This past weekend was probably one of the busiest in a long time. It was also the fastest a weekend has flew by in some time but we got a LOT of stuff done around the house! I think we made 3 trips to Menards? It’s funny how you can never manage to get everything you need in one trip. Why does that happen?
If you’ve seen my 101 in 1001 Days list you’ll notice that I have a goal to complete a nook or “school station” area for the kids. I’ve seen a few really nice variations of these all over Pinterest and with 3 kids in school this year (4 next year), I know it’ll help us stay organized. I wanted to get this finished up before school starts next month and we’re off to a great start. It’s coming along soooo nicely! We bought more things for the nook bench area that we needed including primer, paneling, hooks, nails and all that fun stuff.
Roger is a welder and he kept emphasizing that he wasn’t a carpenter. He said if he could build the nook using metal, he’d be all good. Haha. For not being a carpenter he’s doing pretty awesome.
Here are some of the progress photos:
I even got in on some of the sawing action. 
Rog looks more professional though.
Look at ALL of my helpers…
After we put up the paneling:
I was too excited to hang the paneling to prime it beforehand, so I glued and nailed the paneling to the wall and then I primed it. Also, after getting the bench done, I realized that I might prefer to have separated cubbies underneath for each of the kids. It would’ve helped to know that before we finished the bench. I’m still contemplating on how to work that space…BUT, we never do things in the right order. Why start now? ;)
While I was working on that, Roger started working on some plyo boxes for us! We like to do CrossFit or CrossFit-inspired workouts sometimes and one of the common moves is plyo box jumps. We started checking out plyo boxes at places like Sports Authority and Amazon and quickly found that they are expensive! They were easily $90 a piece AND UP.
No bueno.
So, Roger started scouring the internet for how to make plyo boxes (directions ranged from crazy hard to fairly easy!), took a few ideas from each one and then quickly got to work. The most expensive part of this project was the piece of plywood we had to buy. When all is said and done, it’ll cost us around $35 to make TWO plyo boxes. A his and hers of sorts. You’ll see! ;)
This is my box – which will be 18 inches (I kept having to talk Roger down from 20!) and then Roger is building himself a 24-inch box. I am NOT good at jumping so it’ll be interesting to see how I do. I swear I’ll jump with all my might and still end up only 4 inches off the ground at my highest point. Haha!
I’ll be putting the finishing touches on it today and then I’ll post an update. I’m so excited to see how it looks once it’s all finished!
===> Updated to add: You can see the finished plyo boxes here.
Weekend Workout
Friday’s workout was Body Beast: Cardio. I loved this workout! The video is a bit long at almost 7 minutes but it gives you a great idea of what to expect. Saturday was my lone rest day but I didn’t end up working out Sunday either. I was more excited to work on our nook bench and plyo boxes! I did very little sitting so I don’t feel too bad about it.
Body Beast: Cardio
A common complaint I see from people is how they just don’t have time to exercise. Ha. Neither do I. Sure, I’m home all the time but I have kids to watch and rooms to clean. Do you know how easy it is to sit around and watch TV? It’s always tempting. Sitting around is the easier the thing to do most of the time. The secret? I make the time to exercise. I don’t always get excited about it, but I make living an active lifestyle a priority in my life. It comes first before a lot of things. Why? Because it makes me feel better. Feeling good is a priority in my life and living a healthy lifestyle helps a lot!
See: How to Live an Active Lifestyle Amidst Chaos
So I think that’s all for now. ;)
I hope next weekend goes by a little more slowly.
xo Mindi
Marc says
Wow that is a fantastic idea! My wife is a project kind of lady. She thinks up these projects that I need to do and drags me kicking and screaming to the store for paint or lumber or whichever building materials we need. I do alot of complaining but when it’s finished it always looks really good and I’m always proud of her for – A. Thinking of the idea, and B. Making me comply to git er done.
Melinda F says
The hardest part is finishing. Haha :)
Stefanie says
I have been looking into making plyo boxes for my home gym as well. I use them a lot when I train clients – very versatile and a great way to add cardio in a small space!