Summer Days

This has been by far the best summer vacation we have had in a long while.  It has been such a rich time of fellowship for our family to really enjoy time with each other and love one another!  One of the reasons we have had such wonderful time together is because this is the first summer mommy has not been working, so we were able to take advantage of our weekends, which we did... big time!!!

  In June we traveled to Manhattan Beach to visit Josh's little sister, it was a fun fast weekend!  The following week, Josh and I got away for a night to San Francisco and of course watched a bit of the US Open!  After that, Josh organized a father/son camping trip with some other friends, they had so.much.fun being boys, shooting guns and using their knives to carve sticks and things :)  This may be an annual thing!

Finally a weekend off after the 4th of July.  However, I was busy packing for a week long trip to San Diego to visit my family.  This was our official vacation, and it was awesome!!  My parents are blessed to have a resort like backyard where we dine alfresco for most meals.  This is my absolute most favorite thing to do when we visit...a warm cup of coffee on the deck in the morning, lunch poolside, happy hour and dinner in the cool SD air at night.  We went to the beach, swam, got some 'girl time' in with my mom and sister, went to Sea World and generally relaxed the week away enjoying every minute!  We also got some good time in with my nephew Jonah and his soon to be little sister Rubi :)

We got back from SD late Monday night and left for camping on Thur afternoon.  Needless to say, those two days were buys unpacking and repacking.  We had a blast camping with friends up near Dinkey Creek, "dry camping" with our tent trailer and exploring all that was to offer in the beautiful mountains...the kids loved shooting bow/arrows, guns, and playing with friends!

Home and back to packing for another really quick trip to SD, this time it was to celebrate Josh's grandparents 60th wedding anniversary!  Sixty years, how awesome is that, a fun large family gathering where almost all of the members of the family were there, pretty special!

We made it back to Clovis and again started packing for another small camping trip with the Watney family.  Our kids love their cousins, we had to squeeze in a trip for all 6 of them to run, get dirty, swim, explore, bike, roast s'mores, sleep in tents, and simply play together in God's wonderful playground!

Well, that put us into August and we enjoyed a week, although VERY hot at home.  Tonight Josh and James and some friends are going down to LA to watch a Galaxy Soccer game, a highlight for all as soccer season is upon us!!  

When we were not traveling, we spent days at Wild Water Park, having friends over to play, swimming at Granny's pool, having tennis lessons, sports camp, gymnastics and a bit of down time as well.  

School will start in a week and I am not ready.  James will be in 2nd grade, Julie kinder and Jacob preschool 2 mornings a week.  Thinking of this actually brings tears to my eyes, I will miss them so much while they are at school.  

I've been praying for their teachers, the friends they will make, and all they will learn (the good and the bad) and know that though they are out of my care, they are never out of God's reach.  Lord use this year to strengthen my children and draw them closer to you.  Give them courage to stand strong in their beliefs and confidence to share your love and grace with other kids.  Let them be a light for you Lord.  

So thankful for this summer, for the time and the experiences our family was blessed to have.  Excited to see what this coming school year will bring :)

new again

i am a bit of a thrifty girl, partly because i have to be and partly because i love the challenge of finding a piece and bringing it back life. i have been on the hunt for an olf buffet or sideboard to transform into a tv console. you know the kind...lots of character, all wood, something that will really stand out. well, wouldn't you know it, my mil (mother-in-law) had just the piece and was willing to part with it....score!!

here she is before, i love the doors and the harware and it is perfect for our small room off of our kitchen...just needs some love to be beautiful again! this was my biggest project yet and i was a bit nervous, so i went to my trusty guide for some diy instruction...pinterest. seriously if you

have not checked it out yet, you need to!

i started by sanding the top. i planned to keep the top wood but darken the stain quite a bit. next step, primer. i love spray primer...much much faster. i primed the inside and outside because i was painting both, it only took 2 cans of spray :) did i mention fast dry time as well!

