December 01 (aka: Yesterday)

Hello friends! Happy December to you. Did you remember to say Rabbit, Rabbit, Rabbit yesterday? Woe be unto you if you didn't! (I'm just kidding.) (I think.)

Last night I declared our December 1st to be one of the best ones yet. Here's what went down:

Since I had to work the first half of the day was pretty uneventful. Just me sitting in the coldest corner of our basement talking to a computer. Glamorous? Yes. Of course when Nate (did I mention I'm sick of calling him N8tr0n on here? Because I am. His name is Nate. Actually, Nathan. But I call him Nate.) and Z-cakes got home the party started.

Z whipped up a quick dinner for us. I must say she is becoming quite the help in the kitchen these days. After that it was off to....

buy a Christmas tree!

This is the first time we've purchased a real tree. The first time! I'm sure you can imagine that I was soaking up every second. The man at the tree lot gave Z-cakes a candy cane which basically made her life.

We put our tree up as soon as we got home; that is, after we carried a billion pound water softener down our stairs with our new hand truck and I suppressed my severe anxiety that Nate and I were both going to die trying to get it down the stairs. Anyway, we got the tree up and I've been sitting and admiring it ever since. And also breathing in its intoxicating smell.

I also bought a wreath at Costco for our front door because I've wanted one for like SEVEN YEARS.

The end.

Weekending

I love it when holidays extend over several days. I feel like we've been celebrating Halloween since Wednesday and there is still one more night of action! Here are a few highlights from our weekend:

Z-cakes got all dressed up for our church Halloween party. (That makes 4 times so far that she's gotten to wear her costume. Yesssssss!) I took pictures of her on the deck and the well-known struggle with opening her eyes AND looking in my general direction AND smiling continued.

At the party several people told me that they loved my nerd costume and I didn't have the heart to tell them that I was actually just wearing my regular clothes.

We spent the rest of the weekend in Burley where my sister-in-law and I turned approximately eleventy thousand sugar cookies into mummies.

We had a little birthday celebration for my brother who is turning 26 on Tuesday. I made the White Out cake from Baked and oh my lands that recipe is a keeper. It was especially delicious with the raspberry filling I included. No, seriously.

At the end of the night my sister-in-law decided to cut up her wedding dress to turn it into a Halloween costume.

I'm kidding. She got this dress for $20 at a thrift store. Won't she make a lovely Bride of Frankenstein?

Happy Haunting my friends! Are you Trick or Treating tonight?

Halloween Preview

So, maybe I was up late last night hand sewing a zipper into this costume after I realized I didn't have a zipper foot for my machine. And perhaps I was frantically hand sewing the hem five minutes before it was time to be at the library for trick-or-treating (which, by the way, Z-cakes calls "taking treating"). But the important part is that this little girl is wearing a costume that her mama made. And when she tells people she is Cinderella she curtsies.

And my buttons are bursting.

4th of July Weekending

Our holiday weekend was perfect. I hope yours was too. Here are just a few of the highlights (because if I showed them all to you we'd be here all day):

Left to right; top to bottom:
01. Feeding ducks at Emerald Lake with Uncle Spence and (soon to be) Aunt Britney.
02. Watching kids try to climb a greased pole with a $100 bill at the top: HILARIOUS.
03. My new favorite snow cone flavor: Tiger's Blood + Nectarine.
04. A backyard BBQ complete with checkered tablecloths, neighbors riding over on four-wheelers, and enough salads to feed an army.
05. I made an angel food cake (I had a lot of egg whites left over after making all of that ice cream).
06. Convincing Z that holding a sparkler is not so much terrifying as it is awesome.

Happy July

Rabbit, Rabbit, Rabbit Friends! And Happy July to you too. And Happy Canada Day to my friends in Canada!

{peonies by my back step}

Are you all gearing up for a big holiday weekend? We are heading to my hometown for the 4th and I'm so happy that we are. I told N8tr0n the other day that I realized I don't really like to travel for the 4th. I like to be close to home and I like knowing what to expect. Mom's pasta salad, poppers on the sidewalk, perhaps some pretzel jello, and fireworks at the golf course. Happy Independence Day.

