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Happy Father’s Day 2013

June 16, 2013 By Erica Deuel Leave a Comment

happy father's day

Today is a day we celebrate our dads and our husbands (whose kids are too young to pull Father’s Day off on their own). Happy Father’s Day to all the awesome dads out there.

I am so thankful for my awesome dad and father in law…who will help me or are there for me whenever I need.

To my amazing husband, I am so blessed to have you to do life with. You are an incredible dad! Although there may be a slight lean in society’s pendulum that mother’s do more of the child raising…I would not be here without you. You lead our family and make me a better mom by how you demonstrate daily love and patience with our kids. Thank you for being fun, loving, wise, humble, available and present. You are the best dad. My heart hurts for the kids that don’t have dads like you or dads at all. I am excited for the opportunity to open our home to foster care kids and watch you love on and build into kids that have not had a Godly role model. You will shine and I will be there working beside you. What a gift.

One of the best compliments we could give you, came our little four year old. When asked what he loved about you, he said “he gives bigger hugs.” That is the truth no matter how we love, you encourage us to be more real, vulnerable and patient with one another which results in a deeper more profound love. Thank you. I love you boo.

Happy Father’s Day!

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DIY Outdoor Checker Board

June 14, 2013 By Erica Deuel 6 Comments

patio checker board

Have you been spending a lot of time outside lately? Whenever it’s not raining, we have been playing outside or walking down to the pool. One thing that we are definitely enjoying is our back deck. We didn’t have a patio or a deck at our old house, so this deck is like the coolest thing to us. My favorite times are when we use it are in the morning lounging after breakfast with our coffee or at night after dinner. The kids will actually bring out bean bags to sit with us. It’s fun family time with the woods to stare into.

We were given this hand me down old furniture to put out there till we could get some. You know it’s not my favorite, but it’s something and so we are thankful we have it! The one thing that really has been bothering me was the table. It was rocky because of a bent leg. I have been afraid cups would spill or my active toddler would climb on it and somehow fall off and get hurt. It had to go.

bad outdoor patio furniture

On one of our many trips to Home Depot, I saw their 16″ Pewter Stepping Stones. They were $3 and I knew I could do something with them. I stood there staring and it hit me. I would make an outdoor end table with one stepping stone. I think this idea came quickly because of my great love for my Log End Table. I was excited and inspired to turn it into something practical yet fun. I landed on making a checkerboard on top. Here is how you do it!

Materials:

  • 16″ Stepping Stone
  • Kills Paint Primer
  • Outdoor Spray Paint
  • Paintbrush
  • 1.5″ Painter’s Tape
  • Bottle Caps
  • Tree Log

The first thing I did was figure out how many squares are on a normal checker board. Google told me the norm is eight rows by eight columns. I decided the easiest way to measure and try to get those boxes even was to create rows and columns based on the width of my Painter’s Tape. I used the Painter’s Tape
to create my own ruler. Eight little pieces of tape all lines up side by side would equal the width of my checker board. Note: I ended up taping all those little pieces in a row on another long piece of tape, so i could quickly move my make shift ruler around without having to pick up each little piece at a time.

DIY Ruler with Painters tape

I used the ruler to figure out the length of the bottom of my checkerboard and I just eye balled it to go in the center of the stepping stone. I then pulled up my ruler and rotated it to get the side get the length for that side of the checker board, being careful to start the length at the top of the tape on the bottom. Use this method to get the following two sides for your checker board.

making a checker board

Once you have the outline of the checkerboard, tape off the remaining outside of the stepping stone to make it easier on you while painting. Then paint the Kills primer into the center of the stepping stone.

painting a checker board

Use your tape then to start measuring for your checker boxes. I started lining up long strips of tape side by side. I used tape as a placeholder to mark the spot, but as soon as I could I pulled it up and rotated it to the next place (see below). Once Your board is taped one direction, rotate your stepping stone and do the same thing going perpendicular to the tape you just placed.

