The Kitchen Table

The DIY projects! I just can't stop. And I can't stop posting about them.

Our kitchen table is an old wooden hand-me-down we received when we were first married. It looked pretty dingy so when we moved to North Carolina, I decided to repaint it.

I did an AWFUL job. I had no idea there were certain techniques to employ when painting furniture, so I did pretty much everything wrong. Thick, sloppy coats, bubbles everywhere, impossible to wipe off because the polycrylic was too thin, and on top of it all, I chose the color white.
Maybe there are families out there who can handle a white kitchen table, but mine just looked like a huge mess all. the. time.

Then along came Pinterest with it's wealth of DIY knowledge and I was eager to correct my mistakes:

Ta-Da!
The worst part was the sanding. I thought it would be super quick but I was wrong. (Note - I say this line before all of my projects.)

I did such a bad job on the last go-round that the paint peeled up nice and easily. That part only took me about 20 minutes and that's when I decided to try and get back to bare wood so I could stain the top instead of repainting it.

Of course there was still the semi-decent paint job underneath mine that I had to take care of (plus some cool designs I didn't know were there!) That's what took forever to remove.
Every day for two weeks I told Seth, "I think I just have one more day of sanding and then I can move on." Two weeks. Sanding and sanding and sanding and sanding and sanding.

Anyway, once I finally finished ALL THE SANDING, I stained the top and repainted the bottom. Then I put ten coats of polycrylic on it.
Yes. TEN. I am not taking chances this time around.

I let it cure for three days and it's maiden voyage was T's Birthday Party so I was real real nervous, but it seems to have held up well in the month since then
Now I just have to repaint our kitchen chairs. (Yellow maybe?) I am procrastinating this part because it is too humid out to paint. (That's what I tell everyone. The real reason is that if I have to touch sandpaper again I will shrivel up and die.) They unfortunately suffered the same bad paint job the table did, but luckily I was lazy lazy and only did two.
We'll see how long it takes before I update you on the finished chairs....but it probably will not be any time soon.

Throwback Thursday

Last week when my mom was visiting she looked through all the pictures on my phone and asked commanded me to put some on the blog that I hadn't before.
And I am an obedient daughter.

Ok, actually it was only this one video she wanted. H was just learning to walk (clearly).
But I found some other pictures I haven't posted before and as a mother it is my obligation to talk incessantly about my children.

March 2014. H was only two months old!

The matching poses. I can't even handle it.

Last summer. T was two, H was 6 months.

Why aren't they little and chubby anymore?

January. H playing in our desk. (We had just gotten it and I was cleaning out the drawers.)

 February.

The girls got into my church bag and found the stickers.

And finally, a little snippet of H's signature dance move, the shoulder shimmy. This happens whenever she hears music, no matter what she is in the middle of. I love it.

Potato Salad

One night I went to bed early to read. I had been laying there for a while when Seth suddenly walked in.  He gave me a serious look and then told me the following story:
"When I was a child there were three times that when I was eating potato salad I stepped on something sharp, and so for many years I wouldn't eat potato salad."
He paused, and when my only response was to stare at him, he said with a flourish:
"The end."
Then he walked out, shutting the door behind him.

He informed me later that he was going to follow up with the explanation for this bit of randomness, but after he finished the story he decided that was good enough.
I'm inclined to agree with him.

And according to my Dad I am not allowed to post something without pictures of the girls, so here you go:

You're welcome.

Grandma Visits

My mom flew out to visit us this week. Unfortunately, she had the stomach flu, which meant she spent the first night here throwing up.

So it's a tradition now. No one in my family is allowed to visit each other without vomiting upon arrival. Yay for family traditions!

I guess T was feeling left out so she also decided to get the stomach flu and threw up the night of her birthday. A great present.

Luckily, everyone was better by Monday night so we were able to spend the rest of the week doing lots of fun and exciting things.

Just kidding. We did our usual thing of being super lazy. But it was more fun with Grandma here! Especially because she brought her iPad.

We did manage to get up to Raleigh to visit Marbles Kids Museum there. The girls had a great time.

We also went to the library and to music class and did some birthday present shopping.

I am anticipating a long, long week ahead of me without Grandma around. We miss you!

Happy Birthday T! (Yesterday)

Yesterday my oldest child turned three. Eeek!

Birth

One

Two

Three

She celebrated by getting sick. (Hence the late post.) Luckily we'd had the party the day before.

Now as you all know, I am a trendy and pinteresting person, so I found a survey on Pinterest to give to T and these are the results:

If you don't want to watch the video I wrote out her answers below. This option will probably appeal to everyone but her grandparents, but skipping it means you will not get to watch her blow spit bubbles, so.... weigh the pros and cons carefully:

1. What is your favorite color? Yellow
2. What is your favorite toy? Spin and Glow Gear Set (a new present - but really it's her Disney Princess castle)
3. What is your favorite fruit? Banana
4. What is your favorite TV show? Clifford the Big Red Dog
5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Pizza
6. What is your favorite outfit? Cupcake Shirt
7. What is your favorite game? Spin and Glow Gear Set
8. What is your favorite snack? Fruit Snacks
9. What is your favorite animal? Sheep
10. What is your favorite song? Frozen soundtrack
11. What is your favorite book? The Animal Book
12. Who is your best friend? Hannah and Anson
*13. What is your favorite school subject? Tracing
14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Play Hide and Seek
15. What is your favorite drink? Kool-Aid
16. What is your favorite holiday? The Fourth of July
17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Dolly and Blanket
18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Pizza
19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? Cake
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? A Fairy

*This was originally "What is your favorite cereal?" and I changed it because I didn't need multiple questions about breakfast. Also, can you tell we had pizza for dinner the night I filmed this interview?

T, you are my oldest child and therefore my guinea pig when it comes to my parenting techniques and I must say, you bear the hardship with grace.
You are intelligent and sweet and thoughtful and I love love love you. Happy Birthday!

Genetics

Usually when I send T to bed she stays up for a while and reads books to herself.

I guess one night she decided to engage in other activities:

So in case you were wondering who T takes after, the answer is ME ME ME.

So proud of my little organizing child.

Celebrations

Just a post to say, Happy Canada Day!

Just kidding. It's Seth's birthday.
I wasn't sure what I was going to write about, but then Seth got a lovely card in the mail from his mother.

Very appropriate for a 29-year old, yes?

"Dear Seth, Since you criticized my ripped piece of paper last year, I got you a dorky card this year. Feel better? I hope now you feel like I love you enough to send you a birthday card. Love, your mom.
P.S. I actually liked the ripped piece of paper better."

Yes, she did send him a ripped-off piece of paper with "Happy Birthday" scrawled on it along with his birthday money last year. (It is for these reasons that I love my mother-in-law.)
And so, since I can't top the birthday card, I'm not even going to try.

Happy Birthday Seth! We love you!