After much anticipation I bring you...

My Kitchen...the pictures aren't the best...with the new doors this room is a little dark, but it really look gorgeous IRL...here are a few pics:





Even though this is NOTHING like what I originally wanted or planned and this project gave me more headaches than anything I've ever dealt with...after all I was aiming for a more rustic feel...I do actually like it...even if the doors are much darker than the background...I'm going to call it chic rustic...or maybe contemporary rustic...what do you think? If you're close by...come by and check it out.

Been keeping busy with boys school projects, church stuff and scrapping this week...also trying with not much success to start spring cleaning, but oh well.


Going to keep this short as I have not been to bed before 1 a.m. this week and I still want to watch American Idol on my DVR before I retire this evening...but before I go...


If you happen to know how to convert a .wma file to an .mp3 file could you please let me know how?? I have a song I need to sing at church this Sunday and it's in .wma and I usually haven't had any trouble, but it's been a while since I've done it so maybe I'm doing something wrong...any help would be greatly appreciated! And please remember I'm blonde...I need details ;-)

Have a great week!

What a great weekend!

Sometimes it is just nice to get away. This past weekend I went here. So nice to see Michelle and Christina again and just get away and just scrapbook. Huge thanks to hubby for taking care of the kiddos all weekend and my super father in law that helped hubby just about finish putting my cupboard doors on my kitchen...it looks FABULOUS! I love it! I will take pictures tomorrow when the sun (hopefully) is out and I can get a better picture. Anyway fantabulous weekend! I got 18 pages done and another 9 pages done in a mini album I am working on. Here are some pics of the weekend:


This studio used to be a bar and these girls converted it into an amazing crafting studio...I had an amazingly awesome time...I'd have to say more fun than Scrap Camp, just because it wasn't as noisy and cramped (there was only about 12 of us compared to 100 at Scrap Camp) and it just seemed more relaxed. I liked it a lot. Plan on going again soon, once I sell more eBay to pay for it ;-) That's how I paid for this trip...my eBay monies...well worth it too! I do owe hubby $ 23.00 cause I just HAD to buy one of those cute new ribbon organizers...that I filled up today and it is just too cute and now all my ribbon is in one spot and most of all visible! Thanks Michelle and Christina for an amazing weekend and all the awesome food (yes they fed us too)...the Taco soup was amazing!


They had a layout contest from the weekend and the campers voted and I tied for first place...I'd show you the layout, but it's for the next challenge on Faith Sisters so after Wednesday I'll show you. But the other girl who won with me made this layout that I voted for because I thought it was truly amazing:

Here are a few of my layouts:

Then on Sunday Christina and another lady invited me to go to a church service at an area church...kind of like an inner city type mission church to describe it...it was a very upbeat church that their target seemed to be teens, single moms and the homeless...honestly I had a great time. Their praise team ROCKED! The worship was truly amazing and just feeling God move there was all I could say is WOW...it was nice to be at a service for a change and not be "in" the service doing something. Totally helped me to focus more on just worshipping God. It was a great experience.

Again...the whole weekend was an amazing time...will be doing it again hopefully soon...I got my cupboard doors on my kitchen...kids were good while I was gone...life right now is good.

Now back to reality and getting back into the groove.

Have a great week!

Pure Magic

Hi di ho all! Above is my latest layout for the Faith Sisters Challenege this week ...it's based on a sketch by Nikki on the website. Layout is of pictures from our Disney trip in 2005 that my dad took all our families together for an amazing memorable trip! Anyway, if you feel like playing along, come join us! I like Nikki's sketch so much I did another layout (a one pager) about items I remembered from my childhood...

