Last week I showed you how much progress Clif has made making our bedroom furniture. This has been a dream of his since we were married (almost 31 years ago mind you). In 2010, we had a water leak in which we had major repairs. That being said, I decided we wouldn't have any bedroom furniture other than a bed, night stand, and lingerie cabinet. All our clothes have been hanging in our closet since that time (and we don't have a walk in closet either). Remember I said how excited I was to hopefully have it by Easter? Well, Clif informed me after reading my blog that it will most likely be CHRISTMAS!!! Really????
Today he says, "Let's move the headboard into the bedroom to see how it looks." Pretty nice I must say.
Then he says, "Why don't we bring in a night stand." That looked pretty good too. Then he gives the clincher.... "Why don't we just move it all in, and call it a day." Nope. Not going to happen. I helped him take the 2 pieces back to the garage and let him know I'll help him bring it in when it is finished. Clif, your doing a fantastic job. Keep up the quality work!
Clif turned 59 on January 27. Stephen and Levi came over to celebrate with us. Tried to get a picture of the birthday boy and his grandson, but all I could get was either blurry pictures or Levi sticking his tongue out. Well, he is after all a boy. I just wonder what he was thinking in his head!
Nanny, nanny boo-boo.........
Levi sporting his two new bottom teeth.
And finally, I landed a nice smile from him, courtesy of his daddy acting silly behind me!
Happy Birthday Clif. Here's to many more! Love you! Trish :)
Last weekend I accompanied 38 high schoolers on a Confirmation Retreat to St. Leo's University in St. Leo's Florida just northeast of Tampa. It was a fabulous weekend. Watching the transformation of these kids over the course of 24 hours was amazing.
One thing I took away from the weekend was how they told us to hold hands. You see when you look at your hand, naturally you see the fingers. It was explained to think of the length of your fingers as all your strengths,
and the web where the fingers join as your weaknesses. When you hold hands by linking your fingers, you are using your strengths to help others in their weaknesses and vice versa.
I thought that was so cool because I instantly thought of strengths in which I have helped others, and where others have helped me in my weaknesses! Then, looking at the picture of Clif and I holding each other's hand, I realized just exactly how much we compliment each other and I have never really taken the time to notice that before. Pretty insightful, eh?
So the next time you hold hands with someone, link fingers and let them know you're in this journey of life "together"!
Last February (2015), Clif indicated he was ready to make our bedroom furniture. I have waited years for this day to finally arrive. I thought you all might enjoy seeing the progression he has made over the course of the last year. He is getting so close to getting it finished I am giddy with joy!
He started from a big heap of maple wood.
I had designed the basics of the furniture and left it to Clif's expertise to "make it happen".
He put together the sides for the end tables.
When he would hit upon a potential design flaw, he would clarify my desires, give me food for thought, we'd reach an agreement, then he would continue.
These are the faces for the dresser,
...and the night stands.
This picture I had posted previously back in May 2015. He had the shells of the main pieces put together, but not any of the intricate work.
Nothing more than the main pieces and the drawers themselves. No headboard yet.
After much effort, he finally got the top piece of the headboard made. He just needs to cut it to size.
It took Nov/Dec just to get this piece together.
The progress he's made just in the last month has been amazing. I've put the same pieces top and below so you can see the differences.
One of the night stands.
I am so excited because all the drawers not only have dovetails, but gliders!
The dresser and book shelf.
The dresser with added designs all glued together.
Clif is currently working on the book shelf getting the supports put in so the top can be attached.
No picture of this though. It's laying atop his workbench, so you can't really see any detail.
I have picked out the stain. He will have to pay close attention to the sanding and extra preparations to get the look I want. The only thing I have left to do is pick out the handles. I imagine I will doing that within the next month. I was originally hoping to have had this for a Christmas gift, then an Anniversary gift, but with Clif having to work so many Saturdays, I will be happy if I get it for Easter. Just so long as it's done. He has taken such due care in creating these master pieces, I can wait. They will be gorgeous when finished. I can just picture them in our bedroom! :)
Great work Clif!!!!!
Valerie's sister and boyfriend came in from Wisconsin. That being said, the kids wanted to enjoy Universal Studios without having to sit out on a ride because of Chloe. Would I take a day off work to watch my granddaughter? You betcha!
I decided at noon it was warm enough to enjoy a cool day walking around Lake Underhill. Knowing I wasn't going to be able to go to the gym, I needed to get some sort of exercise that I thought Chloe might also enjoy. Needless to say she did enjoy walking around the lake. She walked almost the entire way, with the exception of when she convince Grandma to give her a piggy back ride!
