interview with ellie

in the spirit of the red carpet tonight, i'm here with ellie odenwald in her new house. we've got an exclusive interview with her concerning all things fun! here's what i found out:

kate: hello, ellie. thanks for joining me tonight for this interview.
ellie: (silent)
kate: so...since you've last been interviewed (have you ever?), you moved into a new house. how are you liking things?
ellie: good
kate: yeah? what are some of your favorite things?
ellie: i like the porch, and i like, um, upstairs.
kate: what about upstairs?
ellie: i like that i have a dress-up box in my closet. that's it.

(ellie's picture on the left. mommy's on the right.)

kate: is there anything else in the house that you like?

ellie: um, uh huh. i like in this house that you have a craft room and i like that i have a little brother.

kate: do you play with your little brother?

ellie: yes

kate: where do you like playing with him?

ellie: in the playroom and in the living room both. i like playing with kaleb with the hammer and with my kitchen.

kate: do you want to talk about the other pictures you took?

ellie: yeah. i like my magnet board.

kate: what do you do on it?

ellie: i spell words, play school, and put my artwork up there so kaleb doesn't get it.

kate: what was the third picture you took tonight?

ellie: i like the stairs.

kate: what about the stairs?

ellie: i don't like falling down, but it's fun to run up and down there. bath time! mommy, can i go take a bath?

kate: yes. do you have any closing remarks?

ellie: what?

kate: do you have anything else to say?

ellie: i like my camera. and that's all i have to say.

prior to tonight's interview, ellie was tasked with taking pictures of the 3 things in her new home that she loved. it seemed a bit unfair to do this after dark, as the backyard is truly her favorite spot to be. and from someone, she's learned that crocs are great yard shoes (could that be fabo?) and will ONLY go out back with crocs on. no socks. just crocs. oh my ellie!

Day at the Museum

I've learned so much about all these bank holidays that I never knew about...This months? President's Day.

And my 3-year-old told me "it all started with 2 presidents: George Somebody and Abraham Lincoln." Man, she's smart! And then a fight ensued between her parents about the celebration of President's Day. I told the family it was to celebrate those 2 presidents, who both had birthdays this month. Eric insisted it was to honor all Presidents past and present. Google to the rescue - according to History.com, we were both a little right. The holiday originated to celebrate the presidents' birthdays (only after MLK Day in January did the 2 men have to share a day) but now celebrates the legacies of all presidents.

So how did we celebrate? By going to the Austin Children's Museum and only serving chocolate milk to drink in our house - I'm sure the presidents all drank their fair share of chockey milk, right?

 "Mama, put the camera up and let's go! We've got things to see and do!" So off we headed downtown. We parked at City Hall and walked the 2 blocks to the museum. A bit of a chilly morning, but we sufficed by running short little distances to warm up :) 

The feature right now is "Geometry 1-2-3" so all things geometrically-related were on display to play with and experience. The first exhibit had 4 chairs like for Goldilocks and her family (too small, too big, just right). Ellie looks thrilled to be photographed with her brother. Kaleb is already looking for the next exhibit.

 Ellie went fishing, and measured the length of her catches on a tackle box by the pond. Kaleb went for a swim :)

 The kids pretended to be busy bees (something Kaleb is exceptional at doing) and crawled in/through a honeycomb. They even chased one another from side to side. I love watching these 2 play so well together - they truly are best buds at this stage of life! (As an aside, when I picked the kids up today at school, the babies were on the enclosed porch and the big kids playing on the playground - separated by a white picket fence. Ellie, who lives for outside playtime with her friends, was giving Kaleb kisses and raspberries, making him squeal with laughter. She was telling her friends, "this is what my brother likes me to do." And she's so right!)

Ellie crawled in to a triangle of mirrors, which created THOUSANDS of her! She thought it was so cool!

 And for my proudest moment of the day...my kids made a quilt :) Not really, but there were felt shapes on a plastic "bed" that you could lay out a design as the one on the wall behind Kaleb. Ellie made a red and black pattern. Kaleb taste-tested all the felt pieces, go figure!

Tonight, Eric met up with some guys after dinner, and so I had craft time after the kids went to bed. In the temporary absence of bins or shelves in/on which to store all my fabric, I've got it laying on the floor in piles, sorted by color. So what better to do than to work on sweet Kaleb's Robot Riot quilt? It was so fun, but after making only teeny tiny progress in a half hour, I realized this quilt is going to take FOREVER. I've got to find ways to break it into do-able, attainable sections that will allow me to complete enough to feel accomplished at each work session.

