Summer's Off to a Great Start!

I'm joining Stephanie Lynn today for Tuesday's Ten...Ten things that you want to share, but that wouldn't fill up a whole post...so here goes!

{ONE}
Cooper's been taking swimming lessons every summer since he was 18 months and Riley started a few weeks ago. I think that water safety is one of the most important things you can ever teach your children and I know that the younger they are the less their fear of the water so I made that a priority. They have never worn floaties either. I am blown away by how quickly they have learned. Cooper, at just three and a half, can already jump in and swim to the steps without help. At just two and a half, Riley, who had never been in a swimming pool up until several months ago, has had only four lessons and is already learning to kick and loves jumping in to me. She tries to swim on her own so we really have to watch her! I have a suspicion she will be my little daredevil! She's fearless, this one!

{TWO}
Summer preschool started this week! Cooper's already used to school, but it was Riley's first time in a real classroom setting. I think she missed me...I can't be sure because she ran in without even saying goodbye!!

{THREE}
I am almost finished with Cooper's nautical/pirate room. Here's a sneak peek. I just finished updating his lamp...what do you think?

{FOUR}
Speaking of Cooper's room, this little chest has been sitting in my office for about a year now. In it's previous life, it was a comments box that was quite the source of controversy, so the staff was pleased it was getting a new home. I was pleased that it was free!

There had been a lot of little wood rainbows and hearts and letters glued on so I took a butter knife and pried all of those off. It had been given a crackle finish, so I had to sand quite a bit to get most of that off, as well as all of the glue residue. For such a small piece it sure took a long time!

I didn't want to take the time to sand it all the way down to the wood, so I decided to paint it black. I used acrylic paints from my stash. I sat back and tried to figure out what to do next. Looking through my paints again, I pulled out the gold and brushed it on heavily and then wiped it off. It left just enough gold behind to make it sparkle.

Cooper loves his treasure chest but says it's not like Jake & the Neverland Pirates because "where's the money?"

{FIVE}
I just finished up a couple of new blog designs and since I haven't really been sharing them here, I thought I'd show you a few of my latest designs:

Thanks to the recent increase in business for Simply Klassic Design, I've been able to take Fridays off for the summer and only work four days a week. Last week was the first of my four day weeks, and I think I may keep my schedule this way forever! I am so grateful for the wonderful people in blogland who have put their trust in me to create a unique blog design that captures who they truly are.

Are you interested in a revamping your blog? I'm currently taking orders for August. Packages start at just $40. Send me an email and let's talk about your blog design!

{SIX}

Have I mention that I'm in total makeover mode? I am not even finished with Cooper's room makeover and last night I walked in the kitchen and started making mental notes of all the things I'm going to do in there. It's a sickness, really. Always learning, I've discovered that the best way to make my home "mine" is to work room by room from start to finish. When I try to just do small changes, it never seems to work out. Follow me on Pinterest to see what I'm itching to do to my kitchen!

{SEVEN}

I've been so busy working on my room makeovers in preparation for Riley's baptism & adoption party at the end of July, that I've simply put aside planning for the actual party! I need to get on that!

I've decided that my official flowers for the party are these:

Source: weheartit.com via QuaintlyAmusing on Pinterest

Thanks to my good friend, Adriana for "pinning" these!!

{EIGHT}

Since I recently was given a Canon 30D, I need to start really learning how to use it. I love taking pictures, both of my children and of inanimate objects, but I really need to start learning how to use the settings on the camera. I don't shoot in auto, but in program mode and I know how to set the ISO and a little about aperture, but there's much that I don't know. Any suggestions for a good tutorial or website?

{NINE} 

When you first open my blog, you may notice I've turned the music back on. The first song playing is one of my absolute favorite songs right now. I'm thinking about turning the music off though, and just letting you choose to play if you're interested in what I'm listening to. What are your thoughts? Is it annoying or do you like the music?

{TEN}
I had a hard time coming up with TEN things to share...maybe next time I'll just share what comes to mind, and not worry about the number!

I hope you enjoyed catching up on what's going on with the Simply Klassic family. I'm off to check out what else is happening over at Under the Table and Dreaming.

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