For us Floridians, having a temperature of 51 at noon is a bit on the chilly side, sun or no sun.
Lake Underhill has a tree with a nice large limb low enough to make for a good picture. Chloe on the other hand thinks Grandma is out of her mind! The look on her face just makes me laugh.
As we went around the lake, we tried different activities. Yes, Chloe, I would love for you to jump over each of these!
She did with my help, and was quite proud of herself.
Sitting on the ledge gave her a better view of the lake.
Once we finished our walk around the lake, I decided we'd go to Capehardt Park near the house. This way she could enjoy activities more to her age.
She enjoyed the swings.
Of course her favorite, the slide.
And, she enjoyed the climbing.
This picture reminds me of Ziggy. Remember him from the 70's and 80's? It was a cartoon character where you only saw his fingers and upper face from behind a wall.
Seriously Grandma, can you stop with the picture taking already?
Yes. We went home and had lunch. Afterwards she took a 2 hour nap. I guess I wore her out. :)
It's hard to believe, but Levi is already 6 months! Amber emailed pictures of her photo shoot she did of him. Once again, they turned out adorable...and no, I'm not biased!!!
His hair is so fuzzy! It looks like static, but it's just the way it has become! It just makes me smile.
His eyes just seem to tell all.
He's always happy when he sees his Mommy and Daddy.
He got this cute little monkey for Christmas.
Who can resist kissing those cheeks.
His bottom tooth broke through.
Still likes putting everything in his mouth. This stage will last a while.
Until next time....just eat your heart out! Love to all! :)
Yesterday Stephen and Amber came over so Stephen could replace the radiator in the used truck he had purchased. While here, Amber helped me find photos to put into a Family Tree wall display that I had received over a year ago and had never mounted to the wall! Clif has been helping me "purge" and clean up around here. He hung the display. That lead to me uploading a bunch of pictures while trying to decide which ones would be best to use. I thought I'd just share some cute poses we considered, but didn't use.
These poses you might have seen on Amber's Facebook page. They were taken at Penney's.
The first one is my favorite! :)
We had some poses of our own. Daddy and Chloe at Sonny's BBQ.
Chloe in the rocking chair.
Tried to get one of Levi last night playing with his octopus. He was just moving around to quickly. All of them turned out blurry. I'll have to see tonight when Clif comes home from work which ones on his phone might have turned out despite the "active child"! :) In the meantime, here is one that is okay.
Jim and Nereida treated a whole group of us to ICE at the Gaylord Palms. Clif and I have never been, so we were excited, and accepted the invite. There were 14 of us total. Jim's whole family was there as well as their good friends Gerry and Jodi along with their family.
Reading other people's blogs gave us a heads up that we needed to wear our winter wear even though parkas are provided. I am glad we followed that advice. Now I know what those Mid westerners feel like in mid winter!
The theme was "Twas the Night Before Christmas". The story was written throughout the display as if you were moving through the storybook pages.
I didn't know ice could be so colorful. It looked liked wax.
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
Lots of photo opportunities.
After about 10 minutes, Jim couldn't take the cold nose! Yes, he wore the headband around his nose the entire rest of the way!!
They even had a slide midway through. Because of the body heat, it wasn't as slick as the one you could pay for before entering the exhibit. They had fun nonetheless. (Once again, I had my camera turned. You would have thought I learned from the last time!!) First one down was Matt followed by Kalley, then Jim.
The second to the last room we went into ice sculpting was taking place. There were all kinds of facts about what it takes to put on this event. They actually start freezing the ice blocks a year in advance. Then all the ice blocks are all transported in. This room was a showing of all ice sculptures done while people looked on.
Jodi and Kelly watching the ice sculptor.
I guess he was making another cylinder to put somewhere on the train.
The last room was The Nativity. It was gorgeous. Very peaceful to say the least.
Thanks Jim. We had a blast.
When we were done, we toured the hotel. It was beautiful, and had many other activities taking place.
We watched a snip it of "Cirque Dreams Unwrapped".
We visited "The Everglades". Yes, they have alligators.
They had waterfalls throughout.
Then we headed over to Key West.
I spy a stingray. Can you see it? I'll give you a hint....it's eye is glowing from the camera flash.
The tree in the atrium was huge. I just loved how much the Gaylord Palms has to offer. It justifies the $20 parking fee (plus $1.40 tax!). I can't believe living here in Orlando for all these years, Clif and I hadn't taken the time to venture down there. I am glad Jim suggested it. It was a great evening.
Happy New Year! Hope everyone's year is prosperous and filled with God's Love and Blessings.
