What a nice weekend

Judging from the photos that follow, you'd think Anna Kimball didn't join us on our Memorial Day weekend in Black Mountain, NC, but I assure you, she was there! See, she's in the first group shot, which was somewhat candid, somewhat posed. I really like the imperfection of it all.

We were with Henny and Papa, Uncle Austin and Aunt Jackie and cousins Tucker and Molly for four nights and three days of fun, attempts and some successes at relaxation and sleep, lots of laughing and much delighting in the kids' antics and bonding.

Always happy to be "up high" with Daddy.

Marching proudly toward the most idyllic park/playground we've ever been to.

Almost never without her shades.

Tickled to be with her Henny!

Thrilled to be having breakfast with Tucker!

He is a miracle child who apparently "presents well" according to his pediatrician. Tucker suffered bouts of vomiting and fevers throughout the entire weekend but you never would have known it. His spirits were as high as could be, he even ate heartily most of the time and declared the car ride up, during which he fell ill, as "just the best!"

We were concerned that Emery and Molly might feel threatened by one another, being so close in age and at rather egocentric ages I might add. Not the case! They weren't inseparable by any means, but they did enjoy one another's company and even shared toys.

And, blessing of all blessings, Emery even fell asleep on the car ride home. 

I'm still embarrassed and astonished I don't have more (any?) pictures of Anna Kimball. Will have to rectify this soon!

A dinner worth making again

I recently mentioned that I hadn't cooked any noteworthy dinners recently. Well, last night that changed, in my humble opinion ... I think Matt would agree, which is why I feel validated in writing this post.

Roasted Butterflied Chicken with Caradamom and Yogurt has redeemed any negative feelings I previously had about boring, dry, roasted chicken. I couldn't figure out how to copy the picture that accompanies the recipe and I didn't take one of ours so please, click on the link now so you can see how amazingly crispy and delicious this chicken looks. I will wait ...

OK, agree? It looks fabulous, doesn't it? And if tasks like butterflying chicken and tracking down cardamom seem intimidating to you, please don't let that stop you from trying this recipe. Butterflying chicken is actually very easy. There are lots of instructional videos on the Internet that demonstrate how to remove a chicken's backbone. And yes, I realize it's not that fun to get your hands all over raw chicken, but the end result is worth it, I promise.

Cardamom can be difficult to find and it's pricy, but I found mine in the bulk section of our Whole Foods and it only wound up costing me pennies.

So two hurdles removed, right? Oh, you don't have mortar and pestle? You're still not off the hook - use a rolling pin. I did. It worked great.

The other fantastic thing about this recipe is that it tastes best when marinated in the yogurt spice mixture overnight. So while it's a pain to start fixing tomorrow night's dinner before you've even cleaned up from tonight's, the bonus is that you have dinner basically done before tomorrow even comes!

Make this chicken please. It's tender, juicy on the inside, crispy on the outside and loaded with flavors you probably don't usually enjoy during your average weeknight dinner. My only word of caution is to NOT roast yours in a cast iron skillet. Yes, it looks more casual yet impressive in one, but you'll be left with a cleanup job you'd rather not tackle or let tarnish your memories of the best roast chicken you've had in quite some time.

This and that

What have we been up to? Oh, this and that.

Anna Kimball keeps growing and growing!

Henny made us a pretty, feminine shower curtain to match our bathroom "sheet" curtains. 

                                                 

Emery transitioned to a big girl bed without much drama and especially enjoys getting under the covers and tucked in - love this!

 We spend a lot of time in the front yard these days, perhaps because there are more people to see? We've become fast friends with our neighbor two doors up who has teenagers and a soft spot for my girls. Emery goes to her house to play on a regular basis and I sit at home with Anna Kimball wondering how I lucked out and if I even deserve this gift from above!

And then there's your typical two-year old running away from you and hiding when you ask her to come ... of course when you don't need really need her by your side, there she is, pulling up a stool inches away from the stove with burners flaring, pots and pans and food and knives all within her little hands' reach.

I wish I could say we've been cooking some delicious meals recently, but nothing is really striking me as worth making over and over again. Hopefully that will change soon ... until then, we'll just keep making these, since we seem to go through them like paper towels!

The best age ever

I know there's always something fun about whatever age your child is, but I'm telling you what, three months is pretty fantastic.

The newborn fussiness has dissipated and sleep training is finally beginning to work. In fact, sleeping through the night comes (and then goes), but at least it's coming sometimes!

Once Anna Kimball's been fed and if she's not tired, she requires the minimum of work (in contrast to another young lady who rules the house these days. She shall remain nameless) It's marvelous, it's a like a "set it and forget it" recipe! She's not mobile yet, so I can just leave her on my bed, oohing and gooing over nothing in particular while I putz around the house. Sure, she'd be delighted if you stop and play with her, but no harm done if you can't. The smiles abound, as do the naps (hooray!), and if I could just overlook the fact that she's still driving me to the washing machine more times in a week than I'd prefer, I'd say this is just about the most perfect age ever.

