Holy Moly! Two posts in a month.

Birthday tradition- happy birthday on the mirror!

I am on a roll!!! We celebrated Lily's 8th birthday last Saturday with a slumber party! It was mayhem, complete chaos and completely exhausting.

We had a total of 7 girls overnight.  We played and ate and watched a movie and were all together too silly. It got a little too screechy and overwhelming for Lily a couple times but her friends were very understanding and I could tell all of them really cared about Lily and how she was feeling.

I am so proud of her that she has made such great friends. She really has come a long way in the last couple of years.

Silly Girls

The big "8"- cake by Gramma Di

Silly String Tag in the dark!

I am glad she had a good day and I am also glad it is over : ) until next year!

Another month has passed

The girls started school last week and seem to be adjusting to the new school year quite well. It seemed like an easier transition for Lily since she knew she would have the same teacher again. Kendra, of course, was excited for something new. She was disappointed at first with the teacher she got but quickly changed her mind when she realized how many friends are still in her class.

Once school starts the rest of the year seems to go so quickly. The weekends fill up fast and all of a sudden it is Christmas, right?

I hope I get some time to slow down a bit between now and then but we already have a lot of fun stuff coming up. So who knows.

Here is a project we did last weekend and put up in the living room today. I did the background and the texturing then we all did the splatter painting. Believe it or not it was Martin's idea to do a family splatter paint project!

I've also been working hard using the food from our garden. I've got tons of frozen green beans and carrots. We made pickled onions, peppers, green beans, carrots and pickles! So far we've only eaten the pickles but they were very good. I made sun dried tomatoes and fresh spaghetti sauce that was super yummy and sweet. I've been eating all the squash since no one else really likes it. Last week we finally cut the 4 pumpkins we grew off of the vine. I think they should last until Halloween.

I've got lots of ideas for our garden next year- what to do differently, new stuff to grow. I've been trying to make a kind of garden calendar because with so many plants growing it is hard to know what to do for each of them when. I just realized I have no photographic evidence of any of the work we've done since way earlier in the summer...so I guess those pictures will have to wait.

Miss Lily is turning 8 next Saturday. Hard to believe she was 2 when I started this blog. She's grown up so much. We've invited her friends over next weekend for her first birthday slumber party. I now realize why these parties are so popular with parents- so much less expensive than going somewhere or renting a place. We've got some pizza and cake. Kids bring sleeping bags and...we're good. It'll probably be a zoo at our house but they will have a blast. Totally worth it.

The Mariners Game

We got free tickets to the Mariners game last weekend for all four of us. It was Lily's first time at a baseball game and it was really fun to share that with her. I remember going with my Grandma for the first time at about the same age. I love watching baseball even though I don't take the time to watch very often. Growing up spending time with Grandma, the game was always on so it brings back a lot of good memories.

Last Sunday also just happened to be "Kids Run the Bases" day. Both girls ran all the way around the bases- along with about a thousand other kids- but what a chance!. So cool! I was totally living vicariously through them at that moment : ) Lily had no qualms at all running without me. We were very proud!

The next best part was that the entire afternoon cost just $6 plus gas. It would have cost nothing but Martin couldn't resist getting a hot dog. So many hours of wholesome family entertainment on the cheap is totally my kind of day.

These kids have no idea how lucky they are!

Sarah and Martin sittin' in a tree!

After 6 months of planning, we pulled off our backyard wedding and wedding reception. It was pretty neat to see things that up until that point were just visions in my head come together into something really beautiful. It was so much planning for just one day but I think it was worth it. If you had asked me last week I might have had another answer but oh well. Now that there are fewer looming deadlines for us hopefully I can start posting again more frequently.

Here are just a few pictures from our big day. We will have photos my brother took as the "official wedding photographer" soon. He's working on whitening teeth and smoothing wrinkles...I mean adjusting contrast and brightness : )

I don't think it was even a couple hours after we got married that Martin asked, "So, what's next for us?" Love that guy. I think it helps both of us to have something to work toward- as far as getting things done. It was so much fun seeing the transformation of our yard. All the hours of hard labor really paid off and I am super excited it is in "maintenance mode" now. Just weeding and mowing and harvesting our vegetables in the garden for the most part. But, what now?

This week I've been mulling this over as we've had time to come down off the "wedding high." I've really enjoyed getting involved with the kids at their school but feel like I could make a difference in some other areas. I put my name down on another list (of course) to help with the Shoreline Arts Festival in September. I am excited about that prospect and where it might lead. I can really see myself as an arts advocate of some kind for the city- all volunteer of course. Not quittin' my day job! I just know that the kids are both getting so big already and doing their own things. I swear we'll be empty-nesters before we can blink.

