2011 Beach Trip: Day 1

We had a pretty good trip down to the beach.  Despite the traffic and a minor fender bender, things went pretty smoothly.  As soon as we unloaded our luggage though, we headed to the beach!!!!  I couldn't wait to see what Mia would do!  This was her second trip to the beach, but she was only 5 months last year, so I doubt she remembers. :)

Of course she chose to ride on the golf cart.  I mean hey...why ride in a truck when you have a perfectly good golf cart loaded with your cousins?

Harbor Island is home to lots of alligators.  It's hard to drive by this look out without stopping.  There was only a little baby there this time.

Can you see it?  He was about 3 feet long.

Once we got to the beach, the kids took off!   Ahhhh!  Mia was already having TONS of fun!  It's crazy how much joy it brings a mom to watch her child shrieking with excitement. :)

I'm not sure Mia knew exactly what she thought of the ocean at first.  She quickly warmed up to it though.  Check out just a couple of the videos and pics we took. :)

I call this video "Mia + ocean = pure joy!"

Caleb pointing out the ocean to Mia

Checking it out

Not wanting to let go of Daddy's hand just yet

Ok...I'll touch it!

It didn't take long for her to fully embrace it!  She LOVES to splash!

"What?"

:)

I love that the water is so calm where we stay.  We always go to Hunting Island for a day (a mile down the road) to give the kids some time with bigger waves, but by the end of the day they are asking to go back to the calm water.  It's perfect for kids. :)

Chair Makeover

Even though my husband thought this chair was "old" and would go nice in a more formal setting, I quickly accepted my mother-in-law's offer when she wanted to give it to me.  I loved it!  It had so much character!  All it needed was some cute fabric and a paint job.  Check it out...

Chair in its original state.  GREAT condition!

I put two coats of paint on it.  

(I hated to paint over the nice wood, but it just didn't look good with my new fabric.)

Found this fabric for 50% off!

I didn't take the other fabric off, I just stapled this on top of it.  It definitely took a bit longer than I anticipated, but I got it done in about 45 minutes (WITH a toddler running around!)  She did however spill the cat's water all over the kitchen floor.  ha!

You can see the chair in this picture I took of the T.V. cabinet makeover.  I haven't made a pillow for it yet, but I'll get to that soon.  :)  I may still distress it as well, but for now I am busy tackling other projects.  After all, I just realized the other day that I am already in my THIRD trimester!  Where did the time go?

P.S...I love how the bird in the painting is the same color as one of the stripes in the chair.  Funny how it matched so perfectly.

Beach Trip 2011 Sneak Peek...

We're back!  We had a blast at the beach, but I am EXHAUSTED now.  I'm planning a more thorough post soon, but here's a sneak peek of our fun week.

This is my absolute FAVORITE.  It looks awesome on a larger scale.  :)

This was low tide at the Point.  I totally saw a shark in these waters a few days later.  Ha!

Sand in your toes and your shadow?  Fun for a one-year-old!

Mmmm....

Straight chillin'...

She rides best up on Daddy's shoulders.  Otherwise she just wants to run around everywhere.  I was SOOOOOO thankful for Caleb last week!!!!

More to come! :) .....

Kitchen Table Makeover

When I bought my house 6 years ago, my dad bought me a kitchen table.  He got a crazy deal on it. (I think he got it for around $65.)  It's been a great table, however now that I am home everyday, I have noticed how small my house is.  In order to create more kitchen space, I started the hunt for a pedestal table.  Good grief!  Do you know how expensive those things can be?  Even the ones on Craigslist are at least $200!  However, I happened to spy one for $75.  I emailed the lady right away, but a few hours later I found one at a consignment store that was 10 minutes from my house.  (instead of 45)  They were asking $110, but when I told them there was one on CL for $75, they matched the price!!!!  (My mom ended up getting the one that was on CL.)

Here is the beauty in its original state.

Not what I was looking for, so I started sanding!!!!

2 chairs came with the table, and I found 4 more at a yard sale for $20!!!!  (That's an incredible deal.  Just start pricing chairs...you'll see!)  So my awesome mother-in-law got started priming and painting the chairs.

Look how pretty the wood was once I sanded it!!!!!  I painted everything but the top, and I lightly sanded it to give it a distressed look.

Then I stained the top.  I would have chosen a lighter color, but my sister-in-law already had a can of this, so I jumped on it.  Free stain?  Yes please!  I topped it off with a sealant.  We LOVE it.  We have a TON more space in our kitchen. :)  (The finished product is actually a little lighter.  I ended up sanding it down a little more bc it was just too dark for me.)

Best part about this makeover?  

Dad bought table for $65.

I used table for 6 years.

I sold table on Craigslist in 2 days for $165.

I bought new table $75 + 4 chairs $20 = $95 on new table.

$165 (what I sold old table for) - $95 (what I spent on 'new' table) = $70.  Yeap!  I MADE money off of getting a new table. :) 

Coffee Table Makeover

This coffee table was one of my first "makeovers" that I did.  I have been wanting a new table for a LONG time.  I bought this one when I moved into my house 6 years ago.  It was great then, but Mia bangs her toys on the glass all of the time (there have been times where I seriously thought the glass had broken) and crumbs get stuck in the crack around the edge.  

During a visit to my mom's work one day, I stumbled upon this table.  It had marble inserts that were broken, but I immediately fell in love with it!  And the best part about it...it was FREE!  I went to Home Depot to have wood cut for the inserts and got to painting right away!

The wood wasn't exactly the right size, so I had to sand it down some.

After a couple coats of paint and some light sanding, I got my new coffee table!

 DRUM ROLL PLEASE....

We LOVE it!  It is lower than our last table, NOT made of glass, and very easy to clean!

Distressed details make it look old.

LOVE the character! :)

The best part of this project?  The total cost of the table was $15 (cost of wood for inserts).  I sold my other coffee table for $65 on Craigslist within 2 days!  I made an easy profit of 50 bucks AND I have a new table!  Instead of spending money to buy a new one, I MADE money!  Gotta love when that happens! :)

T.V. Cabinet Re-Do

So...I've been spending a lot of my times the past two months re-doing my house. :)

Now that I am home every day, I started to feel claustrophobic.  So...time for a change!  I LOVE change.  I used to rearrange my bedroom when I was little, couldn't tell you how many times I rearranged my classroom, and now my house.

In order to save (and at times make) money, I've been finding pieces at yard sales and consignment stores to re-do.  Here is my latest.

Bought this T.V. cabinet for 45 buckeroos at a yard sale.  It had scratches, but those were easily sanded out.  Plus, I knew I was going to distress it, so I liked the imperfections.  (It made me feel even better that the next yard sale I went to was selling a similar one for close to $200.)

My mother-in-law had the paint, so I only had to spend a little time and about $10 for the knobs to make it look like this...

It looks way better in person.  In fact, I bought it to re-sell on Craigslist, but Caleb and I liked it so much we kept it for ourselves. :)  The bottom has been GREAT, because we hide some of Mia's toys under there.  She also likes to crawl in it and play peek-a-boo.

Hopefully I'll get to posting more of the before and after projects I've been working on. :)

#1 Dad in the WORLD!!!!

My dad...

...the most amazing, hard-working, self-sacrificing, big-hearted, Mr. Fix It man a girl could ever ask for in a dad!  

I could go on and on with award winning adjectives that describe him, but all you really need to know is that he is honestly the closest human to God's love for me that I have ever met.  I love my daddy and always will!!!  Thanks for being such an AMAZING dad, and thanks for fixing my fridge today!

(More to come on my thankfulness for my dad as we round the corner to Father's Day!)