That's Mr. Broker to You!

Several weeks ago Nate finished all his classes,
took the test, and received his Broker's License!

Congratulations babe, we are so proud of you!

ta da!

collection complete and on the wall, hooray!
nate hung each one with tender love and care.
i love that man.
i would also love a yellow rotary phone to go on that jack.


before



painted



prep



first row



almost there



yay!

Mumsie Visits

Earlier last month my mom came out for a long weekend to help us get unpacked and settled in the new house and oh how I wish she could have stayed for several weeks! Actually, mom - do you guys want to come live in our basement? YEAH!

While my mom was here she mopped my kitchen floor, planted 50+ bulbs in my front flower garden, re-potted my plants, adjusted my kitchen shelves (that was harder than it looked!), fixed my stove top, spent hours in the backseat of our car entertaining Mabel while we ran errands (and that was truly a labor of love because she gets wicked carsick!), helped me rearrange the office, finished my entire sewing project (wow, it was crazy), helped us clean and do touch up paint at the condo, grocery shopped with me, and only quite frequently got distracted by the cutest baby ever. ;)

reading the foot book

nap with Mabel, then sewing, sewing, and more sewing

i LOVE you Mom!

Fried Egg with Sausage

How clever is this?

White chocolate, yellow m & m, and pretzel sticks.

(Image found on Pinterest...idea came from this blog)

love fern

while my mom was here last month (need to blog about that too!) we re-potted my plants....including my precious shamrock; which Nate and I have had since we were first married. it had grown really big and so we decided to split it into two pots to give it some room and fresh soil. we also gave it a major CHOP to stimulate new growth and i was a little scared at first but lo and behold it was just was they needed! (insert analogy here)

freshly potted and looking a little sad:

one month later:

Thanks Mom!

PS: the little hanging elf belonged to my great grandma Eula :)

snow

this little girl's first snow day!

Quote:

"I must learn to love the fool in me--the one who feels too much, talks too much, takes too many chances, wins sometimes and loses often, lacks self-control, loves and hates, hurts and gets hurt, promises and breaks promises, laughs and cries. It alone protects me against that utterly self-controlled, masterful tyrant whom I also harbor and who would rob me of human aliveness, humility, and dignity but for my fool." -- Theodore I. Rubin, MD

(found on http://joannagoddard.blogspot.com/2009/03/quote-for-life.html)

next time won't you sing with me?

our ALPHABET collection is almost complete!

all i need now is an "f" and an 'i"

my mumsie found a sprinkler "O" for me!

the "H" is hard to see but I think
it will look fine once it's on the wall

my assistant Fritz helped me arrange them

the original plans were to put these in our kid's room someday (we have been collecting for about 5 years), but Mabel's room is fairly small and the wall they would need to go on is right above where her bed will go. i wouldn't be able to sleep at night thinking about the possibility of a horseshoe "U" falling on her head! soooooo....the alphabet is going to hang on the big wall in our kitchen above the dining room table! i will take before and after pictures once we get it all finished. don't hold your breath though. :)