Suzanne McGrath Photography

Sick - I mean Six - on Sunday

1.  The weekend started off great!  #1 had a small birthday party with just three of her friends.  At first she wanted a hot air balloon ride for her birthday gift but then changed her mind when she realized that would be ALL she'd get.  So she opted to have a face painter come over for her party.  We hired MJ Matthews and she was awesome!  #2 also had a friend over that night so there were seven girls all huddled around MJ.  (#3 got a tattoo but wanted nothing to do with getting her face painted.)

Here is #1:

The girls were all fantastic, easy to have around (read: not too loud) and fun.  I think #1 had a great - and very memorable - 10th birthday!

2.  Unfortunately, the weekend didn't stay great.  I had a really nice 8 mile run Sat. morning.  However, my knee didn't agree with me.  It was and is really, really sore.  I've done the whole ice and ibuprofen thing.  I just hope it gets better in time for my race next Saturday.  

3.  I decided we should paint the front two rooms this weekend since the weather wasn't very nice.  #4 and I trekked to Home Depot to pick out paint and I was ready to roll by naptime on Saturday.  Unfortunately, when the hubby scraped the ceilings, he left a mess on the walls.  It took him ALL DAY Saturday just to prep the room for me to paint.  To add insult to injury, #4 woke up from her (too short) nap really, really, really grumpy.  It was awful!  She never really came around and was grumpy and hard to be around for pretty much the rest of the day.  Ugh.  It made for a really long day since the hubs was otherwise occupied.  

4.  To make matters even WORSE, I came down with some form of stomach bug.  I wrote about #4's puking episode at church last weekend.  Well, she got worse before she got better.  Then #3 got knocked down with something on Wednesday.  She didn't get off the couch until 4:30 that afternoon.  Yesterday afternoon my stomach started to feel funny.  That meant I didn't eat more than two muffins and two pieces of pizza ALL DAY.  And today wasn't much better.  I really didn't eat anything until dinner tonight. I then had an epiphany...I get grumpy without food!  Yes, I will admit it.  I was really grumpy this weekend.  My poor kids.

5.  I managed to paint today.  It took me four hours!  And what's even worse?  I ran out of paint.  I couldn't believe it.  The walls sucked up a lot more than I bargained for.  And what's even worse than THAT!?  The paint color isn't as dark as I thought it was.  It looks exactly like our foyer even though it's a shade darker.  So I think I'm going to go a shade even darker.  I want there to be some contrast to the two rooms.  That means I will have to cut in again.  Yuck.  

6.  We purchased an adorable desk for #3.  She has been begging for one since her sister received a desk at Christmas.  Where did I find such an adorable desk?  Need you even ask?  Craigslist!  Yep - the hubby picked it up today.  It's blue so I'll have to paint it, but it's the perfect size.  And #3 is simply ecstatic!

So that's all, folks.  I had grand plans for today's post along with pictures and getting you up to speed on my projects, but it fell by the wayside when my energy level never perked up.  Plus, the batteries in my point-and-shoot are dead and I need a wide angle lense to show some project shots.  Be on the lookout for that post later this week.  Have a good one! 

Tutorial: How to refinish a wood (veneer) table and make it look pretty

OK, folks.  We've got another how-to post...on a photography blog.  I get it.  It's weird.  But hey - it's my life right now until it consistently warms up and I can photograph outdoors!  So bear with me or just sign off for now.  I am posting this just in case someone might learn something from me.  'Cause you never know, right?  Right.

I'm sure you all remember the dead-mouse-table from craigslist.  I've showed you the after pictures.  (She's a beauty, right?)  Anyway, I thought I'd tell you how we did it!  Just know that we are NOT pros here.  This is just how we did it - right or wrong...

1.  We sanded the CRAP out of the table.  Seriously.  Here we are after only the first round.

As you can see, we did it inside.  I would not recommend doing this part inside!  When we were all said and done, I had to vacuum the entire first floor and I had dust in the strangest of places.  Not good.  And I sneezed.  A lot.

However, this is just how we did it.  First we focused on the top of the table because it needed the most work.  We started off using my electric sander that we've had for years.  I do not recommend refinishing anything unless you have one of these puppies.  Seriously a life-saver.

We began by using 90 grit sandpaper.  Once we got the first layer off, we moved to 150 grit.  Then the hubby went to town and sanded out the stains by hand.  There is actually a slight groove in the table in one spot b/c the stain was so deep.  Lastly, we sanded one final time with 220 grit sandpaper.  We did all of these rounds with the sander.  The top definitely took the longest amount of time.  We followed the same path on the legs (after dis-assembling the table) and they went much faster.  They didn't have any stains to sand out - thank goodness.

