My Favorites On Friday

 We love you!!

End of another school year

 We welcomed summer with a big water fight, but before we plunged in we had to wrap up another school year.

There were a couple of award ceremonies, end of the year picnic, and a 5th grade graduation.

 Brendan with his teacher Mrs. Wachob. He loved her and has learned so much. We are sad to leave her behind.

 Carter and his teacher, Mrs. Bruland. Also a great teacher. She is also in our ward. Carter always thought it was so weird to go to church with his school teacher, but he had a great year too. I had to take this picture before he hit the chocolate fountain they had set up for their graduation; I think those kids had chocolate everywhere by the time they were done. It was such a mess. I can't believe I will have two middle school aged kids next year. That's just scary and makes me way too old.

Kayden survived his first year of middle school. It was a good, but a really rough year for him. I am so proud of him though. I would have never picked to attend a school across town, where I didn't know a single person when I was his age. It didn't even phase him. I would never, ever go back to middle school, EVER. It's the worst for everyone, I think, but it was worse for him. He had a lot of issues with other kids. Many times I wanted to storm over to his school and take care of the kids myself, but that doesn't always help them. I asked him several times if it was worth it to go to that school and he always said it was. He has had some amazing teachers and it's an amazing program. He needed a challenge and he really has been able to get it at his school. Carter will be going with him next year so I hope he learns as much as Kayden has. Hopefully Kayden will like having his company on the long bus ride home.

My Favorites on Friday

This is more than one picture, but it's been a busy week and I haven't had a lot of time to post. And now with the kids out of school I am going to have to fight for my computer time.

 One thing we did make time for this week was a couple of evening trips to our park. We are taking full advantage of the nice weather. The fact that it's not 100 degrees outside is unheard of; we know it won't last and we better enjoy it. I am sure by next week we will all be shut inside, air conditioning running full blast, and not even wanting to step outside.

 

The story of a table

Once upon a time our kitchen table looked like this...

(and once upon a time Kayden looked like that)

The table itself was great, but as time went on all but a couple of the chairs bit the dust. I think  a couple of the ones in the picture were even replacements from the originals. 

When we were building our current house, the chair situation was pretty sad. When we started to look at new tables and chairs, my mom had the idea of refinishing the table and ordering new unfinished chairs. My parents came to spend a long weekend with us and offered free labor. We sanded, primed, painted, and stained until the table looked like this...

(I am not sure why I don't have a picture of just the table; after all that work I definitely should have taken one)

  I have loved this look in my house.

Well fast forward a few years and the arrival of this cute little one...

She no longer wants to sit in a high chair, but wants to dine with us at the table. Our six chair situation is not cutting it anymore. 

I really like my set and wasn't sure I wanted to part with it. So I decided what I would do was just get a new table, order two more chairs and paint everything off-white. The current chairs were starting to need a touch-up anyway. I really think the off-white would be a nice contrast against my dark cabinets, tile and brown furniture in the family room. 

I have been searching Craigs list and had found a couple of nice tables, but over Memorial Day, Corey and I went to check the RC Willey clearance center. We found this perfectly sized table for a smoking deal. 

We snatched it up with my plan to still paint it. When we moved it in we both noticed that the color of the top is exactly the same as my kitchen cabinets. And it looks really nice with them. Now what? The table top looks perfect, but I don't want the black legs that match nothing else. 

Now that this has been a really long post, I will get to my point. I want some opinions here. I still have to order two chairs. They will be unfinished so I have to do something with them and the others still need a touch up anyway... sooo  I think I will just paint all the chairs all off-white (including the seats). Do I still go for the all off-white look table and chairs? Or do I just paint the table legs off white and go for the look I already had?

Such a dilema, I know. Forget current world events and such this is really pressing. I just can't decide.

My Favorites on Friday

I think this might be a problem

I love Diet Coke, but I really don't drink that much of it. I usually only drink 1 can a day. Lately I have to guard that precious can or even hide it because if this little one spots it, she does whatever she can to get it.  When she is successful, there is usually only a swallow or two left, but she sure enjoys it.  One funny thing about it is that Emery doesn't really talk yet. Her vocabulary is very limited and the few words she does have sound a lot alike. We have actually been getting speech therapy for her and in an effort to get her to say the "M" sound we have been saying "mine" a lot. (so weird because most kids say that on their own and then you try to discourage it). She won't say it very much until she sees that can and then it comes out pretty clear.  She looks at me, smiles, and says "mine".