Dresser Rehab

I wanted to rehab a dresser into a TV stand.  You know, like all those cute ones you see on Pinterest?  Well, I came across this little beauty on Craigslist for $40.  Not a crazy bargain like I've seen on some blogs, but I think it's a pretty good deal.  First I removed all of the hardware, then removed the doors and drawers.

I did not sand this piece.  Not one single bit.  I purchased a quart of Zinsser Cover Stain Primer at Lowe's and got a FREE quart of Clark + Kensington Paint + Primer at ACE Hardware.  ACE occasionally has a Free Paint Saturday, so I snatched a quart during that time.  They will tint it for you and everything!  For FREE!  

Here are the doors after one coat of the primer and one coat of the paint.  I liked how it turned out, so I stopped here.  I was planning on painting another coat or two to give the dresser a more saturated look, but, I really liked this!

 Here are the drawers...same thing, 1 coat of primer, 1 coat of paint.

 The top

A close up of the paint

And the doors...Oh and the Hubs cut out the middle part of each door with a router.  We did this so the electronic components would be able to work with the remotes.  I plan on putting chicken wire in the holes to  make it look a little more rustic, but need to figure out how I want to "age" the chicken wire before stapling it to the backs of the doors.

The finished product.  I placed rope in the top drawers for the pulls, but will change those out as soon as I find something I like better.  This project took about a day.  Maybe two if you add more paint.

Hope you find this DIY semi easy.  I thought it was!  

Kid Sized Hammock

The boys wanted to swing in the backyard...well, we don't have a swing, so I came up with this idea.  It's my Moby wrap tied around my kitchen table and VIOLA! a kid sized hammock/swing :)

Human Milk Machine

That's what I feel like.  "MILT, MOMMY, MILT"  This is what my little Bean says to me when he wants to nurse.  It's been 2 years and 2 months of nursing this little guy.  Not to mention the other two that nursed for what seems like forever.  All in all, I've been nursing for 5 out of the 8 years my children have been alive.  GEEZ!  When I write it down, it seems like SUCH A LONG TIME!

My goal was to let my youngest self-wean himself.  BUT, it's taking FOREVER.  I know that there is no magical button inside their body that gets pushed at the age of 2 to stop nursing.  And I certainly didn't want to stop him myself, because, after all, he is the last baby we will have.  I'm conflicted with letting him continue or trying to stop him.  On the one hand, he definitely does not need it...it's a comfort thing now, but on the other hand, he's my last baby and I'm trying to hold on for dear life to the sweet, baby-like attributes of his childhood.

How can I say no to this little booger faced boy???

I want to savor every moment but I also want to go away for the weekend with the hubs.  We haven't taken an overnight vacation without the kids, ever.  It's been a LONG 8 years.  I feel like we deserve it.  It's not too selfish of us to want to take a break after 8 years, is it??

My problem for starting to wean him is, I just don't know how to start.  Seems silly, and not too hard of a problem to have, but I just don't know how to do it.  And, no, I haven't Google'd any sort of 'how-to' on the subject.  I probably won't.  I'm not a cry it out kind of mom, either.  I, personally, cave every time I try to do it.  Whether intentional or not.  We aren't those types of parents.  Don't get me wrong, for the parents who do this, my hat goes off to you!  I know it's a hard thing.  So good for  you for not caving in!  Also, to each his own.  Everyone has their own style of parenting that works best for their own family.  No judgement here.

So, to the matter at hand.  How did you stop nursing your baby?  Did you do it cold turkey?  Did you slowly decrease the number of times you nursed a day?  Bean nurses mostly at night, but also a little bit during the day.  I've noticed that if I'm a little late with lunch or snack, his first 'go to' is milt.  So, I've been trying to keep on schedule with that, and if I do find myself running behind and he asks for 'milt', then I immediately offer another food.  It seems to work 80% of the time.  If he's super tired, then the only thing that will quell his screaming and crying is nursing.

Any suggestions???

Here I Come to Save the Day!!!!!!

