The Finished Product

I had meant to take before pictures of everything, but that didn't happen. I did post some after our 1st home study in 2007 so that will give you an idea.


In the kitchen we painted all the cabinet fixtures, furnace vents and one of the door knobs just to see how they would turn out. It actually went really good until we put the first clear coating some of them. I would definitely do it again, but make sure to put the clear coat on very very lightly. I am going to finish all the doorknobs eventually. Right now the cold weather is messing with my spray painting plans.

Does anyone else have that much crap on their fridge?  I had a great aunt who covered every inch of her fridge with magnents and I hated it.  I swore I would never even own a magnet.  Then I had kids and my friends and family had kids....now I have a ton of magnets (since that is what Jay collects on our vacations) holding up a ton of pictures of my kids and other kids who are special to us.  If you ever wonder what happens to the picture Christmas card you send us it goes on our fridge until we get a new one the next year.  I'm glad that is one thing I relaxed on as I got older and wiser :) 

I wish I had taken an in process picture of the hinge painting that went down on these cabinets.  I'm not going to sugar coat it - those hinges were the B***h piece of this whole project.  Every thing you ever do has that one part that makes you want to pull your hair out.  The hinges were that for me.  It took me hours and hours to tape off every hinge.  I do think the full effect was worth it, I'm just not sure I'd ever do it again.  Lots of kitchen cabinets are definitley a blessing...until that translates into 2 hinges per cabinet door.  That is a lot of taping to be done.   

 You've seen some pictures of the laundry room, but here it is a little more finished.  In keeping with my Fiesta colors I'm going to use red and creamy yellow accents in here.  Terry gave this to Jay a few years ago for Christmas - now it has the perfect home.

This picture makes this are look a little cluttered, but in real life it isn't.  When your back is pressed up against the washer you can't relaly get a good shot.  After discussing it with Charity last night, I think I will paint the baskets creamy yellow and put red ribbon around them.  I love to spray paint anything I can get my hands on :)

This is my spice cabinet.  I just have to throw it in because I'm proud of it.  I've searched for the perfect way to store my spices for years.  I finally found it.  This cabinet makes me so happy.

Our hall bathroom also got a makeover. It was supposed to have lighter colored tile, but they laid the darker and we didn't realize it until it was too late. Luckily for the people laying it we are easy going people! Actually I like the darker better than the lighter and Jay thought the whole time we were putting the same color everywhere so we let it go. But can you imagine the butt chewing those guys could've got???

We spray painted the towel and toilet paper holders and the brass light above the mirror oil rubbed bronze.  Same as the cabinet hardware.  The star used to be red but a little black spary paint changed the whole look of it.  I love it on my camel colored wall.  I even gave the barn on the counter a facelift by painting it a new color.  I love that barn and didn't want to get rid of it. 

Jay also replaced the sink and faucet.  I read that some people are brave and spray paint theirs.  I thought about it but since our sink was rusting and needed replaced we changed the faucet.

And my favorite part of the new bathroom... And that shelf used to be maroon.  Again, a cheap bottle of spray paint will change the look of almost anything.

Sweet bathtime pictures of Cade and Camryn.  I'm pretty impressed with Cade's picture.  Since it would be creepy to snap a picture of him in the shower now, I had to use an old one.  We didn't have a digital cameral then so this picture is a picture of a picture I took with my iPhone.  I thought it turned out really good.  I had them made into desktop plaques on Shutterfly.  That was a Pinterest idea. A lot of these things were Pinterest inspired. I've never been too in to it until we started this project so I was late to the game...which meant Jay was also behind. He said every time he mentioned his Pinterest projects to other men they would laugh at him. He could probably start an anti-Pinterestgroup for men. He would probably call it "Why Command Strips Won't Work for Everything"

Our project is pretty much done.  I'm still going to paint our bedroom and bathroom but I'm waiting a while for that....you know until things slow down (ha ha ha).  I'll post pictures of our bathroom tile when I get all of that done.  I'm sure Jay is glad because I started to tell him something the last day and it was about something unrelated to our project.  He said "I do not want to hear one more thing about Pinterest." 

