Love Like That

I was part of the sweetest moment today. While standing in the crowded Costco food court, a smiling older gentleman approached me. He was tall, with a kind face, and must have been in his eighties. His left arm was in a sling. He gestured to my children in the grocery cart - Elise, with a hot dog in one hand and a soda in the other; and Emerson, wide-eyed and observant in his car seat - and commented how precious they were. I thanked him for such a thoughtful compliment. He then asked if I could do him a small favor.

"Do you see that little lady in the wheelchair over there?" he asked. "Would you mind showing her your children? She would just love that."

I gladly wheeled my cart alongside the table his wife was sitting at while the man called her name softly and pointed to my babies. Her face lit up. She talked with Elise for a few minutes and leaned forward to admire Emerson in his carrier. The gentleman thanked me and they waved goodbye as we left.

I've thought of the couple all day. I wish I would have visited with them longer. Do they have family nearby? How often do they see their grandchildren? Is there anyone to take care of them? Mostly, I wish I would have told the man how much I admired his love for his wife. I admired that he thought of her; that he wanted to make her happy.

It was only a moment in my busy day, but it was a sweet one. Theirs is a true love.

The Couch: Leather Dying Tutorial

My leather couch re-do was featured on the blog Better After and several people asked me to show how I dyed the couch. I wasn't anticipating making a tutorial so I don't have great pictures of the process, but hopefully I can give a general idea of how it was done. I am by no means a professional, and my entire experience was a happy accident, so please be careful and do your research before tackling your own project. :)

Supplies List: 

-disposable gloves

-leather deglazer (purchased or homemade)

-leather dye

-leather cleaner/protectant

-multiple lint-free cloths

The couch cushions were extremely dry, and most of the previous leather finish or "glaze" had worn off. What remained were the patterns from the mattress pads worn into the cushions. 

I purchased a leather deglazer for $8.99 from Amazon.com (found here), but it smelled strangely similar to rubbing alcohol. I did a little internet research and found that I could make my own (free!) deglazer with rubbing alcohol and a squirt of lemon juice (something about the acidity of the lemon makes everything work).

Scrubbing the cushions using my homemade concoction and a lint-free cloth worked just as well if not better than the actual deglazer in removing the marks from the mattress pads. Deglazing also helped make the "mystery stain" on the back of the couch less obvious.

Two of the cushions and the couch back after deglazing.

Now for the stain!

I bought Fiebing's Leather Dye in Meduim Brown from Amazon.com (found here). I began dying the cushions outside, and was disappointed to see that the dye looked more orange than brown. However, once I brought them inside and applied more coats, the color looked much nicer.

Wear gloves! I wore disposable latex gloves with the first cushion and still got dye on one hand. I wore two pairs of gloves for the remainder of the couch and had no problems at all.

To dye the leather, I put a small amount of dye onto a lint-free cloth and, using care not to drip, applied the stain in a fast, circular motion (think Karate Kid- wax on, wax off...) The leather on the cushions was extremely dry, so it absorbed the dye quickly. To avoid an uneven application, I worked in sections and then blended them together. My cloth became pretty saturated with dye as the project wore on, but this helped make blending easier.

The cushions took the longest amount of time to dye. I had to buff and scrub to really get the finish to look the way I wanted. Less-worn areas of the couch (the back and sides) required less elbow grease and the dye went on beautifully. I applied additional coats of dye until everything reached the desired color.

The whole couch took me about 5 hours total to finish (I worked during naptime over a few days and was interrupted on a regular basis). It took about 2 1/2 bottles (approx. 10 oz.) of dye. 

After finishing dying, I used a new lint-free cloth to apply ArmorAll Leather Care Protectant (something I had lying around, but you can find it at most big stores in the auto department) to the entire couch. This gave the leather a nice glossy sheen and also made it softer. See the difference between the dyed cushion above and the picture below?

Though it was immediately dry to the touch, rubbing the couch left small traces of dye on my bare hand. I kept all small children and objects off of it for about 12 hours. After that, I have had no issues with the dye rubbing of or getting onto clothing. In fact, I just folded a load of white laundry on it today. :)

As far as durability is concerned, time will tell. It's only been a few weeks and it still looks as good as new. I kept an extra bottle of dye around just in case I need to do any touch-ups.

Hopefully I answered most of your questions. If not, leave me a comment and I'll answer it as best as I can. Happy dying!

