Catch Up

That's all I seem to be doing lately!  So, I thought I would catch you up on all that has been going on around here! 

 In April, we  had our Young Women's fundraiser for camp.  We combined with the Poplar Creek Ward and hosted a spaghetti dinner and dessert auction.  It was a lot of hard work but we earned enough to send every girl who worked at the dinner to camp.  These are part of the center pieces that we made. 

We hot glued twine around various jars.

 My friend, Amanda, came up with the idea.  If you want a tutorial, she posted one on her blog at simplyhomemade.blogspot.com.  She's fabulous like that.  Even if you don't want a tutorial, you should browse her blog.  It's pretty awesome!

 John's preschool had their annual pancake breakfast fundraiser the week before the YW's spaghetti dinner.  Cardi and I helped by serving drinks.  John also had his spring fling sing along.  He only picked his nose once during the performance.

The combined orchestras for the Robertsville and Jefferson Middle Schools attended the Dollywood Competition on May 5th.  I finally got the video downloaded and will post it next week.  Both the 5th grade and 6th grade orchestras won first place!

 After the concert, we headed to Dollywood, where I got to chaperone this motley crew.  It was lots of fun!

 The Young Men hosted a rummage sale to raise money for camp, so I picked up this bookcase.  I've cleaned it several times using, baking soda, vinegar, and all sorts of different cleaners to get the cigarette and pet smell out.  But no such luck!

 So, I sweet talked neighbor Joe into lopping off the top.  I'm going to turn it into a garden potting station.  The part in the middle pulls out into a desk and will be a perfect work space for putting potting soil in containers. 

This is what it looks like with the top off and painted.  I just need to get some new hardware and move it to the backyard.

 In addition to painting the diningroom, master bathroom, sunroom, livingroom, laundry room, and most of the kitchen, I've been painting furniture.  I painted the computer armoire a "bear rug" color by Behr.  I also painted the white flower bench in front of it.

 I've been looking for a spice rack for the kitchen.  So, I picked this little shelving unit up at Goodwill.

 I painted it white and it fits perfectly under the cabinet by the stove and as an added plus holds all our spices!

 James replaced the vanity in the kid's bathroom.   Probably because I lugged it  back with me from Home Depot and said in my sweetest voice, "Look what I found for only $35.  I don't think it can be returned." 

  It took the better part of the morning to get it done because apparently when you replace the vanity it doesn't come with a faucet, or new pipes.  But it does come with lots of gratitude from your wife and a sense of accomplishment.  Now, if we can just figure out what to do with the floor...

 Meredith and I were browsing around the Salvation Army  a couple of weeks ago and we found this chair.  She thinks it's her chair and I'm okay with that as long as she doesn't mind that I plan to sand it and paint it in a couple of weeks.

 While we were figuring out what we want to do with the chair, Meredith helped me distress the picture frame above the fireplace.  I found it stashed in the hallway clsoset when we moved in a couple of years ago abandoned by the previous tenants.  It was an unattractive gold color that I painted leather brown a year or so ago.  I was going to repaint it but decided to take a fork and just scrape away some of the brown so a little of the gold showed through.  That satisfied my need for a change and Meredith's need to destroy something.

 I finally got around to making a cubby hole area for the kids backpacks...I decided to keep it simple and free by laying an old bookcase on it's side.  It's sitting on a desk we have not been using but this morning I decided to move the desk into the girl's bedroom so it's now sitting on an old coffee table which works out better because the smaller kids can reach it and the coffee table has to large drawers in which I can store scrap paper for coloring.  I just need to get around to painting the table this summer.  As an added bonus, I also went through the craft closet and organized everything into bins, freeing up much needed storage space.

 I painted the diningroom white, which really brightens up the whole room.  I love how bright and happy it is!  The previous color was a linen white which I hated.

In January, neighbor Carolyn offered us this old China cabinet.  I snatched it up in a heart beat. 

And then I painted it an expresso bean color and I couldn't be more happy.  (Unless James would agree to let me paint it white...so much potential).

In my excitement of painting the China cabinet, I decided to  paint the sides and edges of the livingroom bookcase with the same "bear rug" paint I used on the computer armoire.  It looks a lot better in person. I'm glad I didn't paint the whole bookcase the same color.  There is such a thing as having too much of the same thing.

 These old steps have been sitting in the basement for the last 2 years.  I've been itching to do something with them.    The other day, I was looking at kid's bedroom furniture on line and knew exactly what to do with them.

