Birthday Roundup

Since it's obvious I haven't drummed up a blog post since May (good grief!) I thought it only fair to share with you what I've been doing for the last 4 months that's taken up so much of my time. First off, I knew we were going to host Beau's 1st birthday party here at the house, and would follow that up with a housewarming gathering for friends, family and neighbors. All in the same evening. Bam. That meant that there were about 1,000 things that I wanted to accomplish in regards to the house before anybody saw it. That amounted to:

Painting 7 rooms
Touching up existing paint in the upstairs bathroom
Painting fixtures in the downstairs bath
Painting the upstairs hall chandelier
Refinishing two pieces of furniture: a blanket chest and a table
Furnishing the living room
Dying and repurposing old curtains to use on the window on the landing
Repainting the spindles on the stair railing upstairs
Attacking old paint and spackle on baseboards, in the stairwell and crown moulding with denatured
     alcohol
Fitting the living room with roman shades
Putting up sheers in the dining room
Putting up sheers in the master bedroom
Selecting drapes for the master bedroom
Creating a decoupaged 1800's map of Paris to hang in the living room

I'm quite sure there's more, but this, coupled with hanging out with Beau and making sure he doesn't burn the house down, has been enough.
Planned projects for the month of October? 0. I need a break. I intend to sit in our new recliner in the evenings and casually work on an afghan for the living room that I've started crocheting. The next real project I take on will be to change the color of our guest room from lizard green to a nice, soft, pale blue. Something that doesn't knock your eyes out when you walk into the room.

Here are some highlights from Beau's cowboy-themed birthday party this past Saturday night...

And lastly, my favorite:

My two favorite boys. A good time was had by all, Beau especially. He loves getting passed from family member to family member, friend to mom, mom to dad and back again. It's his style of "visiting". :) Halfway through the party we had to move it inside because it got chilly, but our large back deck was covered in all things western. Western signage, hay bales, cactus balloons, a 3 ft. inflatable cactus, cow print tablecloths, cowboy boots as centerpieces--you name it. And in case you were wondering, yes, everyone was supposed to dress in their western best, and yes, I was the only one to do it. Oh well--you only turn 1 once!
Currently Beau is enjoying his brand new basketball from Uncle Brandon and a dump truck from my friend Sarah. We're also working on learning how to use the new straw cup given to him by his wonderful babysitter and our friend, Caitlyn.
Thank you to everyone who came out for Beau's big day! We love you.