I love summer nights, especially when it cools down just a bit where it's nice to enjoy the evening together as a family. One item on our summer bucket list was to ride our bikes to the Queen Bean, a local coffee shop. We opted to walk and had Dairy Queen instead, but had fun just the same. We got to see the sun go down in the distance and it was like a cherry to top our ice cream :)
About 4 years ago, after dinner with our small group, James came up with the idea of a bottle top table. From that night on, pretty much everyone we know has been collecting bottle tops and the table idea went from a card table, to what it is today, a 12' x 4' dinner table. We have about 6000 bottle tops and after many drawings, the table is being built! James and I figured out the dimensions and exactly how to construct it and this week I went and got all the supplies. Also, just this week, I found a solid wood table and chair set on Buy/Sell/Trade for a great price and figured I could incorporate it into the base. I cut the table in half and lengthened it by adding 6ft sections of 2x4. After securing it all together, I added wood across the top to create a table base that is 12' long and 4' wide and has 6 sturdy legs. It was a lot of work, but it ended up looking pretty awesome, if I do say so myself :)
We had already decided that since this table has been years in the making and our small group played such a significant part in the idea, design and drinking of the beer to produce the bottle tops, :) that each couple in our small group would get a 2'x2' section to design.
Thursday night was the beginning of the art work. 4 of the 6 couples in our group were here to begin the top. The sections were marked off, the bottle tops were sorted by color and the fun began!! We still have lots of work to complete, 2 more couples need to complete their section, the Oates section needs to be done, as does the checker board and surrounding area (our kids are working on). Once all the artwork with the tops are done, I will grout the entire table, attach molding and glass to cover it.
We are so excited to see this project come to fruition and looking forward to many meals shared around this, our table of love! More pictures to come as the project comes to a close!!
I love 4th of July!! Today would have been my Daddy's 62nd birthday, but is now Peanuts (my neice Hilary)birthday- so the birthday fun will always continue :) This holiday has always been about being together with family and this year was no exception. We started the day off with a pancake breakfast with our church family; this has become tradition over the years.
With full bellies, we went home to make some festive yummy food. We loaded up the van and headed down to my sisters to swim and BBQ with everyone. It was a fun time of eating, watching all the cousins play together, laughing and getting thrown in the pool. (I was a party pooper and didn't get thrown in) Then, we loaded back up to go to James' brothers house to eat and do fireworks in the street. Since, Scott and Christine bought their house we've done fireworks there every year. There was about 30 of us, lots of food, fireworks both big and and small and lots of squeals of delight from the kids!
It was after midnight before we got home, but it was a great day spent with those we love, celebrating our great country!!
