A tale of two chairs

If you've been a guest at my house, you may have had to sit on this chair with a warning that the seat is not attached so be careful.

I think I got this chair when my Grandma Syme died in 2000. I think. I remember stapling on the blue fabric with help from my sister as a teenager very soon after I got it. But no one in my family remembers this chair at my grandma's house including myself. But the timeline fits and I certainly didn't buy it or find it.

This chair sat in my room in high school, usually piled with clothes.

I took it to college and used it at my desk in all the apartments I lived in.

I brought it to this house when Justin and I moved in. (We had a couch, a bed, a desk, a tv, a cedar chest and this chair). It was sometimes our computer chair, sometimes an extra dining chair, sometimes in our bedroom  piled with clothes. It was last used at our desk in the basement for the computer. Always used with the warning to be careful, the seat is not attached.

On a seemingly unrelated note, this buffet belonged to my Grandpa Baadsgaard. I inherited it last year when my aunt didn't want it anymore. My grandpa had it refinished way back when but didn't like it. It's currently in my parent's shed until I have a house big enough for it. In the meantime I want to learn how to refinish it and put the original hardware back on.

Enter my practice project: the ragamufin chair. (In my defense, the wood looked just like this when I got it.)

I watched youtube videos, read how-to blogs, read up on products. I decided to chemically strip the chair and restain it. Off to the store I went.

All day long I worked on it. Unfortunately it needed to be sanded even after stripping. And then it needed more stripper after that. Back and forth. It's no wonder people just paint antique furniture. Restaining is hard!

I was contemplating how I could paint the buffet instead of staining it. But once I applied the new stain to the chair, it all became worth it.

(I used a dark walnut stain but didn't let it sit at all--just immediately wiped it off and a spray on lacquer)

I liked how it turned out so much I called my mom and asked her if I could have the second chair.

Yes! There is a second chair. A few years back I noticed it's twin at my parents' condo in Hurricane. It stopped me in my tracks. What the heck? It looked the same but not quite the same. The chair came with the house which belonged to my aunt until she died in 2010 and it became my dad's house. The seat upholstery was different and the wood looked a different color but it was for sure my chair's twin.

My mom said I could take it next time I went down there. 

I shared some early photos of my chair with my sisters and my excitement about making over the second chair. Next thing I know, my sister-in-law tells me my niece is on her way home from Hurricane and is bringing me the second chair!

Reunited and it feels so good! I've had my chair for 20 years. I wonder how long they've been apart. How long did my aunt have hers while mine was still at my grandma's? Or did she get hers when I got mine? What were they used for? Are there more than 2? 

I could tell immediately that the stain had more of a yellow tone and that the finish was in much better condition. What different lives these chairs have lived. The better clear coat actually made it much harder for the stripper to get in there and come off. It was a pain.

So I spent another day stripping and sanding and sanding and stripping. I could tell that it was going to maintain it's different color no matter what I did. 

Then after a couple of trips to the fabric store, a trip to the hardware store and borrowing a staple gun, I reupholstered the new seats Justin cut out. Then for the first time in 20 years, the chair has a seat that is attached.

I hoped using the same stain would pull the color closer to mine but alas, no. And it kind of bugs me. But I think as long as they aren't right next to each other I may not notice.

Here's the before and after.

Now the pretty pair are at my parent's house in a spare bedroom until I have a place for them. ::Sigh::

I'm trying to decide if I'm ready to tackle the buffet.

Flashback Friday: My birthdays

Growing up in a family of 10, it seemed like it was always someone's birthday, especially during the fall when 7 of us had our birthdays. By the time I graduated high school we added like 10 nieces and nephews so it seemed like every other week we were having cake. 

And in my own little family, we have a birthday a month Sep-Dec. It's birthday season! 

We had a few birthday traditions when I was a kid which is what I'm flashbacking to today. I don't have pictures of most of what I remember but I know there are tons of home videos and I wish I had those to share. 

Our presents would be wrapped and waiting for us on the piano bench first thing in the morning. If it was a school day, we'd all wake up extra early so we could watch the birthday person open their presents before getting ready for school. Everything was wrapped, even jars of baby food that we asked for. (That is so weird now that I think about it. Fruit flavors only--we weren't asking for pureed peas. I swear baby food was better back in the day--more sugar, I'm sure.) Games, puzzles, toys, a 6-pack of our favorite pop (I'm going back to saying "pop") and clothes.

My mom made our cake--whatever we wanted. She had a tab in her recipe box just for cut-out cake patterns. I remember she'd let us look through it even when it was nowhere near our birthday just to get ideas.

How cute was I??  

Fun fact: I still have that suitcase. Erica uses it all the time.

Always opening presents in pajamas.

Every other year we got to go out to dinner. I usually chose Chuck-a-Rama. The other years we got to have a friend party. We played classic birthday party games like pin the tail on the donkey, the candy bar game and red-rover. When I was maybe 5, my mom took us all to Burger King. I have much treasured home videos of that one. This was before cellphone cameras--someone in my family is walking around Burger King with a big 'ol camcorder on their shoulder!  When I was a young teenager, a couple of times my mom took us all to see a movie at Movies 8 in Provo (Twister and A Little Princess). 