Before we stained anything, we gave the table a good wipe down using a damp rag.  Once it dried, we used a tack cloth to make sure there was no dust anywhere!  (Hint:  You can buy a tack cloth at a paint store.  I'm not sure if Home Depot or Lowe's carry them?)

Here's our tack cloth.  It's really, really sticky.  It's actually kind of gross to touch.

Once everything was wiped down, we went to town with the stain.

I picked out Jacobean and I have to say, I love it more than I thought I would!  The color is deep and rich but still allows the wood grain to show through.

I learned a few things about stain since this was my first time trying it out.  First, and most important, don't shake the can!  The will put air bubbles in it.  Second, gently stir it with a stir stick.  And thirdly, apply the stain with a small, 2" paint brush.  I found out stain is really, really watery so I had to be careful.  I made sure to cover the entire surface and then I went back over and brushed the whole length of the table to take out any lines or marks.  We let the stain sit for 20 minutes (we were truly anal about the time!) and then went back and wiped it off.  We didn't press too hard, just hard enough to lift off the extra stain so it didn't pool anywhere.  We used an old T-shirt for this process and it worked great!  (T-shirts don't leave any lint.)  We loved the color so we only applied one coat of stain.  

We actually let the stain cure for 48 hours before we applied the poly.  We wanted to be sure it was very dry and my dad told me to let it sit for two days.  And what can I say?  I listened to my dad because he's got a whole lot more experience than I do!

The last part was the poly.  It was actually pretty fun, too.

Before I applied the poly, I actually went over the entire surface with a 360 grit sandpaper.  I went super, super lightly and made sure not to take any stain off.  I just wanted to catch anything that had lifted due to the stain.  Then I used my tack cloth again to wipe up any dust.

I applied the poly much like the stain - very thinly and evenly.  I went over the top and wiped from one side all the way over to the other to make sure it was as smooth as possible.  I also watched out for drips on the sides and legs.  We were smart enough to have the table in the garage for this part because it is so STINKY!  I put on three coats of poly.  I sanded and wiped everything down with a tack cloth in between coats.  

This is how I store my brushes so I don't have to clean them in between coats.

 Yep - they're right next to the lazagna and ice cream.  I'm classy that way.

When we were all done, we let the table and legs cure in the garage for about three days before bringing everything inside and putting the table back together again.  

Here she is (again) in all her glory.  And yes, she's definitely a girl!

There you have it.  How we refinished our table and gave her a new life.  Would I do this project again?  You betcha - in a heartbeat.  All in all, we spent less than a hundred bucks for a table that we think looks like a million bucks!  Not bad for two parents with four kids running around:)

Stay tuned for some "new" chairs.  They add just a little more color into the room which I think is needed.  

 

Six on Sunday

It's that time again - Six on Sunday.  Let's dive right in, shall we?

1.  I mentioned our dog a few weeks ago.  I thought I'd give you an update in case you wondering how she's doing.  The short answer is better.  The long answer is better, on anti-biotics, has a slight limp, and shaved.  It turned out that Chloe had a UTI so she is now on medicine for that.  Her leg is better, but it still bothers her.  I need to call the vet to see if we can give her anti-inflammatory medication.  And we waited too long to get her groomed.  That meant that poor baby came home looking like this:

Remember, she's a bishon.

2.  I promised pictures of my finished projects.  Here are the three dressers I showed you last week.

This one is fun and funky.  It's home is in the play/toy area of the basement so the colors work well.  I feel like I can get away with it since it's a "kid zone".  Plus, I love it.  It makes me smile.  The body is Gulf Winds and the drawers are Poppy Glow - both from Behr.  

This dresser is at the bottom of the stairs in the basement.  It's almost like a little landing area.  I still need to put the metal pieces back over the key holes, but I have to strip them first.  (Yuck!)  So it may be awhile before I psych myself up to get the stripper out again!  I love this piece but I'm not sure why. By and large I am a clean lines, mid century modern, contemporary designer.  But this piece just makes my heart sing.  So there.

The third and last dresser is going in #4's bedroom when we convert her to a big girl bed.  For now it's home is our empty living room (which is getting ready to be painted).  Yes, the top is bright white and the body is stained.  I love it.  It's a very conventional piece with a modern twist.  So cool.  (For some reason my camera didn't like the pulls - they're really pretty glass.)  

3.  This weekend the hubby and I each ran our longest run yet.  He went 12 miles and I managed to get in 14 miles.  (We each ran with different groups.)  I discovered Shot Blocks and these little jelly bean things.  I credit them for giving me a little energy boost to make it the last two miles.  Only two more weeks until Rock the Parkway.  I'm getting excited.  The hubby is already planning our carb-loading meals!

