Purple Day

We discovered that there is NOT a lot of purple to be found in this house. The only color I think we would find less of is pink.

Here goes....

Lavender scented reeds - this was my Christmas present from Cooper. I find the scent of lavender so relaxing; I really like it.

Rob's ski hat - he looks like a cute joker when he wears it.

Remember our 2004 Christmas picture?

Digging around some, we found lots of purple blocks. I had to snap the picture quickly because these purple blocks didn't want to stay sorted for very long.

Here is the remainder of all of the purple items in the house.... a fuzzy spider, Ramone the car, the cover on a magazine that I haven't had a chance to read yet, and an un-finished scarf. I did knit a few more rows when Rob took over the computer this evening.

Purple is the last color day in Betts' rainbow project. We've had a fun time finding and capturing the colors and trying to chase away the winter 'blahs.' The project also gave me the motivation to dust some areas that hadn't been dusted in a while! Thanks Betts!!

Green Day

It is GREEN DAY! My favorite!

I didn't have to look very hard to find green in almost every room.

First stop, the bathroom: Porcelain fern tiles over the sink (another craft sale find, by Stillwater)

The bathroom stencil - my first project in this house was to repaint the bathroom.

The Jade plant that I started from a little cutting off of Grandma G's family heirloom plant.


I'm certain I could find a dinosaur in every room. Many of them are green.

Well, tomorrow is purple and the final day of Betts' rainbow project.

Yellow Day

We do have yellow! Here is some of the best:

A bright bug hanging over the bulletin board

Lemons I put in the kitchen window about the time of year when I think Spring should come

A favorite craft show find - a pottery bowl (& salad covered with hard boiled eggs)

A birthday gift that made me cry - sunflowers on tile by my Mom-in-law

A hunky fireman, my dream guy, in yellow

Tomorrow is Green Day!

Orange Day

Orange day was a little tougher, but here is what we came up with.

Diego's Rescue pack along with "T I double grrrr."

My favorite candle, spiced pumpkin, in the one location that our resident fireman will tolerate candles(on the stove top).
A milk frother, used primarily on weekends when I have the few extra minutes it takes to make some frothy steamed milk. Ok, this is something I could definitely give up AND use the cupboard space for something else, but it was $3.99 at TJMaxx and it does do the trick for a yummy latte-like drink at home.

Cooper's bathrobe, a gift from Great G & G, and our little "fishy" hot water bottle that soothes any little tummy ache.

Tomorrow is Yellow Day. We have lots of lovely yellow!

Red Day

Day 2 of noticing the colors in my life, it is Red Day.

Here's my favorite coat, a gift from Mom & Dad.

This is my newest attempt at keeping the papers & bills from piling up on the desk. I found it at TJMaxx a few weeks ago. I do LOVE red!

A corner in our room is home to this neat red star. This along with the shelves below were the cause of the first holes in our newly painted walls in the addition (sorry, Grandpa).
This little bottle collection from Gardeners Supply was a Christmas gift from Rob a few years ago. When I opened them, a few were cracked, but when I wrote the online customer service, they shipped me a whole new set, no questions asked and I didn't even need to return the broken ones!
Rooster, has been a fixture here since my first mother's day when I woke up to find him on the pillow next to me. He watches over the kitchen most of the year, but naps through the holidays when Nutcrackers take his post. Brady was rather irritated with me this year when I tucked Rooster away, but happy to see him return when the Christmas decorations were packed away.

Tomorrow is Orange Day.

Blue Day

For the next week or so, I’m going to play a sort of ‘blog’ game that I discovered on a friends’ blog. Thank you, Betts, over at Damn Yankee, for this bright idea. The idea is to post pictures of the colors in your home, one color a day for each of the colors of the rainbow.

I loved this idea for a couple of reasons:

1. Going into our 5th month of winter white, Betts’ colors on her blog really seem bright and cheery!

2. Taking pictures around the house of little colorful treasures goes right along with my recent decision to consciously make the effort to take joy in all the little details of my “simple life.”

3. It seemed like a nice opportunity to say thank you in a different way to the people who make our life so colorful.

I’m a few days behind Betts, but the first day is blue day:

I treasure these Currier & Ives dishes passed along from Grandma & Grandpa G when I moved into my first place by myself. I've used them daily for about 14 years.

The newest addition in the kitchen is this hand-painted canister set made by Rob's mom. Each canister depicts a scene from her Dad's farm. Even the knobs are hand-painted.
Another gift designed, created & sent to us by Rob's parents is this stained glass that hangs over our bedroom door.

I love drifting off to sleep looking at the colors on the ceiling that a little light casts through this window.
Finally, copying Betts on my final blue thing, how can I resist noting these 2 sets of big blue eyes.

Tomorrow is Red Day.

Gettin' Creative

We've had our share of cold winter days this year. I've often said that I could happily hibernate through winter, and this year I seem to be trying out that theory. I do at least have some finished projects to show for it. Here's what I've been up to:

Project #1: Finished a neat scarf to go with my brown coat.

It was made with help from both boys on the "knifty knitter." It is so easy that they can help wrap the pegs & pull the yarn over with the little hook tool that comes in the kit.

Project #2 started when Brady tugged a little too hard and broke a favorite necklace. The fixing of that necklace led me to JoAnne fabrics and a sale on jewelry making supplies. Next stop, an out-of-the-way gemstone shop where I found some beautiful stones. Here's what happened next:

Little fingers try to help with these projects, too. I'm finding it works best to get out these supplies when Brady is sleeping. The bracelet below was my first piece along with a necklace to match.

The "Jasper" stones are my favorite. I've been planning my wardrobe around the bracelet below.

Project #3: A sweet sentiment on our bedroom wall - "Always kiss me goodnight"

This is vinyl lettering that I found at Kohls (It is supposedly easily removable when warmed with a blow dryer). I chose this sentiment because it reminds me of Great Grandpa G.
As long as I don't run out of supplies, I think I could hibernate!

Catching Up

I'm a bit behind with my updates, so this posting will be a hodge-podge of the past few weeks (but things I definitely don't want to miss out on sharing with you)!

Super Bowl Sunday was a fun day for us..... First, because Rob & I celebrated our 6th anniversary, but we also enjoyed the festivities of the big game in our own party style complete with 3-D glasses for the beginning of the half-time show.

I couldn't resist a quick click during the national anthem (above).

A few days before, we celebrated the much anticipated 5th birthday! One of Cooper's daycare teachers said that she has never seen any child more excited to be turning 5. He's been talking about this birthday for at least 3 months. Finally, below you'll see one of the reasons that we don't get enough sleep (this is our bed), but aren't they so cute?!

Well, thank you for catching up with me.

With love,

Dee

A helper to blog about

One morning last week, I found Cooper watching TV and folding the washcloths from a pile of towels that we hadn't gotten around to folding yet. No one suggested he do this, and it just pleased me to no end! He really is a sweetheart and such a good helper.

"Giraffee is hungry"

I couldn't resist snapping a picture of this scene. When I asked Brady what he was doing, he said, "Giraffee is hungry." This soft, stuffed Giraffe was a present to Cooper from his Great Grandma & Grandpa when I was pregnant for Brady. Brady adopted him a few months ago, and "Giraffee" has become a faithful sidekick to Brady, going anywhere with him that we'll allow him to go. Although we've loved many stuffed animals, this is the first 'permanent' attachment to a stuffed animal that we've seen in this house. Giraffee is holding up to washing pretty well so far, but his neck is becoming a little floppier. So, there you have it, bet you didn't know that Giraffes like fruit loops!