a little ART CAN'T HURT

unexpected fun

eating meals has never been more fun around our house.
but then again, in between the meals is pretty fun too.
and homework will never be the same.
we owe it all to one simple thing - our table top.

with three kids constantly crafting, homeworking, cooking, etc. our kitchen table was taking quite a beating. our wooden table top was not pretty.
we don't have a formal dining room - just this table - but i'd like for it to look nicer than a dog's chew toy. it just looked rough.
i mentioned to a friend in passing that i'd seen a metal table top in a magazine....
i came home one day from work and i there was a new metal table top on our table!
(did i mention that our friend is a sheet metal worker?)
it was custom fit to the exact dimensions with softly rounded corners welded neatly into place.
but...
the best part was when i found out that dry erase markers could be used on the surface!
life takes on new meaning when you can write on your table!




such an unexpected creative outlet!
want to do this to your table? call your local trade school to find someone who can do this for you!
i'd love to hear about it if you do! you won't regret it!

coming home

many moons ago i posted these photos of our breezeway - 

not much of a before/after! 
this is our breezeway between the garage and house.
i've wanted it to be a cheerful entrance ever since we moved in here two years ago and we finally got around to painting it a few weeks ago.
here's the finished breezeway -




by now the chalkboard has been written on and erased many times.
once of my favorite quotes is on there right now:
"respect for ourselves guides our morals; respect for others guides our manners" - Laurence Sterne

this space will be fun to fill with the kids artwork.
the grey and yellow feels so cozy and it's so calming to come home to.
already the breezeway looks different with backpacks, boots, flowers & such that comes with life.
sometimes it's the little changes that can help us adjust to things in life we can't change.
feeling refreshed and giving thanks every day!
how do you display your children's artwork and projects? 

 
 

progress

This winter the kiddos played a lot outside. 

We've even gotten the soccer balls out when there's snow on the ground!

But I didn't expect them to be in the fort so much over the winter.

After all, there's no electricity or lights in the fort.

Yet...

...keep following the underground wire and...

Very soon there will be a lightswitch here!

Look at all the sheetrock dust!

Hubby and Grandpa Jim were quite busy on Saturday. 

Can you tell? And more work to be done tomorrow.

I can't wait to show you what's next!

candy & corn

The girls decorated pumpkins for school.

You can't do any carving, just decorating.

Now the pretty pumpkins are back at home.

They're even making new friends.

the oak

This monster was 10 feet from our front door.

See the rotten part at the base? 

The tree was slowly hollowing out due to animals and weather.

Nearly 12 feet of the middle of the trunk was nothing but dirt.

It could have blown over on top of the house - and that's the only reason I was ok with taking this tree down.

You see, it was old. There was a lot of history to it.

We hired an arborist to come see it and eventually a logging company took it down.

This wasn't a small task. Actually, it was a rather large task at nearly 11 feet around at the base!

Our tree was 250 years old!

 

All of those things happened in the life span of this tree! 

I almost felt guilty, but really it was the best thing to do.

And now we have firewood for the next 12+ years!

carving pumpkins

So much icky inside these pumpkins!

Then the carving began....

Finally it got dark.

All three jack-o-lanterns aglow!

Doug's pumpkin was too cool! It looks even better in the dark!

And I got the itch to try something different...

It's nearly impossible to show all the detail in a photo.

I cut vines & leaves all the way up into the top of the pumpkin where the top was cut out.

You could see the leaf and vine patterns dancing on the ceiling after the candle was lit.

I have the urge to carve a few more - we'll see.

Safe carving!

paint of all kinds

I was checkin' out one of my favorite blogs, whatever ....really, that's the name of her blog: whatever

Meg had her kids do marble painting today and the finished products look magnific! 

Are you kidding Meg?! If you lived closer I'd cut some mats for your new artwork!

It's really too bad you guys live in Kansas - our kids would have a blast playing together!

Doug and I just got done doing some painting of our own.

BEFORE

AFTER

I'm not proud of the animal-like-creature I became while in a bidding war on ebay for this vintage sign letter H.

But I'd do it all over again if I had to - I LOVE this H! And finally it's on a wall deserving of it's presence.

Ok, a little overly dramatic on my part.

But it's the paint fumes guys! Really!

forts-r-us

The exterior of the fort is all done. FINALLY.

The kids have all sorts of lawn ornaments and tiki torches scattered around. But the favorite feature by far is the bucket-on-a-pulley to tote things up and down....even though you could just carry the stuff up the stairs!

The view from the porch is awesome and I just love the little red birdhouse we found!

Now all we have to do is finish the interior. The kids play in it anyway, but it will be much more user-friendly when the electrical is finished and there's chalkboard walls and a couch to play on!

**stay tuned!**

kinda mod

A long time ago I promised to post some before/after photos of our new-to-us house.
Well, here's a few...

Yeah, we went modern with this room. Do you hate me for it?

It's the sunroom/tv/game room - you're ALLOWED to be modern in these rooms, right?
Besides, I HAD to have this ceiling fan...

...and now I do!

working on it

More things are coming together around the house.