House Sneak Peeks

Today is the first day I've sat down since last Friday. I am completely exhausted but the finished product was well worth it. Here are some peeks at my favorite things. I'll post actual pictures when I finally decide to get up from the couch and post some.

Here is the tile pre-grout

All of my sewing supplies ready an waiting for their new home to be moved in. Ignore my dish with my Healthy Choice container. I ate a lot of those the last 5 days.

The finished sewing cabinet project. I am so excited about this.

The laundry room with my Craigslist Buffet. Take that Lowes and your $1900 bid for cabinets.

The hall bathroom. Jay built a frame for the mirror and we repainted it. I love it.

Look what is coming to live with us....

Saturday Jay and Cade picked out a show pig. It is all I've heard about for days. Jay didn't have the waterer ready so it didn't get to come home with him Saturday. I think Jay is missing her because I've had to look at about 500 pictures of pigs on Facebook. He showed me one of a bunch of pigs nursing and said ours was in there. I'm not sure he showed off Cade or Camryn's baby pictures that much.

Last night, as I was in the middle of a mess due to our tiling project, he asked if my dad was coming to Cade's games Saturday. Since I had only found out about the tournament a few hours earlier I hadn't even told anyone yet. I asked why he was so concerned about it. He thought that dad could get a large pet taxi and bring the pig to us Saturday. I just went back to my organizing.

Cade is just as bad. His iPod is synced with mine so I now have a bunch of pig photos. Our pig is one in the first picture. I know I've been told 20 times which one she is but I don't remember. I sort of shut down on the pig talk when Jay brought up getting pig semen and AI'ing her at some point.

There will also be a 2nd pig because 2 pigs eat better than 1...it is still too small to bring home....

I may have to take off work during State FFA Convention. I'm not sure I'll have enough time to feed the pigs, cows and chickens that will be living with us at that point.

Red & White Day, Valentine's Box and Unrealistic Parenting Goals

More randomness….


Here is a picture of Cade and his Valentine’s Box. I was the one responsible for the box this year. It was supposed to be I took care of even years and Jay took care of odd. Last year when Jay asked me about a box I told him he did even and I did odd. I don’t consider it lying – It’s not my fault I was joking and he never caught on to it. But this year we got Cade’s Valentine’s early – Angry Birds and that gave me an idea for a box. I don’t mind the actual construction of the boxes it is trying to decide what to do that makes me crazy. Thanks to a few ideas on Pinterest and a walk into the pantry for inspiration…

Can you guess what inspired me???

And voila an Angry Birds box was born. I remember doing his first box and thinking 6 more to go. After I got this one done it hit me that we only had 1 more to do. If you want to get even more sentimental look at this post from his first Valentine’s Box.

Also today is Red & White day. He couldn’t find any of his Miller shirts so I gave him this one of mine. It really isn’t all that big on him.

And for the Unrealistic Parenting goals. I was browsing a new blog I discovered yesterday and the author had (in my mind) some unrealistic parenting goals. The one that stuck out was always using soft words with your children. It did make me think that NOOOOOO has been used very loudly and very frequently in our house for probably the last month. Maybe I should try to not yell that as much as I have been lately. Or not let things like Camryn digging through the trash and throwing the eggshells on the floor while I’m mixing up a meatloaf bother me as much….or when she is pouring my water on the floor and instead of putting it down when she sees me coming for her she hurries up and pours the rest out before I can get there…or as she is gnawing on my leather furniture and wood end tables and leaving baby teeth marks all over the house, etc. I decided yesterday I’d just go with the flow and try to not scream the exasperated NO! that I’ve been using for days on end.

That lasted until I had used a step ladder to climb on top of the vanity in our bathroom so I could tape around the light fixture. Camryn somehow got in the bathroom and was able to grab a bottle of Windex on the opposite side of the vanity. She would’ve sprayed it in her mouth before I could’ve climbed down from my perch, trying not to fall and break my neck while sweetley saying “put that down” . Instead I screamed “NO!!!”. That got the job done, she quickly dropped it and Jay also realized she was in there with me. Camryn didn’t swallow any Windex and Jay removed her from the bathroom.

