4th of July Part 1

Hi everyone!! I promised myself that I was going to post these earlier. I ended up spending last week trying to get things together to start the fall semester. I can’t even believe it’s almost here… We start in about five weeks. There was just a few things that I had to make sure I got done so I took the time to get those organized. This is it guys… My last semester! At least my last semester fingers crossed… Ha ha!

So wanted to share with you a little bit of my Fourth of July. I hope you all had an amazing holiday… I know I did! I pray that you all spent quality time with family and friends that you love.

We wanted to re-create a picture of these two little crazies. This is what I love about these kids so much… Every year they really embrace the red, white and blue and show so much spirit dressing up! And as you see they’re still wearing the same socks from five years ago! How cute are they??? My older niece, their sister, does not participate to the extent that they do… Lol.

as most of you know if you follow my blog, every year we do a pontoon parade at my parents lake. Everyone decorate their pontoons and different themes. We’ve done some really fun and awesome themes in the past. You can use the search bar on the right of my blog and search for pontoon parade. You’ll see we’ve done this for many years and we’ve come up with some pretty creative decoration ideas for the boat.

This year we decided to just go with good old red white and blue for the Fourth of July.  Here we are all on the boat ready to drive out to the bay where we were meeting until it got dark and we began the parade.

A closer shot of everyone huddled together…

This is my older sister she came for the pontoon fun! She also brought along her daughter my adorable niece Jessica and my very first great-niece Leighton who is 2 years old! They were in bed as this parade was not going to begin until at least 9:30 PM

we purchased this blowup and light up eagle as part of our Decour this year. I got these fantastic Christmas lights that are LED and you use your phone to make them any color you want! They came in super handy for the red white and blue color! I love that I can use my Christmas lights at multiple times of the year.

That’s my Dad driving and my adorable nieces and nephew behind him!

The morning after the pontoon parade there was a pancake breakfast benefit the ski club at the lake. We went down and had delicious pancakes and sausage and we didn’t even have to cook them ourselves.

Here is my sister and the two peeps that missed the boat parade last night. They were definitely game to come down for pancakes with us! What a bunch of cuties they are!

More of the crew after enjoying their pancakes!

As we ate our breakfast we got to watch the ski club practice their moves. They actually practice on land before they try to do it on their skis.

These are my two nieces Aly and Jessica with my great niece Leighton for her very first tube ride. She did not enjoyed in the beginning but once we got the boat moving, she really did have fun.

here is my other niece Kyleigh and my nephew Ryan having a little tubing fun!!!

These two and the dog appeared to be contemplating life…

A little paddleboard ride…

And a little tumbling fun on the mat…

This is everyone loaded on the boat getting ready for a slow pontoon ride. The dog was so excited to snuggle up next to Aly.

dog selfie anyone? You gotta love Gracie!! Such a cutie!!

The pontoon ride put this one to sleep too…

Gracie had so much fun playing on the mat with the kids…

These two took a little JetSki ride together… This is the first year the kids have really been able to drive it alone. They need to have an adult with them but they are allowed to drive it. Maybe next year they can take it alone? That’s all up to Poppy…

I know this was a really heavy photo post and I didn’t wanna forget any of the good pics so I’m gonna make a part one and part two.

I truly hope you all had a fantastic holiday and got to relax and enjoy yourselves as well.

Sending so many hugs to everyone!

Last Covid 19 Projects

I believe I completed my final Covid projects.

Things in PA appear to be opening up little by little and soon I will lose my job.  

It looks like I will get word in August or September that my job role in Pittsburgh is done.

After that I have two paid months to find a job before severance kicks in.

All that being said; I will be sort of busy in the next few months looking for employment so I am super happy I completed all the projects that I have been putting off for soooo long over this quarantine!

The last ones were finished last week after borrowing my father's power drill which I used as a screwdriver.

Here we go...

First let me start you off with a lake photo!! This is me every weekend...my entire family just stays in the lake all day everyday! HA! It has been soooo super hot this week so I am sending cooling vibes to everyone that does not have a lake or pool to jump in!

Pontoon float anyone??!?!

My kitchen sink started dripping again. Last time, my dad changed out the cartridge for me but I watched so this time I was able to do it myslef!

Here is the handle after I removed it.

And the old, dirty cartridge! ICK!!!! No wonder they stop working...this looked so gross! I inserted the new one and put the clip through the top and Viola!!! It was finished and no more drip!

That faucet was a super quick project!!

Next up....I have been looking at this grossness under my kitchen sink since I bought my condo. There must have been a leak at some time and it left it super disgusting on the wood under my sink.  Sooo dirty and gross!

So, I measured it and ran to Home Depot. They cut my wood panel to the size I asked and look how pretty it is now?!??! YAY! Another quick project that only cost about $5.

What a difference!!!

And finally....my very last project....this one took a lot longer. maybe a full week working only a few hours each night.

My kitchen cabinet hinges were old and a mess. They had painted them white and the paint wore off on the side of the hinges and they looked awful. Also, many of them would not close all the way. If you push them shut they would re-open a few inches and it has been driving me crazy for years.

So, I measured and checked Home Depot. (Come to find out that mine are a standard size but at least I checked anyway).  They were soooo EXPENSIVE for hinges and I needed 30 of them for all my cabinets.

Then I checked on Amazon and found a great deal for a pack of 50 white ones. Way cheaper than the Home Depot prices.

Here is a close up of how they looked. ICK! Also, you can see in this close up how much paint in on the screws. This was making it super hard to unscrew the doors from the cabinet face.

I first tried to scrap out the paint from the screw head and then unscrew them. It was SO HARD! 

Then I googled it and found out a super great TIP - it is easier if you put the Phillips head screwdriver on the painted screw head and hit it hard with a hammer. The hit loosens the screw and the paint actually grips the screwdriver and it is super easy to unscrew them with a little pressure while you turn the screwdriver. It worked!!! 

After I took them all off; I took the hinges to Home Depot and had them do a paint match for the color. Then I was able to paint where the hinges used to be and touch up any chips in the current paint on the cabinets.

This is the cabinet face after I removed all the doors and touched up the paint. It looked soooo clean and nice!!!

And this is after the doors were reattached with the new white hinges.

Love it so much!

Close up of the new hinges.

So, I am left with 20 extra hinges!!

Anyone updating their cabinets or have a use for these extras. I do not need them and I will be happy to mail them to anyone....you pay shipping...nothing more.

That's it for my projects until I get a new job and go looking for a new house. HA!

I hope everyone is happy and well and getting your projects done too.

HUGS TO EVERYONE!!!

What projects have you completed? How are you today!??!? Do you have a need for 20 white hinges? Have you purchased a pool or where is your creative place to cool off?!?!?