A re-do.

 I've been wanting something taller in my foyer...as opposed to the shorter antique table I had in there. I wanted something with some storage space...

Chad's parents had this chest of drawers they weren't using anymore. It'd been sitting in our garage for a year and I'm pretty sure it wasn't going to be used ever again...until I brought it back to life. This dresser was bought unfinished...they painted it white...then years later, Chad's sister painted it red...then years after that, his mom painted it black. Needless to say, the finish wasn't in the best shape anymore...but it got some good use and I'm pretty sure they got their money's worth!

The finish was really bumpy, rough, bubbly, and sandpaper-y. Get it? It wasn't pretty. I decided to strip it. I'd never stripped anything before. This was a TOUGH job....especially with three coats of paint to strip. After I stripped it, I sanded it and cleaned it. I then sprayed a primer on it. (that was the easy part!). When that dried, I painted SEVERAL coats of white paint. I lost count of how many coats I put but it was alot! I don't know why it was taking so much to cover it. But it dried fast, so that was good! After I finished all the painting, I sanded and sanded and sanded! I wanted an antique, distressed look. I wiped some antiquing glaze over the sanded areas to "blacken" them. When it was how I wanted it, I sprayed three clearcoats and I was done!!!

What do ya think?

I got new pulls from Hobby Lobby. At 1/2 off, these Fleur de Lis wrought iron pulls were only $1 each!

I filled in the previous knob holes with wood filler and sanded so I could put middle pulls on some of the drawers.

Isn't she a beaut?

This was alot of hard work...but totally worth it! I got the outcome I was looking for and learned alot in the process! Can't wait to tackle my next piece! (be looking for my refinished jewelry armoire!)

Our Valentine's Party

We had our Valentine's party Friday! I love Valentine's Day! I love red and pink and hearts and cards and candy...I just love it all!

This is my sweet Iborni holding up her "lips" cookie!

...just a little something from Mrs. Hendrix...

Piano

We got a piano! It was Nonna's a long time ago and it's been at Chad's aunt's house for a while. We picked it up a few weeks ago and it's in Chad's parents' study right now...it really won't fit in our house right now...but we'll have it for Avie when it's time for her to take piano lessons!

Our fun Saturday! (not recent Saturday though...)

One Saturday (in January) we spent a fun day together...lunching...shopping...it was great.

Avie loves the carousel!

(and she no longer looks like a baby...she's a little girl...I keep having to remind myself)

...nah...she's still MY baby!

She likes to ride the horsey "upstairs" on the carousel. Livin' on the edge huh!?

Hey Daddy!! (see him down there?)

We also went to The Creamery for ice cream. MMM!

It was a perfect day. Honestly, it's hard to ask Chad to spend an entire day shopping with us. Most guys just don't like to shop! It's sweet that he'll do it for us sometimes...especially if you throw the Camoflauge Shop and Academy in there. Everyone wins!

Random...

I really don't remember when I took this...I know it wasn't on one of our recent "snow days"...maybe New Year's? Did it snow a little in Sterlington on New Year's?? Anyway, I thought it was a cute pic...and the snow falling really shows up!

(and I think these two are really cute!)

(Check out Avie's slipper socks she borrowed from Nana. She won't give them back.)

Excalibur

While we were still out for Christmas Break, my brother invited us to eat at Cheddars and take the kids to play at Excalibur!

Avie & Caroline cruising in their car!

(I can seriously see these girls doing this as teenagers)

Avie loves the horsey ride. Even Drew-Drew gets to ride with Molly!

Giddy Up!

But THIS is their all-time favorite! You can actually go to this place without spending any money. The slides and "jungle gym" don't cost anything and the kiddos would much rather play on this than those "rides" or arcade games.

ready...set...go!

"the little girls"

Weeee!!!!

We finally used all our tokens...but Avie still thinks she's playing!

Christmas Day 2010

Santa came to our house! We had a blast...documented on video for sure, but not as many pics...the excitement makes ya forget to take pics!

Santa brought Avie lots of fun things...a table and chairs (so no more high chair)...a Dora 4-wheeler (her big gift!), a Rosalina doll (bigger than the one she got her first Christmas), and lots of other fun things!

She was so overwhelmed! She would play for something for 2 seconds and move on to the next thing!

Avie and her new baby

We also gave Avie some more presents from us.

I made her a "nap" blanket...out of Minnie Mouse fabric that was kinda hideous, but she loved it when she saw it so I couldn't say no.

And we gave her a bunch of panties! She loves them...now only if we could get her completely potty trained so she could wear them!

Christmas evening we headed back to Ruston to celebrate with my mom's side. We did fingerfood...my favorite!!!

Avie loved helping Mamaw open her gifts!

My cousin Ashley (just had her third baby boy 2 weeks ago!), holding up their gift from Mamaw.

This girl does the cutest things!

...and us with ours!

Pops is reading to Avie...she loves her pops.

...isn't this precious?

...and we had a mini-photo-shoot in front of Nana's tree...

This Christmas was wonderful. It just gets better every year. Seriously, it's so much more fun with a child! You get to re-live all the excitement from when you were a child all over again. To see the look in their eyes...it's priceless. And to be able to teach your children at a very young age what Christmas means (and to hear your 2-year-old say it means "Jesus") is truly heartwarming and touching.

Christmas Eve-Eve & Christmas Eve Picture Overload!

Since you all know that I'm usually a couple of months behind posting...why stop now?

We went to Chad's parents' house for Christmas Eve-Eve this year...his sis and her husband (they just got married in November so it was Avie's first Christmas with an Uncle Pat!) had to work Christmas Eve & Day so we celebrated early. I don't have many pics from that night...my camera battery died and I didn't have backup!

Nonna & Papa got her a huge box with all sorts of goodies!

Avie in her Dora Christmas pj's!

"Jessi" reading to A

Nonna & Papa

Me and my two loves...

Avie loves her Nonna & Papa!

...and Uncle Pat and Jessi!

The next day we headed over to Nana & Pops' in Ruston for Christmas Eve.We went to the candlelight service at their church, only to walk in when everyone was walking OUT! haha....Nana thought it started at 6, but it started at 5! Her pastor even offered to do a little special service just for our family! Sweet, but we opted not to do it...he had a family to spend Christmas with too.

Here's Drew-Drew...my only nephew...isn't he beautiful?

Avie's helping Tata open her Scentsy warmer we got her.

This is the dog food container I made for Tara's dog, Motley...got the idea from Ballard.

Grandmama got all the girls Pillow Pets! They LOVED them!

Sisters

Takin' a ride on the horsey!

Avie is so good with Drew. She's gonna make a great big sister one of these days. No, that's not a hint! I said one of these days...not one day soon! haha 

And she ADORES her Uncle Tim!

She's their only niece so she holds a very special place in their hearts too.

Nana and Pops with all their grandbabies

Check out the "little girls"...they're so silly!

More to come...still haven't blogged about Christmas Day and Santa!!!