Yesterday was Creative Monday and we decided to make marshmallows. Lot's of questions occur while we are making things, esp recipes, so they end up learning practical lessons in life that they can use everyday. They also learn how much work it takes to make things like candy. So much is taken for granted because hardly anything we eat or do on a daily basis is home made anymore. I was reading a book the other day published in 1919. The woman said her parents let her have all the candy she wanted - as long as she made it herself. That in itself will keep the candy eating in moderation - esp with my two. =)

I don't have an electric mixer so our poor arms were pretty tired from all that beating of the mixture. And my whisk didn't look to great afterwards either. I had to quit using my whisk and started using a serving fork because of how thick it was getting.

But none the less this was a fun project. Though I have to admit I thought something was wrong with my gelatine due to the awful smell it made. But the smell dissipated and the marshmallows turned out great. They melt nicely in hot chocolate too. =)

I posted the recipe here.

It wasn't the greatest of weeks but the weekend did see a lot of accomplishment. Friday I did a lot of laundry since the weather turned out to be nice and warmer than expected. Saturday hubby ran and did his chores and brought my coffee home. SOOO needed the wakeup! Then we got our day started. I have been needing an extra day for school so we have been started schooling on Saturdays. While I was doing that I was also taking advantage of the weather and getting more laundry done. Finally finished with the kiddo's schooling and so I then made the oldest join his little brother outside. That way I could paint the poor dilapidated door and doorway. I used some latex gloves {hubbys suggestion} so that I could continue doing my laundry while I painted - and I did - and without getting paint on any of the laundry! So I took advantage of the sunshine twice over - for laundry and for painting.

While I was doing all that hubby was building frames for the wall upstairs. Thanks to his new airnailer he was able to accomplish nearly all of the back wall. By evening he had only a small section at the end of the wall to do. He finished that up Sunday afternoon.

Sunday I also did some more laundry and today I was washing bedding. I have to take full advantage of the warm and dry weather since my washing machine sits outside and freezes over when its cold enough. We hate spending the extra to go to the washateria. So this helps out a lot.

We also hung my all natural linen organizer I found for only $6.00 at Krogers. Currently we have no true closet. So awhile back B had built a few wooden boxes with shelves and we use those to put our clothes in. We use cotton baskets to organze smaller stuff. We like it better than dressers. They are currently placed in the hallway and next to them is the organizer. The cubby hole that has the water heater under the stairs is where our dress clothes & coats hang. So we make do. =) But it sure will be nice when we get our rooms done and won't have to brush sawdust off our dress clothes any more hehe.

Tonight since hubby got home he is building the frame for the center of the front wall. After that all we will have left for building the wall frames are the east and west sides of the house and the two areas of the front windows. This means we are progressing along nicely.

Well Hubby installed the faucet Monday or Tuesday eve, even though he wasn't feeling up to it. It's been a long time in coming and I really like it! One day our bare sheetrock walls will have wall boards - but that's a long time in coming since the upstairs has to be finished for living in first. But in the meantime I am quite pleased with my faucet. The quality surprised me, it being made of brass - even the sprayer is heavy and made of metal. Speaking of the sprayer Hubby had tried to find a cap to put on it so we could have the option of not installing the sprayer. After all our sink is only a 3 hole sink. There is no way I'm putting a hole in my vintage sink! But he couldn't find anything. So the easiest thing to do was just to install it anyway and hang it up underneath the sink. So that's what we did and it works out just fine. One thing I have learned when you build a house, as you have the money, is that you don't get to do much of the fun stuff at first. Things like a kitchen faucet can make your vision a little clearer while waiting patiently to have it all finished. =)

A dear friend of mine who thinks of hubby & I each and every year during our anniversary sent us a card and included a gift card. She is always sooo thoughtful! One year she sent the most beautiful tulips!! I'll never forget those! It was funny one year we were so busy that March 7 had come around and we both had totally forgotten all about our anniversary until we got her faithful card in the mail wishing us a Happy Anniversary! We had a good laugh at ourselves for being so forgetful! =)) So an extra special thanks goes to my sister and friend. Despite all she goes through she continues to think of us. I continue to admire her generosity and thoughtfulness! =))))

And in other news Taka *finally* had her kittens! I noticed she was in labor when I went through the hallway, peeked into the area we had set up for her and when I bent down to pet her she was purring and pawing. I knew then that it had begun. So I stayed with her for a few minutes and then got up. About an hour or so later she comes out. I am thinking, "That is a bit odd". But then she meowed a few times and K followed her back to her "nest". When I sat with her at this point she began pushing. So I figured she had gotten up to let me know that it was *time*. For some reason she always likes me to be around while she is birthing. One time she would NOT stay in her nest, but kept jumping up onto the bed until I would go and stay with her. She stayed in my bed until she began pushing...she would have just had them right there had I not moved her lol! But this time she was happy to have them in her little nest we set out for her. Her first which is a grey kitten, came feet first. Within three hours of the firstborn she had 5 kittens. Grey, black, grey, black and then an hour break before the last was been born which is also black. She is such an old pro now. When she finished up, got a little rest she was out and about looking for some special food only a couple hours after she had them! We got her some wet cat food and she ate THREE cans just last night!! I've never seen her eat so much. lol!