opie says: happy halloween!

this time last year and the year before.

gratuitous shrug post

can't quite get enough of this guy.

weekend with hank

happy birthday, case!

today is opie's dads birthday.

he'd much rather eat his cardboard hat than wear it.

happy birthday, case/dad!

sunday dinner

we had our first real dinner in the new house tonight- just perfect.  made dinner from several recipes that i've found amongst my foodie blogs.

1. grilled corn salsa

so good.  the only thing we were missing was cilantro- the cilantro at the store today did not look right, so i left it out.  the salsa totally doesn't need it, but cilantro is my fave so i can imagine this would be even better with.

2. bbq onion rings

pretty good- definitely can perfect this.  the dipping sauce for these guy is the jam.

and then for the week i also made these guys.

case set up a sweet dinner spread with candles and he wrapped the silverware up all fancy-ish.

opal took a spot front and center on top of the picnic table.

he wasn't successful in getting any bits, bless his heart.  he's not very good at begging, but it works for him because he can sit on the dinner table next to your plate and you don't have to worry about him snatching up any food.

enjoying his saturday

opal says, 'have a good weekend!'

this time last year

we were on our honeymoon in disney and there was no mr. opal in our lives- hard to imagine, huh?

leaping opal, lying golden

i'm.....a.....giant.....blog challenge!!!

so i'm off to a very late start on the "i'm a giant blog challenge!" by emily henderson and pals.

with moving, etc. going on in my life- all i've gotten to is taking 'before' pictures of the dollhouse i'm going to work on.

my sister and i got this dollhouse one year for christmas.  i remember many a christmas bazaar trying to win a dollhouse through a raffle and after many disappointing losses, i think santa took the hint.  i can also remember ogling all the miniature wares in a dollhouse shop in our local mall and now i wish it was still around- who knew after...what, 17 years that i still would be interested in this very little, somewhat weird hobby?

(side note: the day i found out about the challenge, i drove down to my parents house to pick up the dollhouse and all of it's accessories.  i really did feel like the biggest creep driving around for a week with a dollhouse fully visible in the trunk of my car.)

6 rooms is a big undertaking.  but i figured the money not spent on buying a new dollhouse, i could put into buying flare for it.  although i'm really trying to use materials i already have and then splurging on what i really need.  lord knows, i have a lot to work with.

my goal is to really see this thing through- fingers crossed, i don't peter out.

so, in the words of emily henderson:

'LETS GET WEIRD, IN A VERY SMALL WAY.'

anniversary. 2 days late.

we celebrated by taking a bite of our wedding cake- not too bad after being transported to multiple freezers.

even opal got a bite.

 and ellie makes a debut.