My much-anticipated post

Around Christmastime last year, we welcomed a FREE piano into our home. *Thank you again, Liddells!!* No, Tom & I are not really pianists, mostly semi-repentant former piano lesson rebels. We like to plunk out notes to sing along with, as well as pull out some fairly easy songs to work up our skills. I can really wail on some of my old piano recital numbers, which bring back the memories.

(before)

So, did I mention this was a FREE piano and that it is maybe 80 years old and well-loved?? It had some "love" marks all over it, complete with a heart carved into the music stand. I would look at it everyday and think, "I could refinish that piano, no problem." And so, one day, without really thinking about the consequences, I began sanding a very visible spot to see what would happen. Thus began 3 months of sanding, scraping, scraping & sanding, figuring out Home Depot, staining & finishing. And then applying more finish. I only ruined one electric sander, which mysteriously stopped working mid-way through the project *thank you Dad for the extra sander you happened to leave with us so I could continue uninterrupted* Anyway, the kids LOVED spending several Saturday mornings at the park with Tom so I could get the dirty work done. I have composed this post in my mind a hundred times as I slaved away. Not because I am an amazing blogger, but just because I knew when it was time to write about it, it would mean I was DONE. And, I am proud to announce that it is DONE and beautiful!!

The process was interesting--going from excitement to see the old scrapes disappear, to the realization that this was way too big a project for little ol' me and I might just have a half-finished project in my living room forever, to feeling how smooth it was becoming, to start seeing the end product as the stain soaked in, to absolute frustration when I realized that putting the finish on is an art--a talent I don't yet have. When I was "done" I was so upset because the finish ended up drippy and uneven and in my mind it was a huge mess.

(sanding in process)

Enter Tom. He stayed away from my project, happy to see me throwing myself into a physical, hard labor job. He eagerly supported me and helped occupy the kids when I was working. But in the end he stepped in and saved me, researching what could be done and offering to help. So, we lightly sanded one more time and he added one more coat of finish, making it look ten times better. And then we both put it back together and stepped back to admire our handiwork. I sure can see every mistake and I know it doesn't look like a professional job--but I do know there's a lot of sweat and love put into our piano and it's perfect for us.

(Here it is!!)

I have no desire to do another refinishing job in the near future, no matter how badly our kitchen table needs it. I truly admire all of the woodwork I've noticed in the past couple of months and I am in awe of whoever applied the finish and made it so smooth! All I know is that the next time I'm at a garage sale or somewhere and I think that I'll just buy something and "just refinish it" I will think again. For now, I'll use my energies on enjoying our "new" piano and working up some new recital pieces. And our kids need to be prepared: piano lessons are definitely in their future.

Oh Allison!

My kids have heard and repeated with me the phrase "scissors are only for paper" a million times. I have them well trained to never cut anything except their little art projects. Or so I thought...


Allison & Jacob came out of their Quiet Time on a Sunday afternoon and I was shocked to find what little "art project" they had been working on together. Allison's hair was gone!! This picture doesn't do justice to the real life masterpiece--hair wildly chopped in front and both sides. I was so sad to pick up a PILE of beautiful curls left all over her bed. She told me she did it because she wanted to be a boy. And then I was even more discouraged to realize that I had actually planted the idea for her to do this! I remembered a conversation we had just after church:

Jacob and Gideon were playing around the living room and Allison was trying to join in. Jacob kept saying she couldn't because she wasn't a boy--she wasn't in the "Boy's Club." She came to complain to me and I joked that we should cut her hair so she could be a boy. She got really excited and said she could wear boy clothes and be in their club because she didn't want to be a girl anyway. I then took the opportunity to have a "wonderful teaching moment" about how she will always be a girl and she's supposed to be a girl and I love her as a girl... It was such a great teaching moment that it didn't register there would be a problem, even when the kids took scissors and newspaper ads with them into their room to cut out interesting things as Jacob likes to do. I asked Allison if she needed her own papers to cut and she said she only had one thing she wanted to cut and didn't need papers. Oops. I should have seen this coming!

Well anyway, we were able to rush to the "ward hairstylist" Mandy the next morning for an emergency haircut. She did a great job with what she had to work with. I really think this must be the ultimate test for a hairstylist to try to make a child's haircut mess work.

I secretly really like her haircut! Or at least the style of it. You can still tell there are some funny-looking chunks missing, but whatever. It's something I never would have chosen to do, but it is pretty cute--when it's done. It can look crazy when it's left alone (which is, unfortunately, most of the time). And she could care less what she looks like, which is just how it should be for a 3 year old. She was pretty disappointed, however, to not have turned into a boy.