Thursday, August 25, 2011

Beachy Table

I realize that most of you don't come here to see random items of furniture I have desecrated, so I will keep this short and sweet.

I bought $5 antique drop leaf table at garage sale.


Then I completely destroyed my dining room for a few days (I do not work fast).


And ended up with this.


Which I then hauled outside to take pictures.

Yeah, because my dining room was still destroyed.

However, this destruction ended up being ultimately very productive, since it pushed me over the edge of sanity and threw me into an obsessive compulsive daylong cleaning/organizing frenzy. It was one of those days where my children did nothing but watch videos and eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and no piece of furniture remained in it's original position, even if it had 400 lbs worth of books in it or 400 lbs. worth of toys underneath it. Jessie wasn't sure if he'd entered the right house when he got home in the wee hours of the morning after that night. He was super mad that I'd moved all that furniture by myself, in a "tickling will be your punishment" kind of way.

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

He's the kind of guy...

you can ask to make a pinata (birthday cake, halloween costume, table centrepiece, or what-have-you) 
and worry no more about it.


He can be equally as at home with a hot glue gun or a piping kit as he is with
power tools or a lawn mower.


The only thing I have to worry about is being outshone creatively.


He's fun.






Tuesday, August 23, 2011

a birthday girl













Happy Birthday Ingrid.

You have been an awesome two year old.

I know you'll make three sweet too.





Sunday, August 21, 2011

here's hoping

I was hurriedly serving supper when I glanced over at Emeth to see him absolutely decimating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. "WHO GAVE HIM A SANDWICH?!" I demand. "Ingrid, did you give him your sandwich?" Poor Ingrid tearfully answers "No, you did."

I have no recollection of this, but I don't doubt it. There was nothing to do but pry the sodden remains out of Emeth's fingers (he was going to town) and give Ingrid another sandwich.

Here's hoping it won't give him a peanut allergy.

Thursday, August 18, 2011

amen *bum-bum*

I have to tell you, Ingrid is the cutest, sweetest, most sincere little sayer of bedtime prayers I have ever witnessed. Every night I listen to her and my stomach goes all in knots because she's so adorable.
Lately (for reasons unknown to me) she has been finishing off her prayers with a hurried, "...in Jesus name, amen*bum-bum*" She thinks it's hilarious. I can tell she gets a little rushed towards the end because she just can't wait to tack that *bum-bum* (kind of like a tuba accompaniment to her prayer) on the end. Then she looks up at me with her silly grin and wrinkled little nose and says "I said amen-bum-bum" then delighted giggles and hugging herself. Tonight I said to her "Ingrid, you are so silly!" She giggled and answered, "Yeah, Jesus thinks I'm so silly!" She seemed really pleased by that idea.
I wish I could go wake her up and squeeze her again right now. :)

Ye Olde Facebook Statuses


It seems that most bouts of happy, carefree laughter in this house eventually end with a loud thud, followed by wails. I wish they could play without hurting themselves :(

explains for the umpteenth time that "ellemenno" is not a single letter of the English alphabet.

Emeth loves pulling the moss out of all the artificial plants in the house (and eating it). I do not share his enthusiasm for this activity.

"Mama, I think you're beautiful with a towel on your head." Ingrid's flattery knows no limits.

has given up on her last 40 winks. It's too hard when my face is being clawed and my hair is being pulled by an exuberantly affectionate 7month old. It's a good thing he's cute.

"Re-diclious" - one of Theia's favorite words, almost always said with palms held up and an all-knowing upward roll of the eyes. Cracks me up every time.

The homeschooling moment of the day goes to Eliza for this little tidbit of anti-knowledge: "The 'A' says 'buh', as in 'Dog'".

Woke up early this morning to Theia knocking on our door: "Daddy, I just coughed a little, so I think I might have a fever or something." (Ten minutes later) "Do you think you'll want to be getting up soon?"

Ingrid: "Mama, I think you're beautiful because I like that skirt you're wearing."
(can you tell that Ingrid keeps me buttered up pretty good?)

Sometimes I feel like I am actually dumber than I was as an 18 year old. I distinctly remember feeling smarter back then.

