Christmas Day 2011

Well Christina woke up at some ungodly time of 4:30 for Christmas. We have a rule in our house. The stockings are free grabs but you don't wake up Mom and Dad until they come down.

 Megan found this little thing on Pintrest and decided to make one. You basically take a loaf of bread and cover it with sugar, cinnamon and butter. Bake it for a while and then cover it with some icing. It's not good for you...but it tastes wonderful. Here is the link to the recipe!

 Jessica was most happy. Here is she is clutching her most precious new cell phone.

 Adria shipped Drew a big giant man mug.

 The Elder's came over for breakfast and so they could call home for Christmas. They always get to call home on Christmas and Mother's Day but now with all the wonderful technology they can Skype or video chat with home. This is Elder Freeman, from Meadows, Utah. He's playing with a magnetic toy that we got him.

 This is Elder Scott, he's from Genola, Utah.

 Christina completely warn out. We were in the office doing video chat with Adria and Dave.

Wir kauften einen Schrank!

What is a Schrank you may ask? Well it's a cabinet of sorts from Germany. We've been looking for a buffet or cabinet to go with the dining room table for a while now. And we just haven't found anything we liked. Things have either been to expensive, two small, two small and expensive or needed to much work. We've been hoping to score a good deal like the other furniture pieces we have bought and refinished. Then Drew stopped into this Germany Antique store. He was actually looking for a large German map for his Man Room when he spotted this. A few days later both Cheri and Drew stopped by for a visit and saw it.  A few family member antique'rs were called for opinion and soon thereafter the decision was made. For the price and the quality it couldn't be beat.

First, it came in pieces, this is the top piece sitting in the hallway. Imagine Ikea but in oak and all old school quality. 

A few side panels, back panels and shelves sitting on a hallway rug. Oddly enough that rug is from Ikea. 

 The base in place. All oak. Three large drawers. Thank heaven for felt sliders. Even fully assembled we can move it around without hurting the floor.

 It's just a big puzzle really, send panels that include one door each go in first. Help in place with wood dowels. You can't see it but the entire door is the glass and oak panel. There is a piano hinge that runs the height of the oak panel piece

 Built in screw to secure it to the bottom and top.

 Another view of one end piece in place

 Both end pieces in place. Next comes the middle door and the top.

The middle door and the top have to go on at the same time. 

 Finished....And Megan in the picture for size.

 A bit taller the Christina!

 The carved detail is what is really incredible.

Thanksgiving 2011

So we had our first Thanksgiving in our new home. First, this is our new dining room table. They dropped it and broke part of it when they were moving it into the house.....also with all the leaves in the table it's a tight fit for the dining room so we turned it a bit. The walls are still pretty bare but we're working on it. And Cheri wants to change out the light.

 PIES!! Pumpkin of course. Apple then Shoefly beyond that.

 This was a Costco special a few weeks ago. Cheri really liked it. Yeah - - and we're being "WILD" will it filled with water and lemons!

 So we made a few small pies to deliver to a few friends and acquaintances we knew that were either working or had to be at work for part of Thanksgiving.

 The kitchen! Enough said.

Raspberry Chipotle with cream cheese and crackers. We love Pirate O's Raspberry Chipotle Sauce. We brought a few with us from Utah and we may have even ordered one or two since we've been here. Yet we found a pretty close substitute at Costco

 Jessica made some of her Aunt's mints for the table.

And yes, we didn't appear to have taken any photos of anyone! Oh well. We had our neighbors over. They are new to the area as well, also from Utah, and work at the local Cafe Rio stores out here. In fact, they moved from UT to VA just to open the stores. It was a good time. We missed having all the family here or being in UT with all the family...but it was still a good day nonetheless.

Five pieces of furniture for less then $80

So we've started to frequent antique and thrift stores more and more. Some are really hit and miss. Some are decent. A few weeks ago we found one new place we'll certainly return to. We ended up walking out with 2 end tables, 1 hutch, 1 desk and 1 chair. Total cost was about $80.00. So here are some before and after shots of a few of the pieces.

Desk and Hutch
Jessica has been wanting a desk for her bedroom. We came across this hutch and desk for a grand total of $28.00. There was no real damage, it just needed a good sanding and coat of paint.

Here is the hutch part, we're getting ready to start sanding it. 

 Jessica working on her own piece - - getting all the rough spots off before painting.

 Close up. 

The finished project in Jessica's room.

Click on the pictures for a better look. We actually replaced the light under the shelf just to be safe. Total cost for paint was only a few bucks. The new light was the most expensive thing and that was about $12.00.

Next Two Items - Two End Tables
Megan has been wanting some new night stands for her room. We picked up these for $15.00 each. So $30.00 for the two of them. These are solid wood with a veneer top. These were made by the American Drew Furniture Company. We weren't familiar with this company yet their prices seem rather steep. Similar new pieces are selling for over $300 each. So $15 each was a pretty good deal.

We decided to redo this with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. If you aren't familiar with this paint it's a flat paint that can be applied to just about anything without having to strip it first. Texture is actually given by using a brush, a bit of sanding to antique a piece or finishing wax to change the colors of the paint. We actually sanded and refinished the top as bare wood stained dark. 

 Megan decided duck egg blue for the drawer and old white for the rest. Now keep in mind the two pints of chalk paint cost more then the furniture, yet we have lots left over for other projects now. Megan also added some antique glaze to the legs and probably eventually the drawers to age it a bit more. It's not done yet, but almost.

And the final Piece - - for $20.00 - This chair
Okay, we haven't done anything to this chair yet, but Cheri plans on recovering it. The springs are good, it's comfortable and sturdy. It was made by the Kroehler Furniture Company.

New House

Okay so we've been busy the last little while. We spent the last month or so cleaning up our old place, getting things boxed up and ready to move. Walking through the new house and making sure things were right and finally, moving! Now we've been busy cleaning and unpacking and taking care of things. Below is a little video we shot right before we moved in. Enjoy!

August 25, 2011

August 25, 2011, originally uploaded by Schmidt-Family.

I'm thinking of doing a picture and post a day to show what in the world we are doing. We'll start today and see how we do.

Christina was blessed with Schmidt Teeth like all the other kids. Nothing that some metal can't fix. She had the metal installed today!

Adria in Town - - and other bits of fun.

About three weeks ago the whole group of us ran up to Frederick, Maryland to look at antiques and try out a donut shoppe called the Fracture Prune. I know, this sounds like a crazy name for a donut shoppe, but these are pretty good donuts.

First, you pick your flavors and then they make them while you wait. Some of them are just crazy....like SAND, which is really just Cinnamon and Sugar....go over to here to check out all of their crazy mix and matches.

This is what the inside of out box looked like:

So you may be asking what else have we been up to. Well, Megan had church Youth Conference and Cheri and Drew were asked to help out. So we flew Adria out to watch the rest of the kids and to spend some time with her.

This fun included a little trip to the National Marine Museum in Quantico.

It's a very well done museum with great history and information.

A few days prior to that we decided to go tubing down the Shenandoah River. It would have been a bit more fun if the water was higher and faster.....but it was still a good trip where Drew and the girls had fund, a good work out (from swimming or walking in the slow parts) and a good bit of sun.