Innovative

Cole is always on a mission and very rarely gets distracted or deterred (for better or worse, sometimes). If you can catch him from the outset to figure out what he's going for, it's so fun to see the little wheels a turnin' in that brain of his as he completes his task.

The other morning, I was fixing breakfast and he left the room determinedly. I got a little nervous, stuck my head around the corner to make sure he wasn't getting into something he shouldn't, and waited to see what he was up to. Moments later he came back with this plastic tote, turned it upside down, and proceeded to step on it to better see the dials on the radio! Ha!

I think I am sincerely amazed by him nearly every day. I love being his mom and getting to see him grow like this. 

A Few Recipe Tries

From Dana:

Lately, I've made some recipes from family members. I love cooking things from other people's suggestions. Did you see Abby's recent post of some of her favorites? I loved it!

Last week I made Abby's Honey Sesame Crockpot Chicken. (http://www.skinnytaste.com/2013/02/crock-pot-sesame-honey-chicken.html?m=1) I am always on the lookout for non-soup crockpot recipes. It was good, but I don't know if I sold it well enough to the boys in order to make it again, but I'll keep it in mind. I may try to add some vegetables next time - onions or something crunchy. I did serve it with broccoli, and that was good. 

Today I made Abby's Chicken Tamale Casserole.  (http://www.myrecipes.com/m/recipe/chicken-tamale-casserole) I love me some casseroles - especially at this stage in my life! It calls for shredded chicken, so I just boiled a chicken breast at noon and shredded it and put it in the fridge til supper. I LOVED the casserole. Loved it! It was a bit mushy, but I didn't care. It was so delicious. But Marc thought it'd be better if it was a little crisper or drier. I plan to ask Abby if she has any advice on how to do that. Just thinking about it now makes me excited for the leftovers. 

And the last recipe was Kathryn's strawberry pretzel dessert (well, I think Kathryn's family considers it a "salad"). Have you had it? It is so good! This was my first time making it and I didn't want a big 9 x 13, so I halved the recipe. I did the math to find that my 9 inch round pie pan would be the best for a half recipe. (Remember? "Pi times the radius squared". Math IS useful in everyday life.)

Either I messed something up (#pumpkin scones - like Brad said) or my math was off because the recipe did NOT fit in my prepared, pretzel-crusted pan. Ha! I had red jello running all over the place in my attempt to get as much as I could in there. But, much to my surprise, it still turned out and was soooo delicious! So good! Even though it has a lot of ingredients and numerous steps, it's definitely a recipe going down in the "keep and make often" category!

(Oh, and I think I figured out my problem - too much crushed pineapple.)

Snow Day

Check out this picture! It's a recent favorite of mine. 

 

Daddy with his boys looking up adoringly. Preparing to go face the treacherous weather on our Sunday snow day from church. We spent most of the day at the Voth's. 

Here's a poor picture of Cole watching Marc shovel out the window at his parents' house. 

Then and Now

The other day I put Cole in the swing in the backyard after about a 3-month hiatus, and he FILLED. IT. UP! Check out these THEN and NOW pics. 

THEN (18 months):

NOW (21 months):

Our boy is growing up! 

Oh, and he has started to have an opinion about what he wears, thus the snow boots on a 65 degree day.  Why not? Ya know. 

Cole Scrapbook

A scrapbook of Cole photos:

Last week we took the opportunity to have a picnic lunch on the front lawn. Cole did a lot of exploring and a little eating...

"Ring around the rosy"

We made chocolate covered strawberries for Valentines Day - thanks to the idea from Kathryn and Brad...

 

(I love that shirt that mom bought Cole while we were in Wichita. It's become one of our favorites.)

Shirley got Cole a sticker book for Valentines Day. Genius! He loves sticking stickers. 

Cole got this water color page from the library Learn & Play. 

(He's getting a *little* more willing to sit and do a craft-type project these days and is starting to hold a pen to write.)

Cole with his stick collection from the park...

Surprise Snow

From Dana:

We had a surprise snow last week,and it was super good for packing. Cole and I went out to tromp around and ended up making a snowman. 

I don't remember the last time I made a snowman. And this one was so easy. Notice the strangely small head. It was Cole's job to carry the head to the man and he dropped it a few times, leaving it a little puny. Ha!

We are expecting 6-10 inches of snow tonight. Maybe we can go play tomorrow!

New Trick

Cole's new trick..

He likes to stack "like" shapes - the first building blocks of math - sorting! Makes this math teacher mama proud!

Brad the (Semi-Professional) Builder

Hey Family!