Speaking of expectations, if I were you I wouldn't expect daily posts from my blog this summer. That's not to say that I won't be posting, but just that it will be more...erratic. It has been a long hard winter/spring here in our new home and now that summer has arrived we're going to go all Sheryl Crow and "soak up the sun." I imagine you're doing the same. Which means you really don't have time to sit at your computer and read my ramblings. So really....I'm thinking of you. You're welcome.

Have a lovely and safe 4th of July weekend! XOXO

Scenes from the weekend

On Saturday Z-cakes and I colored Easter eggs. I'm a total micro manager when it comes to coloring eggs. It's kind of embarrassing but Z-cakes didn't seem to mind.

On Sunday we all dressed up in our pretty clothes.

And Z-cakes became a princess.

N8tr0n made Sriracha deviled eggs which were totally delicious which was totally shocking to me.

I made chocolate cream pie and coconut cream pie. Also totally delicious.

Z-cakes apparently took no joy in hunting for Easter eggs,

my brother was surly and his girlfriend was cute,

and we tried to regulate the amount of candy that Z-cakes shoved into her maw.

In other words, our Easter weekend was absolutely perfect. I hope yours was too.

Earth You're a Wonderful Wonderful Planet

Happy Earth Day everyone!

:: As a semi/fake hippie, I try to do something small to celebrate Earth Day. I think it is a nice reminder that God has blessed us with a beautiful place to live and He expects us to take care of it. Here are a few things on our To-Do list today.

:: I've been excited to see this movie for a while. We'll probably wait to go until tomorrow so that N8tr0n can come along.

:: Have you seen Google's clever banner yet? Be sure to mouse over the animals!

:: Even though it is going to be cold outside today, Z-cakes and I will be taking a nature walk. (Which will basically be the same walk that we take every day except I'm calling it a nature walk. More exciting!) I also plan on choosing an activity from Jennifer Ward's fun book, I Love Dirt!

:: We still have some work to do on our new compost setup. (More about this later.)

:: I'm thinking Z-cakes should have her first cup of worms in dirt dessert.

:: And to finish off the evening, we'll read one of Z-cakes' favorite books before bedtime. We got this cute book when Z was just a baby. You know as well as I do that it is never too early to start brainwashing your child.

Wishing you a wonderful Easter weekend filled with family, deviled eggs, and peeps.

Do you do anything to celebrate Earth Day? Any especially exciting Easter plans?

Crab-Crackin' New Year

We rang in the new year with a giant feast at my parents' house. On the menu: King crab, steak, prawns, clam chowder, crusty bread, and jello salad. Not a veggie to be seen, ahem. The lack of green food was a total oversight but I decided to think of our meal as a symbol of our coming prosperity in 2011. This may or may not be because of the books I've been reading about ancient China.

With three years under our belts, I'm officially declaring Crab-Crackin' New Year a Walker family tradition.

It may take me a while to get back into the swing of blogging. I hope you'll be patient with me. Thoughts of resolutions and the new year have been making me melancholy and quiet. But there are plenty of things to talk about on this space and I'll get there eventually. I have a new header to make and house pictures to post. Plus, I've missed you. I'll be back in the swing of things soon, I promise.

Happy New Year/January/Monday Everyone!

Progress + Bye For Now

I am making some progress you guys.

So far I have put together:

our room

the bathroom

Z-cakes' room

half of the kitchen.

Today I will be finishing up the kitchen and moving into the living room—the most daunting space in our house. I am itching to get the packing all done so that I can start painting.

{house around the corner, Z-cakes calls it the "gingerbread house"}

Now it is time to sign off until January. In a few days we'll be leaving to enjoy Christmas with my parents. My list of things-to-bake is way beyond manageable. Just the way I like it. I hope you all have a wonderful and warm holiday. Thank you for reading, and commenting, and supporting, and generally making blogland a wonderful place. See you next year!

