At last, indoor projects are getting completed. We finally got the master bedroom all put together, and I’d like to share the final product with you. A while back I mentioned purchasing new bedding for our bedroom, but I didn’t want to reveal it until I added a few other details to the room such as curtains and a few wall hangings. Today I hung a couple of old pictures/mirrors on the wall, so I figured it was time to reveal.

What you’d see when you enter the bedroom door. I have plans for something to hang over our headboard, but I can’t do it until at least spring/summer. I’m excited to try out my idea though; Mike isn’t.

Just finishing up in the bathroom, and you would catch sight of this angle of the room. Make note of the TWO mirrors hanging between the windows. There used to be THREE, but I can’t seem to find the 3rd. I’m offering a reward to anyone who can locate this dear, missing mirror. Payment will be made in the form of Mike’s old t-shirts (also located in the bureau below those mirrors). You’ll be pleased to hear that one of those t-shirts is from the “Talladega Nights” movie premiere stained with Jeep oil. What a prize, huh?

While coming out of the closet this is what your eyes would spy.

One last thing to bring up is the pillow case that Sara was commissioned to make for Mike. This whole undertaking was done behind my back which doesn’t surprise me. Mike sleeps with it every night and always makes sure to land his face onto one of those mustaches. Thanks so much, Sara (at least Mike appreciates it). I suppose it’s a little payback for having to deal with all my throw pillows which Mike so loves.

Keeping up with his determination to be self-sufficient, Mike will continue to do some gardening this summer. He thought it would also be fun to try some indoor, container gardening. We now have in our possession in the “craft” room a couple of planters with growing lettuce and tomato plants. The tomatoes will eventually be transplanted to the outdoor garden, but Mike wanted to see how the lettuce would fair inside. The seedlings are already sprouting after just planting them last week.

The baby lettuce plants seem to be motivated growers with two excellent rows already forming. Red and green chard and fluffy greens and reds are what we anticipate adding to our salads in a few weeks.

However, the tomato seedlings are a little slower at emerging, but there appears to be great potential with what’s already sprouting. We hope to end up with lots of plump beefsteaks, romas, cherries, and yellow pears. Yum!

Have a closer look.

In other news, I’ve been hankering to do something with our now empty foyer wall. Previously, there was an awkward fitting bench with hooks/mirrors furnishing the area which was left by the past owners. The piece was lovely to look at, but it was unstable and didn’t fit the somewhat triangular space. So we decided to sell it on craigslist for a reasonable price. I wasn’t sure what to do with the newly open space. A red table that’s been in our family since the beginning of our marriage was removed from exile in the basement and now occupies the space, but the wall above looked so lonely. I’ve also been trying to think of ways to arrange our family pictures from the past Christmas cards. My love for Pottery Barn design ideas didn’t fail me when I remembered admiring their use of small ledges on which to display family pictures. Of course, I refuse to spend what PB was wanting for their ledges and frames, so I found deals at Lowe’s and Hobby Lobby. I am now pleased to present the finished project. Sorry for the extra-large picture, but the smaller size wasn’t showing the detail as nicely. In case you’re curious, the “H” was decoupaged by me. I found an MDF “H” at Hobby Lobby and used patterned paper to decoupage onto the “H”. A very easy and quick project.

I don’t have these, fearless children that is. Tomorrow the girls will start taking swim lessons, and I wish they will get over some of those fears they have about getting water above their shoulders. Whenever we would make the girls go underwater you would think we were trying to drown them. I’m really hoping they can overcome so of their uneasiness before our trip down south in April. Oh sure, the girls do just fine in the water with floating devices, but we wish they would really take advantage of the water and swim like little fishies. Both Mike and I were avid swimmers at the girls’ ages and hope our girls will someday love to swim, too.

How shameful I am to talk about swimming in warm water while we’re in the midst of this never-ending winter. Our town was “blessed” with a few more inches of snow on Saturday. Mike and the girls were thrilled though and geared up for some snow time. Here are the girls all dug in.

Instead of enjoying the winter whites, I worked indoors on getting this dump cleaned up and finally started some projects that have been on the list for a long time. I’ll be posting pictures soon.

In the meantime, enjoy some “Foux Du Fafa” to brighten your day.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUVagbFcSUU&hl

It was back up to Minnesota this weekend. An old family friend was to be married on Valentine’s Day, and we were invited to witness the event. When I first met Mike he was living with a family that he grew up with at church, the Larsons. They were kind enough to open their home to him for a couple of years while he got his life back on track academically. Mike has since kept a close relationship with both the parents and each of the siblings (well, as much as he can). It was the youngest of their brood, Amy, who’s wedding we attended. How pleasing it was for Mike to see so many people he’s known since he was just a young lad or a terror as many fondly remember. I always enjoy these events because I get to hear more stories about Mike that I may not have heard before.

The lovely newlyweds, Amy and Kyle. Oh, how they look so cold on this 12 degree day.

Mike had to get a snap of this beauty upon entering the temple before the wedding. He and his boyfriend, Matt, do this constantly and text the pictures to each other.

