That was how this weekend was for me. Two of my nieces came for the weekend along with my one niece's husband and their two dogs. It was such a great weekend filled with food, crafting, food, baby chickie lovin, food, some Skeet shooting and shooting lessons, food, garden planting, food, baby bump lovin and last but not least, food. Yes, I guess you could say we did a lot of eating this weekend. Well, I do have a niece who is expecting in August and she is married to a wonderful man who has the most incredible appetite for food. So, I was in heaven to say the least. I got to cook for people that I love the most, and they in turn, made the past 2 and a half days perfect.
I will let the pictures tell most of the story and fill in the words where needed.
Mesclun Salad greens I planted from seed and harvested for our Beet and Orange Salad we would be having for dinner that night.
Baby Spinach to be picked for the salad also. Love that I am able to once again go to the garden to pick fresh veggies for dinner.
Beet and Orange Salad with fresh baby greens and pistachios. It was so yummy and fresh!!!!
First thing Kristina wanted to do was get her hands on the baby peeps. This girl loves her some chickens, just like her Aunt Deb:)
This is a little propaganda photo to make my brother feel guilty and agree to let Kristina get some chicks of her own. See how sad she is because she doesn't have chicks? How could any daddy say no to that cute pouty face?
Once Jess and Joe arrived, Kristina had to show her sister the babies. Jess was won over immediately and agreed that yes indeed, peeps are just the cutest little creatures ever.
It was time to focus on real baby love. Jess is expecting her first child in August and Kristina is so excited about being an Aunt. She can't help herself and has already started buying lots of little gifts for sweet baby girl.
Saturday morning Robby and I had some planting that needed to be done in the veggie garden. Kristina was more than happy to help us plant over 30 tomato plants and some other veggies. Jess was bit by the Veggie Garden Bug too and began making plans for the garden she and Joe could start once they got back home.
We decided to channel our inner Brit and do a little Skeet shooting. Kristina has never shot Skeet before, so Joe gave her a little lesson. I don't think Kristina will be doing it again anytime soon. Her little body isn't use to the kick of the gun.
Next it was time for a little DIY craft time. Kristina is the Queen of DIY in our family. There is nothing this gal can't make when she decides she wants something. She has become a pro with power tools and this former clothes horse now would rather go shop at Loews than shoe for clothes. She had a little project she wanted all 3 of us to make as a little token of our weekend together. She brought everything with her we needed and we provided the power tools. FUN TIMES!!!!!
We started by sanding our blocks of wood Kristina had brought for us to use. Rounding the corners and creating a super smooth surface. Let's just say the palm sander is now my favorite power tool!!!
After we sanded our wood, we stained it and then either left it stained and applied a tinted wax to it, or we could paint it like I did to give it more of an antique, weathered look. A few bangs with the hammer to add some dents, and you have an instant "old" piece of refurbished wood.
Next Kristina showed us how to attach a mason jar to the board using a pipe clamp so that the board could be hung and used as a vase, a planter or for storage of just about anything you could think of that would fit inside it.
Our finished project. Love how they turned out and can't wait to get mine hung in the guest room so I can use it to put fresh flowers in when guests come to stay:) Thanks Kristina, it was so much fun and I will think of all our fun laughs the three of us had every time I look at it!!!
I was officially bit by the DIY bug at this point. Robby had found 6 really old wooden doors that had belonged in a farm house that was built in the 1800's. I snatched those beauties right up but I wasn't really sure what I would do with them. Jessica suggested I use them to make a headboard for the guest room. I have a bed with no frame in that room and I hate that there is no headboard. So, that is what we decided to do. Kristina said it was really easy to do and we could finish it in a day. But, it was getting late and I still had dinner to make for all of us, so it would have to wait a day.
Dinner was going to consist of roasted chickens and asparagus risotto made with asparagus picked from our garden.
With some help from the girls, we got those chickens roasted, that risotto stirred and cooked, dinner rolls made, green beans cooked and homemade gravy that was delicious. It was a perfect meal and another great time around the family dinner table with people I love. I am such a firm believer in eating meals together at the kitchen table!!!! We have the most awesome, sometimes inappropriate, conversations during dinner and then during the time we are just sitting at the table once the food is gone. I highly recommend all families incorporate at least one family meal at the table a day.
This morning after we ate a huge breakfast of sausage gray, scrambled eggs and homemade buttermilk biscuits, it was time to start back to DIYing. Time to make my headboard. First up was sanding the very rough and worn doors down to a nice smooth finish hopefully without losing all of the lovely chippy paint that was on them.
First door before we put the sander to it. Hard to tell in this picture, but it is a really nice, worn yellow.
After we were done. The grain in the door was exposed and it turned out so very pretty. We rubbed in some finishing wax, sanded it one last time with very fine sand paper, and it was done.
The second door had old blue paint on it. We sanded that down too and it became a really nice light turquoise color. I was in love and in awe of what these doors were turning out to look like.
After it was sanded, we applied the finishing wax to it too. Now all that was left was to use the original hinges to attach the doors together and put it in it's place. I just love the old, tarnished hardware and handles on these doors. I love to think about all the people who ever opened those doors to the rooms of their home. Oh, if those doors could talk........
Here they are in place. Now I just need to get a few finishing touches, like a different duvet cover and pillow cases, re-paint the room and find some new lamps and I will have a guest room I can be proud of. Just have to avoid making it too girly so that when the boys come home for a visit from college, they will still want to sleep in their old rooms:)
I really love it and just can't believe we got it done in one day. Pictures just don't do it justice because my cameras kind of suck.
Our weekend was winding down as everyone needed to get back on the road to go home. This weekend was such a nice treat for me. The week was a long one worrying about my dad, who is getting stronger and better with each passing day, and knowing I had my extended family to make my weekend special, made it so much easier. I love having girl time with my nieces!!!!!! And being able to walk past a room in my house and see the fruits of our labors makes it even more sweet. I hope that you all were able to do something really special this weekend with people that you love being with. I know I will start my week with a little extra spark in my heart and a smile on my face thinking about the fun that was had by all.
Hope you all have a wonderful week and look forward to the upcoming weekend:)
XXOO
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