I'm Ready for My Close-Up, Mr. Brown

I'm sure that most of you know me from my extensive theatre career at Blue Valley North High School.  My talents and abilities ranged from roles like Girl At Party in Dylan to Caterpillar/Centipede (I don't remember which it was) in James and the Giant Peach.



While I was busy memorizing all my lines like "Is Dylan Thomas at this party?" and stick out tongue at Young Cosette, I also participated in BVN's improv group, Comedy Troupe (or Comedy Club as my mom still likes to call it).  Now I didn't actually "audition" or "have talent" for this Comedy Troupe.  For some reason my Freshman year, the Senior boys who were already in it decided that they liked me and would put me in as a sort of pet if you will, so I did shows for four years without really deserving to be there at all.

Long story short, I really did enjoy all the time I spent performing throughout high school.  I also loved teaching drama and improv along with directing Little Shop of Horrors at my last school in Philadelphia.



Since Lila seems to be taking forever to learn improv games and show tune lyrics, I was really missing the proverbial spotlight.  Lucky for me, Brian our youth pastor at church, let me take over the game portion of youth group on Wednesday nights.  The kids are super talented, and I love watching them learn the improv games and make everyone laugh.  We had a lot of fun tonight playing Questions Only, The Alphabet Game, and Freeze.

It's always a good time when you have scenes involving llama poop, snipers aiming at Luigi, and lots of yelling for no apparent reason.

Playing Dress Up

My big cleaning and organizing have pretty much come to an end.  I am planning to do some work on my drains tomorrow using the home remedy of baking soda and vinegar.  I tried it once on a big clog in my bathtub, and it didn't work, but I think if I try again it will.  Fingers crossed.

In the meantime, Lila has been playing dress up in my clothes.



We call this "Classy Coxswain Attire."

Maybe she can try my uni on tomorrow.

The Flying Spaghetti Monster

We love The Jesus Storybook Bible here in the Hutson household.  The author does a really great job throughout this children's bible to make connections from the Old Testament to the New Testament, connections that I often find I had no idea existed but seem so obvious when told here.



I will say, though, that I had to do a double take when I was reading these last two sentences out loud tonight.

I really would have thought that the disciples would have had better taste in restaurants.  They could have at least chosen something local.

Hall Closet Before and After

It is with great joy that I present to you all my Pinterest inspired front closet redo.

Before:

After:

We took off the doors as well as the ugly scalloped covering and painted the inside to match the hallway.  We removed the clothes hanging pole (that's the official term) but kept the shelf.  For some reason my upstairs hallway looks lime green.  It isn't.  It's the same color as this hallway.



After much contemplation as to whether I should buy a new bench, an old bench, or make one myself, I up and bought this one at Home Depot and threw it in there.  I made the pillows out of leftover curtain material from the kitchen and the dining room (I promise that dining room before and after is coming soon...ish).

The main reason I liked this bench was for the storage.  PS. I bought four of these baskets in college, and I have used them for everything from bedside tables to bathroom organizers.  Baskets are always a good purchase.



The closet already had some great hooks that I moved around to more useful locations.

I kept the existing shelf and had Johnny paint it white.  I absolutely love this painting on the left.  It's another 20x200 purchase.  My brother and sister got me the vase for Christmas from Anthropologie; love it.

 

 Lila is pleased with the new seating area.

The thing I like the most about this closet redo is that it has turned our front hallway into another living space.  We I pretend that the gate to the upstairs is the zoo, and I put all of Lila's animals behind it and see how long it takes for her to get them out.  I suppose she just finds it annoying.

 

Can't Think of a Creative Title for "Reorganized the Pantry"

Dusting got boring after awhile yesterday (and by awhile I mean one chandelier), so I decided to take on the task of reorganizing our pantry. 

Before:

Various packages were shoved every which way, and my baking stuff was all unorganized.

I also had a lot of wasted space up at the top.

After:

All clean and pretty.

Why yes I do have an entire shelf devoted to sprinkles, food coloring, and cookie cutters.  Go see Sarah Rose's cookie cutter collection if you think I'm crazy.

Moving the appliances to other unoccupied shelves in the kitchen freed up some space for tall items like cereal and oil.

I am no longer afraid of food falling on me when I open the pantry.  First world problems.

Kitchen Window Before and After

One of the big things on my list of organizing for January was to rid ourselves of the AWFUL Chili's style light above our kitchen sink.  As of yesterday, we are Blue Light Special free!

Before:



After:

Yeah, yeah, don't take a picture into the light. Whatever.  I also added a shade above our kitchen sink.  I purchased the curtains on the right a little while ago from Target, so I went back and bought only one panel, cut it to fit the window and attached it using three tension rods.  That being said, it is obviously not a usable shade, so please don't come over to my house and try to pull on it.



Lila is pleased with the new addition to our kitchen.

I only have a little bit more time to finish up the rest of my cleaning and organizing list.  Tomorrow is going to be devoted to dusting things I don't usually dust like chandeliers, more baseboards, lights, etc.  We are also very close to being finished with our coat closet redo, so hopefully we can show that off in a few days.

Lila's Ten Month Photos

Lila is officially 10 months old.  We've reached double digits.

Some things that Lila likes include brushing her hair with either a hair brush or a tooth brush, looking at books in her room, pulling all the dvd cases onto the floor, standing up while holding onto the coffee table, and eating off the floor.



She has four teeth all the way in and two teeth coming in.

