25.4.11

Refinishing Furniture

While Marc's parents Peter and Bette were here, we had lots of visits and spent a lot of time refinishing 4 pieces of furniture! The main piece we did was Marc's grandfather's desk. This desk came on the boat from Holland when Pete was 3. It was Marc's grandfather's office desk in Amsterdam and in Edmonton and was later used by Marc's uncles Morris and Tom and finally as Pete's studying desk while they were in university. Eventually it came down to Lethbridge to be Marc's desk growing up. We have talked about refinishing it for quite a while and finally the time has come! 3 generations sitting on the desk before the refinishing

The desk chair is from Marc's other grandfather. It was his after dinner relaxing chair in the kitchen of their farmhouse near Creelman, Saskatchewan.

The process starts . . . Here we are stripping a book shelf that has been in Ty's room and was in Marc's house growing up. Bette said she has wanted to refinish this book shelf since Marc was a baby. The little white desk Marc played with growing up.
We also cleaned up and varnished this wooden chair that we bought this summer in Lethbridge.
After stripping was finished, we started varnishing. I was very thankful for Grandpa to look after Ty during this whole process.
Marc inspecting our handiwork

The finished products! After many hours of stripping, sanding, varnishing and varnishing some more. We love these pieces!! Thanks so much for all your help Pete and Bette. Here is a before and after series of the desk and bookshelf.

The nice grain on the back of the bookshelf.

While we were at it, we also stained the babygate Marc made for Ty.

The finished chair.

Ty being entertained in his new desk.

Grandpa's desk before and after. It has a nice golden shine now, and the revealed grain is beautiful.



My favourite pieces - Daddy and son desks! So many memories in these pieces already and so many more to come!

15.4.11

out and about

ty loves being out. outside, out to the store, out on a walk... he is much better behaved when he has a chance to get out of the house. if he can get dirty, even better. luckily we have been able to take advantage of some recent sunshine to get out to the beach.
these first few are from earlier this week.

niko and ty play their own version of fetch.


these pictures are from today. the sand is easy on niko's paws and ty loves to play in it, so we will likely be here a lot if the sun comes back.




yesterday i took ty with me to home depot. he had a great time toddling down aisles, beating carpets and putting paper in a box. it's funny, i think when i go out with ty i am the recipient of some reverse sexism or something. people love it. everybody's got something to say, to me or to ty. fun for both of us anyways.

"forget about your blinds dad. check out my sweet scraps of paper in a box!"

12.4.11

Visitors Galore!

March has been full of visitors! No sooner had my mom got on a plane and headed back to Lethbridge, Marc's parents arrived from the windy city and his sister Shareen sailed in from Victoria.

Ty had lots of fun playing with Nana and Grandpa and going for lots of walks with Grandpa and the dogs!



We also had lots of visits with relatives and former Lethbridgians transplanted to the Fraser Valley.


Just as this party was finishing up and we were all saying goodbye in the entry way, three mystery guests arrived! Their parents don't know they're in town yet but we had a wonderful time reminiscing and catching up!

Marc's parents and Shareen are not only great to have around but they are also very handy and productive! We changed lightbulbs, filed down doorways, made granola and refinished furniture!! (Post on refinishing furniture to come!)

We did also make time to have tea downtown and watch Ty play his version of peekaboo - put the towel over your head and crawl around with your hands out hoping that your mother and aunt will set you on the right path. If you're lucky kid, if you're lucky! ;)


All in all a great week!!

7.4.11

Things I have loved about today . . .

1. The sun, glorious sun!

2. Ty flirting with all the clerks and customers at Walmart. That boy knows how to turn it on!

3. Starting and finishing "The Blue Castle" by Lucy Maud Montgomery while sitting on the deck with Ty for two hours while he played with sticks. Why have I never heard of this book before?
Lovely!



4. Marc coming home and going for a walk in the glorious sunshine.

5. Enjoying my own "Blue Castle" on the deck of our new house with a lovely dinner of bread, meat and cheese and crackers.

mmmm Blissful. :)