He'll Always Be My Baby

Get ready to see way too many pictures of Nathan.

He's losing his babyness (I don't want to talk about it ;) but I do want to share these pics.

In a suit Samuel wore for a wedding yesterday.  Okay, it only seems like yesterday but it was really 4 years ago.  I bribed him to put it on and humor me for 10 minutes.  

Samuel wearing the same suit.

Now I have to go and cry.

Inauguration 2013

Inauguration 2009 

(Please ignore my outfit and hair in this picture.  I'm making quite the fashion statement here, I know.  It was a hard couple of months when Cry Cry was a baby.  Please still be my friend).

His ice cream cart.

Helping me unpack.  Yes, we're still unpacking.  And he made it so much more fun as he responded with everything he opened like it was Christmas.

His signature camera smile.

Looking too big here, his hand in his pocket.

Thanks for putting up with that.  But you have to admit, he's pretty darn cute.

Tile

Tile.  Oh the tile.  Tile is very permanent.  While it's fun and pretty to look at pretty tile, it was NOT fun to coordinate tile for the whole house.  I solicited the help of several friends, one in particular (poor soul), who got the brunt of all of our tile angst.  I'm sooooooo glad all those choices are over and done.  The hardest part was not picking tiles that I liked, but coordinating them with the other features in the room.  I'm not good at picturing things that aren't 3D.  Friends were a big help in this department.

We were going with the themes of historical and timeless.  Tile is not fun to rip out.  I want to like it in 10 years.  If I used a trendier tile, I put it in a small area where it wouldn't be a big deal to change.

Carrara in the master shower.

A wet saw cut up in our bedroom.  

Subway tile for the boy's shower.

This tile for the boy's bathroom floor.

Small hexagon tile in the powder bath.  I LOVE this tile.  It was an easy decision.

This lantern tile for the guest bath.

This gray plank tile in the guest room.

Mudroom tile.

Living room fireplace.  This might be my favorite tile in the house.

Upstairs fireplace.

Subway tile backsplash.  I thought about doing something more fun, but I'm thrilled with how this looks.  It's a cheap and timeless option... the best of both worlds.

It's almost starting to look like a house now :)

Home School Shop

This is one of the reasons I love home schooling.

We have time in the school day to do things like this.

My parents are here, and living with us for two months (more on that later!)

My dad brought some tools and is teaching the boys some things in the garage.  

Don't you feel like this is what boys should be doing?

Playing with power tools.

(Please, Lord, protect their fingers).

Ashers' lips do that when he's concentrating.

Thanks, Dad, for giving the boys this experience.  

I'll show you what they're making later.

The Year of Cakes?

I've been making a lot of cakes lately.  Not because I'm that great of a baker.  I can bake, but my cakes will never be put in a magazine.  But I kind of like them that way.  I want you KNOW they're not store bought :)  There's just nothing like a homemade cake. 

A spice cake... so pretty sitting on the table.

Since we didn't do big parties for Graham or Samuel's birthdays this year, I let them pick a cake out of my Betty Crocker cookbook.  

I love the vintage appeal of some of these.

Graham chose a banana cake.

Samuel chose a caramel cake.  It was delicious.  I could eat that frosting with a spoon.

And how pretty is this cake?  We cut into it before I took a picture.

A maraschino cherry cake!  I can't take credit for this one.  My mom made it.

I may have to make another one of these for Valentine's Day.

The Betty Crocker cookbook has lots of unusual cakes to try out.  I think I might have to keep on making them.  I'll let you know which ones are my favorite.