Monday, August 30, 2010

Josephine's birthday!

She is 5! 

And following in tradition - I made her a new dress for her birthday (1956 pattern, which is a very similar dress to what her Nana had when she was little):



She had a great day!  She went out for lunch - a tradition in our family - to the restaurant her of choosing.
She got presents...a new shirt, a minature skateboard, tinkerbell dolls, new doll house furniture, and 2 special gifts..

a new bike

And a set of Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls!
(more on those later - because I made them!)


Aimee and Nana made her a cupcake cake:



She is our last child!  We are grateful for her!  She is such a bright spot in our lives and family each day! 






3 weeks ago

I thought things had calmed down.

Ha.ha.ha

School started for Melina.  I only have to drop her and her friend off to school.  Friend's mo & dad are doing the pick-up!  Melina has a full schedule - her graduation requirement have changed for her graduating class, so it was a bit more work to get her schedule done - and to include seminary!

I am almost done with my management class.  Whew.  2 more classes for the semester.  If I don't add more.

My sister is getting married!  At Thanksgiving.  Wedding plans are in action.

School started at home for everyone else. 

I have been sewing. 

The most important thing happened last week -

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

What I have been doing....

Moving furniture and books.
 (please don't ask me how many books there are
- I refuse to count for now -
but all you need to know is that there is 15 ft of bookshelves - 3 are 7ft high and 3 are 8ft high
(the shorter ones will be taller in a few months when I get back to Ikea).

My chairs were an awesome craigslist find!  I got them and the ottoman for $40!  All they needed was a quick clean!  They have been deemed the perfect reading chairs by Lina and Aimee - you can turn any which way, pull your feet up, stretch over them, etc - and be perfectly comfortable!



Painting furniture. 
I painted all our pine furniture in the family room!  I love the new color - it is a soft, creamy white and really helps our family room to look bigger!  And it re-newed the life of our furniture - which is 7 years old!


I painted the 3 tables also - coffee and 2 end-tables.  We love them.  They are painted with Behr Premimum Paint with Primer - in a semi-gloss - for easy cleaning.  Needless to say, there is no drawing allowed on the tables anymore.
Or shoes!


Making new valances -
 this is one, and there is a longer one over the sliding glass doors on the left.  The material came from my neighbor's mom and was FREE!  It is a very nice weight decorating fabric.  The light yellow pops very nicely with the blue walls and white trim in our new library/my sewing room.

Covering one of the office chairs. 
(the other one was just fine)
 This is an older military chair, given to me from my parents, whose neighbor gave it to them!  It is in perfect condition underneath, but need a puch of color for....




My new office! 

I desperately needed this space - mostly for tax purposes while I work (I do IT work for people). 
(Technically, I am supposed to share this room, however, I am the only one in there more of the time - either studying or working.)
This room has turned out beautifully!  Matt helped me paint it before he left, mom came over and helped with hanging all the pictures, and I (semi-homemade) made the closet curtain and covered the chair.  Aimee likes this room, as she does her school work in here, away from the younger ones who are at the kitchen table. 

I didn't buy any new furniture for this room.  I moved all the pieces that I have had throughout the house into here - 2 desks, table-top desk, bookshelf, and chairs.  I bought a few new frames, but I had all the pictures already - in storage.

And yes - it is Paris themed. 
I *heart* Paris. 
I have been there 4 times. 
I am waiting to go back. I have been lots of other places - England, Wales, Scotland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Netherlands, Belguim, South Korea, and several states in the US, but I always long and go back to Paris. 
Love it.



Studying. 

Yep.  I passed my Healthcare Delivery Systems class.
I now have to finish:
Principles of Management
Medical Terminology
Pathology/Physiology (which really bites, because my last class was 6 days over the cut-off date).

I think that leaves me with only 5-6 classes, and then 2 capstone projects for my degree work.

I have been sewing - more than valances and chair covers.  I promise.