stripes on a chcker board

homemade checker boardOnce you have your tape down, press over each strip to make sure it is tight. Then use an outdoor spray paint to cover in the squares. I thought about doing a fun color, but ended up doing the basic black. Once that dries, peal up the tape and lay it back down to COVER the black you just painted. You need to do this to create the checker effect. Right now you have 16 black boxes surrounded by the white. By moving the tape grid onto the already painted black you will open up the areas that still need black paint. I’m sorry I forgot to take a pic of this step. Just know that when you peel your tape the first time and wonder, “Oh no, what did I do wrong?” (like I did) you haven’t done anything wrong. You just need to paint one more round of black boxes.

making checker boxesOnce you have painted your second set of black boxes and they dry, your checker board is done! Peal up the side tape and place your board on your tree log-or any other creative item you might want to use as a base! I think even a cinder block might be pretty cool. You can also use whatever you want as the game pieces. I spray painted bottle caps as our game pieces. Note: If you use a stepping stone or something else heavy make sure your base is completely level and very sturdy to avoid it falling off when little ones bump it or lean on it.

checkers

DIY Checker game piecesIf you use bottle caps, spray the insides as well. I will show you further down as to why. I still need to go back and spay paint the insides of mine. We are currently storing our pieces in an old tin cane wrapped with jute rope and some fake flowers stuck in on top to make it look like a center piece.

storing checker pieces

yard checker boardWe are having so much fun already with this little table. I taught my six-year-old how to play the other day, and he might be obsessed now. Sitting outside and enjoying some time and laughs together is one of the highlights of my days.

playing games with your kids

learning how to play checkersEven my little girl is having fun playing her own version of checkers which is pretty cool to watch. She takes the checker pieces out and lines each one up in its own square. That is one to one correspondence and pretty cool to see her thinking and playing an age appropriate version.

one to one corespondenceThe reason I told you to spray the inside of your bottle caps is so you can tell which king is yours. We played that once you were “kinged” you turned your checker over. Well, by the end of our game, we could barely tell which king belonged to us.

queen me in checkersThis project cost literally $3.25 plus tax, since I already had all the other materials on hand.  Such a cheap decor to spruce up your outdoor living and help you enjoy the pretty days this summer. Here is a quick recap if you want to pin or bookmark how to make this outdoor checker board.

how to make an outdoor checkerboard

Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope you have a wonderful weekend and celebrate your dad’s amazingly well this week for Father’s Day!

back yard deck

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A Father’s Day Gift Idea

May 31, 2012 By Erica Deuel Leave a Comment

Last year I gave my husband this wall frame.  In it is his first picture with each of our three kids.  Starting with the top picture is our first-born, Caleb.  It was their first moment skin to skin.  It was the moment that being a dad became real for Matt.  I have it captured in this picture!!  I love it!  Second picture down is Matt’s first picture and moment holding Jeremiah.  He now had two beautiful boys!  The bottom picture is his first time holding Reagan.  His little girl.  She had his heart from this first moment!

What a special moment that is when your husband is holding one of his children for the first time.  You can see the joy and excitement in his eyes.  I LOVE these pictures and absolutely love having them all together.  Our kids love to see their picture with their daddy as well!

Here is Matt’s frame hanging in our bedroom…

This was a really sweet/thoughtful yet pretty easy gift to give!  If you are organized and have your picture albums labeled and dated, it might even be an easier task for you than it was for me!

If your husband is anything like mine, family is his number one love and priority (second to God!).  I promise this gift will be a hit!

Here are close-ups of our sweet kids:

Meet our Caleb…

Meet our Jeremiah (J-man)…

Meet our Reagan (Rea-Rea)…

Happy early Father’s Day to all the awesome dad’s I know!  If one of you may be reading this, just ignore it…in case you may be seeing this idea done soon for you! 🙂

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