Home makeover, part 2

The suspense has been killing you, right? As I mentioned earlier, I don't feel my pictures adequately showcase the transformation, in part because I'm not a gifted photographer and also because some things are just better seen in person ... so come visit!

Let me also say that this was all done on a tight budget and I'm truly astonished by the impact you can make on your house just by moving some things around, using pieces in new ways, leaning on Walmart and Lowes when necessary, etc. When I gagged a bit at the curtains we were perusing at Walmart, Jay reminded me that they look bad because they're in Walmart! Take them home, get them out of that context and you might feel differently.

With all that said, here are a few snapshots that might give you an idea of what took place:

The living room dilemma was solved by moving the desk across the room, making a cozy reading corner and "stair-stepping" some pictures. Other fun touches included propping a huge heavy mirror against that awful mirrored space above the mantle, spray painting the coffee table that I will soon attempt to re-tile myself, and hanging some curtains. We also switched rugs with the master bedroom rug, which has done wonders for both spaces.

We didn't do too much to the dining room, since we had already had it painted and the drapes made and hung. We did endeavor to show off the new sideboard by hanging some botanical prints above it instead of that big heavy, dark mirror that's now above the fireplace. Turns out the mirror wasn't doing the sideboard any favors - how were we to know?! Jay was very helpful in showing us where we needed to brighten things up a bit and where we needed to leave "negative space" (i.e. have nothing in some places), etc.

You can also see through to the breakfast nook in the last dining room shot, where we tried out this fabulous budget curtain fix - hang a fitted sheet over a tension rod, tie up with some fun ribbon, and voila, drapes on a dime!

Speaking of the breakfast nook, there it is, as well as my little helper who tried her best to keep up with me as I scurried around the house taking pictures.

This is one of my most favorite touches - after we moved the food painting to our bedroom we had quite a bit of white space to deal with. I wanted some type of chalkboard, but never thought I'd get something as cute as this for so little. It's a $5 window we found at the Habitat for Humanity store in town. We painted one pane with chalkboard paint and got a big poster of Paris at World Market to crop and tuck into the other pane. Then we painted the window the same bright green that's in our breakfast nook. (I say we - Matt's mom actually did all of the work!)

As you try to avert your eyes from the horrid ceiling we are not fixing right away unless a money tree begins to grow in our backyard, you might notice how Jay artfully arranged more botanical prints flanked by two beer growlers - a little bit of me, a little bit of Matt!

This shows the beginning stages of Emery's room, which still needs to be painted pale pink. Again, fitted sheet curtains saved the day. We also moved Matt's nightstand into the room, switched around some lamps ... you get the idea, just keep moving things around till you get the right effect!

And for the third time, fitted sheet curtains in the guest bath. 

I never would have picked this print myself, but it works!

And finally, here are a couple shots of our bedroom, which now has the luxury of the nicest rug in the house, a painting we originally thought belonged in the kitchen, $1 lamps shades for the wall sconces that we found at a thrift store, among other things. Jay also suggested that we not center the bed along the wall in order to create more space on Matt's side and keep the room from looking too crowded. It worked! (thought it's probably hard to tell from this picture)

Our work is far from done and there are many more pending projects to be done, including fixing up the nursery and the playroom, repainting ceiling fan blades, fixing and hanging an old light fixture, possibly painting some dressers, finding a chair, a few rugs ... oh my, I'm getting tired just thinking about it. But fortunately we're off to a great and astonishingly affordable start!

Home makeover, part 1

Where to begin? Within 48 hours I got a new house this week, thanks to Matt's mom, my mom and her friend Jay who's a decorator. I wish the pictures did justice to this astounding transformation, but you'll have to take my word for it. I didn't get too many "before" pictures because Jay works like a tornado, but here are a few for effect:

Emery's bedroom

I love this shot of Jay moving the painting we had dared to hang before she arrived since we just knew it belonged in the kitchen. It's a painting of food for crying out loud! 

What did we know?! Off it went to the master bedroom!

Living room

More living room 

And yes, more living room. This space was my biggest pain point prior to the transformation, since we had to have our TV in that wooden cabinet, but nothing seemed to work well around it. 

Thankfully Jay made everything better and all is right with the world and in my living room ... stay tuned for part 2!

A day of firsts

Easter brought many firsts this year ... Anna Kimball made it to church for her first Easter, but then pooped through her dress before we could get a decent picture.

We pulled off the diaper cover, though, and gave it a go.

Emery had her first "Peep," thanks to dear Auntie Shannon. I sure do have a sweet tooth, but not for those atrocities! Turns out Emery might be a girl after my own heart, because she couldn't finish her Peep. She much prefers chocolate, a word she often proclaims with almost devilish excitement.

Emery also had her first Easter egg hunt! Though this is her third Easter, she wasn't yet walking for the past two, so we delayed this tradition until now. She got the hang of it pretty quickly, and wasn't even too disappointed when some of the eggs were empty and treatless (the tomb was empty, too, right?!)