Copyright

It has come to my attention that people have been lifting my photos for their own use. This is wrong! These are my photos. Please do not do so without my permission...

The New Mr. and Mrs.

Almost 2 weeks ago my sister Jessica was married to Nick...a lovely wedding...and a great celebration after...I wish them a wonderful life together...

Wedding #3

Dad and the bride doing the father~daughter dance...
A view of the head table...lovely fall decorations...

Mom and Dad~ love this pix of them!

Jon and I...after about 4 silly ones we finally got one nice pix of us!

Our little Family...

Dancing...

The kids all loved the dance! Elsie totally loved to dance~we could not make her quit dancing! She slept super after a long evening of dancing! Her aunties kept taking turns bringing her out on the dance floor...
Grandpa and Elsie dancing...

Little toes...

Love this pix...all the dancin' kids!

auntie Em and myself...a big dip at the end of a great dance!

Even doting Uncle Colter brought Elsie for a dance or two...he loves his niece for sure!

Corners of my Cottage

Here is a peek of our Cottage...a few of my favorite things...I hope to make Corners of my Cottage a once a week post of little peeks at my decorating and nifty ideas...Enjoy!
Lots of candles and a happy little pumpkin on the kitchen counter...

The large white turkey has a place of honor in the dining room this Thanksgiving season...

A Little Princess Girl

Last week we bought Elsie a little tutu so I can do a photo shoot of her soon...and she Loves to wear it! Some days she will bring it to me and make it quite well known that she wants it on! Don't be too easily fooled by this sweet girl though! She is getting quite a temper and knows what she wants! And she has her Daddy wrapped around her little finger! Jon seems to think I am being mean to put her in time out for hitting and screaming...or to take a book way for ripping it up! What a girl!

My Wonderful Pantry

My pantry is done...well almost done. We still need the stain the doors and put them on. But I can still get everything all organized and put away. I completely love the way the pantry turned out! It is large enough for the microwave, all the food and flour blends, the vacuum...even some of my seasonal platters and crystal overflow! We do have another small pantry/closet in the basement for the freshly canned food.
Elsie loves to pull the canned goods and the tupperware out of the pantry! Her favorite thing in the pantry lately has been the potatoes! It will be nice when those doors are on!

All of my flour blends...I have been enjoying baking now that I have a place to keep everything I need for baking gluten and casein free!

Sewing Project...

It's almost Elsie's Birthday! For her party I made a banner out of fat squares and felt letters. I love the way it turned out! I am enjoying having my sewing machine again!
What a festive dining room for the special day!

Time for Dinner

I love being able to have a nice dinner all ready for when Jon comes home from work. I normally plan out what we are eating at the beginning of the week and grocery shop accordingly. I make all our dinners from scratch...because I enjoy cooking and it's healthy. I have also found that all boxed foods have wheat...so we stay away from that! Last week I tried a new recipe...Bourbon Chicken over white rice with steamed broccoli and carrots. Normally Elsie is not a big meat eater...but she loved the Bourbon chicken...and the carrots and broccoli of course,too!
The Recipe: Bourbon Chicken
*cubed Chicken breast~cook in oil on stove top
**Mix together: 1 clove garlic
1/4 tsp ginger
3/4 crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 cup apple juice
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 Tbsp ketchup
1 Tbsp cider vinegar
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup soy sauce
*bring to boil over med heat...mix well
*add chicken bring to hard boil and reduce heat to simmer 20 min.
Yum! Enjoy...

Tuesday Tea Time

Every Tuesday morning my mom and the kids come over to play while the older girls are at adoration. Last night Jon and I made apple fritters and apple crisp for tea time. Once I get a little more organized we will use the china and some of the "fancy" glasses I have~ for now the plastic plates work well. Elsie is always so excited to sit at the table and listen to all the chatter...she is just one of the kids! Colter does not enjoy the tea time nearly as much as the girls...he prefers to watch what-ever "gross"show Jon has on record...normal Dirty Jobs...which to girls are completely disgusted with!

I Can Help!

Tonight I had the dreaded job of cleaning the fridge...but I also had a little helper! Jon walked up town to the football game so I was trying to watch Elsie and get some cleaning done and she really felt she needed to help! She almost pulled the jar of spaghetti sauce out but I caught her just in time! I just love how she stepped right up onto the ledge of the fridge! She kept smiling and looking at me so innocently...I think she really thought she was helping!

Silly Faces...

Tonight at dinner Elsie was into making silly faces...She looked completely ridiculous but would not quit...she seemed to know all my laughter was directed to her! She was so intense while making these faces that she would even hold her breath!

A Day at the Park...

My Mom called this afternoon and said she was bringing the kids to the park...so Elsie I decided to join in on the fun! It was a lovely fall day...not a cloud in the sky...a perfect day to enjoy the park one last time before winter comes. Elsie had so much fun...this is the first time she really 'got into' playing at the park. Her aunties had so much fun showing her everything...climbing through the tubes...the swings...the climbing wall...so much to do!

