Then and Now

Here is my kitchen a year ago. I took pictures when we were looking to sell our home. That never happened but I kept the pictures to look back at someday when I changed our rooms around. I knew that we could not afford a total remodel but I still wanted to do something different with a little color splash.


So, here is our kitchen then.

Here is our kitchen now. We are looking at stoves this week. I am really excited about this because we have had this oven repaired twice and it's on it's way out. It won't even heat up to 425 deg. and it's frustrating as I love to cook and bake. I want to order a sign to put above this window from the talented Kindra at http://3guysagirlandaprimplace.blogspot.com.

New light above the sink. Replaced the old track lighting.

No new sink yet. I am still trying to find the best deal.

I love the ceiling fan. It looks great with the vaulted ceilings and helps with the air flow.

Look at that nice flat ceiling that almost broke my arm scraping and painting. Just kidding. Seriously though, it was one of the hardest jobs I have ever done. If you ever pay anyone to do this in your home, it is worth every penny. Trust me.

That's all folks.

Hope you all had a great weekend. Talk again soon!

What happened to my house??

While I slaved away in the kitchen the house cleaning fairy never
arrived on the scene to take care of business. While I am quite
embarrassed about the state of affairs in my house and would not
normally post pictures of my disaster, here is my attempt at keeping
it real. Real as in here is the reality of my home after a week of destroying
my kitchen and bringing it back to life. Although the sink and ceiling fan have
yet to be replaced, the painting is complete and I can start moving things
back into a workable kitchen.


While I was away the paper multiplied...

The table cannot be used as intended....

Beds were not made....

Rooms became a disheveled mess.....

Blankets exploded and this living space is no longer recognizable....

My living room became a train station, castle and pony ville.....

My son came down with bronchitis and needed a trip to the doctor,

neb treatments, steroids...

I may be absent from the land of BLOG for a little while.

I need to pick up the pieces of my family and my household.

Hopefully it won't take me long as I have developed a slight

addiction to this bloggy world. Until Later. :)

The Kitchen Projects Continue

Here is what I've been up to lately. Since starting my kitchen
project one week ago I have been living and breathing it. I hope
to be finished by the end of this weekend. Hopefully!


Since scraping the ceiling I have primed the walls and ceiling.

I have painted the ceiling. Replaced the door knobs.

I have painted the accent wall. The rest of the walls will be
painted today.

On our to do list: Replace both lights. We have purchased a
ceiling fan and over the sink light. Replace the sink. I've been
pricing some out and will probably purchase this week.
Paint the trim around the windows.

On our (or should I say mine) wish list: Replace the stove.
Replace the cabinets. Hmmm. We'll see.

Can't wait till this is done!

Happy Birthday Sis!

Celebrating Melissa's beautiful wedding day.

All aboard the choo-choo Melissa.

They can both sleep anywhere, anytime.

Melissa, Autumn, Mara, April, Ian.

All of my loves!

Happy Birthday to my sweet sister Melissa. I was blessed with two baby sisters growing up. I am so honored to share their friendship and to walk beside them through life.

Melissa loves my children like her own. She is so very missed and every time she visits we are giddy with excitement for all the laughter and fun that she brings.

Watching these girls grow up into ladies has been so fun for me. Melissa is amazing in the work that she chose to go into. She treats cancer patients as a Radiation Therapist and currently is working in researching treatments for Radiation and Oncology patients. She has a heart for people going through incredible health struggles with cancer and gives them not only hope but healing in her work.

Hoping that your day was wonderful and that you are enjoying every bit of your vacation. Wish we could be there to help you celebrate but we are sending our love to you sis. Miss you!

The Sky is Falling!

O.K. so the sky is not actually falling. It's just my ceiling paint!

I woke up with a great idea today. I thought "I am going to paint my ceiling." I already had plans to paint my kitchen and since we have not painted any ceilings since we have lived here in 7 years I thought it was overdue. However, my attempts were in vain when the ceiling that I painting started bubbling up and fell down in front of my bulging eyes. I could not believe what I was seeing.

So, while hubby was working, kids are playing, I decided to scrape the entire ceiling of it's paint.
Since I had nothing better to do with my entire day.

Here I am scraping away. What a thankless job this is. I am sooooo sore!


My cat decided to help. Wasn't that nice of him?


Oh and did I tell you how incredibly MESSY this is.
Four hours of scraping and 4 hours of cleaning.

The almost finished product. Here is how it looks without the
texture. The walls are going to get primed and painted also when
I can pick my arm back up. Oof!
Any suggestions for a new color?
I have oak wooden floors, white counter tops and appliances. My
cabinets are a hideous 80's color as you can see above. I have the
grape vine/wine theme going on. I would love to do some kind of a
red/burnt color. My dishes have a butter yellow
and green with a red accent. Would that look horrible? I need help!

Catching up on Life

I have been absent from my blog for over a week now. I have missed it dearly. Although I have managed to get on a few others blogs and comment I have not kept up on my world.
We have been crazy busy with outings to the zoo (we spent 7 hours there!), swimming lessons, fishing, BBQ's, trips to the library, spending time in my garden, and entertaining the neighborhood children. It's finally feeling like summer here and I am loving it!!

Recently you couldn't find me because I was lost in the 12th century. Historical fiction is by far my favorite reading material. The bigger the book the better and if it's a series I am usually quite smitten.

Another book I am reading is a little less enjoyable but still a good read. In an attempt to improve my parenting skills and teach my children righteous thinking I dove in to this excellent book.