My friend Amber had a great idea to do a superhero playdate.  She made the buildings and brought a blue sheet (sky) and a white stuffed pillow (clouds) so I, er the kids, could pretend to be flying and protect the city from bad guys.  It was cute to see all the kids line up and "fly" through the air :)

 Bean's doing a nose dive into the buildings :-P

And here's Super Mommy!

She also brought a little craft to make the superhero masks.  It was great!

School's Out...Already????

Summer is upon us.  The last day of school is TOMORROW!  I don't know what we are going to do.  Thankfully, Turkey will continue to go to preschool 3 days a week.  I might even get to drop off Bean now and again.  The two older boys will be going to Camp Texas (aka - trip to G'ma and G'pa's house) in July.  They went last year and had a blast.  It will be a nice reprieve from the screamin and hollerin that takes place on daily basis.

Anywho, I was thinking, that I needed to get my end of year presents ready.  Stuff for the class, since this will be Angel's last year at this particular school (we moved to another district) and something for his teacher.  Well, Angel loves to dance, so my idea was to make everyone a CD with some of his favorite songs on it to remind them of him when he's gone.  Here's a list of the songs I compiled for the CD.  OH!  AND, we get to have a DANCE PARTY the last hour of school!!!!  Who doesn't love a dance party??  Thanks Anne, for being a cool teacher!

Here's the list of songs I compiled for a Rockin Summer :)

Glad You Came - The Wanted
Call Me Maybe - Carly Rae Jepsen
What Makes You Beautiful - One Direction
Gangnam Style - Psy
Good Feeling - Flo Rida
Stereo Hearts - Gym Class Heroes
Scream & Shout - will.i.am
We Are Young - FUN
Moves Like Jagger - Maroon 5
Party In The USA - Miley Cyrus
TTYLXOX - Bella Thorne
Ready or Not - Bridgit Mendler
Party Rock Anthem - LMFAO

These are the CD's I made.  Eventually, I'll get this up into the 'Printables' page as well.  As soon as the 'Printables' page is up and running :)

Green Smoothie of the Day

Today's smoothie has frozen pineapple, spinach, plain yogurt, a splash of orange juice, chia seeds, and vanilla protein powder.  It's tastes like a tropical drink, except I'm not laying on the beach.

Father's Day Gift Ideas

Father's Day is just around the corner.  I, for one, have not thought of anything to get the hubs.  I have some ideas, but have not been on the ball with executing them.  While I was perusing the internet for some ideas, I came across some I don't hate.  So for all of my lovely readers, I've compiled some pics and links to some Father's Day gifts that don't suck. :)

 RealCoake.com

A couple of years ago, I did something similar with etching sand and some drinking glasses.  My glasses said, "Keep Calm and Drink Beer".  I gave them to my dad.  The glasses were in a set of 4 from Target that looked like this.  Then I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut out a stencil and I used etching cream to finish it off.  They turned out great.  Sadly, I didn't take any pics.

Lemonade Makin Mama

Pretty Providence

Omaha Steaks

Williams-Sonoma

Craftionary

QCIdirect.com

Three Boys Are We

Last year, the boys made Daddy a Father's Day gift of their handprints.  It was super easy and free!  I had everything I needed to make this, so it was super simple.  You can see the how to's here.

I also thought about boudoir photos and looked some up, but thought they were too racy to post a pic of an actual photo.  I'll just link it to some I found on Pinterest.

Look Who Came for Some Breakfast

DIY Artwork Display

I've been meaning to post this, but just haven't gotten around to doing it...so here you go.  I recently acquired this awesome picture frame from a friend who got it for practically nothing on Craigslist.  It was gold and black and was coming apart at the seams.  The thing is huge!  4+ feet tall and a couple feet wide.  Well, I reinforced the seams with some "L" brackets, painted it black and stapled chicken wire to it.  Now it houses all of the boys artwork, awards, medals, etc.  It takes up a nice chunk of wall space that was otherwise empty.  

You can do this too!  Even if you can't find a giant frame, you can go to Home Depot or Lowes and purchase fancy trim, cut it to whatever size you want, staple it together and you've got yourself an awesome, cheap frame!