Easter Pics

love all the pink!

We did LMS' egg hunt on Saturday, but she insisted on getting dressed up in her Easter dress first :)

I was working on the produce crate that day (its first gray wash is drying here), and LMS decided to "hide" some eggs for me. I think she was practicing for next year for TLM.

The next day I broke out our new camera- we finally decided to bite the bullet and buy a dslr camera and tripod- and we did some Easter pics. I didn't have time to play with all the settings, so these are all shot in auto. I do like having the background blurred out, but I know I have a lot to learn.

a note on LMS' bangs: she recently decided they were too long and cut them herself. I'd left the scissors out so I'd remember to cut them for her, but she didn't give me a chance to. Oddly enough, this is the first time she's ever done such a thing. At least it was only her bangs- they'll grow out soon enough.

Cute kiddos!

LMS and I were working quickly to catch photos before he fell over- he's not completely stable yet

After I took some photos, LMS decided she needed to take some as well (Mr M was out of town for work so missed all this), and she took the two below:

Sunday Funny

Isn't this a cute photo of Little Miss Sunshine and The Little Mister?

I had to laugh when I saw this one, though :)

"Produce Crate" Cooler Cover {Stash-Buster Project}

My bins of wood scraps are taking over the shed.

{no pictures because the shed is such a disaster area right now!}

Luckily, I've been thinking about several projects that could use some of that wood. Here's the first one I came up with.

-----------------------------------

The CSA we order from delivers to our home as part of the deal (so nice!), but since we're not always home on delivery day, we leave a cooler out on the front porch. And it stays on the porch all the time because there's nowhere to store it in the house (and I'd forget to put it out).

Yeah, it's not the prettiest thing around. I think the label that we never got around to taking off even though we bought this cooler years ago really adds something to it. Not something good...

(Mr M replaced the doorknob awhile ago and it required some sanding around the knob area and I haven't gotten around to repainting the door yet, hence the odd tan circle around the doorknob)

I've been pondering a solution for months now, and I eventually decided that making a "produce crate" to fit over the cooler would be a good solution. I finally had the time and energy (and the weather cooperated at the same time) to get started.

In looking through my wood stash, I found some long strips of plywood leftover from some previous project. Maybe the first shelves I built for LMS' closet? I haven't used that wood for anything else. They weren't cabinet grade oak plywood, though I do have some of those that are being used in some other projects I'm working on, and have a bit of a rustic feel to them.

the strips in front are the ones I used for this project. 

the other pieces are for two other projects I'm working on.

After measuring the wood and the cooler and drawing the plans for the crate and figuring out how to get all the pieces I needed out of the wood available, I got started building the crate.

I originally intended to have 1x2s or 2x2s in the corners, but I was able to line up the slats in such a way that they're all interconnected and quite sturdy. It does make it look a little less like an actual crate, but I'm ok with that.

I was going for a rustic look, so didn't bother breaking out the Kreg jig- all the screws are visible.

After the build was complete, I attached the lid with hinges and added a handle. I should have painted them before I attached them but I was working on it late at night and in the morning was too lazy to take them back off. I did tape the handle off, but not the hinges, then sprayed them with some ORB spray paint.

you can see the overspray on the hinges, but I knew it wouldn't be noticeable when I was finished

I used slats to hold the lid together, and sprayed the hinges on the inside, though in retrospect I probably should have just left them alone

I made stencils with my Silhouette vinyl cutter and placed them on the front and the lid, taped off around them, and sprayed them with black spray paint. I removed the stencils right away and let them dry a bit before I got to work distressing everything. It looked very new and raw- not old and weathered at all. {but I forgot to take a picture before I started the aging process}

close-up of the handle. I sprayed it with black spray paint, then washed some gray paint on top of that, then let the sander hit it in a couple spots

To age the crate, I first sanded the stenciled words. Then I brushed on watered-down gray paint, then some watered-down black paint. Some spots (especially the edges) I used less water and more paint for some variation. I just layered the paint till I liked how it looked: like it's seen some time in the fields.

I didn't have any thick sisal or cotton rope for the handles so I braided some clothesline and then soaked it in watered-down gray paint for a bit. After that I rubbed a bit a black paint on it here and there. I drilled some holes in the sides and threaded the ropes through and knotted them on the inside.

I added chain to the inside of the lid to keep the lid from falling open or whacking the wall behind it. I first thought of using the same chain I used on the shoe bin, but there wasn't enough leftover, so I used some of the chain I used on the blanket cubby.

I didn't paint the inside because most of it won't be visible. 

This is why I shouldn't have sprayed the hinges- it looks kind of ugly.

