Make something Monday: All the random Projects

This summer for make something Mondays we have not really made anything much, mostly just fixed up things that we already had! There really has not been any rhyme or reason to the fixing either, just getting caught up on much needed projects!

I finally  painted the front door! I bought paint for this sad grey door like 4 years ago and it has been just sitting in the basement. When we were at Canton I decided that we needed a red front door for some reason. My mom in law told me that you are supposed to paint your front door red when have paid it off. Well, that has NOT happened, but it sure looks cute!

I prepped the door and wiped it down and started slapping on that 4 year old paint. Kellen lost his mind and was hysterically crying because he thought I was painting all of the doors red and he wanted his to stay white. It turned out that, oh, so fun red paint was not so fun or so red, it was more like a pinky weird raspberry color. Which could have been pretty, but I was not down with seeing it through. So to Lowes we went to choose a new color. We finally decided on Valspar Heirloom red in an exterior semi gloss. Usually I am satin kind of girl, but I figured with it being exposed to the sun and such that I should probably use the good stuff.

Back at home, I painted and painted and then painted 2 more times. 4 coats. Whew! I always think that I love red and then I forget how hard it is to get good coverage. But now it's done and I have a super snazzy red door!

The week after that I attempted to refinish the little bench/shelf that is right below the window in the living room.

It was in wretched shape from my precious pup clawing it to get the squirrels in the front yard and standing in front of it to drool on and from Kellen taking a real hammer to it when he was little. It has taken a beating the last 5 years.

I wish I had taken a before picture, but no such luck. I had big plans to sand it down, repaint it and put a coat of poly on. I sanded my arms off that afternoon and I loved how it looked all sanded down.

 After consulting my interior designer/mother in law. She raised an interesting point, that if I buffed out the scratches and repainted and then sealed it up, it was highly likely that I would be refinishing it all over again in the event that Jake should attack it. So unfinished and shabby it was! I love how it came out and all the scratches and non sense just look like they are supposed to be there.

Ahh, so much better!

And it has so much polyurethane on it that anything can just be wiped off!

That's it for completed projects for now. I am currently working on my chairs for the kitchen and I am not gonna lie, it is an absolute nightmare. Who new all that detail work would be the hardest thing to get that red paint off. I am maybe a little bit regretting not just getting new already finished chairs that we can just use already! Hopefully I will have them finished by the time school is back in, check back on that one!

Thrifty Finds this Month

We have found a new thrifty store! Hurray and jackpot, after ours closed a few months ago, we have tried a bunch of places and struck out. But not this time! Callie woke up one morning ready to run errands and she had these shorts on that were butt cheek city, y'all. I seriously don't know how to shop for this girl. She has the longest, skinniest little body you ever did see, which presents shorts problems. Her waist says size 5 please, but her legs are begging for an 8. Such the dilemma!

We hit Old Navy and that cheap skate inside of me just comes right out, No I will not pay $20 for a pair of shorts she will out grow in 3 months, so thrifting it was!

This girl cleaned up!

11, yes, that's right 11 pairs of shorts and 1 pair of capris and a cute little top. Problem solved and all for about $30. Crazy, I tell you!

Kellen decided he would like some puppy and shark shirts and guess what we found....

Done!

And I found some fun stuff too! Yay for bargains!

Score!! I finally found a new jean jacket and this one is so cute, it doesn't have any weird patches or such and it fits like a glove!

American Eagle: $8

I did a major dress clean out in my closet a few days ago, it's amazing what I have hung on to that didn't fit any more or were super out of style! So naturally I have to fill it with more fun dresses!

Apt. 9 (I think it's from Kohls) $5

Old Navy: $4

Old Navy: $4

Maxi dress with tags! I have no idea where, maybe Ross or TJ Maxx?

$5

Stripped tie top: $6 I almost bought one of these in the spring, I am glad I didn't.

I have no idea where this brand comes from!

This super cute thin duster $6, it's much cuter in real life and SO soft!

That's all for this month, I can't wait to go again for back to school!

Summer lovin'

This summer has been a hot random mess, but we have sure had fun doing it!

A rose for Callie Rose!

We visited the nursery and stocked up on flowers!

We painted dinosaurs...

In keeping with tradition we made our end of the year binder!

We headed to the swimming pool, right before the picture we had spent the last hour at urgent care after my friend here fell out of the shopping cart right on his big ol' head and right onto the concrete in the parking lot. It was pretty scary, but nothing could keep him from the pool that day!

We hot tubbed...

We trampolined it in the country...

We celebrated daddys!

We read books on the porch after playing ALL afternoon...

We made strange food from mud and plants at grandma's house!

We VBS-ed it up! It was so fun this year!

Well I should say, Callie VBS-ed it, cause Kellen, you know the director's son, refused to go to anything and cried like a banshee when I left his side, you know, to direct things...

All these precious kiddos and helpers, we sure are blessed!

We kept busy while daddy was out of town, that was a rough week, let me tell you. Thank goodness for the Bachelorette, wine and knowing that my Mister was coming home on Friday!