The slide was Elsie's favorite thing! I don't know how many times her aunties (and uncle) took her up and down the slide! She would get so excited...every time she wanted to go again! She sure has some very patient aunties! I remember bring the kids I nannies for to the park all the time~ that is my favorite place! It is so special that now I can bring my daughter to the park. I can't wait till next year when she can run around and play more! We will have to have lots of picnics...and I know a couple of aunties who will be more than willing to accompany us also!

Daddy's on T.V.

Elsie has a favorite movie~ the slide-show from our wedding! She gets so excited to see Daddy,mommy and all the kids! She will watch the whole slide-show all the way through without hardly blinking! When we still had the TV on the floor she would reach out and touch the screen so gently then look at me and smile as if to say wow! The whole show is only four and a half minutes long and it is just pictures with music...so I think this is a good favorite movie for her!
The picture below is one of her favorites...her aunties and daddy!

Tattoos...

Elsie's aunties love to do silly things to her sometimes! One day they tattooed the Taylor Swift logo on her foot...just see what I would say! What would Elsie do without her aunties? For some odd reason Elsie always cooperates and sits still for them to do whatever crazy thing to her...yet she never sits still for me to do important things to her like clip her nails without lots of wining!

A Very Big Girl

Lately Elsie thinks she is such a big girl~she is being very independent! She wants to do everything on her own. She loves being able to drink out of a big girl cup! She carefully brings the cup up her lips and sips on the water. She is getting very good at not dumping all the water on herself! She is getting better and better at walking, too! She is getting more daring at letting go of things as she walks.


"Children are natural mimics who act like their parents despite every effort to teach them good manners" ~Unknown

Tomatoes

Today my Mom and I canned pasta sauce with tomatoes fresh from the garden...
The sauce smelled so good as it simmered...i can't wait to eat some pasta now! I had never done tomatoes before...but it was super easy and fun. I now have 11 jars to add my stash in the pantry! I love just looking at the full shelves in the basement pantry!
All ready to be stored away for a winter dinner...

We have lots more apples to can next...pie filling and applesauce. I have had so much fun doing so much canning with my mom...thanks mom for helping me! And i have the best sisters ever that are always willing to entertain Elsie so I can learn how to can! Today the girls agreed to sit in the van and watch Elsie as she finished her nap after falling asleep on the car ride. (maybe they just enjoyed being able to watch a movie in the van uninterrupted!?) Either way...thanks girls!

No more Oatmeal!

For the last few weeks Elsie has been becoming very independent...which means we can no longer feed her from her baby spoons...thus the end of a breakfast of oatmeal! She will only eat pancakes or waffles cut up from her tray. To make them a little healthier we use homemade applesauce in place of syrup... and we mash up bananas in the batter when we cook them. Last week Jon tried to give her toast and hash browns...but she would not eat anything...she just wrinkled up her nose, closed her eyes and snapped that mouth closed up tight! I guess she just knows what she wants!

a Day of Firsts...

Elsie has been growing and changing so much lately! Today she took 4 steps ~the most most she has ever taken! Won't be long before she is always walking!
She learned how to crawl up the steps today...as I do the laundry Elsie always sits on the bottom step...but today was different! I turned to check on her...and she was on her way up the steps! I was rather surprised because she had never even tried to crawl up them before! She is a busy girl!
This afternoon we went outside to weed the flower garden and get things ready for winter. Elsie was happy to sit on the grass and play with some toys...soon she crawled over to watch me weed...next time I looked at her she had dirt all around her mouth and was ready to try another mouthful! Yum! We had just finished with lunch...so i know the poor girl wasn't starving! I guess a little dirt never killed anyone!

A New Chair...

Last Summer while garage sailing we happened to come upon this terribly ugly little rocker. It was slightly falling apart...rather wobbly and very ugly fake leather fabric. My mom talked them down to under $5.00 (because I don't barter)...and home it came with us! My dad and Jon glued it together so it was not wobbly...
Next came painting...then putting new thick and cushy foam on the seat and back...
The finished results...all re-upholstered and ready for a home in Elsie's new bedroom. Love the way it turned out! The fabric was on sale for only $2.00 a yard...and the chair its self for $3.00...this was a very thrifty chair...and lots of fun putting all together of Elsie!
Very girly details and the shabby chic look make it perfect for a little girl...

Welcome To Our Cottage...

I am Finally posting some pictures of our new home...We are still working on all the finishing touches on the inside...so for now i will share outside pictures. Hopefully this weekend the kitchen,pantry area and dining room will be done! I believe every home needs a name...so we have chosen to call our home "Barefoot Cottage"
The front door...now I need to get some fall mums to put out front
The lovely garden between the house and garage...love the bird bath!
Another close-up of the flower garden...can't wait to put my climbing honey suckle in the garden next spring!
And the peone bushes by the drive way...and just a little bit of a picket fence...someday we hope to fence in the whole yard so Elsie will have a great place to play as she gets older.