Little Bits

Time comes and goes so quickly.  The world spins on and on, days pass quickly, I blink and whole weeks have disappeared.  The first day of fall came and went, I didn't realize it until this afternoon.  Fall is my favorite season for many reasons.  Usually by this time gorgeous fall colors and decorations are filling our home.  We are not there yet this year.

Our summer was busy.  We had new dogs to welcome to our home and enjoy.  Our kitchen remodel was started.  We spent some days at the beach, walking the shore, enjoying the sunshine and dipping our toes in the cool water.  

Our school year is now well under way.  My daughter is a senior and there are many vital things on our "to do" lists for this year.  She will be taking her second round of SAT's in just a couple of weeks.  We will soon be attending some college open houses.  It is all very exciting but a bit scary, too.  Putting together her portfolio and finishing her transcript are huge undertakings.  


The kitchen project is still "under construction."  The cabinets are in except for one that we needed to reorder.     There is still a lot of painting that needs to be done.  The doors take a little while because I don't have the room to spread them all out and paint them at once.  The new cabinet doors are in.  Our original cabinet order came with the wrong style doors.  Trying to return just the doors and not the whole units was not easy but it was finally accomplished.  The counter has been templated and I can not wait for them to call me to install it.  I am holding my breath waiting to see how it all looks together.


The new window trim and the trim around the opening is complete.  The windows looks fantastic with the new trim.  I am loving it!!!!  The new lighting has also been installed and what a difference it makes in the room.  I hope to share pictures with you soon.  We are plugging away at it slow and steady.


I hope you are enjoying your fall season.  We enjoyed some gorgeous fall weather for a couple of weeks but this week summer has revisited us.  Tomorrow it is back to fall and some much needed rain for the upcoming week.  It is hard to imagine that we need the rain when in April we were completely surrounded with flooding for the first time in decades.  No one remembers a flood like that happening in our area.  It was quite a shock and surprise.

Some birthdays have been celebrated here.  My husband and my mom's birthday are just a couple of days apart. My parents went away for my mom's birthday.  They have a favorite get away spot that they retreat to whenever they can.  We enjoyed some good food and company for dh's birthday.  Fun times!!

Kitchen Remodel

We are living in a bit of chaos while this kitchen remodel happens.  The progress is a bit slow because my brother is working on it when he has time off from work.  It is exciting and scary all at once.  


The previous post contained many of our before kitchen pics.  I want to share some of our in progress pics.  I am loving it already and there is more to come.

This is the view from the living room to the back door entry and into the kitchen.  Notice the archway~there was one parallel to it about 5 ft away.  We took that down.  Previously this space was enclosed and too small.  I love how open it is now.

This is the opposite wall in this area.  We are considering taking it down, too.  It may require some extra work due to pipes for the heat, electrical outlets and the placement of our fireplace and chimney.  For now it's a dream.  We will see how the rest of the kitchen work goes before we tackle it.

The refrigerator will be relocated from this side to...

this corner.  There will be an 18 in x 84 in pantry beside it.  The cabinets that are currently on the side of the sink will move next to that.  A new dishwasher will be installed in their place. The portable dishwasher will be passed on to my sister in law.

The stove has been turned.  New sheetrock is up and we are well on our way.

Due to a small budget we are not able to purchase all new cabinets.  I was able to find extra cabinets in a style similar to ours.  I will be painting the old and the new cabinets antique white and applying antiquing glaze to the doors.  Our cabinets are on order and we have chosen our counter top.  It is a granite counter and I think it will the icing on the cake in this space.  


This is a large project and the rest of the house is a bit upside down while it houses the things that were in the kitchen.  Most of it is in storage in the basement.  The microwave and toaster oven are in the living room along with some dishes we use daily.  My biggest fear is when I lose the sink.  Doing dishes in the tub does not sound like fun.


This is a huge job and we are plugging away at it a little at a time.  I keep envisioning the completed kitchen.  It helps me to plow through.

Flying Summer

I'm baaaccckkk!!  Hope you missed me.  I've missed all the pretty and delightful inspiration in blog land.  

What have we been up to?  Where have I been?

Summer is always a busy time for us. Beginning with May, there are plenty of birthdays and throw some holidays in there.  It is all a whirlwind.  I feel like I'm spinning like a top.

From the time of my last post we have celebrated Father's Day along with our daughter's seventeenth birthday.  She was actually born on Father's Day and she loves it when they fall on the same day.  It is still hard to believe that she is seventeen.  One more year and she will be starting college.

We also celebrated my brother in law's birthday, followed by a Fourth of July party and our son's thirteenth birthday the following day.  Unfortunately, he was a bit sick and we kept it low key.  Tucked into all this excitement was my dad's birthday.  

Catching my breath does not seem to be on the agenda these days.  I have been painting the last of the trim and doors in our bedroom remodel.  It is almost done.  

And, drumroll please....

