Busy, Busy, Busy!

Hello out there!  We have had a very busy week here.  I will start with today though, because it was a special day!  Our daughter Erika was baptized this morning at church.   We sat in the third row, right behind her, but I took my photos of the big screen above so that I wouldn't have anyone else's head in the photos.  Which was kind of hard to do, because I was trying to watch her with my natural eye, while taking photos, and then the tears began too.
Here she is, just as she is about to go under the water.  Pastor is talking to her.  I love the look on her face.

And then, under she goes, washed anew.

 And here she is, all smiles, after the service.  Her best friends, Mike and Laura came out to share this with her, as well as her good friend Amy. 

 Here she is with her Dad and I.

 We are very proud of you Erika!  After church this morning, we stopped at Home Depot for my trim paint.  I got home and prepped the trim, taping everything off, but before I got started, my Mom and Nana came over and brought us sandwiches from a favorite deli in Gardena ( near Los Angeles ) that my family has been going to since my parents were in high school.  We had delicious sandwiches while watching the football game, and had a nice visit with my Mom and Nana.

Get ready to drool!!

Oh they were so good!  Thank you Mom!!  After my Mom left, I got busy on my painting.  I finished painting the walls yesterday, and did the baseboards today.  But I ran out of daylight and will have to do the trim around the closet later.  What a job this room was!  Probably the worst home project I have tackled to date.  But it looks so much better with a nice fresh coat of paint on it.   There are still lots of things to do in there.  I really should have Greg rehang this rod.  He put it up for me, but I didn't tell him that the  brackets should be two inches outside the outer edge of the window.   This was hung a while ago, and we will be changing it.  Maybe "manana."  A friend of ours told us that "manana" doesn't necessarily mean tomorrow, it just means, NOT TODAY!!  This picture would be much prettier if I had waited until tomorrow in the daylight, with the window blinds open.   I will do more later though.  I still have lots to do in that room.

The next thing I am looking for in this room is a new comforter.  And fabric to make a dust ruffle, and recover the antique hope chest I keep at the foot of the bed that belonged to my Dad's sister, my favorite Aunt Connie.
This is the new chaise lounge I recently bought.  It is soooo comfortable!!!  I am sitting in it right now as I write this post.  That  afghan is almost done.  I will finish it before I start on anything else!

The telly is in this armoire in the corner of the room.  But the prettiest part of this piece of furniture never gets to be seen because we never close the doors.  So I reluctantly arranged the piece so that the doors were opened up all of the way, allowing for the optimal viewing of the t.v., and we do without the outside of the pretty doors showing.  : (

I took that photo before I had finished putting pictures back onto the shelves.  These are two favorite photos of mine.  The one on the left is of my best friend Jae and I golfing. I look huge in that picture, but in my defense, my friend Jae is very little.   And the other one is of our son Drew and his best buddy Brian when they were in high school.  I took it right after they had both come in off the court. 

On the high boy dresser sits some special things too.  This is a very favorite picture of our grand girls, Hannah and Claire.  And in the fern is the hummingbird nest I snipped out of one of the orange trees a couple of weeks ago when we were pruning.  The large hawk feather is one that I found while jogging up at Bass Lake a few summers ago.  And then a photo of my husband golfing, and some of his favorite golfing books.  The bronze colored candle holder with the beads was a Goodwill find a few weeks back.

On the wall next to the dresser is a very old oar that belonged to my Dad.  I am not sure of it's origin, but we were always a boating family, so I am sure that it is one that we used at one time.  Below the oar is a picture we bought up at Bass Lake a few summers ago.   It always make me think of some of our happiest of times.  And also on the wall is a snapshot keeper that holds miscellaneous photos of our family.  I need to update that soon.

On another wall sits a child sized table and chairs that I bought at my Vintage & Thrift, and painted in a creamy white.  The chairs are very old wood and metal school chairs.   I have it set for a tea party because tomorrow morning my grand girls are coming over for a couple of hours.  The china tea set and linens all fit in that cute wicker basket.  I bought it at an antique fair a couple of  summers ago.

Also on that wall is the little play kitchen set that our two daughters had when they were little girls.  When they outgrew it, I boxed all of the play foods, and the whole kitchen up and wrapped it all in plastic to save for one day when I had grandchildren.  When our three grandkids play with this set, I remember all of the great times that our girls had playing with it, so many years ago. 

Other than the fact that it is missing two knobs on the front, and the kitchen sink sprayer, it is in nearly perfect condition. Not bad for being nearly 30 years old!!   I am so glad that I saved it!
The quilt rack that hangs above the chaise lounge is holding a quilt that I made many years ago.  I need to make one in the colors that I am doing in this room.  On the shelf above the quilt are more favorite photos, and a photo of Greg's favorite golfer Ernie Els, that a good friend of mine who is a photographer, took last year at Pebble Beach for us.   I bought the quilt rack at a cabin sale up in Big Bear a couple of years ago, a few cabins up from my Mom's place.

The basket that is holding the yarn is also a Goodwill find.  I love it because it has a wire base and is very sturdy. 
This is the largest bedroom in our house.   Even bigger than our bedroom, but without the attached bathroom.  So it works out very well for a guest bedroom that doubles as a playroom/den for us.  When I find the comforter I want, I will be changing and adding some things on the walls.  But for now, after working very hard on the wallpaper removal, wall repair and retexture, then painting, I am done for now. 
Before wrapping it up.  I am enclosing a picture from " Bar Night" the other night.  This is not all of us, just the one's I could fit into this frame.

My little brother and his family weren't there, so this is a light turn out.  Some of us were sitting at the bar on the opposite side. 
Oh and one last thing.  Last night Geeps and I went to the movies with our girls.  Just Genny, Erika and us.  It was fun.  Then we went to dinner at Panera.  I thoroughly enjoyed the evening!  We saw that movie with Tom Hanks, Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close.  We all four thought it was outstanding!  Sad, touching, thought provoking, and very well written and acted.  Do go see it if you get the chance!
Well, I think that is about it from here.  It has been a busy time, and there is still a lot going on for us.  Good stuff.  Good times.  We are blessed!!!
XO  Kris