It all started at a yard sale...

This morning I decided to venture out and do some yard saling. After several sales with no jackpot, I came across one that had quite a few wonderful things! :) In the process I acquired two stools for next to nothing. I wanted one for school, but she encouraged me to take them both, so I did.
I did not take an before photo, but it is not hard to imagine two plain stools, horrible spray painted black. The paint job was not very thorough. Parts of the wood underneath were still quite visible.
Alex loved them and insisted we paint them blue (even though they are not even for the house). So when we needed a break from the house he was happy to help me choose out some paint for the project.
the little paint samples were perfect for this project. I used Valspar's Indigo Cloth and Freckles, some white spray paint primer, and some gold spray paint.
Alex really wanted to help me so I thought I would let him help me paint the blue. Alas, as hard as he tried to follow directions about where to paint (and NOT to go above the blue tape) that proved to be a little difficult! :) He was content to watch me and cheer me on. (Thankfully!!) Will's job was to keep Liam from making a mad dash to the kitchen every time he touched the floor! Thankfully no boys were covered in paint during the painting of these chairs! :)

After I painted the main colors I tried to wrap up the chair as much as possible so that I could spray paint the gold. It is not easy spray painting by porch light outside, but it was finish this today or not til next week when life slows down again! I did need to do some touch ups afterwards on the blue and coral, but it was not bad!

Finished Product! I have to say that my gold strips are not very even and the spray paint job is quite terrible, but now I have some pretty chairs to use at school and that will be fun!

Books 5-8

The second week of break is starting. We are slowly figuring out the summer routine. I do crave schedule and routine in life, so i go a little crazy at the beginning of the summer. I am enjoying the extra hours in the day to read. If the boys are playing with (relative) independence, then I sneak in a couple pages of a book. Or I forgo the cleaning duties after they have gone to bed to read more as well! :) My preference is most definitely fiction, but I am going to make sure I stay balanced by reading a professional book or two, as well as some books my dad has given us about parenting, etc. We will see how it goes!

Click on the picture for more information! :)
     5.Ivan the One and Only I loved this story. It is from the perspective of a gorilla. It is based on the story of a real gorilla who is currently in the Atlanta Zoo, which makes me excited because we are going to visit there this summer! :) *UPDATE: I was told that Ivan actually died in 2012. So although we enjoyed our time at the zoo... we didn't get to see Ivan. :(

   6. Deadend in Norvelt: It was a fun book, set after WW2. Some parts were believable, some didn't seem realistic. I think my boys would enjoy this story.

   7. Shooting Kabul: I saw this book on display at the library and picked it up. When I started it I didn't know if I could read it because it is about a family escaping Afganistan but in the process the youngest daughter gets left behind. I was so afraid I would be reading a story where a family gets messed up because of that, but it was not at all. I could not put the book down. It was a beautiful, well written story.

  8. Crazy Busy: My dad gave us this book at Christmas. Of course I had to wait until the busyness of school wound down! :) It was a worthwhile read. I especially appreciated the chapter on children and the last chapter really brought it all together. The last sentence of the book was so full of truth. "What is wrong... is to live a life with more craziness than we want because we have less Jesus than we need."

(next on my list is Navigating Early and And the Mountains Echoed!)

Summer cooking!

It seems appropriate the summer recipes involve fresh veggies or the grill! I have a little garden going. It is more of an experiment. I have a lot of tomatoes on their way to ripening, beans, corn, cucumbers, egg plants... then some carrots and spinach that do not seem to be doing well at all! While we wait on all that veggie goodness, I am enjoying using a lot of the herbs we planted! Lots and lots of basil, mint and cilantro! :) 

Thanks to lots of basil I have been making lots of pesto! Some times I freeze it, but other times we use it right away. I use the recipe found here, but often make some substitutions. I use pine nuts or walnuts, and often add spinach. We use it on pizza or with pasta. The boys love it. Some times I mix in some sausage or other times I saute a bunch of veggies (peppers, zucchini, onions) and we have a yummy meatless meal! 

On the grill we have a new go-to chicken marinade that I found here. We will sometimes substitute mint for the cilantro if we don't have cilantro on hand. This chicken is perfect to cut into long slices and eat on top of salad! The best part is that Will often makes the marinade and then grills it so all I have to do is make a salad! :) 

Summer Reading

I'm a summer reader. I get way too involved in books and its hard for me to put it down once I have started. The late nights that result from a good read don't mesh well with the early school mornings. One of my goals it to learn how to put a book down and realize that I can step back into reality! :)
A couple weeks ago, a friend has posted that she had read 100 books in less then a year. She is also a teacher and mother of two. I was inspired! :) She also provided a list of her favorite, which served as some of the motivation I needed. There are so many books written, but how many of them are really worth reading? So I made a list that started with her suggestions, then used some pinterest recommendations, and went through the list of the Newberry Awards! (I think that most children's books are some of the best, most beautiful stories written!)
Anyways, here is the list that I have read so far (in the last couple of weeks)
     1. Book Thief: I think everyone needs to read this book. But with a box of tissues. I loved reading how Liesel's life was changed because of the people that loved her. This was one of the only books in my life that I wanted to read the end before I got there because I was so nervous. I refrained.

    2. Counting by Sevens: Also another fabulous book. Willow, the main character, and Liesel from Book Thief definitely had some similarities. Both were such strong characters. I couldn't put this one down!

   3. Copper Sun: The story was horrifying in many ways. Slavery was a terrible, terrible part of our history. But it was a beautiful story of friendship and perseverance.

   4. Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures: Today's reading was much lighter, but still a wonderful story. I mean, to have a Squirrel as a main character is quite unique. Kate DiCamillo is one of my favorite authors.

Up next is The One and Only Ivan and Dead end in Norvelt!
Feel free to click on the pictures of the books if you want actual reviews of the stories... I could talk all day about some of the books, but don't want to give anything away to people that have not read them!