Um, yes, this post is out of season.

But I'm still proud enough to mention the fact that I can count on one hand the amount of times I used the dryer this last summer, cloth diapers and all!

I bought this drying rack at Bed Bath & Beyond for $40, {minus 20% from a coupon}, and I used it as late into the Fall as I could, to dry ALL our laundry, save for a few emergency underwear and bedsheets loads.  Let's be real, line drying takes some planning and coordination, and up until, oh, about 11 months ago, I would've chosen buying new clothes over doing the laundry.

I'm going to throw Rogér under the bus a little here, sorry Love.  He doesn't get to join in on my green podium today.  He totally used the dryer, even when it was an unbearably hot day and a load that we weren't in dire need of RIGHT NOW.

I guess that's O-K.  It was my challenge to use the drying rack, not his.  And he did use it every now an then, {usually after some "nagging" on my part}, which is better than nothing.  Maybe next summer it will be a family endeavor.

It was more work, that's for sure, but there were three great benefits that made it totally worth the effort;  1) lower energy consumption {which also means lower bills!}, 2) white diapers! and 3) Rogér's shirts didn't turn into belly-shirts due to shrinkage.  See Rog, there's something in it for you too.

I'm not sure I actually saved money this year, but I think it's possible, since those damn diapers take like three cycles to dry in the dryer, and I'm positive I'll continue to use it in the coming years, so I think it was a good investment.

Once I got used to it, it wasn't even so bad.

Do you line dry?  Give it a try!

We've had a really nice, Nikon D60 SLR camera for quite a while now,{long enough for many people not to recognize the model number}.  The pictures were crystal clear, but to be honest, I wasn't very happy with them.   I guess we had kind of neglected how important a good lens is.  The camera itself was a hefty purchase, let alone the cost of some fancy lens, so we passed.


I guess semi-okay photos were acceptable until Cubbie came along. In our low-light house, the Nikon stock lens just wasn't cutting it. Rogér began looking into lenses, and although we dreamed about this one, it's a little over our budget, so we chose this, Nikon 35mm lens.


Unfortunately, our new lens doesn't completely take skill out of the equation, which is really what I need.  There are a few things that I've had a hard time getting used to as well.  The lens doesn't zoom.  You have to back up quite a bit in order to take a larger view shot.  And I'm so trained on the old lens that I try to zoom, by adjusting the lens, which switches the mode to manual! Manual doesn't work for me.  I'm no photog.
But all in all, I'm so happy that we bought this lens!  I mean, how can I complain with results like these?

 

What's not to love about this age....seriously.

Walking, talking, sharing, cuddling.

Rowan get's cuter and cuter and more and more fun.

But I think we can both agree that our MOST favorite thing right this moment is....

Rowan falling asleep in our arms.


He finally hit the stage where we can {sometimes} take him out of the carseat asleep, and he stays that way!  For us, when he curls his little head into our shoulders, this is by far the most thrilling moment.  It just makes us smile :)

So...we are a little behind.

But  I wanted to share Rowan's first Halloween. 

Most babies dress up as bugs, or peas, or furry animals....not our little Cubbie Cub.  We've always thought that Rowan looks just like Toon Link, from the Zelda video games (I promise, we are not video game geeks...well, Rogér may or may not be.  However, we do play some video games.  I keep mostly to the cute ones, and the Toon Zeldas are pretty cute:))

But look!  I mean, he pretty much is Little Toon Link re-incarnate.  Especially with his crazy eyebrows, (which are hard to see because they're so blonde, but if they were black, I mean, c'mon, it doesn't get any closer than this).

So, there was no question in our minds.  Rowan HAD to be Toon Link for Halloween.

I grew up where moms made their kids' costumes.  Maybe this was out of necessity, but I've always felt like making home-made costumes was a standard that I have to live up to as a mom.  It was hard to find the time, given ALL the things moms have to do, but I swore I'd do it for as long as I can, so I set out to make a Toon Link costume.

Okay, Green Tunic, White Pants, Belt, Hat.  How hard could this be?

THANK GOODNESS, Rowan already had a pair of white pants!  This costume may never have manifested if I had to make the pants. Kinda cheating, but I'm no seamstress, ya know.

I found the perfect green jersey material for the Tunic and hat.  (Note: never worked with jersey before and never want to again).

The belt was super easy and fun to make from felt.

