Farmhouse Tour Part V—Bathroom & Laundry

(Note: These photos were taken before we moved in as the house was with my Grandpa's furniture still in it.)

^ Here is the main bathroom. You got it—that is classic orange shag carpeting.



^ And the laundry room. I like this room. There is a door leading out to the backyard where there is a clothesline. I've never had a clothesline before. Turns out I like to line dry clothes. Simple pleasure.

^ On the other side my Grandma used to have a sewing area here. A couple of these drawers are full of old fabric.

What is your favorite room so far? Tomorrow I will show you the upstairs bedrooms which are now the girls' rooms.

Farmhouse Tour Part IV—Living Room

(Note: These photos were taken before we moved in as the house was with my Grandpa's furniture still in it.)

^ This is looking into the living room from the dining area.

^ Looking from the living room into the hallway back into the bedrooms. My grandma always had a fish tank on this shelf, which was made by my uncle Raymond. Pretty cool—except we are took it out to open up the room and make the layout work better with our furniture. (We kept it, R & K, if you are interested in having it!)

^ The painting on the wall was done by my Grandma. She painted quite a bit, along with her photography and other hobbies. I remember her working on this one.

^ The carpet in this room is pretty cool. My Great-Grandma had the exact same carpet in her house. I'm told that was an accident! Anyway, it's lasted for years and is probably in the best shape of any of the carpet in the house.

^ Pretty sweet furniture, yeah?

Tomorrow—wait for it—the bathroom and laundry room! I bet you can't wait! :)

cloth diapers

I am very seriously contemplating going the cloth diaper route. I've been inspired by various friends and family, and this blog post. The diapers I'm considering are these by Bum Genius.


They are adjustable and should last until she is potty trained. I would buy the ones with the snaps, however, because I've heard they last longer than the velcro. This particular kind has an insert that goes inside. They also have an organic cotton variety that is all-in-one. It is more expensive but seems convenient, too.

My mom thinks its pretty funny that I'm considering going that route on my third (and probably last) baby. She did cloth diapers on her first two, and thought it was a luxury when she could do disposables with her third baby.

The reasons I think I might like cloth this time are:

  1. I am staying at home with this baby.
  2. My little Eva has a sensitive little bum, and I'm hoping cloth will minimize her rashes.
  3. It is a bit of an initial investment, but I will quickly make up the cost of what we are spending on disposables (as in just a few months). Eva goes through a LOT of diapers a day right now.
  4. We burn our garbage here on the farm to reduce what ends up in our little landfill, and the disposables don't burn very well.
  5. I have a new high-efficiency, front load washer, so I should be able to keep the diapers washed with a reasonable amount of water/energy.
  6. The company I linked to above will give you a 30 day period to try them and return them if you don't like them.

BUT, I am also skeptical for a few reasons.
  1. Its not just the diapers you need. The diaper shower (which attaches to your toilet) comes highly recommended. Also, you need a pail and liner. Of course I can just use any old garbage can while I'm trying them out, but it's a lot of money to spend if I don't end up liking it. (But, I can send them back if I don't like them, apparently!)
  2. I can't decide. Will I like the insert? Or is it better to go with an all-in-one?
  3. I've heard line drying them keeps them stain-free, but with the Montana weather, that might not be possible many months out of the year.
  4. I'd like to get by with 12, but as frequently as little miss Eva needs changed, I might need to get 18.
  5. I've noticed cloth diapers can add a lot of bulk, especially the pre-fold variety. I'm not sure how these will be. I don't want them to restrict her movement.
I need to make the decision fairly quickly because I'm running out of diapers. I have taken to buying my diapers online in bigger boxes, and having them delivered right to my door, so I can't leave myself too short! :) Can any of you cloth diaper users out there offer any advice?

Farmhouse Tour Part III—Kitchen & Dining Room

(Note: These photos were taken before we moved in as the house was with my Grandpa's furniture still in it.)

^ These cabinets and all the other built-ins in the house were custom built by the builder. The kitchen isn't entirely original. The counter tops were once avocado green, and the stove and dishwasher are updated too.


^ These cabinets and the others throughout the house have very elaborate hardware. And carpet in the kitchen? It might have worked for my Grandma, but I wouldn't recommend it when you have 3 children.

