A few projects

It’s been a great week. Roy’s been home virtually the entire time, the weather was perfect for running, and I had many chances to be in the kitchen. Which meant this:

This apple pie was so good we hid it from James. For four days until it was gone. I should be ashamed, but I'm not because it was that good.

And dreaming even harder about this:

If one of these ever comes my way I SHOULD get the cinnamon colored one that goes with my kitchen.  But HOW FUN is that blue?

Someday.

Just as James saves his quarters for a remote controlled Lightning McQueen, I too can save my quarters for a KitchenAid. I'll just have to make my bed 2,000 more times.

We’ve also been able to pick away at a few home decorating projects. Our budget doesn’t have a lot of room for home décor, so we’ve enjoyed brainstorming and creating some inexpensive, but really meaningful ways to fill our walls.

Like this:

Frames: Hobby Lobby (either half off or used daily 40% off mobile coupon)

Photography: Roy Smith

The photo is the first page of the Beethoven Cello Sonata in F. In 2004 Roy asked me if I would accompany him on a solo trumpet recital. This was his big piece (yes, he played a cello sonata on trumpet—they are desperate for repertoire). It was a mammoth undertaking for me as a pianist, and we spent many hours fusing our parts together. It wasn’t until after the recital was over that we realized we missed being together so often. We started dating shortly thereafter.

Roy went to the Roberts library to dig up the score that we used. You can still see my handwriting from eleven years ago.

The second picture is of the chandelier in Eastman Theater. We’ve gone to countless RPO concerts, and one of our very first dates was enjoying Petruschka smashed heart-flutteringly close together in those tiny seats. The third photo has to be of Shewan Recital Hall, where we performed the Beethoven and dozens of other performances together. The three photos will go above our piano. If we ever do have a little extra money we’d love to install some lighting to help it pop (and help me read my piano music more easily!).

And then our second project, which was accomplished for $13 (thanks again Hobby Lobby!). The boys had a blast painting these canvases yesterday in our driveway. I slapped a little painters tape down before they got started to give it a little contour.

"What do I do Mommy?" The boy needs his boundaries.

Owen didn't want boundaries. He kept trying to crawl out into the street.

He got the hang of it. I eventually put a halt to his fun before the entire canvas was brown.

Owen thought he was the canvas.

They now hang in our hallway and are sweet reminders of our little men. This project looks cool enough I could see repeating it annually to update the artwork.

Owen's finished product.

James' is quite autumnal.

This was all their father's doing.

Today’s 1%: This was actually from yesterday, but it worked so well and I didn’t get home until midnight so no blog. I freed a cheesecake from the bottom of a springform pan by literally flossing underneath the crust. (Don’t worry—it wasn’t mint-flavored.) I made pumpkin cheesecake, btw, with more SPICED CARAMEL to put on top. The cheesecake was the prettiest I’d ever made, but almost too creamy (Is that possible? I guess so because it was.). I just wanted a little more texture from top to bottom. Great taste though.