Summer Projects!

Where has the past month gone???  The summer months go way too fast and there is only 5 more weeks until school starts up again - BOO!

We've been doing some more projects around the house.

The shed needed some new paint and......

we needed a new roof.  The roof was a brownish color and we decided to change it to a dual black.

We are happy with how it turned out!

and now the shed roof matches the house! 

I've started making Christmas gifts and one of the projects is a reusable grocery tote.  I made this design for several of the teachers. They can use it to tote things to and from school!

 Ryan hasn't had his picture taken in a while - so I convinced him to let me take some pictures at Naper Settlement.  These are a few of my favorites.

The biggest and most time consumer project I have been working on this summer is scanning

 in all my NON DIGITAL photos.  Which is pretty much everything before 2004.  What. a. chore!  It's been fun reminiscing and seeing all the fun things we've done over the past years.  Last count was just under 10,000 pictures - NO JOKE! (This is a project I've been wanting to do for the past couple summers and would get overwhelmed just thinking about it!  So I really feel I've accomplished something that needed to be done!

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Here's some of the fun photos I've come across

This was our first apartment.  The Fairways of Naperville 

This is the second apartment - Brookdale at the Park Apts.

I even found the pictures that were taken the day we were married (June 4 1993) at the courthouse!

This is from the day we closed on our home!

We totally miss how our backyard was a farm field.  Now it's all town homes.

December 1994 - Ryan's ultrasound.  We never knew if he was a boy or girl!

February 7, 1995 - Ryan in the NICU - so much hair - so tiny!

Our first "family" picture at one week old.

I've been scanning pictures/baby books/toddler book/certificates for weeks!  I'm almost done and hope to make a few projects before returning to school!

School's Out For Summer!

Yay!!!! School's Out for the next 2 1/2 months!  We've been doing a lot of "projects" around the house and I've been able to make a few things with some of my new "toys"!

Here are a few of the gifts I made and gave to friends at the end of the school year.

The cards were made from Cardstore and were perfect for the occasion! 

Lots of treats in the fun tie-dye boxes

For the teacher I shared most of my day with I made a classroom sign for the first days of school and the personalize bag to hold the other goodies.

This tie-dye box held chalkboard signs for the classroom schedule.  There are over 50 signs all double mounted onto card stock, laminated and then have magnets on the back so they will stick to the chalkboard and can be easily removed and replaced as the schedule allows.

 These are the gifts I gave the 2nd graders on the last day.  They are pencils that say "third graders are number one!" I printed and die cut 58 flowers for both classes I was in this year.

I was also able to use my new Flower Punch Board and created these black and white flowers from scrapbook paper to match the monogram in our entryway. 

A couple days before the last day of school there was a shower for a teacher having twin boys.  I attached these two bags together in the center - it turned out so adorable!

Our school has a volunteer recognition program each year.  I was asked to make a centerpiece decoration with the theme of "We would be muffin without you!"  These were placed on a stick and put into an apple.

I was also asked to make some new shelf signs for the library for next year. I used "wood" scrapbook paper along with some "grunge" paper to mount the graphic for each shelf.

 For Father's Day I was able to use my new Gift Bag Punch Board and create these cute tool pattern gift bags.  I also attached gift cards to a pinwheel for all my dad's favorite places!

Here are some of the household projects we've been doing around our house.

White light outlets and switches (and Bill only got shocked twice!)

My tea cup bird feeders made it through winter and are finally out in the yard again!

On a side note.....Ryan had a little run in with the fire plug outside of my parent's home! Thankfully the fire plug was OK - the bumper has been replaced and back to new!

We are now in the process of having the roof replaced on the house.  Stay tuned for pictures!