More Improving

A few years ago we were given this beautiful chaise I loved it so much and was willing to look beyond how loved the fabric was.It needed a little help but seriously, it's the most comfortable piece of furniture ever and I love it!
I have a friend who recently made slipcovers for her couches out of canvas drop cloths. She got the idea from Miss Mustard Seed. They turned out way cute and so I thought that it would be a great thing for the chaise. I've always wanted to reupholster it but was way too intimidated by the size and odd shape. The slipcover was seriously the perfect answer! It's not perfect but it's definitely an improvement! Sophia seems to approve also. It was seriously so easy to do and I may even attempt it with upholstery fabric some day. Here's another cute thing we've had in our house lately. I bought Mabel this skirt on clearance and I'm so glad I did. I love finds like this! She wore it last Sunday and I seriously loved it. Silly baby.
Sorry I took so many! I just can't get enough of this baby. I can't believe she's going to be 1 in a few weeks! Time needs to slow down!

Bird Week/Transportation Week

I have an awesome friend (Lauren) who did this little program last summer. At the time I thought she was pretty ambitious and wasn't too worried about keeping my kids busy because I was having a baby and that was my only focus for the summer. Now that school is over and the baby is almost a year old(!) I realized how smart she was and decided to do a similar thing. I got her list and we've been doing activities the last few weeks and my kids have really enjoyed it.

The first week we talked about birds. We checked out books from the library and made bird collages. We also went to the Tracy Aviary. It was so fun. The highlight of the trip (really the only reason why we went) was to see this guy. The Laughing Kookaburra. During the last week of Kindergarten, Sophia's class did reports on Australian animals. She chose this bird and was so excited about it! She was seriously so happy to see one in real life. She was a little disappointed that it didn't "laugh" while we there but it was still cool to see I guess. Here we are waiting for the bird show. It was pretty great as well. We also saw these beautiful columbines (not birds. I know). I couldn't believe they had this huge field of them! Lauren, I took these pictures for you. They were seriously so beautiful! We also saw these crazy birds (with a random kid on the side). The Owl Forest was pretty cool. I hadn't seen this part of the Aviary before and it really was cool how they did it. The flamingos were a big hit as well. And so were the pelicans (even though you can't see them). We finished the week by making these bird cages. They probably would have worked better with card stock and not just decorative paper but that's ok. This week we talked about transportation (planes, trains and automobiles). We checked out a book from the library that showed how to make different things that fly out of paper. Here are the girls decorating their "butterflies". Here's Sophia trying to get her "butterfly" too fly. I have to say I was not too impressed. Not with her gliding capabilities but with the book.We also took turns pushing Mabel in the doll stroller to talk about other things that move.We also took a trip in an automobile to Salem pond so that Sophia could ride her bike. Salem Pond is seriously only about 5 minutes from our house and Lilly still managed to fall asleep on the way there. She is so her mother's child!Overall, it's been a great week and we're looking forward to Princess Week. Thanks again for the ideas Lauren!

Here's a few other random happenings from our week. Have you heard of the game "Pop the Pig"? In our house we like to play "Pop the Mabel". It's where we stuff her shirt full of toys until she screams and insists that it's enough. Unfortunately, Lilly is the only one who really likes to play that game. While Mabel was napping yesterday, I went to check on her and found these 3 monkeys in the crib. I don't know how they all managed to get in there but they were sure crazy!Last night we went up the canyon with one of Doug's brothers and had a fun picnic. Mabel discovered that she really likes watermelon. She seriously ate about 4 slices of it.She was seriously getting drunk off the watermelon. Look at that cute face though! How could you not resist giving her more! She seriously loved it so much. It was hilarious.

Denver

At the beginning of the week I got to take a quick trip with Doug to Denver for some training. We had a great time and went with some great people! Thanks again to both of our parents for taking the kids so we could get some time away! It was great!

Here's Mabel the night before enjoying a yogurt pop. Also, the night before Sophia and I went to my niece's ballet recital. It was great. She was one of the dryads in the dream scene of Don Quixote. She just recently got point shoes and is so excited about them! She did great.

We only had one full day to spend in Denver and I spent most of it shopping with one of the wives while the boys were in training. We went to the 16th Street Mall downtown as well as Larimer Square. We really wanted to go to the US Mint but the first available reservations were for next week. Maybe we'll head back then. JK. We did drive by it so that was as good as we got I guess.

These shots are from Larimer Square. It was basically one city block full of shops. The lights were fun but thought that it probabaly looked better at night.

We also drove past Invesco Field. Go Broncos! JK Later that night we went to Garcia's for dinner. Their chips were the size of 1/2 of a corn tortilla! That's my kind of chip!

We also decided to take a picture where we weren't looking so crazy without the chips. Later that night we were going to get crepes at a local place during their "happy hour" but it was closed on Monday night. We were pretty sure it was for FHE. JK. We ended up going to Yogurtland instead. It was super delicious! Seriously it was probably the best yogurt I've had at one of these types of places. Apparently there's one on University Parkway so stop by if you're close! They didn't even pay be to say that!

The next day we only had a few hours so we drove to the temple and walked around a little bit.

It was so gorgeous! Talk about a picture perfect day!

This is the "Bride's Bench" at the temple. It was beautiful as well.

Here's the cute girls I was lucky enough to hang out with for 2 1/2 days! Aren't they beautiful!? Doug seriously works with the best people. We had so much fun together! (I think we did anyway - they may think I'm crazy!)

We got home last night and I was happy to see my kids again! I was also greeted by these beauties! These are double petunias and I thought they turned out nicely. I think I'll definitely plant these again!

Also, my peonies finally bloomed! They were bursting last week and I was just sure they'd bloom while I was gone. I was very happy to see them! I had to bring some inside because they make me so happy!

Improving

We did a few yard improvements today that I thought I'd document. First, we have this sad looking bush/tree thing in our backyard that sits all sad in a back corner. I usually hit it with the edger or mower so I'm actually surprised there's some new growth. After a few 49 cent brick from Lowes and some impatiens I think it looks much better. What do you think? Yes the bush/tree does need to be groomed a little but aside from that...

Here's our other project. This is a view of our sad little garden. The beautiful clothes line on the left had this concrete patio space beneath it that was made up of 10 4' x 8" concrete blocks. I realized the other day that it really wasn't doing anything there besides providing a nice place for weeds to grow and that it might be nice to have more garden space. We decided to line our garden with them and we had just enough. It really was perfect.

I know that it doesn't make a huge difference (in case you can't tell the big brink things make a diagonal line down the middle of the picture) but I think it's nice to have a little bit of a separation from the yard to the garden. I'm kind of OCD like that. I told Doug it makes me feel good to have a cleaner garden. I know. I'm weird.

Here's a bonus image. This is how Lilly fell asleep last night watching a movie. I love how the mattress is hanging off the couch. I thought it looked like a fun slide!