while the primer was drying, i spray painted all the harware a beautiful oil rubbed bronze. seriously they make all kinds of things in spray paint and it is so much easier and faster!! a good tip, i stuck all the screws into the cardboard box so they wouldn't roll around :)

prior to paint

next step, paint. since we have done many projects, we own a paint sprayer...a must if you plan to do several projects and save lots of time. here is my sweet husband helping with this part (did i mention he does not like projects as much as me) and doing such a great job :) we did two coats to make sure all was covered and let it dry. i also sprayed a second coat on the harware. stain time...a small can goes a long way. i went with a beautiful ebony stain. i used an old clean rag to apply the stain and then another clean cloth to rub it off. i did this several times and ended up with a nice deep color. if you want it lighter, less coats are needed, or it can be darker if you do not rub the stain off...whatever you prefer!



late that night once all was dry i distressed the piece and focused mostly on the door fronts. this is the prep for the glaze and can be done with sandpaper as little or as much as you like :) day one complete!

i have never glazed anything before, so this last step made me rather nervous...again pinterest to the rescue. i bought clear glaze from lowes and added some black craft paint.

a little goes a long way so i have lots left over for other projects (don't worry josh, none too soon). my goal was to get it in the cracks and around the frames of the doors. with a brush and none to nicely, i squished it into the areas i wanted. with a damp cloth, wipe off the excess and wallah, you get an antique look. check out the difference, door on left is with glaze, on right just distressed.

i wanted to keep the wood top nice for many years so i went ahead and used polycrylic to protect it. i chose this instead of polyurethane because it has a very low odor and does not yellow white paint over time. this also come in a spray paint but is rather pricy so i opted to brush it on.

this took me one and a half days to complete, not too bad for the savings of doing it myself. since the piece was given to us, the entire project cost about $25 to redo...WOW, that is a good deal!!

i absolutely love this piece, it is prefect for our little room and a great storage for the kids homework items, games and plenty of things! i think it was worth it, don't you?

blogland

i have been enjoying so many blogs over the past months being inspired and challenged and realizing i have not done mine justice. i mean really, who wants to read about my happenings and projects and silly things going on...okay, probably my parents and extended family that we don't get to see often enough! it made me think, who am i writing this for? i guess my blog is a good way for me to express myself and share a little bit about my life and if you gleam some inspiration from it...fabulous!

i have been very busy with home projects and decorating on a small budget that i wanted to share. so here's a project we recently finished...i have really wanted to frame our gigantic mirror in the hall bathroom...it is literally the entire length of the wall, if you wanted to hide, not going to happen in this room :)

so, here's the before...one big mirror!

i went to lowes to get materials... 3 12 foot sections of baseboard (measure for your size), i went for the 5" since the mirror is so big. some black spray paint (i love spray paint...my neighbor's could tell you), liquid nails for MIRRORS (made a small mistake the first try...oops). we already had the caulking gun but bought a small miter box that came with a saw to make the 45 degree angle cuts.

paint the boards and let dry...it's important to paint a little of the back side since you will see it in the reflection :) time to hang, generously apply the liguid nails, not too close to the inside or again the reflection will show! align just right and stick on. we used thick masking tape to hold in place so we could attach the other pieces and let it dry over night before removing the tape.

so, what do you think? i love the way it turned out and can not wait to finish decorating this room, but that's a whole other project!

all in all this project cost about $40 which includes the miter box and saw that i now own for other priojects, and extra materials for framing our master bath mirrors!!

can't wait to show you all my biggest furniture redo i just finished...coming soon!

rejoice!

it is the eve of my son's 6th birthday, the day he was born into this world for me to love, raise, train up, and cherish, learn patience from, and simply stand in awe of His perfect creation in him. tonight we get to celebrate a different kind of birth for our oldest son. this day i have prayed for since i found out i was going to be a mom...

we get to celebrate james' spiritual birth!!!

james had been talking for a while about Jesus and what He did for all of us on the cross. this afternoon he decided to ask Jesus into his heart, a decision that will forever impact his life in the greatest possible way. it was such a privilege for me to be part of such a wonderful time in his life. thank you Lord for allowing me to be the mommy of such an amazing boy, and for giving us a savior in which to place our hope and love.

happy double birthday buddy, i love you!

artists

several weeks back james and julie became legitimate artists. not the kind with crayons or markers, but artists with many brushes, paint colors and their own canvases to create their masterpieces.

