The Before....

Cole and I are just about to head out the door for haircuts. It has been months for me but for Cole it seems about every few weeks now that he cut his hair shorter. I know-"shorter" but for Cole, compared to just over a year ago, this is short! However, that relative statement is about to really change! He wants to buzz his head-ahh! I do not think I have seen him with hair that short since he was Noah's age! I will post after pictures later! Joslyn was sweet enough to take the before pics for us. We had a good time laughing-and i actually got some real smiles out of Cole instead of the pose for a picture smile.

Another Update on Everyday Life...

Here is another one of my jumbled updates, seems to be becoming a normal occurence!

Friday evening after swim lessons, dropping off the older two at a lock in and Matt's Date with Joslyn, Matt and i sat down to do some brainstorming on the ever present struggle of space for us to get everyone around the dinner table. We dreamed about building into the garage for a dining space, adding a 3 season porch were we could eat all of our meals, and thought about closing off the pantry in our kitchen to have a wall to put a table at, but then we decided to think about solutions that we could actually make happen;). We decided it would be best to start looking for a bench or plans for building a bench that would slide back in the corner and eliminate having to pull the table out every meal or having to gather chairs from around the house. So, I was finally a bit content with the fact the=at we at least had a plan and some direction! Well-guess what I found the next day-yep-a bench at the thrift store! I was actually there to find a dress for a wedding we are leaving for this weekend. But in the process was able to solve some of our meal time dilemma! So I sent Matt back later that day-pretty sure the bench would already be gone. I always let him do the inspecting of structure, quality, etc-and of course to do the heavy lifting! But he called and said he could not find it anywhere-I was heartbroken. I had worked everything out in my mind already-I know-I shouldn't do that-but I just couldn't help myself. So, awhile after he had returned home, he called me out to the garage to look at something. THE LITTLE SNEAK HAD FOUND THE BENCH AND THOUGHT IT WOULD BE FUNNY TO TRICK ME-HOW MEAN! Thanks hun!! So here is the before. I just needed to prime and paint it white. With the space in our house being small, light colors are more and more important to me!

Here is the after. I weathered it a bit and covered the cushion on it as well. And oh! There is lots of storage underneath!!! I will try and get a picture soon of the two little ones sitting at the bench-it is pretty sweet. Now, all seven of us are around the table, no chairs have to be pulled from other places in the house, no highchair has to be dragged in from the garage every time we eat, and we are finding more and more meal times to sit and laugh around the table again.

We are so very excited about this upcoming weekend! And actually, for us, it begins tomorrow! Matter of fact, I should be packing right now(I hate packing). Anyways-our friend Monika is getting married! She is a precious friend to us, and was one of Matt and I's first students when we began in ministry. So this is a pretty special occasion for us! Monika was here a few months back for a visit and while she was here we worked on picking out some fabric for me to make a bunting for her wedding. But what we ended up doing was making napkins in her wedding colors that could be used as a bunting. That way, after the wedding, she would have all these fun cloth napkins for her home. I am just in love with this idea! So earlier this week, this is the fun package I sent to her. I will have to post some pics after the wedding of them. And I think it appropriate to add-yes, they were made from reclaimed linens as well as dress shirts.

I unfortunately did get to spend much time on sharing about Noah's 3rd birthday, so i thought I would share a few little things today. Noah is absolutely enamored with Thomas, or any train for that matter-we are also a fan of chuggington around here. Well, I have probably sold a countless number of the vintage Thomas sheets but as his birthday was approaching I actually had to do some tracking down of them myself. So, a few months ago I found one and began planning out just how to it for his birthday. I used a large portion of the sheet for a quilt that I am actually still working on, Noah does not like me taking it out of his playroom where his trains are, so it is coming along quite slowly, but i was able to finish a pillow for him.

I was also able to take two of the panels and add them to some pj pants I made for him.

Here is another look at those pants. Somehow the stripes just said train conductor to me.

Summer is coming and we thought we would give Noah a buzz-I felt pretty reluctant-but it is pretty tough to keep up with everyone's haircuts around here, so for the summer, we gave it a try. It was quite to event around her, everyone wanted to watch this!! Noah laughed through most of it, the girls moaned, and Cole wrinkled his nose as each long lock fell to the floor. Taking pictures of the event helped me to not cry.

Once Noah starting itching, it wasn't too fun anymore! But I just love those cheeks!!!

Here is the lovely little man with his new doo. He laughed when he saw himself in the mirror. Whew!

I felt like I was running a race this past week. We had tilled up the garden awhile back, but I had not gotten a chance to get them planted until a few days ago. Fortunately, two of the girls were happy to help out.
There are still a few things to get in the ground, but they will have to wait until we are home from the wedding.
The flowers are starting to fill out, and how fun it is to see all the color coming to life!

