just a reminder

We have moved our blog to www.montanaprairietales.com. Stop by and say hi!

This blog has moved!

Hi friends! You can now find Tom and Joellyn and our adventures at www.montanaprairietales.com. We will no longer be posting on this blog. All previous posts have been moved to the new location as well, so please update your bookmarks and feed readers to the new site address. We hope you will visit us there!

Under Construction

Happy Hump Day, everyone! I hope you are having a good week. I just thought I would pop in and tell you I'll be taking another short break from posting while I work on some changes to our blog.
When we made the big move to Montana, I made plans to do a lot more posting. I also decided then that it was time for our blog design to grow up a little, and I am finally getting around to making those changes. I will be back on Monday with the new scenery!

Tom and I are heading out for the weekend to a Young Farmers conference. We are hoping to make some new farmer friends and network a little. Today, my first issue of Atomic Ranch arrived in the mail, and I am so excited to bring it along on the trip for something to read! I'll let you know if I find some good inspiration.

See you next week!

Craig's list find

Check out these tables I bought off of Craig's List for $65.


I'm digging their retro, mid-century vibe, though I have no idea when they were actually made.


What do you think? I'm planning this for a sitting area in my basement. What else does it need? A little color?

Images: sheepskin rug from West Elm.

89 years

^ Woolie Whale, Hand Crocheted on Etsy

When you've been in a daily posting habit, someone is bound to notice when you go missing for over a week. Sorry. You see, I had to take a blogging break to work on organizing my house. We are still living in chaos after moving 3 months ago. Lately, when I start to feel overwhelmed, Tom has taken to reciting this little poem:

Have you heard of tiny Melinda Mae,
Who ate a monstrous whale?
She thought she could,
She said she would,
So she started in right at the tail.

And everyone said,"You're much too small,"
But that didn't bother Melinda at all,
She took little bites and she shewed very slow,
Just like a little girl should...

...and in eighty-nine years she ate that whale
Because she said she would!!!

-by Shel Silverstein

^ Mama and baby felt whales on Etsy

I sure hope it doesn't take 89 years to get settled into this house.

^ The Enamored Whale, Giclee Print on Etsy

Regardless, I'm back this week and full of things to share. Thanks for sticking around!

diaper verdict

I've had a few questions about my cloth diapering adventures, so please bare (ha!) with me through one last diaper post.

So, the verdict? After a few weeks of trying them, I've decided to keep going. I maybe would feel differently if I weren't home as much, but for us right now, it works. I love not having as much diaper garbage.

Doing laundry every day hasn't been much of a problem. I try to line dry them as much as possible to maximize the savings (they can take awhile to dry in the dryer), but then I usually finish them off with a quick dryer cycle to soften them up and make sure they are really dry.

She seems to be getting used to the feel of them because she had a few good sleeping nights (before the ear infection came along and threw that for a loop). I was afraid I might have to use disposables at night, but now I am only using them if I'm away from the house for more than a few hours.

Oh, and if you do this, I highly recommend getting cloth wipes too. I just wet about 6 at a time with hot water and put them in the wipe warmer. (If you let any more than that sit wet for too long they can start to smell since they don't have preservatives like disposable wipes do). But it is the lack of preservatives that make them so gentle. And you don't have to worry about separating your dirty wipes (garbage) from your dirty diapers (laundry).

So, newbie mothers, if you are thinking about cloth diapering, go for it! Its worth a try! (And I was a skeptic).

Mad Men and Midcentury design

I enjoyed these photos from the set of Mad Men. Even though the era of this house is a little bit earlier, you can definitely see some of the same influences as in our house.

Eva—3 months old!

Eva has passed the 3 month milestone already. Time flies when you're having fun.

Well, mostly fun. Eva is such a joy, but she hasn't been sleeping very well. She came down with a stuffy nose and cold early last week, and true to form (for my girls), she got her first ear infection. She is starting to feel better, I think, so I'm hoping the sleeping improves soon. This momma can't get by very well on this little sleep.

