Whistle while you work...

Let's see... I have been nonstop busy trying to finish the kitchen. My wonderful husband helped me and we finished today. I'm SOOO excited with the outcome. Here's the before-

****WARNING-- DISASTER AREA AHEAD ****

Of course, I didn't remember to take a before picture until after we started dismembering the kitchen. I just started taking stuff off the walls and putting it on the counter while my husband so graciously started taping. So, I apologize for the craziness.

Can you see the hideous gold handles shining at you?? I know, the glare is unbearable!!

Here is a sneak peek of the after (not decorated yet!!)

You can take your sunglasses off, the glare is GONE forever!!!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE these new handles. Actually, they aren't "new", but the hideous gold ones I mentioned above. I just took some Oil Rubbed Bronze Spray paint and painted the entire handle...wood and all! Much cheaper than new handles-- new ones were going to be around $70!! So instead, I spend $3 on a can of spray paint and another $3 on spray primer. The result-- LOVE !!

I promise to post more pictures as I complete the kitchen accessories. Wait until you see the treasure my Sis-in-law bought me from Goodwill. SOOOO excited to show you this week...

Kitchen reveal????

I will be excited to reveal my kitchen make-over, but I am not finished painting yet. My little ones came down with a virus, so my main priority was cuddling with my two sickies.

It is so funny how I have started to obsess with decorating/changing our house. I love that my husband put all his blood, sweat, and tears into building our house. His whole family put their efforts into it too, which makes it that much more special.

So, as I curse when I hit my shin on the ladder, and my arm is numb from trying to paint a 9 ft. wall, I love every minute of it. Sure, could I have paid someone to come paint it? Would it have already been done and we wouldn't have to be eating dinner in the computer room?? Yes, and yes, but why take the easy way? Every swipe, every drip mark, every splatter of that paint I own. I feel like I appreciate the details more because I recognize the energy it takes to make something look perfect. I take pride in my work, even if it isn't perfect. And that is what make our house a true HOME.

My husband and I both enjoy "hands on" work and now it has become a little hobby we do together. Even our oldest daughter picks up on the "fun" and pretends to make projects right along with us. Not only does it save us a lot of money, but it has become fun.

The best thing I could teach both of my girls is to be strong, independent women. If you want your kitchen painted, why not do it yourself?? You appreciate things a lot more when you have your own blood, sweat, and tears in it!

It's Baby Time!!

Okay, so I promised to post pictures of my favorite room in the house. Hands down, this would be our nursery. When I was pregnant with our second daughter, I knew I wanted to redo the nursery and try something more daring. I bought the bedding before I knew what we were having because I just loved the neutral colors. However, I do admit it is a little more on the masculine side, but I tried to balance that with some pink accents.

I can't seem to find a really good picture of before--so here's all I have.

The nursery was frog themed with "Hippity Hop" painted on the wall. I went completely gender neutral because we didn't find out the sex of our first child. So, I tried to be creative with the nursery, but I never really loved it.

After I got the new bedding, I knew exactly what I wanted to do. So, here's my favorite room. I hope you like it!

As I look at the picture I notice that the lampshade is not straight..which bothers me, but you get the idea. I have two crazy toddlers, it's hard to keep it perfect!!

Exciting!!!

Today my chalkboard wall was featured on Summer's blog called Sumossweetstuff for one of her favorite projects from this week. I was so surprised because I LOVE her blog. Be sure to check her out here. She not only has the cutest crafts, but also yummy recipes. Thanks again Summer!!!

Now, for this week...it's baby fever! Not what you are thinking...no babies for us anytime soon. However, with all my friends expecting or with newborns, I have decided to show my favorite room in our house...my nursery. Check back on Monday for pictures of the dramatic transformation! Everyone have a great weekend!

Chalkboard wall

So, I finally finished my chalkboard wall. Between sicknesses and laziness, it only took me three weeks. My husband, with his OCD, was ready to kill me. I had this awkward wall with a lot of empty space. Sarah from Thrifty Decor Chick gave me this brilliant idea. She had a similar wall, so my inspiration came from her!!

