June is Bustin' Out All Over!

I've always admired people with green thumbs.  In my past, I've tried some house plants and simple potted plants with absolutely no luck at all.  In fact, when I was living in Denver, my visiting teacher gave me a beautiful potted plant to bring some color to my front porch...I think I killed it in less than a week--super embarrassing when the giver comes to visit you once a month and can see your epic fail.

I've been trying to add some color and life to our home here in Chicago.  I've had some successes, and some failures, but I'm enjoying the journey!

Dining Room Table Makeover

When I first purchased my town home in Denver, a very kind lady at church asked if I could use a dining room set and gave me her old one for free.  It experienced some trauma on the way to my house:

  

But I was able to glue it back together (with a ton of pointers from Dad).  The table has held up great since, but it also has experienced a bit of wear and tear from use.

Recently some church missionaries were over for dinner and out of the blue they offered to help refinish our table and shortly after that offer, one of Hylie's friends was over and commented our table was 'dirty', I got the hint and knew it was time to take action.

So last Monday the work began.  I got an orbital sander, some wood stain, and white paint and started getting up early in the morning to give me some kid-free time to make this project happen.

"BEFORE"

I was quite excited when the table top was sanded and ready for the stain.  I had done some research and picked what I thought was the perfect stain color.

 Only, after I had applied it, it acted more like paint than a stain.  I was pretty miffed, to say the least.  I even called the company to ask if others have complained about it hiding wood grain--they said yes but claimed I did everything wrong so that is why it didn't come out correctly.

 I let them know I followed the directions on the can, but they still didn't seem to care about the fact that I had to re-sand the table top and start all over.

The next stain I picked turned out beautifully and I was able to paint the base of the table white.  Not only am I thrilled with how it turned out, I'm pretty pleased with myself for accomplishing all of this in less than a week!

"AFTER"

Now, on to the chairs!

Hot Fun in the Summer Time

Yes, things are getting pretty hot over here, but I am not going to complain!  I will take this stuff over freezing temps any day!  The girls have really been enjoying the time outside.

Playing with some "Foamy Soap".  Eliana was not digging it at all!

Baby Woodhouse #3

Geoff and I got a glimpse of our little one this month at our ultrasound appointment.  We are so thankful that this baby is looking healthy and strong.  I love feeling the baby move around and can't wait to meet this precious child in October!

Children's Museum

These past few weeks Hylie had the opportunity to go with a friend to our local Children's Museum.  She LOVED the experience and spending time with Evelyn.  Unfortunately, Evelyn's family has moved to Utah--we will miss them all dearly, but we were glad for one last trip to the museum before they left.  Eliana and I even tagged along!

Eliana - 18 months

Eliana keeps growing and is starting to get the hang of this mobility thing.  She's crawling everywhere, pulls herself up on everything, and has even mastered going up and down the steps!  Now she just has to get the courage to stand on her own and take some steps.  She's tried out the nursery these past few weeks and usually settles down the second half after mom or dad leaves.

When it comes to opinions, Eliana definitely has been gaining her own!  At mealtimes, if she is not excited about what we're eating, Eliana will scream and point to the fridge expecting a specific food to appear that isn't already on the table.  I think she's starting to realize I'm not catering to everyone's food wishes, so she's starting to be a little better at eating, but we have a ways to go.

Words are not anything Eliana is concerned about right now.  She points, grunts, and shakes or nods her head.  Every once in a while she'll repeat "Mama" and "Dada" and even gives a little roar when reading about a dinosaur in one of her books, but she is perfectly content not trying to build any type of vocabulary.  A few tantrums have occurred due to her lack of communication skills, so I'm hopeful she'll be motivated to start verbalizing things.  She definitely understands a great deal, she just doesn't want to talk about it.  ;)

When Eliana sees her picture is being taken, this is how she 'smiles'

And, of course, it's time for some side-by-side pics of when Geoff and I were her age.  It's pretty obvious who Eliana is getting her amazing looks from--she looks just like Geoff did when he was little.  In fact, when I showed this picture of Geoff to Hylie, she asked when Eliana was wearing that outfit, ha ha ha ha!

Family Vacation to Wisconsin Dells

Geoff took a few days off work and we headed up to Wisconsin Dells.  We had wonderful weather and just a great time on our get away.

We experienced Circus World (which included Hylie riding an elephant!), a Duck Tour, and swimming at the hotel pool and Noah's Ark.  We didn't take any pictures at Noah's Ark but Geoff and I had to chuckle, the girls enjoyed the hotel pool more than the water park, ha ha!  I also got to celebrate my birthday while we were away with some yummy Wisconsin macaroni and cheese and ice cream.  Delish!  (I was enjoying the evening so much, I didn't get pics of that either...)

Trip to PA with Hylie and Eliana

The girls and I decided to take an impromtu visit to PA (thankfully, Grandma and Grandpa were okay with this!)  Hylie was thrilled to go, she had been asking on a regular basis when we could visit Grandma and Grandpa again.  Plus, in a recent library class, the instructor asked the kids where they would go if they had their very own magic carpet.  Immediately, some of the kids shouted out: "Disney World!" "California!" but when the teacher turned to Hylie, her response was, "Grandma and Grandpa's."

We didn't get there on a magic carpet ride, but the girls were sure good in the car for the eight hour drive!

We had a wonderful visit, enjoyed some great weather, and had a blast with family.  We even got to attend Grandma's piano recital and loved hearing all the kids perform--including cousin Tanner!

Hylie got her hair trimmed and styled by Grandma!

Eliana hasn't been warming up well to anyone other than her mom recently.  But she did have a few moments of fun with the family...

Grandpa has been working on this swing project for a little while and we were thrilled to have the honor of testing it out while we were there.  Needless to say, IT WAS A HUGE HIT!  The kids absolutely LOVED this new attraction and I have a feeling it will never get old!









We also got to go swimming with Janna in a 90 degree pool.  The girls thoroughly enjoyed their experience and Grandpa worked with Hylie to show her she truly could float in the water with no human assistance--she was thrilled!

To end our visit, we enjoyed a quiet little cook-out, complete with hot dogs and s'mores.

Each night we got to video chat with Dad, can you tell Eliana was pretty excited to see him?



Thanks, Grandma and Grandpa for such a delightful visit.  Looking forward to next time!