Theia: "Mommy, I reeeally want to watch a movie - just to give you some peace!"
(I didn't buy it)

"Here Mom, here's a thousand dollars for you" says Eliza as she hands me 20 cents in change.

Babies are such a nice shape to hold.

Usually I don't encourage playing with food, but when Eliza held up her noodle and said "Mom! Look what letter I made with my spaghetti!" I was proud.

Theia must really enjoy hearing me say the same thing six different ways.

When jessie returned from his errand this morning, Eliza excitedly explained to him that mommy caught some "tater tots", and we are going to watch them turn into frogs!

Ingrid calls me anxiously from across the room: "Mom! M-o-om! I think I'm scared!" Then the thunder crashed and removed all doubt.

Theia to Eliza: "Oh, don't worry Eliza. You are NEVER going to get old; not until you're like, fifty-five."

Ingrid: (politely) "Mommy, there's some peanut butter on my face, and I couldn't lick it off with my tongue. Can you wipe it off for me?"

Eliza: "Why didn't you name me Rudolph? Was it because I didn't have a shiny nose?"

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Full Circle

It always tugs at my heart a little when I have to pack away clothes that the girls have outgrown, but especially if it is something I have seen often on all three of them. It is such a tangible reminder that they are growing so fast. I love my children at every age, more than ever, but I still miss the stages that have already passed.

So many pleasant memories are associated in my mind with this little dress. Theia received it as a birthday present from Uncle Pat and Aunt Nadya on her second birthday.

It has been a favorite with all three girls.

(Theia on our Spring Lake babymoon, shortly after Ingrid's birth)

(Eliza by the open window in January 2009, the first morning of our new life in Florida)

(Ingrid opening presents on her second birthday)

Ingrid wore it for the last time a few days ago. I started to put it on a hanger, then suddenly recalled how short it had been on her, and how the snaps had gaped apart because it was tight around her chest when I had put it on her. You can't blame me for shedding a few tears when I took it off the hanger and instead folded it up to send along to my niece. I look forward to seeing it on Rebecca next. It's one of those dresses that makes sweet little girls even sweeter.

Saturday, August 13, 2011

"down hair"

Everyone dreams of having hair like this, right?

Everyone except for those who come by it naturally, that is.

I think Theia wasn't even three years old when she began saying she wished she could have "down" hair, like Eliza and her cousin Josie. I actually wasn't really surprised. Since I grew up with a curly-haired sister, I've heard ALL the reasons why curly hair is the worst thing that could ever happen to a girl MANY times. Funny how she always manages to look amazing in spite of this sad trial of hers. (well, almost always ;)

We always affirm the girls and tell them they are beautiful just how God made them. And I think Theia realizes that people think her hair is special, so she is resigned. But today I decided to have a little girl time with her and Eliza while Ingrid was napping, and Theia requested that I "give her down hair". I have never tried to straighten Theia's hair before, and I didn't officially time it, but I think it took close to an hour.

The results are below. I think it looks more "downy" than "down". Once we went outside, the humidity did it's work, and by bedtime she had soft ringlets. I was relieved when she said she didn't want to do it again soon. An hour is a long time for a 5 year old to sit still!








Friday, August 12, 2011

Take a gander

at my most recent project.


 Jessie picked this up for me at a neighbor's estate sale a few weeks ago. It looked like this before.


The sweet old lady who owned it had done a very drippy paint job on it probably 40 years ago. She told me she bought this furniture a few years before she was married (late 1940's). I would have liked to take home the whole set, but I had neither the room, nor the budget for it that day.

Since it's a full size headboard, and that size of bed is not used often anymore, I wanted to refinish it with an alternative use in mind. I think pretty headboards make great backdrops for decorating.

Could not wait to cover up that goopy copper paint on the floral detail.
I finished it pretty quickly (for me) once I actually dragged it out and got busy. I did change direction a few times in the process, but I'm pretty happy with the end result.



I originally painted the broad section a mint green, but it looked too crisp after I had antiqued the trim, so I brushed this blue over it, letting the green show through a bit.
 

Then I had fun playing with it on top of my piano for a little photoshoot.




Not exactly BHG, but you get the idea.