Happy Leap Day

This was me, eight years ago...

Waiting for this little bundle to arrive.

But not on leap year day, please.

He waited a few extra days

and arrived on March 2,  

a birthday he shares with my Grandpa who he never got to meet,

Dr. Seuss and Jon Bon Jovi :-)

That's my boy!

Bookshelf Beautification: The "After" Party

Well, today's the day...the last Friday in February (Yes, really!)

Time for the big "After" reveal!

My bookshelves began this journey in this chaotic state of disarray:

And here they are now:

I think the biggest change is the background color.  I debated between purple and blue

and finally settled on "Honolulu Blue."  I love the drama of purple, but it felt too dark in this space.  Our family room has large windows but still manages to seem dark, except in the late afternoon when the sun shines directly in.  This renders anyone in the room temporarily blind and makes it necessary to close the shades, thus making the room dark again.  This particular shade of blue has a lot of light and brightness to it - think blue sky on a clear summer day.  It is happy and cheerful...exactly how I want my family room to feel.

This color also coordinates nicely with our favorite rug that we've dragged around through four moves and have not, up until this point, painted a room to coordinate with it.

I've organized the books (mostly by color rather than topic...my apologies to the Dewey Decimal System!)

And added some family pictures

and some old(er) pictures

Some fun trinkets...

And a bit of sentimental stuff...
Zack hand made this ceramic mug in school and adorned it with the letters "MOM" *sigh*

My parents gave us this sweet duck family back when we were a family of only four.

The bottom shelves are entirely kid friendly (A & Z can reach them!).  But, I think they still look really cool. For how long?  I don't know.   Perhaps they're pulling them apart as I type this.

And then there's this lady...

I love her.  My husband is on the fence...he thinks she's a wee bit creepy. 

I did get a chance to change the fabric on the cornice (which now clashes horribly with the cornice on the other side of the room - but that one will soon be switched out for panels made out of this same gorgeous fabric.)  I've never covered a cornice before, and was surprised by how simple it was, and how nicely it turned out.  Kind of like wrapping a present, but with a staple gun,  fun!

Overall, I am very pleased with how the shelves look now.  I can't wait to finish the rest of this room (and the rest of this house...)!

A huge thanks to Lisa at  Shine Your Light  for pushing me into action on this project.

Be sure to visit the After Party to see all of February's before and after projects.  And think about joining the party in March...sometimes all you need is a deadline to get your project moving!

Bookshelf Beautification: A Sneak Peek

A sweet little {bookshelf} love poem...

On my newly refurbished shelves you will find:
Something old,

Awww...wasn't I cute???

something new.

My Dearest, HomeGoods:  How do I love thee? Let me count the ways...

Something borrowed,

From my husbands office...(let's see if he notices!)

and something PURPLE???    or     BLUE???

You can see my "Before" bookshelves HERE.  

Come back on Friday for the big  "After" reveal to see how my bookshelves look now!

You can also check out my shelves and all of the other great projects in the Before & After link party at Shine Your Light.

Wednesday Blog Hop

It's Wednesday and time for another Blog Hop.  A warm welcome to everyone stopping by today!  I have had so much fun and found so many interesting blogs through these blog hops (Thanks Cheri!!!)  I will try visit as many blogs as possible.  If you decide to follow me, please leave a comment and I will follow you back!

Many of you have probably already heard that

GOOGLE Friend Connect will go away

on Feb 29 for any one that is not with blogspot

but rumor has it that it is being completely phased out for everyone soon

BUT

there is good news

There is a NEW awesome tool–Linky Followers

It has so many amazing features (that GFC never had). If you have not signed up you should. (yes you can have both.) I love the new tool so much and want everyone to enjoy all the new features.

…and did I tell you its super easy and FREE!

What better way to celebrate a fun new blogging tool than to have a party

so break out your poodle skirt and saddle back shoes cuz’ we’re having a LINKY FOLLOWER PARTY HOP

RULES:

1. you MUST have the LINKY FOLLOWERS tool on your site to participate.

If you see that your link has been deleted you need to add the LINKY FOLLOWER tool to your site and then come back over and re-enter your link
{You can have both the LINKY FOLLOWERS & GFC on your site but you must have the LINKY FOLLOWERS toolto participate in this party hop.}

2. You MUST follow the person who has the party on their site as a thank you.

3. Just add your blog button to the LINKY PARTY below.

4.Then grab the BLOG HOP code

You will find the code right under the Linky Party where it says CLICK HERE TO ENTER–

just under that it says: WHAT IS A BLOG HOP? GET THE CODE HERE

Click on GET THE CODE HERE and enter it into a post on your site.

You can grab the party button code in the FOOTER at Its So Very Cheri

You can grab info from my post if it helps you with your post.

5. Then you follow other bloggers–(as many as you want)
–leave each one of the blogs that you follow a comment letting them know you are following them and ask them to follow you back.

If you want to add the BLOG HOP to your own site you will get lots of new followers–(see rule #2)

…So do ya want to go Cruisin’?

I plan on HOPPING from BLOG to BLOG to follow everyone who follows me.

A Child's Scarf: Crochet Pattern

Two weeks ago, Rowan decided he wanted a scarf.

Not one of the multiple scarves already in our cold weather gear collection.  A new scarf.  All his own.  Made, just for him, by me.  (Yes, he knows what a sucker I am for a new crocheting project, even if I have umpteen unfinished projects just sitting around).

So, for the past 2 weeks he's been asking..."Have you made my scarf yet?" repeatedly.  He is a persistent child.  Finally this weekend I got to it.

I grabbed some fun, tweedy blue and tan yarn that has multicolored speckles and got busy designing a scarf for Rowan.  

I wanted the scarf to have ribbing along it's short length and a slot to pull the end through to keep it around his little neck with out tying.

Here is the pattern I came up with...
Use an N hook and bulky yarn. Overall finished size is approx 4"wide x 30"long and fits toddler - small child
Chain 76
Row 1: Double Crochet (dc) in 4th chain from hook.  71 dc across, turn
Row 2: Ch 3, alternate front post dc(fpdc), back post dc(bpdc) across (71 dc total).  dc in top ch of turning chain. turn.
Row 3: Ch 3, alternate bpdc, fpdc across (71 dc total), dc in top ch of turning chain. turn
Row 4:  Ch3, alternate fpdc, bpdc for 12 dc.  chain 9, skip 9 dc on row below.

bpdc around next stitch

then alternate fpdc,bpdc across (50 dc after skipped spaces counting the first bpdc), dc in top ch of turning chain. turn.

Row 5: Ch3, alternate bpdc, fpdc across to chain (50dc).  dc in each chain (9dc).

alternate fpdc, bpdc across (12dc),

dc in top ch of turning ch. turn.

Row 6: Ch3, alternate fpdc, bpdc across (71 dc), dc in top ch of turning ch. turn.

Row 7: Ch3, alternate bpdc, fpdc across (71 dc), dc in top ch of turning ch. finish off!

You can find a copy of the pattern without the photos here (so you can print it more easily!)
Also, please respect my hard work and willingness to share this pattern by only making it for personal use.  You are welcome to share your finished scarves on your blog or website if you give me credit and link back to this page.  Please DO NOT make this scarf to sell.