 We lost the ladder to the girls bunkbed during the move from Montana.  The steps fit perfectly at the end of the bunkbeds!  I just need to sand them and paint them which is on my to do list in the next 2 weeks.

 Last week, after we picked up Bella from the Children's Museum, we picked up a couple of pizzas and had a picnic in the back yard.  Then we all surrepticiously one by one ended up at neighbor Brenda and Joe's where Joe and I  sat on the back porch and watched the kids run around.

 This past Saturday, Glenwood had its annual Spring Picnic and Family Fitness Day.  So, we loaded up the family for a couple hours of fun!  The kids and I came home and watched a movie for quiet time, while James spent a couple of hours at a friend's house playing some board game.

 Later that day, I went to a baby shower for 2 of my friends who are both having girls.  There was lots of good food and fun, and maybe

 some dancing with the Wii.  Afterwards, a group of went to see "What to Expect When Expecting."  Hilarious!

 I made this photo collage in the breakfast nook area.  It's another one of those things that looks much better in person.  I love that we have pictures of our ancestors on the wall to spark stories and discussions.

 I moved this armoire from the boys bedroom into the diningroom and added a shelf from an old towel tower that broke for some height.  The drawers are falling apart but the inside is perfect for a home office area and all those pesky papers the kids bring home from school.

 This is another project that needs to be finished in the breakfast nook area.  I had an old cubbyhole shelving unit from Walmart we weren't using.  I combined it with a a small table to make an area to house dishes.  I can't decide whether to paint it or place mirrors in the unit to make the room seem a little bigger.  Sigh.  Decisions, decisions.

 On Tuesday, Bella had her end of the year celebration  for the Children's Museum's After School Program.  She received lots of awards including one that voted her "Most likely to become a Mad Scientist and Cure Some Really Cool Disease."  I think that is dead on.

 See that really cool buffet table?  That's an old dresser we got from neighbor Brenda's sister.  James sanded it for me and I painted it and added new hardware.  It's probably my favorite project.

 Of course, I have this new project too.  It's an old trunk that my friend, Amanda, was getting ready to take to Goodwill.  I pulled our coffee table out of the livingroom and put the trunk in front of the couch.  Because, I have always wanted a trunk for my very own.  I'm not sure what color I will paint it or maybe we will modge  podge a map on it. 

Amanada had picked this old trunk up for a project she was working on.  She was going to turn the trunk on it's side and make it into a little closet to house all her kids dress up clothes.  She was going to use finials  http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/catalog/servlet/Search?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&keyword=finials&Ns=None&Ntpr=1&Ntpc=1&selectedCatgry=SEARCH+ALL   for feet.  The trunk is already a little tall for the current couch so I didn't want to use finials on it but I like the idea so I used it on the tv stand below and turned it into a bench in the entryway.  I added a coat rack above it.  I still need to paint the finials but I like how it turned out.  Thanks for the idea, Amanda!

I also changed this dresser from this

To this.  It still needs another coat of paint.  I'll add that to my to do list.

 This is my current project.  I decided to switch the kids bedrooms.  I did manage to move the bunkbeds and switch out the curtains before I lost steam.

 And by steam, I mean got really sick.  So, exhausted I couldn't dial a phone or function at all.  I would sleep for 12 or more hours a day and still be run down.  On days that I thought I was better, I would do something simple like take dishes off the table and then be exhausted for the rest of the day.  I'm not sure if it was just a virus or something more serious but just to be sure, my doctor's office is running some blood tests.  The lab technician took so many vials of blood that I wanted to say "I'm just getting blood work done, not donating blood."  But, it would have been rude and required effort. 

 And on Tuesday, James and I celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary.  Yep!  He's still got it!

 And sometime during the last month, we showed Cardi how to mow the yard.  She says she's still recovering from it!

 In hindsight, we probably should of made it more clear that she should go up and down in straight lines.

 On one particularly relaxing day, we made it to the park with our friend, Heidi, where Meredith tried to follow a complete stranger and his dog home.  I'm thinking less projects and more kid time is in order.

 But, by far the best thing we did in the last month or so, was getting to spend time with these two.

Without a doubt, Jen, is one of my most favorite people in the world.  She is sweet and laid back and always cheerful.  She and sweet Elyse flew all the way from Utah  (leaving 3 boys and her husband to fend for themselves) to spend time with us despite it being the end of the school year when everything is crazy and in full swing.  It was like having a breath of fresh air.