Home Goals for 2011: Kitchen

I finally made a list of my home goals for 2011 and boy are there a lot! So many that I will have to break it down by room. Yeah, there's that many. :)
First up, the kitchen.When we bought our home in 2000 it had not been updated since it was built in the 70's. So we're talking green lanoleum , green wallpaper, oak cabinets, oak paneling (yes, paneling in the kitchen!), and gold flake laminate countertops. I'm sure it was gorgeous in 1978 and perhaps it will come around again but I'm not holding my breath. Thankfully we were blessed with white appliances and sink.
Here's a before picture just to give you some perspective of what we were dealing with.
Check out that wallpaper!
Here's another shot from the other side. Notice the plastic grid lighting on the ceiling....awesome!
So here's what it looks like today. You can see we've come a long way but there's still a lot I want to do.First, paint those ugly oak cabinets. They don't look that bad in this picture but they are really orange-y. Gag. I would like the cabinets flanking the sink to have glass doors.

Kinda like this.

(source: unknown)

Next, RIP OUT THAT UGLY WALL RADIO! Yes, it works and yes, I listen to it but it's ugly so it must go!

Let's get a closeup of it's ugliness shall we?

side note: when I was a kid I thought people who had built-in radios in their home were rich! ha ha ha!
So dumb, I know!

Next, install recessed lighting in the breakfast area. I'm thinking this will make the ceiling appear higher, yes??Mess? What mess?

Next paint those walls a darker taupe color to contrast with the soon-to-be-creamy white cabinets. So I'm imagining it will look something like this.....source: Isabella & Max Rooms (I think)

I will be using a scrubbable paint instead of the current flat paint that refuses to let go of dirt when you wipe it! You can't tell from the photo but the walls are covered in tiny bits of food thanks to two little 18 month boys that like to have daily food fights. What was I thinking? Oh yeah, I painted it "pre-kids". Ah grasshopper, you are learing!!!
And lastly, I thought about doing this chalk board design on our pantry door but I'm not sure how to go about it. Any suggestions on how to get that curvy shape up top??

So what do you think of my kitchen goals? Any other suggestion for this room?
Think I can "get 'er" done before 2012 gets here?

Next goal: Living Room

First Day of Winter? It's 80 degrees outside!

My calendar says today was the first day of winter but it felt more like the first day of spring!
It was almost 80 degrees today. We ran the A/C, wore shorts and t-shirts and ate ice cream outside on the patio. It was in the 40's on Friday and we had the heat on, a fire in the fireplace and wore fleece PJs! You know the sayin' here "if you don't like the weather in Texas, just wait a minute and it'll will change!".

So what's the weather like in your neck of the woods??

I FINALLY went to Ikea!

I think I may be the last person on the earth to visit an Ikea store. I hear so many good things about it and I get the catalog and LOVE it! Sooo I begged my hubby to take me with the kids and he did, unwillingly. During the Cowboys game. Yeah, he's a keeper! And it was a good game. AND we won. Ouch. And he's the best hubby ever!
Anyway, it was awesome and everything that I thought it was going to be and MORE. I swear they think of everything. So you go in and right there at the front of the store they have a little closed in play area where you can drop your kids off for an HOUR. For FREE! What the what?! Is that not brilliant? Drop your kids off so you can shop ALONE??? You mean I wouldn't have to listen to I want this, can I have that, Mommy look at this, Mommy, Mommy. I know what they were thinking behind this idea, less distraction= more spending!!! Brilliant. But we didn't drop our kid off because she wanted to be with us and Grandma was with us so it was no biggie. Plus, I'm not sure I could drop my kid off with complete strangers. But still a good idea, you know, for other people.Lu felt right at home with the little girls room complete with kitchen.
She told me I could go shopping and she could stay there and cook lunch.
She was serious.
I love this idea for the twin's future room.
Bunk beds....
...and tons of storage.
That tent makes me wish I was a kid again.
It would be like camping under the stars every night minus the bugs.(No, those aren't my hips in the above picture. Some random lady texting while her boy spun around in the swivel chair until he was about to puke.)
Lu was having so much fun in this little chair. It swivels and she was spinning around and giggling so hard. I knew we had to get it for her and then we saw the price tag.
It was something like 80 bucks!
So I did what I always do when our child wants something expensive....I distract!!
I pointed to a little train set that was like 5 bucks and said oooooh this is so cool!
Would you like for me to buy it for you?
Sold.

Thank you Ikea for being awesome and not letting me down and for having really yummy food!

It's official...I'm a Soccer Mom

My daughter just started playing soccer which is her first sport to ever play. Have you ever seen 4 year-olds play soccer? They're so stinkin' cute the way they ALL chase after the ball. My daughter loves it and we really enjoy seeing her have fun and meeting new friends which is what it's really about. Making new friends and learning teamwork.
Before the first practice we went shopping for new soccer cleats, shin guards, soccer shorts and soccer ball. We made a day of it and made it all about her.
It's been a major adjustment for her having to learn the new soccer lingo. Her coach uses terms like "get after the ball", or "BUST IT" or "hustle"which mean nothing to her. My all time favorite is "kick it outside!". She's probably thinking "but I AM outside!". So officially I'm a soccer mom, however I don't drive a minivan or an SUV and I don't have one of those cute little stickers on my back windshield that has a little girl holding a soccer ball. I guess I better get with the program and "Bust It"!!