A short time later I was on the same step ladder taping the hinges on the kitchen cabinets (I may devote a whole blog post on taping those hinges). I turned around to see that Camryn had climbed up in a kitchen chair and was pouring a glass of tea(sweet tea to be exact) on the table and Cade’s homework and in my purse. I’ll admit it now – there were no soft whispers of “lets not do that Camryn.” I started to scream No…but decided not to. It didn’t have anything to do with the mental health of my child– it was because she was holding one of my Fiesta glasses. I was afraid if I made any sudden moves or noises she would throw down my glass and break it. I will also admit that my Fiesta collection is about the only thing in the house that I would cry if it got broke. I got to her and got the glass out of her hand. Daddy also got involved in that mess – which involved a spanking. While I was wiping up the mess I was saying No, Camryn you can’t do that over and over.

Yeah, quiet parenting just isn’t going to work for me. But I’m not going to feel bad about it. I would like to know how the author of the blog handles a kid rubbing tooth paste on the footboard of her bed. Then when her husband steps in to the bathroom to wet a towel down to rub it off the child then uses the mother’s scarf (that she was wearing to work that day) as a towel on the toothpaste  It is almost impossible to not scream NO! as you lunge for your scarf.  Yes, the toothpaste story occurred Tuesday morning in our house. For any of you thinking you watch your children better than me you had better watch out. I used to think the same thing to. Then I had Camryn.



Pajamma Day and Camryn

Another random post.  I have no picture of Cade this morning because he did not participate in Pajamma Day for Spirit Week.  What a dumb, unoriginal day.  I could come up with hundreds of better ideas than that.  Why do we need to give people any more excuses to walk around in pajamma pants???  Jay and I always cringed when we saw Cade's class was participating in any sort of pajamma day.  Some days we just wouldn't tell him what it was.  Thankfully he's matured enough that he knows it is a dumb day.  In fact that was the first thing he said to Jay when he woke up this morning.  Not that Cade is any sort of GQ model or anything. I made him change his shirt twice today.  For some reason he thinks any kind of short sleeved shirt can go over any kind of long sleeved shirt.  I'm raising Sheldon Cooper.  Jay told me I was going to give him a complex.  I told him that I was going to teach the boy what can be worn together! 

Camryn and Jay made me laugh today.  Of course Jay would say I am completely wrong about this but we women know what I'm talking about.  You all know how men can't handle multi-tasking very well.  It is just the way they are made.  Camryn, since she is all girl, is already honing her multi-tasking skills.  This morning Jay was trying to dress her and she wanted her milk and she wanted Mickey Mouse and she was asking for that over and over.  Finally Jay said "One thing at a time!!  Right now I'm putting on your shirt."  I know how Camryn was feeling.  Jay and I are experiencing the same thing right now.  My head is swirling with everything I want to do in the kitchen and bathroom and I'm trying to talk to him about it.  I'll switch over to paint colors and he will still be trying to remember what day the tilers are coming. Jay's thinking one thing at a time....I'm thinking why can't you handle all of this at one time????  You know God has a sense of humor because why would He have made us so different? 

Spirit Week, Unexpected Bittersweetness and Chocolate

This post is somewhat random. First off today is Favorite Sports Team day. You can probably guess what Cade wore. He really doesn't look any different from a normal day, but I took a picture anyway. It struck me that he is growing up so much.

The 2nd thing is the unexpected bittersweetness (not sure that is even a word). I snapped the picture on our way into his eye doctor's officer this afternoon. Cade started seeing Dr A nine years ago. Our last visit was two years ago. When we walked into the waiting room it struck me how much Cade has changed since we were last here. He used to drive us crazy with all the toys in the waiting room. He would be mad if we didn't wait very long because that meant he didn't get to play with the toys. Today I realized how much he had outgrown the waiting room. But I quickly over my sadness. When we got into the exam room he still touched everything around the chair. He can not just sit without touching or kicking something. He gets that from his father. But it is comforting to know some things don't change.

