New Kitchen! Kinda...

So I have not loved my Honey Oak floor to ceiling look for awhile now. Too much of the same monotone wood color. When we moved into the house the red you see was blue color that I painted over. And I don't know why waiting until I had three one-year-olds sounded like a great time to change my kitchen cabinets, but why not create more insanity? I think I have been cooped up in my house to long, that's my reason for needing a change. Since I am OBSESSED with painted cabinets right now, I decided it would be easier to paint them, then try to strip them and stain them a darker wood color. It took me about three back breaking weeks whenever I could spare a free minute to finish the project and I just kept on telling myself it would all be worth it in the end.

Here's a before of the kitchen (who can spy the half naked kid in this picture? Madison wanted to be involved with the process...)

The hutch/desk next to the kitchen needed the update too...

Here's a sneak peek of the color: I went with an antique white and stained the cabinets to give them a beaten up look since they will naturally get that way anyway with three toddlers. I also learned that Premium Primer is a must, I actually didn't have to sand too much because the primer held to the surface so well.

Walah!!! Come on... the after looks sooo much better don't you think? I just felt like it brightened up the kitchen so much and I always think kitchens should be bright and happy... And you can't really tell in this picture but I painted the inside of the hutch yellow (gotta get my yellow in somewhere) and did strip and re stain the top of the desk in a dark walnut color. After re staining that small piece I was pretty glad I hadn't attempted that on the entire kitchen.

And then after some heated debate and deliberating and repeating that process over and over a few days... I finally decided to paint the island black.

And then I sanded it up pretty well so that you can see the red (and the prior blue) coming through on the sanded parts and I love it that way! I bought an old bread box at D.I. for a couple bucks that I am planning on painting an antique blue to put in the kitchen. Plus I have my yellow kitchenaid and bowl and red toaster to add some other colors in the mix.

And lastly, I found these cute cups on clearance at Fred Meyer that I think go perfectly with the new look. So for less than around $50-60 I have a brand new kitchen that I actually like to cook in now! But I might be done with painting for a little while... I'm a little painted out. What do you think of the new look?

Happy Fourth!

I had one thing I had to get done today (per my mother). Get pictures of the girls in their Fourth of July dresses for Grandma to see by the end of the day. So here they are...and since I can't get a great picture of all three together (and Carly was having a bad day on top of it), I put a bunch up so, Mom...enjoy!... And Happy Independence Day everyone!

Left to Right: Madison, Mckenna, Carly

Girl's Birthday...

So, I finally have the pictures of the girls birthday celebration. Here they are eating their cake. Mckenna and Madison completely destroyed it into little crumbs but Carly's pretty much stayed as intact as the picture shows. She also didn't want to eat the cake whereas her sisters loved it. They are definitely their own people. Anyways, just wanted to put up some pictures!

Mckenna

Madison

Carly

All together... L to R: Mckenna, Carly, Madison

My-New-Life

I have seen this lady's blog but I just loved the video so wanted to share it. Click on the link below. If I remember and open my eyes to it, I learned from this woman that I am (we all are) extremely blessed in my life...

My-New-Life

Memorial Weekend

I don't know why we were so insane (I guess we just really wanted to leave town) but we decided to go to Wyoming for Memorial Weekend to see family. The trip kind of felt like I was stuck in a little bit of a nightmare. It's just logistically difficult to travel with three babies even though they are much more manageable than when they were brand new. All I know is they cried about 80% of the trip over and back. And then we had to jump back and forth visiting two families during the trip which was a little crazy. But....with all that said, it was so nice to see our family and friends! The girls got to meet all the Pendleton cousins for the first time. Their cousin Laney just kept on saying, "Babies, babies, babies," and pointing to them. She also loved giving Madison hugs. Very cute. They also were able to see some of their Morrell cousins as well which was a little different for them since all the Morrell cousins are 13 yrs old and older. We were going to go back to Star Valley on the fourth of July but we might postpone and wait until Christmas. Call me a wimp, I don't care, but it was a little too chaotic for my taste. Anyway, Happy Memorial Day to everyone else!

Picture from my parents house. There was still a lot of snow in them thar hills (mountains)!

Morrell cousins.... Carly especially really liked Jace (far left). She gave him big smiles...

Pendleton cousins... yes, that's right, all girls... I think my mom deserves some girls after raising all those brothers of mine! Six girls in three years... crazy!

We took family pictures with my family one morning and I snapped one with my camera. L to R: Carly, Madison, Mckenna

The girls...

I guess if I'm posting I better put a picture of the girls up. They are all doing so well. Mckenna and Carly have started the army crawling. It is just like having large ants underfoot with all of them moving at once. Sometimes I just scream and then I feel better. But they really are sweet girls--especially when they are asleep. Haha...
Here are my four fav. people in the whole world. L to R: Carly, Mckenna, Madison (and Kyle if you didn't guess which one he is)

L to R: Mckenna, Madison, Carly- So angelic...but I only had a moment to capture this...

Before this happened...

New House Color!

So, we have needed to paint our house for a few years now- it's looking faded. We were going to do it last summer but we all know what happened last summer. So that put our plans on hold until this spring. Last week, Kyle's mom came over to watch the girls, Kyle took the week off from work and we painted like mad! We painted the whole house in four days. That's silliness since two of the days were overcast and rainy or windy but we needed to get it done. We painted it yellow! I have always wanted a yellow house. Good grief, if my name is Sunny, I deserve a yellow house right? I think it turned out well don't you? I do know that I did not love painting it and I hope that we don't have to paint the outside of a house for a long time to come. I love painting interiors (walls, furniture, etc) but I did not love outside painting. Maybe if it would have been warmer it wouldn't have been so bad.

Then after the house was painted Kyle went with my dad and brothers up to Coeur d' Alene for a boys weekend of golf. Lucky him huh? Good thing he has a nice wife. My mom came over and watched the girls with me while they are gone.

But this weekend, I am going to be all alone with the girls and no lifelines to help. Kyle is going on a business trip to Tennessee Saturday through Wednesday. Ahhh! Hopefully he finds us all alive when he gets back! Just kidding, it shouldn't be too bad. The only thing that makes we a little claustrophobic is that I can't leave the house, even at night. I guess I can with them but that we be crazy. I only attempt that with doctor's appointments. Anyway, pictures of the house...
Before: When we first moved in Fall 2005. We did paint the eaves and garage door to look like...

This before (a week ago): I HATED the terra cotta brick for five years so I stained it red/brown and we changed the whole body, door, repainted trim to white and eaves to black.

After: Ahh... I feel so much better with the new colors. I can't help it that yellow, black and white are my favorite combination.

Side view...

And painted and made my own street number. The house feels so much happier now...