Decluttering and Organizing

I've been MIA again but I have a really good reason....I've been on a mission to declutter and organize this house! I've always been organized and love nothing more than a clean and organized home. My belief is that everything has a "home". You've heard the saying, "there's a place for everything and everything has it's place" or something like that, well close enough anyway. AND with the addition of the twins I feel like our home has shrunk so what we ended up with was more crap uh I mean stuff and less homes to put the "stuff" in.
And when the house is cluttered and messy, I'm a crazy woman.

"And when momma ain't happy...." well you know the rest.

So I figured I either needed to have a garage sale (which I hate doing) or donate everything I no longer want/need. So I chose the latter and made several trips to my local charity with all my "stuff". BUT I'm not finished so don't go and expect a bunch of before and after photos of clean and organized rooms because I'm STILL going through the stuff. But, I do have a walk-in closet that I can actually walk in to AND I have an entryway that you can now enter!
So with less stuff to clean up and put away, we have more time to do fun things like...

Vegetable art with a friend.OR
Go to a playdate.

OR
Meet a few friends at McDonalds

While I was decluttering, I had the kids do laundry. Well, one kid anyway.
I mean this is the real reason I had kids. So they can help with the housework!
KIDDING!!
No seriously.Look at those chubby legs, I could just eat him up!

Are you feeling a little cluttered? What have you organized lately?

Living Room Makeover: Part 1

I thought we would be finished with this little project by now since we started it back in ummm, June!
It's just paint, new pillows, artwork and simple stuff but for some reason it's taking forever to complete.
Oh yeah, and a new mantle that we're building.
So this is what we started with ukly (ugly oak) built-in bookcases that flank the fireplace.

Like my overzealous attempt to accessorize for fall?
It looks like someone dumped their garage sale leftovers on my shelves.AfterStill working on the other side. Someone forgot to buy enough rails for the shelves.
I'm not naming any names but their name starts with husband.

Artwork a.k.a. scrapbook paper and Wal-mart frames.
This pillow is what started it all.

I knew I wanted a lighter feel to the room with a color palette of white, aqua and green.
And something to go with my weird color furniture.
It's a goldish, greenish, brownish, baby poopish color.
Let's just call it Newborn Baby Poop Green.
If you have children, you know the color I'm referring to. :)

Next on the list, paint the ugly brown trim, attach new mantle, paint ukly french doors white, buy new rug, make slipcover for Newborn Baby Poop Green chair and ottoman, scrape 1978 popcorn ceiling off and retexture, and and and......

OK....where was I? & 1st Day of Preschool

I've been gone a while, lots going on over here but good news............

Today was the kids first day of preschool!

That's right "kids" as in plural as in they all went to school today!
They are so excited about going to school you just don't even KNOW how excited I am, I mean they are!!!!

Here are the twins on the front row of the mega stroller.
It looks like they just rode the roller coaster at Six Flags!

This picture is actually from meet the teacher day last week but they had the same expression when we dropped them off this morning.
Good times.
Dad helped me get the kids to school since it was raining.
Otherwise I have to get this bunch to school all by myself. Weee!!!!We met their new teachers last week.
Lu with Ms. JenToday when we dropped her off she was so eager to go and play with her new friends that I almost didn't get a picture of her.
The look says, "OK mom, you can go now."
I remember when she used to cling to my leg when we would go to play dates and now she's all independent and stuff.
OK Lu, you can stop growing up so fast now. Okay?
(sniff, sniff)
You can see the boys teachers in the reflection of the window.
(Well, kinda sort of, a little.)Making friends at the fire hydrant.
I hope they're having a good day today.
So what will I be doing today?

Oh, I'm so glad you asked. Well, first, I'm turning on the radio and listening to real music with real lyrics instead of toddler tunes, not that there's anything wrong with toddler tunes but it's just that I get tired of "wheels on the bus go 'round and"......well you know the rest.

And then I will be starting what I call the "laundry marathon".
That is where the washer and dryer don't stop until I leave to get the kids.

Oh and finishing up a few home improvements that we've started over here but haven't finished.
Would you like to see what we're working on right now?
Here's a pic of the ukly (that's my new work for ugly oak) built-in bookcases that flank the fireplace.
Please excuse my attempt to accessorize my mantle.
Do you like the new color?
It's Herbal Wash from Sherwin Williams.
Hopefully the glass shelves will go up today and the new mantle.
It's going to be fabulous especially when we move that stinkin' ugly swing out of there!!gotta run, the dryer just beeped!
~Beth