Happy Birthday!

Tuesday marked Joshua's 29th birthday. We celebrated with a small party (Wes, Shaun, Bill), and a Dairy Queen Cake.

Here are some blurry pictures from the events. (camera frustrations...)

Friday night we had a few more friends over, and another Dairy Queen cake. Yes, two ice cream cakes. Yum!

Happy birthday Jush! Love ya!

Birthday Bash

Today we celebrated Ava's first birthday with a small family party. The hat was a big hit, and fit perfectly!

Fall Projects

It seems that Fall is on it it's way (cooler weather and back to school is here!), and with it has come some fun projects.

When we first moved in to our lovely home, we got right to work on several projects to bring it up to date. (I'm sure you're thinking back to all those blog posts with new paint, curtains, and organization.) After this initial push to get things done, much has stayed the same, until very recently. I got it into my head to take down the ugly scalloped wood piece over the sink that I've hated for two years. It came down in less than five minutes, and then I promptly decided that the grape-themed light fixture had to go as well. Here's what I came up with.
Yes, I installed it on my own (after Dad helped me changed it from a pendant to a semi-flush mount). Go me! And I love it!

The only problem was an adorable matching fixture for the dining room. After all, is a green clover light fixture any better than a grapes light fixture? After hem-hawing for a couple of weeks, Shaun bullied me into it yesterday (I needed the push), and the two of us got it up. Go us! Quite the handy ma'ams (anybody else watch that PBS show in the mid 90s?) Also noteworthy, my projects have come full circle. After spending an afternoon taking down many plant hooks, I installed one of my own for the light fixture. Made me smile.
I couldn't be happier with the result, although now Shaun is pushing me to buy the third matching piece in the collection for the entryway. I agree it would look fantastic, but fixing up an older home has to end somewhere. Also, the three-way switch that it's on has me flashing back to terrible memories of the ceiling fan installation nightmare that ended up costing $800. No, thanks. I'm done, unless the lighting fixture fairy stops by :0)

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The project list goes on, with a very fun knitting project for my favorite soon-to-be one niece baby.

Rained In

Well, it finally happened. After several years of fantastic Labor Day weather, we were rained inside on Saturday. We still managed to complete the crab boil, thanks to a handy propane burner that could be set up under the covered porch. Unfortunately, there was no such solution for playing rolle bolle.

Despite this disappointment, we still had a nice time chatting with family, learning a cheer from cheerleader Kylie (we saw her in action Saturday morning before the game was rained out.), and eating lots of good food.

Crossing our finger for better weather next year.

Back to Work

I finished up my first week of work at the new job with Peoria Schools. The retired speech pathologist left me quite a mess to clean up, but overall, I love having an office and am excited to get working with students. It should be an interesting year with lots to learn!

Knitting Success

I've been knitting like crazy the past couple of weeks. I'm addicted, and not to dishcloths any longer. Here's my first real project, as in it's not a square or rectangle :0) It turned out so cute and really didn't take all that long to knit up (and no, Jenna, I'm not pregnant, just too nervous to attempt a larger sweater). The pattern is from ravelry.com, a fantastic site that has tons of patterns and helpful hints. Now that I've completed my first sweater, small though it may be, I have the confidence to try other projects. So fun!

Wisconsin Vacation

Last week was our annual trip up to Joshua's grandparents' house in Wisconsin. We spent lots of time on the lake, ate a ridiculous amount of Cedar Crest Caramel Collision ice cream (my favorite treat in the entire world and unavailable in central Illinois), chatted with family, saw some sites, and basically just enjoyed relaxation time in the sun.Me hoping to see a lumberjack appear in the forest next to the lane to the house. Dang, I have bad hair while on vacation!
On the way up, we stopped at a little Italian restaurant where we were ushered to a private, little alcove to dine. How fun!
In Hayward, the site of the lumberjack championships, which are available for viewing on one of the ESPN channels.
Joshua likes dinosaurs...
Enjoying some evening sunshine, and more bad hair.
Pedal boat and...
more pedal boat!

Always a fun trip, thanks to Joshua's grandparents, who basically run a never-ending bed and breakfast for family during the summer. They are so generous to share this fantastic place with us!