If you've read my previous post, or if you've just hung out with me at all in the last year, you know that I've developed a serious love for woodworking. We've all seen obsessions and hobbies sweep the family - Dad loves his maps, biking and old western movies, Anthony (and now Ladell, Marty, Cameron, Mike, and Kyle) LOVE their disc golf, Abby loves baking, Mom loves puzzles, Cory and Joel love being engaged, Kathryn loves reading, Eric loves running, Norma loves cleaning Dominicans teeth,... I could go on forever, baby! Point is, my hobby and obsession, and the challenge to get better and grow my skills has really piqued my overall interest in my hobby of woodworking.

As you know, I've built quite a few things for our house, including a coffee table, flower boxes, a TV stand, and some shelves. However, after a year of hard, progressive work, some generous family members, and a couple of really good steals on furniture, our house is pretty much full. I wanted to continue to build things for fun, but there wasn't a whole lot of need (or capacity) for anything else to be made around the house. I took advantage of the Christmas season and made Abby a coffee mug holder, Dad a bookshelf, and Cole a step stool, but it was mid-January, the holidays were over, and I still wanted to build. Plus, I had recently decided that I'd like to save up money that I earn outside of my job to buy a new guitar, so that was extra motivation for me.

Dad's bookshelf

Cole's step stool 

So, being the business school graduate that I am, I went ahead and posted a few pictures of my builds on Craigslist and Etsy, two sites that are pretty popular for amateur sales like my own (Craigslist for local sales, and Etsy for national sales). Here have been my experiences with both...

Etsy 

To start selling on Etsy, I tried to take some "artsy shots" of my TV tray, added in a picture of Kathryn, Elsy and I to make my "shop" homepage to look like I was a true family man, and waited to see if anyone would be interested. Selling on Etsy only costs 20 cents per listing (plus 4% of your sales), so it really wasn't a huge risk to put something on there.

Initially, I received very little feedback. I finally got a few people to "favorite" (The Etsy equivalent to a Facebook "like") my tray, but just because you favorite something doesn't mean that you are going to buy it. My favorites would fluctuate from day to day, sometimes being as many as 10 and others as low as 2. Finally, I got my first sale! It was a mom from North Carolina, Holley. Long story short, I created a gray stained tray, and sent it out to her.

Picture of the TV tray at my house before I sent it out

The hardest part was figuring out the best way to ship the product. It's not something that can come un-assembled, but it's also not something that can fit in a generically sized box (plus, I learned that even an extra inch or two of a box can be the difference between a $30 and $90 shipping cost!). I finally decided to just go ahead and create my own box from a Uhaul extra large moving box (something I probably would have asked for my mom's help with in high school). I duct taped the HECK out of that thing, and it was on its way. The total shipping was roughly $30, and I had charged $25. I sent a message to Holley that it had shipped, and she stated that she was excited to get it! My favorite part of any build is when the other person reacts to it, so it was fun to get this review from Holley:

Custom paint and professional!! Not only is this seller the nicest person and best custom service but the tray table is exactly what I asked for color and style!! Beyond impressed with the custom artistry and professionalism!! Highly highly recommend to anyone looking for custom, unique professionally build and finished furniture!! 

Coffee Table in Holley's house, once completed

Obviously I was overjoyed and very honored to receive such a high review from her. I've only sold 2 items thus far on Etsy (the other is on its way to New Jersey currently), and it's more of a thrill to sell online than it is a huge money-maker - after shipping costs and Etsy gets their cut, you really don't make too much money. Either way, I hope that this other buyer is as satisfied with it as Holley was! I think eventually (if the craigslist orders ever die down), I'll add more small items to the Etsy shop, like iPad and iPhone stands, reclaimed pallet shelves, etc.

Craigslist

The brunt of my business and orders have come locally through Craigslist and on Cerner's classified listings. I created a quick ad one night, and it was the same kind of story as Etsy - no one contacted me for a few days. Then, suddenly, I received 2 orders in the same night, including one guy who told me that he wanted to pick it up the next day! Being the ignorantly optimistic guy that I am, I thought that was easily doable. So, I set out to Home Depot at 8pm on Saturday night to gather my lumber for the coffee table! Sunday morning... around 3:30... I finally finished :) Although it was a huge time-consuming project, it felt great to have the guy and his wife come the next day and his wife look at it and say "I love it!" And to get paid for making it for them was almost surreal. This was the first piece of furniture that I had sold (long before anyone bought from me on Etsy), and it got me excited to make more.

The first of many coffee tables, started and completed on the same night

Since my first coffee table sale, I've received and fulfilled orders for 3 more coffee tables, and I have 14 more orders for tables (either coffee, console, or end tables) to create and sell. I've learned my lesson, and I now tell people it will take 2-3 weeks to have their table ready for them.

