A Barstool Makeover!

Okay.  So I have a set of barstools that I've had for many many years.  When I bought my first house (before I was even married) I needed barstools.  I didn't really want to go out and buy any.  I had a friend that had some extra barstools because after she got married she decided she didn't need them anymore.  So, we made a trade.  I bought her dinner at Red Lobster and she gave me these barstools.  Originially, there were three.  Over the years, one ended up at a church.  I think.  Anyway.  The barstools.  They are functional.  My kids sit on them every morning and eat breakfast while they watch My Little Pony Friendship is Magic.  But they were just not cute.  The white on the legs didn't match the white of my kitchen cabinets.  They are dented and dinged and had spots on them.  I was really kind've embarrassed of them.  I've been wanting to paint them for a while now.  But I have never been brave enough!
Well, I summoned the courage yesterday to paint them.  I knew I had the supplies in the garage.  The kids were being well behaved.  So.  I did it.  I painted them.  These are the pictures of the process.  I am NO FURNITURE PAINTER.  That is for sure!  I take shortcuts.  I make mistakes.  I get paint on my clothes and underneath my fingernails.   Anyway....here are the results. 

I'm honestly afraid they might be TOO RED.  They are very red.  I had hoped the stain would mute the redness a bit.  My daughter said...."Mom, I don't really like them.  They are too red."

So.  What do you think? 

The "Before"

My painting supplies...

Primed and ready to go....

And wouldn't you know it...I got this far into the project and ran out of paint!! Had to make a trip to Lowe's to get some more paint. 

After I got them all painted (and getting some on my "good" shorts too -b/c I was in such a hurry to do my project I forgot to change clothes!) I was ready to distress.  I just grabbed some sand paper I had handy and sanded the edges and the foot rests. 

I used this stain.  The  last time I stained something was in the middle of winter.  I definitely noticed that it dries much quicker when it's 95 degrees outside!

And here they are in the kitchen.  Yep.  Very red.

A close up...

One more close up.  Be honest.  Too red???

31 Days to Clean Challenge

I bought this e-book MANY months ago.  I had stumbled upon it from a blog and they were having a sale and I just had to have it.  I even PRINTED every page and clipped it all together.  Then, I put it in my nightstand drawer.  And NEVER opened it!!  Well, NOW I have a reason to get it out, dust it off and read what is inside. Homemakers Challenge has a blog that is sponsoring a 31 Days to Clean Challenge!  You can get to the blog here:   homemaker  There are several ladies who have decided to join the challenge.  We will be posting our progress and thoughts and ideas.   I can't wait to see what I learn!!  Anyway...just thought I would share....anyone want to join me!?!?!

Vintage Photo Display

I'm sure that if you follow decorating/photography/home blogs then you've seen some of the ways that people are using old wood framed windows in various types of projects.  I've seen several ideas out there in blog land that I've really  liked!  One in particular is to use an old window to display vintage photos. 
Recently I was at my Mother and Father-in-Laws house and they told us that the house down the street from theirs was about to be destroyed.  It was so old and hadn't been taken care of so the lot was purchased to build a new house on.  Anyway, we had permission to go down to the house (no one lived there anymore) and rummage through to see if there was anything of interest.  We were warned that there probably wasn't anything worth keeping but I knew I just HAD to look for myself :)  So, we all walked down there and it was bad.  Totally trashed (it had been broken into) and just hadn't been very well taken care of.  While we were there I spotted this window!! I told my sweet husband that I had to take that window home and he was like....why?!?!?  I already had this project idea in mind :)  Then, before we left I noticed that ALL the windows in the house were framed wooden windows (3x3 frames).  I said to my Father-in-law...if they are going to just destroy this house anyway, could I have a couple of those windows???  I think he thought I was crazy too!!  But, thankfully, he saved a few of them for me!!  I already have a fall project idea in mind for one of those :)  Plus, I promised one to my BFF, Stefanie. 
So, anyway...that's my window story.  Before we left I found an old Ethan Allen wooden side table/magazine table too.  When it is cooler I plan to take it outside and repaint it. 

This project is just the old window that I wiped down (as best I could!).  We hung three rows of twine and I bought a package of little clothes pins.  I have old pictures of my family displayed.  I need to get some old black and white photos of Matt's family so I can include those as well.  So, Ladonna, if you're reading this, I need a couple old photos :)

Homeschooling. What I've learned So Far.

What I've Learned About Homeschooling This Week....(and I've only just begun!)

1.) Thinking you can "hurry up and get through the morning" is a big mistake.  Rushing only creates stress.  For me.  For everyone. 

