A Little Mother...

Elsie is become quite a good little mommy to all her baby dolls! Today she was rocking about 4 dollies at one time...what a busy little mommy!

Corners of my Cottage...

This is the view of the kitchen I admire everyday as I rock Elsie for nap time...I love that this picture makes the floor shine like it clean. (which trust me it is not!)
No house with children is complete without alphabet magnets all over the bottom half of the fridge...

The lamp and a candle in the living room...

Our bedroom...

Elsie's bed time teddy bear on our bed...

Portraits of Elsie Jane...

This afternoon I took some portraits of Elsie...she cooperated so well...but that who wouldn't with that huge dish of ice-cream?! This a pathetic amount of pictures I have uploaded for this post...I took over 150 pictures...so it was a hard decision to choose which one to use! Enjoy...

Sewing Project...

The Amy Butler Bag is done! This was a very easy pattern...I was able to sew it all in one day! There are 6 large pleats in the front of the bag...I had never done pleats before...but they were super easy to do!
I added some pretty little embellishments around the top for a little creative flare...

Elsie cooperated so well while I was sewing...she nicely played on the floor with a basket of stickers and markers...after I was done she was so proud of the bag and wanted me to hang it in the entry with the cloth shopping bags...when Jon came home she wanted Jon to look at the bag right away! Nice to have a little daughter be so proud of my little accomplishments!

Heat Wave in Minnesota!

Today the temp got to 9 above zero...what a heat wave! The kids must have thought today was warm enough for swimsuits! Elsie and Emma both came walking out of the bedroom with swimsuits on! Nothing like dreaming of hot summer days in the middle of winter...
Bathing beauties...at least they left Elsie's clothes on under the suit!
Dreaming of summer...

Photobook...

Today we got our little photo book in the mail! It is a tiny book...4"x4"...and filled with random family pictures. I only did 2 pages in the book and Jon did the rest! I had gotten a coupon for a free book when I did the grandparents Christmas books...but the expiration date was when I had hurt my back...my back hurt to much to sit at the computer...so Jon being the great guy he is,finished the book!
Such a fun little book...I can't wait to do more books now! I have been working on Elsie's baby book for several months now!

When we ordered this little book...we also ordered prints of all Elsie's baby pictures! Lots of pictures~ a whole year worth of pictures! Now I need to get them all organized and into scrapbooks!

Jon's Project...

This evening Jon worked on putting the sheet rock up on the ceiling in the dining room...he rented a lift from the hardware store so he could get it up by himself...a friend did come over for a bit to help...but Jon did most of it himself!
Our (okay maybe my) plan is to be able to texture this weekend...than paint!

Jon gets so focused on a project that he doesn't even want to quit! I finally told him he had to call it a night or he would worked till midnight!

Balancing Act...

Today I was sewing at the card table since the main table is in the garage for the remodel...and Elsie wanted to see what was going on! She tipped over this tupperware bowl and used it for her little step stool! She thought it was pretty clever to reach up on the table to get into everything!
What a girl! Hopefully tomorrow I will post pictures of what we have been busy sewing for the last few days!

Hiding Place...

Peek-a-Boo! Today Elsie discovered this hiding place...there is a small space just the right size for her in between the book case and the wall...she would stand there and "read" her books! She thought this was a great place to hide!
A perfect fit! Elsie is in such a fun "discovery" stage...everything is a new and grand adventure to her!

Ice-Cream...

We have finally discovered a wonderful dairy free ice-cream recipe! I found it online...but cannot remember what site. Now we just have to get some ice-cream cones...
The Recipe...super simple and not to un-healthy either!
-1 (13.5 oz.) can coconut milk
-4 Bananas
-8 oz strawberries
- 1/4 cup rice milk
*blend together in blender until smooth...freeze in ice-cream maker for about 20 min...Enjoy...

Apple Sauce Muffins...

A few weeks ago I made these very good muffins...full of super good flavour! Last week I used this recipe...but put it in a bread pan to make bread! Elsie loves this for an after nap snack...
* 1/2 cup softened butter
*1 cup sugar
*2 eggs
*1 cup unsweetened applesauce
*1 &1/2 tsp. cinnamon
*1/2 tsp. cloves
* 1 tsp. allspice
*1/2 tsp. salt
*1 tsp. baking soda
*2 cups rice flour blend
** Cream butter and sugar...add eggs
**stir in apple sauce and spices...add remaining ingredients
**Fill muffin tins 2/3 full and bake 18-20 min at 305'
** sprinkle with sugar before baking
~enjoy!~

A New Toy...

The consignment stores in town are all having big 40% off sales storewide...so I had to stop in and see what I could find! I found a few little outfits and a spring jacket and a few story books...all under $4.00 for each item! I also found this wooden abacus toy for only $2.00! I love finding such a good find! We are careful to make sure Elsie does not have silly toys with far to many buttons,lights and noise! We prefer simple toys...wooden is best...educational and imaginative are even better! We want her to know how to use her mind and be creative...
The abacus now sits on the end table...and Elsie spends lots of time moving the beads back and forth...

Learing to Cook...

For a couple of nights this week Elsie and I spent the night at my parents house because Jon and my dad were out of town. All Elsie's aunties love to spend time with her and show how to do crazy things! Auntie Laura was helping Elsie prepare the salad for dinner! Laura plunked the head of lettuce down in front of Elsie so she could break into small pieces and put in the bowl...Elsie was more that excited to help!
She had to try the lettuce...

She would chew it for a bit...than spit it out and put in the salad bowl with all the other pieces! She had to test it first I guess! I think Elsie is the luckiest girl around to have such patient aunties...they only laughed and fished out the pre-eated pieces!

Inauguration Day...

Yesterday we watched Inauguration of President Obama...Even Elise got in on the action! History in the making...

Corners Of My Cottage...

A picture of my lovely Kitchen...that is sheets of paneling leaning up against the cabinets!
The ceiling in the dining room...

The corner of the dining room...

These pictures can mean only one thing...Jon is working on a project! The dining room walls had wallpapered paneling...and behind the paneling was sheetrock...so Jon is riping the paneling off so we can texture and paint the walls. He is doing the same with the celling. I detest remodeling projects...I go crazy in an unorganized,messy house! Jon is aware of this and is speeding along to get it done...hopefully all will be back to normal before long! Jon's advice to me is to think of how lovely it will be when it is finished...

A Girl and her Style...

I am sure you will be seeing lots of post dedicated to Elsie and her wonderful style! I have to laugh every time she brings me more clothes that she wants to wear...lately she seems to be into the layering look! In these pictures I had dressed her in her jean dress with a turtle neck and leggings...she added to her look with a heavy sweater...and later with her puffy vest! She walked around like this for most of the morning...I thought she must have been rather hot!
Later on that day she did let me take off the sweater and vest...but she found her jacket...so she wore her jacket around the house! Ya never know what she will find to wear next!