Picnic Table Lessons

Since I know several of you out there (Jen, Cindy, and Mom - coincidentally the only ones who read this blog) are planning on making picnic tables, I thought I would post my lessons on this one - things I will do differently on my next project (under-table drawers for the train table if you were interested).

1. Let the wood age in the garage for a week or two. I don't know if our little corner of He!! is drier than kiln dried (entirely possible, especially today) or what the deal is, but the table we so painstakingly leveled now has one short leg again. I don't know if the leg is short or the top warped more, or what. I think letting the wood sit for a few weeks and do all its warping and craziness beforehand might have helped.

2. Make sure the pilot holes are large enough. I assumed the 1/8" pilot on the countersink for my #10 screws was enough. Maybe it would have been for a burly carpenter, but this 105 pound mama needed a little more help. After the fact, my dad told me to go down two drill bit sizes from the screw size. This would've made assembling the top MUCH less frustrating.

3. Take your time finishing. As much fun as it was to let the boys help prime, I should have given it a really thorough sanding after. I missed some of their multitude of paint drips and they can still be seen on the finished product.

Just because I can't give you a post without a picture, here is Christopher enjoying ribs the other night. Mike had tears in his eyes at this beautiful sight.

A Picnic Table (Finally!!!)

When Grammy came to visit us, she bought me (that's right - MOMMY) a miter saw for my birthday and we put together this super cool picnic table for the boys. It went reasonably well, although I do have some lessons learned that I'll share later. I finally got it painted so I'll give you what you really want - pictures with cute models!

Grammy and her best bud doing a bit of light sanding

Patrick checking for square, or something like that

My super-efficient paint crew

Lest you be worried, Patrick was not upset about the amount of paint he appears to have ingested. He was actually angry that I told him we were done and took his paintbrush away.

All painted and looking good
With some handsome models

I think I'll make the lessons learned the next post. Suffice it to say that although the table is far from perfect, it will be hosting MANY picnic lunches for Mommy and the boys and I have plans for some more woodworking projects.

Treasure Hunting

We took a little trip around the corner yesterday to go treasure hunting (geocaching). We found one of the two we were looking for, and had a nice walk outside, although it got hot pretty quickly.

Getting hydrated for our walk

My three favorite men

Doing some dead reckoning, or something like that.

Just for Grandad - Christopher found a walking stick!

Really big - that's about all I have to say about this one.

Completely unrelated to treasure hunting. To take advantage of all that naughty energy, I put Patrick to work unloading the dishwasher. He did a pretty good job!

Hopefully tomorrow will bring pictures of a bright blue picnic table. Until then, enjoy!

Busy Weekend!

This has been a whirlwind weekend at the Schneider household. We went to Phoenix on Thursday for David and Maryrose's wedding on Friday. A good time was had by all, even if little boys were pretty worn out by the time dinner rolled around at about 8:30 Friday evening. Grandma and Papa took the boys home with them and Mommy and Daddy enjoyed a night to ourselves in a nearby hotel (hooray!). On Saturday, we all went to Gavin's first birthday party before coming home. Today we just went to Mass and relaxed, but I think it will take a while longer to recover from this weekend!

Two handsome boys waiting for the wedding to start.

Two sleepy boys enjoying cookies before heading home - they didn't even make it to cake time.

All four of us at the wedding. The "favor" was a photo booth setup where each group got their picture taken. One was put into a book for David and Maryrose and we got to keep the other - I thought it was a great idea!

Playing in the park at Gavin's party.

Pictures of our big trip to Old Tucson will be up soon, as will pictures of Grammy and Mommy's fancy picnic table, just as soon as I get it painted!

Hippity Hoppity

The Easter Bunny came to see us! Yes, it was over two weeks ago, but who's keeping score, really? We had a visit from the Bunny himself (or so we assume, because if you're looking he won't come, but if you sleep like a big boy there are eggs and treats outside when you wake up)! Then we went to Mass and were even reasonably good. Father Ricky, though he is a wonderful man and a wonderful priest, made the ill-fated decision to sing the entire Eucharistic Prayer I (the REALLY long one). That was about our undoing, but we survived. Then it was back home for ham, stuffing, mashed taters, and other yumminess.

Decorating eggs - Mommy figured it was better for all shirts involved if the boys just showed off their killer abs.

Finding eggs on Easter morning - Patrick didn't quite have it figured out, but Christopher was a pro!
Patrick, however, had no problem with the chocolate-eating portion of the morning!

Still hunting eggs, missed the memo about eating chocolate!
Laugh all you want - this is indeed the best of all the dressed up Easter pictures.

Garden Overhaul

Two weekends ago we took advantage of the free dumpsters the HOA brought in and did a little yard work. We tore out a ratty old fountain and cleaned up the planter area around the side of the house. Then my big helpers and I added lots of good dirt and planted some herbs we'll be able to use in our cooking this summer and fall. Maybe next year too - many herbs seem to be perennial around here.

Our clean slate, and Christopher trying to rake with a plastic golf club.

This seems to work better!

Adding the dividers

Digging a hole for the rosemary

Pushing the dirt back in

Last plant - parsley

Daddy even had to mow our lawn - yes it looks brown here, but it is a lot greener now

Air Show

A few weeks ago, our local giant Air Force base had their semi yearly airshow. I think it's supposed to be every two years, but they hadn't had one for a while. We went and the boys got to see all sorts of great airplanes flying fast, slow, high, low, upside down, and sideways. All in all, it was super cool!

Daddy and his two big boys!

Watchin' the action on the flight line
Check out my cool new airplane - it does loops too!