time for a change?

This morning, Arden and I went to our first-ever playgroup. It was only three houses down the road, and the mom who was hosting it not only has a boy Arden’s age, but also a daughter Rowen’s age. And the mom is my age – certainly a rarity up here where most women start their grandmotherhood in their forties, rather than still having toddlers at home. LOL. Arden was slightly amazed to see all these Arden-sized people around; normally the smallest in any group, he suddenly found himself a little bit bigger than some kids. It was a lot of fun and I think we’ll make it a regular part of our Tuesdays in the future. (I didn’t take pictures because I didn’t want to invade anyone’s privacy.)

After we got home, the dogs seemed to need a walk. Full of his newfound bigness, Arden decided to take matters into his own hands. I was laughing so hard at his antics that I could barely take these pictures. Rigby, for the record, has the patience of a saint. Lola was frankly confused by the whole deal. LOL.

And another change that I sense coming on is in  my choice of stitching projects. I’ve been doggedly trying to finish up one of my own designs (and I am enjoying it!) but the spectre of all the stuff I could be stitching has begun nagging me.  I also want to share pictures, and I can’t really show much of my own stuff till it appears publicly. So watch this space – perhaps something new will show up!

To everyone out there being blasted by more winter weather, I hope the storms are much less severe and that life will return to normal soon! Take care, stay safe, and keep warm!

schnippel, anyone?

We’re pretty sure we are the only people in Washington County, Maine who had schnippel for dinner tonight … but Niek’s curious if anyone over in the direction of Germany had it tonight.

I bought this great old soup cookbook at a thrift shop and I’ve been  having fun with some unusual soups & breads as a result. Schnippel is a soup that features ham, navy beans & green beans, and vinegar. It warms a person through and through, especially paired up with thick, homemade bread sticks!

it was fun, and mother nature came, too

Although we didn’t get dumped with the snow that our friends to the south saw this weekend, we did get some of the white stuff – and since none was forecast, it was a surprise!  We’re wondering if that’s why only two girls showed up for Rowen’s party today. But they had a blast and that’s what counts!

Nick’s party yesterday only saw slightly better attendance, with three of the five invitees coming. The boys seemed to think that just meant more for those who were here!

Arden also joined into the fun, especially with Rowen’s party. The girls invented a game based on Arden chasing them – great fun for all! He got going so fast, he nearly walked himself right out of his pants, LOL!

I had some fun with baking and judging coloring contests and the like, but the mailman made me especially happy when he showed up with Beth’s I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm chart. I won my choice of Beth’s charts in a Facebook drawing she had a few months ago, and she was sweet enough to wait till we got settled in here before I had to make my choice. This one was just so perfect for our situation here -  not to mention that I simply love the design!

Speaking of cross stitch goodness, don’t overlook the amazing sale that Mary-Kathryn has going! I’ve managed to resist so far, but the sale runs through Monday….

you say it’s your birthday?

All hail the birthday princess of Chateau Chaos! Rowen turns six years old today and started the day with gifts and a blueberry birthday breakfast.

hip, hip, hooray!

Our weekend will be taken up with kids’ parties, so if you don’t hear from me, just imagine me up to my elbows in ice cream.

a return to our regular programming

Remember stitching? Although having two birthdays this week has seriously crimped my stitching time, I did manage to put in a little time on my second sampler in the GOS series and would love to share a peek at it if you’re interested. (If you came for yet more snow pictures … never fear – just scroll down a bit. LOL.) This is stitched on Vikki Clayton’s linen. She’s discontinuing the line and I plan to buy a truckload before she does. Seriously, this stuff is absolutely fabulous to stitch on. I’m using 36 count but it’s so clear that I don’t even need my Daylight lamp to work on it. In the winter. Amazing stuff.

If you’re lucky enough to live in an old house that still has many of its original features, you’re familiar with the charm and beauty of the old, wavy glass. It turns every view into something a little magical. I’ve tried to capture that (with dubious success) this morning by taking a picture through the glass by the front door. You can also enjoy our latest snowfall – I shovelled about 3 inches after walking the dogs at 6 am.

And in closing, Arden would like to impart a little advice. He’s getting pretty bossy, have you noticed? First telling Phil off regarding the prediction for 6 more weeks of winter and now presuming to tell you how to lead your life … hopefully he’s just exploring different aspects of the ‘terrible twos’ and will soon move onto behaviors other than bossing us all about.

no two snowflakes are alike

Guess where it’s snowing again? It’s funny how everyone has their different ways of dealing with the snow …

Rigby becomes contemplative

Arden gets cozy

Niek bundles up

I love it, I have to admit. I’m a lunatic. But you knew that, didn’t you? In the snowy weather, we all read even more than usual. I’ve mentioned how much I love the local library – we go at least once a week and stock up on fabulous reading material which I then display at home so the kids can have fun picking something to read (or have read to them). Right now we’re enjoying My Father’s Dragon, but prior to that we read a Nature Packet the library had received as a donation. It was really fun reading five different books about nature and then talking about them and incorporating them into our daily lives.

Nick enjoyed a great day yesterday, and Rowen’s eagerly awaiting her special day on Friday. Nick will have his schoolmates over on Saturday for a party and Rowen will have hers over on Sunday. And then I will refuse to bake again for months. No, that’s not true – I’ve volunteered to do tons of Valentine’s Day baking for fundraisers the school is hosting. But after that, I’m hanging up my oven mitt for a little while. LOL.