I so loved all these things...and I know I'm dating myself, but I remember as a kid watching the Banana Splits (and HR Puffinstuff)...I wasn't and still am not a huge TV watcher but I do remember taking time to watch these shows...the Marathon bar...which I think I mentioned in an earlier post...totally yumminess! The Spirograph and Fashion Plates....hours and hours of good crafty fun...I'm sure my mom loved these toys since I'm sure it kept me occupied for a good while...Journey...my favorite band ever! Holly Hobbie...and yes I had the Holly Hobbie lunchbox. Fisher Price's Video Camera....before electronic gadgetry of course...I used to love to take the cartidges and play the movies backwards...especially the one with Mickey and the Ghosts...classic! Mrs. Beasly...from the show Family Affair I believe...I'd carry this doll everywhere...I loved her...recently sold her a few years ago on eBay. Came in handy when I needed a little extra $$. As with the Camel with the Wrinkled Knees from Raggedy Ann and Andy. I think I sold him and Mrs. Beasly at the same time. Was sad to see them go, but I still have the memories and that's really all that matters. Oh, and Quiz Kid...I know...so nerdy, but I loved this too...and it truly was a great educational toy...It wouldn't give you the answer...one eye would turn green if you were right or red if you were wrong. Oh and almost forgot one of my toys from later childhood and one I really did enjoy...my Chem Craft Chemistry set. I remember in 5th grade seeing this Chemistry "magic show" on TV at school and I was hooked. My dad, bless his heart, saw my huge interest and just like any loving dad would....took me to the hobby shop at the mall, plunked down the $ 75.00 + dollars for it and off we went to do some experiments. It's one of those days I'd never forget. Back then that was a lot of money too and being he was the sole breadwinner and raising all us kids...I knew it had to be a sacrifice...but I'm so glad he did it for me. My dad always did come up with the best gifts for me (and mom too), but considering my dad worked a lot and when he got you a gift it was special. Like my electronics set (which he just bought one for my neice Tea and teaching her electronics now...woo-hoo!) My rock tumbler where my dad took me to this hobby shop in Cleveland that had a whole room it seemed of unpolished rocks...he helped me buy some. And not to mention the endless hours I spent with him at his workbench working on electronics with him...loved those days bunches! I'm so glad (and I've told him this) that my parents didn't raise me as a girly girl. My mom was a tom-boy...and so was I. I had more fun playing in the dirt (with my mom's spoons...sorry mom) than primping in the mirror. So much fun...Wow...this post got long...well back to reality.

So my new bedroom set...finally got it all in (including the dresser which barely made it and I pretty much told Kevin it will probably stay in this house if we would ever decide to move...if it wasn't for hubby's friend Ryan at work coming over and helping move it it would still be in my dining room! So here are some pics of my new set...not the greatest pics but you'll get the idea. I really like it. With the new mattress on my bed (BTW I really like having a Queen...more room!) my mattress is so huge and the bed is so tall I feel like I'm going to touch the ceiling! I have to literally step up into it...trying to get used to that, but anyway...love my new set.

Well I better go do something constructive...like clean out my craft room...again!

Have a great weekend!

The Reveal...

OK folks...the moment you've been waiting for. Take it these photos were taken before I've put anything on my counters, but you'll get the picture....still not totally finished but much better than before.





I feel so happy and grateful to have this done at least to this point anyway. I was able to make Thanksgiving dinner in my new kitchen! I love my new oven and stovetop and microwave too. They are so cool and amazing. They actually tell you when your food is done. Technology, it's so amazing! And my new sink...I could swim in this thing it's so huge and deep! Love that bunches as well! So all we have to do now is paint the backsplash...we are going to put an edge of brick along the bottom of the backsplash to kind of tie the whole room together and then also put some brick in front of the sink as a splash guard. Then the cupboard doors...which in all honesty I'm not sure I want to go there...the guy who refinished them for us did an awesome job....the doors were beautiful....unfortunately they were the wrong color. Why he didn't test one of the doors to see what we had and to see if we matched is beyond me, but my cupboards are more of a brown and his doors are more cherry red. We used the same stain, but I guess the stain on the exterior of the cupboards took a little differently than the veneer on the cupboards. He's going to try to make them more brown, and I pray that they turn out. I don't expect them to match perfectly, but I told him I didn't want red. I don't like cherry, even though the stain we used was an antique brown cherry...the stain he showed us on our cupboards appeared more brown when he showed it to us...for some reason his came out more of a red. I was so sick and upset by it...but I figure it will eventually turn out, God is in control anyway...just one more setback that's all. Just pray with me that they do turn out more of a brown than a formal cherry red...I'm not into formal.

