Happy Birthday To Me

Another work week done...now I have 20 more minutes until my week off. It's been busy. Savy started pool school on Monday. She'd forgotten a lot of what she learned last year (we took the winter off), so I put her back in the level she had been in before. Thursday, her teacher said she's definitely ready to move up, so it's all coming back to her. Just look at this jump - fearless!



If anyone is wondering if Savy is a good big sister, here's your answer. I'd left Savy and Scarlett playing in the den for a few minutes. Apparently, Scarlett was sleepy, and Savy put her in the little recliner and tucked her in for a nap.



I can't believe Savy got Scarlett to go down for a nap - I can barely get her to take a nap!
Here's another pic...Savy in the crib with Scarlett for a nap.



Yesterday was my birthday. Here's one of my presents...these awesome canvases made from some of the photos Jennifer took. They look great! I'm going to hang them this week.



My delicious (and pretty) birthday cake and cupcakes.





And here I am on my 36th birthday. I don't look a day over 25, right?

I've accomplished most of what I needed to this week....cleaning house, finishing projects, etc. The only thing I didn't manage to fit in was some time for relaxation. Guess that'll have to wait until my next week off, because it's back to work tomorrow.

I caught Savy and her BFF Kiki playing dress up earlier this week...can't remember what day it was. Kiki is so good-natured, and she puts up with stuff that most cats wouldn't. You definitely won't see Ezra letting Savy put a big flower on his neck!





Nanny and Lee Ottis came to visit us on Friday. Lee Ottis just happened to bring a sander with him, and he sanded the shelf and bench I made for Savannah.



Savy and Vita played tug of war.


Scarlett enjoyed the nice weather too.



Here are my finished projects. The shelf is just a little crooked, but it works well enough. It's perfect for her collection of Starbucks bears and a few other things. Savy and I stuck all the glitter stickers all over it.




I made the bench so Savy would have a place to sit and take off her shoes when she comes in the house. She was in the habit of sitting in the middle of the hall as soon as she walked in and taking off the shoes. That drove Jon crazy because she's usually in front of us, and we'd have to stop and wait on her before we could go on in. This way, she's out of the way, and her shoes fit nicely in the bottom.



Another "mini-project" - a shelf made from a pallet to store my gardening stuff. It fits perfectly on the window sill.



By the way, I got the ideas for all those projects from Knock Off Wood. There's a link on my blog list to the right...it's my new favorite blog!

Savy talked me into getting her a water gun this morning. She couldn't wait to get home and terrorize Vita with it. Luckily, Vita is also extremely good natured.



A picture of my new favorite plant...a bonfire begonia.


I loved to read when I was little (still do), and I saved most of my old favorites. Since Savannah is so in love with books now, I decided it was time to pass them down. I dug them out of the upstairs closet today and gave them to her. She was very excited and had to look at them right away. She can't wait for her bedtime story tonight.

It is officially summer vacation - Tuesday was Savy's last day of school. She's not too happy about it (she loves school), but she is looking forward to starting pool school next week.

I worked last week, so we were stuck at home. I took some pics of Savy and Scarlett playing dress-up.





Savy decided last week she just had to have a pet fish, so we went to get one today. She picked out a betta fish and a little tank for him to live in, as well as a decoration and a plant. She named him Timmy and talked to him all the way home. We had to set up the tank as soon as we walked in the door.



Timmy waiting patiently for his new home to be ready.


This is one happy girl!



He seems to like his new home.



He's named after Timmy Turner of "The Fairly Oddparents"




But Jon and I can't help but think of....



I'm going to do my best to keep him alive. Savy loves to feed animals, and she has said "I think my fish is hungry" about a thousand times today. I hid the food to keep her from overfeeding him.

Savy has been obsessed with books since I made these special bookshelves for her a month or so ago. She's constantly asking us to read to her now, and she even "reads" to us. It used to be a battle to get her to go to bed, but now she frequently asks to go to bed BEFORE her bedtime because she can't wait for her bedtime story. She's always had lots of books, but she wasn't that interested in them when they were sitting on a shelf with only the spines visible. Now that the covers are on display, it's completely different. That's probably one of the most rewarding projects I've ever done.

Speaking of books, I signed Scarlett up for Dolly Parton's Imagination Library program yesterday...that's where Savannah got most of her books. It's such a great program, and I just found out that it's not limited to Tennessee residents. Open to children from birth up to 5 years of age, they'll send an age-appropriate book each month...for free! Savannah loves getting her books each month. If anyone is interested, just click on the link and sign up you little one.

Twinkies

Savannah insisted she and Scarlett wear matching pajamas last night. Luckily, Mimi bought them matching pjs not too long ago.

One Hat, Two Babies

Comparison time again! This straw hat and white dress belonged to Savannah when she was a baby. I put Scarlett in the same hat and dress last week. I didn't realize it when I took the photos, but that's actually the same blanket too...in one set it was turned upside down.

Can you tell who's who?










And here they are today.



I took these pics of Scarlett in the bath the other night...the ones of Savy are older pics. Scarlett loves taking a bath just as much as Savannah does...they are so much alike!

I'm still busy, busy, busy...I feel like there's just too much to catch up on. I was so glad to finish up my week on Sunday. The storms kept us up for 2 nights with the constant tornado warnings. The houses in the front of our neighborhood flooded again, and the subdivision just down the street had several large trees down and some damage to at least one house that I've seen. Our "storm shelter" is the pantry because it is the only interior room and it's under the staircase. After several rounds of getting Savy and Scarlett out of bed and moving them to the pantry due to tornado sirens, Jon finally threw some pillows and blankets in there and made them a bed. He even set up our small television in there so we could watch the weather updates.



I finally finished the room swap. Savy's room is pretty much the same as before, just reversed now. I had every intention of painting it a pretty color and making it really different with new bedding and everything, but I just lost steam. She still liked her decor anyway, so I guess there was reallly no need to change it yet. I did make her the special surprise that I promised, though. She's been wanting one of those mosquito net canopies for a while now, but she wanted a big one. Knowing how much she loves to hide, I figured she'd enjoy it more if it wasn't see-though.

Ta-da...instant hiding place. I put it over her pottery-barn kids chair, and she now has a very private reading corner.




She can just close it around herself. I didn't let it drape all the way to the floor because I was afraid she'd be more likely to accidentally sit on it and pull it down.



This was super easy to make. I used a hula-hoop for the ring. It was water-filled but had a rubber connector, so I just pulled it apart and poured out the water. I purchased three curtain panels (these are $9 per panel from WalMart) and put them on the hoop. Then I closed the hoop back up...if you can't find one with a rubber connector, you could just cut it then duct-tape it back together. I looped some ribbon around the hula-hoop between the curtain panels to make a hanger (used a little glue to keep them in place) and hung it from a swag hook. Savannah loves it! I'm going to get some little butterflies and flowers to pin on the drapes.

We moved Scarlett's crib into her new room yesterday, and she slept in her very own room for the first time last night. I was prepared to be up with her all night, but she surprised me. She went right to sleep when I put her to bed. She only woke up once around 4 am for a feeding, then she went right back to sleep and didn't cry again until about 7 this morning. She went to sleep without a fuss tonight too...keeping my fingers crossed!

I just have share this before I quit for the night. Savy came in the other night with her little toy tool box to "fix" Daddy's chair. It was so cute the way she was concentrating so hard and checking every little thing. She was really getting into character...



...right down to the "plumber's crack."