new beginnings.

We had our New Beginnings last night and I daresay it was a huge success!  The program went beautifully, the spirit was felt, there were tears, there was laughing.... it was a fantastic night.  The program was just the right length, a little under an hour...

 The decorations were fantastic... I delegated and my counselors did amazing!

 The favors turned out amazing... they were fun to put together (an ice cream cup filled with lemon drops with {this} quote attached, plus {this} cd.

 The refreshments were divine.  Check out this adorable cake my secretary made!

 We are so looking forward to getting to know these girls a little better this year!  I can't believe we're lucky enough to get FOUR new beehives in the next few months!

I have the greatest calling in the world....

kitchen's done!

This is what your dining room looks like when you put everything from your kitchen cupboards in there...  I kind of didn't think through this project very clearly when I started.  It was hard.... but so worth it!

 The first day we painted the inside of the cupboards.  The next day we loaded everything back in and painted the outside of the cupboards.  The third day we painted the ceiling and the trim, plus put all the hardware and lights back up.  The last day we added the pretty stuff and cleaned everything top to bottom.  Jayne was my best little helper!  She was quite the cheerleader.  One day she said, "Mommy, I just love watching you paint.  Because you're my best friend."  It was adorable.

 Here are the before pictures...

 And a few after pictures....  I am in love with how it turned out.  It's so much warmer and homey in there.  When it was done Gracie said, "Mommy!  You did such a great job that we don't even need Genevieve to come and make our house fancy anymore!" (we watch Dear Genevieve  together each week.)

 Some of my favorite personal touches.... the vinyl in the back of the cabinet (plus matching new plates!)  Both from Wal*Mart.

 My Muppet cups now have a home safely on the top shelf.

 The little corner shelves (from Target).  I love that I get a few more decorations in my kitchen now!

 I was going to put a few shelves above the stove but we learned that our walls are made of plaster and they can't hold a lot of weight.  So, we opted for some hangers to put our pots up there instead.  It freed up some much needed cabinet space.  Win, win.  The "love you more" sign is my favorite because that's what Jeremy texts me every time I text him "I love you".  (it's from Wal*Mart)

The frame above the chalkboard was inspired by {this}.  I fell in love with it and knew that I needed one in my kitchen.

 I made the curtains.  I love how old and antique-ish they look.  They inspired the whole room.

 I want to cook all day.  I love this room so much.  Next project... painting the trim in the living room and doing the half-bath and side entryway.  Then the entire main floor will be done and we can move on to the bedrooms!

projects.

Pinterest is addicting.  It's a fact.  I wasn't going to sign up because I knew that I would be addicted.  I finally gave in because I liked the idea of having a place to put things all in one place.  I am OCD with my boards and try to keep just the things that I'm actually going to make/do on there.  I have even been tempted to take them off once I've completed them.  I haven't yet... but I am so tempted.  I like things neat and orderly.  

Anyway... I do love pinterest because it gives me so many fun ideas.  I needed a few more things to hang on the walls in my living room.  I got rid of a lot of our wall hangings that we've had since my college days.  I couldn't look at them any longer.  It left a few blanks spots in our wall which I filled with these beauties.

{inspiration found here}

 {inspiration found here}

The kids helped me with the bird picture.  They picked fabric for each member of the family and now we have a bird family.  I love it.  Grace says, "The mom and dad fell in love and they had five babies!"  True story.

when we're helping we're happy!

The kids were SO hyper on Sunday night.  So so hyper.  We decided to get some of that energy out with a fun project that was actually very helpful for me.

 I try to do all of our laundry once a week.  I get all of it washed and dried and then fold it all at night while watching a movie or something.  It had really piled up.  I think we had a week and a half's worth ready to be folded.  It is quite the daunting task.

 We left the kids dump all of the clean clothes out and sort them into baskets.  One for each member of the family.  They had so much fun doing it and were able to get some of their sillies out in the process.

I think I'll remember this for next week!

dining room makeover.

We were so excited to move after Jeremy graduates in June.  SO SO excited.  We've been in this home for 7 years now.  It's only 1,300 square feet.  With our family of 7 we're kind of bursting at the seams.  We're happy here though.  It's cozy.... but we love it.  Things weren't lining up with the move, and after much prayer and counseling with the Lord, we decided that we should just stay put for a little longer.  This way we can really focus on the new practice and save up money for our forever home.  

We have decided to spruce up our house.  Something that I've been dying to do since we moved in.... but we've never gotten around to doing.  It's amazing what a little paint can do!  It's my first experience painting and I am in love with the entire process.  We started with our dining room.  It was a simple project that I was able to complete at night after the kids were in bed or during naptime when I only had Jayne to worry about (the other three were at school).  In a matter of 48 hours, my dining room was transformed!  

 One of my dear friends came over to help me.  She is moving back to Utah in June so her husband can be a big time professor at BYU.  It was so fun spending so much time with her before she moves away.

 Jayne took a picture of me painting the trim.  That was the best part of the process for me.  After seven years and five children, our walls have taken quite the beating.  Painting the trim was SO rewarding!  One minute they were a nasty mess or dings and scrapes.... the next minute they were gorgeous!

 Our JoAnn's is moving locations so everything is marked way down.  I've taken advantage of the sales and was able to get some screaming deals on frames and fabric.  I've banned myself from the store for the next few months.  They've taken enough of our money.

 I made this wreath from the tutorial found {here}.  I made a bright pink heart shaped one for Valentine's Day a few years ago and decided to try it out with linen fabric instead of felt. I adore how it turned out.  The one thing I did differently from the tutorial was pin three circles in at a time instead of just one.  It made the project go a lot faster.

 Here's the finished room from view #1.  My besties husband drilled a hole in the wall so we could move our computer around the corner and out of the kitchen (we only have one outlet in this room, so we had to drill the hole so it could be plugged into an outlet in the kitchen.)

 I found this lovely bird cage at one of my favorite craft stores out here.  It had a mirror on the back of it to make it look round even though it's cut in half.  It tripped me out so I covered it in the same fabric I used for the wreath.  We added some little robins and now we not only have a cute decorations... We have pets!  My kind of pets.

 One of my favorite things added to the room are the new curtains.  I made up the pattern but was inspired by {these}.  I love how they turned out!

 Here's the best before picture I could find of the room...

 And here's the after from almost the same view!  I am so pleased with how it turned out.

Painting is the best.  Not only do I have what feels like a brand new room... I have a brand new clean room!  We plan on taking each room in our house and giving it a little face lift.  Next up is the kitchen.  I think my life will take a true turn when that room is done.  It will be life changing!  We also plan on finishing off a room in our basement for the boys to call their new home.  Lots of projects.... lots of work.... but SO worth it!  I can't wait!

a perfect sunday afternoon.