Sunroom

Before

After

Before

After

Just off the dining room there is a small room that we call the "sunroom".  We determined this would be a nice little office space and toy room for the kids.  When we moved in we didn't have a desk or toy shelf, so we were really beginning from scratch!
My sister-in-law had a shelf she no longer needed and was generous enough to pass it down to me.  It had a broken shelf and I believe it once held shoes.  After a quick repair and some patterned contact paper, it was perfect for Winry's toys!
A gal my husband works with was getting rid of a small black desk, so we got that for free too!  The desk was in decent shape, so I didn't take time to do any work to it.
The sunroom has a lot of windows that let in beautiful light, but at night we needed something to cover the windows.  My grandma had given me some curtains she was no longer using.  There were some nice sheer ones that I could see being good for a sunroom- block the view, let in the light.  The only thing was that they were floor length.  I felt like that might be too much for a small play room.  This problem was easily remedied, though.  I folded the curtains in half, sewed across the top, leaving a space for the curtain rod, and wa-la!
The last item we really needed was a chair for the desk.  Coincidentally, we had just ordered a new dining room table with chairs.  When that arrived we were able to use an old wooden chair from the previous table set.  Dominic and I sanded it down, we painted it (which took a lot of coats because I did not prime it first), and put polyurethane on top.  One giant paint spill later (which we got *mostly* cleaned up) we had ourselves a spunky new chair.

sanding the chair

shelf repair

All that was left was to actually paint the room!  We didn't really need many supplies for this task.  Paint.  Screwdriver to open the paint.  Paint pan with roller and paint brush.  Tarp or plastic or a sheet to protect the floor.  Painter's tape (which I didn't even use this time).  A chair to reach the top of the wall. 
I thought the painting would go quickly because it's such a small space, and there are so many windows!  It ended up being a two day project.  I first had to paint all the grooves in the paneling.  I also had to carefully paint around the windows, door, base board, and ceiling.  After that, the walls were a breeze!

supplies

Hard at work.

Let's see the final results one more time! :)

Skyfort!

Skyfort swingset from Grandma and Grandpa Davis.  4 boxes.  200 pounds each.

Opening everything up and figuring out what this thing is all about.

Sorting pieces and organizing supplies.

After two full days of working.

Finally complete after four full days!

Thanks to grandma and grandpa for the awesome swingset!

Thanks to my husband for working so hard to put it together!

Front Porch Part 1

This was our front porch when we moved in.  It was just a small empty room at the front of the house.  There are windows in this room, which make it a nice sunny spot to hang out- although it's not air conditioned or heated.  You can see on the wall to the right that there were some hooks on the wall.  The walls and ceiling are all white.  The carpet appears to be new, and is a neutral tan color.  All of this is fine, but not good enough for being the FIRST THING people see when they come into our home.  I found many ideas for upgrading this space on Pinterest, and so the project began!

Ultimately, we wanted the front porch to look nice and be inviting.  We also wanted it to be an efficient space that could house coats, and hats, and boots, and such.  Our initial plans included a bench and coat hooks.  Our ideas have evolved from there.  Let's look at what we have so far...

Zac built this awesome L-shaped bench.  Nice things about building benches: they are not too tricky, you can build to fit your space, you can make it be however you want it to be, it's cheaper than buying one like it.
Zac's bench is skinny on the left side and wide on the right side.  The left side is for sitting down and taking off your muddy boots.  The right side is for lounging around and being cool.  Zac used pallet wood for the slats on the top of the bench.  This is great because pallet wood is free!  That meant he just needed to buy a few 2 x 4's and round up some screws for the rest of the bench.  He also decided to get fancy and he put the seat of the bench on hinges.  This is so that after we get the front of the bench closed off, we can open the top and use the inside for storage.  So clever.
The process mostly involved cutting wood and drilling screws.  The pallet wood was rough and uneven, so he used his belt sander to smooth it all out.  Then it was time to upholster the bench!

We bought 1 in. foam padding, batting, and outdoor canvas.  Outdoor canvas can be pricey, but I was able to get mine at a super clearance liquidation sale, so that was very exciting. 
First I laid the batting on the floor, put the foam padding on top of the batting, and put the top of the bench UPSIDE down on top of the foam padding.  Then I wrapped the batting around the edges, pulled tight, and stapled it to the bench with a staple gun.  I repeated this process with the outdoor canvas, cutting off any excess material from the underside.  It was important to pull it and stretch it around the bench as tight as possible to hopefully prevent any wrinkling or bunching up later.