The last step was to put it on the porch, put the cooler in it, and step back and admire my work.

I love how it turned out! You can still see a bit of the red, but it's not as visible and it's not an eyesore  anymore.

An added bonus to this project: it almost didn't cost a cent! I had almost everything sitting around: the gray and black paint, the spray paint, the wood, the clothesline, the screws, the washers, and the chain. The only things I had to buy were the hinges and the handle. Though I actually bought them a couple months ago in anticipation of this project, so technically they were in my stash too :)

Stay tuned for more projects that use items we have on hand. I have some more woodworking projects plus some sewing projects in mind.

Finding the Silver Lining

I was talking with a couple friends about our miscarriages and one of them mentioned learning something from her miscarriage.

I'd never really thought about learning something from my miscarriages.

However, it didn't take very long to think of something I learned from each miscarriage- I'd just never articulated it as such.

The first miscarriage showed me that I could actually get pregnant. We'd been trying for several years at that point without success, so even though we lost the baby, we had finally gotten pregnant. A year later, I was pregnant with Little Miss Sunshine.

The second miscarriage (when LMS was just over a year old) helped me be patient while waiting for The Little Mister to join us. I had a hard time with the second miscarriage and decided I'd rather not get pregnant at all than have another miscarriage. And for almost 6 years I didn't get pregnant, and that was ok. If we had gone that long without anything at all happening, it would have been very frustrating and discouraging. Instead, I didn't really stress about not getting pregnant and focused on trying to get healthy and stay busy. It was during this time that we discovered the celiac and started working through all the food sensitivities that I've developed over the years.

Although the timeline of growing our family has not been what we thought it would be, even the bumps along the way have helped us move forward. Have you had a similar experience?

Sunday Funny

playing soccer again now that it's warmer

A conversation from a few weeks ago, when we had yet another snow day:

LMS was frustrated because Mr M wouldn't go outside and play in the snow with her because he tweaked his back a couple days before and it hurt to move.

LMS: "I need a fake husband."

Me: "What?!"

LMS (matter-of-factly): "To play outside with me."

Me: "Umm, no. That's not how it works."

Here Come the Romans!

At history club this week we talked about the Romans and had lots of fun activities for the kids.

They learned a few Latin phrases, then got "tattooed".  Good thing Crayola markers aren't indelible! LMS requested a trident as the symbol of her cohort because she's a daughter of Neptune. 

(Guess who's been listening to the Percy Jackson books)

Roman soldiers built a lot of roads, so the kiddos got to do some roadbuilding as well. You start out with rocks (grapes and gf corn puffs) and top them with smaller rocks and pebbles (raisins and granola), fill in the cracks with sand (crushed gf animal crackers), then spread cement (jelly or sun butter) over it all before adding paving stones (gf graham crackers, plantain chips, and chocolate bars). Then the people and animals (gf animal crackers) could use the road. 

I didn't think it was too appetizing a mixture, but the kids enjoyed them. It does make me wonder how messy a process actual road building was. Here's the wreckage leftover from our endeavors:

They also made simple "Roman" sandals out of vinyl and yarn. They were time consuming enough that we only did one per child.

Group photo of our one-sandaled Roman soldiers:

LMS is second from the left

There was a few other activities as well, but I didn't get pictures of them.

The Little Mister sat around looking very cute, as usual.

Such a fun group! 

Adding Caster Wheels to our Lego Table

This project has been on my to-do list for several months now, and I finally managed to get it done. We love the Lego table I built last summer, but it is very heavy and moving it is difficult and always results in a wrinkled rug. I considered cutting the legs off and just installing caster wheels in their place (too difficult with how heavy the table is) or screwing the wheels to the bottoms of the legs (would raise the table too high and look awkward), but after some further thought I decided to add the wheels behind the legs. The thought was that the legs would mostly hide the wheels, but raise the table up just enough to allow it to be moved around more easily.

notice the wrinkled rug in front of the closest leg

I knew it wouldn't be difficult, and it ended up being even easier than I thought it would be, though I did have a bit of a false start.

After drilling pilot holes, I screwed each wheel into the frame under the bottom shelf.

holes marked and drilled

wheels on

After doing all four, I righted the table and realized the wheels were just a smidge too small: I couldn't easily move the table. So I dug through my scrap bin (which is very full and I need to come up with some projects to use up all my scraps) and found a length of lattice left over from when I did the board and batten in the guest room. It's not very thick, but I hoped it would be enough to lift the legs off the floor.

