Made To Dance

"They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their children dance" Job 21:11

I've always wondered, who was the first to dance.  Why do we dance?

I've made my own conclusion for the answers to my questions a couple of weeks ago... we were made to dance.  

This all came about from my son.  He started dancing.  Well... more of a bounce when he heard music, or someone singing.  No one taught him this.  We thought, and still do, think it's the cutest thing.  

The other day, I was listening to my favorite song in the world right now while folding laundry.  Bobby had Buddy with him in the bedroom while he was getting ready for the day.  In the middle of my mini jam session of the song, Bobby comes out of the room, and as quietly as one proud excited parent can,  tells me to come here.  So I come in the room while he is motioning me to be quiet among the climax of the song.  I peaked around the corner to see Buddy in his own little world rocking out.  My eyes became full as I looked up at my husband smiling with pure joy at our son.  Looking back at Buddy, my breath was taken away.

Immediately, a thought came to my mind that I shared with my husband.  I thought, wow, just imagine how God is feeling right now.  We were in so much happiness, that it made me wonder what God was feeling, looking down at our son dancing to a song made for Him.

It sure was a moment I will never forget.

So what was the song? Well... it's by my favorite band, The City Harmonic and it's called, Holy (Wedding Song).

If you have a moment to listen, I promise you wont be disappointed. Especially when you can imagine a baby boy dancing (to the beat) of this beautiful song.

Husband and Wife Team: Building Furniture

Last week my husband, Bobby, had the week off of work.  Buddy also discovered all the DVDs on this little shelf we had our TV on.  I insisted this was something that had to be fixed. We needed something we drawers or cabinets.  I told Bobby about this website that had free plans and a step by step tutorial on how to build furniture.  This intrigued Bobby and he wanted me to show him.  The little homemaker I am had already picked out a couple different entertainment consoles I longed to build.  I showed Bobby one evening and we decided we had to get started on it the next day.  

We decided to use recycled wood for this, because, well it was free.  Since we reused wood, it was all different kinds... some were primed, and some we had to "rip" to size.  This didn't bother me much because I already knew I wanted to paint it.  

We had never built ANYTHING before.  So why did we have to choose something so hard as a "first" project? Well... because I have a tendancy of diving into things thinking I'd just figure it out.  Apparently, Bobby does too.  We had already bought all our materials and had everything cut when we discovered this:

We laughed and thought well we will figure it out... one board at a time.  Sure enough, we did.  Sometimes we would take 1 step forward only to turn around and take 2 steps backwards.  It was okay.  We loved every minute of it.  We were both learning something new together and we had a blast.  

I had some navy blue paint I found at the "miss tint" section at Lowe's for only $1.80! I decided to paint this color on 1st.  After painting, I skimmed over the wood, with my sander, in spots to give it the rugged look I wanted.  Then, I painted Minwax's "dark walnut" stain over the entire piece.  Afterwards, using an old rag, I wiped it all off.  The next day, I went back and brushed glossy polyurethane on to seal it.  

This project was everything I'd hoped it would be and then some.  Bobby and I usually always have fun together, but since having our little miracle baby we haven't always been able to enjoy the same things as we used to.  We love to hunt and fish, but as Buddy's mom, I haven't been able to do those things (yet). With this project, we were able to stay home and work on it together.  It was something new and exciting.  Using different power tools and figuring out how they all work was thrilling to us.  It brought us back together as a happily married couple :) Let me just say, there will be more projects like this from now on ;-)

Plans for this Media Console

Old Table, New Life

This table came out of an old rent house Bobby and I lived in.  This piece of furniture, along with some other stuff, was left from the previous tenants.  The landlord said we could just keep it all.  It was an ugly thing and would have easily thrown it out, but it sure was sturdy and solid.  I thought, some day I will refinish it.... Almost 2 years later, I did!  

For Christmas, I got 2 sanders.  One was a heavy-duty one and the other is for small spaces.  

I decided to work on this little table as a first tester project.  Reasons: it was free, and SMALL.  I've always dreaded sanding in the past because I've only used a very old palm sander with the paper falling off, or just by hand.

Boy was I in for a treat!

It was like instant gratification seeing the old finish come right off with my new sanders! Needless to say... I want to sand everything now.  lol.

Now on to the actual finsih....

I was asked a while back, what color did I use for this? I never responded cause it wasn't an easy answer.  

Back when we lived in Cleburne, TX Bobby and I went to some rustic furniture stores.  There, I saw an entertainment console with a green finish on it.  I had never seen something like it before, and loved it.  Bobby thought it was weird, but that didn't stop me dreaming of this neat touch to furniture.  

When it came to this table, I thought of many different ways to color it but was undecided.  I went to Lowe's to figure out what I was going to do.  I always like looking at their mark down section of paints because there are some REALLY good deals there.  While I was there, I found a gallon of green paint.  It wasn't a subtle shade of green either.  It was the exact shade of green I needed for only $5!

After painting 2 coats of green, I lightly sanded the edges of the table, exposing the wood.

Next, it was time to stain.

I got some stain from a brand I had never seen before.  The color I wanted was a "dark walnut" and that's what it said on the can.  I painted it on there and soon realized it wasn't working.  I went back to Lowe's and bought the Minwax brand of "dark walnut" along with glossy polyurethane.

I brushed the new stain all over the table, covering up all the green.  Once I was done, I got an old rag and wiped the stain off.  This technique made the green darker, getting into all the grooves and creases of the wood.  Still though, the wood didn't soak the stain in all the places.  I didn't mind cause it added more character.  

After letting it dry, I coated the table in the polyurethane to seal in the paint/stain.  I have found out that I love to brush the glossy polyurethane on furniture.  It tends to bring out all the richness from the colors making the project that much nicer.  

So there you have it.  My new "rustic green" table.

I got Buddy's approval!

I'm back!!

I've decided to start blogging again.  My ambitions are high as to how often I will be posting on here, but I'm for sure going to make more of an effort to do so.  This blog will become more of a hodgepodge of our life. I plan on sharing things created in my craft room, home makeover projects, maybe a few recipes, and life happenings.

So much has happened in the past year and a half.  I'd say 2012 was a very good year for "The Pope Family."  Sure there were bumps here and there, but for the most part things went for the better...  We finally gave birth to our miracle baby (YAY), bought a house, and new car were probably the biggest deals. We feel very blessed.  I don't know of a day that goes by I don't thank my Jesus for everything that has happened. <3 br="br" nbsp="nbsp"> ~*StAy ToOnEd*~