A Snow Buggy To Remember!

With all the exciting snow fall totals of late, I couldn’t resist digging out some old pictures.  There is nothing like inspiring your kids to think big! 

These are pictures of pictures, so bear with the quality.  :)

Out of all the things we made at Mom and Dad’s place in South Eastern Pennsylvania, this one had to be the best!

We started rolling snowballs, and in no time we were heaving and rocking them with all our might, trying to get them close to each other. 

Although I remember wanting to build a jeep, there wasn’t a way in the world we were going to lift any of those monster snow balls up on top of each other.  So we pushed them together, packed snow in the gaps, and started carving.

Our snow buggy had a front seat as well as a back seat.  It could actually seat 6 large people comfortably (well, assuming those people didn’t mind a cold butt.) 

This is my brother (6’4”), sister-in-law and nephew taking it for a spin.  My nephew is grown up now.  So I’m guessing that this was the winter of 91 or 92.  Anybody from home remember?

We used a basement window well cover for a windshield, a Frisbee for a steering wheel, and I honestly can’t remember what we used on the headlights. 

To make the lines stand out better, we added food coloring to water and applied it with spray bottles.  The effect was pretty awesome.

I don’t think we ever had so much traffic on our road.  Lots of people stopped to take pictures.

Here’s one of me and my buggy.  I loved that car.  :)  What a lot of fun!

To my own boys, I say, top that.  Hee-Hee!  (But you better start by praying for more snow!  Or spending a winter at Grand Mom's house!)

Edit:  I just noticed on my dash board that this is post # 501.  Seriously?  Holy cow!  I can’t imagine WHERE I came up with that many things to say, or why on earth anyone comes back to read it!  :)  Thanks friends, for making this such a fun adventure!

 

  

Hosted by Cecily and Mamarazzi

Building A Pond: Disking, Raking and Seeding

If you have been following me for a little while, you know that we have been involved in a major pond building project.  So I wanted to give you an update!

Although the basin and banks were finished a few weeks ago, our wooded area adjacent to the pond was too wet to work.

Until late last week! 

We worked like crazy people, taking advantage of the great weather.  My husband did the final grading with the loader.  Then, we all raked around tree trunks, and hauled wagon after wagon load of big clay clumps and sticks to our ravine.  It was back-breaking work!

Then, we disked and raked the open areas.  A LOT.

To do all the work by hand would have taken forever! 

So we are very thankful for the help and generosity of our wonderful neighbors, from whom we borrowed the big John Deere, the big disk behind it, and that piece of chain link fence with the lumber on top.  In case you are wondering, we dragged that fence behind the Cub Cadet to smooth things out.  It worked like a charm and was SO much easier than raking by hand! 

By the time I had to leave for soccer last night, my husband was just beginning to put down the lime, fertilizer and grass seed.  The neighbor (who owns the pond) came over with another spreader to lend a hand and you can imagine how thankful we were for his help!!  

Here, I am standing at the back of our pasture looking in towards the pond.  You can see the newly green banks of the pond beyond the trees. And if you look closely, you can see my husband pushing the spreader.

An area that was nothing but bog is now a beautiful and usable piece of land.  We’re confident that many in our community will get to enjoy it!   

Don’t worry about the critters that lived there, we didn’t destroy all of their boggy home.  There is still plenty of that behind the pond.

Today, I’m thankful.

• First, to have the project DONE!! 
• Second (which probably should be first!) for the health which enabled us to actually do the work!
• Third, for our friends and neighbors who happily offered their help and equipment, AND encouragement.
• And finally, for the fun (Lol! Can we call it that??) as a community we have had working together.

What have you tackled recently, or are thankful for today?  Come share with us at Tackle It Tuesday, and Gratituesday so we can all be blessed by what God is doing for, in, and through you!

Digging a Pond

Our neighbor started this project over two years ago.  His plan was to dig out the bog which occupies the rear of his property (and actually encompasses some of ours) and replace it with a beautiful man-made pond.  It was a HUGE undertaking, to say the least.

He spent more than a year cutting down and dragging out huge trees, mostly by himself.  Sometimes with the help of his brother, and sometimes even my husband.

The actual digging of the pit began this spring.  And there has been a LOT of digging.  He bought a small dozer and since he has had little work (I think he works construction), he has been working on the project nearly every day.

His back yard is a mountain of dirt (it has to go somewhere!) and the pit is nearly complete, now.  Above, you can see my husband to the left, helping him with the skid loader.  Our property line is pretty much right along the near bank, and I’m taking the picture from where I would love to set up our new campsite someday.  Won’t that be cool??  Seriously! 