Another great read that hubby and I have decided to read together is this book. Don't you love the top "Keeping Romance Alive?" It has been a surprising read and is both challenging and optimistic.

I've had a few outings of my own with a "Chic Flick" night and a "Let's Dish" night with my friends from church. We rented "Saving Sarah Cain" (Excellent Movie!), ate, and stayed up late chatting. It was such a great way to get to know people and I would recommend it to anyone planning events for their women's group. Let's Dish was also great but we had a much smaller group. It was a time for much laughter and bonding as we dished up meals for our families.

The girls completed gymnastics with a meet and both did very well.
It was so much fun watching them compete. I wish I could get out there and perform the way they do. They seem fearless.

Ian has been playing T-Ball and look who is coaching.

His daddy has just as much fun as he does. I love watching the two of them enjoying this time together. Ian calls him "Coach" when he's out there. It's so cute.

The backyard has been entertaining in itself also. I think Ian likes filling the pool more than actually going in.

Autumn tormenting her little brother with a little ice cold hose water. Can't you feel the love?

I am convinced Mara could swing for hours. She spends a lot of time watching the world go by.

Now for the main attraction of the neighborhood. My sisters, brother in laws, and parents bought my children a trampoline a few weeks ago. They are so lucky to be the beneficiaries of such love and generosity. They have no idea how fortunate they are to be the only nieces, nephew, and grand kids. The trampoline has been well used and we have spent hours upon hours on it since setting it up.

Yesterday, we celebrated Father's Day. My children wanted to buy their daddy a Dairy Queen Ice Cream cake to celebrate. Yum!

My husband is the most devoted father. I am so thankful that God had a plan for us many years ago. My life has been blessed by a husband that loves me, loves our children, and desires our family above all else. From playing tag, to trains, to Barbies, to reading books; he is always involved. My heart is full of love and respect for this man. He is like no other and I am so glad he's mine.

"And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God." Phillipians 1:9-11

The Prodigal Cat has Returned!

Look who is cozily sleeping away on his bed, covered with Mara's blanket and using the tooth fairy pillow to rest his weary head. Yeah! Our cat has returned. Hard to believe, I know. I am still shaking my head about it.

Last weekend my sister April printed out missing signs that we posted around the neighborhood and placed in mailboxes. Earlier this week we got a phone call about a black and white cat that someone had seen and when Hubby went to investigate we discovered it was not our cat. A big let down but really we didn't expect anything different.

Today, a mother of one of Mara's classmates called saying she found a black and white cat in her garage. We had a terrible storm last night and they accidentally forgot to shut their garage and discovered it open this morning with a cat in it. Her daughter remembered Mara talking about her missing cat and so she called me. I rushed to her house which is pretty far away and sure enough my cat, our beloved Sammy was there. I couldn't believe it. He ran right up to me and I cried.

I can't believe he is home after 9 days missing. (it's a 2 % chance of your pet ever coming home after being lost) I can't believe we actually know the people where Sammy decided to stay in their garage. I can't believe the little girl remembered about Mara's missing cat and told her mom. Also, the son that discovered our cat shares the same name as him, Sam. How cool.

We are so happy!! We really, really missed him. I know it's just a cat but he is a precious family member in our house and we are celebrating his return.

Looking Back

Looking back over the last year I see the growth of not only my children but in me as a mother. It's been a big year sending off two kids to school. Tomorrow is their last day of school. Kindergarten and 3rd grade for these two are forever etched in time. Here are my precious girls walking to school on the first day.

Written September 2007,
So, tonight was the open house at school. Yes, we are entering a new era because now we have two kids going to school. Autumn will be going into third grade and Mara will be in kindergarten. I am so excited for them and they both seemed so thrilled. However, my mind cannot wrap around the fact that my children are indeed growing up. I no longer have a baby in my house. My youngest is three and now qualifies as a preschooler. When did that happen? For as long as I can remember I have wanted to be a mom and the more kids the better. I always thought I would have five or six kids. Since that is not to be I usually have to rent out a few neighborhood kids to fill my space in my house. My mother is forever telling me not to wish my kids years away and tonight I am really thinking about that. I mean really thinking. There have been many days where I think tomorrow will be a better day. I have often wished for September to roll around so life as usual can start again. I really think I am missing the bigger picture. My little ones that seem to be growing up on me despite my desire otherwise will soon be gone from my days. No longer will my little Mara share her everyday with me. She will be spending her days with friends, doing projects, and her teacher will see more of her than I will. My little Autumn who is almost 9-will be multiplying and reading to her hearts content and spending her days without me. I love my babies and it is so hard letting go. Even if it's for a few hours each day to higher education. Am I the only one that misses the days of drooling and diapers and a napping child in my arms? I long to hold them a little longer and capture time in a bottle. In an instant they have grown up into beautiful children and I only want it to stop. Does this yearning for time to slow down ever stop?
I wish it so. I wish it with one more cuddle, one more kiss goodnight, one more sleepy head good morning, and one more off to school you go.....

SURPRISE!

Friday afternoon my dad called me to say he was coming over
to hang out. He got here and told the kids to go check out in
his truck because he had something he wanted to show them.
Surprise! My sister Melissa was standing in the driveway.
I live in Minnesota and she is in Mississippi so she was the last
person I expected to see outside my front door. It was the
best surprise! I have missed my sister tremendously since she
moved last summer and to see her out of the blue was so much
fun. We spent the whole weekend together. My sister threesome
was complete again. It was wonderful and I miss her already as
she flew out last night. April and Melissa are my best companions.
I love them like no other!