Nursing Shawl in 5 Minutes or Less

I had the idea to make a nursing shawl because a friend of mine had one.  I kept forgetting to ask her where she got it, and then finally, figuring it would be more than $10, I decided to check Pinterest to see if they had any ideas for dimensions or other DIY versions.  I found this idea and another.  So easy! 

Now, the issue was finding the fabric.  I have 3 little ones at home and am very pregnant, so thought I would check my stash and my scarf collection (which isn't too many, but more than I regularly use). 

After folding the scarf in half, I pinned from the fringe up to about 15 inches from the fold.  Then, I sewed with a similar color of thread, tied it off and tried it on.  Done.

 One of the instruction links showed that you could use it for a pregnancy shawl, nursing cover, or infinity scarf.  I didn't try it as a scarf yet.  Maybe another day.  And below is my nearly 37 week pregnant belly. 

Kitchen Progress 3

Above is the picture of my kitchen earlier this week.  The gas stove had been hooked up but the upper cupboard came down over half the stove.  Our plumber said that this was not ok, and asked that we make the necessary changes before using the left side of the stove.  

Kevin's parents and our niece came Friday night.  They started right in after supper.  It seemed as though the project would be finished by bedtime.  It nearly was!!  They make a great team.  

Here they were working on making the cut off cupboard look nice.  Planning what to use on the side...here I was just thinking they were going to make it usable, but they were planning on making it pretty!  

Above, from the front, below, from the side.  Looks great!  Yeah, the "backsplash" area could use a little work, but progress is progress!!  We found a cheap area rug to place over the area where the old island was.  That area didn't have any carpet and also had holes that went into the laundry room.  

After supper I vacuumed and added a bit of "padding" under the rug so you couldn't see the outline of the island as well anymore.  Used a little of the old backsplash, cardboard, and packing tape!  :)  

Green Eggs

Our family was given a nice big box of fresh fruits and veggies this weekend.  A program called Bountiful Baskets.  When I went to check their blog, I found that they had recipes that went along with some of the goodies in the box.  The recipe I followed (a bit), was for Green Eggs.  I didn't have a zucchini, so decided to make it a bit more colorful.

 
Then we made them into "breakfast" burritos using their serving suggestions as toppings.  Worked out pretty well.  L didn't care for it, but Kj had seconds, thirds and maybe even fourths. 

Kitchen Progress 2

We decided to work on the removal of our kitchen island last weekend.  Thursday the plumber was expected to come and finally hook up our gas stove.  It has been sitting unused since November when we moved into our house.  And our electrician friend had worked hard putting in ceiling lights and fans in our bedrooms earning our electric stove in December and we were finally going to be paying him with it!  

So, again over the weekend our kitchen looked quite messy!  But it has definitely been worth it!  

Ta-da!  Our gas stove hooked up, the island removed, the kitchen vacuumed!  Wow!  What a transformation.  Yes, there is much progress to come and many messes to keep cleaning up, but I am enjoying my gas stove again!  We were told not to use the left burners until the upper cupboard was removed/shortened.  So, that will be the weekend project, I expect.  :) 

Kitchen Progress 1

 Above is the picture taken last night for my late night "nesting" activity.  Today, Kevin started to take apart a cupboard so that our plumber could put in a gas line in the right location.  We'd really like to finally get that gas stove hooked up!!  It has been a long time without it (Oct. 31, 2013-Feb. 20, 2014).  We have had an electric stove but it just isn't the same! 

We are trying to keep the remaining cupboards and counters as functional and "pretty" as possible until we actually redo the whole kitchen...so we thought through the tearing out bit and using the random tools that we had we got what we could done.  

I stood on the counter holding down Kevin's square with my foot so that he could attempt to cut in a straight line.  It went pretty well, just one little jog in the line, and I think it was my foot that must have slipped.  Sorry, Kevin!

Don't worry, there were no mobile children around during this process.  The two walkers were off with their aunts and grandparents and the roller/scootcher was napping and when he did wake up, we spent time in the living room.  Tomorrow, Kevin said that we would measure out where the stove would end up and he would scrape out the carpet in that area.  We'll see how much progress we make on that.  Next weekend my dad will hopefully (weather pending) be able to bring a couple of his saws to get the last bits off the bottom board.

Nesting?

Well, last night I was having a bit of fun.  Kevin and baby G were already in bed, the girls were off at their Aunt C's for a birthday celebration, and I was "alone" in the house...what should I do?!  A project!!  We are working on our kitchen, but it isn't making too much progress yet.  We are waiting on a quote from a carpenter.  So, I was looking at paint color schemes for a kitchen and the ones I liked all had white cupboards.  So, then I started thinking of the aspects of my cupboards that I liked and saw some kitchens with just the open shelves, and thought that I might as well try that for one set at least.  The result:

Above is the picture of our current cupboards.  I didn't disassemble these ones, but I had to use them for my before picture, because I had already taken one door off before I reminded myself that I was going to take a picture of the before (below). 

Afterwards my cupboards looked like this.  I like the way these ones look, but don't think that I could do this for my non-dishes cupboard as that looks more cluttered and messy (it's not messy, just looks that way because of all the different sizes, shapes and colors of bits in them).  So, there are still a few clutter things to pick up to make it really look nice...such as the countertop.  It was late at night and I just wanted to get a feel for the possible new look.  

School

Here is Kj working diligently on her schoolwork.  She is drawing a "card" because she needed to draw and write out 2 things that started with "C" and 2 things that started with "G".  

This is our extracurricular science.  It isn't part of school really, but I figure it is a learning activity.  Kj and L climb up on the stool and check out these plants daily.  They let me know when there are roots coming, that the base is turning black on our elder celery, etc.  They have gone out collecting pans of snow for the watering.  The come in with the pan packed to the brim of water and find that as it melts the only have half a pan left.  All very educational...even though they don't realize it!

Kj has been copying verses and such.  We got a new wall decoration and two days in a row, she sat at the table and copied it onto a small card.  Then for school one day she started copying her memory verse.  I haven't started correcting her letters on voluntary writing activities, but we do switch them around otherwise.  In the middle you will see a stick figure of a horse.  Horse and elephant are the animals this week. 

Another extracurricular science experiment.  We read that a grapefruit is the mix of a pummelo and an orange, and so we bought them all and tried them.  First the orange, then the pummelo, then the grapefruit, then the pummelo and orange together, followed by the grapefruit.  Comparing as we went. 

Crib Rail Drying Rack

Isn't my husband handy?  :)  I had the idea from this site.   As old ladders were not available to me, but crib rails were...this is the result.