Why I Oughta...

No, it's not as sexy as the ipod-inspired one .  But it is a really badass thermostat.  Or....as badass as one could be, I suppose. The guy who installed it (along with the new furnace) was really geeked up about the Evolution control.  He called it the "Cadillac" of thermostats.  Guess he hasn't seen all the drooling that's been going on all over the internet over the above-mentioned new Nest thermostat. I'll stick with my Bryant Evolution for now, thank you.

Back in August, I speculated that the house a few doors to the south of ours was going to get torn down - based on the fence that someone put up.  We woke up this morning to the sound of heavy equipment.  Guess today was the day that the house was coming down.  The machine made quick work of the house. With the housing market still not that hot, the builder must have a buyer for the new house, right?

Yesterday, I posted a close-up of the scarecrows . I had help this year from the Babe (see here there straightening out the legs) so we got ambitious and built a third scarecrow to represent our family.  She loved taking the zip ties and was modeling my behavior of attaching the scarecrows to the posts.  She couldn't quite manage the ties, but was mostly sticking them in little crevices that she could find.  Pretty cute. Here's a photo of what they looked like in 2010 .  Looks like the husband and wife scarecrow swapped places this year.

We dressed the 'ole girl up in her holiday best for this weekend's Labor Day festivities.  She looked great.  Understated, but great.  I guess there's nothing like a party to get me to hustle in the yard and landscape beds.

There's an old bungalow on our block that was up for sale for the better part of 2011 when suddenly - about 3 weeks ago - the For Sale sign disappeared.  No "Sold" sign ever appeared.  But the family moved out.  The house was empty for 3 weeks when this fencing went up.  I'm guessing that a builder bought it, right?  And...they're going to tear it down.  That's good for house values, but I'm surprised that they're able to move that fast.  I figured someone would try to rent it for a while, but perhaps they have a buyer for the house they are set to build? Does anyone in the neighborhood know?  I've heard lots of speculation, but no confirmation

I've tried multiple times - and even with these heavy-duty anchors, but our child-proofing gate keeps pulling out of the way.  The holes keep getting bigger and bigger.  The only option I see is to put up a piece of wood that connects with the stud (8 inches away - of course) that we paint to match our trim.  Then this clip gets screwed right into that wood block.  Does anyone have any other ideas on wall anchors?

I spent some time this past week digging around online and physically in ONE pet store looking at fish tanks and equipment.  I had a tank when I was younger (junior high-ish) that was 30 gallons and I had a lot of fun with it.  The Elmhurst Library has a tank and every time I take the Babe there, it is our first stop in the children's section and she goes nuts.  I figure that this might be a fun family activity: keeping a tank.  Nat thinks this is a VERY bad idea for a variety of reasons including the work involved, the upkeep, my track record on things, etc. She's likely correct, but that doesn't mean I won't keep looking and perhaps even pull the trigger. Do you guys have tanks at home with your kids?  Tell me I'm nuts - that this will end up being too much work.  Or...do you and your kids love it?  I think big, so 10 gallons is too small potatoes for me.  I was thinking of 30 gallons as a nice middle ground starter tank.  Freshwater, too.  I'd loooove

Just like last year , our little $5 Wal-Mart tree is the "little tree that could".  You can read the post about how and why we bought $5 trees from Wal-Mart here , but this *should* be the year that they begin to payoff for the landscape.  We're in the "Leap" year of the Sleep, Creep, Leap cycle and based on the blooms of this Cleveland Pear, we're on track.  The tree gets these really pretty pink bouquets of blooms on each of the tips which open up to little flowers shortly after. The difference in just one year of the maturity of the tree is pretty striking.  Last year , the blooms were tiny, sparse, and mostly close to the trunk.  Now, the tips are alive with blooms everywhere.  The tree is still pretty small by most folks standards, but I'm thrilled with how it is filling out and up.  Here's a (blurry!) shot to give some perspective on how it is faring. What happens in year four?  Does the Sleep, Creep, Leap cycle start over again?

  Yesterday these weren't here, but this morning in spots all over the mulch/bed it seems that the hostas are popping up.  Overnight.  Most of these we did NOT plant, but were left behind by the mean lady who lived in our house before we bought it.  After we had a contract but before we closed on the house, she went out and dug up almost all over the plants in the front.  Unfortunately for her, she didn't get them all.  Too bad, eh?  

Over on Martha Stewart's site, you can see her instructions and how-to, but I made a few modifications to the products and tools so I'll walk you through this easy project.  This could be something fun to do with kids, but it isn't a one-day project because of the painting and the multiple colors involved. Things you'll need for the Easter Egg Garland: 5 dozen (more or less if you want) paper mache eggs spring color paint (I chose 5 different pastel colors) paint brush (I used a foam brush) 5 or 6 feet of ribbon - pretty thin ribbon A drill and a 11/16th inch bit (you can use any size bit that will allow your ribbon to pass through wooden skewer (or beading needle) to push ribbon through holes Martha calls for real eggs.  Yup.  Like blown out eggs that you would have on hand around Easter-time.  In fact, she calls for you to dye the eggs just like you would normally.  I figured there had to be a better way not just due to the fact that blowing out eggs, well.....bl

Although the thermometer this weekend said the exact opposite, Spring appears to be right around the corner as our Hyacinths are peeking out of the mulch in our front yard. I planted these back in the fall of 2009 and they came to life for the first time last spring.  They're my favorite color - orange - and while they don't stick around too terribly long, they make a nice impression right next to our front stairs.

