Summer Planning.

My mother always made us new plans for the summer. It included summer reading lists, new chore lists and the fun planned activities or classes.

So Kate is now signed up for Princess Dance for July. And I found a reading list I will be working off for a while here. I would put a beautiful picture of a stacked books [here]. But my computer isn't up for it.

Still waiting Peter.

My kind brother is sending me his old, but newer than mine, laptop.

So while I am in exile from a truly working computer, I will just post the  link to this awesome book list I found for the 3-5 year old range..

Lastly, I completed this photo version of a chore list for Kate, which I'll post as a generic one so that you can freely steal.  I am giving her one penny for each daily chore she does and a nickel for doing some of the harder chores. And at the end of the week I plan on paying her from our large change bucket so that she can "save" and buy something at the end of the month.

Our fun summer activities include:
1) The Phoenix Zoo (it has a water park too)
2) The Phoenix Children's Museum
3) Sleepovers with friends
4) Storytime on Thursday at Barnes and Noble. I plan on trying to purchase a small book each time we go since we are enrolled in their kids program and it gives a discount. It will make it more exciting to "find" a book and bring it home, since we always get library books.

If you still don't know what you want...

Here are some odds and ends favorites of mine from this year:

Karve classes here.

Lululemon pants, yoga inspired wear that is tough enough to last five years.

Puma flats that act like slippers but give support like Dansko clogs.

Or these brand of flats, Me Too, are amazing for their comfort:

For my house, I just got one of these for our living room and it is super sturdy but the corners are soft enough not to endanger little heads.

On a personal level, I am loving a few new products that would be great stocking stuffers: like this new razor which brought smooth to a whole new level. 

It can be paired with this cream shave that saves me from using my expensive Redken conditioner.

And this amazing nourishing mascara that actually works on short eyelashes.

As well as this fragrance for winter:

Just some ideas that I've stumbled upon.

NOT snowed in...

Hope for spring is in the air here. News around the country doesn't sound so similar. My parents squeaked out of D.C. between storms on Monday night to arrive safely here in sunny AZ. We are enjoying sunny, warmer afternoons after a couple of weeks of unusual rainfall. Here are some pictures of my pots for all of you buried in pure white.

I bought a groupon for a garden shop around Christmas, in hopes of obtaining a nice pine wreath. A disappointing selection of greenery led me to buy hardy annuals instead. Only problem was that the javelinas thought they were a snack I planted for their enjoyment. In the small, lower container, they ate only the non-woody stemmed plants, leaving the root clumps behind on the ground. They left the scene of the crime, my front steps, a disaster, which my friend, Patty, said looked "agricultural". Fortunately they have left them alone since. Guess I shouldn't doubt their existence.

Fall's arrival

I heard it from a non-native yesterday, "This weather is just great!" I agree, as it is now in the lower 60s at night here in Phoenix. I also couldn't help buying these flowers at Costco last night to make a truly fall statement for our Family Meeting tonight at church. I am in charge of our snacks. Tonight we are doing cookies and milk (thanks to friend's help and the Dairy Council) I'll keep you posted to see if everyone else loves the mini milks as much as I do. My affinity for them is probably due to the fact that I never had them at school when I was little :)

Bright Spots

On Saturday, the grad school widow found something to do on Saturday while the husband was studying all day. The Nam girls (my new sisters) and I found a few projects and activities to occupy ourselves with: we picked out fabrics for their pillow shams at the fabric store, picked up our peach order and then sat down for a nice lunch at Oregano's.

Afterwards we went to my house to use my dishwasher. The Nam's are still without a countertop and without running water in the kitchen...which means, no dishwasher. They have been using the tub and sink, but that just doesn't cut it on spaghetti sauce on Tupperware :)

Finishing the To-Do List

There are three projects on my to-do list after the quilts:
1)Dress
2)Chairs
3)Wedding album
The wedding album is 90% complete, and awaiting some tweaking from creative friends.
And today, I did 75% of #2-- the chairs. A long time ago, I saw a picture of Reese Witherspoon's beach house. She had a white table with mismatched chairs surrounding it, all painted black. When I borrowed the Shank's round table to use as our dining table, I faced a challenge to find chairs. So I adapted the mismatched idea. I purchased 4 raw chairs on craigslist, which I stained. Then I found 3 iron chairs, which I recovered and painted. The last 4 we purchased were steals from Goodwill Half-price Saturday. But they lacked good, comfortable seat bottoms. I planned to recover them with a modern take on Shaker-style woven bottoms. So, I bought off Ebay thick twill tape. In February.
The long term plan worked out.
Mostly.
I ran out of tape.
But I have three chairs!
And I consider that project DONE.
I'll figure out what do to with the extra chair frame later.

