Dresser Redo

 I found this dresser at a yard sale earlier this fall & bought it for $20. It's solid wood & the drawers slide well, it just needed a facelift.

I roughed it up with a little sandpaper and took off the hardware. Then I used some Colonial Red glossy paint to give it a new brighter look. It took 2 coats. After this, I distressed it with some light sanding mostly on the edges. Next, I used a dark walnut stain and an old dried out paint brush to give it the antique look. You just paint on a coat, let it dry a few minutes and then wipe it off. It leaves some darker spots in the corners & edges and darkens the whole dresser slightly. This took 2 coats also. I found some neat spray paint called "Hammered" which gives a hammered metal look to whatever you spray it on. I used this on the hardware. The paint was $7 and spray paint was $6. I had the stain, brushes and sandpaper already, so for about $33 Wessie has this cute "new" dresser for his room!

Don't you enjoy the model in these photos? She was a big helper with this project--good thing I wasn't going for a really precise finish because my helper is better at brushing paint the wrong way and dripping it everywhere! You just can't complain about help though!

And He's Off

As of November 2nd, we have a crawler. Nothing in the house is safe anymore!

Campfire

We had a little bonfire/weanie roast the other night. It was such nice fall weather & since we hadn't gotten to go camping all summer, we decided to at least have a campfire. It started out great. We roasted hot dogs & Wes was sitting on his blanket. Then...he spit up and we discovered he had apparently eaten a substantial amount of grass. Whoops! He was really upset after that & I ended up taking him to the house & putting him to bed while Molly & Luke finished up with the marshmallows. He was fine the next day, so I guess it didn't hurt him--he's just learning.

Luke whittling some roasting sticks with all his helpers.

Helping Molly with her hot dog. She thought it was too hot to get that close.

Happy Halloween

From Beauty and the Beast!

Corn Maze

We had quite the fun afternoon at the Jackson Country Connection Corn Maze in LaPlata a couple weekends ago. I think Molly would of stayed there for days and been happy. She especially loved the giant slide and bouncy house. The actual corn maze was just kind of a sideline deal for her. I thought she might be a little afraid to go down this slide all by herself, but she didn't hesitate.

Wessie just kind of had to look around from the stroller. There wasn't too much that he could participate in yet, but he had fun too. He posed for some pictures and enjoyed playing in the hay. Molly also loved the hay bale animals. There was a giant caterpillar (below), spider & pig.

We also made a stop at the pumpkin patch on the way home so we could pick our pumpkins out of the field. It's so much more fun than getting them at the grocery store!

Molly, of course, picked the "Big Daddy Pumpkin" for her own. Wes slept in the car for this stop, but we picked him out a good one too--just not quite so big.

8 Months

Our little Wessie turned 8 months old last week. He now weighs in at 20 lbs and is 28 inches long and wears 12 month sized clothes. He is SO close to crawling. He can get up on all fours and rocks. He has even figured out how to move his hands but his knees just haven't followed yet. He can now get from his belly to sitting up on his own and has pulled up on several chairs, tables, etc. He's still enjoying solid foods and eats up just about anything we feed him. He got to try meat (turkey) for the first time on his 8 month birthday. The only thing he has refused to eat has been diced peaches. He makes a face like they are just too sour. With his ever increasing mobility he keeps Molly & I very busy pulling things out of his mouth. He is a very busy boy!

Riding in the stroller.

September Happenings

September was such a busy & fun month for us. The first big deal was the Knox County Corn Fest where Molly was big enough this year to participate in lots of the activities! First of all was the parade where she discovered that if you wave, you get lots more candy thrown to you. Let's just say she filled her bag for sure!

Enjoying the parade.

Then there was the Corn Scramble. Quarters are hid in a big wagon full of corn and they put all the 3-4 year old girls in there together and see who can come up with the most quarters. Molly ended up with 3, which tied her for first. She won 2 dollar coins and a candy bar so she was very happy!

Find those quarters!

She also participated in the Pedal Tractor Pull ending up 3rd and getting her picture in the paper with her big medal. She was lucky enough to borrow a frog from a friend and got to be in the frog jumping contest also. Her frog got loose just before the competition and jumped really far with me chasing it...but when it came time for it's jumps to actually count it was rather disappointing. Still fun though. She also got to go on a train ride and jumped in the bouncy house. What a day!

Wes & Dad

Wessie was too little to participate in much of the Corn Fest (we refuse to do baby contests), and although he slept through the parade he did enjoy hanging out with Dad.

Other than the Corn Fest, we also made one big trip to Montana for my best friend's wedding and to visit family. It was a very busy 10 days! It was really nice that Molly had her own seat on the flight--so much more room, and Wes was a pretty good traveler. Here is a photo from the wedding. Molly was the Flower Girl and I was the Maid of Honor. It was SO gorgeous!

Waiting for the Bride's arrival.

Now, we are back home and enjoying the little things. Molly & I made our very first apple pie and Wes started swinging in the outdoor swing. Such fun!

My pie helper!

Swinging with some help from Sister!