We had a little birthday celebration at our house for Arabella at home. We had her favorite dinner- chicken and rice with ice cream for dessert. We also gave Arabella her present from Daddy, Mommy, and Landon. Arabella LOVES playing house, taking care of babies and playing in kitchens. I had thought maybe we would buy one but they are expensive and the used ones weren't anything that was that exciting to me. Being a big fan of Pinterest and being crafty I thought maybe we could make one. I searched the Internet and Pinterest. There were so many ideas on how to make one and most were under $75. I looked for months and months for a used piece of furniture that was solid wood and inexpensive. I wasn't having much luck with my two specifications. Finally, at the end of September, I found a lady who was moving and trying to quickly get rid of all her furniture. So for $20 I got this TV stand/entertainment center. There is a shelf in the middle that is sitting on top of the whole thing. I was super excited! But now, what do I do with it?
We had planned to make this a Christmas present. Well, with holidays and a wedding I didn't get to it. So 2nd birthday present it is. :)
Aunt Merry moved and she had some left over magnetic paint. Sweet! Maybe we can make the refrigerator door magnetic?
A family friend/ architect, Linda, had a bag of knobs and pulls. Ooo, controls for a oven? Knobs for the sinks?
After a bit of wood cutting and glueing
A few of the knobs Linda gave us made into oven controls and the microwave door.
Brian, Josh's co-ower of his painting/ landscape business, had some left over paint. Paint the whole piece.
I had plenty of craft paint and fabric to do little details. Josh had scrap wood. We had a few old CDs we didn't need
So we bought- a pull for the fridge door, a ceramic dish, a bit more fabric, a little bit of paint and a sealer.
Total cost-$52 dollars
Josh did some woodwork and took my sketch into reality! Josh, Landon and I sanded the wood. Josh, Landon and I painted. I painted and painted and painted. Josh and I added hardware. I sewed. I glued. I painted a bit more. Josh and I sealed the whole thing, in hopes to make all that painting last a bit longer.
Daddy designed and created the sink all by himself. Mommy was super happy and impressed!
In all things, give thanks.
Microwave and Oven
The refrigerator and yes, it is magnetic
A place to put all the food
Josh remembered we had a rack which was rarely used from a toaster oven we no longer had.
Did I mention it has a light already built into it?
The (Christmas present from Daddy and Mommy) pots and pans look great
AND.....IT IS DONE!
Welcome to Arabella's kitchen!
Landon and Arabella love it :)
A couple of weeks later, we drove up to the panhandle to have a birthday party and celebrate with family. Josh drove up a couple of days after us since he had to work and could only visit on the weekend. Arabella received some great presents, mostly fun stuff for her kitchen. We were able to Skype with Aunt Jessica and Great Grandma Williams. Our good friends the Richards were also able to come help celebrate.
Colorful cupcakes
Williams family 2013
Tucked out after partying
It was a fun visit
The kids and I were able to come in time to see Grandpa Williams in a Barbershop event. The event was a tribute to Frank Sinatra. It was awesome as always! Landon and Arabella were amazingly well behaved and listened to the whole 2.5 hour long event.
Travels
I felt like all we did was travel in January. We were in Missouri for almost a week in the beginning. We went to the panhandle for 4 days, a week and a half after getting back from Missouri. We went to Jacksonville. So yes..we traveled...a lot!
We went to the panhandle to celebrate some birthdays. My mom's birthday was on the 17th and Sally's was on the 21st.
A day of ice cream, park and boardwalk
Mall day- food and carousal
Hanging around the house- suitcase fun, Legos, brushing teeth, and playing with Uncle Jon
Sally's Birthday celebration
Sweet Siblings
"I wear my sunglasses at night"
Lego Class
Last semester Landon had such a blast at his Lego class, and they weren't offering it in the spring semester I thought I would teach one myself. We have class Friday mornings for an hour. I read a story on the topic of the week, show the kids some ideas of Lego creations on that topic, the kids build and then we meet back in a circle to share about the creations they made. I love it! Landon loves it! I hear every week how the moms and kids love it. It is so much fun! I already am planning on teaching another Lego class in the fall and maybe even this summer ;)
First Lego class of the semseter
Cooking
For some school work, I decide Landon and Arabella should make dinner from start to finish. We made from scratch homemade pizza. We made the crust, sauce and picked our own toppings. It was yummy and we all had fun! Now that is my kind of learning!
Homemade Pizza
Dress up fun!
"Oh I know I am adorable!"
Our Beautiful Lady
I love the hands in the pockets ;)
It's underwear kids!
In case you were wondering, that bottom middle picture of Landon is him wearing almost every single pair of undies he owns- boxers and briefs!
Happy
Valentine's Day(well this is way late but the Williams family still
wished you a happy Valentine's day even if you didn't know it)!!! My
little loves always make things extra special! We made Daddy red
oatmeal cookies and a chocolate heart cake for Landon and myself (since
we are the only ones who like chocolate. Landon and Bella also made
Daddy a card. I got a steak dinner with stuffed mushrooms, and a baked
potato (which is one of my favorite meals ).
School Time!
Landon
made pancakes with me. We tried out using a cookie cutter and
chocolate chips. Yummy! After seeing a couple of recipes on Pinterest
for pretzels, I thought it would be perfect addition to our letter P week. Plus I love pretzels! We made salt, salt and garlic, and cinnamon/sugar. Some turned out super pretty, some not so much but all were yummy.
These are a few of our favorite things...
Legos, dress up and stuffed animals LOTS of stuffed animals and there are never enough!
And being outside, and making towers with random things around the house
At the end of the month, the kids and I went to stay with my parents for a week.
There was lots of Popsicles, playtime, park time, playing in the rain, tickle wars, and loving on Grandparents.
I decided to post about food since I noticed I had taken several pictures of things we had made.
Homemade turkey pot pie
Chicken eggs, from one day!
Daddy and Landon made so homemade liver worst. Landon even liked it!
yummy pumpkin!
Helping mommy make pumpkin/ banana bread muffins- again!
They are so good!
We also made some corn bread
and pumpkin cookies (dozen plain, dozen with chocolate chips and half dozen with walnuts) - I forgot to take a picture of them when they were done but they tasted yummy!
