THE LAST OF FEBRUARY

some of Davis' rock collection

Today the big kids went back to school after a week long break. I can't believe it was one year ago we were vacationing here. This year, instead of swimming and gorging ourselves on chilaquiles, we played games, watched movies, and potty trained the baby. Well, the baby is three and it's time for him to man up and pee in the toilet.

Oh, and if you follow me on twitter, you would know that I watched some So You Think You Can Dance auditions here in Salt Lake. Yeah, it was totally fun, and I met Ringo Star. Ringo was wearing his classic pink suit, looking all professional.

Today it is back to life, back to reality (sing it in your head like this). More potty training, which consequently includes loads of laundry. Eating left over Sunday dinner, milk and semi sweet chocolate chip cookies. Thinking about taking a shower, if the couch let's me get up. All around awesomeness.
I really do love my life.

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FABRIC COVERED TABLE

The top of the kid's table has seen better days. There has been more room switching and I needed this table to have a white top. It is too cold to spray paint at my house, and it would have taken me forever to cover the splotchy black. 

The easiest and quickest way for me to turn the black to white was to cover it with vinyl fabric. With the help of my beloved staple gun, it took no time at all.

A fabric backed tablecloth would work for the project, but I couldn't find an all white one. So, I stopped at Jo-Ann's and picked up two yards of this white vinyl in the sale section. 

1. Lay your table on top of the wrong side of your fabric, and cut a piece large enough to wrap under by a couple of inches. *If your fabric is wrinkled, iron the fabric side on a low setting.

2. Use your staple gun to attach the fabric to the table. Start with one long side. Pull tight and staple the opposite side. Repeat until all four sides of your fabric are stapled to the table.

3. Corners can be tricky. Our table had round corners and I didn't do anything fancy. Just pull the corner a little at a time and staple it down.

4. Grab a box cutter and trim up the edges of the fabric around the table. You don't want it to hang down when the table is right side up.

Here is our table in action. No sign of the ugly black top that is there and a snap to wipe off.

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ART WALL

Tess changed rooms before I even posted pictures of her room makeover. We have all three kids on one room. What did we do with the extra bedroom? It has now become the library, or quiet play room.

The room has been collecting all the extra toys and odds and ends for a few months. It was time to put my vision into action.

I love displaying the kids pictures and drawings. For the art gallery I wanted frames and clip boards. Frames for pictures that we would leave up for a while, and clip boards for the ever growing pile of day to day coloring and painting.

All of the white frames are from Ikea, and the large clip boards were found at the dollar store. I tend to rearrange the house a lot, and I hate patching nail holes. We opted to use 3M Command strips to hang our gallery.

Mike is always so patient with me, and I appreciate it. I tell him what I want, then let him do all the measuring and math. He is an engineer and always thinks things through. On the other hand, I tend to me a little hasty and just start throwing things together. Both ways work. One just looks a little more polished.

The command strips are really easy to apply. It's all about the peel and stick.

Here is the finished wall in all its glory! Pretty fun little area for the kiddos, ya?

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MEET UP

Have your heard about this awesome meet up tomorrow night?

It's not just for bloggers, it's for all of us who are readers too! I will be there, and would love to meet you. The first 50 will receive some lovely goodies, and everyone gets 20% off an item from Soel. Woot Woot!

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THREE YEARS AND COUNTING

image from Noelle Reynolds

Last Saturday was my third Blog Birthday. I totally forgot. You too? No Biggie. I spent the day sledding and eating the donuts with the family.

I spent Sunday afternoon reading posts from my first year. It's fun to look back and see how things have changed and progressed in the last few years.

This makes me wonder what is in store for the next few years? I love having a place to share and connect with others from all over the world. I am so flattered to have people, that are not related to me, reading this blog. Don't get me wrong, Mom and Joe, I am grateful for you.

What would you readers like to see in the future? I would love to have other like minded people contribute on this space too. Over the last year I have really thought about how much time I spend creating versus the time I spend enjoying my family. A lot of things over lap, but it would be nice to for me to find a better balance.

Interested in collaborating, or contributing here on The Salty Pineapple? Send me an email! saltypineapple at gmail dot com. This third year is going to be great.

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A FEW THINGS

This week I realized how much I love my peanut butter Cap'n Crunch. As I searched the storage room for another box of cereal, my heart broke when I realized there was none. A true ache people.

As soon as school is finished today, we start a week long holiday. I can't wait. Before I send you off for a fabulous weekend, I wanted to share a few things I liked this week:

Danyelle's simple tutorial on how to add your email to your comments, so I can reply back to you.
This d.i.y. confetti tablecloth on Oh Happy Day. I'm totally making this sooner than later.
A couple of weekends ago we ate at a caribbean grill. I devoured the Cuban Ropa Vieja. I think this recipe from Real Simple is going to recreate that at home for me.
Oh, and I can't stop thinking about finding the perfect midi/tea length skirt.

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TESS' SELF PORTRAITS

If you gave your five year old and ipod, what would they take pictures of? Out of 753 photos, yes you read that right, only seven were self portraits.

The remaining 746 photos were of toys, screen shots of her games, and playing with her brothers and friends. Pretty fun to see life through your kids eyes.

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