The Couch

*For Better After readers*

I didn't anticipate the great responses regarding my little project! You can find a tutorial here for those who are interested in the step-by-step of my leather-dying adventure.

A couple of months ago D.J. called from work saying someone was giving away their leather couch and did I want it.

Knowing the couch was free felt a little scary, but the woman assured D.J. that it was good quality and was just a little worn. We have an older matching couch and love seat set, but it was split between our living room and our family room. Someone always ended up sitting on the floor or pulling in a dining room chair, etc., etc.

Enter free couch.

When we pulled up to the woman's house and saw this baby on the curb for the first time, I wanted to turn around and drive away. It looked awful! The cell phone pictures really don't do it justice. It was covered in scratches, making it look like a cat took up permanent residence on it. The worn out cushions showed the patterns of the mattress foam shoved into them for extra padding, and a mysterious, dripping, splatter-like stain had worn away part of the finish on the middle of the back (see that big white spot?). If that's not gross enough for you, check out the paraphernalia I found in it.

Everything that didn't fit in the vacuum hose: dirty sock, full manicure set, a hanger, someone's insurance card, a hair barette, various food wrappers, a shriveled apple core, and part of an Eggo waffle. 

This couch put me into a state of depression. I ended up throwing a quilt over the back, hoping to hide the mystery splatter stain. I tried buffing the entire thing with leather conditioner to see if it would restore the dry leather back to its former glory, but it just made everything look a little darker. Finally, I resorted to scouring the internet for any kind of leather couch re-do. 

I read that I could dye leather, but I only found tutorials and instructions on how to use leather dye on shoes, belts, and horse tack--not a couch. It couldn't get much worse, and the couch was free, so I took a flying leap and ordered three bottles of Fiebing's Leather Dye in Med. Brown from Amazon.com for $21.  

It worked!! Here is the finished product:

Tada!! Can you believe it?! It's not perfect, but hey--$21 for a new couch? I'm pretty happy.

Tough Mudder

Have you heard of Tough Mudder? If not, here is a 30 second video to bring you up to speed...

Earlier this year, D.J. decided he needed to participate in the Seattle Tough Mudder. How did I feel about the event? Mud, electric shocks, ice baths, mud, 12 foot walls, mud, mud, and more mud? I expressed my concern, but D.J. relented, and just completed said event this past weekend. 

He ran with several friends to earn the coveted orange Tough Mudder headband. I have to say, I am incredibly impressed with these people! I stood near the final two obstacles while waiting for D.J. and his teammates to finish, and watched participants push themselves to their physical limits and then turn to help perfect strangers and fellow competitors complete the daunting tasks ahead. It was inspiring, to say the least. 

D.J. had the experience of a lifetime and came out unscathed. Okay, not really...

 

Black eye and all, I am so proud of him!  Also, I made an executive decision and trashed the socks he wore for the run.

My washing machine will never be the same. 

In the Trenches

My children are plotting my demise. I know it.

A little background...

This week has not been our best (It's only Wednesday?). On Sunday, Elise sat very quietly in church and we were pleasantly surprised by her good behavior. After heaping on lots of praise following the first hour of meetings, we discovered the poor girl was running a high fever--that explained the reverence. This also meant she had to skip Nursery and then miss preschool on Monday. Sad.

Monday morning I woke up feeling miserable and knew immediately I had mastitis (for those unfamiliar with the illness, it's like having the flu for a nursing mother--but way worse). My amazing husband stayed home from work to help wrangle the littles while I tried to recover. Luckily I got a prescription the same day and started feeling a little better by Tuesday, which passed without much incident.

So back to my scheming kids...

Today went well until around 5:00. Dinner was on the barbecue, Emerson was napping in his swing, and Elise was playing happily in the backyard. Then D.J. called from work to let me know he was caught up and would be home late. No matter. Dinner would reheat easily. After I hung up with D.J., Elise began screeching from the backyard that she "went potty ev-we-weh!" Since this is her first daytime accident in months, I brushed off my irritation and brought her inside to bathe.

Elise asked me if she could bring the earthworm she found into the bath too, and I said no. Cue wailing tantrum that woke the baby. When I finally got Emerson calmed and Elise washed up, I realized dinner was still smoking away on the barbecue. As I scraped the salvaged bits of meat from the grill and tried to save what was left of our food, Elise announced she wet her pants--yet again.