But back to the snow, we all know that the very best way to enjoy a snowy day is to curl up with some stitching. And thanks to an anonymous friend who gave me a gift certificate to Mary Kathryn’s fabulous ONS, I am ready for those remaining six weeks of winter that Phil promised us! Dear friend, I would love to thank you personally if you’d consider coming out of the shadows. Thank you, and I hope you’re reading this! And if there’s still someone out there who hasn’t yet ordered from Mary Kathryn’s shop, you’re doing yourself a disservice! She’s great – friendly help if you want it, fast shipping, and fabulous rates.

sharing a word or two

 

Arden has a word or two to share with Punxsutawney Phil about this shadow business.  Arden’s not always the easiest fella to understand, but from what I understand the gist of his speech is as follows:

Phil,  man, it’s C-O-L-D up in here in Maine. Just look at how I have to dress to eat my breakfast - and that’s after Mom’s broken the ice in the sink and started up the woodstove. Whaddya mean you saw your shadow? Jeez, dude, you can just borrow my shades, do the whole gig over again … presto! No shadow! Seriously man, six more weeks of winter? You’re killing me!

But Arden does not intend to steal the limelight of today’s post, despite his dismay over Phil’s prediction. Because today is a very special day for another member of Chateau Chaos … namely, big brother Nick who turns 7 today! Happy birthday, Nick!! Continuing the relatively new tradition of eating our cake and having it, too, breakfast included a tasty bit of Nick’s birthday cake (spice cake with chocolate chips was this year’s choice) before everyone headed off to meet the schoolbus. Nick’s not only celebrating his birthday, but also the loss of another tooth (which he’s trying to show off in this picture). This afternoon we’re heading down to the bank to open his very first savings account. He’s hoping he still has enough teeth in there to get a car when he’s old enough ….

Best wishes to everyone for a fabulous day. As for Phil’s prediction, make your last six weeks of winter sizzle!

did you know?

February is National Embroidery month. Not only did I not know this, but I had no idea there was such a thing as an embroidery month. How cool is that?

So far, I have spent this first day of February mending rather than embroidering. Nick and Rowen had both torn out the knees of fairly new (and of course “favorite”) pairs of  jeans and one of Max’s favorite pullovers was suddenly sporting a few holes. So I pulled out the fusible interfacing, some heavy scrap material, the iron, and the sewing machine. Then I had a little nap after all that work. LOL. No, then I convinced Arden not to touch Mommy’s stuff, so he promptly went in and unplugged all of Niek’s gadgetry while Niek was on a trans-Atlantic conference call. Ah, the joys of working from home!

Never worry, the mending did get done (and Niek’s conference call was resumed) and I even managed to FedEx the contract for the sale of our Dutch home to our realtor in the Netherlands for a whopping $42.95. I nearly fainted. And making it even more nerve-wracking, the buyers have a full 30 days to back out without incurring penalties. My fingernails are so bitten-down that they’re practically toenails.

But I guess you could say I celebrated the kickoff of National Embroidery Month a day early. Thanks to Niek’s amazing support, I managed to sit and stitch long enough that for the first time ever, I think I had Stitcher’s Butt. My hindquarters went numb, in other words. If this isn’t Stitcher’s Butt, I guess it’s yet another sign of my advancing age. LOL! I’m now 2/3 done with the 2nd sampler in the series that I’m doing for the Gift of Stitching. You might’ve noticed the lead-in article to the series appeared in this month’s issue. I hope anyone who read it, enjoyed it.

The cheery yellow schoolbus should make its appearance at any  moment, so it’s time for me to don my Mommy Hat for the afternoon. Wishing you a very happy first day of the embroidery month and hoping all your needles slide smoothly.

when the weather outside is frightful

Rigby loves our new home. Rigby loves us. Most of the time, Rigby even loves Lola. But Rigby does not like to be cold. So when the windchill temps dropped to -10 F last night, this was his solution. (Yes, the woodstove was stoked up and putting out a lovely warmth.)

The full moon last night was incredible. I had a hard time walking the dogs because I kept looking up. The sky was so clear and the stars were so sharp you’d think you could cut yourself on them. I read someplace that the full moon was one of the fullest in recent history. How does one measure the fullness of the moon anyway??

Late yesterday afternoon I also took the kids on a one-hour walk to do our errands downtown. I later found out from Rowen that the teachers thought it was too cold to allow an outside recess, so maybe I’m a bad parent. But you know what? We had fun, and we all thawed out before dinner.

We have a happy and busy weekend ahead of us that includes indoor soccer (or football, for my Dutch friends), the birthday party of a school friend, and an overnight at Grammie’s (for Max). I hope your weekend is full of joy – and Rigby simply hopes it’s a warm one.

of snowfall, soft pretzels and smiles

Today began at 6 am with snow shovelling and pretzel-making while Niek walked the dogs. The pretzels came out great and the kitchen smells too yummy. The walkway is all tidied up and ready for the mailman – see, I figured if I shovelled the walkway extra nicely, he’d come with an armful of goodies for me. The house was chaotic, noisy, chilly … and full of smiles. Here’s Arden enjoying a post-breakfast pretzel.

There wasn’t very much snowfall last night, but the temps have certainly dropped. Still, it’s very cozy and I seem to never tire of looking at the snowscape. Here’s our walkway to the street. I’m very curious what it will look like in summer when that vine is green.

Speaking of views, I’ve been asked to show some interior photos of our lovely rental home. Well, we are still waiting on our belongings from Holland so the house is a little on the bare side, but here’s a glimpse anyway. The larger photo is what I hope will become my stitching nook. Then from the bottom up there is the staircase, a view from the library, the lovely window over the front door, and then two shots of what is now Niek’s office. (Yes, the walls are covered in maps, but it’s actually pretty cool once you get used to it.)

And for one last sneak peek before the busy weekend arrives, here’s my current WIP … you’ll see more of it in the Gift of Stitching in late spring or early summer. Thank you for your well-wishes!!

Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend! Thanks for visiting!