The best part? When I finish blogging, I can turn off the light and shut the door, and the mess can stay for tomorrow night!

hobbies old and new

for the old hobby...crafting! i've been at it tonight working on a quilt from a collection of fabrics found in my stash. they were originally purchased over 2 years ago for  a lofty goal to make a bed quilt for my great-grandmother's green bed ellie sleeps in. it was lots of work, and i wasn't totally into quilting, and i didn't absolutely love the pattern. needless to say, i've had the supplies taking up space for 2+ years. so last month, i decided to repurpose the cute little retro prints into a baby quilt.

when i attended january's austin modern quilt guild meeting, i met a fun, spunky girl and her mother - the mother was the creator (i believe) of villa rose quilt designs. so in my post-meeting internet surfing, i came across this pattern:

 and without knowing too much more set out to create my own 'hot tamale' quilt with free (somewhat, i guess) fabric! tonight, i finished piecing the top, and i think i like the way it's come together thus far. my blocks are bigger and not as varied as the original pattern, but i still like the sweet baby-ness to it! in coming days, i'll work to sandwich it together and get it quilted.

and one more shot of the craft space...we ventured out to book people this morning with coach and nonna, and i picked up a new book that i'm super-excited to start working through...it's got some great quilts in it!

and now on to my new hobby...i'm debating even writing these next few words, but i feel accountability is needed, so if others know to what i'm aspiring, i might follow through. i'm working towards running a 5k. i know, it sounds so little in comparison to those of my friends/family who have worked to train for and complete a marathon, or even multiple marathons, but for me this is HUGE. i'm not really a runner. i've never had an interest. i picked volleyball in high school because it was a small, finite court. but i think this will be a great way for me to train this spring to get into an official exercise routine. i think there's a 5k in austin every weekend for every festival that takes place in fredericksburg :) so it shouldn't be hard to find one that excites me when the time comes. for now, i've found a website that will take me from being a couch potato to a 5k runner in just 9 short weeks - i'm skeptical, but i'll do my best to stick to the plan!

i've just got to spend my daylight hours wisely and work outside before dark, and save the crafting for after the kids go to bed. excited about these little adventures of mine :)

valentines day

happy valentine's day! our little family celebrated this day of love by taking the kids to dinner. ellie picked mama fu's - mostly, i think, because of the close proximity to the playground :) we played for a bit - in fact, this marked kaleb's first time to actually play. previously, he's always sat in the carseat, usually asleep. man, he's growing up! we slid together, ellie climbed the big playscape and the little one. she ran around taking our orders. the kids got in the things on springs (for lack of knowing what they're really called), and even bounced a little together - kaleb loved this!

 ellie posed in this tunnel pass-through-thing...it reminded me of a kids' store (at richardson square mall, i think) that we used to frequent, and in addition to the real-sized door, it also had a round tunnel of a door for kids to climb through. can't remember anything more about the store, but it was a memorable one for the entrance!

and then on to mama fu's for some yummy food! we all 4 shared a couple of dishes (kaleb only got to eat the rice, but he loved it!) before heading over to target for a couple of things and then on to home.

we opened a present from nonna -  thanks for all the books! we've read them all week long, and they're great new ones to add to our collection! (cacky sent some cute duds - ellie's shirt and headband can be admired above.) and then took a bath and headed for snuggies on the couch. what a great way to celebrate the day!

and my husband was no nice to text me my daily thoughts from him that in matthew, the writer reminds us that we, "who are evil (read, imperfect), know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven given good things to those who ask him!" (matt. 7.11) how cool to think that eric and i as parents loved our kids so much to do this for them, to have a great family night with lots of playing and fun - and to think that God can do that so much better for each of us because He's perfect. And he WANTS to do these things for us, just as we want to do fun things for our kids. I'm reminded again this week that we love because He did so first (1 John 4.19). Thank You, Jesus!

Settling In

Our house is coming together so great! We are excited to have all but about 2 boxes unpacked, and those have books in them that we haven't read in months, so there's really no rush! The kids are adjusting rather well. The have fun in the playroom together. Kaleb has really taken to his chair, when his sister isn't in it (she has one of her own on the other side of the room...of course, that's not the one of interest, though, so why would she choose to sit in it???)

