mark graduated!

Mark graduated last weekend!! After 5 years of hard work it was fun to celebrate him finally graduating. After a few more hours of on the job training requirements he can take his test and be a licensed journeyman. I am very proud of him! They had a nice dinner for us and a Carhartt jacket for all the graduates. Miles was very well behaved and caught a lot of eyes.

Miles is 5 months old

Miles is more fun each day. He is laughing a lot and starting to show his personality more and more. For whatever reason he has been stomping his foot a lot (I will have to post a video once I get one).These pictures pretty much sum up his facial expressions right now; serious, happy, interested, intrigued. I am so thankful to have such a healthy and happy baby!

DIY: wooden storage boxes

FINALLY I finished the boxes I have been working on for a month or so now. Took much longer than I expected but I am totally pleased with the result. Not sure if I would do it the same next time as it cost more money than I wanted to spend. I might spend more time looking for wood boxes that would fit in the shelving. 

1. pick out wood and cut it on a table saw to the dimensions you want

2. screw wood pieces together (this was tough)

3. fill screw holes with wood filler (and any other dents/scratches you might have)

4. sand wood filler down (basically like muding and sanding drywall) repeat 3 & 4 as necessary

5. paint boxes (let dry completely)


6. paint chalkboard paint on box as desired

 Remember the before...

pretty in pink

I am in love with this cool setting I can use on my Canon PowerShot SD1400 IS digital elph. You can select one color from the scene you are shooting and keep only that color while turning the rest of the picture into black and white. This is my second digital Canon Elph camera and most likely won't be my last. 

generations

Two weekends ago we went to Cashmere (WA) for Marks cousins wedding reception. It was the first time most of his extended family got to meet Miles including his grandpa. The weather was awesome and we had a lot of fun. Not too long before that we also went to Tonasket to help my grandpa out with some yard work and visit him. Its very awesome to see four generations of family together. Also snagged an awesome picture of Miles and Great Grandpa Sterling.

   

DIY: finish wood table

Mark's parents gave us a table that Mark's grandpa made. I was super excited to get a piece of furniture he made. His grandpa is an amazing wood worker and has made a lot of different pieces for his family. I was also really excited because I had been wanting a table for our patio but not wanting to spend a lot of money for one. 

The table had never had a finish on it. To protect the table from weather and to make it look new again did the following:

1. sand the table with a finish sander

2. wipe the table with a wet cloth to remove dust

3. hand brush a water based urethane

4. let dry and apply a second coat

This only took me an hour or so and I am very happy with the results. Next step is finding some chairs to go along with it, goodwill hunting to come.