For the most part, she sleeps in her crib from 7:30pm to 7:30am with no waking up, and she naps once or twice a day wherever and whenever she feels like it.

Her favorite foods include graham crackers, goat cheese, cheddar, gouda (ok any kind of cheese), scrambled eggs, yogurt, peas, clementines, and grapes.

Just in the last few days, Lila has started trying to walk while holding onto our hands.

Behold the winds of change.

It's Friday Friday

Another Friday night at the Hutsons'.

Johnny went to bed due to feeling sick (right in the middle of hanging my new chandelier, I might add), so I started the evening with a bottle of wine and Lila's new quilt.  I am now finishing it by watching Twilight.  This is almost as cool as when we used to watch the Ken Burns's WWII documentary on Fridays.  Sometimes I miss spending Friday nights on a sanctuary floor in my sleeping bag next to all my rowers.

I am hoping to have something to show tomorrow for all of our work in the dining room.  All that's left is hanging the curtains.

Fostering Update

A little while ago I mentioned that we were gearing up to become foster parents.  I thought I'd give a little update on how that's going.  So far we have...

killed three forests with the paperwork that we have filled out
completed two online classes about medication
taken a three hour first aid class where the answer to every problem was "Call 911"
completed a thirty hour course on fostering
gotten physicals and passed TB tests
copied paycheck stubs
purchased a lock box and locked all of our medicine in it
installed four new smoke detectors and one carbon monoxide detector
installed three baby gates
purchased first aid kits and put them in our cars

bought a new crib

filed background checks for three different states

and started moving Lila into the guest bedroom.

We still have to...

meet with our social worker

create a detailed floor plan of our house with room and window dimensions

buy a double stroller

place all of our chemicals over 6 feet

and hope that someone eventually looks at our paperwork and approves our initial license.

Fingers crossed we'll be ready before Lila goes to college.

Dinner: Done

I didn't post last night because I was sitting at Chili's, drinking a margarita with my friend Lauren, sans babies.  We had been trying to get our kids together for the last few weeks but sickness had been getting in the way. When our last rendezvous was foiled by the flu, Lauren suggested that just she and I go out some night.  I started laughing because that thought hadn't even crossed my mind.  It was so nice to be able to talk without being worried that someone was going to fall over.

But we can't have margaritas for dinner every night, so one thing that I have done during my 31 Days of Cleaning is organize all the meals that I typically make.  I got a bunch of index cards, and on the front of each card I wrote out a typical meal (ie. Chicken Sausage, Baked Potatoes, Asparagus, and Cooked Apples).  Then on the back of each card I wrote out a grocery list for that meal (chicken sausage, russet potatoes, butter, cheese, asparagus, olive oil, apples, cinnamon, brown sugar).  On Sunday I go through my stack of cards and pick five meals that I want to make that week.  Then on Monday I take the cards to the grocery store and have a ready made grocery list.  So far, I have been really pleased with this system.



I was really pleased with a new meal that I made last night: Pioneer Woman's Sausage, Potato and Kale Soup.  My picture makes it look not amazingly appetizing, so go look at her yummy pictures.  It was easy, fairly healthy (I used nonfat half and half), and goes a long way.  Lila loved eating the potatoes...along with her graham crackers and goat cheese.



We're getting closer and closer with our dining room, coat closet, and Lila's room.  I still have a bench in the middle of my living room, but it's a nice new obstacle for Lila.  Tomorrow I'm planning to buy fabric for the dining room curtains, and I'm hoping to actually make them.  We'll see how long Lila is willing to jump in her Jumperoo.

Unfinished Business

Our house is currently one big pile of partially completed projects.

I have big plans to turn our coat closet into an open benchy area.  So far we have taken off the doors...



...and put a bench together.  That's it lying on its side in the back of the living room.  I still need to paint the inside of the closet, possibly reupholster the bench, make pillows, and hang a picture.



Our dining room paint job is still in limbo.  After sanding off the wallpaper and painting, the texture of the wall still looked a mess, so Johnny patched a few spots.  We just need to repaint those spots now.  Oh and make curtains.

Our Christmas tree has still not made its way out the door, on the top of our car, and to the park.  Geeze, when is it going to get up and go already?

 

Lila's new room is still waiting for Johnny to paint the trim white and finish the super tall parts of the walls.  I could get Johnny to teach me how to paint trim...or I could just close the door. 

And last but not least, I need to make curtains for Lila's room as well as her new quilt.

Needless to say, my plan tomorrow is to attempt to finish at least one of these things.

Peekaboo

I finally did it! I ordered a mini chandelier for above my kitchen sink.  That's not really very interesting to write about, though...and I didn't take a picture of myself ordering it.  So here's a video of Lila playing Peekaboo. 

Where Are You Christmas?

Santa has gone back to the North Pole in the Hutson household.



My goal today was to put away all of my Christmas decorations.  I think I got everything, but it's kind of like when you find an Easter egg two weeks after the hunt...who knows what will still be up come March.



I'm dreading marching the tree to the door and the needly green trail that will be left behind.

Meh...I'm not sure what I'm going to do tomorrow.  Johnny has National Guard so that really limits my abilities.  I want to deep clean my bathrooms, but Lila likes to lick all the shampoo bottles when she's in there, so an extended amount of bathroom time doesn't seem like a good idea.  I think my goal will be to find a new light for above our kitchen sink.  That Chili's light has GOT to go.