Meanwhile, I had also been working on pillows for the bench.  I used coordinating outdoor canvas for those.  Pillows are easy.  Cut out two squares of the same size.  Pin them together inside out.  Sew around the edges, leaving space on one side open.  Turn the fabric right side out.  Fill with Polyfil. Don't forget to stuff the corners!  Sew the rest of the way closed.  Ta-daa!

So here is the wide side of the bench.  It's not quite done yet.  We still have to add the front piece and stain the wood.  As for the skinny side, I have been advised to upholster it in the same fashion, but a part of me wants to leave the exposed wood.  I just think that might look nice with a really clean, shiny wood stain on it.

But building benches is not the only part of this project.  You might still be thinking about those sweet coat hooks you saw in the picture above.  Well, sorry they're gone!  Zac ripped them off and started working on the rest of the wall.  He put a piece of bead board.  Next he will be building shelves for either side of the bead board, and putting a nice, white ledge at the top of the bead board.  Just under the ledge will be new coat hooks.  It will surely look so fancy!

So, in summary, we need to finish the front of the bench, stain the wood, and decide what to do with the top of the skinny side.  Zac plans to build shelves for the wall and put up a ledge and coat hooks.  We also plan to take out the carpet just in front of the doors and put tile down instead.  Then of course painting the walls and ceiling.  Still much to be done.  Hopefully we finish this project by the time fall rolls around!

You're in the Jungle, Baby

Well, our yard may not be a jungle, but it's certainly an overgrown disaster!  We were told that at some point in the history of our yard it was filled with giant chunks of cement - for no apparent reason.  The cement is gone, but a lot of gravel was left behind.  There was also an issue with where to put the driveway, which ended up causing a large portion of the front yard to be dug up.  In spite of these obvious problems, we weren't sure what the yard had in store for us because we moved in the winter.  We agreed to let things grow throughout spring and summer to see what happened, then we would make a plan of attack from there.  As spring came along our biggest concern was dandelions.  Now that summer is in full swing, our yard has been overgrown with weeds, some of them quite large.  So much for letting things grow...My husband has already been out there with a chainsaw, cutting away crazy trees and bushes.  Yet in spite of the disaster our yard is at first glance, there are many beautiful and interesting things happening out there.  Here are some "before" photos of our yard.  Hopefully next summer I can post some pleasant "after" photos.

Red tulips by the front door.

The south side of the house.  Full of dandelions.

The west side of the house- the backyard.  A variety of dandelions, wildflowers, weeds and grass.

Out by the deck.  Some gnarly trees, bushes, wild flowers, and cement from an absent propane tank.

A tire, perhaps once used as a small garden or sandbox.  Now full of dead trees.

Assortment of wildflowers and weeds.

Pear tree!

What kind of bush is this?

A pile of branches.

Part of the yard had been dug up to lay utility lines for a new house behind us.  This space needs to be filled in with dirt and seeded.

Bricks in the driveway.

North side of the house.  Full of gravel and uneven ground.

First attempt at making a driveway.  Left the front yard barren.

New sidewalk caused yard to be dug up on either side.

and it DID turn into something pretty!

This could turn into something pretty...

These tulips make me chuckle, because someone clearly didn't know they would be popping up when they landscaped around the house.  The tulips are growing just outside of the wood chips and stone trim.

Peonies.

Roses

Lilac bush.

What is THIS interesting thing?  When the blooms die it looks like a giant fluffy dandelion!

Beginning to fill in some ditches with dirt.  Next up: grass seed!

"Treasures" that Dominic has found in the yard.  Horse brush, eye glasses, toys, metal...

Dead grass due to a recently removed semi trailer that had been parked in the yard.

Large chunk of cement out by the pear tree.

Weeds growing out of control!

I have never seen anything like this...

Nothing says FUN like adding "dig railroad ties out of the yard" to my to-do list.

I'm constantly intrigued by our yard.  Each time I go out there something new has sprouted.  Someone, at some point in time, took good care of the yard.  This is evident by all of the trees and flowers that are planted around the yard.  It seems like as soon as one blooming plant dies off another begins to bloom.  This makes me think someone really put some thought and planning into landscaping long long ago. 
Right now we are just working on clearing out weeds and crazy plants, trees and bushes.  We are working on raking out the gravel in the yard, filling in the ditches and uneven spots with dirt, and laying grass seed.  Perhaps this year we will pour a concrete slab for a driveway, or a patio by the deck.  For now, I need to buy some work gloves and start pulling out those spiky weeds!