4.  My parents were in town this weekend which was really nice.  We always get together with my sister and her family quite a bit when my parents here.  Last night we all (12 of us) attempted to go to church at 5pm.  For only the second time EVER the hubby decided to sit in the second row.  Everything started off just like normal until #4 started coughing.  The next thing I knew, she puked all over!  I sat there - sort of stunned.  Like I didn't know what to do.  I thought she just coughed so hard so gagged herself.  So I got up to take her to the bathroom.  As we were walking down the aisle, she started puking AGAIN.  So I started RUNNING down the aisle and she puked the whole way to the bathroom.  It was awful.  She was covered, I was covered; I even had it in my shoe!!  Thankfully my dad met us out in the back of the church with the car keys in hand and drove us home.  Needless to say, it's an experience I will never forget.

She puked a couple more times at home, ate a TON of grapes, and went to bed.  She got up this morning and acted like her normal self.  This afternoon she started running down again and went to bed early. We'll see what tomorrow brings.  My fingers are crossed that she's OK.

5.  I did manage to finish a couple projects this weekend but forgot to photograph the end results.  My dad brought his staple gun that attaches to the air compressor.  I used it to recover my kitchen chairs.  I love the result!  I also sewed the shower curtain for #1's bathroom.  It gives the bathroom a much needed punch of color.  It's pretty cool.

6.  My professional printer is having their final winter sale of the season - gallery wrapped canvases.  I really, really, really wanted to get an updated picture of the four girls together.  We tried today but I didn't have much luck.  What was I thinking, anyway?  #3 hadn't had a nap and #4 didn't feel like herself. Oh well, at least I tried.  

 I did manage to capture a portrait of each them over the weekend.  I just wish I could have gotten them all together, darnit.  (The sale ends tomorrow night.)

#1:

#2

#3

#4

I'm off to eat my pudding dessert.  Have a great week!

 

Becca and Rob's Wedding - the "Official" Post

I have been promising this post for awhile now.  I realize I've been slow on the draw...  

I have to admit, I had NO idea what I was getting myself into by photographing a wedding - even a very small, intimate one.  You see, I use Photoshop to edit my images which means I edit each and every image by hand. I don't have Lightroom which allows a user to "batch" edit images.  Well, a wedding results in a LOT of images which means a LOT of time behind the computer.  Ahhhhhhh, I'm finally done.

Here are a few details I captured; as well as a few more of the bride and groom.  

Isn't her ring gorgeous?  I wanted to take it home with me...just sneak it in my camera bag:)

And one more of the happy couple...

Good luck in Australia!

Six on Sunday...the Daylight Savings Time Edition

I can't believe it's already daylight savings time!  I mean, I love it.  But I really hate giving up that ONE hour.  I feel cheated.  I wish we could just skip the whole "fall behind" part and stay on this schedule year round.  Now THAT would be awesome.  

1.  Man, I was busy this weekend!  By now I'm sure you now I enjoy my little projects.  So I'm not here saying, "Oh poor me, look how busy I was."  I am really saying, "WooHoo!  Look how much I got done!"

My Friday started out with the breakfast of champions:

And thank goodness for caffeine because I had a lot of work ahead of me.  Namely, these three:

This one is from the basement.  It's been waiting for a makeover for two years.  It is my work horse.  It holds lots and lots of toys!

This is my newly acquired beauty courtesy of Chad and Christi (See #6 from last week).  She's a serpentine!

And last but not least.  This is my craigslist find from January.  She's the ugliest out of the bunch - but she got the most of my attention so it's all good.

I had to get out some big guns for these projects.  And let me tell you, stripping furniture is disgusting!  I almost gagged a few times.  Seriously.

There was also lots of this going on:

The first two dressers just got a new coat of paint.  Thankfully, the hardest part was sanding them down.  The third dresser is going to live in #4's room, so she got a total makeover.  The works.  We're talking stripping, sanding, sanding, and more sanding so I could stain her.  But, the good news is, she's gonna look good by the time I'm done with her.

Here is what my garage looked like by the end of the day on Friday.

And here is just a little sample of the colors involved.  I'll show you the final products next week! Stay tuned.

