Last Day of School!

The boys got out of school right before Memorial Weekend this year. Woohoo! We actually pulled Eli out a few hours early and headed up to Indiana for the weekend. Heidi and Sam and Levi were there and we had a great time! The kids were excited for SUMMER!

Dining Furniture Redo

Another furniture project! I decided since it had been 2+ years since we moved in, it was time to think about the dining room. I wasn't even sure for awhile if I wanted a dining table, since we have a great kitchen table that is huge, but after spending several holidays with lots of people in our home (and several times moving our kitchen table into the dining room), I realized it would actually be really nice to have one. So...I started scouring Craigslist! I knew buying new was out of the question. I cannot bring myself to spend thousands, but it's hard to find styles on Craigslist that aren't decades, or even centuries old - not as much my thing.

Well, I got lucky and found something. First I found a table. A couple was moving out of state and didn't want to haul it, and it was hardly used. They were selling it for $525 and it was well over $1000 new online, but being my mother's daughter I got it for $400. Score! It's not huge, but it's really wide which is what I was looking for and it fits our room great.

Next up was to find chairs! It thought maybe I'd look at chairs new, but had no idea they were $200+ EACH so that was definitely not happening. Finding chairs without a table proved to be more difficult than I expected, but I persevered! I found a whole set online but the table was in a terrible condition and I didn't want a china hutch, so I asked them if they'd be interested in just selling the 8 chairs and the server. They said they'd see if they got desperate enough, so I waited and they got back to me and said yes! I can't remember now what they were asking, but I ended up getting 8 chairs and a server for $275!! Steal! They are 20+ years old but super sturdy and big and great quality. I knew I'd have to redo them, but that was fine.

Here are some before pics of the chairs. Pictures are deceiving, but they were extremely scratched and scuffed and the covers were nasty and heavily soiled.

And voila! New stain and new covers. It was a TON of work, but they turned out really nicely. I went a little too heavy on the stain, which I regret, because they look a little more black than brown, but I'm not upset enough to redo them.

 They look really nice with the table too. We finished the chairs about 11:00 at night the night before our guests arrived for Eli's baptism weekend. It was a rush, but it was nice to be done! I finished the server later after I had recuperated.

Don't mind the camping gear in the living room.

 And here's the server! I'll have to get a pic of the whole room sometime. It's coming together nicely! And I've found that we actually use this table all the time now! And not just for eating. It's a great place to play board games (safe from Grace and don't have to be torn down for dinner), puzzles, kids activities, and more. We love it!

Eli is BAPTIZED!!!

April Random Phone Pics

My seed babies first sprouting:

Connor with his lovely play-doh scene.

Genius Grace doing a little light reading.

Haircut for Anna inspired by her cute cousins.

Seed babies growing!

Hanging out in the ER on a Saturday afternoon. Boooo shingles.

Eli and his brilliant LEGO dragon creation. This kid blows my mind with what he thinks up and builds out of his head. This was the entrance to his castle he made.

Me looking super fine trying to get some relief from the shingles. The calamine lotion worked great for the itching, for the record.

Growing taller!

One day when I was feeling really terrible I told the kids I needed to take a nap while Grace was sleeping and they needed to be quiet. I came down after an hour and found them reading so nicely together on the couch. I was so grateful!

This little stinker decided to become a terror the same week I felt awful. She is starting to come out of it thankfully.

Sister duets! Grace worked hard to get up on that bench.

But she made it!

Bike accident. :( Poor baby.

Lettuce in the garden!

Snap peas starting to grow!

Seed toddlers!

Ahh!

Grace's favorite spot to be when I'm making food is on the counter...especially when there's something she can munch on!