We started a kitchen remodel!!!!

Remember these pictures (I hate to have to share them again!!!!  WE DESPERATELY NEEDED TO DO SOMETHING!!!)

They are all changing!!!!!!!!!!!  

The open doorway from the kitchen to our bedroom has been closed off.  On the other side is our spectacular new closet.  

Unfortunately, these pictures are all looking into our kitchen.  The back entry way was very closed off  from the kitchen.  There was an archway identical to this one:

This living room arch opened into the back entry and created  a small area, about 5 ft by 7 ft., followed by another arch opening into the kitchen.  We have knocked down that arch and framed it to open the kitchen up.  There is now a much larger opening framed off.  The entire back entry is gutted.  There are even a couple of holes in the floor due to fireblock that had to be taken out.  We are doing this project with my brother, usually when he is out of work, one day a week and a little extra.  It is being done in stages so the kitchen is semi-functional.  Because of the closed off wall we are now able to relocate the refrigerator to the other wall.  There will be a tall pantry cabinet beside that.  The stove will be turned so it is facing out.  

This is so exciting and scary at the same time.  I have hated this kitchen since the day we moved in.  We could not afford to pay a contractor but thanks to my amazing brother it is finally getting done.

The theme this summer has been declutter.  When you are home, homeschooling and basically spend almost all of your time here you tend to accumulate clutter.  I have started getting rid of so many things that are unnecessary and not good to keep in a home as small as ours.  The kitchen was decluttered as I packed up almost everything to put in the basement.  We have had one yard sale and have piles started for another.   It will feel like a whole new place when this is complete.  I am anxiously awaiting the big reveal.  Holding my breath and waiting to share it all with you.

A Walk on the Beach

The day was hazy and foggy but the sun was trying to make an appearance

We decided to go for a walk at a small local beach

The temps aren't high enough here to bring out the beach goers

It was quiet and peaceful

This would be a perfect place for a picnic with hubby while we watch the sunset

or

Quiet time, reading a good book and pondering

On a completely different note~

This Mario lego character was created by my son.  He has spent quite a bit of time working on him and making him perfect.  He did not have a pattern or anything to go by just his mind.  He continually amazes me. I had to share his creativity.

I am linking up with Patty at Finding Serendipity.

How the Years Pass

Friday my dear husband and I celebrated our 18th wedding anniversary.  The time has passed so quickly.  We look back at the years together and are amazed at how quickly time has passed.   Like the blink of an eye.  We pass from day to day, trying to keep up with family, work, etc.  and before we know it here we are so many years later. The most important part is we are still here together.  It hasn't always been easy.  We've had our share of struggles, things that distract and try to pull us down but we've have stayed true through it all.

Beautiful roses from dh

They are so very wonderful.  Every time I look at time they make me smile.

We were quite young when we married.  Only 20~We met in school and it wasn't long before we decided to get married.  We started our family a year later.  There was so much we didn't know.  So much we had to learn.  Through it all we worked at it and gave it our all.  My dear husband is a wonderful man.  He gives all of himself to our family.  I am so blessed to have him.


Thank you all for your sweet anniversary wishes.

The Way I See It

These beautiful lilies were part of my Mother's Day gift.  We enjoyed watching each of the blooms open.

While sitting at the table one day doing our school work.  We noticed that this bloom looked like it was looking right at us menacingly.  What does it look like to you?

The kids and I thought it looked like a snake head staring down at us.

This bloom tried so hard to open but it just wasn't ready. 

 Although it looked like it was going to burst open at any moment, it couldn't.  

Notice the sides bulging out.

Wanting to show off all it's beauty.

It never made it~

Reminds me of how we sometimes try to hard to do something that isn't for that moment

It may not be the wrong thing but it is the wrong timing.

Linking to Patty at Finding Serendipity.

Off to enjoy my hubby~today is our anniversary~18 years~

Finishing Touches

Last week we took some time to add some finishing touches to our bedroom makeover.

The top piece I purchased at Michaels on clearance some time ago.  I didn't really have a good place for until now.  I love how it looks here.  We also added the letters from Kohls.  Now I am looking for and ampersand to add in the middle.

Don't know why this one is so blurry.  I love how this is all coming together.  

There is one more piece we'll be adding to the room and I am still out looking for the perfect night stands~cheap and ready to be refinished. 

Excuse the bed.~ Laundry day~

Here are some pillows I made on Friday.  I have wanted to get these made for quite some time.  

There are more that I want to make but this is a good start.  I am so please with how they came out.  I am a novice sewer and without a pattern I was nervous.

My ruffles need a little straightening out.  They've already been loved and used through out the weekend.

I saw this pillow on someone's blog but cannot remember where.  Fell in love with it and had to give it a try.  It's just perfect.

Both pillows are made with osnaburg fabric. I love this fabric.  So versatile and easy to work with.

Linking to:

A Soft Place To Land 

Today' s Creative Blog