Jungle Goggles

Collin has been feeling very helpful these days...his new favorite accessory are his "Jungle Goggles". We don't know where the name came from - but he sure does think these are cool.

These goggles were part of a Black & Decker kid's tool set that he received for Christmas.

Safety First!!

Backyard Living

One of the best things about our home is our awesome neighborhood and yard. Our backyard is big and we back up to a large 3 acre lot owned by the water district. So we have our own little field to play in which is awesome! Unfortunately, the only way to access our great backyard was through the back door which was through the garage. Not exactly convenient. The house also had a quaint back patio with a nice rock wall in the shade. Before Collin was here Joe and I enjoyed sitting back there with the chiminea and having some cocktails, and we always dreamed of a nice big deck or patio off of the kitchen. Well – our dreams came true in the fall of 08.

Here is the view from the backyard before the door. Existing patio and back door on the right.

The work:

My dad gave us a sliding door when we moved in that was leftover from a house he had built and it has sat in the garage for ages. One day while I was toiling away working at a conference our dads , Joe, and Joe’s uncle tore out the big window and replaced it with the sliding door! A few months after this we had a large patio poured just in time for Collin’s first birthday party. This large 16x20 patio has become an outdoor living space for us. It’s awesome to have the patio right off of our kitchen where we can easily bring dinner outside or have our morning coffee while Collin plays outside. A great addition to our home!

This photo is mid-way through the process. Joe had yet to build the step or trim out the door. We also hadn’t arranged any furniture or landscaped:

Here we are with the patio as it is now. The Adirondack chairs have become my favorite place to sit. Joe and his dad, Tim, added two porch lights and an outdoor outlet so that we can plug in our ourdoor fridge or radio. A sound system is on the wish list!

We have a sidewalk that joins the old patio and new patio.

And here is Collin's favorite area!

Joe's aunt and uncle gave us their playground once their kids outgrew it. We put a fresh coat of stain on it and I made new fabric canopies for the little towers using some outdoor fabric from Joanns. Pretty cute!

 

Big Boy Bed

About a month ago we decided it was time to find a big boy bed for Mr. C. He had climbed out of his crib once - so we knew the time was approaching. It’s bittersweet when your “baby” is too big for his crib anymore. L Joe saved the day when he came across this great twin sized “Captain’s Bed” on our work classified ads for $75. We offered $60 and the bed was ours!

Here is the bed:

The bed was in excellent condition. We almost felt bad painting the wood since it was in such nice shape – but it was just not our style. We love looking at the Pottery Barn Kids Collection for ideas and we both saw that this bed could look something like this with some elbow grease and new hardware.


Inspiration Bed - Pottery Barn Kids Belden Twin Bed w/ drawers - $1,700!!: 

Materials needed for this project:

- Circular sander

- Sand paper

- White primer

- White semi-gloss paint

- Foam rollers (these things are the best!)

- Small paint brush for cutting in

 

Joe started out by sanding the entire bed with a fine grit sand paper to get the finish off. We then wiped the entire bed down and prepped to prime it. We then applied two coats of a white primer to the entire bed using foam rollers. We let this dry and then Joe applied two coats of Behr’s interior semi-gloss latex paint in Ultra Pure White. Once the entire thing was dry we were good-to-go! We purchased a twin mattress from Nebraska Furniture Mart and surprised C with new sports themed bedding. (This was easiest since his nursery décor was sports themed). I purchased the oil rubbed bronzed cup handles at Lowe’s for about $4.00 each.

The finished product:

We are so happy with how the bed turned out! The extra storage underneath is great too. For now, one drawer has blankies, one has shoes, and the other has some miscellaneous toys.

In all we spent less than $100 on the bed, painting supplies and new hardware! Not bad considering the $1,700 price tag on the similar PB bed!

You’ll also see in these photos the bookshelf and dresser that we had refinished in the same way for C’s nursery a couple of years ago. Every piece in this room was a hand-me down or purchased cheap!