Nevertheless, we moved her into her own room this weekend. She is a light sleeper so I'm hoping she won't be disturbed as much in her own room—even if it means I have to trek to her room to feed her 3 times a night. And it means we have our freedom back. We can to go to bed when we want to, stay up and read, and get ready for bed without tiptoeing and keeping the lights off.

Oh, and she weighed in at a hefty 15.5 lbs last week! This girl can eat. But we are so glad she is healthy and strong.

She will be rolling over soon, I think.

Sarah's 1st day of preschool

I can't believe Sarah isn't my little baby anymore. She went off to her first day of preschool last week and I've been having so much fun watching her enthusiasm as she gets up and gets ready. Her first morning when we woke her up she was sure it was much to dark to get up (6:30 AM). But when we explained that it was time to get ready, she immediately reverted to worrying that she was going to be late. My mom works in town on Tuesdays and Thursdays and will be dropping her off, so we brought Sarah down to go with her. While she waited for her Grandma she got more and more worried until my mom just decided to leave a little early and drive slowly into town. I hope her excitement doesn't wear off too soon!

a farmer's vacation

It's often hard for a farmer to get away and enjoy recreating in the summer, so you take advantage of it while you can, usually after a day of rain when the fields are too wet. But now that harvest is over for the year and the grain is in the bins, we were able to have a short break before seeding started. For my family, that meant going to the lake. It's a little late to be reporting on what we did over Labor Day weekend, but hey, we wouldn't want want to miss an opportunity to show you how much fun we had at Holter Lake.


^ See this? That's a happy face.

^ This is a happy face too. I think getting on a boat pretty much takes the cake for my dad. The photo looks a little dark because we were going through the Gates of the Mountains on the Missouri in the shady evening. There is a little hamburger joint along the route (boat access only) so we stopped to enjoy a relaxing dinner by the lake.


And the next day we stayed on for a bit more boating and playing by the shore.

Fall is knocking on our door so we have to take advantage of every bit of good weather we have left! Hope you enjoyed a great holiday weekend also.

Meet Mia!

This is Mia, the newest member of our family.

She is a beautiful 4-year-old yellow lab and she came free from Craig's list. What's the catch? No catch, really. Her previous owners are a big hunting family and she is a bit gun shy. Also, after she had one litter of puppies they discovered she was a carrier for a common gene in labs that causes heat stroke. They don't want to breed that gene, so their only condition is that we have her spayed. She is a little skittish as she gets used to her new digs and family, but she is really sweet with the kids and sleeps in Abby's room.

ready for fall?

To be a stylist for Anthropologie seems like a dream job. I've long been among the ranks that love their amazing window displays and store installations (and clothes, duh...), but since I can't browse the store as frequently now, this time it was their website that blew me away. Loving these stitched re-creations of their clothes:

outnumbered

Oh, this is just too cute. A charming illustration of what its like to be outnumbered by your kids.

kitchen inspiration

Check out this kitchen remodeled on the cheap. I would prefer to use higher quality materials, but I'm totally impressed with the look she got with very little money. I love the black and white and the antique touches. From here.

(before)

(after)

Magpie's cake

Wow. These cakes are so stunning I could almost cry. I wish I could do that.

Magpie's Cake. via Creating Cupcakes.

70s decor

Most of this (except the doorbell) I won't be keeping (sorry!) but I thought you would enjoy seeing it up close anyway.

^ Dining room curtains.

^ Living Room curtains.

^ Hall wall paper. (Just one of the many patterns...)

^ Doorbell.

70s lighting

Here's a look at some of the original lighting in our house.

^ Dining room retractable light and ceiling fixture.

^ Den/office

^ Hallway sconces.

^ Eva's room.

^ Abby's and Sarah's room.

^ Bathroom.

What do you think? Should we consider keeping some of them? Which ones do you like? I don't know if we will go completely authentically retro everywhere, so some of these just won't go with our decor.