And now for a little catching up...

Hi there!  I've been AWOL (again), but life has been incredibly hectic.  I would tell you why, but that would ruin some surprise DIY Christmas gifts I'm working on for my boys, so...

And it's not just that; there's the matter of that book I'm writing...

And there are also thank you notes to write, and they're long overdue (my mom, who instilled in her children from a very young age the importance of thank you note writing, would be appalled!)...

And I've been busy rearranging/cleaning out the boys' old bedrooms, so that they'll be perfect for putting up the whole family at Christmas--that means ALL FIVE OF OUR SONS, ALL FOUR OF OUR DAUGHTERS-IN-LAW, AND ALL FOUR OF OUR GRANDCHILDREN (including the as-yet-to-make-his-appearance G-Man, due in October)!!!!!!!  Can you tell I'm excited about this?  My work has included the following tasks, and then some: bringing my old rocking chair down from the attic and putting it in G-Man's room; setting up a port-a-crib for Little Gal (the twins' little sister, who will be 22 months at Christmas); finally storing away all of the trophies and bric-a-brac left behind by sons #3 and #4 in the "triple" (once shared by our three youngest, now the domain of just our baby...until he graduates from college in May); moving furniture around and hanging shelves; making trips to Goodwill and finally unloading the clothes the boys have told me they're never going to come back and take; patching and repainting/touching up walls and then re-hanging everything...Well, you get the idea.  It's almost like I'm nesting, but I'm certainly not pregnant.

Ha ha!  That reminds me of the time I was visiting my maternal grandmother in Florida when I was a fresh-faced mother of one, and while I was there I got the exciting news that son #2 was on the way.  She joked that SHE looked pregnant; she patted her little pot belly and said, "I've told my friends that this is the miracle of Sun City Center."  (Grandma, I'm finally where you were back then; I've got the little pot belly now--but there's surely no baby in there!  Sadly, it's all fat!)

My wonderful Grandma Kelly, who never knew just how beautiful she was,
with our firstborn son.

 

Son #1 had barely learned to crawl, and son #2 was on the way.
(Was I ever this young?)

But I digress...

So, I've been pretty busy--but it seems that the more I have to do, the more productive I am.  So it's all good.

And remember when I showed you the three flower girl dresses I made for son #3's wedding last year?  Well, I'm getting ready to make three more for son#2's upcoming wedding, with pink sashes this time.  The two I made for my twin granddaughters still fit, so they'll be wearing those again and all I'll have to do is change the sashes (that's one of the perks of having three sons get married within an eleven-month period!).  The twins' first trip down the aisle (with navy sashes) in December was pretty shaky; Bonny Babe was too scared and never made it at all, while her sister Cutie Pie ran down the aisle at top speed and jumped into the arms of her Papa.  They were pretty young flower girls for that wedding, just 2-and-1/2.  The second time around (with champagne sashes), in February, they did better; both girls actually walked all the way down the aisle.  However, it may have helped that Papa and I each had a twin by the hand that time.  But I bet the third time will be the charm.  By the time November rolls around, I think they're going to be old pros.  They might even be able to do it all on their own this time, following the lead of the three older flower girls.

Okay, now I've got to give a little update on the kitchen make-over, because last night I was talking to son #3 on the phone and he said I never showed what I did with the wall where the gigantic bulletin board used to be.  So here are some "before" and "after" pictures of that wall.

BEFORE:

Wow...that's a busy wall.  Yikes.

See how the blue-gray paint ends where the cabinets end?  I decided to
go ahead and paint the whole kitchen.  (I know, it looked sort of weird,
didn't it?)

 

My wallpaper border had to go, finally.

AFTER:

The painting (a signed original watercolor by artist Pat Reynolds)
was a wedding present from my paternal grandmother, and it took me
33 years to figure out the best place to hang it!

The wallpaper under the chair rail will probably go, too...eventually.

This Pottery Barn pig dinner bell was a birthday gift from my soon-to-be fourth
daughter-in-law.  (The thank you note is coming!)



I think these little guys look better against a blue-gray wall than they did
against the white.

Okay, just one more thing before I go.  I have the best siblings!  I received the sweetest, most thoughtful gift from my baby sister recently.  She sent me an Alex and Ani bangle, and the card's envelope read "Open box first!"  So I looked inside and found a bracelet, with a charm shaped like half a heart and engraved with the words "FRIENDS."  When I opened my sister's card, there was a photo inside of her wearing my bracelet's mate, with a charm on it that says "BEST."  (She was also wearing one that says "SISTER," which was a gift to her from me.)

I love, love, love my new bracelet!  And not just because I've become a fan of these Alex and Ani stackable bangles (thanks to my daughter-in-law Preciosa, who started my collection), but because of the thought behind it. 

Sister, you are the sweetest.  A BFF for sure.  (And your thank you card will be in the mail soon, too!)

Okay, then--happy hump day, everyone!  And hopefully I'll be back again tomorrow.