Our Home Library

I love house hunting with my husband, Dan.  We get a list to go see, and once we're there, it doesn't seem to matter how crummy the circumstances might be ... we have vision.  We can look past the old carpet, the hideous wallpaper, the brass lighting fixtures (it's just not our style).  When we stepped into what is now our home in Elkhart almost a year and a half ago now, it felt like home.  Thankfully, it was newer and many aspects of it were quite neutral & refreshing (especially after some of the homes we had recently visited!).  Move in - ready is so much easier!  All that being said, there was still so much that could be done to it.  Especially if we wanted to make it ours.  16 months later, we still have to paint.  We still have to set up that awesome bar in the basement :).  But we can now start checking one thing off our list -- our home library! 

We have so many books.  It only makes sense to turn the extra room in the basement, with no windows, into a library.  We have such vision for that room.  We want ceiling to floor bookcases.  We want a faux fireplace.  We want a couple of lazyboy wing backed chairs.  We want it to be warm and inviting. 

Well, we bought the bookshelves!  We're almost done putting those together and anchoring them to the walls.  But today, I want to show you what I've been working on all afternoon/evening.  Our card catalog!

I decided it would be easiest to use the dewey decimal system and to look the call numbers up from the local library. 

I've completed one shelf :)  One down, many more to go!!

I used index cards to write the card catalog information on.  I used the font "traveling typewriter" from dafont.com.  I love the old school library feel it brings. 

Oh my gosh.  This is going to take forever to finish!

Abigail is getting to be such a wonderful child (rather than baby). I look at pictures from even just six months ago, and I'm startled at how long her hair is now, how thinned out her face looks, etc. They weren't kidding when they said time goes by so fast!

Fun at Home

I sometimes have to remind myself that toddlers LIKE repetitiveness and that it's OK to do the same routine every day. But Abi's getting to the age where we can really do some fun things together. This is our first real craft together!! We finger painted with "flour paint".

Here's how you make the paint:

2 Cups of flour
enough water to dilute it and make it runny
food coloring

and that was really it!

I put wax paper down on her high chair, and that's what we colored on.

It's a good thing we started with something that's technically edible - by the time we were done, it was all over her face and probably in her mouth!

I have been thinking about our family blog and I've been wondering: When you visit a blog, what do you like to read about? What is it that you read that makes you think at the end, "Wow, I can't wait til they post something new" ?

I've had many blogs in the past and I've blogged about many things. The problem is - I'm inconsistent and unfocused.

When I think about why I return to family blogs, it's usually because I know the people being discussed. I know that I like to see things like:

• Weekly recaps on what's happening with the family
• Milestones of children within the family
• Stories from daily life that correlate with pictures posted
• Newsflash moments

Yes, there have been times when I've reread some of my blogs from the past and simply been embarrassed. Why? I suppose because I ramble, mostly. Or I'll have been in a goofy mood, tried to write something funny, and when I reread it now - it's just sounds stupid :) Other times I forget that there's an audience and I'll write about something that might be more appropriate for my personal journal.

So while we're still in January, I'm going to make somewhat of a resolution for my 2011 blogging. I'm going to do my best to remain focused on the types of postings that I like to read in others' blogs. I'm going to do my best to refrain from rambling or sharing things that should remain in my personal journal. And I'm going to do my best to post more often.

Here's to a more enjoyable year of blogging!!

Abigail has a new cousin. Emmalyne June Hartstein. She was born on December 20, 2010 in Bremen.

I love to watch Abigail with other kids. Emmalyne was visiting our home and began to cry. What did Abigail do? She stopped playing, crawled over to the couch, pulled herself up and began to pat and kiss the baby's head. How does she know to do this? I'm not sure if she's seen adults do this ... or if it's instinctual ... I don't recall specifically teaching her to do this - only encouraging her when I've seen her already start to try to make kids feel better. But I'm grateful for her heart!

Abigail patting Emmalyne's head.

Giving Kisses!

I love Abi's open mouth kisses :)

Auntie Sarah, is she better?

Mommy, I think she's better!

It is so hard to believe that we're almost done with January. Unbelievable. Abigail will be 10 months old on February 2!! Crazy. She is just crawling up a storm. Allllllll over the house. Apparently, I must have a very baby proof way of living, because I have had to rearrange very little to accommodate her habit of getting into everything. In fact - it's usually okay for her to get into whatever she wants. We have this game, she and I, that I LOVE. I'll get on the ground and crawl around with her. Eventually, she'll start to crawl after me and I'll squeal, "no, no, no, no! No, don't get me!!" and then I roll over onto my back and she crawls on top of my tummy and lays a big, wet, open mouth kiss on my face. I love that game!! I think she likes it, too :) Do you think she'll still want to do play that game with me when she's a seventeen year old junior in high school? *sigh* Yeah, you're right, that might be weird.

The first post for 2011!!

Wow, I took a journal writing online workshop in October and I haven't been on since. Ironic.

Well, I just wanted to hop on, update the old blog-o, and let everyone in cyberspace know we're still here. I'll have to get on soon to post properly.

For now, though. Here's my favorite picture from the holidays! It's my brand new niece, Emmalyne, my father in law, and my daughter, Abigail.