Weekend with the Daleys and Butlers

The slides.


And the Butlers.


The butter binge


Hula Hooping Wii



Classy Princesses


And Engagement pictures.


Two little monkeys swinging ....

Then there were four...


Hooray for visiting family!

Girl's Room Redo- Part 1: Dressers and Name Garlands

Here's some before pictures of the room. I purposefully did not clean up, for full visual effect.


A picture of the dressers during painting...





Here's Natalie's Dresser- White!


And Sophias- Pink! The girls were most excited about Princess paper on the inside, and the new mirror in their room.


And here's the name banners.



I printed out the font/size I wanted on paper, used that as a stencil to cut out the scrapbook paper (DCWV Spring Stack). Then glued on cardboard and used a box cutter to cut it out, and an exacto knife for all the rougher edges. I used a thick needle to sew the ribbon through the letters.

You can't really see the cardboard unless you look at the letters from the side. Which means you're standing in the closet or floating on a second story height looking in our window.

And this is just part 1, I've got all the materials for a peg board for dressups. Planned completion date: sometime in September.

Calling, Car Crash and Cool Stuff...

On Sunday, I received a calling into Young Women's. I'm still getting used to the idea. Whenever I get a new calling I feel an increased need to be very consistent with my scripture study and more strict with obeying the commandments. Less tv, more reading. But maybe pop culture is needed to understand young women? Probably not.

This morning I was driving to a visiting teaching appointment and my car didn't feel like turning with the road, and I ran off into a small ditch. We're all ok, the car had a flat tire and some bumper damage. Looks like we'll be walking until we get it fixed or buy a new one...Cash for clunkers anyone?

We also received a package from my mom with Alaska presents, so the pic is for my mom. Natalie is all about the silly faces.

AND I got 10 bucks back from Target yesterday, because I bought some items last week, and they went on sale this week. Brought in the reciept, badda bing badda boom, 10 bucks back.

That's the latest news from the Daley household. I'm still in the midst of decorating, hanging pictures and keeping these kids happy....

Maddie is 5!

My niece turned 5 yesterday, so we hung out for part of the day. Here's some pics from the Indiana State Fair and a mini photo shoot with balloons.

The birthday girl!



The little sister, whom I caught in a rare moment of standing still.

Where'd Lily go? There she is.

Sophia loves balloons. Maybe that's all I'll get her for her birthday. Which reminds me of a little einsteins episode, where that's all Annie gets for her birthday.

The Indiana State Fair was fun...full of sights...and crazy food....




Anybody up for Deep fried dough injected with pepsi? Or Chocolate covered bacon? Or my funnel cakes booth? If I did own that booth, I think I could die happy. Because you know I'd be rich, charging people 5 bucks for a funnel cake...

Speaking of rich, I was appalled to find fair rides so expensive. If I wanted an all night pass, I'd pretty much pay the same amount to get into an amusement park. And those have REAL rides. Don't tell your kids about the rides, then they won't know what they're missing. Stick to the fun stuff, like animals.

Little Hands on the Farm was fun, educational, and got their wiggles out. Do you think my neighbors would mind if I got some plastic animals like this for my front yard?

Or if I painted my mini barn with cow spots? Here are the girls planting, picking, and riding a tractor all around...



Last but not least, we brushed a dairy cow, talked to a sheep, stared an oxen in the eye, and rode a tractor. It was a long day, but worth it.

Fabric Covered Memo Boards

First you take a 5 buck memo board from Wallyworld. Try to take it apart, and when that reigns futile, do this.

Sand the veneer off the wooden sides. Paint it black. Add a shiny sealer.
Measure fabric out to the size of the board, to the edge of the frame, as seen in the middle pic. I used a 100 % cotton quilting fabric. Little bit of give, but not too much.

Shove the fabric under the frame with a butter knife. Savage, I know. But it works.



Work your way around, straightening out the fabric so it's good and tight all the way across. You might have to trim excess fabric if you get more than a 1/2 inch to shove under the frame.

Now hang that sucker up with some nails, add some cute thumbtacks...and you're in business.

Grandma Summer Camp

Activites include: Afternoon Runs through the Sprinklers

Daily Ice Cream sampling

Scenic drives through Amish Country tourist traps...

Sample the sweet corn and bubbles then stare off into the horizon...

Learn Noodle Fencing from a Redheaded Pro...

Take in a concert from the 9 month old guitar maestro...

Lounge by the pool, take a dive, and wrestle a Lobster...

All this, and some good home cooking!

Watermelon and Jonah

Don't you just want to kiss those cheeks?


Or dive into this humungous watermelon? Natalie does too.

Indianapolis Zoo

Qe've been doing nothing but projects for our house. I promise some "before and after" posts once I do all the finishing touches. The hardest part of doing projects is gathering supplies- I have to make sure it's just what I want, for the price I want. Luckily I have two Targets, Walmarts and lowes within 5 miles. Getting out of those stores in one piece without my kids melting down is the hard part.

On Tuesday we went to the Indianapolis Zoo with John's sister Holly. John and the kids were really excited about seeing a "REAL" dragon- a komodo dragon. And Natalie LOVED the snakes. We saw the dolphin show and got a great view of most of the animals- they all seemed to be out roaming around. Dusk is a great time to see the zoo.

Memorable Quotes: "Mommy, I know that, Horses go poo poo too." " Mommy, that Lion is swatting it's tail. I think he needs to go poo poo." -Natalie

(Can you tell we potty trained last week?)

Don't you want to come visit and see the zoo?