Summer

Friday, August 26, 2011

Final Summer Project

I told Cory yesterday that I was REALLY bored....He told me to get a hobby..... HEHEHE 
SO...I was searching Pinterest for an idea on how to organize my jewelry.  I found an idea that used an old type set drawer.  These were used to house the type set letters for the printing presses.  I remembered that I had one in my basement from my Great Uncle Bob's old newspaper that he used to own.  It was in REALLY good shape for how old it was and it even had a few letters in it too! 

 This is how it looked before I started.  There were a few pieces that were broken, so I used Gorilla Glue and also sanded a lot of areas down to make the surface easier to paint.
This is after I painted it and added hardware to it.  I didn't have to buy ANY of the hardware.  I had it all laying around the house.  The 4 circular knobs include two drawer pulls, one cabinet pull, and one lamp harp decorative piece.  They were silver, black, and red and I spray painted those along with all of the hardware with a brownish-bronze color.
The three pieces above are old earrings that were my great-grandmas.  I added them as a permanent decoration to the jewelry holder.  I also spray painted photo frame holders and added them as an alternative earring holder.

I had enough old type set letters to spell out Cory's name and...
....my name.  (The letters are obviously backwards when you look at them, but when put into the printing presses were the right way).




The finished product!  I LOVE how it turned out and because it is from someone that I admired SO very much, it means that much more to me!! :)

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Next stop on Buffett's Dog Park Tour of 2011 - Elkhorn's Industrial Park

My friend Tina told us about another dog park WITH a lake!  It was hot and humid today, so we decided it was the perfect day to check it out!  Buffett had a blast and he is now practically in a coma from exhaustion! :)

 He is such a typical lab!  Loves, loves, loves to swim!
 He takes breaks from swimming to catch his breath!

 The only other person there was in a sailboat. We had the whole park practically to ourselves!



 When we are at home playing fetch, Buffett goes to his kiddie pool and lays down. 
After getting tired and hot he attempted to lay down in the lake too!
 Flock of geese on the other side of the park.
Isn't he just the best?!?!?!

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Four Seasons Nature Preserve

Today was one of those days....We had no plans on the calendar....So, we looked online for dog parks in our area and came across Four Seasons Nature Preserve in Lake Geneva.  After living here for nearly 8 years and not even hearing of this place, we decided we had to go check it out!


 At the beginning of the hiking trail there was a large dog exercising area.  The dogs didn't need to be leashed in this area, so Buffett had a blast being FREE!

 Who knew this tranquility existed in Lake Geneva?!
 Taking the trail to see the pond.  Right after we took this photo, Cory spotted another guy in the park....with NONE of his clothes on while walking his dog.  Needless to say, Cory saw much more than he would ever want to.  The guy turned the corner in front of us, put his shorts back on, turned around and gave us a 'peace' sign. HILARIOUS!!!


 The beetle was beautiful, but too quick.... didn't snap the photo in time to see his shell.

 This 'boardwalk' led to a lookout tower.  We climbed the stairs to the lookout tower and you could see the entire preserve.  It was beautiful!
 Just a bumble bee looking for nectar  :)
M.J. and her favorite pup at the top of the lookout tower!


Saturday, August 20, 2011

Cookout with The Garcia's

On Friday evening, our friend's Emily and Emerick Garcia came over for a cookout with their 6 beautiful children.  The three oldest kids (E.J., Eva, and Liv) have all been in M.J.'s kindergarten class (she will have another one, Ezra) this year.  The Garcia's have become great friends of ours outside of school and we SO enjoy their company!!!

 This is Zeke and Eva relaxing in the hammock!
 Ezra and E.J. playing some ladder golf.
 The Garcia's are in the process of moving to a new house and in all of the chaos that goes along with moving, forgot their swimsuits.  So we found some old t-shirts they could use
to play in the pool and run through the sprinkler.
 I'm guessing the water was CHILLY!
 They decided to dunk their heads in the pool....
 Liv, Ezra, and Eva

 Zeke worked on 'untangling' the balls for the game for about 10 minutes!
 WAIT!  I only count five, one is missing.....
 Ah! There he is! Elijah (almost 5 months), Zeke (3), Ezra (5), Liv (6), Eva (7), and E.J. (9)
P.S.  They came up with the idea of putting themselves 'in order' all on their own :)
 They just HAD to do a silly face picture!
Pretending to sleep :)

We had such a wonderful time with the Garcia's! 
We can't wait until they are all settled in their new house so we can go over there for a visit!!!

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Kelly's 50th Birthday

Cory's sister Becci planned a 50th birthday party for their mom.  We had a wonderful time with friends and family.  Kelly got some very interesting gifts.... :)
This is our 5 year old nephew Loki.  He is Cory's sister Becci's son.  He was being silly with this hammock chair contraption.
 LOVE this little guy.  He is such a sweetie!
 Loki playing bags in Kelly and Bill's backyard.
 Loki took a break from the game to take a picture with Uncle Cory.
 Our niece Onnicah and 2 of our nephews (Loki and Elijah).  They found these eye patches and I just had to take a picture.... They are saying ARGH!
 Cory and his mom! 
 Kelly is becoming quite good at this game.  She is giving us a run for our money!
Onni watched the game from the sidelines.

Happy 50th MOM!  We look forward to celebrating many future birthdays together!!!!