The rest of our holiday was fun and anything but restful – but that’s okay, I’d rather eventful and full of laughter than filled with slumber. And it was all those things. And yesterday was unbelievably productive in the craft department. I yarn bombed our stair railing and made a Christmas tree skirt out of an old family quilt (my first of hopefully many sewing projects). Tutorials to come.
In the meantime, enjoy Courtland and James’ experimentation with ‘staches. Kaki thought it was hysterical to have a fuzzy caterpillar-like creature above her lip. Happy Movemeber, indeed.
I am so so so thankful. Namely for these three faces. And so much more. It was a delicious and festive first Thanksgiving at Cartwheel Farm. Filled with plush chickens and turkeys, sausage stuffing, champagne and pomegranates, snuggles, cooking, dancing, feasting, and family.
1. Happy Turkey Day, complete with a photo of me and James on the first Thanksgiving we ever spent together back in 2007.
2. Noshing nibblies and lounging with Doda.
3. The plush flock watches over the proceedings.
4. Story time.
5. Taking a break from cooking.
6. Note all the empty wine bottles. And the unopened ones to come.
7. Setting the table. Complete with kale flowers.
8. Kids’ table for the girls! With gobbling wild turkey stuffed animals.
9. This was the best photo of the bunch. My girls in plaid.
10. And with their auntie.
11. Kimmy and Sunny hamming it up.
12. Ah, the Kids Table.
13. Surprisingly, they both sat contentedly for nearly 10 minutes before they demanded attention and monitoring.
14. We feasted. And it was good.
Happy happy Thanksgiving to all, with love from all the critters of Cartwheel Farm. Including the newest addition, Francis Turkey. We hope that next year we’ll have a real live version of this little fella on the farm. Sunny has already named this future bird, Larry. For now, she’ll have to be satisfied with Francis.
And why, yes, that is a wood stove you see in the above photos. Kimmy brought this Vermont Castings stove out to the farm – with many thanks to her generous colleague. Now we just need to go through all the steps and precautions to get ‘er installed. Oh I cannot wait to have some cozy wood burning happening in the house. So Vermont, no?
We are thankful to be able to celebrate our first Thanksgiving in Vermont with our healthy, happy, growing family. Tomorrow, we’re off to the Poconos to see James’ side. Happy Turkey Day, everyone!
This will be the third time that James and I have hosted Thanksgiving dinner in our own home. Since we first did the honors back in 2008, we’ve locked in two signature dishes that will forever be a part of our gluttonous festivities. And I have a feeling that this Sweet Potato Vichyssoise is about to join the ranks.
This year, all of the food and decor has been locally sourced, which is a pretty awesome (AND delicious) thing to say. What are you cooking up this Thanksgiving? Any recipes I should be sure to try? How will you be celebrating?
Well, y’all know that I’ve really drunk the Vermont hippie Kool-aid when I’m titling posts “Ornamental Kale” and bedecking my Thanksgiving table with such. But seriously, is this not the most beautiful leafy green you’ve ever seen? It is truly going to be a local Thanksgiving dinner, from the turkey to the mashed potatoes to the produce decorating the table. And best of all, these “flowers” will be fresh for a month. Genius!
Kaki approves, too. How will you be setting your Turkey Day table? I’m preparing for my family’s arrival as I type – and no doubt, Auntie Kimmy, Table Setter Extraordinaire, will make things even more gorgeous.
The first year James and I hosted Thanksgiving dinner, we were living in Los Angeles and I was newly pregnant with Addison. Kimmy and two dear friends were our guests, and we put all of our wedding haul to work for the first time. Hurray for roasting pans, fancy china and pretty glassware! Kimmy and I purchased a stack of red cloth napkins for the occasion and they have been used many times in the following years. Unfortunately, they were looking a bit worn and discolored, so I decided to give them new life with this simple DIY: Bleached Ombre Napkins!
It was interesting to discover that of the eight napkins – three of them bleached to a golden yellow, and the remaining five, to white. Very odd indeed – so I won’t be using them for this Thanksgiving dinner with our table of eight – but can use them for smaller meals in the future.
1. Iron the napkins flat. Sunny “helped” with her toy iron.
2. Lay each napkin flat on a bleach safe surface (I have old tables on our back porch – but I would recommend protecting anything that you don’t want to be discolored or destroyed by the bleach)
3. Using a spray bottle filled with bleach, spray from one corner up to the middle of the napkin – or in whatever pattern you’d like. I heavily saturated one corner and misted as I moved toward the center.
4. Allow each napkin to dry. Then launder, dry and iron again to set the table with your new, ombre napkins.
About a month ago, James embarked on the tedious task of painting the exterior of our house. If you do not want to undergo this tedious task, you can hire experts from Painters Care. The south side was chipping and peeling like crazy, and we knew that we needed to get it cleaned up before the winter to avoid having to do some real clean up and damage control come spring. We made the decision to change the house from a dark, khaki green to a warmer, purplish grey, with white accenting (and my bright yellow door!). You can see that our barn hex was our first project to test these colors, and given how much we adore that piece, our inspiration for the whole house. We realize that we’ll have a multi-colored house for awhile – but the hope is to tackle the other sides of the house in the spring/summer.