And with wood floors, and it being winter, it's a bit chilly downstairs, so we have worn house shoes much more often than we ever have...ellie's complete with painted "toes" and ruffles!

my craft room has been christened with the completion of valentines for both kids' classes. and this afternoon i've got my sewing machine out on the desk and a quilt laid out on the floor, and i'm working to piece it together. i've hung partially-completed projects on the rod in the closet. my thought is that if i see them out and more accessible, i might finish them faster...we'll see :)

here's the GREAT-looking light my husband worked hard this weekend to get hung for me. it rocks! and we undertook this project in the midst of having no internet to consult about how to wire for lighting, etc. ikea picture-instructions work just well, i guess.

now to work on a cute valence for the window and some more stuff on the walls to make it such a fun space to hang out in. i'm finding that when i get off of work in the afternoon i'm coming home to retreat to here for an hour or a little more before i have to go pick up the kids at school. it's great me time, and i'm so thankful for the space! in exchange, i have conceded to eric that his half of the garage can be used as a climbing wall. (the garage is narrow - probably too narrow to park both cars in and get kids in/out, even after all our moving stuff is gone). i figure that way we can each have our own space in this house to spend some time relaxing and doing something we each enjoy.

andy's adjusting rather well also. here he is cuddled up on ellie's bed - his favorite place in the apartment, he has discovered, moved to the new house as well!

he hasn't gotten used to his giant floor pillow bought for downstairs, though, and still doesn't understand why he can't get up on the couch with us. i think in time he'll find it's great...we'll see.

we're really enjoying our living room, though, with the addition of the floor rug, which really softens and warms the room to make it more enjoyable for family playtime nightly after dinner. the kids have their kitchen behind the couch, and kaleb crawls all over for his little bin of toys on the rug. it's really a great space for us!

in kid news, kaleb is LOVING bath time these days! ellie was never this excited about getting in the tub: 

i think the usual bath routine is to take kaleb's clothes off, then start the water, so that he can stand at the edge of the tub and look in as the water fills. he hyperventilates and smiles and stamps his feet impatiently, and then practically dives in when we help lift him over the side! he crawls over his sister from one end to the other to get toys and letter and the cup and washrags. he's taught himself to drink out of the cup, and once or twice even almost drown due to the massive water intake from the cup - he learned quickly, though!

ellie's still good at letting him take over bath time. i guess someday soon they'll have to follow one another in the bathtub instead of bathe simultaneously, as kaleb really is enjoying the time to crawl around and explore. and as a friend of mine used to bathe their kids, we'll determine who gets the first bath by which kid stayed cleaner throughout the day :)

and lastly, the kids and eric took a walk last night before dinner so ellie could get in her first bicycle ride on the new sidewalks, and they were done super-fast! ellie rides like a speedster! she told me she had fun on the sidewalks, and from what i could see from upstairs, she did really well at steering and peddling on her own. andy appreciated the outing as well. 

we are looking forward this weekend to a visit from coach and nonna. ellie's biggest highlight at this point is that she gets to sleep on an air mattress in the craftroom. mommy's biggest highlight is that she gets to go on a child-less date with daddy - thanks coach and nonna!

we're home!

We started a new part of our journey Friday morning...we became homeowners again! If you keep up with our happenings, you know this was not really our plan, but apparently it was His plan - and we are so excited and on board with that plan now!

Friday morning, we woke up, took the kids to school - which was a treat for me since I am usually the picker-upper - and then proceeded to complete our final walk through of the house (everything was still in order) and then on to signing! It seemed we signed 7,000 documents, and most of them for the 2nd time (these lenders, I tell you) before it was all over.

We were even fortunate enough to walk out of the signing with a house key! We were given strict instructions at this time (10.00am) that we were not, under any circumstances, to access the house prior to 12 noon. Which was no problem by the time Eric picked up the u-haul and we loaded up at the apartment. We actually got to the house right at noon, and started the fast and furious unpacking.

We've been in severe drought in central Texas since last summer, and last week we got 6 inches of rain in just a little over 24 hours - actually made the news on Good Morning America for flooding in Austin that shut down I-35 near the apartment. So we figured we were in the clear so far as inclement weather, but how we were wrong. Austin had anywhere between a 30% and a 70% chance of rain on moving day - of course! But the clouds started breaking about the time we headed from apartment to house, and no one got rained on until late evening, after the moving into the house was done. Praise the Lord!

 Our house! And if you notice, the house next door has the same color trim. And so do several other houses on the street. The house painter must have gotten a deal on a big bucket of teal paint!

