Help!

I need someone, or many someones who have a different perspective to give me some advice.

This is the dining area of our great room...

And it feels a little off to me.  Sparse, empty, boring, whatever.  It needs something to make it look nicer.  

It's in our plan to trim out the sliding door behind the table so that the curtain rod is covered.  Sort of a valance?  Anyway, I don't think that alone will solve the problem.

And I know that clearing horizontal surfaces would make a big difference, but you know... that rarely ever happens! :)

So what do you think I need to hang/build/paint/rearrange/do to make my dining area more interesting and inviting?

Cadence

I have been keeping up with my P365.  I haven't missed a day yet!  I just haven't been keeping up so well online...

Cadence has been doing TONS of cute things lately.  I file them in my brain as "to be blogged," but I always forget about actually blogging them.

My favorite happened last Saturday.  Derek was out with my dad at the College of Idaho basketball game so my friend Ann and I were having some fun girl time.  She and I were chatting in the living room and Cadence was flipping through some books.  She stopped on a page and showed it to us.  We said something like, "That's a cute cat isn't it Cadence!"  She immediately got up, walked over to the window sill where Willow was lounging, laid the open book down next to her and started jabbering to Willow and pointing at the cat!  I imagined she was telling Willow all about how the animal in the picture was a cat and so was Willow! :)

Another cute Cadence-Willow moment happened yesterday.  Willow was sitting in one of her usual spots, the back of the couch.  Cadence begged to also be on the couch (she's learned how to climb off, but not on yet).  I picked her up and she walked right over to Willow and gave her a big hug!  Willow wasn't too thrilled, but sat through it.  Now, every chance Cadence gets, she tries to snuggle up to Willow by laying her head on Willow's side.

I saved the best for last.  Cadence learned an important new skill...  It's just a little difficult to get her to do it on command.  Good thing we got it on video!! :)

1-23-11 Innocent Wonder

"Reading" a book

1-22-11

See the blurred action?  She just figured out how to take apart (and put together) mega blocks!

1-21-11

We went over to a friend's house tonight for games.  We had so much fun and Cadence was hilarious! 

See the mardi-gras beads?  She wore them all evening! :)

Just at the point where she was getting grumpy, it was brownie time!  And then she was SO HAPPY!  After she finished, she was all squeals and smiles.  In fact she was so loud that we thought we were losing our hearing! :)

1-20-11

Derek got this for me for Christmas but somehow misplaced it before wrapping it.  He was so upset!  Turns out, it was in the glove compartment of his truck and found it today!  Hooray!  Derek's so thoughtful.  He bought it after hearing me say it was my favorite Disney movie growing up.

1-18-11

This girl loves her big bear!

1-19-11

I heard an odd tapping noise this afternoon and when I turned around, I saw Cadence playing with her plastic giraffes on the table.  Not eating them, actually playing!  She noticed me taking out the camera and started walking over before I could get good shot of it though...

1-17-11

Brownie Covered Oreos.  The only thing that keeps me from eating all of them all at once is the fact that they're SO RICH!!

1-16-11

Today started out promising, but ended up being a dud.  Derek woke up feeling a little ill, but made it though church and thought he felt much better.  It was his first week teaching Primary in our ward and I think the adrenaline kept him from feeling too bad because once we got home, he immediately felt ill again and took a looooong nap!  Poor guy.

Normally this wouldn't be too much of an issue, he's gone most of the day on other days, but Cadence was being really high maintenance, I had a really dirty kitchen, the high chair was completely covered in chocolate cake, and nothing seemed to make anything any better.

Willow snuggling under the covers.  I think she was keeping Derek company.

Finally I put Cadence down for a nap and I took one as well.  It felt so nice!  After she woke up, we went over to visit my mom.  All through church Cadence kept pointing to her picture in her photo book, so I thought it would be nice to see her and possibly my dad if he was still there visiting with her.  Plus, it was something to do that was Sunday appropriate and out of the house!

