"M" is for McCutcheon

 

 

It all started with a $5 purchase at Good Will...



 

 

 

 

Primer...

 

 

 

Sprayed black...

 

 

 

Some fabric...

 

 

 

A little planning...

 

 

 

A little super glue...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Painting the "M"...

 

 

 

 

 

 

And all for under $10!

 

 

 

 

Introducing....Max and Ruby!

Do you remember trying to take a picture of your kids when they were two? Impossible, right?! Two, eight-week old kittens are just as hard to capture on film.

 

 

 

 

 

Yes, we are crazy. And, yes, we vowed "never to get pets again". And, yes, we are eating our words. There, unfortunately, comes a time in every parent's life when your children ask for, beg, cry, plead, or wish for a pet. We are finally giving in and suprised the kids on Saturday with two fo the cutest kittens ever.

 

 

Before the kids came in, I quickly attached bows to their collars (which are actually watch bands:) so that they could tell which one was a boy and which was a girl.

 

 

 

 

We had them come in the front door so that

we could suprise them properly.

 

 

 

All three girls are IN LOVE and Carson thought they were fun for about a full minute before moving on....I'm so glad we were thinking just of him when we decided to get the boy (said with much sarcasm).

 

 

 

Ruby!!

 

 

 

Max!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cate carries them around like toy dolls

and they actually seem to like it!

 

 

I couldn't help but think of this picture below when we were bringing them home.

These poor, cute kitties had NO idea what they were in for.

 

 

 

Who Needs Disney World?!

Photos of all of my many house projects are coming very soon, but I had to first start back (after my long sabatical) on a recent camping trip that we took! I think I'm hooked on camping:) Seriously, who needs Disney World when you have all of this so close by?!

We had been waiting to start camping again until our kids were old enough to sleep in a new place and I only had one child to keep away from fire pits. And, I think we made it! Even though every moment of the weekend wasn't perfect, there were a few that I will always look back on as being as close as you come. 

Willow River State Park

Packing to go camping almost took an entire day.

While Alan was setting up the tent, I took the kids on

the most beautiful hike.

I wish Alan could have been there...

the kids were AWESOME 2 1/2 mile hikers

and even posed for a few pictures!

"The Hanging Tree"

Sophie and Sydney just kept exclaiming,

"this was so worth it" over and over again:)

Resting after one of the longest and steepest hills

they've ever climbed.

They had to show their friends the next day.

Makes we want to return to Colorado!

The "Sumo" men sitting in the falls.

Fun on the bridge.

Time to plan our next camping trip!!

A Cute Father's Day Gift

Pinterest is so awesome. I love that whenever I need an idea for my house, dinner, gifts, or kids, that I can always count on it. The kids and I pinned this easy and fun Father's Day Mad Libs idea and were easily able to print it out (for free) and fill it out. I just read the description for them and they came up with the ideas and then we read it aloud together to see what they had come up with! With a frame, this makes a great gift for any Dad's office.

The girls and I purchased this frame from JoAnne's. I

was hoping to find a nicer frame but it's actually

rather difficult to find one that's 8 1/2 x 11!

It seems only fitting to post our backyard 

camping pictures with a Father's Day post.

This tiny tent bag has a HOUSE of a tent inside of it!

Isn't it huge?!!

The kids were in heaven.

All four kids somehow made it all night outside!

Cate was "threatened" with having to come inside

to sleep if she wasn't going to calm down, and Sophie

asked to come inside at 10:30 (the answer was "no").

But, they all made it through a damp night with

LOTS of rain!!

A Place to Eat

The Dining Room Table

Level: Beginner

Time to Complete: 10 hours

Cost: table + materials (we had everything on hand except the Zinsser and Polyurethane, so our cost out of pocket was around 25 bucks).

Materials: 

• Zinsser Magic Strip Citrus Action
• Stain
• Polyurethane
• Brush
• Steel Wool
• Scraper
• Pad for rubbing on stain

It has been so important to me to have a large table for

our home that can fit 12 people comfortably. We were

originally going to build a farmhouse table but I happened

upon an antique table on Craigslist for $200 that has

six leaves, is quite wide, and didn't require a lesson

on 'how to build a table'!

Step One: Strip the wood. We chose a stripping agent

that isn't as harsh. You simply rub it into the wood

and let it sit for 30 minutes before scraping

off the old layers.

As you can see here, three of the leaves were

not stained at all and the other three were

stained a different color. We're not really

sure what they were thinking.

We used steel wool on the legs.

Post-stripping.

Step Two:

Sand down the wood if you want to give

it more of an even tone and to 

prepare it for the stain.

Sanding...

Step Three: Staining.

It was raining a few weeks back so we

had to move it indoors for Alan to stain.

Stain the table 2-3 times or until you get

your desired color.

We had to rebuild the two ends of the table.

We purchased two oak pieces from Menards

and stained them like the table.

It's a super long table!! Now we can have

other families over and we can all sit together!

Step Four: Polyurethane. Brush on 

3-4 coats of the polyurethane.

The finished product! We tried it in the house

without two of its leaves to see how it looks. 

Now we just have build benches and

reupholster captains chairs:)