The Bike

Scott surprised us all with this cute cute bike. Hank kept asking if it was a dream. He was doing figure eights on the dirt after riding it for an hour. He can now ride it up to the horses and through out camp. Oh, Yeah, this mama is proud!

Marcee and Marc's Groomals

Here are some absolutely stunning photos of Marcee and Marc. There are more at Kate Benson's great blog. I love this photo shoot. Very clean and so sweet! Marcee is the last dress I finished. The dress was draped in such a way that, during the fittings, she looked a bit Greek goddess.... even though the dress was out of silk taffeta. Have a wonderful wedding. You guys are so cute together.

My favorite part is the crooked bow at the small of her back. It is funny how things come full circle. My first few wedding dresses had huge bows on them. I am loving the chance to play with some alternative bows again.

Here is the update on the house and photos of the people that are working so hard on the project. We all know how hard my dad is working. He has brought in reinforcements, namely Jim his cousin. They are quite the team. It works like this, I rip out all of the old stuff, my dad fixes it all, and Jim makes it beautiful by masterfully texturing the walls. I watched and will try his method next time I drywall a wall. He has been doing it for a while, so I know I won't come close, but will be better than before.
My dad and I are a lethal team. It starts like this, Melissa says, "Well, we are doing bamboo in the living room and dining room, lets take it down the hall and kitchen". It sounds so innocent at the time. You don't think about all of the layers of tile, linoleum, glue, sub floors, and more and more glue you have to rip up to make it happen. I ripped up the hallway and was okay with that knowing that Scott could come down and do the kitchen. He knocked out the kitchen in no time. It was great!
Next brainstorm by my dad, he decides to take out the staircase to make it fit for humans rather than elves. This means we take out part of a closet that holds the dryer, builds platform for said dryer so we can have necessary head room. Makes new supports for floor on other end, etc, etc. Oh yeah, and also building the new stairs. He is working on this project in the picture.
Back to kitchen floor removal. Now we can see the crazy wiring of lights in the floor. Oh, another project for my dad! When do we stop? The theme of this project, "we might as well do that too while everything is ripped up." I am starting to question this theory.
Otherwise, things are great. I am working on the house or dreaming about it. I can't sleep at night because my mind will not let it go. We have had so much help with the kids and that makes it actually work. Thanks go out to my mom, my sister and her cute kids, and a bunch of young women around. Hank and Slade have had a great time getting tended. They love it.

Slade's solution

When I asked Slade to turn his shorts around the other morning, he turned himself around. It was an instant reaction from him. Yes, he is so dang cute.

U.S. Marshals

It is a beautiful day! The spring is running past our house, it was cooler today, which is always a nice change in August, the boys are cute, and the lawn is mowed. What more could I ask for? Here are a few picts of the kids being U.S. Marshals. Thought you might like to see how big they are getting.

feathwers

I ordered feathers for a dress and they came twisted up like flowers. This is actually yardage of feather trim. They were so beautiful out of the shipping box, I had to take a picture. Of course the photo doesn't do it justice, but I will post anyway.

By the way, one of my brides was published on a wedding blog. If you want, you should check it out. It is www.snippetandink.blogspot.com. It is a few days back. Just look for the vintage carnival theme. The boys and I were lucky enough to go to this wedding. They now will feel all weddings should be like this one... tailor maid for two cute boys. They were in heaven and so were all of the adults. It couldn't have been a more beautiful wedding! Hayley Anderson was the bride. She has done a lot of my images on my web site. She is a talented photographer and evidently a gifted wedding planner as well.

That's what I'm talking about!

So for a diversion and because the timing is right, we are making a few changes to our rental home. I say a few changes, because, in my mind, that is all it is. I realize now that others view the project as a big one. I am starting to believe it myself. Have I told you how much fun I am having? Well, this stuff is great! I have been getting sub contractors out to dig around the foundation, cut window openings through the foundation, having windows installed through out the house, and getting Questar gas to move the meter. This is just scratching the surface.

My dad has been very hard at work redoing the bathroom. He has fixed the floor by putting up sister joists next to the old ones. He is also the electrician and plumber for the site. I call him the "enabler" which is to say, he is the only reason I feel empowered enough to do any of this. Yes, I know it, I am lucky! It has been great to work with him. Anyone who knows me knows there is nothing like a good project with my dad. After he is through with the bones of the bathroom I get to learn how to tile. I know it takes him longer to get things done when I am around, because I am wanting in on it all and am using the opportunity to see how the plumbing works and such.

So I thought I would share a few photos with you before I get deep into sewing wedding dresses again. I took 1.5 week break to start on this house. After two dresses, I will get to work on it again.

By explanation, the first photo is the before shot of part of the house. The rest are various shots of the work in progress. I have no after shots, that will be about a month in coming.