When we got back home, the kitchen was still dirty, the high chair was still covered and Cadence was still high maintenance, but I temporarily solved those problems by giving Cadence a bottle, clearing the table, and hosing down the highchair tray in the shower and wiping the rest down with a cloth.  Derek woke up, we ate dinner and I think we all perked up a little.  But not much.  And then it was bed time for Cadence. 

It's now 10:30, Derek and Cadence are both down for the night, the kitchen is still a mess, and I'm blogging.  It's been quite a day!

1-15-11

It was foggy all day today.  Usually it clears up by mid-afternoon, but not today.  I think I took this picture around 1pm and it was still really thick.

I kind of liked it.  It felt like I was living in a mystery novel or that one British novel with the mist on the moors?  Hmm, can't think of the title.  There's probably more than just that one though....

The Strassers came over for dinner this evening, and Derek fixed the drums so we could play Rock Band.  It's another one of those projects that's totally, "Why didn't we do this earlier?!"

1-14-2011

I've been looking forward to today all week!  Tonight a friend of mine planned an awesome craft night!  I'm really glad we started doing this because it's been really nice to have time to make a crafty mess without worrying about Cadence being "involved!" :)  And tonight's craft night was so much fun!  All the ladies there were hilarious and I got some serious crafting done!  Visiting Teach-ees, I've got something great for you this month!

And it was a welcome break because for some reason, Cadence was grumpy ALL MORNING!  But when she finally went down for a nap, she slept for 3+ hours.  She must have been really tired or sick.  I'm  hoping it's just tiredness because she's supposed to be getting over an ear infection.  She just finished another round of antibiotics.

I did get one happy picture of Cadence though.  She's funny.  She's either 110% happy, or 110% grumpy.  Looking at this picture you'd never know how irritable she was just moments earlier! :)

While Cadence was sleeping, Derek went to install some cabinet doors for a customer who loved them. It's always nice when the customer likes Derek's work.  Even if the customer is "easy to please!" He'll be going back again tomorrow for a little bit to finish up.

I'm excited for tomorrow because we're getting Bountiful Basket bread!!  We've been out for a week and I've discovered that I can't live comfortably without it!  Their multi-grain wheat is the best.  I also ordered a pack of tortillas to split with my dad.  I'm hoping they're good too.

1-13-11

We had a nice, relaxing day today!  Cadence and I didn't wake up until Derek got home from work this morning.  That happens every now and then, but not recently.  Then we all got ready for the day and ate breakfast together.

Lunch and nap time came quickly after sleeping in and after we got Cadence down for her nap, Derek and I watched Pillow Talk while folding laundry.  It was so nice to have him help (I had procrastinated folding laundry for quite a while), and he even chose the movie!  I was shocked when he suggested it.  I never thought he'd actually want to watch it, but I guess I had talked it up enough that he just had to! :)

Playing their favorite game, "Where's the cat?"

This evening I had 5 piano lessons.  I don't usually do that many at a time in one evening, but both families (I teach 2 at one house and 3 minis at the other) needed to reschedule.  It was really nice to get out of the house and all my students did really well.  For three of them it was their second lesson.  They are complete beginners and they all did really well!  I'm really happy with the note reading book I'm using, 67 Fun Songs by Jon Schmidt.  It seems to teach all the boring stuff really well, really quickly so you can get to the more enjoyable part, playing the piano!

And when I got home, a very ecstatic girl was waiting for me.  I'm not sure what Derek fed her (ha ha) but she was sure full of fun, adorable energy!  I think she giggled the entire evening.  I'm really going to miss this stage once she grows out of it, but I'm sure the next one will be fun too!  The only down side to all this fun was that she was so wound up, it took her nearly an hour to settle down for bed.

1-12-11

I'm having trouble remembering the day today because I'm watching the Sarah Silverman celebrity clip on Conan. She's pretty funny. Odd, but funny.