Here is a Little Recap from the Whimsie Dot Homestead...

BE PREPARED, THIS IS A LONG ONE!!!!!! I WON'T FEEL BAD IF YOU FALL ASLEEP!



February and March bring a lot of new adventures in our house. We celebrate 5 out of our 7 birthdays and our Anniversary in those two months! I shared a bit about my birthday as well as Joslyn's and Bell's birthdays, so I thought I should share a bit about our Coleman's birthday. Cole turned 12! Yes, we are now officially 1 year away from teenagers in this house. And although we have worked with teenagers all of our married life, this is completely new ground for us! But really-we are loving it! Cole is a miracle and a wonder to watch grow. He is a very motivated and intelligent young man. I found him writing in a new notebook he had gotten from his Grandparents, when I asked him what he was using the notebook for, he said he was writing out his schedule each day so that he would better use his time, maybe I should take notice and do the same;)-he also said he wants his Grandparents to know he appreciates their gift.(Mom and Dad-he loves everything you sent-thank you so much!!-He bought a new video game with the money)I think he shares more knowledge with me than I, him and I only hope that I am teaching him wisdom for how to use that knowledge. Cole has been ever faithful in the bedtime routine with Noah who he shares a room with. Every night without fail, he reads Noah a story once they are both in bed. If Cole happens to be staying up later than Noah, he still takes the time to set his homework or activities aside long enough to read to Noah. The last couple months Cole's voice changed and it particularly caught me one day when I called home and he answered-it was this deep young man's voice that actually made me do a double take of the number I had dialed. It wasn't quite his Dad's voice but it wasn't my little son's voice either. He has started to remark himself at how some of his friends have been commenting on it too. Pretty fun to watch but how it makes my heart ache too.
For those of you who read my "What to do with Vintage Bed Linens" this will amuse you. Here is a fantastic use of a bed sheet! WRAPPING PAPER" FOR THOSE WAY TO BIG ITEMS. HaHa. Hum? Wonder what it is?;)
Dad and Cole spent the rest of the day building it...it was a good day-and so thankful it fell on a Saturday that Matt did not have to work! It rained all day but that did not seem to make any difference to him!
I think he would spend all day, every day out there if he could! Now we are praying for neighbors with kids!! There are a couple of houses for sale by us so we are remaining hopeful! The hoop is something everyone has enjoyed together. Hey, I have even spent a bit of time out there shooting hoops myself!

We just received Cole's new 7th grade curriculum a few weeks back, which is actually something we all get pretty excited about. It is so much fun to see what he is going to be studying , since he is the oldest, it is always new and fresh to us.
NOW! What is not so exciting is the fact that the big stack there, next to Cole's books-are mine!!! Why is it that the teacher has more to study than the student;) No actually it is not that bad-the curriculum is done so well and so easy to work with. He has been working hard on this new grade. The difference in homework has stretched him-and us(no more early bed times:)) But he has been doing an excellent job. This is the first year I am keeping thorough records of his grades in order to start him in an accredited program next year, so I have been very aware every day of where he is at and it has been very encouraging.
Remember how I had shared earlier on in the month that the kids and I were learned how to needle felt wool? Well, Cole took the face he had felted and made it into a little purse for Bell's birthday. He bought her some gum to stick in it and now it is her "GUM" purse. She was pretty excited as you can see.


Now, I need to back up a bit. At Christmas this last year, we bought Noah a train set, one that we could add to and build upon. I of course was hoping he would really like it, but what a surprise to find out how much he was going to immerse himself into it! We set up a special table in the basement so his train set could stay out all the time and it has been so fun to watch him spend hours at it, making up stories, redoing the track, walking around and around the table moving his little train as he goes.
Well it seemed only natural that he would become very amused with Thomas the Train cartoons. Thankfully I held onto the Thomas videos from when Cole was little. We have also discovered the newer Thomas shows on Saturday that we record and he watches them over and over again. So, we now have a little conductor in the house who even has to sleep with his trains and Thomas books.
Matt and I also celebrated our 14th Anniversary this year. It has been a blessing to have shared so much life together in so few years! And we are very excited for what the journey ahead will bring. Somehow even the difficult times do not seem so hard because we are together. Well, we always try to get away once a year together for a few days and it is amazing how breaking away from normal life will give you freedom to talk, dream and plan. We usually head up to Door County. We fell in love with Sturgeon bay years ago and going during the off season is perfect for us. it is slow, quiet and friendly. We spend hours talking with the Inn Keeper and store owners. Everyone has time to share and time to listen, so different from the crazy paced suburbs. Ahh, someday......
Anyways, we stayed in our favorite Inn which is a bed and breakfast with gorgeous luxury rooms, a yummy restaurant, and the feel of home(I hate hotels-they are just too sterile but I love home, so this works well) Here are some pictures from our trip.

