Game Cabinet Project

We were given this cabinet years ago and it has served us well by storing all of the kids games inside. Our dining room has all wood items in there (the cabinet, dining table and chairs, and also highchair). The room needed some sprucing up.

I decided to try chalk paint for this project and I was so pleased with the end result. Some chalk paint can be pretty pricey, but I found that Menards offered DutchBoy which was $10 cheaper than Valspar at Lowe's. Plus Menards was offering 15% off so it made it even cheaper.

The chalk paint went on so easily and covered a lot. I only used half a can (1 pint) for two coats. There was no need to sand or prime ahead of time.

The chalk finish does give it a funny feel, but after sanding and distressing it was already feeling smooth. I also put a coat of wax finish on to seal and protect it.

The only issue I had was getting the paint color right. We selected a color from the chalk paint list and it went on really light. So AJ took it back in and they added more color to make it much darker. The sample drop they put on the lid both times looked great but it still ended up going on lighter than expected. Even though this wasn't the color I was planning for, I still really liked it. These pictures show more of a darker tint because I couldn't get the lighting right, but the top picture is more accurate since this color has an aqua base.

I'm still debating on whether or not to change the hardware. The bronze knobs go well with the distressed look but there are so many fun knobs these days that I might end up with something else. For now these will do. This project has made a world of difference in our dining room.

10 months {Lincoln}

It's been a crazy ride these last few weeks. Had to take him to urgent care on New Year's Day for ear infection since the doctor's office was closed. Had antibiotics for 10 days then the following three days after he randomly broke out in hives. Originally thought it was from yogurt he had but all doctors/nurses I've talked to believe it was from antibiotics. So fast forward two weeks from his first ear infection and things aren't getting much better. Turns out his bad ear was cleared up but his other ear was bad :-/ So new antibiotics were given and so far he has been MUCH better. 

Besides the horrible nights sleep we have been getting the past few weeks, he has been perfectly fine during the day. His new favorite thing to do is pull everything out of the laundry basket.

He wants to be mobile but isn't crawling yet. He will roll around to get what he wants for now, but has shown some frustration about not getting there fast enough or even at all. Another favorite of his is pulling up on your fingers. He LOVES to stand. He would do that all day if I let him. It's so cute to watch him look for someone's fingers to pull up on :)

  

His other favorite thing to do is high-five. If he's starting to fuss I will quickly offer a high-five and he immediately giggles and reciprocates.

Since we ended up back at the doctor's for his ear, I was curious to see how his weight was doing. Still maintaining 5%, he had gained a pound since last month and is now 17 lb 14 oz. Many people, including us, have noticed he has bulked up some and looks "fuller".

He is always wanting to get somewhere. He sat for a few minutes before realizing I wasn't going to give him the camera so he decided he was done :)

Not that you can tell by this picture, but he has had four haircuts already! Seems like the back and sides are growing like crazy.

His fourth tooth finally popped through too. Seems like he has a new one each week.

He is so vocal these days, mostly saying "da-da-da". The other three are constantly loving on him that sometimes we implement a "no touching Lincoln" rule. Poor kid gets mauled sometimes from all the hugs, kisses, and little momma's just trying to take care of him. I do love that about them though.

Christmas, Christmas, and more Christmas

There were so many fun things we did prior to Christmas. Our foster agency gave us tickets to see the Christmas show at Beef and Boards.

It was so fun to be able to take the kids! Although Evangeline wasn't feeling well and had asked to go home several times :-/ but we stuck it out. Of course there was one scene they did not like so that is the only part they talk about - the Grinch :)

Kids were out goofing around while daddy hung up the lights. Crazy how mild the weather has been. Look at what they are wearing! (The hats were really just for kicks.)

We enjoyed Ari's first Christmas program at school. He was not looking forward to it at all. I asked him why and he said "It's embarrassing! Everyone is looking at you!" I don't disagree with that at all! But after their run-through at school he was relieved and said it wasn't as bad as he thought. :)

He had made a gingerbread house with daddy at school and the kids enjoyed picking at it for a few days. And I enjoyed finally throwing it away! Just something about all the sugary items sitting out for a week just seems gross to me.

These little ones are hilarious. It looks like they are playing a board game. I love that the cousins are close in age.

Then we had a Christmas party with our foster agency. After feeding us lunch and giving the kids presents they took us ice skating!

The kids had never been before and I'm pretty sure it had been 12 years since I had done this and surprisingly I didn't fall! The kids LOVED it and did great going around on these walkers. It made their first experience much more enjoyable.

Always fun to have friends around!

And no surprise here...Ari was a sweaty mess after a while and ended up taking off his coat. His hair is soaked! This is why the kid insists on wearing shorts where ever we go. :)

The next day was our annual Cousin Cookie Day. We were so thankful to have everyone healthy enough to get together.

Ten second cousins! Three more than last year.

And the weather was just too nice to pass up an opportunity to go to the zoo. We had already been for the lights but most of the animals are put away at night so we decided to go in the afternoon. I'm so glad we did!

Selah took a great selfie!

The orangutans were so active. This one in particular were entertaining the kids by picking his nose. Gross!

This was the very first time the kids had played on the playground at the zoo. Ever.

Christmas Eve was spent at church then we had dinner and cards with friends. We stayed up crazy late but enjoyed our special time with friends.

Christmas morning was fun. We were running behind schedule so it was a little crazy but we still had our special time with the kids before everyone else came over.

The weather was unreal. The kids were out playing without jackets!

Ari started feeling bad on Christmas which was the start of a long, hard week to come. All the kids passed around some virus (fever and cough) and at the end of all that Lincoln ended up with an ear infection. So Ari's second week of break was really uneventful. So thankful these were minor issues though. Our New Year's was spent getting Lincoln antibiotics at an urgent care and trying to catch up on some much needed sleep. Ari was ready to get back to school so he could see his friends. After a long week of being couped up I didn't blame him!