Guys and Girls

Today I got to have fun with some little girls. (It's about time!) Jackson and Carson's friends (Faith and Delayna) came over and played all afternoon and they had a great time together.

I love taking pictures of girls, they will actually pose for me.

Especially this one. Isn't she the cutest thing?

Carson seems to be enjoying some female companionship.

It was a nice day, having some girly girls around...

Because I get tired of days full of things like this: Carson thought he was "pretty".

I've Been Seeing An Older Man...

Yep. It's true. There's an older man in my life.

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Today is Dave's 30th Birthday!

And he's still as handsome as he always was.

Happy Birthday Babe, you're the greatest!

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And for 2 months, you're older than me. Hehehe

The "New House" Part 3

We're still working on the kitchen, and probably will be for the next 95 years, so in the meantime, I'll share a few of the other rooms...

The Dining Room:

Yeah, I've already been given lots of grief about my tall table, but I like it, OK?

Moving on to the Master Bedroom...

The quote over the bed says, "Happiness is being married to your best friend." Nuff said.

Next in our pictoral (is that even a word?) tour is the boys room:

And, no, it isn't always this clean. They have a separate room for all of their toys and stuff, but it's no where near photo worthy at this time. Maybe I'll finish it sometime in the next 95 years ...after I finish the kitchen.

I must go for now...Jackson is trying to handcuff his brother to a chair...sigh...

The Joys of Summertime...

Carson. Up Close.

Jackson. The Thinker.

Umm, Mom? We're trying to have a guy talk here...

I'm guessing Jackson had a little brain freeze.

This kid could be a poster child for Tide.

Happiness is...a summer day, a red popsicle, and sharing your troubles with Buzz Lightyear...

The Details...

Ok, you asked for it! I searched youtube for tutorials and found many helpful videos on cabinet glazing. The one that was most helpful was by a guy that goes by remodelpro. Here's a step by step on how I did mine.

1. Remove all cabinet doors and hardware.
2. Clean them with a deglosser, available at Wal-Mart. (Deglosser works as a sander)
3. Apply a coat of oil based kilz primer to keep stain from seeping through.
4. Paint with 2 coats of oil based gloss paint. I used the Heavy Cream color by Olympic paints at Lowe's. Why oil? Because it dries much harder and smoother than latex. But have plenty of thinner on hand for clean up! Let dry overnight.
5. Brush glaze into crevices of doors, then with your finger in a damp painter's rag, wipe it back off. What that does is takes the glaze off of everything but just the grooves. The glaze I used is mocha color from Lowe's. It's easy to work with, it dries very slow so that you have time to work with it to get it the way you want it. Let dry overnight.
6. At this point you're supposed to put a clear coat sealer on, but I haven't done that.
7. Put the hardware back on and hang the doors. You're done!

It sounds easy here, but it takes forever. If any of you give it a try, I'd love to see your finished projects! The great thing about antique finishes is that the whole idea is for it to NOT look perfect. You can mess up and it looks like you meant to! Have fun-

Kitchen Sneak Peek...

I finally have my computer (and Internet!) at the new house, so I can get back to blogging. I have finished one wall of the kitchen, so here's a little peek ...

This is the wall when we first saw it:

And here is the new and improved edition:

I had seen some new French country cabinets at Lowe's that had me literally drooling. Until I figured up what it would cost for a whole kitchen. The more I thought about it, the more I thought maybe I could just do it myself, and besides a gallon of paint was more in my price range. So I took an old cabinet door and practiced on it first, then with much fear and trembling, I took on the whole project.

I love how it turned out! A little paint, a dab of glaze, and new counter tops make a huge difference. I took out two of the door panels for display cabinets, but I still haven't gotten the glass for them. The rest of the kitchen is a lot more labor intense. Here, let me show it to you...

See that island? That's a dumb place for a stove. So we took it out. It's gone. Forever. See that dark door on the right? That's a laundry room. It's gone. Not just the doors, but the whole wall is gone. That's the new home for the stove. (No, I haven't given up doing laundry, the house has a second laundry room.) So once it's all done, the kitchen cabinets will go from the sliding doors all the way around the corner of the next wall. Oh, and see that desk all the way to the left? It's gone too. I am so happy that I married such a handy man! I just say, "Babe, let's move the stove from this spot to that spot over there, take out this wall and that wall, redo the flooring where we ripped out the walls, add new cabinets all around the stove....." He then dives in to a discourse about how you can't just "put" a stove where you jolly well want it, and that he is NOT a cabinet maker, and just who do I think he is anyway??!! But then he does it, not without a little fussing here and there, but he does it, and he always does a great job. He had to install new power in the spot for the stove, and it works! The man can do anything he tries to do. He's about to learn how to lay laminate flooring, and you know what? I think he's looking forward to it. One time we had a house that only had one bathroom...in the basement. I decided to turn a bedroom upstairs into another bathroom and he did it! He had never "plumbed" in his life but he installed a complete beautiful bathroom where there had never been one before. Anyway, back to the house. I wanted to show you the sliding glass doors now:
I wanted some toile drapes to hang up, but the only ones I could find were VERY expensive. So when I saw these hanging up at Goodwill, I knew there must be a God, and He must really love me. They are extremely heavy, thermal, insulated, lined drapes, they are the perfect size, and I got them for mere pocket change. I was thrilled. (I've never been a big fan of those long vertical blinds.) And one more thing, see those cute little iron bistro chairs? Do not be fooled by their charms. Those are wickedly mean little creatures. You sit on the microfiber seats, then you get up to push in your chair, and as soon as you touch the metal, ZAP they shock the living daylights out of you. So now I'm off to recover the seats with clear vinyl...

The Entertainer

Yes, we are still alive and well. Drowning in piles of work to be done, but alive none the less. We have been camping out at the new house, and we're slowly getting moved in. It's very interesting living out of two houses! It has been an easy, do it at our own pace kind of a move, and moving only 4 miles away really helps.

Carson loves to sing. And Carson loves to be up front. And Carson loves attention. And he usually gets it. Sunday morning he sang "The B-I-B-L-E" for church. We didn't get the first part of it on video, but he hopped up there, got ahold of the mic, and thumped on it a few times to make good and sure it was on.

And then he was sure to applaud himself at the end. We noticed that when he sings around the house, he carries a tune very well, but when Dave was helping him sing his special, he was singing a harmony part of sorts. Interesting... for a two year old! He is also our usher at church, and boy has the plate been full since he started collecting the offering! :)