Mike’s dad, Dennis, is visiting this week. They have been fishing each day since his arrival on Wednesday evening. Unfortunately, they aren’t have much luck even though the fishies are circling them everywhere they go. The girls are enjoying having Grandpa Minnesota visiting. He brought them some books to read, and they were thrilled to receive those. Grandpa Minnesota also doesn’t seem to mind their constant questioning and pestering. Ha, ha!

In other news, I finally got around to making Roman shades for my home, at least for the kitchen and living room. The white blinds were really starting to get to me, so I got out the fabrics I bought ages ago to start the process of making the window treatments for my home. The kitchen and living room windows are ginormous each with a width of 93 inches. Fabric that wide is non-existent, and the windows aren’t set up in such a way that I could make 2 or 3 shades across. After doing some research I came up with the grand idea to purchase queen-size duvets (comforter covers) which so happen to be approximately the same width as my freakishly wide windows. As luck would have it, I was able to get the perfect patterns/color schemes for my decor on sale at Pottery Barn and Crate and Barrel paying less than it would have cost to buy that much fabric yardage. Since the duvets were already the correct width, I did not have to cut out the fabric to fit the windows. That’s usually the most difficult part of the process. Typically, when I make a shade I connect it to a slat of wood to then screw into the window. It was Mike’s bright idea to make fabric loops and use a curtain rod instead. I was skeptical at first, but we tried it successfully. I still have a few finishing touches such as putting the metal rod in the bottom to weigh down the shade and to make fancy pulls for the end of the strings. The rods will hopefully keep them from sagging on the sides like they are now.

Like it nor not, I have a few pictures to show you of my “new” kitchen and living room. Here’s the roman shade in the kitchen. I wanted something bright and cheery that had green, orange, and yellow. Found this at PB. Sorry that the pictures are darker on here than what showed up in photoshop for me…urgh!

Here’s a shot of the girls’ “art” station. They have their own table/chairs and cubbies for art supplies. It has been great to have for them. The girls are constantly drawing and coloring now. Take a look at my attempt at a “daily system“. In case it’s hard to tell, there is a white board calendar on the left, a mailbox/charging station in the middle, and a chalkboard/cork board on the right. I love it.

Here’s a view of the kitchen from the corner by the dining area.

Another view of kitchen from the living room. I love how the floor plan is all open on the first floor.

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You know how annoying I can be, so I need one more favor. Pretty please. With sugar on top. Before we moved into the house Mike and I agreed to paint the kitchen table and chairs black. After moving in Mike changed his mind and said that the green/tan actually goes with our current kitchen decor. What do you think?

I’m not going to give my opinion on this until after I a good amount of results have been given. I will admit that some days I’m for it, and other days I’m against it. So I really do need some outside, unbiased opinions. Please:)

Here’s a close-up of the fabric.

Let’s move onto the living room. The view from the kitchen. You can also see the den from here.

Kind of a view from the foyer.

The view from the den.

This is the last picture of my house that I’ll bore you with. The fabric close up. The material is from Crate and Barrel. I wanted exactly what you see–orange with white flowers. It was meant to be.

Next on the list for roman shades is the den and formal dining room. I’ll post pictures of those when I complete them. Who knows if it’ll happen anytime soon though. I just gotta keep telling myself that the final results are so worth it. No more ugly, white blinds. I’m not trying to offend anyone who has them and love them, but I just don’t. I make no apologies.

Annie brought home her first report card last week. There were no official grades, but she’s excelling in all aspects of her education except that she can’t spell Annabelle yet (something we never worked on with her since she goes by just Annie). We had a little issue with her not finishing her lunch at school. I contacted her teacher about this, and Mrs. M made the extra effort to reward her with certificates for finishing lunch for a few days. This has seemed to help so far. Unfortunately, Annie would rather chat during meals. It’s a problem we’ve had with her for years. Annie is also really progressing with her reading. She can read a simple book without much help. I’m noticing her memorizing lots of words she’s seen before.

Mimi loves school so much. When she started school we realized that her teacher(s) would probably expect to be calling her Amelia. Needless to say, Mimi was not keen on this new development. She would declare, “Don’t call me that. My name is MIMI!” So a couple of weeks into the school year Mike was telling Mimi to do something. She turned around and told him, “My name isn’t Mimi, it’s Amelia.” Now when she introduces herself to people she says she’s Mimi and Amelia. I hope she’s not too traumatized. Oh, one more quick story. Mimi was supposed to be napping the other day, but I heard her sobbing upstairs. I went up to check out what was going on and found her holding a photo album from my MN baby shower when I was pregnant with Annie, and she was sobbing uncontrollably. I asked her why she was crying, and she pointed to a picture of me and said, “I love Mommy so much!” My heart just about melted at that moment. I gave her a big hug and told her that I wasn’t going anywhere and that I loved her so much, too. Mimi definitely surprises me sometimes. You realize this is the same child who tried to sneak upstairs with her pockets full of earth worms.

Have a fabulous weekend!