End of Summer- How'd I do?

So in early May I outlined a few goals for my summer.  Although the weather is still as hot as ever (an probably not even the hottest it will get) my summer is quickly coming to a close.  In-service starts on Monday, so I am enjoying the last few days I have as a stay at home mommy.  So the question is- how did I do with my goals this summer?

1. Learning to Sew-  I did, in fact learn the basics of sewing.  I made three pillowcase dresses (one of which I actually let Catie Grace wear in public) and embellished several burp cloths.  I absolutely love sewing things for my Catie Grace and I hope I continue to find time to do this throughout the school year.  I will be posting pictures of some of my creations as soon as I figure out where my picture files are on my computer (thank you Mac operating system update).

2. Learning to Tie Bows-  I did learn to tie bows! This was probably one of my favorite things I did this summer.  My sister taught me how to tie bows and I absolutely love it; I just wish I had more time to tie them.  I did come across a stash of ribbon and have enjoyed having a million different colors of ribbon to make bows with.  Again.. I have pictures to post.... sigh.

3. Making Catie Grace's Food-  I did continue to make Catie Grace's food this summer.  I am planning on doing an entire post about it (at the request of my friend Shelby).  Let me forewarn you- there is nothing super special about what I do.  It's basically blended food and water... oh wait, did I ruin the surprise of my homemade food post? :)

4. Couponing- Oh lordy.  Yes, I did the couponing thing.  I made a binder with dividers.  I cut coupons. I looked for store sales.  I HATED it.  Truly.  I just can't think of anything more tedious.  It was a LOT of work with not much pay off.  As I stated in an earlier update about this subject, I think the thing I can take away from all of my time studying the art of couponing is buying things when they are on sale.  We already buy pretty much everything as cheaply as possible, so looking for things on sale helps that without driving me nuts.  R.I.P. couponing binder and Sundays spent fretting about the grocery list.  You will not be missed.

5. Blogging- Well.. I can't say I did an awesome job at blogging this summer, but I wasn't terrible!  Yes, I could have updated more often, but I seriously haven't been able to post pictures in about a month because of my lack of technical skills.  I will try to blog at least once a week once school starts.  Promise ;)

6. Working Blair's monogramming machine :)- Well, though I would have LOVED to have done this, I was mostly kidding.  I didn't get a chance to monogram anything, but I did get to spend some fun time with Blair at Jenn & Stefan's wedding this summer.  That's better than monogramming any day!

So I think I did a pretty good job on my goals for the summer.  Along with the actual goals I had, here are some other things I did this summer-

• I got a job!  Yay! In case you missed it, I will be teaching 7th grade Language Arts at Brown Middle School in just a few short days.  Definitely an important part of my summer!
• I set up my classroom.  I'm very excited about it and will be posting pictures soon.  It took me hours upon hours to paint, craft, and organize my classroom. 
• I attended a week long workshop that basically taught me a totally new way to teach English to my students this fall.  I'm just praying I make it through the first year :)
• I sold a bunch of junk on Ebay and made a little cash.
• I took baby girl to the beach for the first time and had a wonderfully relaxing family vacation!
• I met my sweet baby nieces and got to hang out with the cutest, craziest little girl ever.  I really miss Sloane, Lydia, and Blythe- especially since they will be moving from Mississippi to New York this fall. :(
• I was honored to not only be in Jenn and Stefan's wedding, but also to coordinate it.  Everything went really well and I think the bride and groom were very happy!
• I read a bunch of books- some of them were for my students and some were choices for me.  Either way, I love reading!
• I got to spend time with my friends and family this summer- which is absolutely priceless!

Most importantly, I spent a LOT of quality time with my sweet Catie Grace.  I am so incredibly lucky to have had so much time with her this summer.  She is at an absolutely adorable age and we had the best time together.  It makes me so sad to think about going back to work without her, but I know how lucky I was to have these three months.

How has your summer been so far?