The doldrums of spring fever

Anyone who thinks home/virtual school with the kids is easy is a complete fool! We have hit spring fever around here so getting the kids to do anything school related is a giant pain. (And I blame the constant headache on the weather?) Gareth wants an exact number of assignment that he has to do and either doesnt complete them, does them incorrectly because he is rushing or fights me every step of the way. Rhiannon has been spending way more time in chat and on facebook than on her work so we have had to put a stop to her working in her room.

As if the last 2 weeks havent been enough to make me scream, my very pregnant het albino snake came down with a severe respiratory infection literally over night. That meant vet bills, close observation, medication and isolation. We thought at day 4 she was doing better but 24hrs later she had taken a bad turn and we were back at Dr Woods. By that point she was so congested she couldnt breathe, had one siezure here at home and another in the vets office so we made the choice to end her suffering. It was really frustrating to loose a good animal as well as a clutch of potentially full albino eggs that she was carrying. It was really depressing for me, I had put in a ton of work trying to get her well again only to have mother nature decide otherwise. Topping that off yet again I was left to feel like the grim reaper since I was once again the person taking a family pet to be put down.
    The one consolation I got out of it is I finally found a male german shepherd puppy. 

This is the Ash monster! He was born Christmas eve via an accidental breeding(the guy we got him from said his male missed the memo on not breeding this year)and while not papered is a full blood GSD. We picked him up Saturday and he has nearly doubled in size in less than a week. The basset duo cant decide if they love or hate him, mostly that depends on what they are doing and how hard he bites while playing.

   With the weather being utter crap, Donovan getting ready to leave for 2 week annual training and my general mood, I havent got a whole lot done on the furniture upcycling projects I have. The purple kids chair was a free one I picked up that was kinda gross. I cleaned it up, primed and painted then washed it with a silver glaze before giving it to Nami. She adores it of course...lol

The dresser was from the same give away, and nearly as gross. Rhiannon needed the extra drawer space though so it got a very simple red gloss paint job and the handles being black just really made it pop.

One of the really fun projects I had came across is using ornate old frames(which are dirt cheap), painting them varied colors and then using thin wood to create a chalkboard for kids rooms, kitchen etc. Simular stuff sells at hobby lobby for 50-75 bucks. I nearly fell over when I saw that. Compared to the $2 for the frame(which the picture was on wood so we just turned it around), $4 for krylon bondable spray paint that we still have 3/4 to use for other projects, $6 for glitter paint that still has tons for other stuff, and $8 for spray chalkboard paint that 2 coats took less than half a can. Even taking the full value of what I spent I only have 20 bucks in it. I have a green peg board version that will be for jewlery etc that I am working on and several other ideas. I have a thrift store/antiques shop that I buy frames from that is interested in selling some in the shop for me. 

Once the weather warms a bit today I plan on taking this buffet apart and starting on it. I plan to leave the main body  a gloss white and add color to the doors (possibly the top too)