Kitchen makeover

We've lived in our house now for almost 4 years and this past year we've been getting the itch....  We have always moved and built or remodeled a new house on average every 1.75 years in our marriage. For those of you keeping score, that's 8 houses in 12 years of marriage. The longest we have ever lived in a house before this current one was 2.2 years. So four years is an eternity!! We've been going back and forth and seriously considering moving and building a new house on a ranch, but I just love our house now and the location, so it would he hard to leave. Plus, with my oldest in school, we would likely have to change schools, if not school districts, to build a house on a ranch. 

Anyway, long story short, my gracious, loving husband has humored me and gone along with making over (albeit small makeovers) our house. Which, I do understand is still a "new" house by most people's standards. This not-so-extreme home makeover includes my kitchen. I've been gnawing at the idea of painting my lower cabinets and redoing the backsplash- it was painful for my husband to watch me tile over (more on that in a minute) our expensive glass tile, but he admits that after I had painted the cabinets, it no longer looked good.  

Here's some before pics of the kitchen. When we built, I had this crazy brown obsession, I guess. 

I ended up painting the lower cabinets Dover Gray from Olympic paints at Lowes. It's the same color as my bedroom, but looks a whole lot lighter in the kitchen bc of all the sunshine. I used an oil based paint because it is so much more durable than the latex. I just rolled it on and it took three days worth of naps- have to do my projects during naptime, of course!

As you can see, the sand colored glass tile just looked flat and clashed against the gray cabinets. So, the only thing left to do is retile the backsplash! Woohoo! I almost went with white subway tile when we built the house, but I decided to do something different and be risky. Problem is, different gets old fast. Especially when you live with it for forever or four years.  And while I realize subway tile is everywhere right now, there's a reason for that- it's classic and goes with anything. To save time and mess and all that not fun stuff, I tiled right over the glass. It probably breaks the heart of purists like those middle aged men on This Old House on pbs, but hey- I operate under the mother of young children's motto: "Ain't nobody got time for that!"  And my friend who is a tile guy told me it was ok bc it's just a backsplash and doesn't see a lot of heavy use like a floor or bathroom shower. So I was good to go!!

Here's the results!! I love them!!

Bye bye, glass tile- you'll always be there, underneath the surface...

Knight party

In the year that I've not blogged, Sloan turned 4. He's totally into knights and dragons and fighting and everything else that is awesome, so we threw him a knight birthday party. It was so cute! I found lots of ideas on Pinterest, of course!

I made his cake and was pretty pleased with it. Sloan liked it but did not exactly think the gray was the correct gray. He's definitely picky...maybe, just maybe, a little like me....

For his bday, he got his very cool knight armor, here he is knighting his guests.  I made each guest their own tunic out of felt and cord. I just hot glued on a red felt cross. The ADORABLE party hats were found online. They were SO cute. The foam swords and shields were Target dollar section toys and were also their party favors. 

Sabbatical

Um...so here I am almost a year later. Maybe more. I am a terrible blogger for letting it go this long between postings, but hey, no one ever said I was a pro at it. I'm pretty sure I'm not a pro at anything by the way. 

So anyway, I'm getting back in the swing of blogging mostly to share projects that I do so that I don't flood my Facebook newsfeed of stuff most of my fb friends could not care less about i.e. Chalkboards and paintings and house stuff, oh my. 

I've found myself doing lots of chalkboard art for friends and friends of friends for baby showers, wedding showers and weddings. It's fun! And I usually get paid in Starbucks gift cards! Score!! 

I just finished this painting for a wedding. It's actually a canvas that I spray painted with chalkboard paint and then wrote ok it with a white paint pen. Most people want the art to be permanent so I use a paint pen and canvas or some type of foam board and a frame. This will be my first chalkboard art used at a wedding! How exciting!!

Spice jars.