2.  Saturday morning I went for a 12 mile run.  It was such a gorgeous morning.  The sun was out and it was about 40 degrees.  Just perfect for a long run.  However, I forgot how to dress for "nice" weather since I'm used to such cold weather.  That meant I had an extra layer.  And since we were doing an out-and-back, I thought it would be just fine if I dropped an extra layer off next to the fence by the entrance to the trail.  Not so.  When we came back, it was GONE.  Can you believe that?  Someone stole my North Face T-shirt.  I was so mad.  I just hope runner's karma gives that thief what is deserved. The nerve. 

3.  I have quite a few friends who are all awesome.  Myself, however?  I am not so awesome.  I am terrible with birthdays.  I don't call my friends, send them emails or cards...nothing.  And I really don't have an excuse.  I mean, we're all busy, right?  I REALLY need to work on it!  So, here is a public shout-out to my friend's who's birthdays I've missed so far this year!  Happy Birthday Darcie, and Kristen, and Colorado Vicki, and cousin Vicki, and Jenni and Bruce.  I promise I will get better next year.  Swear.

4.  The house has been really quiet this weekend.  #1 and #2 ventured down to Dallas with their grandparents.  My SIL, Erin, and her husband live down there so the grandparents took the girls with them when they went to visit Erin.  I know they are having a blast but I do miss them.  It is just so much quieter around here.  It's hard to remember back to when we only had two kids but this must have been what it was like.  It feels like ages ago that we were only a family of four!  

5.  So I talked about my project for this weekend.  What about the hubby?  Well, today he finished sanding the ceiling after he scraped it last weekend.  How'd it go, you want to know?.  Just grrrrrreat! And yes, I am being sarcastic.  It was so awful.  

He hung up two tarps to cover the doorways into the living room but I don't think it helped at all.  The entire first floor was just covered in a thick layer of dust.  It probably took him an hour to sand it all and it probably took us TWO hours to clean up.  And I am a "neat" person but not necessarily a "clean" person.  I like everything to be put away and look organized but I am not one to get down on my hands and knees and mop the floor.  Well today that all changed.  Ugh.

6.  Friday and Saturday were gorgeous days.  Friday was exceptionally nice.  It was so nice, in fact, that I rode my bike to pick up #3 from school.  She got a new bike that attaches to my bike so she feels like she is riding a bike herself.  She loved it!  She told me it was her "favorite."  She talked my ear off non-stop on the way home.  

I am so looking forward to this summer.  We will be able to go on family bike rides and everyone will be happy.  (Last year #4 hated the bike trailer.)  Since #3 has her "own" bike, #4 will graduate into her bike seat behind the hubby.  It is going to be a fantastic summer.  Now, when is it going to warm up???

That's all folks.  Have a great week.  Stay tuned because I just finished editing all of Becca and Rob's wedding images so I should have a post up later this week...

Six on Sunday...in March

Wow - can you believe it's already March?  That's big news in our household...

1.  #1 turned double digits!  I just can't believe it.  I'm not sure how 10 years passed by in such a flash. To celebrate, she requested Chinese for dinner.  (The "official" party isn't for a couple more weeks.)  It's not that she loves Chinese.  Rather, she LOVES to use the chopsticks I brought back from San Francisco.  She also requested homemade egg drop soup as an appetizer.  And of course I had to oblige my 10-year-old daughter!

(Yes, I realize that photo was blurry.  We were in a terrible hurry to get out the door to swim practice.)  And yes, I will take her outside to do a proper photo session - just the two of us.  I can't wait:)

Dear Cate,

How in the world did this happen?  How did I blink and you turned 10?  

You are such an incredible daughter.  I love that you still have a child-like innocence.  For example, you want me to teach you "phertography".  You like to make "woshes" - not wishes.  But at the same time, you are so very wise; almost beyond your years.  

You embrace your spot in our family.  You are most definitely the oldest.  If one of the littles gets hurt and I am not right there, they immediately run to you.  You are their second mother and they don't resent it for a second.  They love it.  They look up to you.  

You have such a zest for learning - one that, I hope, follows into the future.  You like to read about new things, new places.  You love to learn - like the samba dance for your girl scout activity.  While you could do without math, I don't know what you'd do without books.  You received the entire set of the Chronicles of Narnia for Christmas.  You are already done with those and have moved on to Harry Potter. Last week I caught you still reading at 10:15pm!  You get so caught up in books that you forget to check the time.  I think you were genuinely shocked when I caught you.  You simply had no idea it was so late. 

You are also a little type A.  OK, a lot type A.  You just want things how you want them.  You can't bear to clean your room regularly because it's such a big task for you.  You can't simply hang up your clothes, you have to fold everything just so and it takes you a LONG time.  When you paint your nails, they have to be perfect or you will start over. 

