Projects: Part 2 The desk

I found this gem of a desk at a yard sale for $8.  I had been looking for a desk for a long time, and didn't think I could do much better price-wise.  After removing the back, priming, painting, sanding, staining, waxing, and replacing the hardware, I'm pretty sure we love it.

Happy 4th!

We had a great 4th of July!  It started with the Upper Arlington parade and ended with a barbecue with friends. (I only have pictures at the parade because my camera's battery died.)

 Owen seems less than enthused.

 Yes, that is a real snake.

 Watching the parade.

I think Casey's facebook status really sums it up, "Parades are way more fun with kids. I don't think that I can remember really enjoying a parade before today. Owen just sat on my lap saying, "more, more" the whole time, and he loved waiving at everyone."

Projects: Part 1 The Poufs

With Casey being out of school this last week, I've been really motivated to work on some unfinished projects that had been cluttering up our house.  I'll start with my poufs.

I finished sewing the first one up a couple months ago, but I just couldn't quite figure out what I wanted to do for the filling.  It needed to be firm enough that people could sit on, but small enough that it could fit through the small hole I'd left to fill the pouf.  Also, whatever I used needed to be inexpensive.

Enter: ugly beanbag chairs.  We saw these while driving past a yard sale on our way to the park.  I said if they were still there on our way back then I would stop and look.  Obviously they were there, and I brought them home to finally finish my project. (You'll notice one is now lacking its filling.)

 And here they are (I made a second one a couple nights ago), in all their poufy glory.

The bunny park

The park has a real name, but I forget what it is.  Anyway, it's very cool-fountains shooting up, waterfalls, and dancing bunny sculpture. Owen and I went with some friends.  Owen loved it. (Photos by Amber)

Attempts at awesomeness

As the mother of a toddler (how did I get to be the mother of a toddler?!) I've realized that my parenting needs to be more...conscious.  Gone are the days when I can be without a plan, because when I am without a plan boredom, and therefore crying, ensues.  I decided on a particularly difficult day that I need to plan at least one fun thing to do each day, preferably something that stimulates Owen and helps him to learn.  While some days are more successful than others, here's one activity I think Owen really enjoyed.

Edible homemade finger paint! Recipe here.  (Next time I won't use glass jars.  Owen really like to pick them up and place them forcefully back down on our tile floors.  Kind of scary.)

The process.  

He didn't quite know what to do at first, but after some demonstrating he really got into it.

The cleanup.

Probably his favorite part.  He really enjoyed sitting in the sink playing with the water.  (Maybe we need a water play day soon.)

The finished product.

Sushi Party!

Casey and I had a sushi party a couple weeks ago.  It was great.

We start with some nori on bamboo sushi rolling mats and our fillings.

 Here's Casey, assembling his first roll.

 Katalyn, working on hers.

Our completed  sushi.

Lovely.

While the sushi looked legit, it wasn't the best we'd ever tasted.  I think it was the nori...it was strongly...fishy.  Good thing we have lots of sushi rice, so we can try again!  Many of the recipes we used are from this site.  I did make the fruit sushi, that was DELICIOUS.  I used cream and shredded coconut instead of the coconut milk.  Tasty.

Hocking Hills

Recently our little family adventured down to Hocking Hills on a Saturday to meet up with Casey's best friend and his family (Jordan, Amber, and Katalyn. They live in Wisconsin).  It was SO much fun.  Hocking hills is a nature/hiking/camping area in southeastern Ohio, and is only a little over an hour away from Columbus.  I would definitely recommend a day trip (or weekend...or week) to anyone living in or near Ohio, it's worth it.