Father's Day at the Beach

It's been a while since we've been to the ocean, so down to Dana Point we went.  We like to go to Doheny State Beach.  It was a nice warm day, although pretty windy.  The kids of course loved it.  They all wanted to try to boogie board.  Nathan went out for a little while, but I think he was too cold.  Baylee spent most of the time playing in the sand, and my water baby Alivia spent most the time in the waves.  Aaron was happy curled up in the chair with a snack.

New Projects

Of course I've been working on new projects, it's addicting I tell you!  Once I realized I could just make the stuff I want instead of just wishing I could afford it, the ideas are endless.  For my birthday Matt bought me a band saw.  It's a great tool for making small cuts and can add lots of detail to my projects.  I had to search the internet to find out all the cool stuff it's good for and found out about "bandsaw boxes" Little boxes (like a jewelry box) that are easily made with the bandsaw.  I immediately went out to the garage and made one, it was easy and only took a few minutes.  Alivia wanted it pink though, so I found some old pink paint, watered it down and painted her new jewelry box.

The other project, a little bit bigger, is our new outdoor seating.  I bought some chairs a few years ago that I love, but we need more seating, so I decided to make a matching sofa.  It still needs to be stained to match but I'll save that for another day.

My Preschool Grads

Aaron and Alivia had Preschool graduation today, it was a very cute ceremony.  They sang and danced, and their teachers made up a little poem for each of the kids.  Just wish Matt was able to join us, but I did get it all on video!

Finishing touches on the dining room

The new dining room was a huge project, and I'm glad to say it's finally finished.  It just needed a couple finishing touches.  Matt bought me a new light for the pantry area, goodbye white globe lamp. And while he has been in Florida I took it upon myself to fix the windows.  Not that there was anything wrong with the windows individually. They just didn't match each other (remember they were each in a different room).  So to fix this I just came up with a whole new look. I added wood around the window and made the roman shades.  Here's the before and after.

Upper backyard makeover

The backyard already got a major makeover when we moved in, but there is an upper section that was a little bit of an eye sore.  We decided to put in another rock wall, with grape vines.  Matt made a water feature with some whiskey barrels, and on each side of the rock wall we are planting Irish moss between flat rocks I placed on the hill. It's not completely done yet, but Matt took off to Florida, so we will finish up when he gets back.