Anyways...hoping your Thanksgiving was great. My Thanksgiving was wonderful...cooking in my new kitchen, had my parents and hubby's mom and step-dad over to eat with us. We had a great time, had MORE than enough food and great conversation and spoiling the grandkids was had by all. I love having family around me...it just makes everything feel like its meant to be. It makes me content.

So did you do the Black Friday shopping thing??? I'm not into getting up before dawn for ANYTHING, not even to save a few bucks. I think I'm going to do what I've done for the past several years...shop on the internet....for me it's just the way to go. No lines, no hassles, don't have to deal with people or get frustrated cause you can't find the right thing and drive all over God's green earth to find it. I can sit in my jammies, surf the net, and just order and have it delivered to my door. And many places offer free shipping too....how can you beat that?!?!? I know with three boys I sure can't.

Well I have to go finish helping hubby clean a car, finish some laundry, get dinner, then start selling some eBay so I have some Christmas $$ to do that internet shopping with ;-)

Have a great week!

One Tired Chicka....

This remodeling is truly kicking me HARD! Had all intentions of posting some more pics of the kitchen progress, but honestly I'm just too tired...maybe I'll post some later this week, but for now I'll just "chat" about it.

Kitchen is coming along...may even have a kitchen (minus new flooring) by Turkey day...possibly. After spending the last several days fumigating myself with polyurathane (nasty stuff...P-U), I finally got my cupboards stripped, sanded, polyed (four coats I may add...I added an extra coat just cuz...) sanding in between each coat of poly...though it's not perfect, it's perfect enough for me and I'm very happy with it...much better than hubby's initial thought of painting them that's for sure. My cupboards have this beautiful rustic look that I was really hoping for. (I know...you want to see pictures now right...sorry....still too tired, so you'll just have to wait...or stop by). My countertop should be going in (HOPEFULLY) tomorrow so I may actually be able to (again HOPEFULLY) cook in my kitchen tomorrow...we shall see. It will be nice to not have to cook in the basement anymore. Then the fun will begin of trying to clean this mess up and actually put hings back where they belong...somewhat. I still won't have my drawers and doors until the weekend, but hey...I've gotten kinda used to no doors. Oh well.

Well again, I'm TIRED!! so this chicka is going to finally go to bed. Pictures next time..hopefully with pics of countertop on too!

And if I don't get on here before Turkey day....have a blessed Thanksgiving!

This face...

This face is a face that is SUPER excited....want to know why...I'm sure you can guess.....

Finally got his room done! In fact he is warm and snuggly in his new room even as I type. Bless his heart! He was so super excited and actually grateful...gave me the biggest hug ever...worth a month's worth of painting and aggravation after all. It really turned out super cute...other than curtains (that should hopefully be here next week) and a couple tin signs I'm hoping to win on eBay, his room is pretty much finito!! HALLELUJAH!

Here are a few more pics of the room:

Now if I could only get the kitchen done...stain is NOT working well and may be a total nightmare before it's all done. For some reason the wood on the top of my cupboards must not be the same wood as the bottom or something because it's taking the stain totally different. The top looks great, the bottom however is way too dark. Going to try and sand it tomorrow to see if I can lighten it up. Hopefully!

New challenge will be up on Faith Sister's tomorrow...check it out...it's about Home Sweet Home.

Well another busy day tomorrow and I need to try and get a good night's sleep! So until next time...

So much to share...

