Halloween Party

Secret Agent Man LOVES Halloween.  We all do!  I told him that this year he could invite 5 friends over for a Halloween Party.

He chose his friends and we sent out the invitations well in advance.

I was really going to try and do a healthier Halloween party.  Then, time got ahead of me and the night before the party I was at Target buying cheese puffs, ingredients for a super sugary punch and lots of other junk.

I planned a craft, a game and a food to decorate.  I figured these things would keep them busy for the two hour party and if they would rather play and ignore those things, that was fine also.

We were going to decorate a sugar cookie with frosting and sprinkles or cupcakes with the same and then I found these........

I thought these were super cute and the kids LOVED them.

Special Agent Dad was a ninja turtle, I was a werewolf (both picked up at Target last year when they were marked down 90% off), and Secret Agent Man was an "Indestructible Stone Samurai Warrior".  His friends showed up as: Boba Fett, A ninja, Spiderman, Swat team member and a ninja.  We were four ninja's deep.  I felt pretty "classic" in my werewolf getup.

00Dog was a bunch of grapes.  She looked like a member of the fruit of the looms crew.

We got to those ghouly pizzas after the witch's brew and some snacks.

The witch's brew was a recipe from a Halloween cookbook that Secret Agent Man bought years ago.  It was a mix of lime sherbet, frozen limeade and ginger ale.  Those 6 boys drank the entire bowl (complete with floating gummy worms).

They also snacked on popcorn sprinkled with orange sugar crystals, cheese and crackers, halloween gummy snacks and those HUGE pizza cookies.

After they ate, they ran.
They used that huge back yard of ours to run and run and run!

Then we played a game called Don't eat Pete!  I got the game from a The Teacher Wife .  We played that fun game with smarties instead of candy corns.  Unfortunately the game moves rather quick and it ended with most of the boys trying to cram way too much candy into their mouths.  Yet, they LOVED this game.  They were giggling with huge smiles and couldn't wait to scream out at each other.

We had a foam bat craft set out with googly eyes and stickers.  They made some really cute bat creations and then it was back out to the yard to run!  We ended up at the playground down the way and they played some hide and seek and chasing games until it was time to head home.

Special Agent Dad played a very special role in being the "chased".  He evaded them all once we left the confines of the yard.  They all had fun trying to catch him!

The kids left pretty quickly and we were left with one little Secret Agent moaning on the couch with a stomach ache.  I felt pretty bad about poisoning him with sugar.  There was just too much of it.

Next year or next party, I am definitely going to stick to one sugary treat and get creative with the rest.  One of the other boys mom gave me some great ideas like peeling a watermelon to resemble a brain and other fun stuff.

This party was fun!  I'm already planning the next one!

Austin Book Fair

A friend let me know yesterday that Secret Agent Man's favorite author was at the Austin Book Fair doing a book signing.

Yup, Dave Pilkey of  the Captain Underpants fame was there.

Unfortunately, It was during the Halloween party and there was no way we would be canceling that.

We happened to be downtown Austin on Sunday and we stumbled upon the outdoor book fair on accident.

The very first tent we walked into was the children's books tent.

Secret Agent Man immediately found the Captain Underpants books.

He lifted up the 9th book in the series and excitedly exclaimed that it was "signed by the author!".  He could not believe that this signed copy was left behind.

We quickly snatched up this amazing find and were in line paying for it in no time.

He beamed for the rest of day, exclaiming how he would show everyone in class at school tomorrow.

We walked through the rest of the book fair, rolled down some hills (Secret Agent Man only, the adults abstained), walked through the grounds of the capital building

and watched the founder/owner of the Salt Lick BBQ restaurant make some food.  Most notably some peach cobbler.

After that cooking demo, we walked toward the food area and there before us was a food truck that Special Agent Dad and I had been trying to track down since our very first visit to Austin.

Kebabalicious.

I was way too full from lunch still to order but, Special Agent Dad grabbed a kebab to take home for later.   Now, I am really craving that falafel wrap with hummus.....

Okay, he had a few bites right away and then saved some

Secret Agent Man and I danced to the local band playing in the next tent.  Beto y Los Fairlanes.  They were awesome!

White Refinished Desk

I have been waiting for years for the perfect solid wood desk to land on the floor of the local goodwill.

It happened a few weeks ago.

I walked in, just by chance.  Not looking for anything in particular, and there she was.

She had really beautiful detail in the legs and around the top, not to mention the hardware which was dramatic and full of character.  Bonus that I would not have to buy new hardware.

I brought her home for $30 looking like this.

I actually really loved the black and thought it would be beautiful in the right room.  Yet, I knew that I wanted this desk right in the front room where I could take advantage of the beautiful views out of the full windows.

This room is very bright from all of the natural light and has mainly white trim.  I knew the dark black color would not look right here.  That's okay, I always imagined the desk as antique white and knew that would look beautiful with the yellow walls.

I started with taking the drawers out and checking for any structural damage or fixes that would need to be made.  There wasn't much.  I did notice that the drawers stick a bit and thought I might try to do some filing to help them fit a bit better.

Next, I removed the hardware and set it aside.

I wiped the desk down with a damp rag to clean off the dust and also used the wet/dry vac to clean up any dust or dirt.  This also gave me a really good chance to check for bed bugs/other unwanteds before I brought it into the house!

You can never be too careful!

I had a small amount of primer/paint combo leftover that I thought might cover it.  I knew with the dark color I would need a few coats, even using a primer.

Unfortunately it wasn't enough.

I bought another can, this time using a low VOC paint so that the fumes were negligible and it would be safe to bring inside without off gassing.

I used a foam brush to paint around the sculptured parts and parts that I couldn't reach with the mini roller.

It took almost 4 full coats.  I made sure to allow it to dry in between coats and even flipped it on its top to ensure coverage in the spots that were hard to see.

I took all of the hardware outside and sprayed painted it with Oil Rubbed Bronze spray paint on a piece of cardboard in the grass.  The key to this is to keep your arm moving back and forth while spraying so the paint doesn't clump.

Once the last coat was dry, I placed the hardware back on the drawers and pulled out some sand paper.

The thing about these painted pieces is, if you rough it up a bit and distress it, nobody will ever see your mistakes with the paint.  I ran the sandpaper over the edges and around each drawer.  It's best to sand the areas that you think would normally show wear and tear over a period of time.

The black paint underneath came out beautifully and gave great character to the piece.

[Just a note: before you do any sanding, especially on a piece that you are unsure when it was built or painted, you should ALWAYS perform a lead test.  These are easily and pretty cheaply available from most hardware and warehouse stores.  It is usually just necessary to get the lead sample wet and swipe the paint.  It will give you quick results.  Never sand any paint that contains lead or comes back positive in a lead test.  Lead is dangerous and causes brain damage if inhaled. ]

So.....I did another wipe down and vacuuming and dragged this baby into the house.  There she is in her new home.  I love what she brings to the room and think that this is so much better than any brand new desk I could've found.

Not bad for $30 and some new paint!