Our first meal...with many of our friends who helped move - thanks to sarabeth, mom and dad, will 1 and will 2, aj, and (not pictured) brandon. you all were a tremendous help!

some pics of the end of the first day...in the house a little less than 12 hours, and there was cable on the tv, plates/cups/utensils in the kitchen cabinets, and a playroom full of toys. it doesn't get any better than this!

our room was low on the priority list, so we spent the first 2 nights on the mattress on the floor. it all got put together today, and it looks just as great as everything else!

fire in the fireplace (gas logs are great!), mantle decorated, and kaleb happily playing with his toolbox. what a great afternoon he and i had! ellie slept, and eric went to pick up the pieces of furniture we bought. the first, a pie safe...

and the second, a chest for our tv to sit on, complete with game/dvd/wii storage:

the kids discovered the under stairs closet this afternoon, and immediately asked to drag some toys in there...it could be utilized much more than expected!

first meal on a gas stove again (so thankful to have gas again!) consisted of grilled cheese and ramen noodles. and a glass of wine out of the great new fridge.

the kitchen put together a little more tonight. clean countertops, no more boxes. whoo hoo!

one pooped out little girl who was a great help all weekend unpacking and entertaining her little brother while we unpacked. i think she likes her new house lots!

moving memories

i want to remember this week. this night. we are inside of 48 hours of our closing appointment to purchase  a home in austin. just a mere 8 months after relocating to austin. 8 months after our son was born. what a change the past 8 months has held!

i remember the sea of emotions we went through in the transition from fredericksburg to austin, the last few feelings of sheer excitement of what the future held - we were so anxious to get into the apartment here that we moved one week earlier than originally planned. we imposed on ellie's birthday (i don't really think she minded) to utilize family who were already in town for the birthday party. we all caravanned i believe at least twice that weekend from the 'burg to austin to drop off loads of stuff, and then all of us (the 4 who live here, both sets of grandparents, and an aunt; that makes 9 and a dog) worked to unpack and get settled in a little bit. but we were so anxious to be here!

the next week, i believe, we went door to door and invited our neighbors, via a cup of cookies and a tag with time/date, to hang out one sunday evening behind our building in the green space. we met our first few neighbors. ross, who lives next door to us, has become a friend of eric's - in fact, eric's over there now spending one last evening as neighbors. i love that eric had the heart and desire to spend time building that relationship over the past few months, and then took the time out of doing things (like packing) to spend with a person. my husband rocks.

we also met jetty, an older single woman, who lives on the other side of our building, and closes on a house of her own next week. and although she's slightly crazy (who's not, really?) she always says "hi" when we run into her in the parking lot, and always tries to talk to ellie. she was the one who talked me into trying the HEB in buda "because it's nicer" (it's not) and she's now buying a house in kyle to get "a little more out of the city." she told us we should do the same. ha ha!

i hope and pray that we are as vigilant from the start to meet our neighbors on our new street. eric got to meet our next door neighbors (kind of) last week. when we were walking through our house once more just for fun, our realtor's kids watched a movie in her suburban - and thus killed her battery. with not a set of spark plugs between the two of us, eric headed over and rang the doorbell. grandma was babysitting the kids, and didn't interact much except to loan a pair of sparkplugs, but the contact was made. and a funny story to go along, "remember that time we came to borrow spark plugs...yeah, great first impression..."

there's an older-ish man across the street (i think that's what i saw), and i hope we can assist him in meeting some of those homeowner needs that become less easy as you age - perhaps helping with the yard, or little odds and ends around the house. who knows...

on a lighter note, i want to remember tonight. i've been packing all that i can fit into any box we have left. we're seriously running short. dang, moving takes lots of boxes! but i digress...

i planned our menu this week knowing that i'd already packed up much of the kitchen, but kept out the essentials for 3 home-cooked meals still. monday night was taco salad - no problems. tuesday night was homemade pizza; i forgot to buy pepperoni, so it was just sausage and cheese; no real problem, just no variety.

tonight, though, was the grand finale. chicken tenders (tyson, frozen, heated in the oven) with fresh green beans and homemade mashed sweet potatoes. so i get ready to peel the potatoes. oh, wait. all THREE of my peelers are in a box somewhere. a big one. unaccessible. so i peeled with a knife (careful not to cut off any fingers). then i realized, thank goodness before cooking them, i also didn't have a masher or my hand mixer. so the potatoes were cut into teeny tiny pieces to facilitate faster, more thorough cooking. mashed with a fork, slightly lumpy, but overall ok. the green beans got steamed with a cereal bowl over the pot because all the lids to my pots/pans are packed. with the peelers. oops.

and finally, i decided that since no more cooking will happen in this apartment, i didn't need my spices - into a box they went. including all FOUR bottles (2 unopened) of liquid smoke. i only use it for baked beans. goodness, that's a lot of liquid smoke - we could make all our food for the next year and a half taste like mesquite BBQ. maybe something to try...

i realize this post is long, and with no pictures to entice anyone to read further, so i promise pictures with the next post. of the house? of the kids? of our new neighborhood park/playground? who knows...stay tuned!