The Pool Process - Sneak Peak of Completion

Technically, the pool is finished. Although, the builder still has a page-long to-do list I created that he needs to complete before I will admit that the process is officially done. We can't go swimming just yet because it is too acidic, but here is what it looks like.

Like building our home, it was such a long process, but well worth it in the end. I really love how it turned out.

I am guessing by the number of clients that our builder has sent our way to check out our pool, that our builder hasn't built a slide like this before.

I didn't like that we were the guinea pigs, but I am glad that I got what I wanted in the end. It took a lot of pictures, describing, translating, and redoing to get there.

My husband and kids' dream of having a pool is finally here. My dream of a landscaped yard will be here soon enough. I am counting the days I no longer have muddy fingernails and shoes, of no longer waking up with sore muscles. I am so ready to lay by the pool and just relax. Hmm...I need a chaise first. To build or buy???? Ask me in a week. Right now, I will say buy, but tomorrow, I may rethink and build my own. I have my eye on this one, but I bet I can make one for a fraction of the price. What do you think?

The Pool Process - Landscaping Part II

It has been non-stop landscaping for the past three weeks. Every extra minute we have, we have devoted it to digging, planting, edging, rocking, and mulching our backyard to get it done. We are so close.

We finally finished planting all our trees and shrubs. We edged half of our yard this weekend. We finished the pool side and now the flowerbeds are done on the east side of the yard. What remains is the west side of the yard. We ran out of rocks and need to buy a lot more.

We also have to sod the east side of the yard. The buckets below only depict a fraction of plants that were planted in our yard.

I can't wait until we are done with landscaping. I hope to lay sod tonight. Good bye my mud pit. I won't miss walking around in it. We had to buy a scraper for our shoes because it was so bad.

Monday To-Do List (from last Monday)

• Finish landscaping with rocks on the pool side.
• Plant the red-tip photinias on east fence
• Plant nectarine tree on east yard
• Lay down landscaping fabric on west yard.
• Buy and lay mulch on west yard.
• Sod West yard (hopefully today!)
• reupholster all of the lawn furniture
• buy chaise and umbrella
• sit in the spa and relax (pool isn't even ready yet so can't do this one)
• make cupcake stand (goal is by Friday)
• finish princess peach crowns
• gather goodies for birthday
• wrap gifts

New to my list

• Set up new dining set
• Put together new grill
• Set up seating area
• Clean side yard bricked area with pressure washer
• Install solar lights
• Brick area around air conditioner units
• Hem hubby's pants
• Wrap sister's b-day gifts (just in case you are wondering, sis, I did get you something pretty)
  

My goal is to get all of this done by Saturday. With a full time job, I am keeping my fingers crossed this is possible. Right now, it seems like an impossible list, but knowing me, I probably won't sleep to get it all done. :)

Patio Furniture Reupholstering

One of the major projects on my to-do list last week was to reupholster my lawn furniture. Despite it being only a year old, it has faded and therefore, looks really old. I contemplated buying another set, but I do like the comfort of these chairs and the black metal makes them heavy and it also matches out wrought iron fence which it will flank against.

The only downside to reupholstering these chairs is the price of outdoor fabric and the time it will take for me to redo it all. Here is what my patio chair looks like before:

It is so faded that it looks like it is really old.

In shopping for fabrics, I tend to lean towards the burnt orange color. I love the vibrant color, but I decided that I would steer away from it this time, leaning towards a more neutral color. I am trying to match the dining set that I bought and the other furniture that already exists (that don't need reupholstering). I ended up with these fabrics:

It is more neutral than what I normally go for in fabrics, but I think it will go well. I love the paisley.

To re-upholster, I took apart the existing furniture with a seam ripper. In doing so, I noticed that it had not faded on the other side of the fabric and if I really wanted to, I could just resew using the same fabric, just flipping the sides. In the end, I decided that I wanted a change so I used the fabric I bought instead.

I can't believe that the fabric can fade this much in a year, sitting underneath my patio. Pay the extra money and buy fade resistant fabric. It is totally worth it. I usually don't buy any cushions or pillows these days if it isn't made with Sunbrella fabric because Sunbrella is fade resistant. I have another patio set that has this fabric, and although it is over 4 years old, it still looks new.

I took the pieces and used it as a template. For the ottoman, I used the paisley fabric for the surface and the brown for the piping, while for the chairs, I used the ivory for the surface and piped it with the paisley.

Once I stitched the pieces together, I hand sewn the opening using a hidden stitch. I don't like seeing the seam so the hidden stitch is perfect for a seamless look. Here is the finished product of one of the chairs and ottoman.

I simply love how it turned out. The ivory pops out against the shrubs and fence. I ended up re-doing two club chairs, a sofa, and an ottoman.

I do have a little extra fabric so I plan on making some fun ruffly pillows for the dining set to tie the two areas together.

Sorry for the unsightly mud/sand pit you see in the background. We hadn't laid the sod when I took this picture. With sod, our set looks like this.

I cannot wait until our whole backyard is complete! My outdoor space is slowing coming together.

