volunteer photography

this week was Vacation Bible School at our church and I volunteered to be the photographer. I took over 1,900 pictures over four nights. Here are a few of my favorite shots: 

perfect day

Kristen (a.k.a. Mrs Harmony) came over yesterday and we shared some of our favorite things! 

(image from weheartit.com)

Cha-cha-chai lattes

wish I could say we made this cute banner, but it's from weheartit.com - however, I am totally inspired to make one of my own soon! But we did spend time poring over Song of Solomon for inspiration for crafty gifts for our husbands.

delicious pasta salad - yay Trader Joe's!

and in addition to all the chatting, sharing and general catching up we did - we also made cute hair clips inspired by Elsie's project from RVA summer camp! such a fun idea and now I am on the lookout for more cute fabric patterns that I can turn into hair clips to spice up my daily "mom" hairdo of a messy bun!

why father's day is the best

yesterday was Father's Day! Father's Day is great because all guys really want to do with "their" day is relax and watch TV (or at least that's all Wes really wants!) so the agenda yesterday was: watch some World Cup soccer then go to church. After church Leila took a nap, Wes went to hit some golf balls and I got started on my gift to Wes of a clean BBQ, then we had lunch and took Leila to the park. while she took her afternoon nap, Wes settled down to watch some golf on TV and I had some time to start on my next project from RVA summer camp! 

I got five t-shirts cut and wound before Leila woke up for dinner and then after she went to bed for the night I started turning the "yarn" into a welcome mat for our back door! I love this project because other than buying a huge crochet hook (less than $2), it's free! As a runner I have an abundance of white tshirts from different races and events, many which don't fit because they decide that the one-size-fits-all for runners is XL. Once I finish with my all-white mat, I think I'll make a multi-colored mat (race tshirts come in colors other than white, sometimes) for the garage door too. With the new wood floors, we're trying hard to keep as much dirt and dust outside as possible, so these mats are perfect for trapping a lot of stuff before we get too far inside the house. 

Leila's Daddy

We love you so much!

i love puns

this afternoon during naptime I completed my first project from RVA Summer Camp! it is an adorable journal covered in woodgrain fabric to be a "summer log" (get it? i wish I could take credit for that little pun, but the creator of the project also made the joke first). 

here are pictures of my completed log: 

front

back - the color is a little wonky in this one, the first picture is closer to reality

all the pretty pages inside! 

no time to start filling it now, Leila is making her presence known from her crib :) 

Go USA!

we had a party today for the US vs. England World Cup game and of course, Leila needed something appropriate to wear! due to all the recent remodeling, my sewing machine isn't available for use yet so I had to get creative with what was easily available. 

I started with this Angels dress ... and a little felt and some embroidery floss later ... 

we're ready for game time!!! (let's say that the A on the skirt is for America and ignore the fact that I was not about to attempt an embroidered soccer ball pattern on a circle of felt.)

here's Wes in his "vintage" '94 jersey celebrating after the US tied it up in the 40th minute! 

it was so fun to welcome friends to our updated home! lots of people dressed in patriotic colors (the Pelascini girls even showed up with face glitter and star stickers) and there was plenty of yummy food to go around. in fact, I have a fridge full of shepherd's pie, watermelon, lemonade and apple pie if anyone wants to come over and help polish it off :) 

dreamy home

it's been so fun over the past few weeks to see the ideas I've been holding in my head for years actually coming true in our kitchen! I have been thinking a lot lately about what makes a house a home and what takes a home to that next level of being a "dream home" ... everyone has different ideas about their dream home but I love this one! 

photo credit: Elsie Flannigan

for three years after my brother and I were both out of the house, my parents traveled by RV all over the Western US, even going all the way up to Alaska! And while I know my mom is so thrilled to be back to her "dream house" without wheels (the home we grew up in back in Huntington Beach), I still think of them and their adventures when I see an RV driving down the highway or camped along PCH or when I come across something cute like this painting! 

functional

as of a quarter-to-nine last night, Wes and I are now the proud owners of a fully functional kitchen once again! 

just a few little projects to officially be DONE - install the hood (tomorrow), put up another row of shelves (maybe this weekend?), get a new microwave (far down on the priority list right now) and decide what to do about a backsplash. but the important thing is, the oven cooks, the sink and dishwasher clean and my number one project for today is to figure out what I'll be cooking Wes for our first home-cooked dinner in over a month! 

vacation memories

first stop when we got into town - lunch at Tyler's! 

lots of time in the pool

kisses from Daddy at dinner

Thursday night street fair in downtown Palm Springs

Grandpa "babysitting"

packed up and ready to hit the road for home!