I taped off the rectangle, making sure it was level. Then I began the adventure of painting the magnetic paint. (I wanted the chalkboard to be magnetic to hang the girls art on it and free up the refrigerator.) HINT: If you plan on using this paint, be prepared to do about 13 coats AT LEAST!! The can says 2 coats... YEAH RIGHT.

So, after the magnetic paint, I did 3 coats of chalkboard paint. Then it was time for some trim. I bought the cheap skinny trim from Home Depot.. 2.95 for 8 ft. Then my lovely,

wonderful (catch the theme??) husband painted it black. I cut the trim (power tools are awesome!!) and used the nail gun (again AWESOME) to finish out the project.

After all the frustrations with the magnetic paint, the final product is awesome. Now, I have

a easy space to keep the girls busy, plus I can display all of their projects!

I LOVE IT!!

And yes, for the record.. Maddy wrote MOM immediately on her new board! Couldn't get any better...

Valentine's Day

With yet another winter storm, being stuck inside hasn't been so bad this time. I have tried to use the time to catch up on some Valentine's Day crafts that I really wanted to finish. The first is one I came up with while strolling down the aisles of Michaels. I saw these unfinished frames for $1 each and I knew I could do something cute with them!

I had some chipboard letters I found in the dollar bin at Target (gotta love the dollar bins there, they are amazing!). So, my wonderful, amazing husband (did I mention that he's awesome???)... anyway, he took the frames and painted them solid black. I had some V-day scrapbook paper as the background and glued the letters right to it. Add some ribbon to the back to hold it all together...and you have a very cheap, cute Valentine's Day door hanger!!

M-O-M

MOM-- such a simple, short word but the meanings are endless. Just in the past week or so my three year-old Madysen wrote her first word- "mom". I was soooo excited. My husband got the bragging rights for her first word "da da", but THIS is monumental. I mean every kid says "da da" first, right? This is just unbelievable... she just turned three and now she can write a word!! How crazy is that???? Of course, I encourage her to write it all over now :)

So, to continue to brag on my children, I must point out that Presley also in the last week has started calling me "MOM". Not, ma ma not mommy, but just plain ol' MOM. It sounds so funny coming from such a tiny little person, but it is a blessing nonetheless. She dabbled with the word around 7 1/2 months, but this is the first time she has related it to me. I love it!!

With these two major milestones in our house, I have been thinking a lot about living in the moment. I know that our house is pretty chaotic right now- for example our dog Spike ate five feet of bubblegum tape last week. I was panicked because I thought that gum was seriously toxic for animals and my husband was supposed to leave for work within the hour. So, we called the vet who said to pour peroxide down the dog's throat to make him vomit. Meanwhile, Maddy, sensing the tension, started to get really upset that Spike was sick. Jeff had just enough time to help hold poor Spike down while we gave him the peroxide, then he had to scoot to work. Thankfully, I was left with the puking dog and crying toddler who thinks she killed Spike with her bubblegum! All this drama in just under an hour!!! After everything settled down, I thought does everyone have all this chaos?? I just couldn't help but chuckle a bit. I know that in a few years we will have different chaos and I will look back at this time and really miss all these innocent, fun times.

Poor Presley is sick with a cold today which totally makes my heart hurt. Another reason why the word mom is so powerful. She was so uncomfortable all night, barely sleeping and then all day today she just moped around. Several times while playing, she walk over to me and just sat on my lap and said "MOM" with her huge, blue eyes looking up at me. It is soooo hard looking at your baby knowing they are in pain or not feeling well. You feel helpless when the doctor says let it run it's course. Her eyes just looked like they were saying mom, please make me feel better. It's during these times especially that I cherish being a mother. I just can't fathom ever being without my girls no matter what. What an honor to be called a "MOM".