Summer days......

SOFIA'S BIRTHDAY KITCHEN

So, this idea has been bouncing around in my head for awhile, possibly since Sofia was born. I had a tall nightstand that I knew would make the perfect refrigerator, and a short, wide one that would make a perfect stove/sink. I didn't want to cut into the pieces, so I tried to do as little as possible without altering the integrity of the actual piece. For the fridge, I just painted it pink, a $2 can of oops paint! I painted the handle white to match the pull on the drawer of the stove. I added chalkboard paint to the front for her to scribble on and eventually make pretend shopping lists. For the stove/sink, it wasn't that much work either. I painted it the same $2 pink, then added four black circles for the stove top. I purchased a bag of wooden wheels, like for toy trucks and cars, and painted them black. I screwed them to the top of the nightstand, but didn't tighten the screws all the way so that the "knobs" would still turn just like a real knob. For the sink, I bought a metal cake tin, I put two small screws in the inside so that the tin wouldn't turn in circles. For the faucet, I bought a letter "J" and just turned it upside down. I painted the J and two knobs, and two jenga blocks glued to the sides of the J for extra support. I painted them all in a gunmetal silver. I bought the play kitchen pieces at a garage sale over 6 months ago. I purchased the food at Wal-Mart for super cheap. I found the wooden highchair at a thrift shop forever ago. I painted the seat pink, but ran out, so the tray got a light green color.

I have to say, I have done a LOT of projects in my life, but this might be my favorite. Sofia seems pleased too, which is the point of your 2nd birthday.....

Don't forget to brush twice a day

and you can have a smile like mine....

Ugliest Christmas Present EVER!!

Marc is planning on going back to school in the near future. We will be living in a small house, with possibly no space for an office. I bought him a small desk to refinish so that he can have a small corner wherever we live. I wrote him a mushy note about how I will support him in all he does, and the desk, which will be painted in the dark grey of his choice, will stand as a testament that I will always make a place for him...

The box is always the best part....

Hair today....

Sofia has WILD hair...

Merry Christmas to ALL and to ALL a GOODNIGHT...

A Day At The Park

There is a park near to our house and the kids love to go...

Hawai'i

I don't have time to post a lot of pictures, and we only have half because Marc's sister Gina took just as many on her camera, but here is just a few of our amazing vacation. We are moving to Texas in less than two weeks, and when things settle down, (do they ever?!), I can post more and catch up...

brothers are the best.....

Sofia's first food

She was not impressed....

Sofia's Halloween Costume

They don't do Halloween here very big, so we bought the kids fun pajamas instead. Sofia was the cutest skeleton ever.....

Giovanni's Baptism

Just for laughs....

I promise, I DO brush her hair....

Bridenstine cheeks, I mean girls.......

Daddy's girl

Summer Sunday's

I like to take pictures of the kids before church to capture them at their "Sunday Best".

Grandmas' fashion statements......

My grandma's give me quite the accessories. Julie gave me the flower and Jannet gave me the bracelet. But I am so cute, I can make anything look good....

Subway Art HOW TO

Just for you Becky...

I outlined how I wanted this project to look on a word document. I just kept trying different fonts and layouts.


I took an old piece of plywood and cut it to size and painted it the color I wanted the letters to be.


Here in England, vinyl lettering is harder to come by, and I didn't have the patience to wait to order any from the states. I bought regular sticky letters from our local car supply place. I laid them out to make sure I liked the look. The guys at the store were really nice to help me find all the letters and even suggested getting the bigger letters for DELUCA.


Then, I made lines, obviously not particularly straight, and put the letters on the board. About five coats of spray paint later, I peeled off the letters and VIOLA!! this is what I got.

Subway Art

Cannot figure out how to flip this image. Again, my IT guy is across the ocean. The boys, and I must admit, myself, have been having a hard time with some basic values, so I wanted a reminder in the house. I wrote our last name down the middle and found words that I wanted us to daily strive for. It turned out pretty great, except if you look closely, I cannot follow a straight line.