Beach Day

As the school year was coming to an end, my kindergarteners and I were anticipating a fun field trip day at the pool.  My school traditionally ends the year with a school-wide swimming field trip for the students and families.  The students always get very excited about it, but this year the weather didn't play along.  Due to rainy days and cold weather, our swimming trip was cancelled.  When I realized this fun day was not going to be happening, I decided it was time for "Plan B"... BEACH DAY! With only a little bit of brainstorming, my coworkers and I were able to think up a fairly sizable list of Beach Day activities.  The list was long enough that we didn't even have time to get through it all!  We tried to consider math and literacy activities, crafts, snacks, ideas to get the kids active, and down-time activities.

Here is what we came up with (followed by photographic evidence of how super fun our day was):

1.  "Sand castle" building contest using small paper cups instead of sand.  The kids worked in teams of 3 or 4.  They had some time to experiment with building and then decide on a final design.  We didn't actually choose one winner, but we toured the room and commented on what we liked about each "sand castle".

2.  Homemade leis.  Draw some flowers.  Cut out the flowers.  Cut a straw into smaller bits.  String flowers and straw bits on a piece of yarn...flower, straw, flower, straw...a pattern!

3.  Beach snack.  I gave each student a graham cracker in a baggie.  They pounded it into tiny crumbs to create "sand" for their beach.  This was the first ingredient put into the cup.  Then I gave each student a few scoops of vanilla yogurt that had been colored with blue food coloring to represent the ocean water.  On top of that they got a squirt of whip cream to show the waves on the ocean.  Finally, the students got a sour, gummy octopus to put in their oceans.  Yum!

4.  Read the book "The Sandcastle Contest" by Robert Munsch.  Silly AND beachy. :)

5.  We used word wall words to play sandcastle BINGO, which was a printable from The Mailbox magazine.

6. We played "sharks and swimmers".  You probably know this game, but maybe not with this title.  Most of the class stands in a row on one side of the field.  They are the swimmers.  2-3 students stand in the middle, as the sharks.  When I shout "Go!"  The swimmers attempt to run to the opposite side of the field without getting tagged by a shark.  If a swimmer does get tagged by a shark he/she then becomes a shark and tries to tag other swimmers.  Swimmers run from one side to the other until everyone is a shark.  Then we play again!

7.  Limbo.  I think we all know about that.

8.  We didn't have time to watch a movie in the classroom, but if we had we would have watched Madagascar.  Can't get any 'beachier' than being stranded on an island.
 

 9.  We also had to play the part by wearing beach gear, such as flip flops, hats, sunglasses, Hawaiian shirts.  The kids also brought along beach supplies like, towels and beach balls.  We put our towels out on the floor and had a picnic lunch!

10.  Sadly we ran out of time for hula dancing and crab walk racing, but wouldn't that have been fun?

11.  I also had these beach kid coloring pages hidden in my file cabinet.  The kids decorated them according to what their swimsuit really looks like.  (I'm not sure where I got these from, but they look like Carson Dellosa.  In the past we have decorated the swimsuits and then played a game with them.  We would mix up the swimmer people, hold them up one at a time and see if we could guess which student it was based on the swimsuit design.)

12.  I mentioned earlier that some students brought beach balls.  We used the beach balls to play a simple math game that we can call "Beach ball ten-partner toss".  Throughout the year we had been learning about number partners that equal ten, and we used those partners for our game.  We stood in a circle.  One student would say a number less than ten and then toss the ball to another student.  The student receiving the ball would have to answer with the correct number partner that would equal ten.  Then that student would say a new number less than ten and toss the ball to someone else.  This would continue until everyone got a turn!

13.  An activity that we've played in the past, but didn't have time for today was Fishing for word wall  words.  I have little paper fish, all with a word wall word written on them.  Each fish also has several staples init.  We used a fishing pole to catch the fish (the fishing pole is a pencil, with a length of string tied to it, with a magnet hooked to the end of the string).  If the students could read the words on the fish, they could keep them in their pile!

We had such a fun, beachy day!  I hope that your next Beach Day is also a success!