It's been a while...

It's been too long actually.

You can see the reason I haven't blogged lately. He finally arrived safe and sound on September 3rd. Via emergency c-section. Long recovery, but I can say we're both doing fine. Baby boy Luke is a wonderful addition to our family. Looks just like big brother. Adored by his three sisters. He's almost doubled his birth weight, and for a nursing mom, that is a sweet accomplishment. It mostly means that I've been nursing a lot. The weeks are just rushing by though and we're trying to enjoy every minute. We're very thankful that God blessed us with this precious life.

Take care,
D

Tom Petty, the Great Philosopher...

Stupid title, I know, but I can honestly say "the waiting is the hardest part".

September 1st, and still no baby. I'm officially four days overdue, which isn't really a big deal. The worst part about it is being physically uncomfortable, sweaty, swollen, and tired. My mom was here for a week and a half, on vacation from work, just waiting for the baby to arrive. After #4 was born a week early, we just knew that this one would be early as well. Guess each one is different. Mom went home yesterday, and I was sure that would jump start my labor. Looks like we'll have a September birthday in the family though.

I'm about ready to go into seclusion. We're getting about 4 phone calls a day from people wanting to know if we have a baby yet. The look of shock on people's faces when they see me still pregnant is enough to make me think that I must look really huge. I've gained just a little over 20 pounds with this one, so that means it's the smallest weight gain of any of my pregnancies. A woman at the hospital last week asked me if I was having twins. Remind me to add that question to the list of things to never ask a woman. (The top of the list: When is your baby due?)

Got a beautiful baby gift yesterday. Will post pictures tomorrow.

D

The Nesting Continues...

Well, nesting is in full swing around here. I've been cleaning, organizing, and re-arranging like crazy. Yesterday, it was the laundry room, and cleaning out under my bed. (Like a new baby is going to care about that...). Today, it is the basement and the girls room. I've come to realize that I'm not making the best use of the space & furniture I have available.

Instead of cleaning and organizing, I know I should be cooking and putting things back. Problem is, I have a full freezer. There is no place to put anything!!! I know that with just a little planning and some creativity, we will be fine when the baby comes. The hardest part will be keeping us in fresh produce and milk, but Braum's is just down the street.

Saw my doctor yesterday for my weekly checkup. I'm at 2cm, but the baby is still high. This means nothing, because with my last two, I walked around at a three for the last three weeks. I did wake up last night with some labor. Sleeping is becoming more and more difficult, but it just goes with the territory.

I'm looking forward to my mom being here. I think she needs it as much as I do. It's always a blessing to have her here. She is such a hard worker and a big help to have around. I'm hoping the timing works out that we can have a little fun while she's here as well. I'd like to take her to my favorite "junque haunts". I've heard that my soon-to-be sister-in-law is a fellow thrifter, and I'm looking forward to being able to treasure hunt with both of them.

Well, I'm off to move some furniture.

D

The Countdown

I've always loved back-to-school time. There is something so exciting about purchasing new supplies and starting a fresh school year. I've been gathering things for the kids, and our return to homeschool coop. I will be spending my mornings in the nursery, so I've also been working on activities and gathering & making things for the toddlers to play with. It has been fun. Yesterday I sewed several small "apple" beanbags. They turned out really cute and we'll use them on our first day "Apple Day".

We're also counting down the days till baby #5 arrives at our house. I've been nesting like crazy, and trying to get all of the baby stuff carried in and readied. I've been washing diapers and baby blankets, and have the bassinet set up in my bedroom. Can't wait to see a sleeping baby in it. Since we don't know whether it is a boy or girl, I've purchased two "bring home from the hospital" outfits, and will just return the one we don't need. They are both adorable. We're still working on a girls name. If it is a boy, it will get the name we were planning to use when our three girls were born.

I'm hoping that the baby can be delivered by my regular doctor. This means it would have to be born sometime between midnight Sunday and 5pm Friday. I'm also hoping it doesn't happen during something else... football practice, cheer practice, coop, Sunday school, Church. I'd like to be peacefully at home if possible - I'd settle for just being at home - I have a feeling once the kids know "it's time", nothing will be peaceful about it!

D

Excuses, Excuses...

This is a recent picture of my feet. This was actually taken on the trip home from Iowa. Most days, my feet look like this...


Last week, while my children were at Grandma's house, I worked on a couple of projects. This is some art we did for my daughter's room. There are actually three canvases, each with a different design. I think this one might be my favorite...