Here is part of the beautiful room! It goes into a little living room with a fire place and hot tub.
We are able to have breakfast delivered to our room so we can sleep in! We can sit by the fireplace and talk, read and laugh! Is it next year yet?!
The hallway upstairs in the Inn is lined with beautiful old quilts, they seem like familiar old friends to me. I love to study them every time we are there. What beautiful craftsmanship.
We have our favorite little stops, a fun little pizzeria, a funky little coffee shop, a restaurant on the bay, the amazing ship yards that make my jaw drop every time I go to see them, horse drawn carriage rides all bundled up in blankets and of course there are those fun little thrift and antique shops I wait all year to go to. Even Matt looks forward to it! We even got a chance to meet and talk with the owners of them this year, what fun and such sweet people. So, how about I share some fun finds from this year!
I am so excited about this one! This vintage Thermos goes with me everywhere now! Red-need I say more!
This quilt was a find! I think I paid under $5.00 for it. I look for a new-old quilt every year when we go, the one I found last year are my bedroom curtains. This quilt is in sad shape but completely fixable. I am looking forward to fixing the seams that need fixing. The quilt was tied, but I am going to quilt it.

The backing was a blanket that isn't soft anymore and has shredded in areas, so i am going to put a new backing on it leaving the blanket as the batting. I think i have found the perfect vintage fabric to back it with. So there is a rehab project that I will share sometime in the future.
We also found this chair for Noah. He has not been cooperating about being in a highchair anymore, which is understandable, he loves being at the table with us now. He was thrilled when we brought it in the door. It is in excellent condition and we were able to buy it for under $20.
Here is another fun find on our way home. The little bag I had found months ago-and i was pretty excited to use it on our trip. When I was packing, I was wishing i had a garment bag because I get the chance to dress up a little more than usual when we get away. Stuffing dresses into a suitcase doesn't work so well. Well, one of the lovely antique store owners drew out a map of her favorite thrift stores that we would pass on our way home. When we walked in the door of one of them, guess what caught my eye! Yep! A matching garment bag!! And even better-it was only $3.00. So, hum? I wonder where I can go so I can use it;) Somehow I do not think I will need it for dresses when we go to camp! I was able to pick up quite a bit of fabulous linens, and bedspreads for the shop. There were some charming aprons and dresses from the trip as well that are in the shop already.
We did have a nice late night meal at home on our Anniversary after the kids were tucked in bed. Just a nice time to talk. And there is no place like home.
Just a normal dinnertime. This is our kitchen table which is in dinner table since we do not have a dining room. It is a bit tight, but that never seems to take away for the laughter and stories when we all get to sit down together! Easy clean up too!
Here are the new brooches and headbands in the shop this month.

They add a little color to the winter months! And Mom and Dad Drietz-the coat is what I found with the birthday money you sent! It is a beautiful white wool coat with fur collar and i found it at one of my stops for $15.00!!!! So thank you-I feel pretty.
This was a project I was able to work on this past week off and on. I recovered our throw pillows for our couches.
I was able to use peices from dresses, blazers, curtains, and scraps of fabric to put them together.
this one was taken from some curtains and sleeping pants. I am a bit in love with mixing unususal prints together that do not really match normally. I love the outcome.
Dresses, blazers, curtains and polka dots... need I say more.
The top print on this pillow came from a dress that I had hanging in my studio for almost a year because I loved the design and color so much I was afraid to use it! I am glad that I waited!
And more polka dots-AND RED!
Thumper has adjusted well to life at the Drietz farm. Joslyn loves this little cutie so much! He is getting big!
And I think he thinks he is the family cat! Get this, the kids have trained him to use a litter box-he is the cleanest of all of our animals-amazing!
Yes, he even has a tent!
BELL LOST HER FIRST TOOTH! AND HAS LOTS OF QUESTIONS ABOUT THE TOOTHFAIRY! I do not think she will get mad at me for "lying" about being the toothfairy like Madison did.

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST.......
I CUT THE MANE OFF FINALLY! I have been growing my hair out for the past 5 years and finally worked up enough courage to try something new. First mama cut off 5-6 inches and a few weeks later the other 6 inches came of at salon. Yeah! i will miss my hair a little and probably spend the next 5 years growing it bac out but for now I am a happy girl!

The hat is the other half of my birthday gift from Mom and Dad Drietz-all the way from Israel!!!


WOW! THAT TOOK A LONG TIME!! HOPE I DID NOT BORE YOU TO DEATH!!!