A Thrift Shop Find, the beginning of my DIY Endeavors

I've had the desire to purchase and refinish old pieces of furniture. I finally purchased my first piece and have started the process! My $65 Dresser.

The Painted Dresser

The top was left natural, but has some burns and water stains.

(But, that's for another post!)

The Products!

I started off by cleaning the entire piece with Mineral Spirits

Then, using my Heavy Duty Gloves and a paintbrush, I applied the Klean Strip and let it

sit for about 15 minutes. Let it do it's work!

Using a plastic putty knife (rather than metal, which could nick the wood),

the paint came off easily! Then, using Mineral Spirits, I washed the piece again.

Did the same to all the drawers

Voila! Before I knew it, I had the whole piece stripped!

Now, the next step is to stain it. The wood was beautiful underneath.

I'm not a pro, but I'm thinking it's Oak, so I'd like try and keep the integrity of the natural wood.

I can't wait to finish the piece! Since we are in the process of moving, I'm guessing I won't get to it anytime soon!

It's official!

After 181 weeks or 2 1/2 years we are finally moving into our own home!

The last 2 1/2 years have been a long season of joblessness and living with the Clarks and Teamans. We are forever grateful for their kindness and love while providing us with homes and allowing us to live with them.

BUT, we are so thankful to finally be in our own home again.

God has provided us with even MORE than we could have imagined.

We will be renting from a family we know at a homeschooling co-op, Learning Center.

The house:

Located in Elizabethtown

4 Bedrooms!

2 1/2 Baths!

Large Yard!

Family Room in the Daylight Basement!

Deck

A wonderful neighborhood

PLENTY of storage and lots of room to grow!

We start the cleaning and painting one week from today, March 14th. We are so excited and ready to make this home ours!

Getting Inspired

I've always been a fan of the "Do It Yourself" projects. I love the whole idea of re-purposing, transforming and bringing something from inspiration to fruition. I also love old things. Old homes, old furniture, old books, old quilts, old dishes and all things with character, items with a story.

I wish I could call myself an antiques enthusiast, but really that requires a huge investment of time AND money.

I have dreams of coming across that ultimate find. Becoming the reupholstering queen, of tiling, sanding and staining, filling my home with items I've loved and transformed.

But, for now, I'll start off small.

The short list.

1. Refinish our watermarked bed side tables. Time for a new look.

2. Make a headboard for our bed.

3. Paint my girls Bunk Beds an antique white.

So now you know where my mind wanders when I have nothing else going on. What I think about as I drift off to sleep. I'm dreaming, not of sugar plums and fairies, but of power tools, paint colors and flea market finds.

We're BACK!

So, because of some issues logging into my old email address, (Google did something to my password!!) I was unable to blog! BUT, I figured it out (had to go to an email I have not used in like 4 years!

There's just too much to catch up on, so I'll start with life now. :)

In the meantime, enjoy some pictures of our growing girlies...

Thankfulness & Homeschooling

Yesterday, I attended my first Learning Center Picnic.

I'm a homeschooling Mom? How did this happen? I'll be taking Nora to Learning Center a couple times a month for Music & Movement, Math Games and Art.

It doesn't seem so long ago, that I graduated in the sanctuary of Grace Chapel! As a Home Schooled student, I attended CHESS (both LC and CHESS meet at Grace Chapel) and had my graduation ceremony through CHESS.

Here I am, in a time of life, where I'll be responsible for the education of my children. I'm excited, astounded and a bit fearful of what the future holds. Will I be able to teach her all she needs to know? What if I can't do it?

Don't get me wrong, I know the practical. I know full well what a homeschooling household looks like. I know there will be days where my patience is tested, where my patience is exhausted, where my anger wins out.

But, I keep telling myself, there will be days of triumph. Days of memories. Days where patience prevails. Days of hope. Days that I will smile and laugh.

I'm thankful that I live in a place, where I have a choice in my child's education (at least for now). I'm thankful that God gives strength to the weak.

I'm thankful for women who have gone before me, taken this quest and succeeded!

I'm thankful for Co-op's like Learning Center, that build a support system. That don't leave you alone and floundering.

I'm thankful that despite all I am, she WILL learn. She will read. She will excel (maybe even in MATH!). God has molded her. God has a plan for her. I can't mess that up!

So, I embark on a new adventure for my life. I'm truly, officially a Home School Mom.

Remember When...

The last two weekends, we've had the pleasure of celebrating the marriages of some longtime family friends.

I decided to look through some photo's to remember some weddings of years past. Here is a walk down memory lane.

May 2005

Remember When Chris & Laura Ruhl got married?

Mike, Tim & Gabe

They look so young!

Mike, Tim, Cameron & Gabe

Destiny & Mike (FINALLY TOGETHER!)

a very little Elizabeth!

Janelle, Me, Destiny

Elizabeth & Brady

Tim & Brian

Janelle & The Lovely Bride, Laura

silly, wet, sandy girls

It's such a joy to see our girls play together, now that Elise is older. They bring laughter, smiles and DIRT to our lives!

Nora and Elise are NOT afraid to get dirty when they play. Here's some pictures of our silly, wet, sandy girls having fun outside.

Wildwood

Elise was such a mess this morning, that I thought getting her out of the house would minimize the fussiness! Well, it mostly worked!

We went to Wildwood (just moments from Dan and Amy's apartment). We spent some time in the Science Center, then walked on some of the trails.

Here's Nora exploring in the Center

Elise listening to Detective Muskrat

Theresa pointed this out, doesn't it look like a skull?

We found a turtle!

All the plant life around the lake

Elise loved exploring

I think she's going to be my explorer, she had to touch everything!

Thanks for coming with us Theresa!!