In fact, I see park benches here and there, and can almost hear bull frogs through the night…

All that remains of the project is to fine-tune the slopes and banks a little, and grade the surrounding areas so that they drain into the pond.  Oh, and to haul off all that dirt!  Lol!  The very bottom (where you see the backhoe) is as deep as he wants to take it.

That’s a good thing. 

Because that four inches or so or rain we got yesterday?  Made 3 or 4 FEET of water in the pond!  Our neighbor is SO glad to be at a point where the deluge is welcome!  We are happy for him, too. 

That pond represents an enormous amount of work.  I’ll be sharing pictures here and there as the pond fills, and the rest of the landscaping is completed—both on his side, and ours. 

So hopefully you won’t mind being drug along on the journey.  This is what my husband and I LOVE to do.  To take a section of land, and transform it into a beautiful usable living space.  

Make a BIG Statement with this Birthday Decorating Idea!

We recently celebrated our middle son’s Tenth Birthday.  Sigh.  How could that be?

Anyways, he is one who craves the fuss.  Without family in the state, that isn’t always possible every year.  This was one of those years.  And since the birthday fell in the middle of the week, it made it even tougher to make the actual day special.

So after he went to school, I was racking my brain trying to think of what we could do that would make a statement to him that he was loved and important.  (Nothing like procrastination.) 

Balloons always pop before the party can begin.  Note:  There were four balloons attached to the light post, and five to the mailbox.  You just can’t depend on them…or maybe they just don’t like ME!

What I came up with spoke to the entire neighborhood!!

I took different colored electrical tape (yes, they make it in all kinds of wonderful colors!) and transformed my garage doors into a giant sign for all the world!  (I smudged out his name to post this picture)  You should have seen his face when he got home from school!  It was priceless!!!

I also put tens on everything from the mailbox, to the basketball hoops.  I even decorated our benches and shed doors. 

He was wildly excited.  And he felt special.  Sigh.  Job accomplished.

My only caution if you do this would be to not leave it on for too long.  Some of the tape goo may choose to stick.

But a little Goo Gone will make short work of it if it does.  However, if your mailbox has old paint, don’t tape it.  We now have silver tens waiting to be painted.  Oops!!

Making stand-out birthday wishes is just plain fun!  Perhaps a little TOO much fun…Lol!  My husband asked if he had any tape left…:)

Now, don’t forget to head on over to We Are That Family to get your fill of other Works For Me Wednesday tips!

Edit:  I forgot one more tip!

The Sunday before the big day, we picked up this CHOCOLATE TRUFFLE (OH MY GOODNESS RICH) cake from the Walmart bakery case and they decorated it for free.  The soccer balls got a little smashed by the lid.   But it beat a sheet cake hands down—both in price and taste!!!  

(I smudged his name with photo shop to post a picture.) 

He absolutely loved it!!  And so did I, naturally.  :)

Rust Reformer

Maybe I’m the last person in the world to realize the existence of a product like this.  But just in case I’m not…

Rust-oleum makes a product called Rust Reformer that does wonders for your rusty junk—if you have any, that is!  WE have plenty.

This rusty old umbrella stand was one of the things I used it on.

All you do is remove flaky paint, wipe off dirt and grit, and spray it on.  It goes on black.  

As it says on the can, Rust Reformer converts the rusty surface to “a protected, painted surface!”  Then you can paint it like normal with whatever color you want!  My husband said it actually causes a chemical reaction.  Cool, eh?

I can attest that it doesn’t just cover the rust.  It does, indeed, stop it! 

And, no, I’m not getting paid to promote this product.  However, if a Rust-oleum representative were to thank me with a free can, I would probably do a little dance!!

One can goes a long way since you only need one coat for it to do its magic.

The partial can I found in the garage (left-over from refinishing the tractor and mower deck last year) treated:

1. the umbrella stand,
2. two full-sized basket ball goal poles and their hardware,
3. a three-seater metal lawn swing AND it’s frame,
4. and a five and a half year old dent on my right front car fender (which always seems to be on the bottom of our priority list to fix.) 

And it still has a fair amount left in the can!  I can’t say enough to the credit of this product.  It’s a frugal-minded, rusty junk keeper’s very best buddy.

I believe we purchased our can up at ACE Hardware (for around 7 or 11 dollars??)  But you can probably find it anywhere they sell paint.  I’m sure Lowes has a version of it.

