June Photo-A-Day

 #photoadayjune

It's been a water filler morning starting with swim lessons (where Jenna now doesn't cry so long as I'm not anywhere in the vicinity) followed by the splash park with Uncle Scoot, Aunt Jen, Shiloh & Ashtyn.

Scoot, Jen and the girls have left and life feels so empty now that they're gone. Boo!

Figuratively and literally; I've been working on reupholstering the chairs for the outdoor dining set...and for dinner we have 5 cheese ravioli with pesto and grilled chicken. Yum! 

From a few years ago...

Did you know that I update the Facebook page for Cravings Gourmet Bakery & Cafe? This is a picture I posted on their page yesterday because I didn't want to try and remember all those names for a status update. #mymemorysucks

Jenna's never met a hat she didn't love! 

Diet Coke...duh! 

Jenna woke up very late from nap time. So we had a little cuddle session for a few minutes before i went to finish cleaning. Then she stayed behind and watched a slide show of pictures of herself on the computer. It's one of her favorite things to do...

My cute Mom helping me by proofing the massive birthday present I have spent the last week prepping for Casey's 40th birthday! Shhh...don't tell him...it's a surprise! #bitoffmorethanicanchew

It's a tie between Casey coming home and my Mom visiting. Least favorite part of the weekend, Casey going back out of town. #photoadayjune #imissmyhusband

Our neighbor writes weekly affirmations on her front window. At first I thought they were silly (and sometimes still do). But sometimes they very applicable.

Unfortunately, this as close as I get days...

Time spent at a pool is NEVER time wasted. 

Working in the playroom floor and listening to a little "Yellow".

Seems like Home Depot is the only place I go these days...at least we are SLOWLY making progress on the house.

A shop vac for Casey for Father's Day, and exacto knife for my ceiling fan project, rubber gloves, and more glue for the paper bag floor...

Did you know my very first job was working at Sea World? I worked in Shamu stadium, the ski stadium, and the dolphin exhibit. Most of my friends got jobs there that summer as well so we spent all of our time there either working or playing. It was a great summer job....except for scrubbing the bird shit off the ground.

After spending two weeks putting together a book for Casey's birthday it finally arrives in the mail. I was so excited only to discover it was filled with errors; listing his birthday in July instead of June on the back cover was just one of many. Note to self: never edit a book at 2 am. #editfail

I wasn't sure what the assignment was in this so I included both; fave pic of me and fave (a tie) I've taken. My fave pic of me is when I was about 8 and that's as much backstory as I know on that pic. The two I took I know a little more. The top is my niece's cute chunky legs while playing in the ocean at So Carlsbad State Beach. The bottom is my sister Jose Bo Began (aka Megan) in this sweet hat in Old Town the day before/after her high school graduation. I just couldn't choose a favorite between those two.

it's laundry day. Plus I've got the laptop charging, my makeshift lamp and nightstand, and plenty of books!

Jenna may end up just being an only child... #adoptionfeessuck

An oldie but a goodie.

The two stores I went to today. Cravings for treats for the movie; Home Depot for grass seed. I'm sure both of these locations come as an absolute shock to everyone. 

Ironically, this is the next room due some attention. I have to paint the ceiling, get a stencil on, and then rub n buff a silver ceiling...so excited. 

At my mil's and I love how these shelves totally are her. From the books, to the stuffed King Charles Cavalier to the bumper sticker for equal rights. The whole thing is just so her! {yeah...this was supposed to be Day 28...I really need to double check the date before I post these...don't judge}

Jenna and Casey reading her bed time book, while cuddles with the latest addition to her stuffed animal collection. 

Best friend! So glad she's been my shoulder to cry on for the last 17 years! #bff

Remodel Update - Jenna's playroom

We finally got Jenna's play room pretty close to finished. We decided we wanted it to be a little more fun and cut loose in here vs. the rest of the rooms so we went with stripes on one wall.  

I love how they turned out. We used all the paints that we had used throughout the house. Most all of the paint we used came from Kwal Paints. The lightest blue is from our master bedroom, bathroom, and the craft room and is Everlasting Peace. The dark blue is what we used in the hall bathroom and is the darkest color on the same color spoke as Everlasting Peace. It is called Superstitious. The green is left over from our old house, and I used the last of it painting this room and can't remember what it's called...sorry. The yellow is from Jenna's bedroom and is Kwal's Hypnotic. And lastly, we the turquoise from Jenna's ceiling and the laundry room in Kwal's Poetic. I'm glad we used the same paints because it felt like this room ties all the others together. 

I upcycled the ceiling fan instead of buying a new one. I took it apart and painting the base and blade holders. I then added scrapbook paper to the fan blades using spray adhesive and sealing it a spray lacquer by Rustoleum. 