Quilts!!!

More quilts. I now declare myself "retired" from this gift giving...but I had a lot of fun finishing the two promised quilts to the rest of the Dinner Club girls. Hayley also had Tory thirteen days early, which motivated me to complete this summer project. Becky already had Bella almost two months ago...and I hadn't finished hers either. Bella's quilt was a "wave" pattern which I found some terrycloth to back it with, to honor her mother's swimming passion. For Tory though, it was thoroughly tradition: black, white, cream and brown, to go in her elegant bedroom.
Two quilts ain't nothing compared to the accomplishments of Janis + the awesome Mary Walsh, in from Vancouver, B.C., this week. Mary came down to help Janis finish all of her sewing projects. Who would not be encouraged to sew in the presence of this list?
- drapes for 3 large windows
- curtains for 2 large windows
- four valences (2 for summer, 2 for winter)
- ottoman out of a coffee table
- valences for a bedroom window and bathroom window
- 8 pillows
Are they insane or what? And I thought I was crazy. Mary even got Janis going until 11pm-- way past her early bedtime. But with Steve gone this week and Travis occupied with his final exam in accounting, we were grateful for the diversion. She is now the official angel to the lonely Shank (married) women.

Other Activities

What do you do when your vacuum needs new bags, you're not allowed to use your sink, your dishwasher, your washing machine and your dryer? No chores. So you sew. Shhh!!! Don't tell Zoe but this is her new blanket...This is the (belated) birth present for my friend's baby girl.

Steals and Deals, revisited

I bought this nightstand on craigstlist for $30 dollars! Not that it is bragging or anything but I LOVE that site! It is big but beautiful and looks great with our bed. Now for the dresser....

Progress

After a failed attempt at fabric selection for the backing and borders, I found one I like! Alivia, I hope you like soft flannel. I didn't know anything about what fabrics are "read" as "lights" and "darks"... all these new terms that make sense when you are a novice trying your hand at a project.
We now have a fully assembled, but unfinished quilt on our couch.

Deals and Steals

T minus 10 days until the dinner party. Ten minus seven = 3. That's how many chairs we were without. I hate folding chairs. Dilemma: Money. Destination: Goodwill. Saturday was a 50% off sale; and, yes, Goodwill can have sales too.
Have you ever been to a Goodwill store? It is an affront to all the senses. From the moment that the sliding doors inch back, you are assaulted with sights smells and sounds that you would normally avoid: the lingering stale body odor, the dust and dirt everywhere, even the very idea that it is a warehouse of things no one wanted. But deals are deals. And steals, on the other hand, are just plain better.
I had scoped out the scene the day before, to do some recon before I dragged my husband along. When we finally arrived at our first stop, it was clear this sale was no joke. The store was cleaned out and people were hauling away bags of items. No chairs were left that I had seen the day before. Same with the second store.
But on the third, we were more than just lucky. You know how mothers pray to find a parking spot at the mall and then they always pull around the lane just as someone in the first five cars is pulling out? Same deal. I prayed. I will convert willingly to these kinds of prayers made in faith if they turn up result like this.
At the third and final stop I reckoned this idea may not turn out as successful as I had anticipated. But in the back corner of furniture, there sat 4 chairs not present the day before. At first we didn't think we could afford them; they were each marked 59.95-- even with the discount, three of them would have been a little pricey, that is, for Goodwill purchases. But then the brilliance of my husband shined forth-- the price tag had a little word "set" on it. Sweet! Four chairs for $30. Can you beat that? And they are beautiful-- no painting or refurbishing needed (much to my relief)-- turned wood, slat back and woven rattan seats. An old lady in the parking lot commented, "You all got some beautiful chairs there, honey. They just don't make them that way anymore. You all really got yourselves a deal."