And Another Thing...

Making the house fit

I am always changing things around here, trying to find the best fit that is also aesthetically pleasing.  When you cram 7 people, 2 dogs, a cat, some kittens and a guinea pig into 1600 square feet, you're going to have to do some juggling of furniture to find the best arrangement.  Well, we have been here for 4 years now and I am still diligently working on it.  I've finally found a color scheme that I like and I am slowly working it into the whole house.  But the furniture?  That's a whole other story...

This is our family room where it all happens.  This is where we snuggle, read, play games, watch television, you name it.  We do have another room that we could gather in, but no one seems to like it (which I will tackle at a later date...).  I am always trying to figure out a better way to fit the couch, chairs, tables and dog beds in here and I have yet to find an arrangement that I really like.  I think I am going to start looking for a nicely used Ektorp corner sofa to put in here.  I wanted one from the start, but due to financial constraints, I'm living with the free loveseat.  

I LOVE our TV cabinet.  It is such a great piece and it works perfectly.  The cabinet is an antique pie safe that my mother used for storage since before I can remember.  A couple of year ago I strong-armed her into giving it to me to use as a pantry.  When Oliver and I were trying to decide what to buy for a TV cabinet, we both suddenly realized how perfect it was.  I am planning to paint it and style it up a bit, but I have no idea when I will get to that.

The next issue is the dining area.  I LOVE my table, it's absolutely perfect for our family.  Unfortunately, it is way too big for my dining ares which is only 100 square feet.  When we put the leaf in, this bad boy expands to nearly 10 feet long!  What we would like to do is put in a banquet underneath that big window and wrapped around the corners.  If we do that we will not be able to put the leaf in which would be a problem when we have guests.  I think we'll still do it, we'll just have to figure out alternate seating.

So I'm not sure there is actually any point to this post.  Maybe just to vent a little and roll some idea around.  If anyone has any suggestions or perhaps an extra $1200 for the new sofa, leave a comment!

 

What I'm Pondering...

I have a few things on my mind today and if you have any answers or solutions, I'd love to hear them!

- Why does the mom down the street think it's okay to ship her daughter off to my house to "play" uninvited and then suddenly remember that she has to run to to the store so, "Would it be okay if she just stays there?"  This is happening several times a week lately.  And what's more, she basically refuses to let my girls play at her house. 

- Exactly who is it that keeps peeing on the toilet seat and then not flushing?  All six of the other people that live in this house steadfastly deny it and I know it's not me.  Taking my cue from Sherlock Holmes, we must have a house elf lacking in bathroom manners.

- Why is it bad to have pizza every night?  In my entire life I have yet to figure this out.  It's the perfect food, has the capability to include all the food groups and then some, and tastes different each place you get it.  What's not to love?

- Why do the loud, rude people get all the attention and results?  Shouldn't we be listening to the people who are kind and compassionate and ignore those who refuse to act accordingly?

- What should I plant in my garden this year?  Should we dig a big pumpkin patch?  Do I abandon tomatoes entirely?  What about cold frames, yea or nay?

Have a great weekend everybody!

Look What I Found...

You can even pre-order and then sit on your hands until August!  So far away!

I cannot believe that someone so nice would would tempt me so cruelly! 

#1 Sign of a Sleep Deprived Mama?

That is a Tupperware cupcake container with a loaf of lemon bread inside, totally melted to my top oven rack.  I stuck in my (totally cooled) oven during the party on Saturday because I had nowhere else to stash it in a hurry.  Since then, I have kept telling myself (when I am not anywhere near the kitchen, of course!) that I need to take that out before I turn the oven on!  I told myself that Saturday night, and again at church on Sunday and again in Target on Sunday and then forgot when all the kids got sick.  Unfortunately, I did not remember until I went to put the oven omelet in the completely preheated oven for tonight's dinner.  What you see above is the disastrous result.  Ollie is trying valiantly to get the melted plastic off of the oven racks.  I say pitch it and order new ones.  An oven mitt, a metal spatula and 3 washcloths were also casualties of this profound lack of memory.  I think I'm going to hit the sack now.  It seems appropriate!

Oh!  Ollie just told me that the oven racks can be saved, the plastic peeled right off.  And the lemon bread inside?  Still moist and springy!

I guess I just have to suck it up!

Well, I have not been able to successfully transfer my blogger account to this blog and that makes me hoppin' mad very sad.  I guess I will just link to that blog until I can figure it out.  Bummer.  Hopefully anyone who actually reads this will visit us at both places because the blogger blog has some really cute stuff on it.