Old Desk Becomes New

In high school Rett made a few things in his woods classes. We've been blessed to have them in our home, especially when we were first married because we were so broke we couldn't afford to buy new furniture. The desk, armoire, and bed side tables he made are all super sturdy, solid, good furniture, so getting new stuff doesn't really make sense. Anyway, recently we've been feeling like we didn't necessarily love the oak look. So we decided to paint the old desk.

I didn't take a very good before picture, but I did get one of a few of the drawers.



After sanding everything down, I painted it. And of course it's freezing cold outside so even the garage wouldn't work for painting. I threw down an old sheet and painted in the office.



We decided we would distress it a little. I did a little sanding here and there, banged it up with a meat tenderizer and hammer a little, and put a few scratches on it. Rett, being the outdoors-man he is, decided it would be super cool to shoot it with a shot gun. At first I was super skeptical about him blowing the drawers to pieces. But he assured me that it would just put a spray of little tiny holes where the bb's hit it. Which it did. It still has the bb's in a few of the holes too. I think it's a little more distressing than I had planned on, but Rett's office is pretty much all waterfowl anyway. So, to go along with the birds on the wall, the gun safe, and everything else, the shot gun spray matches just right.



Here's the finished desk. It looks completely different. I love how it turned out. We also spent a little cash on a piece of glass for the top of the desk. But it really was a cheap make over for the good old desk.





So after having our computer on a bar height pub table for a few days, we are back in business. And I have decided I really like re-doing furniture. In fact I've been hunting around the house for anything else that needs a make over!! We'll see what I can come up with!

Hardware Ranch

A couple weeks ago we took Grandpa Kip with us and visited the Hardware Ranch outside of Logan. They have a little elk refuge during the winter time and they feed the elk. They take you on a sleigh ride with horses. The boys favorite part was that we brought some little hand warmers and they didn't even want to wear their gloves but wanted the hand warmers! Cute, cute boys! We had a blast and it was something we will probably start making a yearly tradition of.

Crew's First Duck Hunt

Last Friday, the last day of the waterfowl season, Rett took Crew out on a little duck hunt. Rett said Crew played around a lot while they were just hanging out, but when he saw ducks flying, he did really good at sitting quietly and still. I know, you probably can't believe it, but he doesn't have any camo to wear. So, he's just in his regular snow pants and coat. While they were out, Rett put one of his snow coats on him, so he was hidden better with the white, but apparently it was just a little too big and bugged Crew. But it's still cute. Crew did pretty good and didn't complain about the cold too much. They got two ducks, a drake mallard and hen. Rett had a little sex ed lesson with Crew to explain that the boys have green heads and the girls are brown. Then they stopped on the way home and Crew got to pick out a treat at the store. He was super excited about it when he got home and had to tell Drake all the details. I'm still not sure if Rett or Crew was more excited. I think it's cute that they both were. Crew was happy to do something with just he and Dad and Rett was excited that Crew was excited. Very good bonding time. This pic is from Rett's phone, so not great, but I was glad he thought to take a picture. I'm glad they are finding things they can both have fun with and it seems like it's just a glimpse of what the future will be like with my boys!

Kangaroo

Drake recently has been saying the word KANGAROO a lot. I didn't really think much of it, just thought it was funny that he randomly says "KANGAROO" without seeing one. Then, one day, I figured out what was REALLY going on. Drake was mad at Crew about something and I heard him yelling "Kangaroo, I hate you!" "Kangaroo, you're mean!" "Mom, Kangaroo is mean, go spank him!" (I know, it's great, my two year old tells me when and how to discipline his big brother!) Anyway, I wasn't as concerned about what was going on as I was excited to realize that Drake is now calling Crew Kangaroo! I'm not sure exactly why he started this, but I think part of it is the way Crew has been correcting Drake when he says his name lately. Drake will say "Boo" or "Poo" when he's talking to Crew, and Crew is such a big boy now that he says it "C-Rew". If you separate the name, it does kind of sound like Kanga-Roo. Maybe? I don't know, but now it's my favorite term of endearment for my little Crew.

Christmas Morning

I LOVE, LOVE to see happy little boys in my house. Running around, having fun, with smiles on their faces totally melts my heart. And of course, Christmas morning is no exception. The boys were excited and loved opening presents and playing with their new toys.