^ The secretary desk is a handy spot. The fireplace beyond matches the planter in the entry.

^ On the far right of the fireplace is a wood box. Can you see the horseshoe handles? Well, as long as I can remember this was carpet-lined and contained toys instead of wood. It is a favorite hideout of the kids.

^ Another view of the kitchen from the dining room.

^ The dining room. Behind the curtains are sliding glass doors that lead out to the deck. The buffet and china cupboard on the wall were made by my Grandma's dad and were brought over from their old house.

Tell me what you think! Next post: the Living Room.

Farmhouse Tour Part II—Master Bedroom & Bathroom

(Note: These photos were taken before we moved in as the house was with my Grandpa's furniture still in it.)

^ Master bedroom.


^ The closets—a bit smaller than what we were used to with our big walk-in.

^ Doorways that lead to the entry hallway, den, and bathroom.

^ The old wall-mounted that toilet that takes like 6 gallons to flush each time, and the shower which is also a bit smaller than what we are used to.

^ The master sink. Again a bit smaller than what we are used to. Spoiled? Yes. What's your point?

Tomorrow: the kitchen!

Our new old house—Farmhouse Tour Part I

Okay, so I know a house that is built in 1971 isn't that old. It is old enough, however, to have possible asbestos, lead paint, and electrical and plumbing that isn't up to code. Its old enough that some things have reached the end of their lifespan, like the roof. And heating system. And pipes. And carpet. Oh, the carpet in this house. Much of the decor is original and was picked out by my very savvy Californian Grandmother. While I appreciate and admire her style, and I love how the house represents so much about her and my Grandpa, the house needs some updating to fit the tastes and lifestyle of a family in the twenty-tens. I hope we can do right by them and bring this house back to the glory it was when they built it while still incorporating our own personality.

I hope you enjoy the tour.

(Note: These photos were taken before we moved in as the house was with my Grandpa's furniture still in it.)
Part I—Entry & Den:

^ There is a big planter right when you walk in the door. We will probably take this out to expand the master bathroom area. (More on this later).

^ Another view of the entry area, looking into the den/office beyond. (The heat registers on the baseboards are all gone now! My dad replaced boiler and hot water pipes with forced air heat and air conditioning.)

^ One of the many built-ins in the house. The scallop trim is a common theme.

^ Looking down the hallway past the den. There is lots of wallpaper in this house. It all has to be removed. Even if I wanted to keep it, removing the heat radiators revealed lots of holes in the wallpaper behind them.

^ The den, looking back toward the entry. The door to the left leads to the master bedroom. I think every house built in the 70's has paneling everywhere.

^ The den looking the opposite way. This door leads to a little dark room. My Grandma did a lot of photography and some of her own developing.

Up next: the Master Bedroom and Bathroom!

Monster Cookies—a harvest staple



Monster Cookies

1 c. brown sugar
1 c. white sugar
1 sq. margarine
3 eggs
1 tsp. corn syrup
1-1/2 c. peanut butter
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. vanilla
4-1/2 c. oatmeal
1/2 bag baking M&Ms (or regular dark chocolate works great too!)
1/2 bag white chocolate chips
1 c. raisins

Bake at 350˚ for 10 minutes.

We freeze them by the bucket full so they are always fresh and ready for harvest lunches. Enjoy!

the world according to Sarah

This is what you get when a 4-year old finds your camera.

^ the cloudy sky

^ the gravel driveway (notice the bolt—there are all kinds of artifacts like this in our driveway from the years of working on farm equipment.)

^ a random rubber boot (either drug up to the house by the dog or Sarah—hard to tell. Maybe it was the dog and Sarah.)

^ the living room wallpaper

^ the popcorn ceiling (it's sparkly!)

^ the living room carpet

^ her *messy* room

^ toys on our new table

^ the baby's head

^ the shop

^ her Daddy working on the swather


There were a hundred more like this. I should give her the camera more often. Gives you a glimpse into life around here!

Our farm house—on the outside

^ The east side. We can't park in the garage yet. It's still full of stuff from our move!

^ The front entry.

^ The wrap-around deck. I'm not sure I would trust your kids on it . . .

^ Looking out the front door

^ The front of the house. Daylight basement.


^ The back yard.