Dirk and Jeff were prevalent figures in Mike’s high school and college years. Jeff and Mike grew really close while living at the Larsons. The stories they like to tell…

These 2 families were always there to help keep Mike in line during his scouting years. He really looked up to them.

Claudia was like a second mom to Mike.

We had a fabulous time at the wedding and reception and were so glad to see old friends. It was a nice break from the kids, too.

Speaking of the girls, they had so much fun with Grandma Minnesota this weekend. She took them to a movie, had a fancy dinner with them with candles and fancy glasses and all, and made sure to keep them busy at all times. The girls were the ones asking to go to bed by the end of the night. Thanks, Grandma!

We had ourselves another fancy meal with miniature, grilled cheese sandwiches. Kathy had received a mini loaf of bread as a Valentine gift and thought it would be fun to make sandwiches for the girls with it. Of course, the girls were ecstatic.

Lucy decided to take up residency in our suitcase while we were away. All our clothes were full of dog hair afterward and required a quick run through the dryer. She wasn’t pleased when I closed the suitcase.

Here were are on our way to church yesterday morning.

We also got to spend Friday night with Sara and Jake’s families for a night of prime rib, mashed potatoes, and cake. Jake brought the prime rib, and it was cooked to perfection. It was nice to see everyone for the evening, and the girls just love getting to spend time with their cousins. Two weekends in a row of activity is enough for a while though. I’m really hoping that we have no plans this upcoming weekend.

Apparently, it’s always been a dream of Mike’s to be an official member of the Polar Bear Club. Well, he got his chance on Saturday. They have an annual Polar Bear Plunge on base, and Mike and a few of his Navy buddies decided to give it a try. Fortunately, the outside temperature was a whopping 55 degrees and the water about 32 degrees. Don’t get me wrong, 32 degrees is still pretty dang cold, but I can’t imagine what it would have been like to do this last week with the outside temps at or below 0 degrees. There were hundreds of people in attendance and many were decked out in costumes. Mike really wanted to come up with his own creation for the plunge but ran out of time. He was still excited to get this opportunity. Mike’s Ma also went along to see him do it and to cheer him on. Mike thinks he’s now part polar bear.

Mike is about the take the plunge. He’s the one with his hand raised and sunglasses on.

After the plunge and now a proud member of the Polar Bear Club.

Mike and his Navy buddies who were brave enough to attempt the plummet into freezing, cold water. I’m sure this will now become a yearly tradition.

Grandma Minnesota, Anutie Sara, and cousins Hayley and Matt seemed to enjoy themselves while they were here. Annie and Mimi kept the cousins quite busy while the ladies and I relaxed a bit. We did go to downtown Kenosha on Saturday afternoon to get a quick peek and check out Frank’s Diner. It’s an historic diner that’s set in an old railroad car. The whole place could probably fit inside my living room which means it’s VERY cozy. The gang headed out of town today after we got back from church but not without a quick lunch to fill their bellies. We really had fun and hope to do it again soon and often.

As promised I’m presenting pictures of Mimi’s cake for your pleasure. Mimi is quite the princess fanatic lately, so it was only appropriate to give her a princess-themed cake. We are quite proud of our accomplishment. Well, Mike did most of the work in the decorating department, but I will take credit for the baking and flag-making parts. In case you’re wondering, those are wheat thins that are used for the doors and windows.

To make the occasion even more special Grandma Minnesota, Anutie Sara and cousins Hayley and Matt to help celebrate. They arrived just in time for dinner (taco salad), and then we promptly jumped to cake time. Delish!

Yesterday was the birthday of our now 4-year-old. We were trying to wait until Friday to really celebrate since we’ll have family coming into town. However, Mimi got constant reminders from her big sister and had also received a birthday card the night before. Mimi emerged from her bedroom yesterday morning declaring, “I turned 4 today!” and has been telling anyone who listen to her. So there was no avoiding having some kind of commemoration for her special day. We decided to go out and get some pizza for dinner. Afterward we headed over to Target to purchase a new bike for Mimi. The Dora bike she’s been riding has a flat tire that can’t be repaired due to Daddy running over it last summer. Mimi doesn’t seem to mind, but it’s also quite small for her. We determined that her 4th birthday would be a good time to upgrade. Unfortunately, it’s too dang cold outside for her to enjoy it officially, but she can admire it in the box for the next couple of months.

Grandma and Grandpa Indiana sent gifts, too. Once we got home from our evening out Mimi opened all those presents. She was quite surprised to receive them since I left them in the delivery boxes until opening time.

Grandpa stuck with the princess theme (a hint I gave him). Mimi was pleased.

Grandma also had the princess theme in mind with a cute art set with the Disney Princess theme.

But she also remembered how much Mimi loves babies. Mimi got another baby from our neighbor, too. This was actually good because then Annie and Mimi each have a new baby to play with; Mimi was obliged to share with her big sister.

Annie was very excited for her little sister. She’s such a good big sister.

On Friday we’re going to have cake to officially celebrate Mimi turning 4. Of course, I’ll post pictures of it and of us eating it. Grandma Minnesota, Auntie Sara, and cousins Hayley and Matt will also be here with us to celebrate.