It sure beats buying new stuff—or spending gobs of time sanding and cleaning rusty stuff to paint! 

If you are looking for more great ideas, don’t forget to check out these meme’s today.  If you have a tip or idea you want to share, why not join in the fun and leave your link there, as well?

 

Happy Tuesday!

DIY Outdoor Coffee Table

If you’ve been reading my blog, you know that I’ll use logs for just about anything if it will save me from having to buy something.  We have plenty of logs.

These two pictures show umbrella stands and end tables (so to speak) on the stone area we use as our patio.  I talked about how to make them here.  We’re saving to get a real patio poured someday soon.  But my project for this week was for the front of the house.

   

We recently hung a swing on our front porch, and I felt like we needed a foot rest/coffee table/catch all to go with it.  I looked everywhere for something that would work.  But, I found little I liked, and nothing in the price range I was willing to spend.

So, I decided to make my own--after the fashion of our patio umbrella stands—one that wouldn’t tip over easy or crack with the weight of a boy sitting on it.

This is what I came up with.  My husband cut the log I picked into two equal parts.  Then I took a plank (which I got in the scrap bin at the lumber store) and cut it to the length I wanted.   I rounded and sanded its edges, stained it with cedar stain and finally, screwed it to the logs using really long screws.

The result wasn’t half bad, and I didn’t have to buy a thing!

I’m thinking it will last much longer under my boys’ abuse than one of those cheap little plastic tables.

The height is nice, too.  It’s low enough to put a foot or two up and and still swing a little.   Yet, it’s high enough to set a glass of lemonade or a checker board (or Star Wars figure) on and play.  It will do for us! 

Lucky (our kitty) and her buddies like to lay under it, too.

This post is being linked to the following parties, so don’t forget to see what others are talking about and/or link your own ideas up as well!  I’m looking forward to seeing what you all are up to!

  

Two Hoops For the Troops!

My four-year-old is now officially sleeping in his big boy bed. (Yeah!!) The Family Slumber Party in his room Friday night was a hit which all the boys enjoyed. We ate cake, read books, told stories and generally stayed up way past any of our bedtimes!

It made for a slightly sluggish Saturday, but we still managed to check off a few items from our to-do list. One job the boys were excited about was assembling a second basketball hoop.

Yes, a second hoop.

Our first had a tragic encounter with the snow plow this winter and I thought it was beyond repair. So I picked up a new one off of Craig's List.

Incidentally, before I get too far along, Craig's List is a super place to find all sorts of things (locally)--including basketball goals! And the service is free! I wish I had checked there before we bought or first goal several years ago. We probably could have saved some money!

Only, my husband (handy in welding among other things) WAS able to fix the old goal soon after we picked up the new one. Oh me of little faith!

I thought of re-selling the new one since it was still in the box. After all, I sold our crib in no time. But in the end, I gave in to the boys who wanted to keep it and have a two-hoop-court. Just a tad frivolous, if you ask me.

But, since we live in Indiana, and Basketball is BIG, it stands to reason that two hoops are better than one, right?

Also, when I think of the countless hours my brother and I spent shooting hoops in front of our barn, I have no problem believing that these hoops will see lots of use, too.

The boys already spend every free moment out there. Plus, they are itching to have a bunch of guys over to play a real game.

Now, I just need to stock up on drinks and snacks for the extra troops that are sure to make this a second home...

Singing The Praise Of Our Sand Box

This is one of those items on my list of camping tips to squeeze in somewhere. It's actually an idea I talked about before, but it came in SO handy on our recent rainy camping trip, that I'm feeling the need to share it again in case someone missed it.

My husband thinks this idea is one of the best I ever came up with. But really, it is simply sand in a basin. We like to add all kinds of small construction equipment, as well as some Dollar Tree glass jewels for them to dig up.

It rained (hard) for the first day and night of our camping trip and the ground never did dry out. Unfortunately, where do the little ones like to play?? On the ground! So while we adults could sit contentedly around the campfire on our chairs, the kids needed someplace nearby to play where we could watch them.

We spread a tarp under one of our canopies and put the sand box out. These two little ones spent hours, literally, playing there. In the evenings, they just propped up a lantern and kept at it.

Now, we keep the sand box in the garage next to the washer and dryer. My little guy will often go out and sit on a small rug to play in the sand when it's not very nice weather.

And that's the beauty of it. You can use it anywhere.

We often throw it in the back of the van when we go out to cut wood and need a safe place for him to play.