And you are so thoughtful, so considerate.  You gave your American Girl doll to your sister.  When #2 asked you if she could have it, you didn't even hesitate.  You think about others feelings - like bringing two types of snacks to school because you know not everyone likes chocolate.

I am so very lucky that I get to be your mom.  I love you very much!

**sigh**

2.  Friday afternoon was crazy - and not in a good way.  You see, our dog is almost 14 years old.  As in - she's an old lady.  While she bugs the crap out of us many times (she whines - and whines - and whines), we still love her to pieces.  Well, on Thursday, she wouldn't walk.  Her paw really hurt.  So I took her to the vet Friday afternoon.  As we were sitting at the vet, I got the dreaded call from daycare.  #4 wouldn't get off her cot after her nap.  She was sick.  

I left Chloe at the vet and drove over to pick up the two littles from school.  #4 had a low-grade fever and hadn't been acting herself.  I decided to take her to an after-hours clinic since the weekend was looming ahead.  I dropped off #4 at home with dad (who was on his way out to pick up #1 and #2 from school).  I managed to get some ibuprofen into #4 and scooted off to the after-hours clinic.

It didn't long for us to be seen - thankfully - and what did you know?  #4 had a double ear infection!  She hasn't had one of those for a year.  Crazy.  And we had NO IDEA.  

Cut back over to the hubby.  He picks up the older girls from school and heads over to pick up Chloe.  And what do you know?  They can't tell us what is wrong with her paw.  They give her a shot and send us home with some medicine.  Our fingers are crossed that she gets better.

When I got home with #4, the hubby headed out to Target to get the prescription while I whipped up a Chinese dinner fit for a 10-year-old!  Man, talk about teamwork.  We get an A-plus for that effort.   

3.  I've talked about it enough.  Here is my table.  In all her glory.

It's really hard to show it off in a picture.  But trust me - she's gorgeous!  My sister even had to eat her words:)  

We brought her in from the garage on Saturday afternoon so we could put her back together.  Of course #4 got in on the action.

Now I just have to recover the kitchen chairs.  And wa-la - just like that - a new kitchen!

4.  OK, Internet.  I am going to do it.  I am going to post a picture of me, sans make-up and not having done my hair.  Don't laugh. I'm doing this because I don't have nearly enough pictures of me with my girls...

We ran in the Truffle Shuffle on Saturday.  And can I just say, IT WAS COLD!!!  It was so cold, in fact, that while we were huddled at the starting line, I offered to take them to Dunkin Donuts without running the race.  But, #1 wanted to run and #2 didn't...so we did it.  I am so proud of those girls!  The air temperature was right at 25 degrees but there were strong gusts of wind.  I have no idea what the wind chill was - I don't even want to know!  They trudged along and walked/ran the entire thing.  I'm not going to tell you it was perfect - far from it.  But they persevered and we made it through.  And then rewarded ourselves with a stop at Dunkin Donuts to warm up!

5.  This weekend it was the hubby's turn for projects.  He scraped another ceiling!  This time, he scraped the (empty) living room.  He also managed to sand about a third of it.  Those two rooms are going to look so good with them by the time we're done.  But can I say...MESSY.  It is a gross, messy, dusty process.  

My projects were of a much smaller variety.  I managed to give away our broken office chair and an old highchair.  Thankfully, they were gone within a couple hours of posting them on Craigslist.  I also managed to get rid of a dresser I bought and then decided we didn't want to keep.  We finally managed to post our old kitchen table.  It's so beautiful now after I sanded it and refinished the top.  I almost hate to get rid of it except we have no room for it.  I'll be sad to see it go.  

Let's see, what else did I do?  I bought an adorable, square mirror at Target and spray painted it orange.  It's going in the half bathroom.  If it works, that room will officially be done and I'll post the pictures.

And finally, #1 joined me and we found some awesome fabric for her bathroom.  Since it's a little too green, we are going to break up the monotony with a cool, striped shower curtain.  And I'll use the leftover fabric to make a little valance for her window.  I'll post pictures when it's all said and done.  

We also managed to find some fabric - half off - at the same store to use on my kitchen chairs.  All in all, it was a REALLY productive weekend!

6.  Oooh, PROJECT!  (Can you name that movie?)  My friends, Chad and Christi, were shopping down in the Crossroads section today and happened upon an awesome dresser.  I have been looking for just the right one on craigslist.  Christi found one and Chad approved.  It was perfect because I trust Chad's judgement of the quality and Christi's judgement of my taste.  They picked it up for me and I brought it home this afternoon.  I think I'm going to try to set aside Friday to sand and paint all three of my dressers.  My fingers are totally crossed.

OK - that's all.  Have a great week, everyone!