Crew and Drake both got new boots from Santa this year. They were really excited that he even got the color right. And I was excited that the sizes were just right, with a little room to grow!



Crew and Drake both got some ranch sets this year from grandparents. I will have to take a picture one day when they have the whole thing set up. It's great, they have a bull riding arena with chutes and all; corrals for the horses with covered stalls as well; a barn; and all the accessories you need to go with them. Cute, cute; and it is so entertaining for them! Hours of time spent already with these toys. Thanks Grandma's for knowing what would make them so happy!

Here's Drake with his new loot. The only thing he hadn't done yet was change into a new pair of jammies. But here he's sporting his new hat, boots, work gloves, spider-man back pack, and holding a cowboy boot piggy bank. What a spoiled boy!

They got some remote control trucks and once Dad taught them how they work, they loved those.

This is hilarious to watch! It's a bouncy toy with a cow cover thing. They call it their bucking bull and LOVE to bounce around for a few minutes and then fall off and say they bucked off the bull. Cute, cute!

We kept Christmas this year really low key. But the boys have lot's of grandparents, aunts and uncles that spoiled them like crazy! Thanks everyone for helping make our little boys so happy! They have more than they need. I am so grateful that they had a fun and happy Christmas morning.

Rett's Elk

We picked up Rett's elk from the taxidermist a couple of weeks ago. Rett was so excited. It was so cute. Just like a little boy on Christmas morning! I was just happy that he was so excited. Of course, we drove home from Utah on Sunday evening and the power was out when we got home. But that didn't stop the guy from wanting to hang it. Luckily the power wasn't out for very long, so we got some lights on, and got the elk hung on the wall. We had the elk at the taxidermist last year, before we sold our home and everything, so it just so happened that our new home has the perfect place for the elk to hang. If you don't remember the post about the elk, Rett and I were together when he shot it with his bow last summer. We were super excited for his first big game bow hunt that turned out so exciting! Here's a reminder picture of the hunt itself.



And this is one of my favorite things about this elk. He has this cool rhino point.

I know there are friends and family out there that think I'm crazy for being involved in the hunting stuff and letting animals hang on my walls. I actually don't mind it at all. Rett and I had so much fun on this hunt together. We created lot's of great memories and were active while doing it. We were able to enjoy the outdoors and some beautiful and amazing parts of nature. And as far as the animals on the wall, they are just a reminder of those great memories. And seriously, if you still can't get over it, I will just say, if that's the worst thing I have to put up with in my marriage, then I feel pretty good about it!

I'm glad there are simple things in life that make Rett so happy. Like slowing down over bridges to check the river for ducks or geese. Or stopping on the side of the road to show the boys deer or elk. Or training his dogs and learning more about how to make such a great dog. Rett is a big outdoorsman, and I wouldn't change that for anything. I love that he has such a great appreciation for animals and the outdoors. I love that he has passion about things in life. And I love that he is teaching those things to his boys as well.

Drake's Nose

A couple of weeks ago, Drake had a fall on a bar stool and smacked his nose right on it. It was sad. It was bleeding tons and he just kept crying and saying "My nose hurts". Only, it's really cute because the way he says it is super cute. It was in the afternoon, around 2 or 3, and I wasn't too worried about it. Rett left and went home teaching at 7, and when he got back, he looked closely, and started to get kind of worried about it. It looked awful at that point. It was swollen so big and so bruised. Since there's not really anything they do for broken noses, we just tried to put ice on it and gave him some ibuprofen. This was what it looked like that first night after it happened. And this picture just doesn't really do it justice.




Here's a week later, when it was just pretty much bruised.



He was a trooper and after the first day, didn't really cry or say it hurt at all. We love the injury pictures. Things like this happen so much around our house that I'm sure I miss most of the pictures, but the ones we get are usually pretty good. Some of our family that is around will get a little uneasy with all the crazy things the boys do. But usually the crazy things are not when the accidents happen. Most of the accidents happen when they are doing the everyday, normal things. I honestly can't believe more accidents don't happen with all the crazy things they do, but that's just the way it seems to be...Knock on wood :)