And the chocolate part. Stacy said Camryn work up from her nap asking for chocolate yesterday. Stacy said she didn't have any but when Dan came home from work he had Girl Scout Cookies. That seemed to appease Camryn. I've always said her 4 major food groups are Paper, Plastic, Lotion and Anything in a squirt bottle...guess I should add a 5th- chocolate!!

Spirit Week-Duck Dynasty Day

Spirit Week is this week. It is going to be a week centered on creativity. Besides dressing up every day we also have to do a Valentines Box plus finish up the house for the tile next Monday. I'm armpit deep in DIY projects. I guess we like to do everything at once.

Here is Cade's version of Duck Dynasty, Jay even found an Uncle Si look alike cup.

The Singular Saga

Do you ever have that one little thing you do that you don’t think is going to be a big deal at all….and then it morphs into something much bigger and time consuming then you ever imagined? That’s been my last couple of days with a Singular refill for Camryn.


The original prescription was filled late the Saturday night after Christmas at a 24 hour Walgreens in Springfield. It was time for a refill and obviously having it at Walgreens was not convenient. Monday afternoon I dropped of the box at our local pharmacy and asked them to transfer it. When I got home that night there was a message to call the pharmacy about the prescription…..

My insurance will not pay for the type of Singular granules Hometown has. They needed to transfer it to another pharmacy. Since I had to pick up Camryn in Aurora I asked them to send it to Wal Mart there. They said Wal Mart would call me later to let me know if they had the type that my insurance would pay for. Then before we hung up they said as somewhat of an afterthought…..”Oh and Camryn’s Albuterol is ready.” What???? I said when was she prescribed that? When Jay took her to the doctor on the 24th (when I was sure we were getting breathing treatments and then didn’t) the doctor had called it in. The pharmacy didn’t have any and they didn’t tell me when I picked up her other prescriptions that they had to order the Albuterol. I was a little put out yesterday. I ended up having to call Camryn’s doctor to find out what was going on and to ask them to send the pharmacy a prescription for the nebulizer. The nurse then asked how Camryn was doing so I used that opportunity to explain how she had ran a fever all weekend. The nurse (who is awesome) said she would ask the doctor he if wanted to prescribe anything else. They called me back later in the day and Camryn would have a prescription for the nebulizer and another round of prednisone waiting for her.

Later in the afternoon I realized that I hadn’t heard from Wal-Mart. I called them and they did not have the prescription yet. I had to call Hometown. They had gotten busy and forgot about it. They sent it right over. Wal Mart called me back within a few minutes. They did not have the Singular but it was at their warehouse. They should have it by today, but even when they order things from the warehouse the warehouse sometimes won’t ship it. We aren’t talking about restocking the shelves with towels. This is medication and they sometimes don’t send it??? I’m supposed to call back after 2 today to see if they have the medicine. I still don’t have a clue if the insurance will cover it.

So on my way home I stopped by to pick up the Prednisone, Albuterol and the Nebulizer from Hometown. I got the meds, but once we started the paperwork on the Nebulizer we discovered they were considered out of network on my insurance. They were going to have to send the orders for the Nebulizer to a place in Monett….that closed at 4:30. So that all had to be taken care of today.

During the night Camryn woke up running (what we thought felt like) a low grade temp. Jay ended up staying home with her and we took her back to the doctor. Dr D actually thought she was improving and she didn’t have a temp in the office. It made me feel so much better knowing he thought she seemed better. Jay was then able to head to Monett and get the nebulizer.

But I still don’t know anything about the Singular….which is what started this whole long soap opera Monday afternoon. I may end up having Wal Mart transfer it back to Walgreens and run to Springfield tonight. I just had to laugh about the absurdity of yesterday.

Full Disclosure

Tonight’s post will either 1.  Make you feel so much better about yourself and the way you keep house because yours isn’t as bad as mine or 2.  Hopefully will make you feel like you aren’t alone.

The last few weeks around our house have been far from perfect.  I’m trying to paint and do other fix-ups to our house.  My family members aren’t cooperating with my plans because they keep getting sick!!!  It is very hard to change out shelf paper when you are seriously contemplating changing your little one’s name on her birth certificate to Typhoid Mary.  This has been a long winter in our household.  You know how about every other purchase in your checkbook in Wal-Mart?  Ours right now goes Dr D, Hometown, Dr. D, Hometown. 

