Note that I was able to put those 6 koozies I found to good use by using them to corral markers and pens.

And then I tackled a couple of other things.  Even Paul got involved by a impromptu building project.  So what started out as this:

Became this:

Thanks, Paul!

I also had tons of little baking odds and ends floating around the pantry in a messy unorganized fashion:

But a few tupperwares roped them in:

The nice thing about this is that they are organized in such a way that I can just grab the correct box when cooking and have all the supplies I need.

Ah, I feel so much better!

Last Time I Checked it was February

I sure am glad the wreath with half the lights burned out is still up:

And I sure am glad that the Christmas tree is no longer in our living room, but in the honored location of our front porch.  That way everyone can see it as they drive by and have happy memories of their Christmas.  In February.

And gosh, we just love Halloween so much that we try to celebrate as long as possible.  Deep into February.                                                                    
Why yes, those are gooey, half frozen, half molded PUMPKINS under that snow.  Decorating our porch.  Yay!  We are sooooooo festive! 

At least he took the jack o' lantern off:  blog from early December

The Battle of the Bugs

The Terminex man knows where I live.  I think he recognizes my voice when I call.  "Oh, it's HER again."  He even jokes about how much time he spends at our house.  Trying to eradicate the stinkbugs.  Oh, sometimes I call him about ants.  Or wood borer bees.  And there was the big wolf spider infestation of Fall 2009 incident.  But mostly we keep him in business with stink bug eradication. 

The biggest problem with stink bugs (besides the fact that they don't die easily from Terminex's not-so-lethal cocktails) is that you can't just stomp on them like a regular bug.  Because they squirt out a stink if you do.  A gagging, cloying, nasty stink.  It'll drive you nuts this stink. 

I think we have a breeding colony here.  I really do.

Belly up.  The best way for a stink bug to be.

Often, Paul and I have contests.  To see who can kill the most stink bugs in one day.  We frequently get deep into the double digits.

The best way we've found to tackle stink bugs is with the vacuum.  Just suck them up.  Because then you don't get stink bug stink on you.  It's in the vacuum instead.

Armed and dangerous.  The breeding colony is primarily in the master bathroom.  They love it up there.  I don't know why.  It's the New York City of stink bugs. 

Oh yeah.  What's the grand tally of stink bug slaughter going to be today?

I've never felt such serial killer tendancies as I have against the stink bugs.  The stink bugs have an FBI profiler head bug just devoted to profiling me.  I'm really scared of his conclusions.  Because I don't show any signs of remorse.  Not one bit.

You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch

By the time Christmas actually rolls around, I'm so done with the tree. It's just so messy. I vacuum daily but still the floor is perpetually coated in pine needles that get tracked all through the house. I'll be vacuuming them up into February, even though I will insist on taking the tree down on Saturday so that I can reclaim my living room. Just call me the Grinch. I do like the smell of the live tree, though, and it makes Paul happy to have a real tree.
This year we didn't put a fence around the tree, and Pierce has effectively destructed a couple of ornaments. He has also spent a lot of time jumping on presents. Which leaves them partially unwrapped. Which is okay, really, since I'm the world's worst wrapper anyhow. See all the pine needles on the floor?
Yesterday we started The House at Pooh Corner. I found these two little figures that I got in Happy Meals (yes, I do eat Happy Meals - gotta love a few toxins, but in mini-doses of course) way back when The Tigger movie came out. I don't always save Happy meal toys, but for some reason these stuck around and I suddenly remembered they were in a tupperware in the basement. Pierce loves them and is a tiggery toddler bouncing around the house. All of this Winnie the Pooh led to him wanting to try honey. It's a little hard to take a picture AND pour honey down your toddler's throat. We both cracked up over me pouring honey all over his face.
And here is a picture of the very busy Cort. So far today I have done the usual vacuum, spot cleaned baby puke off the rug so the boys would have a clean place to play, mopped the living room and kitchen and one bathroom, cleaned one toilet, started split pea soup in the crockpot, fed the twins, and read a chapter of Pooh to Pierce. The daily tasks get sooooo old. Seriously. I hate cleaning. And the list of things that still need to be done are 5 times longer than what has already been accomplished. Oh, the drudgery of housework. What I really want for Christmas is someone else to clean my house for me.

