Camping

In November we took a camping trip with a couple of our friends, The Rhodes and The Shaws. November was the perfect time for a Camping trip here in Florida, and we all had a great time. We had orginally planned to go camping in the keys, but because husbands (okay my husband) wasn't able to get off until Friday evening we decided it wasn't worth it to drive down and then have to set up in the dark, so we went to a park/camp grounds near our house (Like 15 minutes away) called Markham Park.

The boys getting the tent set up

Cute Collette

 Tyler getting the fire ready

 Doug getting coals ready for the dutch oven cobbler

 Drew cooking up those tin foil dinners (and Hayden just chilling on the table behind)

 The Shaw's (Doug, Rachel, Gavin, Liam)

 The Rhodes (minus Owen) Brittany, Tyler, collette

 Cooking mallows over the fire

 Hayden all ready for bed

 Mason had fun making things out of tin foil!

 The next morning, the dads took all these boys fishing..

 

 

 And the moms took the babies to the park

 Liam, Hayden, Collette

 We also went and watch the mini speed boat races 

And went and watched the remote control airplanes fly

Yes camping is a lot of work, and yes it was a long night with not a lot of sleep, but really it is all so worth it. We had such a fun time and made some great memories, ones I hope my boys will always remember.
It really was a great weekend with great friends!

Desk/bookshelf Makeover

Back in October I got the itch to redo some furniture. I started with the Desk. This desk Drew's dad made for him while he was in high school. It was just the natural oak, and I wanted to darken it. I decided to give gel stain and try, and I ended up loving it. It was so easy to use and turned out exactly how I wanted.

Here was my little helper, (he was oh so helpful!)

 We ended up barricading off this area, NO MR. HAYDEN'S ALLOWED!

So here is the only before picture I got

 This is during. 

You have to put a couple of coats of the gel on, and it has to dry for several days in between coats. So the process takes a lot of time, but it mostly is just drying time.

 And here is the finish product!

Then I decided while I am in the painting, redoing mood I might as well tackle the book shelf. This bookshelf Drew made for us when we were first married (way back when:) It was made from Alder, and just need a little updating. I had seen (on pinterest, surprise surprise) a cute table someone had done with a thick fat stripe painted on top. So I decided to go with that idea and also add some color. Here is the before... Plain Jane

And here is the Finish... much more fun and exciting

 I did a cool aqua-y color for the base, then antiqued it. Then on the top did the fun stripe with the gel stain and white (also antiqued). It is hard to get the right light so you see the actual color on Camera, but i do like how it turned out!

Visiting Daddy

One of the boys most favorite thing to do is to go visit Drew at the hospital. They Seriously love it! This particular night we took dinner down and enjoyed eating together, then the boys wanted to go see all the machines and get x-rays in the clinic. 

 Hayden just loved going up and down in the chair! The Happiest!

Halloween 2012

 We had a lot of fun this Halloween. Lots of fun activities from school, at church, and at home. Here is our Pumpkins we carved one night. Two bats and a haunted house.

 The ward had a fun Halloween party. The kids did fun carnival type games, and ate way to much candy!

 FRIENDS: Aiden, Tanner, Mason, and Carter

 Hayden was in heaven with all that candy

 For costumes this year Mason and Tanner insisted on being "THE GREEN NINJA" from Lego Ninjago. Of course you can't find a green ninja costume anywhere so I ended up making them. To say they loved them is an understatement. They would put them on and suddenly start doing all these ninja moves.

 Hayden was a little skeleton. I made his costume too, just cut out felt bones and sewed them to a black shirt and pants.  I must say he was the cutest little skeleton around!

 For Halloween night we headed over to a friends neighborhood and went trick or treating with a group of our friends. It was a fun night with perfect weather.

 Again, more ninja moves!

trick-or-treating in the neighborhood with friends

 off to the next house

 Group Shot:

Keely, Avry, Adella, Carter, Mason, Lydia, Tanner, and Kayla

 Hayden got the trick-or-treating thing down fast.

 Tanner and Avry

 Tanner and Owen

Checking out the loot after getting home.

All in all... a great Halloween!