We did watch a movie this afternoon, The Other Guys.  I never watched movies in the afternoon until I married Derek.  It's kind of nice now.  If Derek lets me multi-task.

The rest of the day must not have been too exciting because I don't really remember anything noteworthy. 

I've been trying to get a decent picture of Cadence's overloaded mouth face.  She stuffs her face so full to keep it closed she has to pucker her lips.  This picture doesn't show it the best, but it's close.

1-11-11

We had an awesome day today, but I got no awesome pictures to show you.  Sorry.  It was Derek's birthday and I sent him on a surprise movie extravaganza.  He had a blast and I think I've decided that we'll do this every year for his birthday.

I was hoping to get a picture of Derek standing next to a clock reading 1:11, but he wasn't home for either the AM 1:11 or the PM 1:11.  I forgot about the AM 11:11, and by the time we got to the PM 11:11, Derek wouldn't pose for a picture because he was already in bed.  But there is a picture of Derek in the background! :)

1-10-11

Today we ran a Derek-of-All-Trades errand as a family.  Derek is working on a project that involved getting some glass cut at Caldwell Glass, so I begged to go with him.  I know, exciting right?  But it was going OUT and that's exciting! :)

After going to Caldwell Glass--they are awesome, by the way--we stopped by a consignment shop and found the coolest birthday present for my nephew.  Kaleb, you've got something great coming, and it's somewhat seasonal so you might get it early!!

Our outing overlapped with nap time so by the time we got home, Cadence was zonked.  It was a little tricky getting this picture because every time the camera clicked, she'd open her eyes a bit.  I had it set on rapid fire so half of the pictures had bleary eyes peaking out from underneath heavy eyelids. 

She makes the best sleeping faces!

It took a bit to wake her up, but she's a funny kid.  Once she's awake, she's TOTALLY awake.  She went from zonked to 100% awake; eyes wide open, squealing, waving her arms in the air and kicking her feet.  It was totally cute!

I Heart Faces - Smile

Not the best picture in terms of technique, but I absolutely LOVE her smile!  And I love how B&W masks the horrible noise my ipod's camera produces!  I guess you could call it an exercise of composition.

1-9-11

We had a lovely day at church today.  It's so nice to have the morning schedule now.  Cadence is MUCH happier throughout the meetings! 

After we got home from church Derek and I both mentioned how this is the first week where we've really felt like this is really our ward.  Both of us noticed as we sat in church that we knew and have had real conversations with most of the people sitting around us.  For some reason it's taken us longer in this ward to feel like we belong, but it's probably mostly our fault.  We've sort of been half inactive once Cadence switched over to a 1 nap a day schedule.  But now we're really feeling like our "new" (it's been 8 months) ward is our home!

Cadence in her super-cute polka-dot dress.  Thanks Aunt Kim!!

1-8-11

Boy, she really knows how to ham it up for the camera!

We had Derek's cousin and his wife and daughter over for dinner and a movie this evening. I wish I had gotten a picture of Cadence and her "cousin" playing together. They are about a year apart and were playing so nicely together, but we were watching the movie and the lights were low. I hate missing photo opportunities, but I also hate being so engrossed in getting the perfectly exposed picture that I miss out on life. So I enjoyed the moment and imagined taking the perfect photo.

But I did get some excellent pictures of Cadence playing with her pop up toy earlier this afternoon. Lately, she's really been trying to figure it out. So far she can push the red button to pop up the first door, but the other two (a flip switch and a turning wheel) are just a bit too advanced for her.  I usually end up popping them up for her.  She's almost there though. 

This girl is far too cute for her own good, don't you agree?

Forgotten Pictures

Since I've been playing with my iPod's camera, I forgot that I had pictures on my big camera.  So these are a bit out of order, but too cute not to share.  Cadence's wearing her new Christmas Eve pajamas.  I love the wings on the back!