We don't have a single square foot of installed carpet in our house.  Wood floors everywhere.  We do have a few area rugs in our family room and living room, but that all changed this morning.  After one last slip coming down the stairs, it was time to try to make them a bit more grip-tight.  Especially with the Babe being carried up/down multiple times a day.  The guys from Luna are here putting in a runner that will cover the stairs.  Nat picked the color and I think it turned out nice.  Suppose, we'll find out when she comes home, though!

A week or so ago, my sister sent me an article ( like this one - but I don't think that was actually the one she sent) that had all these alarming stats about the air quality in our homes during the winter and how these things called VOCs get built up.  I had never even heard of VOCs, let alone knew that they were doing so much damage to our lungs.  VOCs are Volatile Organic Compounds that come from a wide range of things in our homes like paint and furniture and cleaning supplies.  Turns out, because of these VOCs, the air quality *in* our home may be worse than the quality *out* of our home. This note she sent me said that all is not lost; that there was something you could do to help clean the air in your home:  buy one of these five plants.  Armed with the list of the five plants, I went off to Home Depot to see what I could turn up in the garden center.  On the list was something called an Asparagus Fern and after some digging and Google Image searching (the plants at Hom

You know you've reached a certain station in life when you start to think about how well you've secured your basement door with an "out of reach" locking mechanism.  Not quite sure what station exactly, but it seems to be somewhere between [mowing your own lawn] and [minivans]. 

I heard from a few different people that my post last year reminding everyone to change their furnace filter helped them out and motivated them to head down to their basement to check the age of their filter.  Being deep in the heart of winter - with everyone's furnaces running all the time - I figured it was time to mention it again.  If you haven't done it in a while.... GO CHANGE YOUR FURNACE FILTER! In fact...if you are like me, and prone to forget when you put one in and when it is time to take one out, our good friends at Menards have the answer:   An automated nag to remind you to change the filter .  You set the date you installed the filter, the duration (how long you want it to last) and viola(!), Menards does the hard part of remembering when you need to head down to the basement.  There is even settings for fertilizing your lawn, too!  (I know...this is a convenient way of selling more products, but at least there is *some* value to the consumer!) Of course,

In the spirit of haul videos , I figure I'd share a few of my spoils from the holiday festivities.  I thought for about a minute or two about doing a spoof haul video, but then figured I have better other things to do with my time. First up is a gift from my dad.  Growing up I always LOVED the holiday time because that meant that my dad was going to be setting up his Lionel train.  The set was his since he was a child and he somehow hung onto it and the set - for the most part - survived various moves and time.  This was a shared tradition throughout my childhood as we even went to various train shows each December adding a piece to the collection - sometimes a car, sometimes some track.  And....boy the smell of that transformer!  Those of you with older train sets know what I'm talking about, but it just smells like Christmas to me! The hobby resurfaced again a few years back when - for some reason - my interest in Lionel and trains rose.  We even went back to a show and

With Christmas already in our rearview mirror (sad, isn't it?), I needed to document the latest addition to our decor before it gets packed away.  In early December, we went to a vintage Christmas fair on Randolph Street in the city.  We've gone the past two years and have come home with a handful of treasures each year. These guys were my favorite buy this year and they've been sitting near our front door in the entry - so we get to see them a lot. They're stamped "Japan" - so I'm guessing that dates them to before WWII, right?  As with most people's Christmas and their Christmas decor, things just keep expanding.  Or...as my brother-in-law once put it:  "Christmas is like the universe.  It keeps growing each year." I'll have to remember to put these guys back up by the front door.  That is, if I can get my attention away from building the baddest Christmas Village ever!

Let me preface all of this by stating clearly:  Yes...I feel a bit of shame for this new guilty pleasure.   I have to admit something:  I've *somehow* fallen in love with our Christmas Village.  Yes...those little porcelein buildings/scenes that people put up at the holidays.  You know the type.  You probably overlook them.  I know I used to.   But, for some reason, my brain keeps telling me that I NEED to collect these little buildings.  It all started a few years ago - back in 2007 we received 2 Department 56 buildings for a wedding present from Nat's Aunt and Uncle.  Last year, I put both of them up on our temporary mantle.  This year, however, is a different story.  With the mantel finished , I figured it was time to think about what could go up there decoration-wise.  And...those two little buildings sparked something!   One night, my mom was over and we started talking about the village buildings - and it turns out, she had a few Department 56 buildings t

We went on our annual pilgrimage to the Tammen Tree Farm down I-57 the weekend after Thanksgiving and came back with a tree.  Like in years past, we chose a Fraser Fir - and it looks great.   The tree drank and drank and drank (like 3-4 quarts a day) and then pretty much stopped drinking.  We're down to drinking about a quart of water a day - which I'm thinking is enough.  So far, so good - no needle drop, so I'm thinking it isn't parched.  We've lost a tree before - back in 2006 when we went on a trip and the tree dried out.   Sure, it stayed green until Christmas Day, but if you got anywhere near it, let alone breath on it, needles went everywhere.  With the Babe's First Birthday Party this weekend, I'm certain we've made it through. We have 9 foot ceilings, so I'm thinking this tree is just about 8 foot tall.  We picked a different location in the living room this year - and I think it is working out better.  Just 10 days until the Big Guy co

I'm really pleased how the front fireplace turned out!  The color came really close to matching the bookcases and they look like the whole thing could have been here for 100 years.  And...that was the over-arching goal! This room has come a long way.  Here's the "before" shot.  Since then, we tiled and put on the top.   And....the "After".