The shed that Mark built

Mark's been on my case to post about the shed again, so he can show everyone that it's ****finished**** :D

The shed two weeks ago

Well that was easy! Thanks, Mark!

OK, it really went down more like this:

 

  

 

A huge thank you to my dad, who came up to help!

 

 

 

 

 

 And a huge thank you to (Mark's brother) Paul and Nikki for coming to help with the roof a couple days later. These pics are from Nikki because I was flying out the door for Lori's baby shower. She had to chase Luke around the whole time and try to keep him from hurting himself, poor girl. That is no easy task!

 Roofing is apparently a hard core endeavor..

 The painting begins

Mark went out with a lamp and painted the floor till 10:30pm one night

 Paint colors: (Behr Premium Plus exterior) Body: Farmyard ECC-58-3 in flat finish, Trim: Elk Horn ECC-47-2, Doors: Unreal Teal ECC-58-3, both in semi-gloss. The floor paint is Behr Concrete & Garage floor epoxy in Slate Gray.

I was not so sure about this idea...

But look how nice it turned out! Good job, honey

Laaaaaaaa!

 

What a fabulous shed! So glad he got it done before the rain and snow hit! (Yes, we got snow  today, and I'm filing a formal complaint.)

It's so awesome to have a handy husband.

NICE JOB MARK!!

Guess who arrived two weeks early!

And I thought I had a busy day on Sunday. Lori produced a whole other human being!!

This is their little baby Jack--6 lbs. 5oz. 19 1/2 inches. He looks exactly like Kevin, right down to the dimple on his cheek. We're SO EXCITED that he's here already! Newborn babies are so precious!

And speaking of, there was something of a family baby boom over the summer, with three of my nieces giving birth. Not only am I a good aunt, I am a GREAT aunt! (Ha) Meet:

 Evan: 9 lbs. 8 oz., 20 inches. Son of Ashley Cosgrove, who is the daughter of Mark's sister Sumi, born in August

 Logan: 6 lbs. 1 oz., 18 inches. Son of Amy (Brown) Plastow, who is the daughter of Mark's sister Sheila, born in August

And baby Briar: 4 lbs. 10 oz., 17 inches. She was about a month early, born in September. Her mom is Heather (Brown) Anderson, who is also Mark's sister Sheila's daughter.

I'm sure glad that other people keep having babies for me to spoil and snuggle, 'cause I'm sure not ready to go through that again yet! Congratulations to everyone! :)

Decorations Part I: Poms

So here's Part I of how I made the ultra cute decorations for Lori's baby shower.



These were semi-homemade--they are easy enough to make on your own (and there are about 29,000 tutorials on how to do it), but let's face it. Time is money. I knew I'd already taken on a lot for the baby shower, so when I saw a Martha Stewart kit for these poms at Jo-Ann, I bought them. They were still pricey even on clearance ($8 for a pack of 8) but I have to say it was worth it. They turned out nice (nicer than my previous DIY attempts) and were in great colors.

 

The kit came with three small and five large poms, all pre-cut, stacked, scored and scalloped.

If you're making them from scratch (As I was assembling these, I told Mark I felt guilty about not making them totally from scratch. WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?!??), stack eight sheets of tissue paper together. The taller the sheets, the bigger the pom turns out. Accordion fold (every inch or so) and secure in the middle with a wire or twisty tie. Then round off the edges with a pair of scissors.

 

HANDS OFF, BOY! Tissue paper makes a lovely crinkly, crunching sound, as my son knows...

 

Then start carefully peeling away each layer, creating a fluffy flower (which could be displayed on a table like this, with one side flat), then turn it over and fluff the other side.

 Then I got some clear monofilament thread (fishing line) and attached a big loop of it into the twisted wire of each pom. When I decorated, I just taped them to the wall, although if I had more time, I'd have taped them to the ceiling like this:

Yeah, um. So my party didn't look THIS good. Click over here to see the goodness, though!

Try these for your next party! Totally customizable according to color and size, cheap and easy, adn add just the right amount of cheer.