Ummm.....whoops.

So, about a billion kajillion things have happened since my last post. I honestly couldn't say when that was, unless I check.  (I haven't.)  Here's what you've missed:
We moved from our (decently sized, not super tiny) 2 bedroom apartment into a  FOUR bedroom 1913 mishmosh sorta-Victorian, sorta-American Foursquare home.
This was all right before I had an awesome (but nervewracking in a good way!) opportunity conducting a select choir of children to honor local teachers. It was amazing, since I was the conductor, I was able to have about 20 of my own students in the group!

Back to the house....

Let me tell you, as much as I loooooove HGTV---the home buying process is not as easy as your realtor making a few phone calls in one day and everything is hunky-dory!  We actually put our first offer in last January...and it wasn't until early March that we moved in.

In the meantime, I watched with wonder as things started popping up in our yard, and begging  asking friends and family to help me figure out what everything was.  Most exciting that tops my list?  GIGANTIC beds of peonies in blush pinks, magenta, white, and dark maroon.  I'm impatiently awaiting June when they will be in bloom again for this year!

Buds

First opened peony of the year (2013)

Some projects that have kept me busy were stripping multiple layers off the original door hardware--knobs, escutcheons, latches...  They are VERY Victorian in design, copper-plated and I can't believe what whacko would have painted over them in the first place.  There are no manufacturer markings, and I've only ever seen one set like them online since I searched.  We even have the original skeleton keys!

BEFORE

AFTER

Pinterest has kept me very busy.  I clearly spend way too much time on there, and there's no way I could ever do all the projects I've pinned.  But the beauty of Pinterest is that I can keep all my ideas organized without one scrap of paper. Paper in our house gets lost. Buried. Spilled on.  Shredded to bits....

That leads me to another great memory that's passed. My "baby" has just turned 2! And holy crapola does he really define 'terrible twos.'   So different from his brother at that age, but that's okay.  He's kept up his cuddly, snuggly nature inbetween the tantrums.  Speaking of which, he's awake.  At 11:30 at night.  I guess that's my cue to end my update and I'll be back with another post to share and catch up projects I haven't posted....and even more that are planned!