Finishing Up Home Projects

It's 81degrees outside and I'm sitting in the backyard soaking up this beautiful Nevada sunshine. 

The boys are both napping after an active morning at the gym and I'm taking advantage of the peacefulness to catch up on a few things. 

On my to do list:

Keeping up with you, friends and family - through this post

Writing a love note to my man - he works so hard!

Researching a new vacuum 

(Yes! The budget says we're ready to go ahead and pull the trigger)

And, if I get to them, 

A Better Homes and Gardens & Martha Stewart Living magazines. 

Catching up on magazines is truly a sign that I have too much time on my hands. 

Well, except for my Food Network Magazine. That's my current favourite and I classify browsing it's pages of scrumptious recipes as 'work' since I'm always looking for dishes to feed my family. :)

But first, 

let me catch you up on a few small projects around the house that we've finally finished. 

1. The Stool

Braden picked up the wood for it about a few months ago and then during some time off recently, designed and made it. 

Not only is it beautiful, it has changed our lives.

Now Ryder can reach all of his drawers and dress himself in the morning. 

He can take care of going potty and washing his hands on his own. 

And, I don't have to lift him all the way up onto the counter when he helps me in the kitchen daily. 

I'm sure I'll appreciate this even more as Baby #3 continues to grow!

Ryder affectionately calls it his 'stood'.

Here he is playing in the oatmeal (making toad in the hole) while I prepare dinner.

2. The Measuring Ruler

The vision for this project dates back a little further. 

We used Christmas money from grandparents to get this wood and it truly was a labour of love. 

Braden made the ruler to replicate a real ruler as accurately as possible and even burned in the numbers in the right font by hand. 

Next we just need to decide how to record the boys' height.

3. The Book Wagon

Being married to a woodworker is awesome. 

Being married to an unemployed woodworker would be awesome too.

Too many projects and not enough time is always the quandary.  

The problem is that we all love books. 

As our family grows and our children develop, we just collect more and more awesome books.

But, you can't buy bookshelves when you're married to a woodworker. 

So, in an effort to organize the books our boys have in their room, I turned to Pinterest.

And, thanks to some birthday money for the boys 

and a local antique store, we were able to solve the problem. 

They love their book wagon!

And that's what's new here.