I cut four pieces to size, predrilled some holes, then attached them to each corner with wood glue and a screw. All that was left was to screw each wheel back in place and check to see if it was enough.

lattice piece with holes marked and drilled and attached to the table

you can just see the lattice between the table frame and the wheels

all the wheels on

It was!

wheels on

You can see the wheels a bit depending on which direction they're turned, but they're not super obvious. And even better, the table can be easily moved, but two of the wheels have locks to keep it from moving when I don't want it to go anywhere.

in its usual position

Being able to easily move the table makes it much more useful. Mr M and I like to have the table closer to whichever couch we're sitting on. We can put our feet up or put a laptop on it to watch a show on Netflix. Now one of us can move the table (instead of both of us together) close to the couch then easily push it back when we're done. I'm hoping it will also decrease the severity of the bruises I sometimes get. I'm not always as spatially aware as I should be and have run into the corner several times (aka I'm a klutz). If the table moves instead of sitting like a rock, the impact won't be as bad.

snugged up to the couch

next to the love seat

I still need to paint it, but I haven't quite decided on the color. I'm working on a cabinet for our bedroom and I love the color I used and want to use it in the living room, but I haven't quite decided which piece to use it on.

Sunday Funny

Opening the car door to get TLM out of his carseat, this is what I found:

looking awfully happy to be plastered with stickers

I asked LMS why she did it, and she responded "It wasn't me, it was Nanny!"

this must be how she managed it

That's right, blame the inanimate toy that can't defend itself....

6 Months

General Conference was this past weekend, and we realized that it's been 6 months since the last General Conference weekend, which was when The Little Mister decided to make his entrance. It doesn't seem like it's been 6 months already!

Happy half birthday, little guy!

At his 6 month checkup he weighed 18.25 pounds (I'm definitely starting to feel that when I carry him around). He's slightly under average for height and slightly over average of weight and is keeping a consistent growth pattern.

Food:
* LMS started eating solid foods at 5 1/2 months, and inhaled the rice cereal we offered. She never had problems eating food and has always loved eating.

* TLM is very interested in food, but hasn't quite got the mechanics of swallowing down. He's working on it and is making progress as we feed him small amounts of food.

really not sure about those sweet potatoes

yes, that is one of his sister's old bibs that for some reason we still had sitting around

* He is grain free for now, and we're following the first food suggestions from Nourishing Traditions, which is a whole foods approach that focuses on nutrient dense foods. Foods such as bone broth, pastured egg yolks, pastured beef/bison liver, butternut squash, avocado, sweet potato, and so on. It's stuff we already eat, except the liver, which has been languishing in the freezer while I get up the nerve to try out a couple recipes. He likes the egg and liver, but isn't super fond of the squash and sweet potato.

happy to be "feeding" himself some squash

I'm not sure how much actually made it in his mouth

* He firmly believes that he needs to be drinking out of my water bottle. "If mommy is drinking from it, it must be good, right?" If I'm drinking from my water bottle, he'll reach up and try to grab it from me.

he's got it, but he's not quite sure how to get it to his mouth

* He is happy to have his own water bottle now, but hasn't quite figured out how to use it.

Other things:
* He's figured out he's supposed to smile for pics, so it's a lot easier to get smiley pics now. Unfortunately, this means that he tries to smile when I'm trying to get a pic of him being grumpy.

* Tummy time: LMS hated tummy time. In her mind, 30 seconds was 30 seconds too long. TLM doesn't seem to mind. He'll lay on a blanket and play with toys while LMS and I do schoolwork. I think this has helped him reach the point where he's trying to crawl (way earlier than LMS did). He can raise himself up on his hands and knees, but isn't quite coordinated enough to actually move his hands forward. It won't be long though....

* He's figured out how to blow raspberries, and likes to blow them a lot.

* I stored some of LMS' old baby toys and have been hauling them around the last couple years. I pulled them out the other day and they've both had fun playing with them.

* TLM is generally a happy baby and has a good sense of humor. He'll laugh at funny faces we make or funny voices we use or silly songs we sing.

* When he's tired, he jumps on our legs. Not sure why, but if he's jumping, it's time to lay him down. He also tends to pop his thumb in when he's tired, but can usually be redirected to his pacifier.

* We're finally transitioning him to his crib. LMS was in her crib by 3 or 4 months, but her sleep patterns were a lot different. I've noticed he does tend to sleep longer in the crib, possibly because I don't respond to every little sound since I can't hear them anymore, so he stirs, but goes back to sleep. He does still wake up around 4 or 5, wanting to eat, and makes enough noise for me to wake up and get him and feed him. LMS has slept through that so far. She begged to have him in her room, so for now they're sharing a room.

snuggly selfie

*We're starting to see the toddler he'll soon be, which is fun, but bittersweet.

he really wanted to do some exploring at the park, but he's just not mobile enough yet