Friday, June 29, 2012

celebrating canada's birthday

Yesterday brought us to the last day of playgroup before the summer break. All the kids gathered to gear up for Canada's big day this weekend. Little Miss L. had a blast hanging out with all of her friends, meeting a few firemen from our local fire department, watching the crazy cowboy, and having a few laughs with Crash the clown. The weather was perfect, we had a fabulous morning :)
Bubble time!
Making some big bubbles.
Baby D fell fast asleep the moment we arrived.
Little Miss L. met Crash the clown.
Look, he made me a giraffe.
Arts and crafts time.
First freezie of the season.
Our entertainment for the morning.
He can balance chairs on his face!
Little Miss L. checks out a fire truck for the first time.
Going to take it for a spin.
Look who decided to wake up. He went straight for the bubbles.
My bubble man.
Taking her girlfriend for a drive in her yellow car.

Thursday, June 28, 2012

chip wagon

I may have mentioned it before, okay, I know I have... I love love love summer. As a child growing up, I remember going to the local chip wagon with my parents during the summer months. I always looked forward to my yummy treat of fresh cut french fries. Yesterday, the hubby and I brought Little Miss L. to her very first chip wagon and boy, did she love it! I have never seen a two-year old get so excited and eat as many of those delicious fried potatoes in my life! We may have created a problem, I have a feeling someone is going to want to stop at every chip wagon she sees from now on.

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

DIY change table

Wow, this post has been a long time coming... and I mean a VERY long time! I love love love the spring/summer months because it means yard sales and DIY projects. I just realized, okay maybe not JUST realized, that I have been slacking in posting our DIY projects. I guess I should share with all of you some of last year's projects before we get started on new projects this year!

First off was the change table we re-purposed for Baby D's room. Last year, my mother-in-law obtained a change table from a friend who was cleaning out the house and whose children had now outgrown it. The change table was made of sturdy maple and was handmade. It was a nice piece of furniture but didn't quite fit in with the decor for Baby D's room. I loved the size and structure of the piece, I knew all it would take was a little face-lift and it would fit in perfectly.

The hubby got the sander out and got started on our little project. This is the first time we tackled a project like this and boy, did we learn a few things.

Here is a look at the bad boy before we got started...
First, we wiped down the table with a damp cloth to get all the dust and dirt that had accumulated over the past several months while stored in our garage. Once all the crud was off, we let the table dry for an hour or so to make sure all the moisture had disappeared.
The hubby, armed with his hand sander, started the sanding process with 80 medium grit sandpaper to remove any defects and score the finish. There were a few spots that we did by hand, but mostly by electric sander.
We then switched to 120 grit to smooth out the surface prior to staining.
You can see evidence in this picture of a lesson learned, always sand in the direction of the grain - you can see here where the hubby moved diagonally and in circles which scored the wood and was very difficult to hide

Lesson learned #2 - a water-based stain will not uniformly stain wood that previously had a finish. Notice under the flower where lack of sanding prevented the stain from setting. We didn't have the guts to use chemicals or the energy to sand down to wood, so we switched to an oil-based stain for subsequent coats. As we were already behind, we opted to save time and use a combination stain and finish (Minwax® PolyShades® One-Step Stain & Finishes)
Lesson learned #3: don't try to fight gravity, it will win - applying too thick a layer of stain on a vertical surface resulted in a run that was not easy to correct - notice an example of this just above the ledge. Curved and intricate details were the most difficult to avoid running. Suggestion - do not paint a surface while vertical, let the coat dry, then lie the table on it's side/back/front and stain horizontal surfaces.
We lightly rubbed down the table with steel wool between coats of stain
It took three coats of stain to achieve a depth of colour that matched the crib
The finished product
The hubby and I learned quite a few lessons but we both agree it was totally worth the effort. I picked up a change pad and added two baskets at the bottom for storage. It fits nicely into Baby D's room.

Thursday, June 21, 2012

summer

Yesterday, was the official first day of summer and it sure did come in with a bang! We have been hit with a heatwave, our goal for the last two days has been to try and keep cool. The kiddos did just that yesterday...

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

celebrating father's day and nan's 87th birthday

It was another busy weekend, just the way we like it. Lots of family time with the ones we love. We celebrated the wonderful men we have in our lives and a amazing grandmother who turned 87 years old. This past weekend was a reminder of how lucky I am to be surrounded by so many strong, courageous, and loving individuals. I have been blessed with many things in my life but I am so thankful for a husband who is patient, loving, and absolutely adores his children. I also want to thank my father, who is a wonderful father and grandfather. Baby D has two incredible men to look up to.

We also celebrated my grandmother's 87th birthday. She has shown me to never give up, to stay strong when you start to feel you cannot fight any longer, to love your friends and family with everything you have because you never know when you may being saying goodbye for the last time. She has been battling that awful C-word but she has never given up, even when she thought she wanted to.

Thank you all for being you!
Little Miss L. was allowed to stay up late to see Nik Wallenda walk across the Niagara falls. This was the perfect opportunity to talk to Little Miss L. about having goals and dreams, and never to give up on what you truly believe in.
A little thumbs up for Nik.
This is the face we got when we told her it was now time to go to bed. I think Nik agrees that she may have a little too much attitude.
It's daddy day and the boys decided to have a little fun.
Daddy and his babies.
Peek-a-boo daddy!
Hey, good lookin' what are you up to?
Both kiddos were tired out from playing with daddy all morning. 
Looks real comfy.
Happy Birthday Nan!
Family shot at dinner.
Someone is happy to be at the birthday party.
Little Miss L. helping Nan blow out her candles.
Little Miss L. licked all the icing off her piece and that of others' but left all the cake...
after the icing overload, someone crashed.
My little angel.