2.) Thinking I can skip my morning quiet time with God is a BIG mistake.  Taking that little moment for myself to put God's word into my heart is essential to a good day.  For me.  For everyone. 

3.) It is hard to get re-focused on classwork after lunch.  Must think of a smoother transition to this afternoon time. 

4.) It is hard to get re-focused after field trip days. 

5.) Having lesson time with a 3 year old screeching train noises and a baby screeching baby noises is tough.  Probably better to just wait until the babies morning naptime to get started. 

6.) For me to get all my stuff done I need to get up at 5:45am.  Or 6:00am.  When I sleep until 6:30, it makes for a rushed stressful morning.

7.) If I'm going to get up at 5:45-6:00, I must start going to bed before 11:30.  But staying up late is the only time that the house is quiet.  I need quiet.  To think.  To look at a catalog.  To read The Help. 

8.) When I think, "I got the hang of this homeschooling thing...it's not that tough" then I can expect the next day to be much much tougher. 

9.) I have a LOT to learn about "this homeschooling thing". 

10.) This "homeschooling thing" is hard work!!

Road Trip Through Caddo County

Since we took the kids to Red Rock Canyon today and since we were going to be in Caddo County anyway, I was able to convince my sweet husband to go out of his way to take me on some adventuring!! (He drives through rural Oklahoma counties every day for his job and he drives a LOT.  So his idea of a day off is not to drive through more rural Oklahoma counties!) Anyway...I have stumbled upon genealogy and I really enjoy it!! I just wish I could KNOW more about my Great Great Grandparents and their children.  Who they were.  Why they moved to Oklahoma (I'm guessing to try to get land during all of the land runs and allotments) so they could farm.  Anyway...I have a lot of family roots in Caddo County so we drove to the Murry-Binger Cemetery to see where my Great Great Grandparents are buried.  I try to photograph as many headstones as I can with names I'm familiar with so I can have a reference of names/dates when I'm working on my family tree.  We also drove through Bridgeport.  This is pretty much a ghost town now.  I'm not sure if my Great Grandmother ever lived there or not but I know she taught there.  She was a second and third grade teacher there in the early 1920's.  We drove through Bridgeport.  Or what was left of it.  All I saw was a few houses, several run down houses, an abandoned Post Office and a church.  No sign of a school.  But maybe I just didn't know where to look?  I doubt there was one there, though.
After our drive to the cemetery in Binger we drove to Anadarko.  There is a Pioneer museum there.  It was supposed to be open.  The hours on the sign and online said it would be.  But, alas.  No.  It was not.  Much to my disappointment.  Guess I will have to go back.  Then Matt dropped me off at the Caddo County Courthouse to look for OLD probate records (Wills) so I could make a copy of them.  Again, for names and dates for my family tree. I found the will and some interesting info about my Great Great Uncle, Elza.  But when I went to get the wills for my Great Grandfather it was gone.  Yep.  Gone.  The will for his father was gone too.  Seriously?  Why would you steal a record?  Or "borrow"?  Or look at it and NOT put it back in the right place?  There was NO sophisticated ways to manage documents back then - just a number and an envelope.  There were THOUSANDS of documents down in that dark scary basement.  And the two I wanted most were missing.  UGH!!  So, after all that I met up with Matt across the street at the DQ.  Yep.  The tiniest DQ that you ever did see is across from the courthouse.  And I had a Moolatte.  And it was yummy. 

The road that leads to Bridgeport...

 Post Office...

 I just KNOW this house was beautiful once! 

YES...this was a horse.  Just roaming around the streets.  Saw him eating some hay that was just sitting alongside the road.  CRAZY stuff!!

 Entrance into the cemetery...

 This is just one (and the biggest) of about 5 fires we saw today... 

 

Field Trip to Red Rock Canyon

Since we have decided to homeschool, we have freedom with our schedule!! I love that part of it for sure!!  Matt that he had a few days he could take off from work so we planned a couple of activities to do with the kids.  (Violet stayed the night with Grandma)  Yesterday we went to the Science Museum.  Everyone loves the Science Museum.  We even bought a yearly membership.  I will blog about that place at another time.  Today, we took a little road trip.  We drove to Hinton, Oklahoma and visited Red Rock Canyon.  We packed a picnic lunch in the kid's new lunch bags and found a nice shady spot to eat.  It was a beautiful day!!  Red Rock Canyon is a beautiful place.  The nice thing was, we practically had the entire thing to ourselves!  No one was there!  I will say, it was HOT, though.  It was probably about 99 degrees or so.  Maybe it broke 100.  Not sure.  We did find a short trail to go on.  It was only 2/10ths of a mile!  It was still a hot walk, but it was fun.  I definitely want to visit again in the fall when the leaves are changing and we can hike more in the cooler weather!