saying they were excited was a huge understatement...the kitchen table became our art table and we soon began mixing colors to make them just perfect. we talked about these paintings being hung in their rooms and what they wanted them to look like.

james decided to paint a fire house with a burning building next door complete with fire truck and men spraying water on the fire. it was so fun to watch him, you could literally see him thinking of what he would do next. he has never really been interested in coloring, just wasn't one to sit still for that long...we have have found a creative outlet for him in painting however!

it was no big surprise that julie wanted flowers. after some discussion, we decided to include a sun, grass and butterflies along with the flowers to make it a more complete piece :) james added some ladybugs and helped decorate a bit, what a great brother he is! can you see the joy on her face, she loved every minute...this is right up her ally!

we hung the paintings as soon as they were dry and when people come over it's one of the first thing they show off. i think they did an amazing job, don't you?

flowers and butterflies

big changes have come about in the watney home. for a while now I have know that we would not have a playroom for much longer. the kids absolutely loved rooming together, it created some of the sweetest moments and bonding that i will be forever grateful for. but alas, the time came for there to be a girl room and a boys room.

a couple months ago i started the process of switching everything around, wow was that a big ongoing job :) i have had a lot of fun planning what to do in julie's room, we decided on a garden room. it is still not totally finished, but i just love how things are going so far. it is of course pink, a little darker shade behind her bed. the cute bedding has flowers and butterflies to carry out the garden theme. i am in love with vinyl decals that you literally 'stick' on the wall. so much easier than painting everything and pretty reasonably priced on etsy. julie's name and all of the flowers and butterflies are just that, stickers :) i think they make the room and i can't wait to finish putting them throughout the room. I ordered one section of vinyl fencing to act as her headboard and have the flowers coming from behind the fence, makes for a nice 3D effect as well :)

a rug and new window treatments will be the next step in pulling this room together. i also want to get some art canvases and let julie paint her own garden on them. i think it will give her some ownership of her room while decorating the empty wall above her bookcase. oh yeah, i bought that bookcase at a garage sale and painted it to match her bed. i will paint her night stand and dresser the same color, just have to find the time :)

with julie is her own room, it has allowed me to think of how to decorate a now all boys room.

for many years now james has had a deep love for all things fireman, so there was no other decor he wanted than a fire room. jacob of course is so easy going and wants to do just what his big brother does, so a fire room it is. so far all the planning is still in my head, there are some great vinyls i will be purchasing soon with firetrucks that have the boys names in them along with some other fun 'fire' type sings i've found on ebay. i want to go to a firehouse and take pictures of the boys dressed up in their fire gear, hopefully on the truck. i have 2 big picture frames that i think will work well to have those photos blown up and displayed in. can't wait to put this room together, i will post pics as soon as i get working on it! i did however opt out of the fire pole that james wanted to get down from his bunkbed, a good idea i think! :)

Wedding Weekend

Last October we attended an amazing family wedding at Pebble Beach, really it was more of a wedding weekend! It was by far the most beauitful, luxurious event we have ever been to. It was made even better by some very generous people who allowed us to stay in their gorgeous home in Carmel, half a block from the beach!! If you know my kids, they were in heaven playing, building and destroying their sand castles and I couldn't get enough of the ocean air and sounds of the waves.

Josh and James were both in the wedding party along with our niece Emma. It was so fun to see them dressed up looking so great and so excited to do their 'job'. James said he was nervous but you would not have noticed, he smiled and stood up front during the ceremony, showing how he is maturing into a young man. I still want to hold onto the young part for a while :)

Cousins

Love!

Seriously, he is adorable!

Cocktail hour on the patio.

This was our table!

A warm fire in the banquet hall.

We were fortunate enough to have two wonderful girls I work with come over to be with the kids while Josh and I attended the reception, a decision that was well worth it. Josh and I were able to have a great evening with adults, amazing food, drinks, dancing and lots of laughter as we celebrated the new couple into the night. The next morning there was a send off brunch at a monster of a house. These pictures show the grounds where the kids played while we enjoyed some more time with family. What a wonderful way to keep celebrating!

Looking up at the house.

Nice view!

Wow, it really was a fantastic weekend, one that we are sure not to forget. I can not wait to see the professional photos!! Thanks and congrats to the happy couple!