Last Day of School...

I had Katie take some pictures of Addi before heading out for her last day of kindergarten.  Of course, Von couldn't be left out.

He has grown so much in the last year.  Here he is on the last day, and here he is on Addi's first day...

I have to admit, I am liking his shaved head more and more everyday.  I, more than him was really attached to his mop of hair.

And here is Addi on her last day, and her on her first...

At the beginning of the year she was 3'8" and 40 pounds and she ended the year at 3'10.5" and 43 pounds.  

She has been looking forward to summer for so long now.  This picture pretty much sums it up.

I took this as she walked out of her classroom for the last time.  She has learned so much this year.  Her report card was phenomenal.  She scored 4s (which is the highest score you can receive and means she is achieving above the expected level) in every single subject and category, which is an improvement from the last trimester.   We are so proud of her!

Nesting...

There is nothing like being pregnant to get you motivated to get some projects done...

I had pinned this months ago.  It's from Martha, and so easy.  I had a tray that I had been using in my bathroom that had began to rust, so I spray painted it white and then recovered it with fabric, using Martha's instructions.  

I took it one step further and Scotch guarded it.

Again, on Pinterest, I saw this blanket and had to make it.  I made one for Chelcie's baby and then decided to make one for each of my kids for when the baby is born to give to them.  This one is for Addi...

The tutorial is from aestheticnest.com.  I ordered a chenille cutter from Amazon.com, which made it somewhat easier.  I'm not quite sure what I was thinking making two of them in the next month.   They are time consuming, no joke.

After collecting a huge stack of Addi's art work and certificates from the year, I decided to make a box similar to this one from iheartorganizing.blogspot.com.

Mine is not as pretty.  I just couldn't justify spending $30 on the box she used.  I got mine at Staples for $8, but it serves the same function.  I used her printables and added files within the file to separate art, certificates/report cards and pictures.

This is a vintage Radio-Tot (a mini Radio-Flyer) that I bought at a thrift store at least a year ago (ok, maybe two years ago) and had had sand blasted.  I finally got around to repainting it and the kids are loving playing with it.

My sister was out all of last week sans kids and I totally put her to work.  One of the girls I visit teach gave me a carseat.  Which was so great, because I had gotten rid of mine once it had expired and she had only used this one with her last baby for less than a year.  So, so nice of her.  It was a originally a green color and while Katie was here, we decided to revamp it and make a new cover for it.  I can't take much credit for it, Katie did most of the work.  It turned out great.  We took the original cover apart, and then sewed the new fabric on top of the existing cover and then sewed it back together.  The brown part is the original cover, which made it fit perfectly.  

While Katie was here, we made a trip up to the fabric district in LA.  We found this "trim" shop called Target trims.  It was amazing.  This is just a small selection of just their lace.  I bought several yards of elastic lace for $6 and made 24 headbands for the baby this weekend in different sizes.  So, if someone wants to make me some bows to clip onto the headbands, feel free.  I hate making bows.

Shortly after I had Von, the Aden and Anais muslin blankets became all the rage when having new babies.  I had already ordered a pack from Amazon when I saw this on danamadeit.com, who had made her own.  I looked for the fabric at Joann's, and it was $12.99 a yard.  Even with a coupon, it was cheaper just to buy them.  So, when we were in LA, I went to the same store, Michael Levine.  I bought it there for $4 a yard.  Steal.

I spent an hour or so on Sunday finishing the edges.  Time will tell if I like them as much as the Aden and Anais blankets.  

Lastly, I recovered my living room ottoman.  The kids had ripped holes in the last cover from jumping on it so much.  I ordered the fabric from fabric.com and Scotch guarded it.  Hopefully the white will stay white.  Kind of doubtful, but luckily, it's a cheap and easy fix to make a new cover.  So the only thing I have left to finish is Von's blanket and I am done with projects for a while.  While Katie was here, we also cleaned out my garage, washed all of the baby clothes and put them away and got out and cleaned everything I will need once the baby is born.  Aside from trying to keep my house clean, I am ready.  Which is a really good feeling.  Now we just have to wait...

Month of May

May was a month of amusement parks.  We started out the month at Legoland with the Jacob's family.  The kids of course loved it and everyone had a great time.

It's great to see these kids together.  They only see each other maybe a couple of times a year, but they always pick up right where they left off.

 Then a few weeks later, Ian took a couple of days off and we went up to Disneyland.

We met up with one of Ian's old roommates, Andy, and his family who just happened to be in town to go to Disneyland as well.

 Von on Tom Sawyer's island.

 Addi wishing all of this money was real.

 Addi and the fox from Robin Hood (I think?)

Von was finally tall enough for splash mountain.  Addi chickened out, so it was just him and Ian.  And he was placed in the very front of the boat.  He was SOAKED, but loved it.

We had to park in the lot behind the Disneyland Hotel that did not have a tram.  This nice guy gave us a ride back to the car after me and my large pregnant belly politely asked.

That same weekend, we hit up the Wild Animal Park.  Addi's favorite animals are always the birds.

Von, not so much.

On the tram.  This is Von's typical face these days, accompanied by usually some sort of obnoxious noise.  I think he thinks he is funny.

Later that week, Von and I went back to the Wild Animal Park with Addi's class.  Doesn't he look like a kindergartener?

 Poor Addi fell flat on her face when she tried to land this jump.

Von and I split up from her class after a while, and went on the tram by ourselves.  I love this picture.  His eyelashes are so long.  

On Memorial Day, we hit up the Legoland Waterpark for one last time.  Our passes expired recently, and we aren't going to renew them for a while.

The kids had so much fun and the weather was perfect.  Did I mention I was really pregnant during all of these trips?  I have less than a handful of weeks left to go and am so ready!