Following the second bath in less than 30 minutes I served dinner. I decided to change Emerson's diaper before I sat down to eat and realized the boy had exploded everywhere in the worst way. Of course it happened in the bouncy chair I rewashed this morning. I carried my disgusting, dripping baby at arm's length to the bathroom which was soaked with water from Elise's earlier escapades.

It was at this point, with Elise whining loudly that she hated her dinner and Emerson gleefully flinging poo from his pant leg with every kick, that I thought, "They're out to get me." 

One horrific bedtime later (I'll spare you the details. Let's just say it involved lots of screaming and crying on Elise's part.) I dropped onto the couch just in time for D.J. to walk through the door.

"I swear, these kids are conspiring against me." I said.

"Probably." he replied. Then he gave me a sympathetic look and held up a plastic grocery sack.

The man brought me ice cream. I love him!

Nevada

The meadow at Birch Creek

Earlier this month Elise, Emerson and I flew to Nevada to meet two of our new cousins, Trey and Mariah, and see Grandma and Grandpa Young and the Young aunts and uncles. 

Can you believe how adorable these kids are? 

The first morning there, Elise ran outside and was greeted by seven adorable border collie puppies! She about died with excitement. Every day of our entire visit she spent hours outside with the puppies. I also received the guilt trip of a lifetime when I denied the repeated offers to take a puppy home with us.

Elise: "Mommy, he can live in my woom."

Me: "We can't have a dog in the house, Sweetie. I'm allergic."

Elise: "He can live in our backyaaad."

Me: "It rains too much at our house. A puppy would be very sad in the rain all day."

Elise: "But it can live in the sed (shed) when it wains."

Me: "It rains every day, and the shed is much too small for this puppy. It likes to run around a lot."

Elise: "But...whyyyy?"

[insert never-ending conversation with a three year-old here]

We also had a serendipitous surprise when my parents' old neighbors, Tal and Ophir, and their son, Yael, stopped by to visit on their way home to Israel. Yael and Elise are the best of friends and play great together.  I've never seen Elise get along with someone so well--except for maybe her cousin Charlotte.

We spent the rest of our time there visiting, helping Grandma bottle pears, gathering eggs, going on the tractor and in the semi with Grandpa, riding horses, meeting kittens, riding 4-wheelers, and having an all-around great time!

I loved visiting with all of my siblings and adoring my new niece and nephew. Having three babies around meant everyone got to hold a baby as often as they wanted!

We love all of you and hope to visit again soon!

Whidbey Island

Last month we decided to take a quick weekend vacation to Whidbey Island, which is over the Puget Sound north of Seattle. It's only a 90 minute drive from us. The island is close enough to the mainland that there is a bridge between the two at Deception Pass State Park. More on that later. 

Deception Pass. Pictures don't do it justice - it's so beautiful! 

We stayed in Oak Harbor at a little motel with a small but deep pool and free continental breakfast. 

Motel shenanigans

Our first stop was at the Whidbey Island Fair. Wow! Maybe I missed out because I quit 4H halfway through the first month, but I never knew a fair could be so fun! Of course, there were the quirky things about a fair - interesting local people, cheap but deathly carnival rides, and any fried food you could ever dream up; but they also had a fantastic array of animals and displays--all by the 4H. We saw everything from dogs to horses, and chickens to Guinea pigs-- all scrubbed up and looking their finest for the fair. We even saw a rabbit that was bigger than a small dog. No joke. 

Elise was unimpressed with most of the "stinky" animals, but she did like the horse that shared Grandpa Young's first name! Notice Ralphie's tongue...

Later on, D.J. and Elise decided to venture out in a raft they bought. Not one foot from the beach, they broke a paddle. D.J. was a sport and improvised for the remainder of the time with one paddle. Elise loved every seafaring minute of it. 

The next day we went to church in Oak Harbor. The kids and I then scouted out a few local parks after dropping D.J. off at the motel to sleep off some flu-like aches. After a long nap D.J. was much better, so we drove over to Joseph Whidbey State Park. Breathtaking!

Elise took the picture on bottom R. Not bad, huh? 

On our final day on the island we went to another beach near Oak Harbor. I don't remember the name. We found lots of interesting sea shells and chased off the seagulls. Elise made sand castles and prepared a "sand-wich" for D.J. to taste.

Finally, we made our way back to Deception Pass and had lunch on the Island side.

We loved our quick stay on Whidbey Island and want to go back soon!