So much to share...oh my...where to begin...
Had the most awesome worship service in church today...the congregation from Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church came to share in our service this morning. So amazing!! The fact that we could come together under one God and worship despite our differing denominations (they are Baptist, we are Wesleyan) and the fact that we are different races (they are African American), didn't matter...we all worshipped together, worshipping one God, no boundaries, no theological agendas...just worshipped! So amazing...I wish you all could have been there...Gave me a glimpse of what heaven is going to be like...cause I doubt there are going to be denominations in heaven...just Christ followers praising the same God. I guess this was such an uncommon thing that our local paper is doing a story on it...find it here...and ABC News was there filming us...not sure why and why it would have been such a big deal (we've had Shiloh Church worship with us before)...I got to meet Dan Harris and he interviewed me and another lady form our church...I doubt that I'll be on TV folks (which is plenty OK with me)...I guess after the 3 hours of filming they did the segment is only going to be 2-3 minutes long. I didn't realize how much work went into making one little blurby segment...wild! Anyway I'll let you know (or maybe someone else can let me know since we still have no cable) when it's on. It was just an amazing and wonderful day.

Hubby is sick...has what I had. I'm praying that either God heals him fast or that God gives him enough wisdom to call off work...he's never called off work in the 15 years he's worked there despite a couple time I KNOW that he should have.

Kitchen remodel is coming along...slowly. I do have new electricty run in my kitchen so now I hopefully won't keep blowing out the fuse box...I have new drywall up on my back splash...the guy is coming tomorrow hopefully to finish that. I'm praying (HARD) that my counter top gets put in next week...having no counter is getting annoying. I have stripped the bottom of the cupboards, tops yet to be stripped, but doors will probably not be done until after Christmas...oh well. As far as Austin's room goes...that is a project that just won't die! It's taken a LOT longer than I thought and not sure how much I'm going to be able to get done this week. I'm a bit upset because the paint I got for the trim is not the right paint...though it was labeled a Satin paint, it actually is a flat paint....hubby didn't realize this until I was almost done painting the trim...so sometime during my busy schedule this week I have to hike back up to Lowe's and exchange the paint for the right kind....very, very unhappy about having to go over that trim one more time....not looking forward to it at all. Austin's carpet is ready to go in...whenever I get that trim done :-/

Went looking for new bedroom furniture for us because we are going to give Austin's set to the girls instead of trying to repaint it and give Austin our dresser. We were so excited to find this Mission style set by Broyhill, but were so disappointed when we actually saw it because it just wasn't in my opinion quality made...very chincy and I wasn't paying that kind of money for chincy...I don't buy furniture very often...in fact the set we have now is the set we got when we got married 18 years ago....I wanted something that would last, so since we were in Amish country we went looking around and found this Amish store that had this really nice Mission style set...I get it in the stain color I want, in the style I want...I even get the nice mission style fixtures on it I love so much....it was a bit of money...Merry Christmas to us I guess. This house remodeling is costing us a bunch of $$$...freaking me out. Anyways...

Well I have to get busy cleaning my house...I'm having a Party Lite party tomorrow night in my torn up house so I need to make some sense out of it so I'm not totally embarrased. Hope you had an amazing weekend! Have a great week!

From our house to yours...

Wishing everyone a very Happy Halloween!!

Still alive...still painting...almost done with Austin's room...hopefully by the weekend (cause I just want to be done with it!) Kitchen is still gutted...new electric for kitchen goes in Friday. Hopefully new countertop next week (really hoping). Still sick though feeling much better other than an irritating cough that won't go away. Boys went trick or treating tonight...Austin was a Jedi (of course), Brennan ended up being a cross between a vampire and a pirate...we called it a Vampirate....and Colton has for months said he was going to be the black spiderman...tonight he changed his mind and for the third year in a row...he went as the regular Spiderman...guess when you've got a good thing going you stick with it...he's wearing Brennan's old Spiderman outfit now...luckily there is always Austin's Spiderman outfit when outgrows Brennan's...who knows how long this Spiderman thing will last ;-) Will post pictures of the boys once I get them downloaded...right now I'm going to go take some cough medicine, hack up a lung and hit the hay. Happy Fall everyone!