We take it along to picnics when we aren't sure what there will be for him to do.

We even take it along to the drive-in movie so he has something to do while we wait for the movie to start.

The possibilities are endless, and a trip to the dollar store for a few new "sand" toys is all it needs to gain new life.

You could buy lots of expensive toys and video systems, buy how long will those things hold their interest? My older boys and their friends still jockey for space around the sandbox.

Portable Sand Box

We first got the idea for a non-traditional sandbox when I needed something to keep my little boys engaged while I worked in my wood shop. My husband and I built a small wooden box in a corner of the shop where they could play in the sand. It worked beautifully! The sacrifice of space was well worth it.


Sadly, we left that setup behind when we moved, but not the idea. We now use a tub like this one which we can literally take anywhere. Our youngest, 4, loves it, and so do his big brothers.


We have taken it to the drive-in theater where he sits in the back of the van playing while we're waiting for the movie to begin. We've used it in the garage when we are working on a project out there. We've used it in my new wood shop to keep him out of trouble, and we've also found it works beautifully when we go camping! Anything that can keep a three or four year old engaged and in one spot is wonderful!


This year's vacation mandated we take the car for better gas mileage--which meant things like the sand box had to be left behind. But once we got to our cabin and unloaded, we set out for the local Wal-Mart to pick up an inexpensive wash basin. That, and a bag of play sand from the Lowe's next door had us back in business for less than ten dollars. The cabin's large porch provided a great spot to set up the little sand box which kept our littlest one entertained for hours. A cheap bag of "jewels" we picked up at the Dollar Store added extra fun to the digging!

Soccer Practice Wall

When my middle son started soccer last fall, a friend of mine suggested the boys use a soccer wall to practice kicks against. She has a wonderful permanent wall constructed in her back yard.

Sinking posts in cement and screwing a more formidably built wall to the posts would have been ideal. But to be honest, I didn't have the money for the supplies, and wasn't sure how much the boys would use it.

For now, I simply used what we had on hand to try out the idea. Here was my plan.

• First, find a good spot that can take stray balls sailing through.
• Use a string line to make sure the posts will be aligned enough to attach the wall.
• Drive three or four large metal fence posts into the ground, spaced around 4 feet apart, along the line.
• Attach an eight foot by six foot section of privacy fence using large wire ties at top and bottom. A wall with thicker slats will take more aggressive play, but I simply used a section we had taken down from another place in the yard. We used a few upright logs to help return wide kicks.

I'm delighted to say, they love it! It gets used constantly. They use it like a soccer goal to practice their skills, but they also found it works great as a backstop for their wiffle ball games! Maybe someday we'll put in a permanent wall, but this works fine for now!

Thanks, Daree, for a great idea!

Making a Train Table

My four year old son loves Thomas the Train. But, buying a real Thomas the Train table involved more money than I could budget, so I set out to make one for his last birthday.

The first thing I did was make a layout using his track from several generic sets. When I found a layout I liked, I took a picture (so I could reconstruct it again) and measured it's dimensions. Then, I went looking for a piece of scrap plywood that would work. After trimming it to size, and sanding the top and edges, my older boys helped me design and paint the top. What fun! Then we reconstructed the track in the layout we had planned, and screwed it down. For risers under bridges, we cut small scraps of wood.

When in use, we sit it on two toy bins (big totes). The nice thing is that it can be easily stored by leaning it in a corner of the room. It has seen tons of use and is one project well worth the time and effort involved. I was tickled to find some beautifully made train pieces from Big Lots at the time for a fraction of the cost of name brand ones. I like that!

No More Blown-Over Umbrellas

Living in the Midwest has it's disadvantages. One of them is our strong wind.

In the past, we have lost several umbrellas to the wind. It's always frustrating, and we try to keep them down during windy days. But sometimes, the weather can be unpredictable!

My husband came up with this umbrella stand idea and we haven't had another umbrella blow over yet!

We've actually made two of these log stands, and as a bonus, they double as side tables for our patio arrangements!

It isn't easy to drill the big holes in the logs which the poles require. But we love the results and visitors love them, too!

It takes some muscle to rearrange the furniture, though! LOL!

If you try making one, it is a good idea to drill a long narrow drainage hole at an angle from the side to let any water drain out.

Giving the ends a coat of stain now and then will help preserve it, as will making sure it doesn't sit directly on the ground.

Visit Works For Me Wednesdays at Rocks in My Dryer for other great ideas!