White Weekend

We got the biggest snow in over a decade. Certainly the biggest snow by far in the 11 years we have lived in this area. It took Paul 2 1/2 hours to get home yesterday (it is normally about a 25 minute commute). He walked the last portion of the trek up over a huge mountain and back down. He was prepared, though, and had taken appropriate clothing and boots with him.
Tons of motorists were stranded on the roads. Certainly the Cozy Coupe didn't fare very well in this much snow...
Paul tried to dig out the Saturn. Unfortunately, we must have one of those wimpy Southern snow shovels, as it fell apart shortly afterwards. It's not made to handle more than about a 6 inch snow.
Look at the flower in my hanging basket. Surely it's going to drop off soon?
So for the first time in about 3 months, Pierce was eager to get dressed so he could go out to play in the snow. Normally, he throws a tantrum and wants to stay in jammies. Even though he willingly got dressed, he still objected to the hat. And the gloves. And the overalls. Well, I'll take what I can get anyhow.

Finally we got him outside. Not so easy to walk around in about 16 inches of powder when you're only about 3 feet tall.

I tried to ski but it was so powdery. I would've had to really hike up partway up our mountain to get a steep enough grade to get going. I need my own ski lift.
Pierce did a little sledding. He liked it until his sled crashed and then he got a little grumpy over the whole thing.
And of course I had to get the twins out in the snow, this being their first. Apparently Cort loves snow. And apparently Reid hates it.
Mom! How come he got to wear the Tigger suit?

It's Getting Hot in Here!

Every day the wood stove and I battle it out. My goal is not to let it get too low because I am seriously incapable when it comes to starting the stupid thing back up. The problem is that I am usually wrapped up in the boys and forget about it. And then all the sudden it is freezing in the house and I realize it has just about died. So then I have to stuff it full of paper and hope hope hope it somehow spontaneously combusts back to life, then throw in some logs and mumble a few sardonically encouraging words to the beast.
I am thankful we have a way of heating the house that doesn't involve electricity (because our electricity goes out several times every winter...one of the disadvantages of rural living) and that saves us money. And it does give a nice homey look to our living room. We can effectively heat the whole house with our little wood stove so long as temps don't drop into the 20s (then we really have to get it roaring to keep up).
And I probably shouldn't complain too much. Because at least I don't have to do this:
Personally, I think Paul's a little sick in the head. He actually likes chopping wood. And he does do a good job of it. But then again, he's a little obsessed with the wood stove. Last night, for example, he spent 20 minutes in the middle of the night tending the wood stove. If I accidentally let the fire go out and he finds out, it's traumatic enough that I sometimes wonder if I should call one of those emergency hotlines so he will have someone to talk to about his disappointment. And the morning he came downstairs and the electric heat had cut on...oh my! I didn't know if he would ever get over that morning. So, I've taken to naming the wood stove Charlotte. It seems she is our fourth child, and sometimes she takes more attention than our actual children. Since I didn't have any daughters (and at this point don't plan to), Charlotte is a nice girl name for the wood stove.

A Welcome Break from an Icy Weekend

We've been enjoying an incredibly mild day today with temps in the upper 50s. After all the ice yesterday, this is a real treat. It's quite muddy out but we were able to enjoy some time on the porch. Pierce's favorite porch toy is his Cozy Coupe, even though he's a little big for it.

We have just a couple of flowers hanging on. I can't believe these flowers that I bought for just $1.50 each last April hung on through the whole summer and fall!

Pierce is really into pretend play right now. Today he is a dog. I hope there are no fleas in there!

Cort is to the left. He is already the trouble maker. Actually, I knew he was a trouble maker before he was born, as he kept flipping from head down to breech and back. Even as late as 37 weeks. I have no idea how he had the room! Thankfully, he was head down when it really counted.

Poor Reid. Even though he's bigger by over 3 pounds, he is the one that gets picked on.

Cort is just spoiling for a fight. Reid is getting aggravated with having little fingers stuck in his ear.

"THAT'S IT! I've had it with you!"

"Awww, come on Reid, don't be that way. I'm sorry. Sort of."