Every good and perfect party has a tractor...

Over the weekend we attended a joint birthday party for two of Raegen's new friends. They are brothers with very close birthdays...reminds me of Stacy and Justin, who are three years and one day apart.

Raegen spotted this pedal tractor as soon as we arrived. I don't think another soul touched it while we were there! He also managed to sweet talk nearly every child and adult present into pushing him around. And by sweet talk I do mean the phrase

"Push me!!"

was used generously.

It was a B-eautiful day!

The weather was perfect and the sun was shining.

There were plenty of trucks, tractors, and swings to share!

And even better, a real tractor arrived to give the kiddos a real hayride!

"Where there is hay, children will throw it at one another."

Several adults went along for the ride too...we kept to the paved roads thankfully! :)

Cake, ice cream, and pinata time followed the hayride.

Raegen skipped on the cake and ice cream so he could get in the "zone" for pinata time.

YOU!

WILL!

PAY!!!!

This is my friend Jessica that invited us to the party for her boys. She is also expecting.

She is somewhere between four and six weeks ahead of me...they keep changing her due date! :) I am so glad that God has placed her in my path. It has been great fun getting to know her and a relief to find someone with similar beliefs, ideas, and convictions. I look forward to sharing many more playdates and parties with her and her family.

Dresser Distressin'

I bought this dresser when I bought this desk. Yeah, remember that whole story?!

I got it for $15.

Not bad, but certainly not a piece of furniture I would double as a step stool, if you know what I mean. It clearly had seen better days before it entered my life and had a few pieces missing and/or broken.

First I drug it outside {it's really not that heavy with the drawers removed} and sanded it down because well, it was nasty. I didn't go crazy, just roughed it up a little so the paint would stick.

Next, I grabbed an old brush from the bottom refrigerator drawer {isn't that where you store all your brushes?}. I threw on a light coat of old white paint to act as my primer. Is it really necessary to start with "primer"? That's a real question. Anybody know? I didn't feel this dresser would get much wear and tear in its new repurposed state so I didn't think it really mattered in my case.

Then, I made sure Raegen was having a blast on his new skyfort. He couldn't contain his excitement...

I'm so glad his daddy slaved away all summer putting this fort together so that Raegen could send things down the slide...toys, spare parts, hats, balls, anything but Raegen.

One more check to see if he's enjoying himself...

{okay, maybe I was really letting the paint dry}

After the primer was dry I put on two coats of free paint. Yep, I gave Glidden all my personal information and they sent me a free quart of paint...my color choice! Isn't free stuff fun?

When I was done with my brush I stuck it in a sandwich bag, stuck that bag in a bigger gallon bag, and threw it back in my fridge. It will be there the next time I need it.

So "ta-da"!!!

Here's the dresser. Isn't she a beaut?

I didn't really think so, so I ran and got my sander and went to work...again.

When I got tired of sanding, I quit. Simple as that. I've never done this before so I made up the rules as I went. Then I ran out to the shop and grabbed a can of stain. {I knew it was there because it calls my name everytime I go out there..."Robin, come get me and use me on that old dining table you've been wanting to restore"}

In my house simple projects have precedence over big, time consuming projects.

End of conversation.

Period.

Back to my step-by-step directions. If you're writing this down, I think this is step #47.

I grabbed some GLOVES!!! {don't want to forget those!} and a couple of cotton balls.

Then it was as simple as...

wax on...

wax off.

Here's a little tip...a little stain goes a loooong way. And, depending on your desired effect, you may not want the stain to set long. By the time I covered an area (i.e. drawer, side of dresser, top) I immediately wiped it off.

Which of these things does not belong?

Can you see the difference?

I found some decorative wood parts at HobLob to place at the bottom of the dresser to take it from that "broken" look to that "is that suppose to look like that" look. If I were handy with power tools I'm sure I could have restored it to it's original state, but who really cares. It's finished! :)

I am super pleased with my work and the best thing is it wasn't hard at all.

AND, because I had all the materials {from previous projects and FREE paint} it only cost $15!!

It will now house shoes in the bottom drawers and board games, cards, etc. in the other drawers.

{that only took four months to cross off my to-do list...}

Broken bones. Broken windows. Broken ceramics.

I'm making a list.

Daddy came home with a "surprise" last night.

Here's Raegen waiting to be given his "peasant".

A new car club!

A 9-iron, in fact.

I do believe it was love at first sight.

Daddy and Raegen often practice their "game" in the front yard. However, even with "choking up" on daddy's club, it's still quite difficult to swing it properly. With his new club that's "just his size", this shouldn't be a problem. It's still just a tad tall, but he'll quickly grow into it.