I've been busy pinteresting! And organizing! So much so that my husband is having flashbacks of when I was pregnant and in major nesting mode. He asked, "you're not pregnant are you??" Please. But here's my latest Pinterest project. I bought small mason jars at HEB and spray painted the inside lid with chalkboard paint and the outer rim with green paint (cause I love green). Then I labeled each with a chalk marker which wipes off with a damp cloth should I ever want to change it. For something like this it's better than normal old chalk bc it is a bit more durable.
I still need a few more jars so headed back to the store to grab another box of jars.

Forever 21 déjà vu.

After today's episode in the store forever 21, I'm beginning to think that maybe God doesn't want me to shop there...

I took my two littles to the mall after my workout so I could buy some bubble bath for my husband (yes, he takes more bubble baths than I do) at Bath and Body Works. We accomplished this task, so I figured I'd check out some stores and on the way out, I decided to try my luck again at going inside Forever 21. Again. Now, you must read my previous post on my one and only other experience at this store if you have not already. It will provide some important background information and history. So, back today's trip: I tell myself I will just look around on the lower level of the store. I do, until Sloan walks up the four steps to the upper level. I can see some cute shirts up there, so I figured that since I had Abby in the umbrella stroller this time and not the ginormous double stroller, I could carry the stroller and Abby up the four steps. I was just about ready to grab onto the stroller when a man offered to show me the lift. I don't think this man actually worked at the store, but was more of a janitorial worker. Unless janitorial uniforms are in style now, which would add to the reasons why I am too old to be shopping in Forever 21.

Anyway, I tell this nice man that I couldn't figure the lift out last time so I would just haul the little umbrella stroller with my baby in it up the stairs. He insisted ever so politely that he would help me and that someone always has to help you because they made it so the someone on the upstairs part has to turn a key to help you go up. Oh. Now I see why I had issues last time...

So, I roll the stroller in the lift, get Sloan to squeeze in and I squeeze myself in to this 3 ft by 4 ft space. The man turns the key, we go up! But we stop one inch from being level with the upper floor. One inch! The lift won't open the door because it's not even. The man tries to make it work again, but it is frozen. It won't move. We are stuck. At this point, I guess Abby senses my growing panic because she starts to cry. So now I am stuck in this 3x4 cube with a crying baby in a stroller with my 3 year old. Awesome. At this point, sAles lady comes over (she probably heard the screaming baby and thought that it was not a cool, hip sound for her store) and tries to help. She tells me that the lift is "off balance" and asks me to walk around. Y'all- WALK AROUND. In a space that barely fits me, my stroller with my baby in it, and my little 3 year old child. But, I do as I'm told and shuffle around and squeeze around the cube. To no avail. At this point, I am aware that I now have negative cool points and can never be seen in this store again, but first I have to get out of the cube before I can never be seen in the store again!

Moving on...now, the man who so thoughtfully tried to help me in the first place, says lets just lower it back down, which sounds like a great idea to me. I am so over looking at the clothes on the upper level by this point. But the sales lady says that it won't go down. It won't move until it is back in balance. What?? After a few more attempts at getting me ton"walk around" the cube, she comes up with the idea to lift Sloan out of the cube so it will be on balance. However, Sloan decides that he wants no part of this, so then HE start freaking out, along with his sister, who is still crying. I am desperate now. I lift him over kicking and screaming and HALLELUJAH the lift moves up the last inch! The lady opens the door, but Sloan is trying to reach in at me and won't move out of the way, so we can't open the door. It takes another minute to get him to understand through his tears and yelling that he needs to back up so mommy can get out.

Lord, we made it out! And left. Immediately.

Green smoothies

So I've jumped on the green smoothie band wagon. And I have to say, it's a delicious band wagon at that! I found a few variations on Pinterest (God, thank you for Pinterest and the recipes it provides). I went with one that called for stuff that I usually have on hand.