Finally, this project was the big one. I had this dresser from way back. (I think it was actually a family antique from a long time ago, but it had seen much better days.) After much deliberation, it was decided that we would just spray paint it and put it in our daughter's room. I am thrilled with the color choice (peacock blue), and it makes me happy just to walk in her room and see it. I would not recommend spray painting a large piece of furniture in the middle of July, while you're 8 months pregnant, but I'm glad it's finished. The two photo boxes on top of the dresser were purchased at Michael's this week, and they are going to go in her bookcase.


We are trying to prep old plaster walls for paint, a process that is taking much longer than we expected. Cheer camp and football practice are starting next week, so our evenings will be crazy for a while. Hopefully we can make some progress on the walls this weekend. It would be nice to have it done before the baby is born. Funny that I'm decorating an 11 year-old's room and not a nursery.

D

Friday Happenings

This is hubby's first official Friday "off". They have implemented a new "flex-schedule" at work, and he is taking advantage of having every other Friday off. With as many honey-do's as we have at this old house, it will be nice to have three day weekends on a regular basis. He's off to pick up some supplies to finish running a new plug in for my new washer. He's got all three daughters with him, so I'm sure he'll come home with his legs talked off.

#1 is gone to see the Dark Knight with a friend. This leaves me entirely home alone. Spent a few minutes checking the blogs I read, and now I'm off to sort the massive pile of laundry that is taking over my bathroom. Hopefully in an hour or two, I'll be washing enormous loads of laundry in my new washer. Did I mention that I have a new washer?!

Have a great day,
D

You know it's been too long...

Since your last post, when every time you decide to "blog", you have to recover your password...

I had great hopes to keep this up, but things have been very busy.

We went on vacation to Iowa. I know, most of you are thinking that's a strange place to vacation, especially when you don't really know anyone there, but we had a great time at family camp. The kids loved our family staff helper, and were so sad to leave. (Thanks Elisabeth - if you read this.) The strangest thing happened while we were gone. Being 8 months pregnant, I swelled terribly while we were away from home. Once we got back, my ankles returned to normal. I'm thinking it's because we didn't drink tea while we were gone.

We are getting ready to start back to school. I've been working on our schedules, and dropping off business at the copy center. Hopefully before this week is over, we'll have a few early days done. The kids are going to Grandma's next week so mom can nest a little. When they get home, we'll jump back into things so we can get a couple more weeks done before Cinco gets here.

I've been nesting a lot lately. Cleaning out drawers, shelves, cabinets, etc. I love seeing the progress I've made. We've taken about 7 sacks of stuff to Goodwill, and I've got a couple of rooms left to go. Today, I've been painting furniture. (Probably not the best thing to do since it's spray paint...) Been taking lots of breaks though. The worst part is - the paint is peacock blue, and with the overspray, I'm beginning to look like Mama Smurf. The paint is a great color. Will post pictures of the finished product.

Two great finds at Goodwill today. A small mahogany end table $3, and an oak card catalog for $10. It has twelve drawers and will work great in my sewing room. I love getting a great deal!

D

Thursday's Happenings

I'm trying to stay in the habit of posting, so I thought I'd post some of the day's happenings...

We had a busy morning at home, just enjoying our time. Seems like we've had someplace to be every day this past week, and it's nice just to relax a little bit.

After lunch, we took #1 to work, and ran a few errands before heading home. Picked up a pair of flip-flops for a mom's party I'm going to on Saturday, then went to Walgreens. They had a huge bunch of grocery items on clearance, and I got some things for our trip to Iowa. After our $40 shopping trip (yikes), I filled up the van (YIKES). Well, I didn't fill it... the pumps cut off at $75, and to be really honest, I didn't even look to see where the gas gauge fell after starting the van.

When we got home, the girls played in the basement, and I did a little sewing. I used a couple of curtain panels that were given to me, and made a bag for groceries. All of our local stores are selling re-usable cloth grocery bags, and I thought with all of the fabric I have available, it would be great to use it on grocery bags. I'll post a picture soon. The girls all want one for themselves. Thought I might try to get a bag done for each of them to take on our vacation.

Well, I need to pick up #1 from work, and we have a busy evening. Kids are going to a homeschool social, and DH & the younger sibs & I are going to grab a bite to eat and run a couple of errands on the way home.

D

This Week's Greatest Deal (so far...)

Last night, #1 son had a half-hour guitar lesson, so our family loaded up and went to Target. We were planning on purchasing a rolling ice chest we had seen on a clearance rack the week before. There were approximately 8 coolers on the shelf when we had seen them the first time, so we weren't worried about them being gone.

