Dresser Re-do DONE!

Well, mostly. We don't have the mirror on yet; it needs another coat of paint. The humidity slowed us down quite a bit. Ben had a personal day to burn, so he stayed home today and helped me finish this off. I have another post cooking with some things I've learned with this project (and a few recent others), but that will be a bit.

For now, take a look!

New "crystal ball" handles...
Silver spray paint does amazing things!
I could say I lined these with "vintage" maps, but the fact of the matter is, they are from an out-of-date road atlas I pulled out of the recycling bin. ;)
Ta-Da!!!

Now to unearth the girls' room (again)...SIGH...

Dresser Re-do

I've been looking at this website for a bit now. The girls really need a dresser in their room, mostly for my own sanity, LOL.

So, I went to Craig'slist and found, not one, but two dressers for sale by some folks only a couple of miles away. When I emailed for pictures, I got these:

Er, undeterred by the photos, I ventured forth and purchased all of them for $100. It was probably rather generous on my part, but I have plans.... You may be aware that the two white pieces match a set that my mom bought years ago at an auction. I don't think she has these same pieces. And, no, my buying this is not yet another step in my plot to get my mom to give me the armoire from the set ;), it's just that due to the fact that I'd seen these before, I knew that these are decent (albeit ugly) pieces of furniture. In fact, I have a lesser quality (but still eons better than cheap-o furniture available today) dresser from the set in my bedroom. My dresser has plastic facings on the drawer fronts instead of being solid wood like the better pieces. Anyway...

So the ugly brown beast? That's the one I'm taking on for the girl's room. Yesterday, Ben lightly sanded the whole thing, took off the hardware, and popped off all of the bric-a-brac . I haven't quite primed the whole thing. I filled the top three dresser dresser handle holes with wood putty, so that we can replace some of the handles with some schmancy crystal jobbies. Then, the rest of the handles will be spray painted silver.

And, the color? We ventured to Lowe's yesterday afternoon (Sherwin William's was closed). I was feeling guilty about not buying Sherwin William's paint, when the attendant (um, not a very accurate description considering the wait to even get any help and then the wait for the paint, and then...) delivered a full gallon of "tropic sea" semi-gloss. I had asked for a quart. They marked it down to the quart price. I'm not sure what else I'll paint with this color, but I think it would likely work OK for something in the boy's "Buzz Lightyear" color scheme, too.

An aside, with regard to Lowe's paint...A few times, we have bought paint at Lowe's since we have, not one, but two brothers-in-law (one on each side!) who have worked for Sherwin-Williams for quite a long time. It seems we always get a discount at Lowe's too!

So, since I've not yet finished the primer on this baby, I'll give you just a preview of what's to come!

Lest you were wondering

who Reagan looks like. I think this pretty much says it all....

Liam

Liam turned nine almost two weeks ago. We were all sick, and so put off a gathering of neighbor kids and a few other school friends, not once, but twice. We landed on last Wednesday, a school day, but a half day. A crew of kids gathered at our house beginning at a little after 11:00 (when the middle school got out and I picked up Killian with three of his friends). When the elementary let out, four neighbors, another friend of Liam's, and another friend of Killian's arrived. My kind neighbor (whose kids were part of the gang) saved me and picked up pizza when I realized the place I had hoped would deliver did not open until three! She also helped by dishing up ice cream to go with Liam's requested angel food cake with chocolate frosting (I made whipped-cream frosting).

Liam started requesting angel food cake with chocolate frosting last year out of the blue. He says he had some at the neighbors' house, but I didn't know about it at the time, and I prefer to think that it's a genetic thing, as that is the cake that my dad always has for his birthday. ;)

I was thinking just now, remembering that when we were trying to conceive our second baby, I was so sad one month to find out that I was not pregnant. I had a dream then that I had twins, and I decided that it meant that I would have a gemini baby. And I did, my precious little Liam. Thank goodness it didn't mean I'd have twins. ;)

Grateful

I am grateful. For so many things...

Ben, coming down with the cold most of us had last week (while he was recovering from having his wisdom teeth removed), took the girls fishing today. He said it had to happen because it keeps getting put off for whatever reason, usually weather.

Plants appearing to take hold even though they weren't properly hardened off before I got them into the garden last week. Some will not make it, but we have a few extras that look better than some in the ground still in pots with which we can replace them. It will be a set-back, no doubt, but hopefully they'll recover quickly.

Soaker hoses.

Beautiful flowers growing and blooming in our yard. Some are new, and some keep coming back bigger and more beautiful every year.

Beautiful, brilliant kids.

Three weeks until summer vacation.

New cans of paint waiting to go on the walls of our downstairs bath and upstairs living room bought at a 50% off Sherwin Williams discount (and not one, but two, brothers-in-law who are employed by said company!).

Teaching again.

My I-pod.

Hanging laundry on the line.

Rain (not at the same time as laundry on the line).

Our awesome library system.

Sweet tea (with stevia, mint leaves, and lemon). Yummmm.

Killian Beckett

Killian turned twelve on Monday. No more free grocery store cookies. Officially allowed to ride shotgun. How'd that happen so fast????

Girls...

While picking up her room, Molly said that when she grows up she's going to be famous so she can have "lots of waitresses" to take care of her cleaning duties; then, she lamented, "Why, oh, why do I have to wait until I grow up to get a job?"

Told Reagan she couldn't drink my coffee because it's not good for her--it has caffeine in it. She said, "I love caffeine."