Curtains, Curtains, Curtains!

Our formal living and dining room has been without curtains since we've lived here which is over 3 years. I've just never really found anything I loved or that were reasonably priced enough for all the windows. Well, this summer, my mom & I decided to make some! We went on an extensive fabric hunt at all the fabric stores in the area & ended up finding a fabric I love at Cutting Corners. My mom has been so patient with me as she taught me along the way how to make them. Making curtains really aren't that hard, it is just very time consuming. I did all the cutting & ironing & she did all the sewing & hand stitching. Well, a month later, all 7 panels are now complete and hanging! Thanks, Mom, for all your help! :) Below are a few pictures--I only have a before pic of 1 set of windows.

Before

After

Let the weddings begin...

On Saturday, Abby & Rudy got married. They are good family friends of ours & my youngest sister, Kendall, was a bridesmaid. It was a beautiful wedding & Abby was a beautiful bride! I can't believe my little sister's friends are now getting married! This was the first of our marathon weddings for the rest of the year. We have at least one or more every month thru December--we are happy to go to them though! :) Below are a couple of pictures of family at the wedding but somehow I don't have any of the bride & groom on my camera!

My parents

My sisters (me, Kendall, Summer)

The crazy one! :)

Craft Day

Last week, I got together with a couple of my college roomies, Sarah & Katie, for craft day! Sarah had discovered an awesome craft, figured out how to make it & had us over to do it. So fun! The letters come in different sizes & you can either hang them on the wall or lay them on a shelf against the wall, which is what I did with it. It was actually really easy & inexpensive & I could totally see myself making them for wedding or baby gifts! Below are a couple of pictures of us & the final products! Thanks, Sarah, for a fun day!

The lake...

This weekend we went down to Lake Conroe to visit Steve's parents. His brother Clay & our nephew Clayton came to visit, as well, which was a treat because we don't get to see them very often! The weather held out for us in the afternoon on Saturday & we were able to spend some time on the lake jet skiing and also got some good sun at the pool. Clayton is the most adorable 3 year old & we had such a great time playing with him & getting to know his fun personality. He is so funny! On Sunday, we battled some rain, but still managed to find some time for boating. We always enjoy our visits in Conroe!

One of my best friends from college, Laura, came in town from Conneticut with her little girl, Lily, while her husband is deployed for 6 months with the Navy. Getting to play with sweet Lily was so much fun. Lily had trouble saying "Halie" so she would just call me "Ya,ya" -- too funny! We ate some good mexican food & had to go to Laura's favorite--Benningan's, since both of those don't exist in CT! Laura is currently pregnant with her 2nd baby & we're anxious to find out if its a boy or girl! Below are a couple of pictures with them. Lily would look at the camera and say "cheese!" So cute!

4th of July

We had a great 4th of July with our lifegroup & the weather ended up being perfect! The Webbs had us all over to their new house for a cookout. The guys spent most of the time out in the backyard in a tight competition of washers while us gals hung out inside so our very pregnant friend Courtney didn’t get too hot! :) Later that night, we all played a few rounds of the game “the king & the slime sucking pig” which is a fun card game for a lot of people and ended the evening with sparklers in the backyard! Thanks for hosting a wonderful 4th of July, Casey & Trichelle!

Quack, Quack

Yesterday I pulled into our driveway & noticed 2 ducks walking towards me in our alley--no pond near! I got really excited & ran & got our camera. By the time I got back, the ducks were headed up our driveway rather quickly. I snapped a couple of pictures and then I freaked out because they were waddling so fast towards me & about to come into our garage. So I hit the buttone to shut our garage and they went the other way. Whew! I didn't realize ducks would freak me out--I guess its rare they are coming towards you! :) hehe