I made the little bootie covers out of some faux seude I just happened to have (sometimes I'm glad that I save EVERYTHING).  They weren't too hard.  I just pinned the fabric using some of Rowan's real boots as a model and then sewed them up.  I attached them to the pants so that they would stay in place and Rowan just wore dark socks underneath.

The bright green undershirt was too daunting of a task to make, so I went to Kohl's in search of a pre-made shirt.  Of course, I found the perfect color...in the girls' section.  So, yes, that's a girl's shirt.  It's got some girlie stuff on the front, but it's covered by his tunic ;)

Got the sword at Target for $1, and put dark blue carstock over the handle to make it blue like the true Master Sword (that's Links sword, for those of us who aren't Zelda savvy).

I'm not one to bragg, but I was thrilled with the way it turned out!  He really is the perfect little Link.


Our costumes (Linebeck and Tetra, from the same video game) suffered from my focus on Rowan's outfit, but I was OK with that.

Somewhere between Room #1 and Room #2, our avid eater decided {or learned....} to be VERY picky.  He refuses all food in puree form, and scoffs at soft foods like peaches, nectarines, cooked green beans & carrots, noodles, and cheese.

But one look at that banana and he goes ape!  He'll eat a whole banana at home at 7:45 am, then scarf another half when he gets to school at 8:15 am.  And even if he refuses a bottle, if you peel a banana in front of him, forget being able to eat it yourself.  He's all over it.  And it gets all over him.  Super messy stuff!

Okay, so there are like three other things he'll eat too; crackers/puffs, toast, and yogurt.  WOW, what a balanced diet!

I guess I should be happy that he eats {somewhat} healthy foods, as opposed to mac & cheese or something like that, but sheesh! You'd think he'd get tired of eating the same thing over and over.  I'm bored.

Do you have a picky, or suddenly picky eater? What do your kids like to eat?

I can't tell you how happy we are that summer is finally giving way to fall.  Not that we don't love summer after a long winter, but now we're ready for the super hot days {and nights} to be over...Okay, we've been ready for a while.

Okay, so I admit I didn't bust out the fall decor {I don't have any and don't have the time to decorate anyway}, but we kicked off the harvest season with a trip to Swank Farms, in Hollister, CA for some corn maze fun with a few friends. 

The farm itself is free to visit.  Then you buy tickets for each of the activities. They've got some farm animals that you can feed, a little tractor ride with cow cabs for the kiddos, pumpkin launching, a corn cabin, go karts, a pumpkin patch, the corn maze, the Haunted Conover Mystery Ranch, food, and a little shop. They've also got a nice picnic area.

 
 This time, we stuck to the corn maze {$10 pp}.  It was a lot of fun, with a little word game to play along the way, and about the right size. Not big enough to get truly lost in!

The Haunted Conover Mystery Ranch looked super creepy, even in the daytime!  YIKES!  You won't catch me visiting at night cuz I'm a scaredy cat! I bet Rogér would love it though!


I wanted soooo bad to get some pumpkins, but it was too early still. I figured they'd rot in the 90 Degree weather we were having in San Jose....bleh.
 

Oh well.  Even sans pumpkins, we had a good time :)

To get this mini project done, we used:

-Flourescent under-cabinet lights (2)
-Ikea under-cabinet moulding*
-Drill
-Screwdriver
-Chopsaw

We placed the lights as close to the front of the cabinets as possible, as recommended by the lighting manufacturer.

*Tip:  Use caulk to close any gaps in your undercabinet moulding.  Applied to just one side, it blocks the light from shining through!

Preparing the ground

Form setting and rebar

Good thing Rowan supervised the cement pour

Goofing around

Stamping

DONE!

And our name.

OH, I am SOOOO frustrated with the paint we are picking for our kitchen/dining areas.

First of all, it took me a long time to decide what colors I liked on the swatch.  Then, it took me a long time to get some real samples to try out. Then, it took me a long time to acutally take the plunge with the real deal.

I chose a dark grey/blue color for the kitchen, behind the oven and fridge.  I started painting away, and fell in LOVE with the color!  Wow.  I was so proud of myself for taking a chance and getting it right!

I did three coats on the whole area and it looked fantastic.  A few hours later, I went to go do some touch-ups.  To my shock and horror, the touch-ups turned out a totally lighter color! WTF!! I must not have mixed the dang paint well enough.  Okay, this might seem like an easy fix, just go get a new can of paint and mix it well, right? WRONG! Because I like the DARK color!  I don't like the color as much if it's all the way mixed.