Well, we rounded the corner of the aisle they were on before, and it was bare. Nothing. Nada. No $29.99 ice chests marked down to $20.00. My heart sank, and I couldn't help but be a little perturbed at DH and his quest for the best deal in town. I took a deep breath, and walked further down to where the regular ice chests were. DH was still searching, thinking maybe they had moved the summer clearance stuff further back. I spied (on the very top shelf) four rolling wheels, and a square ice chest on its backside. It looked a little out of place, as I'm sure I did, trying to reach it being 7 months pregnant. When I got a look at the sticker, I knew it was the ice chest we had seen the week before. Cynthia Rowley for Target Summer 60 qt. rolling Igloo Cooler (Originally $29.99 - or did I mention that before?) Well, we didn't see a clearance sticker on it, but took it to a price checker, and you won't believe what we saw.... $7.49!!!!!!!

I was in disbelief. I scanned it again to make sure it wasn't some mistake. We are the proud owners of a new ice chest. Total with tax: $8.12. If I wasn't so wiped out from all of the excitement, I would post a picture.

D

How long has it been?

I've been thinking about starting a new blog lately, but decided just to start blogging on this one instead. We'll see how it goes, and if I keep it up, maybe my reward will be a fancier new blog.

I've been reading several blogs, and some have links where you can share your menu or maybe a kitchen tip, and I've wanted to participate, so I may give that a try too! Boy wouldn't that be something, being able to add a link!? For someone as non-techno-savvy as me, it would be a real accomplishment.

To say our family has been busy lately would be an understatement. This summer, #1 turned 13, and started a volunteer job, and we've been busy with his schedule. We are expecting a new baby in our family ("Cinco"), in August, and mom's energy level is not what it used to be. It seems to be all I can do just to keep bread available, dinner on the table, and groceries in the house. We are trying to be more aware of our driving, so I consolidate most of my errands on the days #1 has to work. This means a couple of days a week I actually stay home. Today was one of those days. I've worked on my sewing room, trying to get some things organized, but it's hard to see any progress.

Today I baked four loaves of bread, breakfast bars for DH's lunch, and cleaned. Dinner tonight will probably be chicken spaghetti. It's rainy outside, and that sounds like a good dinner choice. I'll probably use Pioneer Woman's recipe and have an extra casserole for the freezer. That will be very handy when the baby comes.

Dianne

What I baked today...

This morning, we woke up late for church, so it was a cold cereal morning. After returning from church (late) we grilled carne asada tacos and I made two dozen whole wheat tortillas to go with lunch. By the time lunch was eaten and put away, it was 3:00pm. I worked for a little while on a project for my geography class, then we went to kids choir. Dinner was homemade waffles, with butter & syrup or powdered sugar. They taste like funnel cakes! My kitchen looks like a tornado hit it!! I joked several times that I was probably the only crazy woman from my church that came home and rolled out two dozen homemade whole wheat tortillas. Bet everyone who ate out has a clean kitchen. But what they don't have is homemade whole wheat tortillas leftover for tomorrow.

Also, our okra crop came in today. One pod. It's a nice one though. Still can't decide whether to boil it or fry it.

D

Long time, no blog...

Well, I can't believe it's been so long since my last post. So much has happened. We went on a great summer vacation, school has started, my baking has started again as well. Most of my summer was spent avoiding cooking -- if at all possible. Now that the weather has turned cooler, I am back to baking. I had planned on doing a breadbaking tutorial, but my mill was acting up. After sending it to be repaired, I have been baking a couple of times a week. Maybe sometime next week, I'll take some pictures during the process.

BTW, To follow up the last post - we brought in our old microwave from the camper after about two months. It wasn't unbearable to live without one. We just had to plan a little better. Heating leftovers in a steam basket was quite the experience - and warming anything dirtied twice the dishes. Since I do most of the dishwashing around here, I caved, and we brought in our $29 e-wave - it has two dials... very fancy.

We're taking a field trip on Monday to the State Fair. I'm sure I'll post about that next week.
Dianne

Ode to Convenience Lost

Oh, how I'll miss your powerful ways,
The convenience of cooking with microwave rays.
You took up much of my counter-space,
Whatever will I put there in your place?
This morning when you sparked, I could have cried,
I knew right then that you were fried.
So now, a more efficient planner I must be,
No last minute defrosting for me.


My microwave bit the dust this morning at 6:45. Right in the middle of finishing dh's breakfast. I penned the poem not long after. I'm accepting the death of my microwave as a challenge to see how long I can live without one. I didn't use it for cooking very often, mostly bacon, defrosting meat, and softening butter for baking. The top 5 things I'll miss about my microwave are: 1. softening butter, 2. cooking bacon, 3. defrosting meat, 4. cooking frozen & fresh veggies, 5. melting butter for popcorn. Aside from the fresh/frozen veggies, sounds like I could do without the rest - we're eating too much bacon and butter anyways.

