howdy

We just got back from vacation.  It’s okay to say that as long as it was within a week ago, right?  Because it feels like I’m catching up still.  I *just* got the laundry caught up.  Still need to mop.  Well, let’s just stop there because you don’t want my to-do list rearing it’s ugly head up in here.  It’s UG-LY.  I crossed off a whole two things today.  Baby steps.

Anyway, since we -ahem- just got back, I thought I’d share a few pics from vacation.  I’ve blogged about my parents’ house many times before.  Sorry.  We go there a lot.  We had some of the same old adventures and some new adventures this time. 

We hit the natural sandstone waterslides again…

Don’t look at my horrible chipping nail polish.  And to my friend who knows who you are: I am sorry I posted a feet picture.  I feel like this one is more illustrative than the typical feet at the pool, though, right?  No?

Apparently I had twins… one of them was held up in the womb about three years…

Mark made a rock tower…

The water channels are a ten minute walk from the road near my parents’ place.  Susie is light enough that daddy carries her so we can hike faster.  Lucky lady…

That night we took a sunset trip to the Butte.  The wheelin’ trip through the woods to the hike involved Ty, Susie and I in our little Samurai jeep, our friend and his girlfriend riding double on a dirt bike, and my son following them on his dirt bike.  We made it to the top just in time…

It was pretty, but a little spooky hiking down in the dark with the little wolf bites among us.  Then we got down to the parking area, where Mark’s dirt bike had broken down – and realized it wouldn’t be fixed there, and that for our friends to ride double in the dark with no headlight would be a disaster.  So we ended up with Ty, me, Susie, Mark, one friend AND a dirt bike – in the Samurai!  Do you know what a Samurai is?  I’ll post a picture later- it was a bit crowded!  And our friend tailgating us all the way out of the woods so he could see by our taillights.  It wasn’t the most comfortable trip.

The next day we did a local hike like normal people – in the daylight…

     

See the lookout at the top of the hill in the picture above left?  It was a short, steep hike right to that lookout.

Fully functioning out house just in case you should have need of it.  Actually I believe it is for the volunteers who stay in the lookout and “look out” for fires during the dry season.

That was the closest we got to the lookout because it was covered –COVERED- in flying ants.  Swarms.  Like you have never seen before.  Ty tried to go near it and didn’t last long and I didn’t even try.  I could barely stand at the top because they were pestering us so bad. 

But it was worth a few minutes for the view.

Mark and Ty stayed at the highest rock for a while looking at the view and finding things on the map.

Then we followed the lead of a guy we saw on the logging roads, who told us where we could find fossils in abundance.  We did not have such luck as he proclaimed.  We would like to try again sometime when we have more time and see what we can find.  But we had fun finding the spot and found a couple unidentifiable specimens.

That is the Samurai.  Pretty mini. 

We got all hot and parched and headed back to cool off in the swimming hole…

I can’t stop laughing at that picture.  The purple butterfly net and the pink water shoes!  Wow.

But he did catch us some friends…

We caught Mr. Pinchy some baby fishy dinner too but he would not partake.

Such a sweet spot to chill.

While we packed up, cleaned up and got ready for the drive out to hang with some family out of town, we sent the kids to their surprise my mom had made for them…

It was loads of fun!  Started lots of conversations about Indians Native Americans and “white man.”  Is that PC?  We will start an ongoing study on the first settlers and Native Americans because the tee pee will be up for the rest of the dry season at mom’s, so we will have a couple more chances to use it and make learning memories before taking it down before the snows.

Well now you are fully caught up on our vacation happenings.  Even if I’m not caught up on house work.  :/

Blessings!

checkerboard table :: diy

About ten years ago I saw a small table in Starbucks with a checkerboard painted on it’s surface.  I took a mental note to do that to a table someday.  A lot of good it did me.

About five years ago I saw a table for sale for a pretty penny in a magazine with a checkerboard painted on it.  I cut it out and saved it in my well organized binder of decorating ideas (did anyone else do that before Pinterest?).  A lot of good that did me, too.

And a few days ago, after watching yet another checker match with my giant checker rug spread out on my coffee table, I finally got around to making it happen…

 

I had been on the hunt for the perfect table to paint it on all these years, when I had the perfect table right under my nose!  And had I found a good table to add the checkerboard to, I wouldn’t have had room for it in my little house anyway!  So although adding a checkerboard to a perfectly good, not-so-cheap table, might seem crazy to many of you, it works for me!  I’m unconventional like that.

     

I didn’t take pictures of the process, but it was really easy… here’s a quick how-to:

Materials:

wood table

painter’s tape

Terrifically Tacky Tape (I used 1/16” width)

Annie Sloan Chalk Paint

paint brush

sandpaper

Annie Sloan clear wax

lint-free cloths for waxing and buffing (available at big-box home improvement stores)

Instructions:

1.  Clean table and let dry.

2.  Measure out your checkerboard to fit your checkers.  I applied painter’s tape around the outer edges.  Then I used the super narrow tacky tape to tape off the inner lines of the grid.

3.  Using a small brush, I brushed on one coat of the chalk paint, carefully staying in my grid.  After every-other square was painted I removed the tapes and allowed this to dry.

4.  I used sand paper to distress the squares, softening them and making them look worn.  TIP:  Be patient.  I sometimes make the mistake of not letting it dry enough and getting distressing that looks like scratches instead of natural wear.  Let it dry completely (hours, at least) before sanding.

5.  Apply an even coat of the clear wax with a lint-free cotton cloth, in a section about one foot square.  Then buff it with a new cloth.  Keep doing this one section at a time until the table top is covered and then give the whole surface a final buffing with another clean cloth to really give it a shine.

It was a pretty quick and simple process.  The ASCP is really quite forgiving.  There is a tutorial by Miss Mustard Seed that tells you everything you need to know about the waxing process.

So now I’m one happy homemaker with the checkerboard table I always wanted, and those checker matches are pretty frequent around here…

summer days

 

I wrote that title and then had to stop and think if it was really technically summer.  Our weather could’ve fooled me lately.  Bleh.  But I did get away with the kids last week to my mom’s place over the mountains where we were able to catch up on some vitamin D.

She recently got them a play set off Craigslist which has been a huge hit.

They swung and climbed till the sun went down and all day the next day too.

She was telling me how she was ‘too tiny to pump’ and she needs someone to push her.

Yeah, keep workin’ it, girl.

Apparently Grandma buys into that “tiny” business easier than mother does; she got her push.

He goes from spazzing her out one minute (above) to sweetly helping get that shoe back on that little princess foot the next minute (below)…

Oh, and I need to introduce you to our newest family member…

This is Huck.

He is a beast.

     

Okay, a sleepy beast.

He was the beloved pet of a man at our church who had been rescuing dogs for some time and had many dogs in his own home.  When his health took a turn and put him in the hospital for a spell, he had to make the hard decision to rehome his beloved companions.  We were honored to take this special guy home, and blessed that he fit right in, and immediately considered our home to be his home, sticking around close and having a protective  nature, which we were hoping for.  He’s super laid back, but he is getting more and more accustomed to trekking all over the property with the kids, and just having him outside while they are, I know he will sound the alarm if anyone comes near our place. 

And, it just so happens, we are a pretty laid back bunch, too. 

Is it just me, or is anyone else just getting around to summer activities?