On My Table

On My Table

Can You Smell Them?

This is our wall of flowers. It's lovely.

Little Tiny Baby Pretend House...the kitchen

Welcome back to the mini tour of the Little Tiny Baby Pretend House. Previously, we viewed the boys' room and the bathroom. Today I am going to walk you through the kitchen. I happen to love my kitchen. It's small, but laid out very nicely and has ample storage.

This is the view from the living/learning room. I love my cafe lights because they remind me of the cafes in Paris. I have a little goldfinch bird perched on them, but you can't see it too good in this picture.

Going counter clockwise, here is the rest of the kitchen.


This big green dresser and vintage hutch hold all of our craft items, Collin's wine collection, and our household items such as bills and files. I had decided that I wasn't going to use my blog to discuss politics or activism (Yes, it pains me because I DO have a lot I want to say!), but I guess from this picture you can see who I am supporting.

I have a gas stove. I love my gas stove. This is the cleanest stove I have ever had and not because it doesn't get used, but because it is so easy to clean! I also think the stainless steel fan/light is pretty cool. Collin hung up some under the cupboard stemware holders to hold his ever increasing specialty drink glasses. Sadly, we haven't had an occasion to use them since we left our friends in TN. Oh, and that is the Eiffel Tower in the corner on my counter!

This is the view I see as I (and Collin too!) hand wash the never-ending mountain of dishes. I have 3 different bird feeders hanging, but only a couple humming birds have come to visit. Kind of depresses me. The plant you see is the heartiest little thing ever. IT WILL NOT DIE!!!

I like my sink too. It is just one bowl and is very deep. Great place for all of the dishes to hide!

Would you believe that this space is designated for a washing machine? Not a dishwasher, but a clothes washer. We sold our set before moving here and lucky for me the laundry room is only about 30 yards away. I thought a good use for this space would be to shelve my canisters. Oh, and those are my beloved aprons hanging on the side of the refrigerator. I love wearing aprons. Makes me feel feminine, but not in a barefoot, pregnant kind of way.

And finally, the refrigerator. Our command central.

Once again, thank you for coming on the tour of the Little Tiny Baby Pretend Kitchen! Be sure to check back again as we still have the Living/Learning room to view!

Little Tiny Baby Pretend House...the bathroom

This is the second part, in a series of parts, of the tour of the Little Tiny Baby Pretend House. If you missed the tour of the boys' room, you can see it here. Yes, it is possible for a family of four to live in 594 square feet of space.

So, here is the bathroom...the one bathroom.


This is the view from the hallway. Let me just say that I LOVE my shower curtain. It has all of my favorite colors in it. It makes me smile. :o) The tall, thin dress was rescued from the dumpster. It really works well in the small space since it is so narrow. It is missing two drawers, but it actually is more functional for me. The top shelf is holding my makeup in a Shabby Chic basket that I am able just to pull out and the second shelf holds our supply of toilet paper. I am thinking about making a little curtain to cover up the t.p. though.


This is the view of the other side from the hallway. The mirror above the sink is a medicine cabinet and we also have a cupboard with three shelves above the toilet. I am also considering a curtain to go around the sink so that I could store stuff underneath. What do you think? Would it be too much? Do you think it would make the bathroom seem even smaller? Please, let me know your opinion.


This is the view behind the door and above the tall dresser. I call these my "grandma" pictures because it looks like something my grandma would have hanging up. I love looking at the scenic pictures and dream of living in the bottom one (looks like a quaint cottage in England) and vacationing in the top one (looks like the south of France or Italy).

This is also hanging in my bathroom. It is a very special gift given to me by my beloved Grandma on my wedding day. The handkerchief was actually given to her by her beloved grandma on her wedding day. Oh, and our wedding anniversaries are only 2 days apart...but 58 years! I really want to paint the frame, but all I keep hearing in my head is my dad saying, "Punky, that's oak. You can't paint oak!" (Mom...I feel your pain! Dad...I love you! ;0)

I want to add, that although we really are doing well in such tight quarters, I DO NOT LIKE SHARING A BATHROOM WITH TWO LITTLE BOYS WITH NOT-SO-GOOD AIM! Whew! Glad I got that off my chest!

Anyhow, thanks for coming on the tour. Please stay tuned for another. We still have the kitchen, living/school room, the master bedroom, and the patio to explore.

Little Tiny Baby Pretend House...the boys' room

Alright. What you are about to see is real. The places pictured are not sets in a studio. Nor are the people actors. This is a true depiction of how a family of four can live...comfortably...in a 594 square foot, 2 bedroom apartment. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the show!

The boys are sharing a room that is pretty much the same size as the one they left. We pretty much set it up in the same way. We, and I say "we" because it was a family affair, turned their bunk beds into loft beds. We wanted to be able to give them as much floor space as possible. If you missed that post, you can read about it and see photos here. It has proved to be a great idea! So, without further ado, here is a mini size tour of their room.

This is the view from the door as you enter their room. This is Magnus' bed.

His bed again. Under each bed is a space set up for each of them to have a reading/play area. I have yet to hang up their curtains (which gives them privacy from the other) and buy them some sort of small area rug for when they want to lay down and read. They are pretty much loving the fact that they have linoleum flooring so that their Playmobil guys are able to stand up on their own without falling down.

