Project 2010--New York Photos

Over three months ago, Rob and I went to New York City with our friends Juan and Mari.

It was one of those "perfect" trips where everything went so well--except for one thing--my photos. I took lots of photos, but I don't like most of them. I guess I feel that the photos just didn't capture how nice our trip really was.

So my next project for 2010 is to take another look at my NYC photos and see if I can't edit and crop and re-think them in order to make a small memory book for our friends Juan and Mari.

Project 2010--Doll Bed

I finished the doll bed accessories!

I let Lily pick out the fabric that she wanted for the dolly's quilt. I wasn't thrilled with her choice--I would have picked something a bit girlier with NO hearts. But Lily was so sure of her choice that I just had to go with it!

I made a matress covered in purple flannel to coordinate with the multi-colored heart print fleece.





Dolly looks happy with the finished product too!

I'm going to check my Project 2010 list and decide what to work on next. Stay tuned.

We'll keep her

She chews on shoes and dirty tissues. She runs like a thief with stray socks left on the floor. She needs to go out a dozen times a day yet hates going for even the shortest of walks. She greets you at the door after an hour away with the excitement of, well, a puppy. She loves to curl up in your lap like a little stuffed animal. The good and the bad. Whatever it is...we'll keep her.

Blow!

Project 2010--Update

Back on January 1st, I unrolled my personal project for the year--every two weeks (give or take a week) during 2010, I intend to choose and complete a project on my ever-growing list of projects to do around the house.


My first project was to remove the ugly wallpaper from our downstairs bathroom.

I'm happy to announce that I DID finish removing this wallpaper (and I actually finished it "on schedule"). I just have not had the opportunity to post the "after" shots. So here it is...

Still quite ugly, but I need to think about what my next steps will be with this project before I forge ahead. Turns out, the walls underneath are riddled with holes and cracks.

So, in the meantime, my next project is to take this little doll bed that we fixed up for Lily:

and make a mattress, quilt and pillow for dollie. This was supposed to be done before Christmas, but Mrs. Claus got too busy...

Stay tuned...

Our MLK Tradition

Every year on Martin Luther King Day, we go bowling as a family. I would love to do some service oriented family project on this day, but the kids start looking forward to this annual outing as soon as Christmas is over. Maybe we should go bowling more often.

I'm taking a photography class and our assignment this week is to capture something that is moving (without any blur). I thought our bowling outing would be a good opportunity to snap some shots for this assignment.

I wasn't very successful with the "no blur" part of the assignment, but it was still fun to snap a few photos of my kids in motion!

Sam "helping" Lily--he was very sweet as he walked her through the process of pushing the ball down the alley, but he actually ended up doing all the work for her.



Sam's bowling style was a bit frightening...he would drop the ball from about 2 feet up and about 2 feet behind the lane.



Miraculously, the ball always got to the end and knocked a few pins down!



Joey was the winner of the first game with a score of 120--way to go Joey! (A far cry from two years ago when Rob scored in the 200s!)

Do our eyes go to heaven?

Sam is obsessed with heaven. He asks me regularly--usually on the way to pick up Joey from school in the afternoon--what happens when we die. His questions challenge me. I try to answer as truthfully as I can, but the truth is, usually, I really don't know how to answer.

He wants to know:

Who's in heaven...

What does it look like in heaven...

Can we take our stuff with us...

What does God look like anyway?

But the one common theme to all of his questions about heaven is whether or not we can see when we go to heaven. I usually try to answer in the way that my Christian upbringing would instruct "we leave our body here on earth. We don't need it in heaven." I try to ignore the whole issue about whether or not we can see in heaven.

But yesterday, I finally caved and answered exactly as he wanted me to. I told him yes, we can see in heaven. Our eyes go with us when we die and we can see everyone and everything there.

He was so relieved and walked away with a huge smile on his face. I was happy that this frequent conversation ended so that frankly, I could go back to reading People Magazine.

SNOW!

Lists.

I don't always make New Year's resolutions. Some years I do. Some years I don't.

But I always make New Years lists--lots and lots of lists.

I make lists of things to do in the New Year: lists of things to organize, lists of things to get rid of, lists of places to visit, lists of projects to work on--you get the picture.

This year, I intend to tackle one of those lists.

Every two weeks (give or take a week) for the next 52 weeks (give or take a week), I intend to choose and complete a project on my list.

Most of these projects are house related. Some are not.

There are 27 projects on my list--just enough to tackle one every two weeks (give or take a week).


First up...remove the rest of the wallpaper in our downstairs bathroom.






I started removing the paper almost a year ago, but got stuck when I could no longer reach high enough using our step stool.

I have more plans for this bathroom, like replacing the black toilet and sink, but for now, the wallpaper needs to go.






Wish me luck.

How long do I think this little project of mine will last?

About one week.

That's why I don't make New Years resolutions.