Some of the things we did were very small or easy but it's nice to get them checked off the list. One of these was hanging the curtains in the den. Now we won't be on display for the neighborhood at night.
While Samantha was napping on Sunday we planted the seeds for our garden. We planted peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, broccoli, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts. There are a few trays like this for all the plants we'll have. The grow lights are still not put together yet but the seeds can germinate in the meantime.
While thinking about the garden, we realized that the large planters that I built last year were not in an ideal location. While we were building the deck this fall the planters were moved a couple times. They ended up on the side of the deck where they would get the least amount of sun.
Each planter weighs about 1000 pounds so we had to use a lot of blocking and leverage to move them. We only got one moved before Samantha got fussy so we'll do the other one some night this week. Once they are in the right spot, we'll use these for the plants that have been constantly attacked by the groundhog. Hopefully we'll get a larger bounty this year.
Chris did quite a bit of brewing this week. He is making a pilsner, a brown ale, and a Dortmunder Export. He will be entering these into the NASA homebrew and "Barley Legal" competitions. When we are making up lists of things to do on the weekend we always have to write "Brew Award Winning Beer."
One non-house related project I finished this week was the busy bags for Samantha's play group. A busy bag is a small activity that you can take with you in the diaper bag. It is particularly helpful when you are in a public place - a restaurant, doctor's office, etc. and the kids need to be entertained.
The play group is having an exchange here next week. Each person will be bringing a different activity so each person will end up with 11 different busy bags. I chose a foam matching puzzle - the kids will use the loose pieces in the bag to match up with the shapes on the foam board. Each bag has two puzzles - easy and challenging. It should be a lot of fun!
I started with a TV stand I found on craigslist for $10 and the small "above the refrigerator" cabinet from my parents (free!).
The TV stand will become the fridge and a pantry. The small cabinet will be the sink and stove/oven. I spent a little bit of time making a bunch of modifications to these - removing hardware, cutting pieces to size, etc. Once that was done, I filled holes, sanded, and primed everything. This week I should be able to start assembly.
Samantha went shopping with me for some of the items I plan to use on the kitchen. It took 4 stores to collect all these items but I'm in pretty good shape now.
And here is just a taste for what I'm planning for the sink/stove. I have a long way to go!
Samantha had a big week - we went to her one year appointment. She got 4 shots, blood work, and found out that she has an ear infection. She was a trooper though!
She is still growing like a weed. She was 31 inches tall (96th percentile), 21 lb. 14 oz. (60th percentile), and her head grew to the 40th percentile (she used to be 25th).
She got some great gifts for her birthday. One of the ones that she uses a lot is the little Minnie Mouse chair from my parents. She uses it for reading...
...playing with her toys...
...and using as a step stool to get up to the "big chair."
She has been making us laugh a lot lately. Here are some of our favorites:
She loves to be buried in laundry.
She enjoys "sneaking" onto the stairs to see if we're going to stop her (which we always do!).
She plays with her hair in the middle of dinner and ends up looking like Nick Nolte.
The swing at the playground is still a big hit.
She ends up with the craziest food faces - this particular one was after some black beans and rice.
Now that we're rested, hopefully we can finally finish some of the projects that have been hanging over our heads!
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