-a handful of baby spinach
-a handful of frozen fruits (not berries-they turn the smoothie brown)
-a splash of OJ or apple juice (and just a splash)
-a splash of water
-and half a banana

Y'all, it is SO good. Sloan, my 3 year old, watched me make it the first day and tried it and loved it. Jackson, my 6 year old, even liked it. He is a little pickier with his veggies, and by picky, I mean he doesn't eat them, but he loved it too! He's had one every time I make them! Thankfully, he tried it and drank more than half of his cup before Sloan opened his big mouth and said there was "salad" in it. I tried to ignore him and encourage jackson to just drink it, but if you ignore Sloan, he just gets louder and more insistent until someone responds. So, I had to let the cat out of the bag and tell Jackson the spinach was in the smoothie. It bothered him a little, but he got over it and even helped make one this morning and put the spinach in it himself!!

Y'all, it tastes so good, that Jackson had to ask if it was an every day food (I.e. not a treat or dessert). Try it. And don't tell your kids what's in it before they try it!

I never...

I think this season of my life should be called "Never say never" or "see, I told you so" or "hypocrisy" because it seems almost daily that I find myself doing or saying something that I swore I'd never do or something that I saw others do and judged them and their choices.

Yesterday was a prime example. But let me start with a story a long while ago when Jesse and I were dating. He had an old Bronco that he took off roading and rock crawling. I went with him a few times and once there was this couple with their baby in their truck joining them on their off roading adventures. I ain't gonna lie. I judged them. Dumb rednecks, I thought. Who brings a baby to this stuff?

Well, fast forward to yesterday and I find myself bringing all my children to a friend's farm to shoot guns. Yes, even my 9 month old daughter. Awesome. Redneck baby.  But I did bring her proper ear protection so that she won't damage her ears until she's old enough to go to concerts and damage them on her own. I know some of you are judging me.  But I'm ok with it. C'est la vie.
(Notice how I just used a French saying to class myself up??? I'm sure I fall into the classy redneck category if there is any. You know, I do shop at Target more than Walmart...).

Chalkboard project

Chalkboards and chalkboard art are uber chic right now. I've been wanting a framed chalkboard for my entryway for, like, ever! ;) but I could never find what I wanted for cheap, so I've been formulating how to make one myself. Translation: make a chalkboard for cheap and easy. Cheap and easy. That's me...ha! ;)

Seriously, though, I think I figured it out. I bought an ornate frame from hobby lobby for half price (although I would have preferred one from goodwill) and found a thin painting canvas that fit in it. I painted the canvas with chalkboard paint and painted the frame with green "olive" paint and superglued that bad boy together. After it all dried, I pinterested (verb; synonymous to googling, but done on Pinterest) chalkboard art and voila! Entryway chalkboard.
I did consider spray painting the frame for a more modern, consistent coverage because the gold ended up showing through the brushed on paint, but I think I like the muted look.

Attitude adjustment

My kindergartner got in trouble at school today. He had a difficult time during rest time. Sadly, this was due to his new Baylor cuddle-up-it (which is a blanket/pet like a pillow pet) that he got for Christmas. He can't control himself, apparently when it's rest time, and he has to play as disrupt others instead of rest. So...log story short, he is my child who thinks that all is lost when he gets in trouble. Thus, he went up to his room when he came home and wrote the note below, saying that Sloan could have all his stuff. And he piled all te stuff he likes onto Sloan's dresser. He even put his clothes on the floor next to Sloan's dresser. It's hard being six years old.

OSHA

Being a mother is hazardous to my health. I'm sure OSHA would shut down this operation I've got going in my house. I don't wear safety goggles or hard hats or have the proper medical emergency kit ready. Why, just a few minutes ago, my daughter basically gouged out my right eye (dramatic much?). Seriously, though, I'm having a hard time typing bc I can't see due to the swelling and watery right eye. I was just laying her down for nap when she poked her little fingers RIGHT into my cornea.
But in a bigger picture, this all makes me want to say, have some sympathy and grace for us moms that you see out in public who look a little worse for the wear. We might just have been attacked by our own children... ;)

Merry Christmas y'all!

