Project Friday

Here are a couple of Before shots from
the toy room, affectionately known as
"The Hide Out"

The kids' artwork adorned the walls, taped haphazardly here and there

What girl can head into a project without her trusty
pink construction tools?
(one of my favorite Christmas presents from the past)


a piece of masonite, for the chalkboard


Magnetic paint!

More magnetic paint!

and, what girl can head into a project without her MAN
using the dainty pink construction tools to help her out?

a work in progress

FINISHED!!!!

...and around the corner.

my favorite part...the right-hand wall is all magnetic!

Now we can play and display without a Scotch Tape mess everywhere!

There were many steps to getting the Hide Out in decent shape:
1. de-junking MANY toys
2. sorting the toys
3. emptying the hide out completely
4. painting Magnet paint on one wall
5. Painting 5 coats of magnet paint on the chalkboard (hanging on the left, soon to be framed)
6. going to Home Depot multiple times for a few supplies
7. Painting the walls green.
8. Painting the chalkboard with 2 coats of chalkboard paint
9. cutting the wood for shelf supports
10. cutting the wood for shelves
11. painting the shelf supports (green)
12. painting the shelves (2 coats each!)
13. hanging a heavy-to-lift-hard-to-handle homemade chalk board
14. hanging the shelves
15. painting the little white floor shelf (3 coats of paint)
16. finally....re-sorting the toys into the fabulous new bins from Target!
(more are on the way, but we're beyond the budget for now).
17. Letting the kids PLAY on the CLEAN floor of the Hide Out!




Now, for NEXT week!
we are taking it down a notch or two...
down to the ground, quite literally!
This week, I am working on the neglected baseboards
throughout the entire house!
They need some SERIOUS TLC!
(it's not that I don't clean them, it's that some of them need some obvious EXTRA attention)

behind the laundry baskets in the laundry room

under the snack bar, by our red barstools

high traffic area in the kitchen
(ps. I swear these look WAY worse in these pictures, and Ryan's not thrilled about me showing our yucky house parts. )

down to the wire...

But I WILL finish my Friday Project...

Fun Day!

I can't imagine the day when my kids are too big to go to the park to play.

I hope it never comes.

It's ok to take your 17 year old to park to swing on the swings or go down the curly slide, right?

For now, I will be grateful they love to play. Grateful I can take them to the park. Grateful they WANT to go to the park with me. And most of all, grateful I can PLAY with them at the park!


(there are no pictures of me going down the slide, or swinging, but you bet I was...before the belly gets too big!)

So, even though we're all so busy and have loads of laundry, tons of dishes and chores to be done...go PLAY! In the sun, in the snow, inside, outside...just PLAY! It's such a good excuse to be a kid again!

A little history

This new header - I LOVE- is actually the entry sign to the CITY OF SOUTHWELL, in England!!! Our friend is there right now and was in the city of Southwell for the day (neighboring Nottingham) and sent us a ton of wonderful pictures from that city. It's especially neat to us because both Ryan and I have a long line of English history. So, we are taking a few of our favorite photos from Southwell England and displaying the art in our home!