The many faces of Danika...

I love this little girl. :)


She insisted on feeding herself lasagna two nights ago. This was the result. Bath definitely required. :) You should have seen her arms and legs. :)


She got new shades as a gift from my Mom's cousin Donna. She LOVES them. She thinks she is pretty cool and just loves wearing them around.
Two thumbs up!

And...this is how she melts Daddy's heart. :) She gives real kisses....she smacks her lips and keeps her mouth closed...and it just kills me. It is so stinking cute!Okay...that was my Mommy moment. You know it has to happen every once in a while. :)

Bookshelf Progress

I mentioned earlier about the bookshelves Doug is working on as a side job. Some have asked what they are going to look like. This is a really, really rough drawing, but it will be something like this:
The bookshelves serve as a divider between a very open living room and a big dining room. The bookshelves will be only "half" walls that come from each wall halfway out into the room, allowing a "doorway" between them. The only thing on the upper half will be a pillar on the end of each shelf. Also, because they are in archway between two rooms, both sides of the bookshelves will be visible. One side will be bookshelves, the other side will be the back panels.

I think that Diane (the homeowner) did an amazing job designing and placing these....when they are complete they will make both rooms look awesome.

Doug has been working a ton on these. I wanted to post some recent pictures of how they look. Check it out...

This first one was taken over the weekend when he was gluing them up and had them all clamped together while they dried. This is a view of the back of both sections. The inside panels are already stained, but the outside trim had not been stained yet.

This was taken this morning. The trim has all been stained now on one section and he is working on the second.
The unstained portion facing the camera in this picture will be the side against the wall.
This is the view of the other side of the same shelf...thie is the side that will actually have shelves in it.

Pretty cool, huh? I think he's doing a great job. :)

Pictures of Josie...

Here are a few pics of Josie from the weekend. I love those cheeks!

Weekend adventures...

Danika and I went to Cleveland for Labor Day weekend and spent the night in a hotel with my Mom, sister and her two kids. It was a little bit of chaos, but a lot of fun. :) I thought the hotel might throw us out but it all turned out okay. :)

We took the kids swimming, celebrated my Mom's birthday, and just sat around chatting. Joanie is still recovering from her broken ankle, so sitting around is a requirement for her...not really an option.

While we were together, I took pictures of my sister's baby girl, Josie. Oh how she is growing! I will post pictures when I get a chance!

I miss them already.

He picked a WOMAN!

Okay...I don't really do the politics thing too much....that's Doug's thing, not mine. But I have to tell you, I was so moved today when McCain announced that he picked Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate, I actually started to cry.

What a historic election....either way, we will have an unbelievable "FIRST" for our country in November....we will either have a black man as president, or a woman as VP....isn't that COOL???? I am still really moved. What a cool thing.

Custom Bookshelves in Progress

Doug has been working on several side jobs lately. The current job is a set of custom bookshelves. I thought I would post pictures of them as he makes progress.


This is where he was at with them on Saturday morning:



This is the "box" of the bottom part of the bookshelves. I don't understand how it all works, but I remember that this is what our bookshelves started out looking like and I thought they turned out GREAT. :)
Oh yes....this is Doug's "side kick". :) She was given a new hat and she LOVES wearing it around.
Have a great day!

Bierer Bikini Belly

I already told you all about the trip down to the peninsula over the weekend. I wanted to post a picture of Danika in her bikini. :) Hope it makes you laugh like it does me. :)