                                             

Father of the year made his daughter's dream come true by making a zip line in the front yard. It is pretty magical and all the neighborhood children have given it a try!

Callie made the perfect reading spot.  Thanks, Grandma!

We Fourth of July-ed it up! It was quite the fun day with the family, yummy food, my favorite folks and then our own fireworks. Kellen still has a crazy obsession with all things bright and loud and exploding. My parents joined us and we watched the neighbors do their fireworks, so it was double the fun. Then we went for a wander all around the neighborhood to see what other people were up to. It's become our new tradition to fight the crowds and parking that you have to endure with the big fireworks displays and I am all for it. Also, P.S Happy meet you day to my love, 8 years, Mister!

We babysat this little nugget! I forgot for a hot minute how much work babies are. I sure miss those sweet baby days, but I like the bigger kids days much better!

This smile, Oy, is she sweet! 

So that's what we have been up to, just lovin' summer and all the things that go with it! Thank you summer break!

Texas adventures: The Rest of the Story

Let's finish this saga up, I mean it's been over a month and still have not gotten around to finishing it!
So we left off the day after we gathered our treasures and were pondering what to do with them (more about that later) On Sunday, we did church and I got to catch up with my old church people and it was just wonderful. I miss that little place! While I love our church at home, there is just something about Chandler Street that makes me happy!
After church we headed to Callie's most favorite Mexican restaurant, The Jalapeno Tree. It's a Texas institution, y'all!  While the food is subpar, I mean, Callie orders mac and cheese every time, it's always fun to be with your people!

After lunch we had big plans to hang out and do nothing, but instead, we suggested a trip to the land in the woods to show Denise! I don't think she realized that this is pretty regular thing, but she was surprised that we loaded up the snacks and four-wheelers and all that jazz to head to the river house!

How cute are these rainboots? Thanks Kilgore Wal-Mart!

Then we ventured out into the woods! Most of the well worn paths were underwater or blocked by trees from a bad storm a few weeke earlier, but it gave Callie's grandpa a chance to survey the damage and bust out the chainsaw to get everything cleaned up and put back together!

Fallen tree photoshoot? Why not!

The biggest tree on the land. The picture does not do it justice! I cannot explain how big this cypress tree is!

I think we just may have converted her to loving Texas!

Before we left, my mother in law said to me, "I finally get why you love it here and it's as much about the people as it is the place." MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

After exploring all over the river a storm blew in so we packed it up and headed to town for supper! Our last Texas dinner was comprised of catfish, shrimp and hush puppies, we had to do it right!

The next morning we packed up the truck and made a few last stops before pulling out of town!

This was my old house and the house where Callie lived her first 18 months!!! We were just going to do a quick drive by and there was a for-sale sign outside! So we wandered around and took a trip down memory lane. It was in pretty sad shape, but nonetheless, most of the improvements that were made were still holding up! 

We also made a pit stop at my old school, where Callie's Meme still works. It has changed SO much in 8 years and it was super fun to see all of the new buildings and foot ball field! This was a far cry from the rusty bleachers and dry viney grass that we had in my teaching years here!

My old classroom was being used for summer school, but this was one of my old neighbors class a few doors down. Let's be real here, all classrooms need a stage! Callie was in heaven! I miss the old wood floors and history of this place.

After we said goodbye to Meme it was time to hit the road and head to Ok-a-la-homa!

It was a drive let me tell you! We ran into an accident and good old siri rerouted us something terrible, but we ended getting to see some really pretty towns and it was an other wise uneventful drive.

Once we got to Oklahoma we had dinner with one of Brien's cousins and her precious little family before heading to spend the night at Denise's brother and his wife's house. We had a great night and they were so sweet to put us up! Before we went to bed that night we made big plans for the next day. Since we were only 9 hours away from home, we had what Denise and I have a coined as a turn around trip. Let me explain. A turn around trip is a road trip in which, if you see something interesting that warrants turning around and going back to look at, you do it. It's the kind of trip boys hate, specifically our boys, so we took advantage.

The first leg of our trip led us to a berry farm! Say what?! How quaint is that? It's also the reason for all the blueberries all up in my house. It was such a pretty morning, cool and crisp and all those berries were just calling to us. Callie and I managed to pick 8 pounds of berries in less that an hour!

When we first pulled up the farmer who runs the farm was feeding he baby lambs, Callie was not going to miss out on a chance to feed them!

Then the blissful blueberry picking!

Thanks sweet aunt Julianne for bringing us here!

After we had picked a sufficient amount we got back on the road and headed for home! I have to say our turn around trip was going well so far. After we had been on the road a few hours we saw an amazing antique mall in Wichita. Since this was a turn around trip, we surely did turn around. My mother in law found a super cool tobacco basket from the 1930's that she regretted not picking up at Canton, so that turn around was a successful stop! We made one more turn around to get Callie a burger at Steak and Shake and then we were on our way. After a loooonnnggg day, we finally made it! We had such a great adventure and came home with so many treasures, but boy, was it good to be home. Until Next time Texas!