Wednesday, May 28, 2008

May Event List

  • 2-3: City-Wide Garage Sale DONE
  • 5: My grand-niece's birthday DONE
  • 7: My daughter's birthday DONE
  • 9: Wedding ATTENDED
  • 11: Mother's Day DONE
  • 11: Party for the girls DONE
  • 18: Graduation Party DONE
  • 19: Last Bunco night for the season PLAYED
  • 22: 1st grade's school play ATTENDED
  • 24: Teenager's birthday SURVIVED
  • 24: Party for boys DONE AND HAD A BLAST!
  • 25: Memorial Day DONE
  • 28: Middle DS's Birthday DONE
  • 29: 1st grade end of the year picnic DONE
  • 30: See Sex and The City with my sister DONE
  • 31: 25th Anniversary party for friends DONE

Monday, May 26, 2008

Signs of Summer

Chalk Art


My first attempt at growing Strawberries!


The lawn in all its glory!


Finding Greener Pastures

The kids took Scooter for a romp in the yard






Once Upon a Time in a Galaxy Far Far Away...

...I had a baby boy.
We were living in Sacramento at the time
He was two weeks late
I was miserable
They scheduled an induction
I woke 2 hours before my alarm went off
Because my water broke
Off to the hospital
15 hours of labor later and one Emergency C-Section
Our first child was born
8 lbs, 2 oz and 21 inches
ALL BOY!!
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*
*
*
*
Fast Forward 18 years!
He's 6'2" and wears a size 12 shoe!
We had a party for him on Saturday
Here he is (on the right) with a good friend!
Happy Birthday
You're becoming a fine young man!
'sniff'

Saturday, May 17, 2008

Porch Update

I posted a year ago about our Porch Improvements here




Wow! I'd forgotten how horrid the 'BEFORE' porch was - why did we buy this house again? Oh yeah, we have that thing called 'vision'. Well, at least my dh does. Thank goodness I trust him.

We installed one fan last year.

Notice, our new neighbor made some improvements of his own. He just had that new retaining wall put in to replace the old deteriorating railroad ties. Much nicer.




So this year we completed 'Part Deux', and added some furniture at the opposite end.

I LOVE these chairs (they recline).


Next, came the table that converts to a fire pit. It only uses propane and lava rock so no worries about burning the house down!



Then we installed the matching ceiling fan to the one we installed last year. And by we I mean my husband. Oui' (I'm French) LOL.


If you look closely into the window you get a peek at my laundry/mud room. I should do some pics of that room since I spend so much time there! ;-)



The second fan 'we' (there's that French again) installed this year.





Future plans include a new entry door. This one will do for now. The storm door is a different color because we replaced the old fly-a-way-in-the-slightest-wind one with a sturdier full view and plan to install a darker (wood) entry door.



Another closer look and you get a glimpse of my 1980's entry wallpaper (installed in 1991). I haven't begun de-papering the first floor yet. Oh I take that back; I did strip the powder room of MORE floral paper (had to rid ourselves of previous owner's DNA).


My goal was to give the porch that 'extended living space' feel. I underestimated how ginormous the space is. Any ideas on how to fill in the gap between the two seating areas or are we good?


I'd love for you ALL to stop by for a visit and have a sip of lemonade! (only in this case, lemonade is French for wine).


We have lots of ideas for future improvements so stay tuned (it may take a year. . . . . or FIVE) LOL

Thursday, May 15, 2008

High above the chim-iney tops...

Same rainbow
Left and Right side view
I tried to get the entire thing but it was too large and disappeared quickly



Thursday, May 08, 2008

Golden Day

Happy Golden Birthday
Sweet Baby Girl
I 'Heart' You!

Thursday, May 01, 2008

I hate when I find exactly what I want.....

And it's too spendy! This is my idea. The boys have a great area in their room that I want to turn into a 'lounge' space. It's a corner right between their bunkbeds and one of their dressers. I have bookshelves there now that are going elsewhere. There is a window there now with great natural light so my idea was to have a lounge area with a double bean bag chair where they can sit/lay and read or draw. I have a french memo board to hang there and want to do a write on board there as well as something with magnets to display their many drawings - etc.

So I find the perfect bean bag chair that will fill the entire corner and it even comes in blue camo. But I may just go with denim so there isn't too much camo. Anyway, by the time you add in the liner, shipping tax, etc. it was nearly $300! I cannot find one cheaper online. Any ideas??

I love the structure of this one - more like a mini sofa and not just a blob KWIM?





Who am I?

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I'm a SAHM of 4 kids living in the Chicago burbs and enjoying life!

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