Nesting...Hardcore

So, I usually "Nest" Throughout my second trimester, but this time it was quite busy with other crises. I am just ending it now, and starting my little projects. Perhaps little is an understatement. Garrett has been bitten by the home improvement bug as well and has been a massive help in my de-clutter/organize/re-arranging schemes. We have both finally resigned ourselves to living here for several more years, our original plan was to sell within 5 years of purchase, we have now been her for 4.5 years, so I guess it is time to settle in and make it truly our home.

In the last two weeks we have:
emptied out and re-distributed everything in the front closet
Built and installed 4 shelves for dvd's (housed in the former closet)
Removed everything from the toddlers closet, sorted it and returned it.
sorted, gave away and re-organized all toys after massive birthday haul.
Sorted and re-packed all baby clothing by gender and size
re-arranged living room furniture
gave away several pieces to the good-will
obtained a new chair
built, installed and painted a bathroom cabinet
painted the bathroom
painted the existing bathroom cabinet
re-organized my closet
re-organized under the bed
removed and re-organized everything in the hall closet.
re-organized and sorted crafting supplies and put them in the hall closet
touched up all the paint in the house
Hung two additional shelves in the toddlers room.

all this, while of course, keeping up with the housework, helping out family and staying up way too late watching star trek. the eventual goal is to have everything stored in the room it will be used in. sheets are now under our bed, towels and extra tp will be stored in my new cabinet, and the kitchen needs a total overhaul. I still have a list of about 25 more little tasks and projects I want done before the baby gets here. It looks like we may just finish. or not.


Next month:Potty training, sewing and crochet projects and learning to use coupons more effectively.

NCC--1701

Things are settling down around here. It seems the plumbing issue is resolved for now. Plans are going forward to fix it permanently. I am still de-cluttering and cleaning out my home, and have been quite happy with the results. My book collection has been minimized. We got rid of one shelf. and my wonderful husband Garrett used the pieces to build me a smalll shelf for the kitchen, which now holds my sewing machine, project supplise, Home management binder as well as my plant and radio. The front hall closet now has space to hold the vaccuum, The giant pile of laundry now has a home in seperate sorting baskets its making it easy to grab a load and wash! The boys room is now free of all of the excess junk we were storing in there. It feels so open and bright now!

Today was Garrett's birthday. We have had a rough couple of weeks and decided to keep things simple, so I surprised him with a cake. Some of my best birhtday memories were of mom handmaking me a cake so I thought it would be a nice gift for him. I was feeling creative after watching the Food Network yesterday so I made him the Starship Enterprise. I don't know how to use fondant, so I did it with Grandma's frosting recipe. I was quite pleased with the results as was he. Here is a quick step by step photo montage...






First I started with cake! I used an 8 in circle and an 8 in square.














I covered a piece of cardboard and my inverted cake pan with foil, as well as two hot cocoa packages. As this would be a 3D creation.





Then I shaped and placed the cake.











Lots and lots of frosting









I used store bought frosting in a spray can for the detail work...It was terrible! So I put it in a piping bag, it helped but not by much....next time I will just settle for (home-made) gray instead of the black.












Here it is with the Nacelles




















Ta Da!













The final look, as it goes down in flames!










Overall it was a great little suprise, and all it took was creativity and time. Garrett has already put in his order for his 30th--he wants the Battlestar Gallactica. Thankfully I will have a couple of years to figure that one out!!

We will round out the birthday celebration by going out to see a local minor-league baseball game tonight. The boys will have a great time bonding over that, I hope!