Tea Party

Little Miss Coral got a tea set for Christmas this year. It was actually part of the pots and pans set that her grandma and grandpa gave her, but I had put it away for a little while because they are real ceramic. Ceramic + toddler = disaster/broken. But, it was snowing one day last week, and we were stuck in the house, so a tea party only seemed appropriate.

Coral was ecstatic. We busted out an old blanket, all her animals, her ceramic set, some water (instead of tea) and some snacks.

We have been having a tea party every single day since.






















Yes, this is what life is like for a daddy who has a little girl. Andrew gets suckered into tea party's, painting nails, doing hair, playing kitchen, and playing dolls.

Coral has this whole routine down now. She knows exactly where we keep the blanket, can quickly set up all her animals, and knows how to fill up each person or animals cup once it is empty.

Come over to the Hodgsons, Coral is always looking for new friends to have a tea party with.

Kitchen Transformation

Yup, you guessed it, I painted my kitchen cabinets. For the last two years my kitchen has been screaming PAINT ME PAINT ME. I ignored, mostly because I knew what a big task it would be, but with our basement renovations starting next week (taking away my only spot to do a project like this) I jumped on it.

Let me just say, I knew this would be an exhausting project, but I honestly wasn't prepared for how exhausting it would really be. For those of you who are flirting with the idea of painting your kitchen, I say go for it, but prepare yourself for a long hard week of painting.

Ok, so let's get to it. Here is my kitchen before the big transformation began.









Go ahead and say it. I know y'all are thinking it. Laura Hodgson you are crazy. Those are practically new cupboards! Why would you paint them???

Well, I just really like white kitchens. My kitchen doesnt get a lot of direct sunlight, so sometimes it felt like I was cooking in a cave. Moving on...

The first thing I had to do was decide what white I would use. You would think that white is white, but there are so many different tones of white. There a whites with a grayish tint, or green, yellow, or even pink. There's ivory white, antique white, and then an extreme white. I needed to pick something that would look good with my very white backsplash, and my touch of grey walls. After much deliberation, I finally decided to go with White Dove from Benjamin Moore.

I also decided that I didn't want a glossy finish on the cabinets. My backsplash is glossy, so if I did my whole kitchen glossy I would have needed to provide all visitors with sunglasses when they came into my kitchen. So I went for an acrylic satin finish, which isn't quite flat and has a tiny bit of sheen to it.

Next I took off all the doors. It's easier to paint them this way. I then sanded them with my new sander that my hubby got me. The guy I talked to at the paint store said that with the special primer I was using, I wouldnt need to sand, but I did it anyway. He also said that if there was any grease where I was painting, the paint wouldn't work. So clean those doors well.

I primed using a special paint for cabinets called Stix from Benjamin Moore. I used a small roller instead of a brush so it wouldn't leave paint lines. Then I used a special paint called Cabinet Coat in the White Dove. I needed to do four coats of this (front and back) before it looked good. Let me me tell you, half way through this project I was SO over it, and ready for it to be done.

On a side note, the primer I used was very stinky. If you use this and have little ones in the house, I suggest they have a playdate at someone else's house for a few hours.

Alright, are you ready for the after shots?









I left some of the doors off for open shelving, and miss Coral helped me pick out some wallpaper to put behind them.













So what do you think? Much better eh! Now I must say I am slightly nervous because I know painted kitchens can chip easily, and I have a rambunctious little girl who loves to help in the kitchen, but I have extra paint for the occasional touch up. It takes about 30 days for paint to cure, so we will try to keep Coral out of the kitchen for the next month of so.

And now to enjoy a coffee in my new, bright, beautiful kitchen.

Birthday Party Planning

Guess what came in the mail?



It's something for Corals birthday party. Yes, this year I feel very prepared for her birthday party, and it's still four weeks away.

For Corals party this year, I really wanted to do something girlie for it. Something like a tea party, with pink decorations everywhere. But, that's just what I wanted. What kind of party would SHE want? Well that's easy. Either a puppy party, or a Barney party. There is no way you could ever convince me to have a Barney themed party, so puppy party it is. She has been talking about it non stop since I mentioned it.

Right away I thought about having an adopt a puppy party (don't worry friends of Coral, you will not be taking a real puppy home with you...this is a pretend adopt a puppy party). I found this website called A Dolly's World that sells unstuffed animals. Similar idea to build a bear. They send you the unstuffed animal, and you go out and get the stuffing and make your own animal. They had all kinds of different animals to chose from, but we were looking for a puppy. Coral was with me while I was browsing, and she picked the one she wanted for her party.




Here it is! They are so soft and actually really cute. So the plan is to set up stations in our house, similar to Build A Bear where the kids can stuff their own puppy, feed it, groom it, and get it checked out by the vet. Oh and the best part about these puppy's? No sewing required!




The head comes pre-stuffed. You stuff the rest, then it closes with a zipper, followed by Velcro. Easy for the parents who will be helping the kids. After, the kids will get a certificate of adoption. I think the kids are going to have a blast with their new puppy.

And then there's the cake. Coral has been talking about a puppy cake for weeks. "coral want a puppy cake, kaden like puppy cake, Emma like puppy cake, Auntie Brittany make Coral puppy cake". I don't know how she knew that my friend Britt makes amazing cakes (probably just assumes because almost every time we see her she has delicious treats for us) but she insisted that Auntie Brittany would know how to make a puppy cake. Lucky for Corals guests, Britt was up for the challenge!

For decorations, I'm not going big this year. Probably just a few balloons because they are Corals favorite. No big deal.

And lastly we have one more thing waiting to arrive in the mail for Coral. And that's her present of course! I really really wanted to get her a wooden doll house for her birthday. However, as much as she would have loved that, I think a few years down the road (or maybe even next year) she would appreciate It more and know how special it is.

We still got her something really special, just not a doll house. She is getting a Schoenhut classic mini grand piano. It's 30 keys, the width of a normal piano so she gets used to proper finger spacing. We had the option of getting it in black, white or pink, and went with the black because it's the classic grand piano look. I think she is going to love it. She always wants to play on grandma and nana, and even great-grandmas piano. Now she will have her own little Coral sized piano to play on.

And now we wait for her birthday to come. I never plan things this early. The anticipation and excitement is to much. February, here we come.