And daddy has promised if Raegen improves his skill with his new club, he'll buy him the whole set...bag and all! :)

I don't think practice will be anything we'll have to bribe him to do...I've already heard him this morning saying, "Daddy!! Pay doff! Wanna pay doff!"

pop. Pop. POP!

Can you tell I've popped out since last week?

If you can't, there are plenty of people that tell me they can!! haha.

My father being numero uno. :)

This picture was taken after we stuffed ourselves with pizza along with Aunt Amber and Ashlyn. I don't think $6.60 for two is a bad price for an all you can eat pizza buffet...in fact I think it's a steal! We may show up next week {or later this week!} and our faces be plastered on the door with the words "No Admittance!!". What can I say...the baby likes pizza. ;)

Up like a rocket, down like the rain,

Back and forth like a choo-choo train!

{that's our "brushing our teeth" song}

I took Raegen to the dentist on Wednesday for his 6-month check-up.

We LOVE his pediatric dentist. The office is super kid friendly and the staff is so sweet.

Because Raegen is now 2 1/2, we decided to have his teeth cleaned. They generally like to start the process before the age of three, so I figured it was time!

What's the difference in having your teeth looked at and having them cleaned, you ask?

About $35.

Ouch.

{not $35 total, an increase by $35}

We had a morning appointment which was perfect because "Mo-mo" was on TV {there's a television in the ceiling of each room!}.

However, Raegen had NO interest in laying down! Yes, that means mommy had to help hold him down. It didn't take long for the dental assistant to clean his teeth and he quickly calmed. He still has one upper that is coming in, but that's the last of his baby teeth to break through.

Wow.

Done with potty training and teething...life is a cake walk from here, right?

Anybody home?

TINY CABIN

A social worker from a big City in Massachusetts recently transferred to the Mountains of North
Carolina and Georgia and was on the first tour of her new territory when she came upon the
tiniest cabin she had ever seen in her life.

Intrigued, she went up and knocked on the door...
"Anybody home?" she asked.

"Yep," came a kid's voice through the door.

"Is your father there?" asked the social worker.
"Pa? Nope, he left afore Ma came in," said the kid.

"Well, is your mother there?" persisted the social worker.

"Ma? Nope, she left just afore I got here", said the kid.

"But," protested the social worker, "are you never together as a family?"

"Sure, but not here," said the kid through the door. "This is the outhouse!"

Some Government workers are not so very smart. Aren't you overjoyed that they'll soon be
handling all our medical dilemmas?

Fair Fun

What's a fair without a parade?

Tuesday afternoon we headed downtown for the annual county fair parade.

We arrived just in time to find some good seats and put in our ear plugs.

{the firetrucks are always first!}

Firetrucks from near and far, including those from the volunteer departments, participated and thankfully the sirens were a no show! ;)

This little guy was with the "bomb squad" truck in the previous picture.

"Wook!"

There was so much for Raegen to see.

He tried his best to clap and wave at all the floats. It was precious.

We even spotted a few kids we know...

some were in the Cub Scouts, others in the marching band, and some on horseback!

My favorite part of the parade is always the band.

And of course I'm partial to the most important part of the band...the clarinets!! :)

It's always fun to see the variety of participants at the parade. Though I'm not certain they didn't just take a wrong turn...

There was a whole gob of tractors...some new, some old,

some BIG,

some small!

This year's parade theme was "Rockin' at the Fair" and most of the floats bore that slogan and decorated accordingly.

I just loved this mini ferris wheel.

"Scoose me, I need a closer look. Mama says the horses are next!"

We could smell them coming!! :)

There is a reason they're last!!

And off to the fair we went!!

First stop, the animals!!

"This is close enough. Really."

We ran in to some church friends at the fair too!

And they're off! :)

Zachy wanted to show Raegen his goat.

We tried to get a group picture, but the goat was less than cooperative!

This beautiful calf look harmless, but Raegen kept his distance, opting not to pet!

We took Raegen down the midway to see if he'd be interested in riding any of the rides. He showed interest immediately! As soon as daddy gave him the tickets...

he was off!!

What's better than a choo-choo train?

"Look ma, no hands!"

The elephants were next. I was more than a little nervous about this ride.

However, Raegen thought it was great!

And like all good things, it too came to an end. Talk about a heartbreaker.

It was all over, but the crying...

But with a few flips and flops Daddy turned that frown upside down!

And we all lived happily ever after!