I asked DH the other night to take some pictures of the Peanut. I just thought she looked so cute in the little outfit I put together. You know leggings are back, right? Maybe for the Peanut, but I wore those the first time around and I am still coming to grips with the fact that I have been alive long enough to have seen certain fashions come back again. I remember my mom saying to me, "We used to wear that." I never thought I would see the day come when leggings and skinny jeans were en vogue once again. Hopefully scrunchies don't make a reappearance.... Anyway, I am way off the subject.
The Peanut had this little knit dress that fits, and now that she is walking (which helps when wearing dress--as opposed to crawling), but it is a little chilly to be wearing. So I found these little leggings in her dresser and this little onesie to go underneath. I just thought it was cute.
The DH always gets such good pictures of the Peanut. I mean, it takes me practically 75 shots to get about three good pictures. He took maybe 30 and got all of these. He can really get her to laugh....
I guess I should probably explain these next two. :) Grandpa taught her that when she "pinches" his nose that it says "beep, beep." So, she has started "pinching" her nose and making her nose beep. Which, when she says it, comes out as, "Me, Me." It is so funny. At least we think so. :)
A small dusting (if it can even be called that) that we had this chilly morning. However, it is a little unusual for us, as snow in Hometown usually comes in January or February, and very rarely before Thanksgiving.
I am sure it's a sign of plenty more to come. I am fine with it~as long as we can get home for the holidays!
A few menu items didn't go off as planned last week because of the big surprise, so those are incorporated this week. Which is completely fine with me! :)
We had the most wonderful little surprise this weekend. Well, not little. It was actually quite big. And quite fabulous. The best, really.
It was about 2 pm on Friday. DH had to work the closing shift that evening so he was upstairs getting ready for work and I was feeding the Peanut her lunch. She had just woken from her nap. The doorbell rang. My neighbor and I had been talking about possibly meeting for coffee either that afternoon or some time this week, so I thought it was her. I peeked out the window to see if I could tell who it was, but I couldn't see anybody standing there, so I opened the door. Yeah, I know--smart, huh?
But guess who it was? I know.....the suspense must be killing you all.............it was............my Mom and Dad! They had driven up from HomeTown! Words cannot even express how excited I was! (But my over use of exclamations can!) We had just talked the night before on the webcam and my Mom casually asked if we had any big plans for the weekend. Nope, not up here in NewTown. DH was off on Saturday and we had planned to go to Costco. (It's the only way I can get him to come "grocery shopping" with me.) But that was about it. Nothing too exciting.
Apparently my Mom and Dad had been planning this for several weeks. My Mom had juggled her work schedule to be able to have Friday off and my sister and uncle were checking in on my Mom and Dad's black lab. My Mom also brought groceries--homemade minestrone soup and crusty bread for Friday night and beef burgundy and fresh veggies for dinner on Saturday night. Plus cookies and pie for dessert. My mom is the consummate boy girl scout--she is always prepared. Her "excuse" was that if "they were going to crash our house for the weekend, they needed to at least make the meals easier." That was entirely gracious, but whatever! :) They can "crash" our home any time!
The Peanut also had a wonderful time. She was so worn out on Friday that she slept the whole night! (Yes, I spoke too soon several weeks ago, when I mentioned she had been sleeping so well. Isn't that always the case?) She was pretty much attached to Grandpa all weekend. If she wasn't in his lap, she was bringing him toys to hold. If she wasn't snuggled up next to him, she was patting his back. Yeah, she has him wrapped around her little finger.
The Peanut had some special moments with Grandma as well. Grandma was able to help feed the Peanut and she taught the Peanut how to "make soup" in the big stockpot. My Mom also helped give her a bath. The DH and I were definitely lowered on the Peanut's list of favorites this weekend. It was all about the Grandma and Grandpa--just as it should be! :)
Of course, it was over way too soon, but it was a wonderful weekend.
The Peanut received a package from Grandma and Grandpa earlier this week. Inside were some little crackers Grandma thought she might like and two puzzles. Both of which she has enjoyed immensely. What has received the most attention however, is the box it came in.
As promised, here is the upstairs. After much consideration, I've decided not to hang our curtains up here. As mentioned before, we are not planning on being here for too terribly long. Curtain rods are expensive (at least the kind I always seem to like) and we already have rods at our house in SmallTown. Plus if we are possibly able to buy a bigger house somewhere down the road, I don't want to worry about the rods fitting other windows. If we owned the place, it would be different. So for now, blinds it will be.
