The Hopeful Homestead

Midnight Oil...

Well, I went to bed early, but now I'm awake again, so decided midnight was as good a time as any to get caught up w/ my friends here in blogland...

First, thanks to everyone who answered my goat/ chicken questions....

Next, E's b-day tea party was a HUGE success!  I think she may have a party planning career ahead of her, as everyone (adults and girlies alike) had a great time.  We had heart shaped shortbread cookies, mini whoopie pies, cucumber sandwiches, ham sandwiches, mini bagels w/ pink and white cream cheese (w/ hearts stamped in the c.c.), 1000 kinds of tea, fruit punch, cheetos (the girls love the "natural" ones), a valentines themed cake, 1.000.000.000 conversation hearts...lol! Fresh strawberries, yogurt & chocolate covered pretzels ... ummm... TONS of fun finger food, in other words.  We decked the place out in heart themed finery, balloons, and yards of red & pink crepe paper, and paper heart doilies as well.   She planned a craft for the girls to do (heart ponytail holders she found in Family Fun Magazine) and even assembled little gift bags for all the girls.  In fact, when we shopped, the gift bags were what she did first.  She's so sweet!  She is even putting together a "party in a box" to mail to her cousins in MS so they can enjoy the fun too, even though they were unable to come this year.  So we'll be taking a field trip to the post office tomorrow at some point!

As a bonus, Al and I got to know the girls friends parents (follow that???) better, and have new friends now, with plans for a BBQ in the works.  How cool is that.  Their 3 girls are in between the ages (1 step older) than ours, and they homeschool and have odd work hours like us, as well, so, cool!

I really should be sleeping, as Mom & I have planned a trip to the coffee shop and fabric store sans children tomorrow, to celebrate her Valentines B-day.  But, as stop one involves yummy coffee, I figure I'll make it.  OH!  I forgot to mention that it snowed here all day!  E said it must have been God's birthday gift to her to give her snow on her big day!  After all, we get very little snow here in middle TN, and I cannot remember when it did so for an entire day.  It was great! (we need to cut more wood for the fire, because it was so cold... but it was great!)

On the homefront... sattelite should be hooked up in the morning (we had equipment delays...) and now that the party is behind us, we can concentrate on settling in more and slowing down a bit.  We are nearly unpacked.  I think when I get my pile of stuff for Goodwill out of the basement this next week, I'll be surprised at how little is left to unpack.  I hope to find a companion fabric tomorrow for the girls' duvet covers I want to make, then I can get on with the decorating in the loft. 

Amazingly enough, we unpacked 2 HUGE boxes of girls clothes (really a desperate search for J's tutu... it had been packed LONG ENOUGH thank you very much) and I somehow made it all fit,  WITHOUT A SECOND DRESSER!!  We put shorts and pants in some of those $10 under bed bins, which freed up a drawer apiece for all their t-shirts, and that made enough room for everything else on the one hanging rod we got them.  WOOHOO! 

I just need one bin in the crawlspace (hope to empty one downstairs, instead of buying more) for my "in house thriftstore" (clothes sized between girlies right now) to get the cardboard box out of there.  We also stored some extra pillows and linens, and a few toys I'm trying to phase out in there.  ...If no one misses them, they GO!  I think Christmas, and seasonal decor stuff will go in the other small crawlspace.  You know stuff we don't need much as I'll have to slide a bed & a toybox to get to it.  Plus that will tidy up the basement even more...

Well, this post has become frightfully long, so I think I should go... Happy Valentine's Day! and as always~ Peace be with you. Shari