I usually hang ornaments from  all the windows, but this year I wanted to do something different.

This year every thing gets a bow -

frames…

doorways…

stairways…

sconces…

plates…

even plates, sconces, and frames…

and when the ribbon is gone, put a garland on it…

The kids were up bright and early and ready to put on the first decoration.  Seriously, cj was up at 5 am.  He came downstairs dressed for the day, asking about getting the house ready for Christmas.  They both love peeking at the days ahead to see what ornament is next.  All the while lulu reminding cj that they have to wait for each day before the ornament goes on the tree.

Their tree will be filled before we know it.

Our mantle is not one of them.  The previous owner bulked it up.  So much so, when you open the window next to the fireplace, it hits right into the corner of the mantle.  I do love having a great big shelf for display, but wasn’t loving the trim.

I went scouring my files for before pictures of our mantle.  This was more difficult than I thought it would be.

I found this…

It’s from 2008.  You can see the flourishy things in the center and corners along with the bullseye and ribbed pieces along the sides.  You can also little lulu in the amazing Sleeping Beauty dress that my mom made for her.

Here you can see where my dad chiseled off the scrolly things for me.

I knew I wanted them off, but wasn’t sure what to do once they were off.  Matching stain would be a pain, but I didn’t want to paint the whole thing.  Since we couldn’t decide what to do, we left it…

for over two years…

Then my mom called to tell me about a fireplace she saw on This Old House that was just painted on the bottom…

done…

We swapped out the bullseye blocks that didn’t go with anything in the house and were wider than the boards beneath them, that were also replaced with something more understated.  I’m still not 100% committed to the tile, but at least I can look at the fireplace without frustration.

Mini golf counts as golfing in my world.

We had a great time, despite the ridiculous heat wave that was going on.

Lulu was trying to find shade next to boulder here.

why yes,  I did make a hole in one on 12.

Cj’s favorite part of any hotel stay is having snacks in bed while watching tv.

ahhh the simple pleasures (this was taken about 4 o’clock in the afternoon)

Lulu and I did our best to travel handmade.

Here she is in the elevator with her weekender.

Here’s my weekender.

I love it.

Lily of the valley and purple are some of my favorite things, so I was thrilled to find enough of this fabric. (hooray superbuzzy) It’s the weekender pattern from Amy Butler.  (I love that link because I could access it with my phone and get the pattern requirements while I was in the fabric store, before the pattern arrived at my house.) I tend to have good luck with her patterns.  Although there was one point around step 11 where I finally had to stop and slowly read out loud the same step a couple of times because I just couldn’t figure out what she was talking about.  Once I figured it out it was smooth sailing.  For me, the biggest help was to stitch slowly, pin the corners with several pins, and also not stitch too closely when making the piping.

You can see my zipper pouch made from tape measures that a friend gifted me, along with the tiniest bit of the edge of an embroidery hoop sticking out of the pocket.  I had the best of intentions to get some stitching done, but was too tired by the end of each day.

I also finished a simple drawstring laundry bag from a fat quarter of the dwarves’ laundry print from Heather Ross.

I spent an evening last week knotting strips of scrap fabric on to a piece of twine.

Lulu wanted a camp theme so we set a plan for an afternoon in the backyard with a tent full of balloons and games like bocce and basketball.  Then it turned out to be the hottest and most humid day we’ve had this year.  We still had the tent, but went with a water fight to try to cool off.
Then they painted birdhouses.

They decorated bangle bracelets made from popsicle sticks. (here they are undecorated)

They made paper fortune tellers and signs for their rooms.

We had a sundae bar with all the fixin’s along with cupcakes.

After all of that, they each went home with their own hobo bindle filled with goodies…

…and I slumped into a chair and didn’t move for hours.

It’s the end of May.

Tomorrow is the last day of school for the kids (thrilled to not be making lunch at 7 am for a while)

It seems I may finally have a handle on whatever this issue is with my stomach (once again I pause to be grateful it isn’t celiac)

We are starting the next program in cj’s listening therapy (fingers crossed for better attention and focus)

Piano and drum lessons will start soon (still need to schedule swimming lessons)

The spouse is already planning 2 trips to Argentina and 1 trip to Canada this summer (ugh)

I also have quilt blocks that need to be pieced into a top for cj’s bed (guess my new goal for that will be this fall)

I have managed to finish all the teacher gifts  (need to get pics of the two I finished yesterday)

The two hats on the ends are gifts for cj’s associates.  The middle hat was given to my super neighbor for her birthday.

tic tock

on to the next thing on the list…