^ Much of our yard looks like this: dirt, dry patchy grass, and gopher holes. We have some work to do! :)

^ The back of the house.

^ The back from another angle.

We are very blessed to have such a large house to raise our girls in. This was my Grandpa and Grandma's house and they built it in 1971. I have many memories here of picking strawberries in the backyard, sledding down the hill out back, harvest dinners in the front, and playing "kick the can" below the deck. Coming soon: a tour of the inside!

Utah house tour

Before I show you our new house in Montana, I thought I would give you a tour of our house in Utah.
My mom wondered if that would make you all think we were missing it. Well, are we? Not really. We miss the neighbors of course, and we miss that everything was new and clean, but the house belongs to someone else now. Picturing them living there makes me not miss it at all. Sure, we were proud of it and all the work we did to make it home, but we brought our belongings with us and look forward to making our imprint on this house here, eventually.

It took us a little over a month to sell the house, which was pretty good in the current market. We definitely didn't get the price we would have liked, but we were lucky to not be in a short sale or foreclosure situation like so many others in our neighborhood.
So, here is the tour:

^ This was a great kitchen. I loved the rich dark cabinets, granite counters, and tile floors.

^ I installed the glass mosaic tiles myself.

^ In the dining room, I painted this mural on the wall to match the wallpaper in the entry (next photo). I loved the impact it made in the room.

^ I found the wallpaper on sale online from Ferm Living.


^ We tore out the original deck and added a Trex deck and this iron railing. It added tons of character to the backyard.

^ We had a small backyard, but we had one little area with drip irrigation lines so I could grow flowers, tomatoes, herbs, and peppers in pots. It was a fun, manageable way to have a low maintenance garden.

^ The living room. Tom bought my piano for Valentine's Day one year. He'll never top that one. :) I loved my photo gallery wall.

^ Sarah's room. I pulled her two-tone pink wall from a Martha Stewert paint card. Her bedding was Shabby Chic from Target.

^ Sarah's dress-up wall.

^ Abby's room. Bedding from Pottery Barn Kids.

^ The girl's bathroom. Lots of pink in our house!

^ Our master bedroom.

^ I loved the vaulted ceiling and chocolate brown wall in here.

^ Master bath. I do miss this bathroom. Its just a tad bigger and better appointed than our current master bath. I miss our walk-in closet too.

^ Hallway and laundry room.


^ The basement. This table and chairs is an antique that belonged to Tom's grandma.
^ Our office area. Most of our basement furniture was from IKEA–the cheapest way to furnish a large room!

^ The family room. The wall hanging is from CB2.

^ The kids' play area. The vinyl on the shelves are Stampin' Up! and left from a photo shoot we did for the catalog.

^ Guest room #1

^ Guest room #2

^ Basement bathroom. We finished this room ourselves and I love how it turned out.

^ More vinyl from Stampin' Up!

Hope you enjoyed the tour! Coming soon: photos from our new old house in Montana.

August panorama

(click to enlarge)


Yesterday I showed you the view from our front porch. Here is the same view, almost a month later on a hot, dusty, August afternoon. The green wheat fields have all turned golden. This time it's taken with my zoom lens so you can see all the combines across the valley. These are custom cutting crews that can cut their way across the valley in a hurry. The other night we could see 16 from our window. I can count at least 9 in this picture alone.

We (Benjamin Ranch) own a combine so we do all our own cutting. It will take us until the end of August—at least—to finish the cutting. It will be fun to watch them cut the fields right below our house. Normally I would be out getting my time in driving the combine, but this year I will have to be content watching the action from the house with the baby.

Chubs








The longest stretch Eva has slept at 6 weeks is 5 1/2 hours. She hasn't repeated it yet, but we'll take what we can get! :)

playing salon

Abby and Sarah have to get creative and entertain themselves a lot while I tend to Eva. They were playing "salon" the other day and came to show me Sarah's hairdo. What do you think? I was impressed.



We did swimming lessons every morning for 2 weeks and had lots of chilly rainy mornings at the pool. Crazy Montana weather. Still, it was a good way to add some variety to these girls' days.

5 weeks

At 5 weeks Eva still has her fair share of fussy times but she is starting to mellow out a little. We figured she had a little bug (like the rest of the family), but she is feeling better and we've started to see some smiles emerge. Oh how we love her!