Another view of his bed plus the shelves that stand between their beds. Yes, they have a tv in their room. It is the only tv in the house and it is rarely used. I have the vhs player hooked up to it so we can watch videos...educational ones. The terrarium pictured on the bottom shelf is, unfortunately, empty. It used to house my corn snake, Steve. I was hoping it was going to be the home of a bearded dragon, but I think they need a bigger habitat, so I am not sure about that. I *will* put something in it eventually!

This view is under one side of Thane's bed. Their dresser is standing on the other side. Yes, we have a lot of bins. A LOT! Luckily the boys are pretty good about making sure that the correct toys go into the correct bins so things stay organized for the most part.

This is their closet...well, one side. It is full of clothes, science experiment kits, games, puzzles, school supplies, and bedding. The other side is full of bins containing out of season clothing, my homeschool file cabinet, and some of my clothes. Whoever built these apartments was very smart about the use of space. These closets have a lot of room for storage.

Thanks for going on this mini tour. Be sure to come back when we explore the other areas of the Little Tiny Baby Pretend House!

California Update...

I seriously DO NOT know where to begin. There is so much to tell. I guess it'd (is that a proper contraction for "it would") be best if I just picked a topic/subject and write a little bit about it. But let me just say that I could not be happier with Collin's decision to come to CA for graduate school. (I hope I will not be choking on those words later!)

Saying Goodbye to Dear Friends...
The boys and I got together with some of our homeschooling friends for one last final hoorah.

LBJ also planned a very special "(insert our last name) to Davis" party with our buddies. It was not a "goodbye" party...she made that very clear. :0)

The Gang at Camino Real

The sweet LBJ and her beau, Nathan.

FRIENDS!!!!!!

Packing up the truck and heading West...
This was no fun/easy task. We had a 22 ft. truck and were still unable to shove Magnus' mattress in the back. Even after getting rid of SO much stuff!


We were blessed by our dear friends...LBJ, Nathan, Steph, and Eric...helping us out. Thanks y'all!! (Had to say it at least once!)

Palm trees and bright blue skies! Isn't this amazing!!! The weather has been great. Apparently the 100+ temperatures we have been having are above normal for this time of year, but we haven't really minded. There is NO humidity!! We can breathe when we walk outside and don't sweat in the shade. It is unbelievable! CA is agreeing with me!



Davis, CA...
I LOVE this town!!! It is fantastic! It's clean, safe, family oriented, cute, ect. You can learn more about this great town at the Davis wiki site. This site has everything you could possibly want/need to know. It has helped us a great deal. I will refer more to this site as I post more about our life here.

Old Sacramento Gold Rush Days...
This was the first event we went to in our new area. There isn't a whole lot I want or need to say about it, but I did want to share some pics.


There were several re-enactors there doing their thing from the Civil War period. It looked really strange and then it dawned on us...they are all wearing blue and not gray! It was really strange for us to see that since we have been to several Civil War Battlefields in TN.

Magnus and Thane panned for gold and then took it to the "bank"...

They were a little disappointed to find out that they were not receiving real money for their efforts.

Me and my buddies.

The Little Tiny Baby Pretend House...
Our 594 sq. ft. apartment really isn't that bad. Seriously. I haven't cried about it yet. They actually planned the space out well and I feel like we have more room here than in the 1000 sq. ft. apartment we just left in TN. I know you are anxious to see pics...all 3 of my faithful readers!...and I hope to have some up this week once we get settled more.

Alright...that is about it for now. Life is good here in CA!

We Made It!!!!

After 4 1/2 days on the road, we finally made it to CA! I will post more about our new town...which I already LOVE!...and pictures of our Little Tiny Baby Pretend House...which is not as bad as I had anticipated!

Thanks for your prayers and good thoughts!

Small Tour

The internet has been our constant companion as we have been planning this move. Google, Craigslist, ebay, are just a few sites we view each and every day. Searching through google, I was able to locate a floor plan of our little, tiny, baby pretend house, that had the dimensions down to the inches. Collin, in his brilliant sort of way, decided to make it into a grid, measure all of our furniture (well, the stuff we are taking...everything else is being sold or given away), scale it to size, and arrange it. You know what?!? It looks as if it will fit! Unbelievable! Here is what it will look like...hopefully...

By the looks of the above map, we have placed the dresser in front of the sliding glass door on the left side of the living room. Our apt. has the sliding door on the wall where the orange chair and armoire are located. Yep, we will have to cover a bit of it.

We also scored by finding some pictures of the inside that someone had posted. Gotta love google images! So, keep in mind this is not our stuff. I'll post some of those once we get settled.


I am actually a bit excited about the kitchen. It looks like there is a lot of storage and definitely laid out better than our current one. There is space on the other side of the refrigerator to place a washing machine...but no dryer. I thought that was a little strange. I like having a window over the sink as well. Maybe I'll place some bird feeders there so I can watch my lil' feathered friends.


The living room will be our homeschool area as well as our dining and seating area. The walls will be lined with our huge bookcases and my long green dresser that holds all of our crafting supplies.



There is a little alcove in the bedroom I think is going to be the Master. That area will be converted into a small (who am I kidding? Everything in the place is small!) work area for Collin. A narrow table with shelves extending up to the ceiling. He will have is own office in the English building, but it is across campus and frankly, I like having him around.

The boys will have about the same amount of room as they do now. As long as they continue keeping it picked up, they'll do fine.

Thanks for coming on this little tour with me. Remember...practical but pretty!