Home projects

We had a productive Saturday. We planted 64 trees, 60 Thuja trees along the driveway, 3 apple trees in the front yard, and a maple tree in front of the house. Scott's dad and brother-in-law Bryan came to help us early in the morning, and it wasn't until after noon that they got all of them planted. What a job! We couldn't have done it without their help! Here are three pictures to show you the before and after. The car is Bryan's.

This is what happens to your spices when Scott takes charge of the kitchen. He didn't let me color coordinate them, either. They are alphabetized.

Scott also built a fence on the side of the house. I will report on that as soon as we clean up around it.

More pics from the reunion

No sewing around here nowadays. Just potty training and laundry.

I got some pictures from my brother's camera, so I am going to share a few with you.

The first is my parents with their 13 grandkids.

Front row left to right

Max(T4), Caryn(Y1), Erika(T1) with Maile(Y2) on her lap, Ison(Y3) on Grandma's lap, Quinn(M4) on Grandpa's lap, Emi(T2) with Kenji(T5) on her lap, Asha(M2), Sho(K1), and Ayumu(K2)

Back row left to right

Jerome(M1), Mia(T3), and Kai(M3),

My parents with the kids. Most of the time they were in the pool playing.

I wish I got a pictures of that.

Our vacation house had a nice grass yard, which led to this beach.

This year we tried dance night per kids' request. My dad out-danced all the kids.

The happiest kid on earth

Thank you, Mom and Dad for the best vacation!!

Ohki Family Reunion

The pool enthusiasts, complete with facepaint.

The whole clan.

It has been four years since we all got together.

Quinn was ready for the picture session before any of us. Imagine that!

I have been missing my family. I wish we lived closer.

Church Bag for a Little Girl

Just the right size for a Book of Mormon and a paperback primary song book.

I like the inside fabric just as much as the outside.

A little pocket for bookmarks and pencils.

I put a layer of off white denim in between to give it some shape.

Girly Whirlygiggle Quilt

Remember the quilting fabric I got in Japan last summer? I used the red, pink, and yellow tones, and came up with this baby quilt.

I finally get to post it now that it has been delivered to Adrianne, who had a girl last month.

All finished!

It is a great feeling to finish a project, especially the ones that sat for a while. A lot of thank you's to Adrianne, who suggested I recover the bar stools in the first place. She also helped me find the Teflon coated fabric. Karine entertained my baby and kept me company while I took the original cover apart and cut out the new ones. I couldn't have done it without them.

So far, the Teflon has repelled melted chocolate, brownies, yogurt, and ball point pen. The stains came out with a soft rub of a wet dish towel. I might have to go buy some stocks of this company.

Scott just came home from a nine day trip to Europe. Family Home Evening and school lunches are the first ones to go among other things when he is away. This time I asked Asha to come up with something for Family Home Evening. She got busy and came up with this.

She got the lesson out of the Family Home Evening manual "because that is what Papa always uses", shared a story, and led a nice discussion. We had a fun evening, and I didn't have to do a thing. I was humbled and thankful for my wonderful kids.

IKEA bar stool gets a makeover

Before: IKEA HENRIKSDAL bar stool with a Gobo white cover

(This is what it looks like after day 3, until I wash it again.)

After: Isn't it a beauty?

I took the white one apart with a seam ripper and used the pieces as a pattern. The fabric came from Calico Corners. It has a teflon finish, so I am excited to put it to the test.

One cover down, two more to go.