Reward your child for their grades

There are many places where your child can take their report card and get something free for their good grades. Some of these places are,

• Blockbuster- One free movie rental
• Krispy Kreme- One doughnut per A, up to 6.
• Chuck E. Cheese- up to 15 tokens with a food purchase. They reward 3 per A, 2 per B, and 1 per C. (While they say this they normally just give 15 after glancing at it.)
• McDonald's- If your child has straight A's they can get a free meal. Kindergarten-5th grade receive a happy meal while 6th-12th will receive a value meal.
• Gatti Town- $5.00 in game play for straight A's and $3.00 in gameplay for B's or better. This must be done within 2 weeks of receiving their report card and is only for K-5
• Pizza Hut-For a report card that has 3 A's they will reward your child with one personal pan pizza and a small drink or milk. This offer is only for K-8 and is dine-in only.
• Chick-Fil-A- Many stores have programs to reward children but they vary by store. Check with yours to see what it offers.
• Cold Stone Creamery- Free ice cream

We have heard that these stores participate but could not find details online

• Subway
• Wendy's
• Sonic
• Justice ($5 off)

Keep in mind that at most places they initial the report card and the child needs to be standing at the counter when the card is given. Also check with your local stores to make sure they participate.

Thanks DFW Mommy!

Free Nursing Cover, pay only shipping

Udder Covers is offering a free nursing cover for mothers. Just use coupon code Mother at check out and pay only $9.99 for shipping. I made one to cover A. when I was nursing him and they work wonderfully. When I have time, I'll post a how-to. If you don't have the time to make one, this is a great price.

Free Cami at Lane Bryant

Get a free cami (valued up to 19.50) from Lane Bryant or Cacique store simply by printing this coupon. There is no other purchase necessary. Hurry in, coupon is only valid until May 10th!

Free Sample at Ben & Jerry's TODAY

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Busy Busy Busy

The word busy is an under statement when it comes to describing my life at the moment. I barely have enough time to sleep. I wake up at 3:30 a.m. to be at work by 4:30 in order to be home early for my kids when they get home from school. After dinner, homework, piano lessons, bath time, play time, it is then time for me to start landscaping for the day, sometimes working another 2-3 hours on my back yard. This has been my life for the past couple of weeks. I am a little burned out to say the least. I leave for work in the dark and don't come inside until way after dark. After the light is gone and I can no longer see to do landscaping, I am inside reupholstering lawn furniture. I often contemplate how much more I can accomplish if I didn't have to sleep. My sister thinks I am crazy. My husband thinks I am crazy and maybe I am crazy, but I know all the hard work I am putting in will be worth it in the end. My goal is to be completely done with my backyard within two weeks. E.'s pool party is then so I want everything to be perfect. Hopefully, I won't end up killing myself by then.

Monday To-Do List

• Finish landscaping with rocks on the pool side.
• Plant the red-tip photinias on east fence
• Plant nectarine tree on east yard
• Lay down landscaping fabric on west yard.
• Buy and lay mulch on west yard.
• Sod West yard
• reupholster all of the lawn furniture
• buy chaise and umbrella
• sit in the spa and relax
• make cupcake stand
• finish princess peach crowns
• gather goodies for birthday
• wrap gifts

The hardest part about looking at this list is the fact that I cannot do any of them this week. I am out of town because of work and can't start my list until I get back. I don't know what is worse, having a super long list for the week or not being able to do the list until the week is nearly over. I can't wait to return home to see my babies. I miss them so much. I know I have wonderful kids when I hear that they do what I ask of them even when I am not around. I'm such a lucky mom.

Retro Aprons

A few years ago my sister asked me what I wanted and I told her I needed an apron so she got me this:

I know, it isn't the most fashionable apron in the world, but it did it's purpose. Then last year, I found the Emmeline apron pattern by Sew Liberated online. I didn't want to spend the money to buy the pattern at first, but in the end I couldn't resist.

I found some cheap fabric at the store and started making a bunch of these aprons as Christmas gifts for my family since we are really all about the gifts you can't buy.

I loved the way it turned out, but I haven't used it because I don't want to wash it and ruin it. Yes, I am nutty that way. My first of anything is usually a prototype and after playing around and adjusting things, I then make "the" official one. My sister got tired of seeing my apron not being used and me using what she calls my hideous apron (which she did give me) decided that I needed a new one so she bought me one from Anthropologie. It is the daintree apron that I am currently using.

It's super cute and I love the ruffle detail at the neckline. It really inspires me to make another retro or vintage apron.

The other day while I was shopping for E.'s Super Mario Cap fabric, I found "the" apron fabric for my next inspiration. Well, I found two and couldn't resist. They are both Alexander Henry's fabrics and best of all they were on sale!

The fabric on the left is "juicy lemon" while the one on the right is called "pears and apples." Now that I have my fabric, I need a new sewing inspiration. Seeing how I love the apron my sister gave me, I sought out Anthropologie aprons and found these that I LOVE.

The first one is my favorite. I love the ruffle detail and the piping on the band. In googling to see what other Alexander Fabrics there are, I discovered I am not the only one that likes this fabric choice for making an apron. Other inspirational pieces using my fabric:

That's my Emmeline apron!

Can't you see Lucy in "I love Lucy" wear this apron? I love the polka dotted red print as well.

The classic apron.

Love. I think I want to make this one.



This one is super adorable as well.

These look almost like dresses.

I am super excited to start sewing. I don't know when I will have the time though. My "wanna-do" list is a mile long at this point. Too many inspirational projects lurking in my head with not enough time. Too bad I can't buy time. I have exchanged sleep for time on many occasions, but I am definitely starting to run out of sleep as well. So does any one want to lend me some time or sleep for the matter???