Cut #1 daughters hair today... 6 inches off. She is very happy with it, and I must admit, I did a pretty good job. I'll try to post a pic soon.

We had 47 people over for dinner Sunday evening. Grilled burgers and hot dogs, and everyone brought buns & chips. We had so much fun getting to see friends we haven't seen in a while. We've had company every day for over a week now.

Well, we've got one more day of VBS. It has been fun, but the kids are worn out. Glad it's over tomorrow.

Upcoming Bread Tutorial

I've been pretty busy at home lately, but in July (after our vacation), I plan on posting a step-by-step breadbaking tutorial. My aunt wanted my bread recipe at a family reunion over the weekend, and I thought it would be a fun way to show her how to do it. This is the aunt that when I told her I had a blog, she said "I'm sorry, I think maybe a laxative would take care of that."

Baking bread causes me to slow down and prioritize. I really enjoy turning out a finished product. With housework and child-rearing, there are many days that your work seems fruitless. Dishes just get dirty again, floors don't stay clean for more than a few minutes, and there are always meals to fix, laundry to wash, and someone around my house is always hungry. When I bake, there's something to show for my efforts. Plus, the real payoff is in knowing that my family is eating healthy fresh 100% whole wheat bread - and it tastes great!

Time Flies & Flies (the buzzing kind)

Sounds like its going to be another busy day.

One child has a coop fellowship on the south side of town, one child has a birthday party on the north side of town (within an hour of one another). I'm trying to coordinate a ride to the birthday so I won't be driving for two hours this evening!

The flies are so thick in our backyard. They're the biting kind. They're biting the dogs and us! I am going to the farm & ranch vet supply today to see if there's something I can do for them. We're trying to keep the poop scooped, and I'm going to wash the deck with pine-sol. We set out a couple of traps, but I think they're worse because of it. I know a bath wouldn't hurt either of the dogs, but Jack is too big for me to bathe outside without a squeeze chute!

Well, I'm hearing the pattering of footsteps upstairs, I'd better get some breakfast going for everyone. Hope you have a great day!

Monday's Happenings

It's been a pretty busy day here at our house. The two oldest girls went to Vacation Bible School at a local church, while the oldest and youngest children helped me run errands. I have managed to check the following things off of my to-do list today...

1) purchased invitations for birthday party
2) purchased okra seeds - I know it's late, we haven't given up on our garden!
3) picked up mailing envelopes at office supply store
4) packaged and dropped off books that I sold at the post office
5) dropped off comforter & down blanket at cleaners
6) washed and hung out sheets
7) cleaned out fridge
8) ordered Financial Peace University materials for next year's homeschool coop.
9) worked in the yard
10) started dinner (marinating some meat to grill)
11) wrote out invitations for birthday party
12) got gum out of 3yod's hair - had to cut a few curls out!
13) posted on my blog

Whew, it's been a busy day!

Happy 12th Birthday to my Son

To: My "Little Man"

You are growing up so fast! Seems like just yesterday we were bringing you home from the hospital. You have brought so much joy and happiness to our lives and we are so proud of the young man you are becoming. You are getting to be such a big help around our house, and such a good big brother to your little sisters. We are truly blessed to be your mom and dad.

We Love You Very Much

Happy Birthday!!!!!

No, I Do Not "Bake" Cottages...

I should have known that question was coming. I have actually always wanted to bake a gingerbread cottage though. One that looks like my little house would be a fun project.

Well, today is Friday, and there is lots to be done here. The front yard needs to be mowed, the back yard needs to be mowed, the rose bed needs to be weeded, and there still isn't anything planted in the garden. YIKES! I tried to buy tomato plants last Saturday, and they were all terrible looking. I will resume the search again today, and hopefully they will be in the ground before today's rain comes. It would be nice to get as much done today as possible, since tomorrow is a big day at our house. Our oldest, (and only boy), will be 12. (Where has the time gone?!)

I'm so excited!

Well, I've finally done it! I've wanted for a couple of weeks to have a blog, and here it is. This blog is mainly to share with family and friends who are far away, and to chronicle the never dull life of an "above-average" family.

The name "cottage baker" comes from the fact that I live in a cottage house that was built in 1925, and I am a home baker. I mill wheat into flour and bake all of the bread my family eats. I'm excited to share my baking hobby, and my cottage renovations online.

My above-average family consists of my husband of 17 years, and four children (one boy, three girls). We are a homeschooling family, and lead a "learning-centered" lifestyle. We believe that learning does not always take place between 8am & 3:30pm, with your nose in a textbook. This does not mean that we don't use textbooks, (we do!) but that we value learning "experiences" as well as things you can learn in a book.

Well, this will do for a short introduction. I look forward to keeping in touch.