1-7-11

It's funny how sometimes in a day something happens in the morning that makes you think, "ugh, this day is going to be SO LONG!"  But then it turns out to be quite the opposite?

My "big outing" today was going to Winco.  It's been especially busy there this week because they have some hot awesome deals going on for their grand re-opening.  And when I say busy I mean it's been like the first of the month food stamp rush!  I was sucked in by the free french bread and $1 24-pack of Shasta.  Too bad there was a limit of 1 per customer on each of them! 

Derek's also been pretty busy lately!  He's working on a large-ish kitchen project this week; plus he's gotten two calls for smaller jobs as well so he's been doing two jobs at once (three if you count his early morning job)!  Even though he's not been as available as I'd like, the extra income will be really nice!

We had spaghetti and meatballs with my dad tonight for dinner.  It's one of Cadence's favorites.  I think she likes slurping the noodles in her mouth.  She's pretty cute to watch.  She chowed down at dinner, then had a full bottle, and then asked for more.  About five minutes after that, she let out a violent burp that was followed by a bit of vomiting.  Yuck.  Poor kid!  I think she just over ate (or drank, depending on how you look at it) because after 2 minutes she was back to her normal, bouncy self!

1-6-11

I'm becoming disenchanted with my iPod touch's camera.  Today's picture of Derek working out in the garage was a total mess!  Funny thing though, the only thought I had when I was looking at it was, "I wish there was a way I could change my ISO on this thing!"  I guess that means I'm a DSLR girl!

This is Cadence's "I am a child of God," vinyl wall art that I made with my new Silhouette a couple weeks ago.  And yes, there are vinyl trees on our walls in the hallway.  They're part of a family tree project that's still under construction.

1-5-11

Well, it was another napless day, but she was completely happy!  I almost thought she didn't need one until she fell asleep in her highchair at the end of dinner.  She was jabbering away and then suddenly, silence! 

Derek got a new client today.  The lady found him through a google search!  That free Google Places page I set up a while back is now worth $25!  :D  And Derek's happy because he was able to fix the problem the lady had with her garage door opener without too much trouble.  The best part by far for me was when Derek told me that while he wasn't the first result on the lady's search, she picked him because she liked his clever company name, "Derek-of-all-Trades!"

Cadence making eyes at the camera.

1-4-11

Three new piano students this week!

Belly Button

I've only got 15 minutes before my first piano lesson so I should be reading one of the great books I checked out from the library, or sweeping the kitchen, or cleaning a bathroom but instead I'm posting about a belly button.

1-3-11

Took the girl in to the doctor again today.  Last night wasn't much fun.  And surprise, surprise, she's got another ear infection... or it's the same one she had 2 weeks ago!

She was so good at the doctor's office!  She walked all the way from the car to the waiting room, and from the waiting room to the exam room all on her own!  And then she sat like an angel for the nurse while she took her vitals.

The doctor was another matter.  Since we went to urgent care, we didn't see our regular doctor, Dr. Skinner; she's wonderful.  We saw a PA who Cadence hates!  I think it's because she's a little loud and a bit brusque.  She's not my favorite either.

Cadence waiting patiently on the exam table.

The rest of the afternoon and evening was filled with no naps (Cadence), playing (the three of us), cabinet door making (our very own Derek-of-All-Trades) making and eating dinner, cleaning my dad's house (me), and prepping for piano tomorrow.  I have THREE (how did I get so lucky!) new students this month and I've got big plans to make myself a little bit more professional as a piano teacher!

1-2-11

I think I'm going for a B&W theme

Cadence and Willow have been hanging out quite well lately

1-1-11

Call me crazy, but I'm starting another P365.  I took a little break last year after Cadence turned one.  At first it was really nice not to be taking pictures every day, but after a while, I really missed it!!  So here I am again.  And here's today's picture!

Cadence sitting on Grandma's lap this afternoon