A True Labor of Love

When I tell you that my husband really loves me I mean it.  Besides the obvious fact that I'm the best wife on the planet (ha, ha), he dedicated his entire week off to my projects.  Of course it's a project I've wanted to do for YEARS.   Yes, I said years!

The story goes like this:  I got a free dresser from a fabulous friend to use as a buffet in our dining room.   Let me rephrase that.  A dresser I was going to turn into a buffet for the dining room that would hold all our homeschool junk.  However, it was ugly.  I mean U-G-L-Y!!!!  But, it had huge potential.  I had a vision for this ugly furniture item and needed the Hubs' help. 

That's not it.  If we were going to make the dresser turned buffet pretty, we had to refinish the dining room table that was also very U-G-L-Y.   If you've visited my house you know the one.  The one I have to keep because it was a wedding gift from the Hubs' grandparents.

So, this is where the labor of love comes in.  It took us an entire week to complete the project and to say we worked on it everyday almost all day would be putting it mildly.  And while I'm at it, I should admit the Hubs did most of the work while I directed the vision.

I'm not the best photographer, and I forgot to take a before picture.  So, here's an old picture of the table that was a pine color.  The top was destroyed and I'm pretty sure you could read some of Chloe's grammar papers as they were literally inscribed on the table top.

ugly pine, so not my style any more

 And here is the after:

 Ahhh, beautiful, creamy white with distressed edges and new fabric on the seats.

pretty fabric from Hobby Lobby...Clearance!

distressing on the edges...like the sideways shot?

 We stained the top using Jacobean Minwax stain and it is beautiful!  Dark, rich, with some wood tones shining through.  The pictures don't reveal the true beauty.

 The whole processs was  a true nightmare.  The top had to be stripped and luckily my father in law assisted the Hubs with this process.

Then we painted and the paint went on horrible.  So, it had to be sanded and painted, sanded and painted. 

Finally, we distressed and tried to glaze.  Yeah, well, this is where the project failed!  The glaze did not work as suggested.  Fail, Fail, Fail!!!!  I was not happy!  So, we sanded, stained the edges, painted again and then sanded. This time we used a sprayer.  Duh, had we done that first, we wouldn't have wasted 2 days!  erg!  It was not fun.  I determined during the process that those bloggers that love refinishing furniture are crazy!  It was not fun, it was not enjoyable and I hated the whole process! 

That being said, I love, love, love the final product!  It's refreshing, clean and crisp.  And, I am begging the Hubs to redo our outdated entertainment center.  Basically he laughed, but I'm thinking maybe this summer he may be up for it.  Just maybe, he'll have forgotten about how much work it was!

Meet Dasher

Right in the middle of getting prepared for Christmas the girls and Hub came home with this cute little guy:

This is Dasher...our new pet turtle which currently resides on my dining room table.  How in the world we ended up with him is still a blur.  You see, the girls had a playdate with new friends (sisters) and Mrs. A offered them a free turtle.  I made the mistake of saying ask Dad when he picks you up, and well, the rest I'm sure you can figure out.

The deal was they pay for the tank and supplies, agree to take care of him, and they could have him.  The girls agreed and now we just pray he starts to eat and doesn't end up in turtle heaven!

Visting Florida

This year we enjoyed Thanksgiving in sunny Florida. This is our 6th holiday season away from the home I grew up in and felt it was time to make the drive to see my side of the family and my dear friends.  And my mother celebrated a BIG birthday on the 26th....even more of a reason to visit.

It had been quite awhile since I was in the same room with all of my siblings.  I truly enjoyed getting to spend time with my brothers, sister, grandparents and of course my parents.

Of course one does not look like the others!  I am the only one of the 4 that was blessed with the "short" gene.  Lucky me!  We range in age from 34 to 18.  Crazy right?

My sweet neice and Rylie hiding under the dining room table.  Isn't she the cutest 3 year old ever?

Mom, and the 3 grand-daughters blowing out candles.

Sweet cousins!

My sweet grandmother and my sister in law.  Love these women.

My father...what can I say?  He is one of a kind...not sure why he's holding a drying rack, but at least it made him hold still for a picture.  Proof he was there!

Gingerbread House

Each year we construct and decorate a gingerbread house!  I think by the time we finish, we're all sick to our stomach from all the icing and candy we ate along the process.  Here is this year's product:

Christmas 2011

I sure hope you enjoyed Christmas!  We did immensely!  As we celebrated the birth of our savior, we enjoyed spending family time together.  No cleaning, very little cooking, and all day in our jammies.  What could be better?
 

our tradition is to place  baby Jesus in the manger prior to opening gifts.  This year, Rylie got to do the honors!

after all the meticulous wrapping and bows, this is what we ended up with

Yes, I did decorate

Yes, I did decorate for Christmas and I just had to prove it.

In fact, it is the only holiday I decorate for and this year I enjoyed it quite immensely.  Not that I do much...just a tree, some garland and a few outside things.  But, I love it!

The Hubs humored me as I played Christmas music, drug out all the boxes, and got busy decorating before Thanksgiving.  Yes, before Thanksgiving. Our tradition is to deck the halls Thanksgiving morning, but because we drove to Florida to be with family, that wasn't possible.  So, 35 days before Christmas, we started early.  And yes, I'm just now posting this AFTER Christmas!  O'well, better late than never!

thats safe, right?

every girl needs a pink tree, right?

Yes, I am still alive!

For those of you who actually read my little blog and wondered if I'd ever come back and post, well, yes I will.  Someday.  Life has been a whirlwind.  Like every other momma out there, I've been busy, busy, busy!

Exactly what I have I been doing?  Welp, in case you care here's my list:

2 class projects due for Chloe within a week...thank you teachers

what seemed like a bazillion tests to help the girls study for....some we did well on, some not so well

planned a class party in 1 week for 43 kids....thank you to my dear friends who rescued me

laundry, cleaning, laundry, and cleaning

finished decorating for Christmas

attempted to Christmas shop...which by the way is extremely difficult when you are with children 7 days a week :)

in addition to my shopping, I purchased and wrapped gifts 7 sweet children I've never met as part of our Giving Tree at church....that was fun!

and well, lots more that I can't think of.

So, I promise to post some exciting stuff soon.  Like pictures of my decorations (well, maybe that's not exciting), Thanksgiving with my FL family, all the sweet gifts I wrapped for a needy family, cookie decorating, more ELF messes, etc.  So, don't worry Mom, I will get something up here soon!