Weekend Snapshots| Weekend of Love

Busy weekend much? Yup this one was another crazy weekend and I was fighting a cold the whole weekend that is still trying to get me down. I almost didn’t recap this weekend because I feel like poop but I have tons of pretty pictures so I’ll share! I'm linking up with 3twentysix with Weekend Snapshots the perfect way to recap all the weekend fun!! 

Friday Night: We played it low key and grilled some shrimp and potatoes and sipped some vino while we chilled in our own backyard. No fuss no muss just us :)

Saturday: We took the bear to Froberg's Farm in Alvin, TX to pick strawberries!! This is something we do every year and it was time to get picking. I think the warm winter made for a not so great strawberry picking season but the girls had a great time and we still filled a whole bucket.

In the evening we went on a double date with my bestie Clari and her hubby and we had a great time. I didn’t take pictures of our dinner so you’ll have to take my word on it. We decided to live on the edge and we all ordered the “Chef’s Tasting Menu" at the Rainbow Lodge here we were at the mercy of the chef and had a six course meal with a little bit of everything on the menu from swordfish to venison (YUM). It was an experience and it was delish! For some after dinner fun we headed to Pete’s Dueling Piano Bar as always it was a good time :)

Sunday: The crud started to really hit me :( we made it to church and had a nice breakfast with our family but I just wanted to crawl into bed and not move fortunately with the bear things don’t always go as planned. We made chocolate covered strawberries and homemade bubbles that the bear could catch and bounce! Thank you Pinterest! (again)

We wore cute matching shirts "All you need is Love" 

So not the cute picture I was hopping for :( I just felt so blah I just wanted to cuddle on the couch with my bug. 

I figure strawberries are full of vitamin C - so it's okay!  

Monday: Presidents' day aka a day of no school for the little one. We tried to go to work but after only two hours we were done. We came home and took it easy, we worked on some crafts and I made some soup. I don’t know about you but soup makes me feel better. 

Creamy Wild Rice and Chicken Soup - Warm and Yummy

DIY Picnic Table- The craftier side of me :)

Last year I got the crazy idea that I wanted to expand our outdoor living space. Our house was built with a small patio in the back yard and that was great and all until our regular crew of people started filling it up and spilling into the yard. There we would be all huddled up as much as we could in this small space grubbing on wings and bbq! I know! Just imagine that dreadful sanario! LOL

So as luck would have it my wheels started spinning and my husband started grumbling… and I came up with the idea that we needed to extend our patio and make a larger space!! So we did. The work was mostly completed by my husband, my son and my brother – although I am very handy with power-tools and I was always ready to pick up slack when needed – the guys wanted yummy food when they were hard at work and I was always cooking up something to entice them to keep going!

By July 15^th we had finished our project and soon celebrated with a birthday party for my hubby  :)

Since then we have enjoyed our backyard more and more especially now that the winds of the seasons are changing and warming us up more and more. If and when we have a chance to relax outdoors we take it!

Table comes in box with all the pieces pre-cut and hardware included 

Recently my wheels started turning again, my husband started grumbling…hehehe :) and I figured out I needed a table to go in our new patio.  I also knew that we don’t have $$ to buy a nice fancy outdoor table. So after a little research I figured we could buy a wooden picnic table that would fit comfortably in our space. My hubby was not so happy with my new idea, especially not with the DIY involved.  My plan: Buy the table un-assembled , this way we could sand down the rough edges and splinters (we have tons of little girls playing in our yard all the time!)  and then we could stain it so it would look pretty and put it together - TADA! Easy! 

When Jose seemed not so excited with my master plan and we ate our lunch balanced on our knees or make shift tables (dreadful I know)! I did what any wonderful wife would do!! I took my husband table shopping where out door table would cost us some $500.00 bucks or more :) Suddenly my idea grew on my hubby and we went to work!!

What you will need:

• Wooden Picnic Table from Home Depot or Lowes ($99.00)
• Outdoor wood stain/paint ($35.00)
•  *Electric Sander and Sandpaper 180 grit (lots!)
•  *Paint brush and roller
•  *Drill
•  *Screwdriver (per instructions for table)

*we had these supplies at home already

Being that this is not an expensive table and based on the reviews for the table I knew it would be rough and sanding was going to be a must for us. So we sanded all the pieces that we would come into contact with on a daily bases real good making sure no one would get splinters or snags. Thankfully it was a pretty day with a nice breeze and sunny, when we got to painting the drying time was quick and easy.  Again we did our best painting on all the areas that would been used the most (two coats on these) and a quick paint job on the underneath parts.

Assembly was fairly easy, I had that sometime the pre-drilled holes might not match up or align so we had the drill ready and ended up having to re-drill a few holes as we assembled the table.

Our little project took us two days but it turned out really nice! Given that it will be under a covered patio I am crossing my fingers that it’ll last for quite some time, we ate dinner outside last night per my little girl’s request! I foresee lots of dinners outdoors, as well as picnic lunches!