The fabulous Heather Kearl came over and we framed out each of the stripes. I was really struggling with getting my stripes completely strait and not bleeding. Truth be told, I just got lazy. And this seemed like a easy and cute solution. I love it! I really didn't want the framing to stick out too far from the wall but I was having a very hard time finding wood or mdf that wasn't so thick. Then I stumbled on the perfect solution. We used outdoor decorative vinyl. Not only was it the perfect width, but it was already white so it didn't require any prep time and if it gets dirty, I can just wipe it down. Could not be more pleased with the end result. Nick is going to build me a little awning to go over the window. Pictures to come when that eventually gets done.   

For the flooring, we finally decided on the paper bag technique. I originally saw the idea on Pinterest. I did a ton of research and I would say that one of the most helpful tutorials was a YouTube video from An Oregon Cottage. 

I did change a few things from their technique. First of all, as my paper was going directly onto cement floors vs. wood sub floors we couldn't glue the paper directly to the cement. I found out that if we did a coat of the polyurethane first then we could have used poly to seal the paper down. I chose not to go this route for a couple of reasons. I didn't want the paper to look like paper, I wanted to stain it a really dark brown and by doing poly on poly the stain wouldn't have been able to get through to the paper. Also, the floor would have been lower than both the carpet in the craft room and the wood floors in the living room. So we laid a plywood sub floor down instead {see photo above}. 

So as to allow for easy removal in the future, we just kind of tacked down the plywood with glue in the corners. If I had to do it over again, I think I would have gone directly onto the cement or at least attached the sub floor to the cement better. When you walk on it the floor almost bounces. Plus, even though I filled the seems between the pieces of plywood with wood filler and you can still definitely see each of the seems and the pieces of plywood aren't all the same height so the flooring is uneven. It drives the perfectionist in me crazy! 

I read another tutorial on a blog {and of course now I can't find said blog in order to give proper credit...so, so sorry} that said she ironed each piece of paper before she started gluing them down. I am so grateful I did take that piece of advice. It made gluing them down so much easier. One thing the An Oregon Cottage peeps didn't have a clear answer for was what the the Elmer's Glue to water dilution ratio. I used a 2:1 glue to water ratio and it worked really well. I also used a squeegee to get all the excess glue off the pieces of paper when I was laying them. I loved that tip. Another thing learned is that the more glue left on the less the glaze absorbed into the paper.  

Prepped and ready to glaze. I used VanDyke Brown glaze because that is what I had. If I had to do it over, I would have bought stain and used that instead. I didn't feel like the glaze went on very evenly and their are huge seems where the glaze stripes overlapped as I was putting it on. 

I did five coats of Varathane High Traffic Indoor Flooring in Satin. Truth be told, I was completely intimidated by this step. I was really worried about going to all this work only to end up with bubbles in my poly. Because let me tell you, nobody likes bubbles in your poly. But it's all about the tools, as we all know. I found this Water Wiz Applicator specially for applying water based polyurethane and it was the best. It was so easy and this step became the easiest and quickest step to complete. You want to make sure not to shake your polyurethane. Pour it into your tray, dip your applicator, and sweep the floor. Fantastic. I waited two hours between coats and let it cure for 24 hours before we walked on it. I think you can see what I mean about the excess glue causing the glaze to not absorb as those are the lighter areas of the paper. And toward the back of the room you can sort of see the seem where my two rows of glaze overlapped. 

Update: I learned a lot during the process and would totally do it again. I love the concept and have not had any problems with wear and tear yet. I've vacuumed and mopped just like I do with our hardwood laminate and haven't had any problems at all. 

Old Man Casey

 My sweet husband turned 40 today! Are you kidding me?! To commemorate this event, I put together a digital scrapbook compiling thoughts and memories from 40 different people. It was pretty great watching him read it and I think he was really liked it. 

I told everyone I would post all of the pages as soon as I gave him the book. So here you go...

Casey's Forty!

Mom and Tot Gymnastics...Sniff Sniff

Today was our last mom and tot gymnastics class. When they turn three they get moved up to mini squirts. And since she will be three when they start the next mom and tot rotation, today was the day. The end of an era and I'm overwhelmed by the reality that my baby isn't a baby. Because Casey took today off (he turns 40 today, what?!) he got to join us for todays class. Yeah! 

She loves gymnastics. She has the best time and I never have to battle to get her there. She has gotten so good at waiting her turn and following directions, especially when compared to last quarter. She loves the trampoline and the pit. Her forward somersaults are great but she's still working on her backward somersaults. But I think her favorite part is when she gets stamps on her hands and feet at the end of the day. 

The Bergs Are Back In Town

My cousin, Ashley and her three kids, Maile, Michael & Xander were back in town this week. Jenna has so much fun with them. All three of them. They are great kids and are really sweet to her. Jenna loves giving Xander loves...

...whether he wants them or not...

And of course, we spent a lot of time swimming again. Since we just spent the last week in swim lessons, it was nice for her to put some of it to practice. But the end of this week, swimming with them every day, she had made huge progress! And it so much more at ease, which is slightly worrisome because she thinks she can swim now. She just seems to have lost so much of the fear. It's a double edged sword, that loss of fear. 

She loved taking turns to jump in the pool. 

Keep an eye on this one - she's going to be famous one day. Mark my words.