I’ve been working on this shelf paper thing for a whole week.  I’m about to poke my eyes out.  When am I going to learn that when I think something will be easy it takes considerably longer than I originally estimate???  This weekend was going to be low key.  We were going to Cade’s game Saturday afternoon then Camryn and I were going to shop with my mom, sister and her kids after the game.  It was going to be fun…..

Saturday morning Camryn woke up about 4 and I put her in bed with us.  I thought she felt a touch warm.  I prayed I was wrong and tried to go back to sleep.  Two restless hours later is was clear she was running a pretty high fever.  Jay left before 8 to get a hair cut and work on the TV situation at our church for the Super Bowl party.  Sometime, before 10, he called to say the TV was not working and it looked like we were going to have to move the party to our house.  So I am surrounded by laundry and other home improvement messes, holding a hot baby and watching Mickey for the 5^th time that morning and he is telling me we are moving the party to our house.  Great.

Thankfully Sharon called about that time and she offered to watch Camryn for us yesterday.  I really didn’t feel bad about it because I knew Camryn would love Memo’s full attention and that way I could go to Cade’s game.  I also wanted to spend some time with my mom so I decided to go ahead with my shopping trip.  Bless Jay’s heart, he came home and worked on our house.

Jay had everything done but our kitchen when he went to get Camryn last night.  Then about 9 he called me with the best news ever.  Someone had gone up to the church and got the TV to work.  It looked like we had escaped the party.  Anyone who knows the situation I was in yesterday will understand what an absolute relief that was.  I can handle a lot but that really was a bit too much even for me. 

Camryn felt pretty cool most of the night so we thought she was on the mend…until about 4 am.  The fever was back.  It has been back and forth all day.  She swings back and forth from wanting to be held to dumping powder all over our hardwood floor….which made it like a sheet of ice.  I’m amazed no one has needed to go to the ER yet.  Thankfully I managed to grab the back of the chair before I went down.  The only thing that has kept her consistently happy is Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.  I love Mickey but going into hour 11 of it was about to push me over the edge.  I’m not even a football fan, but I was so relieved when she nodded off and I was able to turn on the Super Bowl. 

I’ve worked off and on all day on my cabinet project.  My kitchen is a disaster.  I’ve also tried to do some laundry but there hasn’t been a lot of time for that.  Then Cade started not feeling good this afternoon.  He was still insisting on going to the football game.  It would’ve been devastating to him to have stayed home so we loaded him up on Immodium and sent him anyway.  I figured that was Jay’s problem.  I had my hands full here keeping up with the remote so MMC would be on non-stop. 

So here are some scenes from my life today.  As you look at these pictures conjure up Mickey’s Voice saying “Come on Pluto” constantly. 

I’d work a little on my paper project then I’d stop and hold Camryn for awhile.  That made everything slow going.  It also doesn’t help that I hate contact paper.  It gives me a pull in the back of my neck.  That’s probably why I didn’t use it when we moved in 8 years ago.  But the end result is nice…..I’m using wrapping paper, which is 1000 times prettier than the regular shelf paper.  I’m holding it down with spray adhesive and then covering it with clear contact paper.  But all that stop and go made a huge mess…..

But I know my hard work will pay off.  This is the pantry.  It is the only put together spot in the whole house.  The only thing that kept me from locking myself in there today to get away from the rest of the mess was the fact there were Oreos in there.  I already seemed to be doing a lot of nervous eating.  I didn’t need to be that alone with the Oreos. 

This is my poor baby when she finally drifted off this evening.  I’m afraid my next two entries in the checkbook are going to be Dr. D…Hometown… And that isn't even taking into consideration Patient Zero at the Super Bowl party.  I have a feeling I'm not going to work tomorrow.  The big question will be who do I charge the sick time to....Camryn, Cade or even myself....is "Sick of Mickey" Or  "my house has drove me to brink of insanity" qualify as an actual illness???