A few weekends ago I went out and bought wood to make a small cottage, and somehow managed to fit it all in our little SUV. Shout out to the Ford Escape!

Will it fit??

Amazingly, it will!

Because of the increase in orders, I've started doing them step by step in bulk, which has definitely helped my efficiency

Bulk build of the coffee table legs

Bulk build of the side table legs

Needless to say, I'm enjoying the adventure of making stuff for people on the side. I set out to raise enough money to buy a new and improved guitar, and I'm on track to get there by the end of the month!

My garage on Saturday night - a rough build of two "X" end tables, an "X" console table, and 2 coffee tables

Branson trip

Anthony and I wanted to get away this past weekend because I had some days off for work. We thought about Chicago but then decided that would be too cold. So we ended up in Branson and it was so fun!!!

We ate at Lamberts on the way down - Home of the thrown rolls!

The next day the weather was beautiful so we went and played some disc golf at an old golf course. It was such a neat course!

Lunch that day was at Danna's BBQ, recommended by Brad and Kathryn. So yummy!

We went outlet mall shopping the rest of the afternoon. 

Our Valentine dinner was sushi. The service was terrible but the company was nice :)

And then we ended the night at a coffee shop, also recommended from the Ellises!

The next day included yet another fine recommendation from the Ellises - Sugar Leaf. This might have been my favorite part. We had a great meal and then sat there for awhile and played cards. Just very relaxed and easy atmosphere. Oh, and homemade marshmallows in our hot chocolate!

And then we went and played indoor mini golf. I lost by one and I'm not ashamed to admit it. 

It really was a fun weekend. My main goals for the weekend were hanging out in my robe, eating great food and having quality time with my husband. Check, check and check!!

1 year anniversary

Brad and I can't believe it has already been one year of marriage! Wow it flew by.

 Since I was at a conference for KLIFE on the actual day of our anniversary, we celebrated a couple of weekends ago in Kansas City. A family that is very involved in KLIFE (the Kohring family) and who Brad and I are very close with (3 of their 4 kids are in mine and Brad's small groups and both of the parents are on the board) were so generous and offered to pay for us to stay in a hotel downtown for two nights! It was so sweet of them to do that for us. They have a close friend that works at the hotel and he was very helpful in giving us a discount.

    We stayed in the Ambassador Hotel, which used to be a bank that was remodeled and converted in this hotel just two years ago. After checking in on Friday night, guest services came by our room with a plate of chocolate covered strawberries and a bottle of champagne, compliments of Mr. Kohring and his friend who works for the hotel! It was so fun!

 This hotel also has a yummy restaurant in the lobby where we ate breakfast the next morning. Brad had stuffed french toast and I enjoyed some eggs benedict.

  After breakfast, we walked to Alamo Drafthouse and watched American Sniper. Brad had already seen it once but was excited to see it again with me. It is an incredible movie. When we got out of the movie, it was time to head back to the hotel to catch the KU game. We picked up Oklahoma Joe's to go and took it back to the hotel room for lunch and just relaxed and watched the KU game together.

 For dinner on Saturday, we had reservations at the Melting Pot. We had been there before for their dessert happy hour but we had not been there together for a whole meal. It was so great!! The food of course was delicious and it was the perfect place for a fun dinner with lots of quality time together. We also got a complimentary ride to and from the restaurant in the hotel's Escalade....we were high class that night :)

  We finished off the weekend with breakfast at The Classic Cup on the plaza the next morning. It was such a fun weekend with lots of good time, just the two of us.

Have you Checked?

Every single year I am surprised by new growth in my flower bed come spring. I'm never expecting it as early as it comes. It's SUCH a fun surprise!

With all the warm weather we've been having, I decided to just check and see if anything was coming up and, much to my surprise, a few of my flowers were beginning to emerge!

My hyacinths

The little crocus 

Daffodils

And...oh I forgot the name for this succulent Charlotte gave me

We are expecting super cold temperatures tonight and in the next few days. Maybe even snow. Cole and I went out and covered these precious plants in hopes of saving them for some spring blooms. 

Have you checked your garden?

(In related news: the wheat around here is experiencing some of the same growth. This warm weather has brought it out of its winter dormancy and it's started to grow. But as I've heard, "we've still got a lot of winter left", which could possibly be detrimental to the wheat if it gets too big and then gets a hard frost or freeze - if I'm gathering all this correctly from Marc's conversations. But, like marc says, wheat is a miracle crop and can produce even under the most dire circumstances. Time will tell...)