Valentine Party Time!

Happy Valentine's Day!  Since Gavin doesn't have school on Thursdays, they celebrated yesterday with a party and boy was he excited!  He got his Valentine cards all ready, courtesy of his oh-so-talented Aunt Megan...

Riley and I joined him for the party, and let's just say, she's getting really comfortable in his class!  If only I could walk her into the child care at the fitness center and have her feel as comfortable.

The kids all delivered their cards to their classmates...I loved watching Gavin find his friends' names on their bags and match them up.  As I watched him do all 13 cards independently, I couldn't help but think back to last year and how I helped him with this task.  Yet another simple reminder that my boy is growing up...

They decorated cookies for a snack... Riley was treated to a cookie, too, but I wasn't a nice mommy and wouldn't let her have frosting.  I don't think Miss Linda would've liked us very much had she been able to put her little frosting-covered fingers all over the furniture.

 Next, we headed upstairs to play games.  Gavin loves this part of the parties!  {And Riley even got to participate!}

We celebrated today with a doughnut breakfast at Krispy Kreme and we'll be having heart-shaped pancakes (or pizza...haven't decided!) for dinner.  Love these little things that make days like to today memorable.  I love my Valentines.

Wii Stare

I love how when it rains, Gavin immediately remembers that he's allowed to play Wii if it is rainy, a rule we started last summer so he wasn't playing Wii when he could be outside.  He gets so into Wii Sports, and I love watching him bowl, sword fight, and more.  I had to grab the camera and play with some settings I learned at my class this month.

These eyes....

 

Kindergarten

When did that little 6lb 10oz little boy that wanted to be carried in a football hold all day long turn into an almost-five year old little boy that just was pre-registered for kindergarten today?  On one hand, I can't wait for him to get to school and soak up all there is to offer him because I know how excited he is about school.  On the other hand, I wish I could just keep him 4 forever (though...I'd like him to be 4 and napping, not 4.5 without a nap, because I'm so over the attitude and meltdowns that have come with the dropping of the nap!)

There's been a lot of talk around here about what I'm going to do when both kids are in school.  I think it came as a surprise to Jarrod when I said I didn't want to go back to teaching full-time.  It saddens me so much that I don't miss it like I feel like I should.  But, after talking to friends about how much it's changed, I think it's hard to miss it.  We still have a long way til Riley's in school, but looking back on how fast these years went with Gavin, I know it won't feel like a long time before I'm registering her for kindergarten, too.  I can see myself going back to teaching maybe a part-time preschool class.  But I can also see myself doing some sort of a blog, really devoting more time to different avenues of my TS business, and being a volunteer in their school.  Tutoring, field trips, that busy work that I depended on my parent volunteers for so much back in my teaching days.  I guess we'll see how the next few years go...

For now, I plan to spend the next several months trying to enjoy every minute I have with my boy before he starts spending his days with a new teacher in his life.

Repurpose Project!

Yay!  I'm so excited to share this with you all.  First....the back story.

This whole thing came about last spring when Riley was beginning to get mobile and started crawling, rolling, and then walking to the TV stand and pushing all the buttons on the devices, pulling books off the shelf, etc.  I decided I wanted a new entertainment console and I really wanted everything to be enclosed.  Well, we started looking, and we couldn't agree on anything, or the ones we liked were crazy expensive.  Then one day I found one that I just fell in love with...

But, then I found out it was $1400...and if I just wanted the base piece, it was $800.  So, scratch that idea.  Back to the drawing board...  Then, I saw this repurposed dresser on Pinterest and I loved it!  It took some time, but I finally convinced Jarrod that I thought we should try something like this.

After doing some more Pinterest searching, it became evident to me that I was really into this distressed white look.  Like, really loving it!  I started pinning all kinds of ideas and tips for painting furniture and started researching a paint that friends told me about, Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. {Here are some of the links I used for inspiration:

Shades of Amber

Little Yellow Barn

Design Indulgence

Next step...we finally found a dresser!  We got this bad boy for $35 from Craigslist.  And let me tell you...this thing is heavy!

 My helpers, all ready to go!

So, we decided to go for the Annie Sloan Chalk Paint despite it costing more than your traditional paint.  You can do some research online, but the ease of it sold me.  No sanding, so priming!  And, it dries super quick.  So, we washed the dresser down with hot soapy water and removed the hardware.  Then we played with it to decide which drawers were going to become the shelves.  Once we decided, we got started.  I chose the Old White color of paint and her clear wax.  I painted two coats on the whole dresser and all the drawers in a matter of about 3 hours.  

Then, we cut some wood for the shelves.  Now, we're not trained woodworkers or anything, so they're not perfect, but they do the job and they're made by us, so they're even more special. :)  We cut holes in the back for the cords, and then I spray painted the inside of the back with black so that it wouldn't be as obvious.

Next, we applied the wax.  I used a brush to apply a thin coat of her clear wax, and the wiped the excess off with a t-shirt.  Once that dried, I used a sanding block to distress the piece.  Lastly, we applied another coat of wax to protect it all.  If you're going to do this, I'd suggest searching You Tube for some videos so you understand the whole wax thing.  I saw some after the fact, and wish I would've seen them before waxing.

Lastly, came the search for the hardware.  Lesson learned...for my next repurposing project, I'll make the current hardware is presentable and can be spray painted.  The hardware on this dresser was hideous.  So, we pitched them.  But....finding hardware to fit these holes was next to impossible.  The end result was that we 1.) spent way more on hardware than I was intending, and 2.) had to drill new holes for the top drawers.  

The end result is a piece I'm so proud of, even if it's not 100% perfect.  I love that we did it together, and I love that it's supposed to be distressed....so if it gets beat up by the kids or the vacuum, it's not the end of the world!

 Can't wait to do another project!

 {After all was said and done, we spent about $170 on this project.  But, we have enough paint left to do another project, enough wax left to probably do two more projects, and the cost of the dresser also included a gigantic mirror that we're going to work on for our house, too.}

Birthday Fun!

Another birthday has come and gone... I had a great weekend of celebrating with my favorite people. :)  Friday, I made my very first cake from scratch.  Not sure why I've never done it before; it was so easy!  Gavin picked the pan...he wanted to use the fancy bundt pan, so we had a chocolate bundt cake.

We headed out to dinner that night at a local place called the Red Onion Espressoria.  I love their food!  We came home for dessert, and Gavin could hardly contain himself.  He made us light candles and turn off all the lights, and he and Jarrod sang to me.  So cute!  Then we had a slumber party in the living room while watching Ice Age.  But...I have to admit.  I feel asleep on the couch before the movie was even over!  I slept on the couch and Gavin slept soundly on a bed made on the floor all night long.  Jarrod was able to sneak into the bed and get some rest; he hasn't been feeling good lately.

I got to spend Saturday at a photography class put on by a local photography.  She does amazing work, and even though a lot of it was review for me, I felt like it was needed to help me have that aha! moment.  Or, lots of them!  Things finally clicked, and I'm excited to get behind the camera more.  I've been in a picture taking funk lately (resulting in a blogging funk!) so I'm sure more pics of the kids will be coming soon.

I'm trying to get back to a more routine and structured day around here.  I feel like there has been so much going on in my head lately that I haven't been as productive as I'd like.  I have all these goals...things I want to do around the house, things I want to do with the kids, things I want to learn, the desire to grow my business more and promote again....but I wasn't doing what I needed to make all that happen.  I'm limiting the tv and computer time around here for all of us and trying to stick my lists better.  I'm trying to be more organized with our schedule, our budget, our meal planning... you know, just trying to be super mom around here!  We'll see how it goes!