We used Benjamin Moore exterior paint in the colors above. And, this is what the house looked like before. You could install Timber stairs to add a touch of natural beauty and warmth to your interior design.
Then James scrapped and sanded and washed the side of the house, replacing two window sills and some rotted out siding in the process. To which he suggested that you can try Lifetime Exteriors if you seek for a much professional help or if you need advice related to siding and windows.
Whole house reverse osmosis systems can restore water quality to homes affected by astronomical levels of TDS or dangerous quantities of contaminants like hexavalent chromium.
He swore by the Paint Eater to expedite the project.
He chaulked any gaps…
And then he got to priming. He applied two coats of primer before applying any paint.
And finally, the paint! Two coats of paint…
Plus a little helper…
You can see one of the window sills he had to replace in this photo… and Sunny’s expert painting skills.
They were quite the team. Visit Appliance Hunter’s website for tips and guides on reducing your c02 emissions at your home.
AND FINALLY! After a whole month of hard work and rapidly falling temperatures (you can’t paint if it’s below 40 degrees) – he finished! And it looks amazing. We also like to thanks to Euro Painting for supplying us the best!
And now I’m itching to do the rest of the house… but we must first get through our inaugural winter in Vermont!
What do you think of the new look? Have you ever had to paint a house before? It sure is cost effective (we did the whole thing for under $500 – versus the thousands it would have cost to hire painters – plus we have left over supplies to do the other sides) – but it was also a ton of work and time. Totally worth it, especially considering the potential increase in value when we decide to sell the house. If you’re considering selling, you might want to explore options at this cash house buyers pueblo for a smooth transaction.
Weekends are definitely not a break when you are a parent of small children. In fact, I get less time to myself on the weekend than I do during the work week. Granted, when I’m in the office, the time is not truly my own either, but I at least have moments when I don’t have someone or something needing, wanting, demanding my attention or focus.
It’s not a complaint. I adore this stage in my life. I adore my girls. Home ownership. My marriage. But I find that by the end of every day I am completely drained. I don’t have anything left to give those in my life who aren’t in my immediate nuclear family. After pacing after Courtland, monitoring her every move, mindlessly, constantly following, watching, helping, cooking dinner, picking up toys, clipping burrs out of the dogs’ fur, changing yet another diaper, washing the clothes, managing Sunny’s emotional meltdowns, bath time, bed time, routine routine routine… I am spent. And all I want to do is collapse on the couch and not talk. Not think. But just be. Me. So I knit myself into a zen sense of quiet. Or I mindlessly edit photos, load them to the blog, and catalogue the highlights – those sparks in my day that are the reason I slog through the routine. That are the reason I truly do love my life. Being a parent.
I carve out this space that is mine in a day that otherwise isn’t.
And I get up the next day and do it all again. So that I can continue to have moments like that of a walk with my family on a cold November morning. Because I am so so fortunate to be able to claim this as my life, and these people as my own.
This day sure snuck up on me. I hadn’t planned on writing you a letter for this milestone. I said that a year ago. Why I thought that this half birthday would feel any different, less filled with stories and developments worth marking, I do not know, because you…
You?
You are amazing.
You’re kind and loving and creative and smart and so so SO very sweet. From the way you play with your baby doll, making sure that she’s tucked under her covers so she doesn’t get cold at night, to how you carefully stow Shaun the Sheep in an old pretzel jar to keep him from getting eaten by coyotes. From how you hold your little sister’s hand and lead her around the house, teaching her how to push the grocery cart or how to feed the dogs or how to crawl through the tunnel into your forts. From how you help Daddy put the chickens into the coop each evening to how you line up your stuffed animals and tell them stories from your favorite books. Fletcher and the Falling Leaf is your current favorite – we read it nightly – and just this week you’ve had you face painted TWICE with Fletcher’s icicle covered tree. From the way you absolutely rock out and sing at the top of your lungs, word for word, to any Taylor Swift song to the way you hug me so tightly and still say, “NO! I love you to the moon and FRONT!” and giggle with the silliness of your claim.
Your make believe continues to be absolutely mesmorizing. This evening your daddy and I listened as you built a road out of your blocks and drove a toy car up and down the road, pretending that our family was on a trip to Cape Cod. You imitated each of our voices, and when impersonating daddy, you made this goofy, gruff voice and even said, “Okay kids, now we’re going to Cape Cod. Wait! I forgot my wallet. I have to get it. Then we’ll go to Cape Cod.”
Oh you know your father all too well for a child of only three years, 6 months.
You are a delight, my darling. Not without tantrums and complicated 3-year old emotions, but every day I am struck by what a pleasure it is to call myself your mommy. I went to my first of many Parents Nights last month, and as we went around the room introducing ourselves, I had the privilege of saying, “Hi, I’m Ashley. Sunny’s mom.”
And I want you to know the pride that I felt in that moment as those words exited my mouth. And I want to you to know the pride that I will always feel with those words, with that fact.
I am so proud to be your mommy.
143 Mama
Here is a song that you learned recently at school. We now hear it daily during mealtime, as you take note of what food groups we’re eating.
