A finished project!

Maryn's desk with her new magnet board.  Framed prints by Suzanne L. Vinson

I'm incredibly blessed to have in-laws that will watch our kids for the weekend once a month or so in order for John and I to have a break.  This past weekend, John was off to Vegas, celebrating his birthday by taking in a UFC fight and visiting the pawn shop site where the TV show "Pawn Stars" is taped.  The lure of a quiet, empty house was too great for me to ignore, so I passed on the trip and enjoyed some time at home.  It's amazing how much I can get done without having to attend to the needs of others, and I blew through a lingering to-do list, doing laundry, a little cleaning, and a lot of cooking.  I got an estimate on my car, which unfortunately got rear-ended last week, and spent some down time taking walks, seeing a movie, and enjoying good food.  But most surprising to me, I actually completed a craft project.  I am usually a "wanna be" crafter.  I peruse artsy craftsy blogs daily, and have files of projects I'd love to do, both with the kids and by myself.  I've written about my desire to open a cafe where parents can come and do crafts with their kids.  Lately, Pinterest has been a great time sucker as it is a great compiled online pinboard of all sorts of inspiration.  But mostly my creative ideas just gather dust.  So I'm so proud of my completed magnet board for Maryn.  She had asked for one recently as we have one in Brady's room.  We actually spent a lot of money for his a couple Christmases ago after a failed attempt (epic fail) to make one.  He was determined to learn how to read at the age of 3 1/2 and pretty much taught himself over the course of the year, arranging and re-arranging magnetic letters on his board to form words, then phrases and sentences.  Now, watching Brady read, Maryn is starting to become interested as well.

When I saw this

 on Pinterest, I felt it was attainable and appropriate.  Even better, I had a cookie sheet with burned on food that I was ready to toss and contact paper leftover from the failed magnetic board project.  I just had to purchase some spray paint and a picture stand to bring it all together.

It was a nice surprise for her homecoming, although I think I'm enjoying it more than her!