Back before pinterest, birthday parties didn't have themes. "Birthday" was the theme.

Cupcakes and checkers. All you need.

Pictured below is my 12th birthday (what Sarah will be turning next month.) You can see I am a full-on aunt by this age. That little boy on my hip is a grown man. By this time my older sister was making all my birthday cakes. She was a great cake decorator and one of the biggest reasons I love homemade frosting so much.

This picture below makes me happy and sad. So happy to have my grandma singing to me but sad her head got cut out of frame. That's my uncle Chad on the right. I spent a lot of time with him and my aunt Karen (you can only see her arms) as a kid and they were such a good model of a healthy relationship at a time when I needed to see that. His life took a sad turn and he died a few years ago. This is how I remember him

Right after this I was dribbling a water balloon on the table and it burst and got everyone around me wet. I cried in my room until Karen came and got me. 

Not pictured but documented somewhere on film is our most awesome family tradition ever!! When we were really little we would put the birthday cake on the piano bench, light the candles, turn off the lights, hold hands and sing happy birthday while we circled around the bench. Justin has seen the home movies and he says it reminds him of a séance.  Think of it more like dancing around the May pole or the Danish holding hands and singing around the Christmas tree. Maybe that's where we got it. I'm going to make all my kids do it this year.

Which brings me to my birthday this year. I woke up to the sounds of the tape dispenser and paper rustling on my door. I got attacked by butterflies.

And by hearts all the way down the stairs.

My girls even set out the birthday plate and bowl for me.

It wouldn't be my birthday without a Shirley's cinnamon roll. James and I ate them at park in Provo where a proselytizing couple asked if I had heard the healing gospel of Jesus Christ. Why yes, yes I have. They shared a few scriptures and then James told them it was my birthday and that I was 37. They didn't believe it so I guess that's a win.

These are the flowers Justin got for me.

He also got me a new ice cream maker. We made some frozen yogurt and it was soooo good. This machine and I are becoming fast friends.

Screenshot of 1:29 pm, the moment I turned 37. (Sunny and 59 is also my second favorite weather.)

My dear sweet friend Kenzie brought over a balloon and birthday present. It was the biggest balloon we'd ever seen! A couple of days later, to get the kids to stop fighting over it, Justin taught them to inhale the helium. Parenting win.

We like September

 I don't remember why but Henry wanted to try out Sarah's bike. I thought he'd be embarrassed to ride a girl's bike but all he commented on was the difference in the placement of the handlebars.

So Sarah tried out his. After this she tried my bike and liked it so much that's what she's riding to school now. I think it's weird that I have a child big enough to ride my bike.

Most mornings James lies in the middle of the kitchen floor while we are getting ready for school. It's like the room is so crazy that he might as well just lie down and make it even harder.

"I'm not going to feel bad if you get stepped on," I say everyday.

He's getting really good at his new bike. He saw a real live motorcycle that looked just like this and he was so excited.

He's tried it without the training wheels a couple of times but didn't like it so I put them back on. We'll try again soon.

I bottled 21 jars of pears. I like bottling pears much more than peaches because 1. no bugs or worms 2. easier to peel and no pits, just seeds.I don't remember why I took this picture. Maybe it's because she's dipping ritz crackers in cottage cheese.

And at the other end of the table James was devouring a peach.

Sarah bought some air dry clay with some money she's earned babysitting for the neighbors. Erica did not like the texture.

Since it's not so blazing hot around lately the kids can actually go outside more. James made a rollercoaster out of sidewalk chalk.

Here is demonstrating going down it.

This is James's job chart he made up. Erica helped him. If he cleans his room 16 times he gets a Kong Kone at Macey's. I couldn't say no to that.

One morning I found Erica asleep in the recliner in her room. We don't have anywhere else for my recliner so it's still in there. I've fallen asleep in it many a time feeding my babies in the middle of the night.

Henry's football season is coming to a close. They played their last regular season game on Saturday.

They didn't win but they played really well. It's been fun to see his team get better over the past few weeks. Henry plays his heart out every game and he is so fast! 

Erica and my mom drawing together. Erica drew a house and asked my mom to draw one too.

Sunday evening Justin asked who wanted to go for a ride up the mountains. James heard him first and didn't want him to ask anyone else. So the two of them went. (The other kids and I rode scooters around the neighborhood and played Life.)

Kindred mountain spirits, these two.

Yesterday the kids got out at noon so Justin decided to leave work early too and we drove up the canyon to eat dinner and go on a hike. 

How does Henry get so dirty??

Erica fell in the water and got drenched from head to toe. Luckily she had extra clothes in the car.

And James was just happy to be in the mountains just like his dad.

My neighbor/friend/Sarah's piano teacher dropped of this little bouquet of flowers she grew in her garden. It makes me so happy! Maybe I should try growing flowers besides tulip bulbs.