Lots O' Projects

Our poor children. The heat, the humidity, lack of a backyard and their pregnant mom have forced them to spend much of this summer indoors. We try to make it outside early in the morning before it gets too hot (it's already miserably humid by 7-ish) but we don't always make it. So, I do my best to come up with fun activities for us to do indoors.

Both kids are really into art lately. They love to color and draw together, but have been interested in using different mediums, or painting with different utensils (Q-Tips, apples, combs, fingers, etc.). I saw an idea on a blog for salt art, so we gave it a try. First, the kids drizzled glue onto their papers, then sprinkled table salt (which we colored with food coloring) on top of that. This was a big hit... and a big mess. But, it provided an hour of fun and took just a few minutes to clean up, which is a trade I am willing to make!

As for me, I've been nesting like crazy and taking on far too many projects. In all actuality, it's probably best that I keep as busy as possible so as not to focus on how terribly uncomfortable I am. I tell you, this pregnancy has been an odd one. This baby is much lower than the other two EVER were and as a result, she is constantly hitting the scar tissue along my incision line (from my first two c-sections), pouncing on my bladder and causing general discomfort. Despite waddling when I walk and having to go to the bathroom every five minutes, I am very grateful for this little girl and all the added energy she seems to have provided me in the last weeks of pregnancy because this is some of what I've been up to:

 

We had these two ugly pieces of furniture annoying me so I had to do something about it. The first is a dresser that was in the kids' room. We got it for super cheap at Walmart when Ava was born. It was an awful honey color. We weren't using it anymore and considered just throwing it away when I had the ingenius idea to paint it. Zinsser makes this AMAZING primer that you can use on ANY surface, even that cheapo glossy fake wood lookin' stuff. So, a few coats of that, a few coats of black paint, vinyl, spray painted knobs (I still need to get two for the bottom drawer) and TA-DAH! We moved the dresser to the living room and now use it as a TV stand. Smart, huh? The other is a side table we got at a thrift store for $10. I loved the design on it, but hated the color, so I painted it. I've been seeing so many bloggers paint their furniture this pretty blue shade and have loved it, I just don't know if I love it on our piece. It's in the same room as the black dresser, so maybe that's what's throwing me off. The good news is, I can always repaint it.

I've been doing major sewing too, but haven't taken pictures. Soon enough, soon enough.

And lastly, Ava got to attend her very first Kids Club at Home Depot this month! It's held the first Saturday of every month and she's been begging to go for quite some time, but our schedule never permitted. However, we made it a priority this month and she and Daddy went on a little date to build coasters and a coaster holder. Pretty great, eh? She even banged the nails in by herself! She came home and painted it pink, purple and green (sorry no photo)... so very Ava!