Here is Momma with her sweet kiddos!

What a beautiful trail!

Picnic Time!

I sure love these guys!! (and my sweet Violet at Grandma's house!!!)

Madeline leaving her mark....(didn't see until afterwards that they had rules against doing this! oops)

Snack Time!

Rush Springs Watermelon Festival 2011

This past saturday was the Rush Springs Watermelon Festival!!  We started going to the Watermelon Festival several years ago and now it has become a tradition!  (I wasn't able to make it the past two years, though.  I was sick one year and last year I had a brand new baby Violet).  Anyway...this was the first time in 3 years I was able to go.  We LOVE the watermelon AND the cantaloupe!!  We've been a little spoiled this past year with Matt's job because he drives through Rush Springs once a week.  So, we've had yummy watermelons and cantaloupe ALL summer!! 
If you've never been to the Watermelon Festival, it is full of small town fun :)  They have a little carnival, games, food, watermelon, seed spitting contests, and arts and crafts!  This year, we limited the rides.  Philip was the only one to go (because we had JUST taken the girls to Kiddie Park in Bartlesville and those rides were .25cents each, and these were $2.50 each!!) Anyway, Philip has been wanting to ride a roller coaster so we let him do that.  It was his first time.  He was VERY nervous at first but then on about the 3rd circle around he decided that he loved it!! 
We shared watermelon, bought our t-shirt, ate a snowcone and walked and looked at booths.  It was a lot of fun!!  Oh, and we were really blessed - the weather was in the low 90s instead of the 110s that it has been all summer!!! 

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the day....

Me. A Homeschool Mom.

  


"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.  These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.  Impress them on your children." 

- Deutoronomy 6:5-6

 

     Hello!  Here we are approaching mid-August so I thought it would be a good time to update my blog!  I’ve said this before, I’m not really sure which of my family and friends read this (or even strangers?) but I know some of you do.  So I wanted to update regarding a recent decision my husband and I have made. Our oldest daughter has attended a WONDERFUL private Christian school for the past two years (K and 1^st grade).  We loved the school.  She loved the school.  She was fed both academically and spiritually.  She made many friends and had wonderful teachers.   I had visions of Madeline and her brother and sisters all attending this school from Kindergarten until graduation.  Well, when we had our 4^th beautiful baby we began to start asking, “Can we afford to send 4 children to private school?”  In my mind we would just figure out a way.  In Matt’s mind the answer is, “No”.  Or at least, “Not right now”.  So.  This is when things started happening. 

     Last April my BFF Stefanie said something or other about going to a Homeschool Convention.  She said it was FREE for first time attendees so I thought, “hmmmm…..I wanna go!”  I wanted to see what it was all about and what they said.   Well, we went to a few of the workshops and we walked around and looked at many of the vendors.  I thought, “I could do this!”  Then I went home and thought to myself, “What was I thinking?  I can’t do that!”  You see, homeschooling is something I had never even considered before.  Because in my mind, my babies were going to private school.  That was that.  Until the student loan bills started coming in.  And we moved into our new house.  In the meantime, I felt like the Lord was still working in my heart to show me that homeschooling was an option.  I prayed about it.  I visited the public school district where we live.  I talked to the principal at the private school.  I attended several homeschool meetings/workshops.  I even applied for a part time job – so I could afford the extra cost of the private school. (but didn’t get a SINGLE call back!!)    Everything I’ve done has affirmed in my heart that the Lord wants us to homeschool our babies.  At least for right now.  I have said that I don’t know that I feel the Lord leading me right now to commit to this decision for the entirety of their education.  But for the year 2011-2012 He has.  And it has been amazing!  The Lord has blessed me with a best friend who is going to walk this path with me.  He has laid it on the heart of my brother and his wife to homeschool their children – more hands for me to hold as I migrate down this unknown path.  And now several other friends who are going to homeschool.  So, I will not be alone!!  My kids are extremely excited!!  I am excited.  I have purchased curriculum.  I have bought supplies.  I have visions of fieldtrips to the zoo and the barns at the State Fair.  I am one of those first time homeschool moms that the other experienced homeschool moms might giggle at – I’ve decorated our extra playroom to be our little “One Room Schoolhouse” and the kids are excited.  So….this is where our journey starts!  I’m sure to be updating along the way.  I plan to do a future post about WHY I am excited about homeschooling.  And WHY I feel like it is right for my children.  So, stay tuned J