Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Proud Parents!!

Whoo-hoo!  Keaton graduated from Kalamazoo College on Sunday!  I guess our baby boy is all grown up now!!

10 months old.
I swear we blinked and he was all grown up!

22 years old.
The Graduate
The past four years just flew by.  It seems like it's only been a couple of months since we moved him into his dorm for his freshman year...almost the wrong dorm.  (Keaton tends to skim over stuff that he thinks is boring to read.)  We're looking forward to the next chapter in his life and all the wonderful, exciting things to come!


We had a little pre-graduation party on Saturday with some friends and family.
We went out to dinner with family and friends to celebrate Keaton's graduation.
Matt made a nice speech and we all toasted Keaton's success!  Cheers!!

Monday, June 9, 2014

Just Call Me Martha


Last week, I played Martha Stewart and repurposed our old patio cushions into these fabulous ones.  It was so much cheaper than buying new ones and really wasn't very hard at all.  (I'm not a seamstress by any means, but can sew a straight line...well, kind of straight...most of the time.)  I found this cute outdoor fabric online and on sale (because there really isn't any other way to buy anything in my opinion) and studied some online tutorials on how to make removable slipcovers.  Then, I loaded up the sewing machine and kept my foot on the pedal for hours and had a marathon day of sewing. 6 chair slipcovers and 1 chaise lounge slipcover...and I only had to rip out two seams and only pricked my fingers 50 times, so I'm definitely improving on my sewing skills!  The best part is since they're removable, I can throw them in the wash and keep them clean...exactly how I like everything inside AND outside my house.

These cushions are a little faded and outdated, but they're nice and thick.
Believe it or not, they're also 17 years old!

Ta da...fresh, new cushions.
Believe it or not, the patio furniture is 18 years old.
(It's amazing what you can do with soap and water...and a can of spray paint every year!)

I had enough fabric left over to make a cute throw pillow for my rocking chair.
I put a pink flower on the cushion so there's no doubt that this is MY chair.


Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Lovely Ludington

We enjoyed a lovely weekend up in Ludington...even with all the mosquitoes.  Matt did some fishing, we played some pinball while checking out downtown Ludington, we enjoyed another gorgeous sunset on Lake Michigan, and we went kayaking on Hamlin Lake.  I must be getting better at my paddling because Matt asked if I was mad at him since I was way ahead of him in the lake.  I'm really not a water sport enthusiast. I'm more of a pool girl who likes to just float in the pool...and the water has to be at least 82 degrees.  My idea of kayaking is gracefully stepping in my pretty pink kayak on shore and having Matt gently push me into the water so I don't actually have to touch any water. (Yuck...fish poop.)  Then, the most extreme kayaking I like is a gentle rocking motion while in the water.  I really don't like any rapids or frantic maneuvering where there's a chance I could tip.  (Again, yuck...fish poop.)  Maybe I should just put the kayak in the pool and enjoy both worlds.