It's cold and it's raining...

So far not a very productive day....it's cold...it's raining...I'm tired. Just not interested in doing a whole lot...not good when I have a week where my plate seems full. Need to finish Austin's room this week. Got the border taped off to paint last night, but though I love painting...I'm tired of painting right now ;-) Maybe later. His carpet comes in sometime next week...so I really need to get done. Still need to paint the border area...apply the border and paint the trim. YIKES!

Hubby spent part of the afternoon tearing out my kitchen...stove is gone...cooktop is gone...need to find a place for all my stuff in my cupboards....I'm starting to feel a bit overwhelmed...I don't mind a little mess in my house, but a huge mess is a totally different story...though I know it will be wonderful once it is done, it's the process of getting there that bugs me. I just wish we could have waited until after the holidays, but beggars can't be choosers.

Well I need to go fix some dinner and have to go to church tonight. My prayers go out to those in CA that are battling those fires...wish I could send my rain your way!

Bye Bye Nursery...

It's official...the days of baby are no longer at the McClain household...this is how I spent 10 hours of my day today:






The walls are painted...need one more coat I think, then I'll take "after" pictures, except I forgot to paint the closet!!! So that may have to wait until tomorrow...I'm just too tired and sore now. It looks nice, but seems odd to me...it's been baby blue for 10 years. No more Precious Moments angels border. Austin is really liking it though..which I guess is what matters. I think it's going to be so cozy! Maybe one day mommy and daddy will finally get their room done ;-) One thing at a time. Hoping to have Austin's room done by next week that way he can get out of the living room and back into his own room.


Had to share this photo for my dad...look what I fixed for dinner the other night....Chicken Paprikash....YUM!! This stuff is like the ultimate comfort food...and I was having a not so good day when I made this, but afterwards, Ifelt much better ;-) I wish I could have saved some dad, but it was just too good...maybe the next time you're home I'll make a special batch ;-) Also dad...check out what I just got from Amazon. Maybe I'll make something new for the holidays!


Well I'm tired and sore and hubby bless his heart drew me a bath with my last (and favorite) Basin bath bomb in it...what a sweetie!


Later all~

Amazing

Had a chance to talk to these sweet ladies tonight...They are the owners of the Faith Sisters site. Also got to talk with a few others that make up the Faith Sisters creative team...they just sound so amazing and I am so super excited to be working along side of them. So many ideas they have...not sure I can share so I won't, but their site is wonderful...if you are a scrapper (and even if you are not) please, go check the site out! This website is such an answer to prayer for me...I've been looking for such a place as this and God is so good! I feel like God is opening doors for me right now...I'm so amazed and can't wait to see what He has in store.

Onto other things....I just got the CD for this group today...now I don't usually like country music, but this group is what I would consider pop country so I give it the OK ;-) If you like Rascall Flatts...you'll love these guys...they are like Rascall Flatts with Jesus ;-) Very good and right now on their website they are selling their CDs 2 for $ 15.00....great deal for some good music!

As far as the homefront...well I'm starting to remodel Austin's room...tried taking the border off on his room...not fun or pretty...it's pretty much stuck fast since it was more or less double glued on there, so I think we are just going to paint over it and put the new border over the old...at least that is what we are thinking at this moment. Austin is VERY excited and very persistent in wanting his new room so hoping to get that done in the next few weeks. Counter top should be in soon. We are going tomorrow to talk to a guy about refinishing our cupboard doors. I will (unfortunately) have to strip the outer part of the cupboards myself...can we all say YUK!!! Not looking forward to that...why can't I just blink and it all be finished {grin}.

Oh, did I tell you I ended up getting second place for my scrapbooks at the fair??? I was so excited and surprised....God is good!

Well I'm kinda getting a headache and I haven't been to bed before midnight for days so I think I may just try and go to bed at a somewhat decent time tonight.

Hope you are having a good week!