We kept up the usual traditions, but added a new one of putting stockings upstairs on the landing so we could open them in mommy and daddy's bed before the mass chaos of presents downstairs.

My favorite part of the day

As my kids get older (which is a relative term), my favorite part of the day is becoming the time when they get home from school. Partly because I've been refreshed by having a day of mommy time (or rather mommy and Abby time), but mostly because they love playing outside and I love watching them play outside.
I took this picture from inside because it was 46 outside. I love to watch them play, but I don't want to freeze!! They are kids, they can deal with the cold better than I can!

Buddy the elf returns...

Our elf on the shelf, Buddy, has returned for the season and it seems he's come back a little lazier. His very first night here, and he didn't even bother moving from his spot in the kitchen! Oops. I guess he "really liked that place" because he "could see and hear everything well" from there.

Dang Buddy. All I need is something else to forget right now. I can't even remember conversations from two days ago.

This little piggy

Some good friends of ours have a daughter who turned 13 over the weekend. All this 13 year old wanted from me was for me to make my homemade strawberry cake for her birthday dinner. I was more than happy to oblige! I decorated it with a pink fondant pig face bc she recently got involved in the 4H stuff at her school (of which I have no clue what that entails other than she has a pig that she has to take care of and show it off at things that are like pageants).
I made the fondant myself with a homemade marshmallow fondant recipe. It turned out prety cute!

Pinspiration

Happy thanksgiving y'all! In honor of the first thanksgiving and courtesy of Pinterest, I decided that we would make our own tipi. Below are the Pinterest pic and our attempt. As you can plainly see, I totally nailed it...

Moments

It's moments like these that warm my heart... My boys coloring with little sister looking on while I cook dinner.

Still life

This morning after the morning rush of getting one kid off to school and the others fed and clothed, etc, this bowl of lil cuties (mandarin oranges) caught my eye. It made me smile for just a minute and made me thankful for the little people that eat these little oranges up for snacks in the afternoon.

I am so thankful for these moments when God reminds me of how rich my life is.

Life is good. Lil cuties are good. Amen.

Jeggings and crocs

Thoughts:

Jeggings and crocs are so much cuter on babies and children than adults. Personal experience.

Creep-y Halloween

Halloween isn't scary for my kids. I have never liked scary Halloween stuff**, but the title of my post isn't about creepy in a scary sort of way. Rather, Abby is about redy to creep her way around the house. Girlfriend is thisclose to crawling!


**footnote: so, we may get worst parents of the year award for this, but last night, we were at a friend's house and they had a 10 year old friend over who was dressed as a gorilla/monkey. Complete with full monkey mask-like planet of the apes monkey. Our kids were out back when this monkey came over, and my husband thought it would be funny if this kid ran outside and scared Jackson and Sloan. Jackson- not afraid of anything- just took a swing at the monkey as he ran by roaring. Sloan, was a different story...he ran screaming his lungs out trying to hide behind someone, something, anything. It was funny, but for what it's worth, we immediately regretted it. Especially at bedtime when he wanted to sleep with his light saber so he could hit the monkey with it if he needed to. We almost ruined Sloan's first Halloween trick or treating. Yeah, bad parents.

Anyway, here are pics of Halloween costumes, pre-spooky monkey and Abby about ready to take off. She still manages to log roll her way around a room, though, so the lat pic is one where she ended up under her bed.

Jeans

Jackson refuses to wear any type of clothing other than athletic wear on any day except Sunday. On Sunday he will wear jeans for the three hours that are involved in getting ready for church, being at church, and coming home or eating lunch out after church. I used to fight the battle and try to get him to wear jeans or even khaki shorts to school. But I stopped. With 3 kids, I've got 3 wars going on and I choose my battles with each kiddo. But Wednesday he actually wore jeans, though! Because everyone had to for scarecrow pictures!! I'll take what I can get! Oh, and the pics turned out super cute. Here's a cellphone preview: