Kitchen Update Seven Years in the Making

Some people think the "Old World" kitchen is on its way out of style but after touring several Parade of Homes last month I was relieved to see the look is still going strong. Yes, there were a number of homes with contemporary designs, clean lines, and even an art-deco feel; but "Old World" still made a strong showing. I noticed an update was to paint the kitchen island or buffet a different color than the cabinets.
Reassured I wasn't making a style faux pas, I finally put a mocha glaze on my maple cabinets and painted my kitchen island red. Many of the blogs I follow show all white kitchens. They are beautiful, crisp, and have an airy feeling, but I love color. Plus, I have 3 little chicks who would wreak havoc on an all-white kitchen.

Before - maple cabinets and island with just a light stain.

We built our home seven years ago and the cheap builder's-grade clear coat failed and left much to be desired. Several of the cabinets and drawers had these scratch-looking water marks that I couldn't seem to get rid of. I can't believe I put this project off for so long. Look at those drawers - ugh! I kept them clean, but they were well worn.

Our weapons of choice:

Judd applied two coats of primer on the island. Since we were painting it red we used a blue-tinted primer for better coverage.

We chose Allen and Roth for Valspar paint in "Bodega". We took the paint chip to Sherwin-Williams because they could color match it and had red-based tintable paint for better coverage and deeper color. Over the years we've learned if using a deep color, such as red, don't use regular paint with the color recipe added to it (which is what would happen if purchased it at Lowe's). If going that route, it will take layer after layer after layer after layer to slowly build up the depth of color desired. But, if the paint starts out with a red tint prior to the color recipe being added to it, the desired depth of color is reached in only two coats (sorry no picture of the can of pain). Then, I applied three layers of clear coat and hope that's enough to ward off those pesky water spots in the future.

After -

For the cabinets I used Valspar Translucent Color Glaze in Mocha. I brushed on some glaze with a chip brush and used a cloth to rub off the excess while concentrating the color in the frame and moulding details. After the glaze dried (about 48 hours) I applied three coats of Kel-Thane II Waterborne Interior Clear Coat. I applied five coats on the cabinets below the kitchen sink since that area contained the most water marks in the old clear coat.

We love our updated kitchen. It looks richer, deeper, and more colorful with noticeable details. Yes, we should have done this years ago, but at least we finally accomplished the look we've wanted.

Muffins So Good You'll Eat the Paper

I like using recipes from Jessica Seinfeld's cookbook Deceptively Delicious. Today I tried one of her muffin recipes and it was a big hit for all 5 of my family members. Never before have I had this kind of success. Usually, one or two of my kids won't like the recipe, but today we all wolfed these down . Sophie begged for a second muffin. While I was in another room Riley scooted a chair over to the counter and stole a second muffin. When I came back into the room, Piper was walking around chewing her muffin. I noticed she only had 1/3 of her paper liner in her hand. Upon inspecting her mouth, I saw she was chewing on the rest of her muffin paper! Now that's a girl who enjoys this recipe. This is a pretty healthful recipe with less sugar, oil, or butter than most recipes. One thing to note -- due to less oil or butter the muffins do tend to stick to paper liners. Next time I won't use them.



Applesauce Muffins (makes 12 - 16 muffins)

Topping
2/3 cup old-fashioned oats
1/4 cup firmaly packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter

Batter
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup old-fashioned oats
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup carrot or butternut squash puree
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup canola oil
1 large egg

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Coat a muffin pan with cooking spray.
2. In a small bowl, stir together the ingredients for topping.
3. In a large bowl stir together batter ingredients
4. Spoon batter evenly into muffin tin and sprinkle with topping. Bake until done 18-20 minutes.

Curtain Trim & Blueberries

Last week when I told you about recovering my dining room chairs, I mentioned I had enough fabric leftover to add trim to my cafe curtains. When I originally sewed these curtains, I intentionally made them short so I could easily sweep beneath them. (Feeding three little kids 3 meals a day plus a snack results in lots of crumbs.)

As you can see, I made them too short. So, I added some leftover fabric to the bottom as coordinating trim.

I think they look much better.

Now everthing ties in together nicely. The plaid on the chair does match. It's just appears to have pink hues rather than burnt orange like the curtains.

On a completely unrelated topic -- we have blueberries! This was our first year to try  growing anything edible. My family eats a lot of fruit and is particularly fond of blueberries. We purchased two blueberry plants from Lowe's and planted them several weeks ago.

Every day or two we check to see which berries have turned blue and are ready for picking. The girls enjoy pulling off the ripe berries, rinsing them off, and eating food that is as fresh as one can get.

I think blueberry pancakes are calling my name.

Kid-Friendly Dining Room Chair Makeover

Years ago when Judd and I purchased our dining room table, we didn't give the white formal fabric cushions a second thought. Five days after our purchase, we hosted Christmas dinner and one of our guests accidentally dropped cranberry sauce on a cushion leaving a stain. Shortly after that, our nephew added a chocolate cake stain to a second chair. Along came our girls and I have tried everything to keep those chairs clean to no avail. I think the workers in the chair cushion factory get a big laugh as they cover dining room chairs with white fabric. Can't you hear their sinister laughs? "Bwaaahaaa a mother of three will purchase this one..."

When I saw Dana Willard's post (author of the incredible blog - Made) Orange Oilcloth Chair Covers, I was in love. Because I would have to completely overhaul my entire kitchen and dining room in order to pull off the adorable fabric she used on her chairs, I opted to stick with my current color hue to recover my chairs. I purchased two different decorator fabrics which coordinated with my fruit cafe curtains. I also bought clear vinyl to, in essence, make my own oilcloth.

This was a very easy project. I just cut out a large square of fabric and vinyl. I laid the vinyl down on my dining room table with the fabric square (right side down) on top. Next, after removing the cushion from the chair, I placed the cushion face down in the center of the fabric square. Then, Judd, with his strong man hands, helped me staple the edges of the fabric & vinyl around the bottom of the cushion.

It only took about 45 minutes to recover all 6 chairs. I purchased my fabric at Hancock's. Since the fabric was 54" wide, I only needed 2 yards of the plaid fabric, which I bought at 50% off. I also bought 2 yards of the checked fabric which was discontinued and a steal at only $4 a yard. The vinyl was also 54". I chose the 008 thickness so my girls would be less likely to rip it. It was only $2.99 a yard and I needed 3 yards.

I'm really happy with the results. Spills easily clean up and the girls enjoy not having to sit on the towels I used to cover the chairs with in an effort to prevent stains. The total was only $27 and I have enough fabric left to add some cute coordinating trim to my curtains which will tie everything together nicely. I'll post pics of that project when I complete it. (of course I'll have to actually start it before I complete it - ha!)



Cute Clothing Find @ Target

My girls love to wear dresses. I like the look of a dress over leggings. Target had some adorable clothes we had to pick up. Piper and Riley have matching chocolate and cream striped leggings with coordinating dresses. Sophie's dress is not from Target. It is a welcomed hand-me-down from our neighbor and one of Sophie's favorite dresses.

 The sizing is a bit off. Riley and Piper are two. They wear 2T or 24 months in almost everything. They wear 18 month skirts since they tend to run big. The leggings from Target are 3T but the dresses are 2T. Riley's dress is huge on her. It is the same brand and size as Piper's dress (which fits perfectly). The sizing really doesn't make any sense, but I adore these outfits. I appreciate the embroidered floral detail on the pants which match the details on both dresses.

And my plans this summer include helping Riley and Piper quit sucking their fingers, become potty trained, and give up their "lovey" taggie blankets I made them which they tote around everywhere. Wish me luck and feel free to give me any suggestions -- especially about breaking the finger sucking or potty training multiples! Sophie was fairly easy to train. I'm just not sure how to keep up with TWO during the potty training period.

There Shall Be Dancing!

This past weekend we traveled by car up to Nebraska and South Dakota to attend our niece's wedding. Sophie, Piper, and Riley were great travelers. Before we had kids, our trek to Nebraska took only one long 13.5 hour-day. Now that we have three little kids, we break the trip into two days and stay overnight at a hotel. The girls enjoyed eating complementary cookies in bed while watching a movie. (free cookies and DVD rentals are wonderful hotel bonuses).

The wedding was held at a beautiful outdoor chapel in the pine covered hills of Rapid City, South Dakota. During some free time, Judd took us to Dinosaur Park atop one of the tallest hills. Judd used to visit this park as a child. This particular dinosaur sits at the very top of the hill and on lookers in the town below see his silhouette against the sky.

 The girls had to sit on Dino's tail for a cute photo op. The Black Hills are visible in the background.

Sophie wanted to keep hugging the dinosaurs and wished she could take the big guy home with her -- or out to lunch. Riley maneuvered well and handled the long steep stairs back to the ground level just fine.

Leah and Jarrod were married on Saturday and Sophie was their flower girl. Sophie's dress was so pretty and she did a great job walking down the path and throwing petals.

The reason I particularly love this shot of Riley and Sophie at the reception hall is because my late Grandma Etta Cole used to stand just like they are, with her hands behind her back. Riley recently started copying everything Sophie does because she adores her big sister.

Jarrod and Leah make an adorable couple. Leah looked stunning in her exquisite gown and her hair was beautiful.

The Mother and Father of the Bride were so gracious and hospitable.

Sophie and Andrew (the ring bearer) really hit it off. They were inseparable. They danced together for a long time and Andrew even asked Judd for Sophie's phone number -- Sophie is 4 years old! (I'm not ready for this.) I changed Sophie out of that gorgeous dress and into this one so she wouldn't spill food on it. She is going to be a flower girl in my friend's wedding in a few weeks and needs the flower girl dress to look pristine. Check out Sophie and Andrew as they dance. I think they thought they were on Dancing With the Stars. Andrew was so sweet and really wanted to show off for Sophie. At the 1 minute and 34 second marker, he even shows her his 'Risky Business' moves.

Not to be left out, Riley joined in the reception fun by twirling hundreds of times to the DJ's music.

Back in Gordon, Nebraska, no trip to Grandma and Grandpa's would be complete without a walk around the farm to see the cows, cats, barns, and equipment.

Riley is intrigued by the cows.

"Cow says, 'Moo!'" repeats Piper.

Shortly after we started our drive back home, we had to stop the car for the cowgirls and cowboys who were relocating a herd of cattle to another pasture down the road.

We had a great trip and enjoyed seeing friends and family. Cheers to Leah and Jarrod!

Sophie's New Clean Heart

I love my family. Judd, Sophie, Piper, and Riley are my world, and I thank God for giving me such a wonderful family.

Because I have a relationship with Jesus, it is only natural that I would want my children to also.

We attend one of the largest and most incredible churches in the U.S. - Church On The Move. Several weeks ago each child received a CD as they left their church classrooms. As the disc plays, a story is told of good vs. evil - a loving King who fights a dragon. The story is dramatic and hold kids' attention. After the story ends, one of the pastors explains, in such a simple way, how the story parallels God's love for us. God loves us so much he sent Jesus to die on the cross so He could exchange our sinful heart with a new clean heart; then, we're part of His family and belong to His kingdom. The pastor leads the listener in a prayer to receive Jesus and His gift of a new clean heart. Finally, a fantastic upbeat song plays about Jesus being alive and being our King.

Sophie loves this CD. She's listens to it several times a day, asking questions here and there, and singing the song repeatedly. Yesterday, on our way back home from our road trip up to Nebraska and South Dakota, Sophie danced around our hotel room. She made up praise songs to Jesus. If she caught Judd or I looking at her she said, "I'm just praying to God and singing to Him." When we got in the car Sophie asked us to play her "Jesus" CD again. She wanted to listen to it four times in a row. She asked Judd and I questions about being born with a sinful heart. When Judd told her that we asked Jesus for a new clean heart when we were children, she was ready to pray. She prayed aloud following the prayer on the CD and shouted, "Hooray! I'm so proud of myself for asking Jesus for a new clean heart!" Hooray! I'm so excited! Jesus will never leave me!"

I was so thankful God allowed Judd and me to experience this salvation prayer with Sophie. It was a real and eternal decision. Sophie's decision means everything to us. Maybe you understand this, maybe you don't - but it is as (or more) important than the day I gave birth to her. What a gift - knowing Sophie belongs to Jesus - forever!

Fences

Last spring Judd and I finally bit the bullet and built a fence for our back yard when our twins, Piper and Riley, started walking. It was quite an undertaking and I told you about that here. A year has passed and we decided to re stain our fence with a richer stain having red toner in it. We bought this exterior oil toner stain from Sherwin Williams.

It took us eleven hours, three gallons of stain, and 6 mini rollers to complete this project. Our hands feel like they are stuck in permanent gripping positions from holding the mini roller brushes that long.

Here is the "before" picture. My primary concern when building the fence was to make sure it didn't turn gray. You can see the natural stain we chose last year did a great job sealing the fence, but I really wanted more red tones.

During...(unfortunately, I did get a little sunburned on my neck -- Aloe Vera plant to the rescue).

Almost finished -- Piper enjoying family time outside.

In the background you can see how gray it would have looked had we not sealed it when we built it. The gray fence is our back fence -- built by the neighborhood developer before we bought our lot and built our home.

It was a lot of work and hopefully we won't have to do this again for several years. We are very happy with the results.