This is procrastination at its finest!

Even after FOUR snow days I still think the site of fresh, falling snow is b-e-a-utiful!  Honestly, I’m just hoping that today’s snowfall dilutes the amount of STANKY yellow snow around the back porch.  Ga-ross! 

I’m on my last stack of papers to grade, but I’m lacking all motivation.  I gave the “advanced” kiddos a project where they had to interview their friends, write a report en español and create two graphs to illustrate the results.  Apparently these kids can’t follow a set of 3-step directions (complete with illustrated examples) or they just chose not to! Grr…

Instead of grading these lackluster papers, I’ll post the official Winterfest photo instead:

Hmm… someone’s looking chubby and it’s actually not me! HA!

Where in the world did I get the hand-on-the-hip trick?  It looks much better in a full-length (appropriately centered) shot… or so I read.  I kid. I kid.  I have a friend that pulls it off like a PRO, but she’s simply gorgeous. According to this picture, I’m the KING and Jesse is the QUEEN!  That explains so much.

Word on the street is that my dad is a little upset because he hasn’t made an appearance on the blog.  How’s this:  yesterday I had a free sample of the dental-flosser-stick thingy in my mailbox and it made me think of my daddy.  He LOVES those things!

I watched two episodes of Friday Night Lights today.  I am not in the emotional state to watch the series finale on Wednesday.  How will life go on?!  I’m really torn up about it.

Texas forever, Six.

Snowcation 2011

Saturday night we added a new, old dog to the crazy mix at the Courtney house.  Meet Bully the 5 year old English Bulldog.

I think he is quite the charmer.  Jesse would tell you that I fell in love with Bully right away.  To be totally honest, I was apprehensive.  Toby barked incessantly and Percy was cautious. Bully wormed his way into my heart.  Although at a whopping weight of 53 pounds it was more of a steamroller effect.  It’s safe to say: I love him! 

Jesse says that he “likes” Bully, but I’ll let you be the judge of that.  Percy has been avoiding my camera since we brought the big lug nut home.  Maybe that’s his way of silently protesting the addition.  Percy should know that he will ALWAYS be my número uno.  The two snow days have been great.  All three of the boys (Percy, Toby and Bully) are getting along really well.  For this I am incredibly thankful.

I got a good start on my dining room project today.  Now I’ll be at another standstill until I get warmer weather (and time) to do the sanding, stripping, and staining/painting. 

 I owe many, many thanks to my Momma for the table, chairs and sideboard.  This set is from 1928 and still has the original shipping label attached to several of the pieces.    I love, love, love old stuff!   This is especially fun because it’s been in the family since it was purchased nearly 80 years ago.  I’m excited to see the finished product sometime this year!!!  Baby steps…

Today I recovered all 6 of the dining chairs.  I’ve never done anything like this, but I think they turned out really well—all things considered. Ha! 

When I was shopping at Lowe’s for the staple gun and ammo Drew told me about an amazing fabric store in Springfield.  Jesse was a good sport and went “shopping” with me.  I really liked the red in this fabric.  The price was pretty amazing too.  I bought extra fabric “just in case.”  Now I need to find another project to use the rest of the material. Hmm…

Original Fabric

(and furniture models)

Dismantled Chair

 

The one on the left was my first attempt.  The top looked great—the underside?  Not so much!  Don’t worry.  I had the opportunity to redo the seat because I messed up on my pattern repeat and ended up with two different looks. 

I emailed Jesse this picture and he side the one of the left looked like a “landing strip for your butt” and said that I should go with the pattern on the right.  I couldn’t believe he had an opinion.

After a snow-shoveling break and lunch I finished recovering the chairs.  I owe Norm a huge thanks.  Without these AMAZING snow days I wouldn’t have been able to get started.  Oh—and a special thanks to Lindsay—the subconscious inspiration for my fabric choice! Ha!

I really enjoyed working on these chairs.  My thumbs are a little sore, but I could definitely recover old dining chairs for a living… or at least during SNOWCATIONS!