Thursday Three - Things I am working on

I have doing a few projects around the house and wanted to share.

1. I repainted a gross dresser that we have had since we got married. I have always wanted to do something with it and I can't believe it took me so long. My good friend Juleen came over and helped me with the project. The furniture she had done is amazing so I was glad to have her expertise. I have another dresser in my room and can't wait to get started on that one.

The Before

The After - I painted and then distressed with some sanding and then added a stain.

2. We are doing a garden! I have never done it before and have no idea how things will turn out. Thanks to a sweet friend Fonnell I at least have a good start. We are doing the square foot garden approach and she is the master. We are doing 16 squares and three herbs pots. Blake loves checking on the seeds.

3. I finally pulled my sewing machine back out after a few months of not doing anything. I found this purse I wanted to make and my awesome friend Jessica said she would do it with me. I did a trial run by myself and then we got together and each made one. On the second time around I adjusted the pattern to make it bigger and it turned out pretty well. This project required a zipper so I was impressed we finished. Luckily Blake played well with her boys so we were able to work while the kids played. Thank goodness for on-line tutorials and good friends to help me do these projects. I could never come up with this stuff on my own.

No Thursday Three

Here are some pictures of the Tulip festival we went to last week with some friends. I am throwing in a few Easter pictures just for fun. Thursday three will return next week. I can tell you are all on the edge of your seats.

Sandwich

I never thought a sandwich could bring people together but Matt and my newest brother-in-law both want to try The KFC Double Down. I thought they were both kidding but they have assured me they are not.

Matt sent me This blog post about the sandwich which pretty much made my week. It is totally worth the three minutes it will take you to read it. I also recommend their show, Wait Wait Don't Tell Me.

Swim lessons

Blake just started swimming lessons. My only real hope for the lessons is that he would at least get in the water as that seems to be our biggest problem when it comes to the pool. And seeing as you can't learn anything else until you actually GET IN, I figured this was a logical first step.

On day one of lessons I got Blake all pumped up. He was so excited until I told him he was going to get wet. His reply, "I don't want to get wet." Awesome, I can see this is going to go well.

We just had lesson five today and things are actually going great. He gets in, kicks, blows bubbles and I even had to do a Bay Watch save when Blake slowly started sinking to the bottom and the teacher didn't notice. Not only was I the big hero but Blake is under the impression that he "swam by himself" and could not be more proud of him accomplishment.

Mixed Signals

I think my dad wants me to blog more but maybe I am reading too much into his last comment. Maybe someone else can help me figure it out. I wish he was more direct.

"This blog never changes. I want a refund."

I plan to get back at it this week. As a follow up to my m&m post I have to admit that I found a green gummy bear in the bottom of my church bag today and ate that too! I don't know what is happening to me but it felt like Christmas when I saw it. Sunday school was about to start so that might have had something to do with my excitement.

It's no Thursday Three...

The other day I was straightening my area rug and out popped a green peanut m&m. Best. Day. Ever. Not only did I eat it but I was REALLY excited about finding it.

Blake

Blake is making me crazy. I know when you see his cute face you can't imagine him ever doing anything other than make you smile, but don't let him fool you. Blake is his own man. He is super stubborn. I wonder where he gets it??

Right now we are battling out the Potty Training. Before any of you calculate just how old Blake is....STOP. He really should be all done but allow this post to explain. Here is what is making me so mad. He can do it. He has been pooping on the toilet for a few months. He just refuses to finally conquer the pee. After some tears (mostly mine), lots of clean up and many loads of laundry, I finally have decided that he'll just do it when he wants. He has a track record of taking his sweet time.

• Walking - 14 months. He could totally do it but just refused. It was funny to watch his buddies run circles around him for months.
• Eating Solid food - 12 months. Yes, most of your little ones start about 4-6 months but Blake REFUSED anything but liquids until he had a full set of teeth! It was crazy.
• Talking - I don't remember when but let's just say he kept to himself to quite awhile. He was happy with his "noise" for communication. If you know about the noise, I hope your ears have recovered.

So, I guess on potty training we are on Blake Time. He can do it. We both know he can but I can feel him holding out on me. I am sure one day I will be so glad that Blake knows what he wants and how to get it but for now we'll just keep buying diapers.

Side note: I would say leave your advice and you are welcome to do that but chances are we have tried it. Most things seem to backfire or have zero effect. Take for instance our sticker chart. Notice how many stickers there are. Really Blake, how many more stickers do we need to go through to figure this out?