Aftermath of Hurricane IRENE

So thankful for God keeping us safe during IRENE. We are praying for those who were not so fortunate. We had minor damages - leaves, branches & limbs down as well as shingles in the yard.

Preparing for Hurricane IRENE

Hurricane IRENE is my first real hurricane since getting married & moving to NC.

I had a little checklist of things to do BEFORE IRENE hit.

• Laundry Done

• Baking Done (banana bread, apple cake & peanut butter chocolate chip cookies)

• Bottled Water Purchased
• Clean House
• Fill the bathtubs with water (just in case the water is turned off)
• Go see the waves at the beach

We welcomed in Irene on Friday night. It was so windy.

the TWINS are here

Remember THIS?

My cousin Adam, & his wife Chrissy, welcomed Lucas & Lauren into their family on Wednesday, August 24. They came around 3:40pm. They are just two little peanuts.

all in ONE year

How does this happen in just ONE year?

I pulled Lily's swing out this week so she could put her babies in it.

weekend finds

I LOVE junk . . . yard sales, thrift stores & piles by the side of the road. Jake spotted these two beauties at a yard sale this weekend & we snatched them up. We are using the open crate to hold our sound system. Still deciding what to do with the soda bottle crate. Any ideas?

baby at the beach

We took Lily to the beach Friday night. Yes, i do realize that she is not a baby anymore. . . the time goes too fast! Lily LOVES the water & really liked looking for shells. I think she may be our mermaid.

PLAY-time

Lily was having SO much fun playing today while i was working. I just had to stop & snap a few pics. The problem is that she is so active, it's really hard to get a photo that isn't a blur.

I also thought she looked so cute in these legging capri's - a little crazy pattern, but fun.

weekend with friends

Our good friends, the Wetterlund's, were in town this past weekend. They moved to the Chicago area a year ago; we sure miss their family. We were able to catch up over supper on Saturday night. Micah & Laci had a sleepover with Lily on Sunday night. Remember our previous sleepovers HERE & HERE & HERE.

Here are a few pics from the weekend (bummed that we forgot to take a picture with Dave & Jenny).

The Wetterlund's four children - Micah, Laci, Ailie & Jude (Lily was napping).

Laci feeding Lily breakfast after the sleepover. Laci is such a good helper!

Micah & Lily "wrestling."

Playing on the iPad.

Ailie playing.

Maybe someday we will be neighbors with them . . . .

Project of the Week (two of them)

I have been wanting to do both of these project for a while, but have not had the time or could not find what I was looking for. Finally was able to check both of them off of my list!

LIVING ROOM DRAPES:

I have been planning on sewing drapes for our living room for a while. I had fabric selected over a year ago, but then the store sold out. I selected a different fabric last week, but started thinking . . . . almost 3 yards per window X 3 windows X $7.99 per yard PLUS nearly 9 yards of lining fabric adds up to A LOT. I also would need to find the time to sew them. I really was planning on buying fabric & starting to sew, but then I found these panels at Ross for $9.99 each. So I paid less for 3 panels plus hardware for 3 windows than I would have for just the decorator fabric (not counting the lining fabric).

RECOVERING THE DINING CHAIRS:

Another project that I have wanted to do for a while. The chairs were black "leather," however, in our move a few of them were ripped. This spring Jake's rivets, on his back pockets, tore holes in them too. To top it all off, one day Lily found the rips & decided to pull some big hunks off. Two of the four chairs were still fine but I decided to recover all 4 of them. The fabric is actually outdoor fabric so it should wear well.

VW Bug - FINISHED

Jake purchased a 1972 Super Beetle back in November. He's been working on fixing it up this past year. See HERE & HERE for previous updates & before pictures. Well, it is done (ok, there are still a few minor things to do, but overall it's done!).