I guess that is all for now. I'm sure I'll be around.

The month of May

Another month has come and gone and as per usual, I can't believe how time flies. We've been busy every weekend checking things off of our to do lists- one by one, day by day. I finally feel like we're almost there with only a few minor hiccups along the way. Two weeks ago we had a windstorm that left us this:

We were so lucky it didn't hurt anything but grass, although it did take an entire weekend to get it cleaned up. Which of course led to this:

This completely unacceptable joke of a woodpile had to be fixed. Now it looks like this:

The mess is now more organized and more importantly out of sight. Thank goodness. And this last weekend we transformed the too cool matte gray walls into a much warmer "golden tan."

Before

Photobomb!

Goofing as usual : ) 

Kendra always the helper

After

Dining Room- pre-recluttering

Somewhere in there we celebrated Mother's Day, mailed out our wedding invitations and harvested our first vegetables from our garden.

I'm running on empty right now- but I have a goal in sight and I just gotta keep on going. Lily and I were at Barnes and Noble the other day picking out a friend's birthday gift. She found me the perfect book (with no help from me, by the way) called "Meditations for Moms Who Do Too Much." When your seven year old knows you've got more on your plate than you can possibly handle I guess it is time to take a step back, right? So, I am getting away for a couple days soon to relax and restore- then the final push for the wedding which is 1 month and 3 weeks away from happening. I can do this ya'll!

At our house...



We have a woodpecker in the backyard.



Is this the same yard?




Redone back garden



Easter came and went before I knew it.

Love these girls : )

Happy 8th Birthday Kendra!!!

It was freezing but Martin got her a sprikler for her birthday and let them run through it. I can't believe they actually did it, *So cold!!!*

More work on our yard

I'm never going to want to garden again after all this! We spent another weekend of labor in out the back yard. Things are starting to look better. Finally the progress seems more measurable. We've got a couple more weekends of hard work before it becomes  maintenance work rather than complete overhaul work. So here are a couple more pictures (this time I got a few before pics!).

Kindly left by the previous tenants: a pile of rotten wood, a carpet, some buried garbage and lots of loose leaves/yard debris.

Northwest corner Before picture

We're not done yet but we're getting there. We found a ton of bulbs growing back there that we replanted once we cleared the area. We'll see how they turn out. We also planted some leafy shade growing plants (I can't remember their name), which will help cover  the fence damage and we'll plant some more grass later too.

 Here comes the big part!! We took out part of the "useless" fence and it completely changed the whole look of our backyard. It feels bigger (which is a bit overwhelming) but way more open and less dumpy.

Martin Posing for the before picture

Another Ugly before pic

 

 When we began digging over there we discovered the railroad tie went under the fence and made the perfect shape and size for our garden! Martin rototilled the crap out of it and once we sift a bit more and get that weird bush out of the corner (lol) it will be perfect for tomatoes and lettuce and sunflowers...can't wait! Can you even tell it is the same backyard?

We're going to have a yardwork party/bbq pretty soon - we'll need a bit of help with the last few parts. I'll be sending out an invite soon!

Yard work!

We have taken advantage of every minute of sunshine to work out in our yard. There is so much to do but I think it will all come together just fine in the end. I want to start on the inside too but when it is sunny out, what is better than pulling weeds and getting dirty? Even Lily was outside most of the afternoon- helping here and there and playing. We'll make an outdoor girl out of her yet!

Before this section was edged with rock and covered in old bark and weeds. Bleh! Now we just need a little more dirt and some plants and it will be all better!

This garden area was basically used as a yard waste pile- now it is mostly cleared and started a rock creek.

Front Yard

This was a two week project- one weekend we did the gravel and rock wall, the next weekend we laid the sod. Before it was just dirt and weeds.

Now we're just getting settled for another busy week. Martin started overtime last week and it will continue for the next couple months and I've got a bunch of work to do for the girls' school plus lots going on with my job. Kendra and Lily are doing Cheer Class on Mondays this trimester and starting Wednesday they are both going to take a series of after school classes on different countries- learning about different cultures and languages.

I bought my wedding dress last weekend. Well, I ordered it. It won't come in until May.This weekend I got the invitations mostly sorted out (a huge thanks to Briana's dad for making it happen for me!). So I'm feeling productive on that front : )

Doing good in most areas all except the housework which just didn't get done at all really. Meh. I'll get to it eventually.