The landing at the top of the stairs. The bathroom is straight ahead and Peanut's room is to the left.
Here is the bathroom--I will be hanging some sort of curtain in here, but haven't figured how to do so. The molding is right next to the wall so I don't know where to attach the rod? Maybe inside the molding?
Here is Peanut's room. We still need to hang her letters that spell her name, but that requires the laser level and I am not willing to take that on. DH needs to help with that. Hopefully this weekend. Those will hang above the crib. High enough so she cannot reach them.
Notice the receiving blankets tied to the rail. Peanut likes to chew on it. :( Oh, and the red chair. This went in our family room previously. Her room is bigger than before (go figure) and I didn't want to store it in the garage, so it works in here for now. Need to find a slipcover/sheet so it matches a little better.
Peanut's room from the other side.
The master bedroom. I finally got all the pictures hung today. Those don't require the laser level. :)
So there you have it. Hopefully you get a better idea of our new digs in NewTown.
It was a fun evening. Different, but fun. Previously, at home in SmallTown, we had TONS of trick or treaters. In fact, the first year we were there, I had to make a candy run, as we almost ran out. Not so much here. I did turn on the porch light a little late, as I wanted to finish cleaning up Peanut after dinner and get the kitchen cleaned up, but we didn't get even one!
So the candy (thank goodness I only bought one bag!) went to the folks at DH's work. At least we won't have to eat Nerds and Laffy Taffys. Those were definitely for the kids. DH gave me a hard time the first year we were married, because I bought Almond Joys. He said, "Kids don't like those!" (But, I do!) Since then I have been conscious to get kid friendly candy-Blech!
Here are some pictures of the Peanut from this evening...hats off to Grandma who found her costume for her. The hat with the little antennas (antenni?) wasn't even attempted because 1. It was a little small and 2. It would have never stayed on. But she was still so much fun!
The shoes didn't really stay on for long.
We went to visit the DH at work as he was closing tonight. Unfortunately, I seem to have my Father's affliction for closing my eyes in pictures. Despite my looking three sheets to the wind, this was the best of the bunch as a family pic. This is why I pay good money for professional photographers to get decent pictures of me.
Getting used to life without a microwave.Our house had a built in one and I am too cheap to buy one, as we are going back to SmallTown at some point, plus we don’t have room for one, as counter space is already limited.I am also still adjusting to finding where I decided to put things.The menu this week went great, as we didn’t eat out once (except for limeades—does that count?).Here goes another week…
After enjoying our afternoon outing, I came home and slaved away in the kitchen. No, just kidding. It was just really nice to have DH watch the Peanut while I prepared dinner. No trying to keep an eye on the Peanut while having three different things on the stove. I could just focus on the task at hand.
I made Orecchiette with Mini Chicken Meatballs. It was sooo yummy! It wasn’t a very inexpensive dish to make as it calls for ground chicken (I used ground turkey which I got on sale), bocconcini (tiny fresh mozzarella balls), fresh basil, and grape tomatoes. None of those are typically ever on my grocery list, but this was worth it. I also used tiny shell pasta, as the only place I found orecchiette pasta was on the internet and I wasn't about to pay $8 in shipping for pasta, which of course, all tastes the same.
Definitely a keeper that would be good to make for company. That is, when we have some up here in SmallTown! :)
On Thursday, we decided to take a day off from unpacking/sorting/organizing/hanging wall items etc. and drive up to the Super Wal*Mart about 45 minutes from NewTown.Due to the extreme cost difference in groceries, we thought it might be worth the trip.Not so much.Back home in SmallTown, the Super Wal*Mart was comparable to my beloved Winco.(That’s pretty distressing how my former grocer has become somewhat of a sonnet to me now.) Now, the Super Wal*Mart not much less inexpensive than Safeway or Albertson’s or any of the other grocers here in town.I guess when that’s who you are competing with, combined with the fact that we are in the middle of nowhere, the prices don’t have to be that much cheaper.Humph!
The Peanut is such a trooper and travels so well!
But it was worth it regardless, as we did have a fun, relaxing day.It was nice to get out and enjoy DH’s day off just relaxing, drinking our limeades, and enjoying time as a family.The drive was also very pretty with all the fall foliage!It was cloudy, but that’s the Pacific Northwest for ya!