XOXO

Last night + this morning

This little girl. Talking incessantly about telling Santa what she wants for Christmas yet still a bit unsure of the man himself. Last night we drove to the closest town with a decent mall for a little family date. We started with dinner and then headed over to see Santa. Lucky us—we arrived when there was virtually no line. As Z-cakes and I approached the big man I could feel her starting to resist against my leg. When I asked if she wanted to sit on his lap she said, "No thanks. I think I need to stay right here."

We finally talked her into sitting on the bench next to Santa.

Mr. Claus: And what would you like for Chri-
Z-cakes: A pillow pet.
Mr Claus: Oh! A pillow pet. Which one would you like? There's a fr-
Z-cakes: The ladybug.
Mr. Claus: Okay. And have you been a good lit-
Z-Cakes: Yes.

Obviously she had been rehearsing this exchange in her mind. In the end, Santa scored big points by giving her a coloring book and complimenting her light-up shoes. She gave him five but the lap was a no-go. I declared the interaction a success.

We spent the rest of the evening shopping, talking about what a delight Z-cakes is, and making fun of the hideous thing I carry around and call a "purse" these days. We stopped at a few different stores looking for that one perfect gift we want to get for Z-cakes (don't worry, the ladybug pillow pet has been procured) but to no avail. We ended up finding what we wanted on Amazon. At least we tried the old-fashioned-get-in-your-car-and-go-to-the-store-and-buy-a-gift route.

On the to-do list today:

Pack: We move everything on Saturday!

Make: Sadly, my handmade gift list was cut way back when we found out we were moving. I'm still deciding what I think I can squeeze in before Christmas.

Watch: Elf. We bought this on Amazon last night and it came with a free 48 hour rental to stream. Sweet! N8tr0n and I watched it last night and Z-cakes and I will be watching it today. I'll have to resist the urge to answer all of my phone calls with "Buddy the Elf, what's your favorite color?"

Play: Z-cakes has been playing hard with this nativity set. Lately the focus is on the wise menand their camels. Right now I can hear her talking about a "camel party." Too fun.

What are you up to today?

Don't forget to enter the current giveaway!

Well that was easy

Last year I decided that I wanted to start a collection of vintage Santa mugs like the ones Soulemama has. After a few months of unsuccessful searching I forgot all about it. Then when Rachel posted this yesterday, I remembered and realized that I hadn't even checked out any of the antique shops here in our new town. Z-cakes was spending the day at her grandma's house so I took that as a sign that the antiquing stars had aligned in my favor. I got in my car immediately and drove to "that one street that has all the antique stores on it."

I found these mugs in the first store I walked in to. Right by the front door. I was completely shocked. It was so easy! Too easy? I resisted the urge to buy every single mug and instead chose one for each member of our family. The prices ranged from $4.00 to $1.25. I chose two that were $1.25 and chose a smaller one for Z-cakes that is in beautiful condition and was $3.25.

I'm so happy with my new collection. I can't stop staring at it and telling people (who don't care) about it. I'm also pleased to have found such a great antique shop. I don't know why it has taken me so long to go there! Next on my list of vintage gimmies: a typewriter, glass milk bottles, enamel brooches. Hipster vintage, here I come.

A few more things:

:: I have so many things that I want to blog about. There are still Thanksgiving pictures to post; the cake and pictures of our house need to go up too. Unfortunately, I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed and posting will probably be light next week. Oh! But there will be a giveaway on Tuesday for sure. It's the last one in the Handmade Holiday series. You won't want to miss it. Trust me.

:: Don't forget to enter the current giveaway. It closes tonight! Also, be sure to check past giveaway posts to see if you've won.

:: A million, huge thanks to all of you who have commented, emailed, and texted me about the infertility post. Your love and concern is so humbling. Each of your comments has brought me to tears and have helped heal my heart. Thank you for constantly reminding me about why I blog. And of course, I will certainly keep you posted.

Happy Friday friends! I hope you have a wonderful weekend.