Bryan Elementary

Tonight was so awesome. I would usually blog two days in a row, but Bryan Elementary is definately blogworthy. Target does service projects throughout the community all the time and I signed up to do one set for tonight. Bryan Elementary is a school with 60% of the kids living at poverty level or lower. So we had a readathon(cat in the hat themed) to promote reading to the kids no matter their home situations. It started with a dinner in the cafeteria/gym/auditorium and then multiple classrooms were set up for different activities. I was mainly in the room where we made paper hats to look like Dr. Suess's Cat in the Hat. When I first got there, I went into the hat room and a little girl came and hugged me. It was a little weird until I realized it was my neice Kearston that I havent seen her since my wedding. Later another voice said my name and it was Jayden. They are getting so huge! I cant believe she is 12 and he is 9 or 10.. I cant remember. But I havent seen him in a couple years. Pretty fun.

The other rooms consisted of facepainting, story telling, arts and crafts, and word searches/mazes. Later one of the HR executives came back with the target beach balls, and gave me a red shirt to show I was a Target volunteer. Sweet a new shirt for work! It was such a fun night and some of the kids were so funny and enthusiastic about everything. I'm going to think about it a little more... but after tonight, I want to be in the Big Brother/Big Sister program.

Happy Birthday Casey

Casey's birthday was Feb. 16th so about a month ago I decided to take him to Home Depot and tell me exactly all of the tools he would love to get eventually. I had to be stealth yet still ask a lot of questions like what brands were the best and what not. I decided to get a mini router for work because not only was it the cheapest tool, but it was something he had been talking about wanting before the Home Depot visit. I just needed to figure out when I was going to buy it when he wasn't around. Probably right after work or something. So the day is about a week away and we go to Home Depot together(something we do often) and while there he wants a table saw.. Bad.. So we talk about it and even though it was 3 times as expensive I got it for his birthday anyway. He knew what he got but he was so excited and I couldnt say no. On his official birthday, we didnt do very much. We went to work then to my parents to hangout. Later my Mom came home and had bought him a machete, also something he really wanted. When we went home, Casey's brother Nick came over and brought him a present too. Not just any present, an insanely huge flatscreen TV!!!!! Unbelievable! Who gets that for a birthday present! That night we tested it on King Arthur, one of our favorite movies. The next day, my parents took us to dinner at Olive Garden. It was so good. I love leftovers.
Two weeks later Casey's parents had a birthday dinner for him at their house! It was well worth the wait. It was like Thanksgiving all over again, literally. We had mashed potatoes, yams, turkey, beets, stuffing, corn, and everything you would eat for Thanksgiving dinner. It was so good! After we ate until stuffed we hung out in the living room telling scary stories. I guess it was like Thanksgiving and Halloween combined. I made Casey's cake. Rainbow chip of course... Only the best. I felt so bad though because I forgot to get candles... Rookie mistake. All that Bobbie had was a number 9. But as long as he got to blow out a candle and make a wish... which reminds me.. I wonder what it was? Maybe I can get it out of him.;-) I'm so terrible with surprises/secrets. All in all a great day of hanging out with family.

Our Latest Quick Project/s

At the Fowler apartment, we have run out of room for furniture. Naturally because Casey is a carpenter, there is always a new project when he isnt working, and sometimes even when he is. Well, now that we have absolutely no room for anything else, he decided that he doesnt like the furniture he has built and wants to completely redo everything. When I say redo, he really just wants to change the color of the stain or paint it. Its nice because we have never had to buy furniture, but stressful to think he wants to change the color of our furniture already after having it for only a total of 6 months. But, its his hobby so I support him.

When we were first married, Casey went to habitat for humanity and got a record player cabinet. Its deceiving because the doors look like they open but they are just for decoration, so we had no storage area for DVDs or anything. But we got it for free so we made do with it temporarily. We didnt keep it the 70s oak finish, we painted it and made our own upgrades.

But anyway, finally bringing me to our project, was that he built a new one! And it looks soooo much better! Before... After..

What a Vast improvement. Great job casey!

Now for my project!! Im not much of a woodworker, so to speak, so this project makes me feel cool! I work at Target and any extra signing that they are about to throw away, is sometimes up for grabs. Most of the time their signing isnt something I would take because it has a model in the picture or will say something along the lines of 'expect more pay less'. Not really something I want in my home.. It just so happened that we were resetting the candles because many more were coming in, and they were getting rid of a candle sign. This one I had to keep! The moment I got off of work Casey and I headed up to my parents to work on building a frame for it in the shop. He told me what to do, but I almost did it completely by myself! Whoohoo, First project down many more to go!