Birthday feast

Tomorrow is Libby's birthday, but we're going tomorrow afternoon to stay at my sister's so we can go to Lagoon (amusement park, about 140 miles from here) on Thursday. So tonight is Libby's birthday feast! She wanted mashed potatoes, sausage gravy, and corn on the cob.

I'd never done oven-roasted corn before, but it was so easy I doubt I'll ever do anything else from now on. No soaking required. Fantastically delicious. Easy. Shucked right at the table as we ate it (silk everywhere, ha!).

Happy 12th birthday, Libby Loo!

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Now playing: John Denver - The Eagle and the Hawk
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Beetle the Bard

The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling
My review
rating: 4 of 5 stars

The kids got this book for Christmas, and they all had read it by December 27. I wasn't into it then, for whatever reason.

Picked it up last night when I decided I was going to reread the Harry Potters and book 1 was MIA. (Down in Jackson's room, it turns out.) I really enjoyed this little book. The stories are cute, even if they don't have wider applications for Muggles than educating us on wizarding lore; and Dumbledore's commentary is pretty great. Definitely worth 40 minutes of my time.
View all my reviews.

17 Years

Coldplay wrote a song about my walls, because they're all yellow. The painting is done! The only things that remain to do in the kitchen are hung up in process, so I suppose today is a house cleaning and kitchen-reclaiming day. We're almost done, yay!

Today is our anniversary. I got Blaine a pneumatic brad gun and other rad tools, and he got me a beautiful new kitchen. And some flowers.


And note the yellow wall! :) Here's a flashback to seventeen years ago:


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Now playing: Coldplay - Yellow
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Bottom of the ninth inning

Last night we got a lot of cupboard doors on. I still have plenty of little projects and one big one for today, so I can't show you the whole thing done. But I can give you this little teaser of before and after. :) (Click to see bigger pictures.)

WHEW!

By 6:45 a.m. Blaine, Christian, and Jackson had to be at our church for cub scout day camp. (Blaine's the cub leader.) By 6:45 a.m. Libby had to be at a different church for a week of girls' camp. Emma left yesterday morning at 7:45 for the fourth year campers six-mile hike-in, where they have to pack all their own food and stoves and tents and everything, and she'll hike into the girls' camp this morning.

It's 7:02 and I feel like I've already done half the day.

More kitchen painting for me today—and it's just me and the three littlest here. :-/ How do you think that's going to go? Two more days of painting, and I should be done. *crosses fingers* All the knobs and handles are on the freshly painted cabinet doors, but I need longer screws for the drawer pulls. Blaine's put up all the beadboard trim. It's really coming together, and at least the counters are somewhat functional again. :)

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Now playing: David & David - Welcome to the Boomtown
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