OK, folks. Sorry this is late but I promise I'll make it up to you! This will be a long one. Hop on and enjoy the ride. As always, this is stream-of-consciousness...planning it out would be too much work.
1. Are you wondering why I skipped Six on Sunday? It's because we had a house full of people and by the time it cleared out, I was exhausted. #2 had her first communion and we had family and friends over afterward to celebrate. She was so nervous. The lady who is in charge gets really into it and it made #2 afraid she'd get in trouble if she messed up - you know, like she forgot to bow at the alter. I'm happy to report it all went off without a hitch. And for once I was able to listen to the homily (the other kids sat with the grandparents) and it was really nice.
After church we headed back to our house for some great food and even better company. All the kids had a blast. One of the cutest things I overheard was my niece (my sister's daughter) calling my father-in-law "grandpa" and calling my brother-in-law "Uncle Sean". It didn't matter that they weren't actually related to her - it's what her cousins call their grandparents, so she did too!
We tried to snap some pictures - but you know how it is...CHAOS! And let me tell you - it was COLD, too. It certainly wasn't ideal, but we made the best of the situation.
The whole fam...
With Gamma and Papa (my parents):
With Grandma, Grandpa, and Uncle Sean. (#3 calls them Grandpa and Grandpa - I don't correct her because it's too cute!)
All six cousins:
2. If I'm being truthful, there's a second reason I failed to produce Six on Sunday. It's due to sequins. Hundreds and hundreds of sequins. You see, #1 has a synchronized swim meet in Colorado Springs this weekend. (Vicki, Tiffany, wanna meet up? Hang out with me at the pool? Pretty please!) That means I have to sew sequins on her suit. And it takes me HOURS upon HOURS. Therefore, I started the journey Sunday night. It sucks, not gonna lie. Here is the front - almost done.
3. Want to see some of my craigslist finds as of late? I've talked about them but I don't think I've shown them off.
First up, the desk that I painted for #3. I have to admit that I'm not in love with this one. I'm not sure why. But I doubt I'll change it since no one really sees it.
Before:
After:
And here is my mid-century dresser. Originally it was going to go in the dining room as a buffet. However, we moved it behind the couch as a beverage station for the first communion party and we really like it in that location. I think we'll leave it here and look for something else for the dining room. I'm perfectly happy with that arrangement because it gives me another excuse to peruse craigslist:)
I haven't completed it yet, so you're seeing it only halfway done. I painted the top white (because it's formica so I can't stain it) and I'll refinish the body in the same color we did the kitchen table. I am in love with the cleans lines. This piece is so me!
4. We were busy last week! I have had my new foyer ceiling fixture since spring break. (Ikea PS Maskros light, in case you were wondering. Simply divine.) Well, we finally tried to hang it up a few weeks ago only to discover the cord wasn't long enough. After a trek down to Dave Smith the Lampmaker, it was ready to go.
The hubby drove down to Home Depot and rented a 15 foot ladder and we hung it up last Wed. night. It looks great!
Here is the before. UGLY. And yes. That's dust in case you were wondering. I hated it so much I pretended it wasn't there.
And Ta-Da...
It makes me smile every time I see it. (Now we just have to redo the stairs.)
5. I rented a lense today for the wedding I'm shooting over Memorial weekend. I tried borrowlenses.com. I hemmed and hawed trying to decide what to rent. In the end, I went with the 70-200mm 2.8L. First, it's an L lense. Enough said. Second, it really fills in my biggest hole. I LOVE my 50mm 1.4 lense and will shoot most of the portraits with that lense. I also have my dad's wide angle 12-22mm lense for those wide, scenic shots. But I didn't have a solid telephoto lense. I'm certain I'll come out of the wedding with some serious biceps after using this baby - it's HEAVY.
6. Not everything in our world is sunshine and roses. You know that saying about how bad things come in threes? Well, it's true. 1) Last Wed the hubby got a speeding ticket while renting the ladder. (Yes, I know. Why would you speed with a 15 foot ladder on top of your vehicle? Duh.) 2) And then that very same night I was painting the details on the dresser drawers I'm re-finishing for my niece. Like an absolute dummy, I decided to do it in our family room while watching Sarah's House on the DVR. (Love that show!) As my bad luck would have it, a bug crawled out of the drawer, I reached for a kleenex to smush it, and my paint can tipped over...on the ONLY decent carpet we have in the ENTIRE house. Yep, two days and a thousand dollars later, I had new carpet. 3) My sister decided to back out of our cul-de-sac to avoid the kid playing in the middle of the street. My sister promptly ran smack dab into the fire hydrant and tore off her bumper. I think we're done with bad luck for awhile. OK? OK.
7. Thank goodness #4 is really starting to talk these days. The bad part is she isn't very clear in her annunciation. I hope that improves - SOON. The good part is she is learning a lot of new words. Her word this weekend was "pool". You see, we took the kids swimming at the grandparent's hotel on Saturday night. At first, she didn't want to get in the pool. Then, an hour later, it was hard to get her out of the pool. She said pool about a thousand times that night and she woke up saying it the next morning! She loves the pool. I'm pretty sure we'll have a fourth fishy this summer.
8. I took a cue from Young House Love and put together a gallery wall. I had been planning on doing this for awhile, but I was going to use black frames. Well, I liked their wall so much, I decided to go with white.
I followed their lead and used magazines taped to the wall to help me get my placement right. I wish I would have thought of this years ago. Genius. Then I just started hammering away. It was actually pretty darn easy! I will admit I didn't use the templates to lay out the whole wall. I just laid out the middle section. I should have demonstrated restraint and put up the whole wall before I ever lifted my hammer, but I was too excited. However, when it was all said and done, I thought it was a little lopsided. That meant a little rework. Darn.
Notice the frames aren't all filled in yet, but the hardest part is done. I'm really looking forward to filling the frames with the kids artwork (some is already displayed), snapshots, memorabilia, and handprints of the girls. I see it changing routinely throughout the year.
Before:
During (just keepin' it real):
After: (Actually, after I shot this photo I hung up four more frames. But you get the idea.)
9. I also put together an upholstered headboard for #4's room. When it's all done, she'll have two of these headboards. However, her crib is still up so only half the room is done. Still, it's pretty cute, don't you think?
Here is the before. I just think it's missing something.
And the after:
10. Last one. WooHoo. I made it. Here's a knee update for you. I ended up canceling the MRI because it would use up the remainder of my health reimbursement account and there are still 8 months left in the year! I am hoping the doc will give me a cortisone shot without the MRI. Cross your fingers for me because I am DYING to go running again. Like, seriously. Dying.
Have a great week, everyone!
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