A Sunny Playroom

When we looked at this house, we were at the stage of knowing we weren't going to find what we wanted... and we had settled into the idea of buying a "fixer upper". Mind you, this house was in great condition, it wouldn't really qualify as what most people would say a "fixer upper" was. It just was NOT what we wanted, but nothing in the area really was... but this house had the right "bones". The layout was fantastic, and the yard was huge and incredible! Right away we saw a LOT of potential for this home and we knew we could "fix it up" to be more what we had in mind. It was well under what we had originally planned on spending, and we had put away money for upgrades in the first house we were going to buy. So we knew we at least had a pretty good head start with fixing this place up.

This home, as is common in the area, has/had a sunroom. I am not really one to just go sit in a room just for the sheer fact that the room was meant to be "sat" in. The sunroom was RIGHT off the kitchen. Instantly I dubbed that room the play room, before we even put an offer on the house. It was perfect. The kids would be super close to me while I was cooking or cleaning, or pretty much anything. We had looked at a lot of homes that had the bonus room upstairs (above the garage) which would be awesome too, but I really like to have my kids (especially when they are young like this) really close to me.

One of the first things we did was painted the room a brighter, less masculine color. The next step was to replace the floor. The sunroom had a typical red sunroom tiled floor, and it was ugly... old... and just gross. We replaced the floor with a super nice laminate from Home Depot (I will be posting all about why I chose this floor and how we installed it ourselves very soon). The floor is pretty indestructible. The kids can drop toys, sippy cups, etc... and the floor is pretty unfazed. Not to mention how insanely easy it is to clean. To say I am in love with this floor is an understatement.

I can honestly say I am not completely settled with the decor in this play room... and I have a few ideas, but haven't settled on anything just yet. But here are the pictures of our current, warm and bright play room for our sweet little girls.

Here is the before:

Here is the after:

The sunlight that breaks into this room just brings more joy than my body can handle sometimes! 

Seriously... Look at that sunlight! I'm going to burst!

These pictures were not over exposed... there is just SO much light in here my camera almost didn't know what to do!

And is this floor not TOTALLY gorgeous!?

I'm smitten...

This is their reading tent where they snuggle up to Mr. Bear with books galore!

Every Toy room needs one of these...

Seriously! There is no rule that says you cannot regulate some of your children toys...

In fact... I find it helps me keep my sanity to organize the toys accordingly. On the very top shelf is where the arts and crafts and "messy" toys are. Aka.. bubbles.

The next shelf is also "messy", but not as bad - like puzzles, toys that need to be taken outside, chalk, balls, etc.

The next shelf is one they can reach easily. Their babies, barbies, purses, legos, etc...

and the bottom shelf is the "baby" shelf. These are were the little little kid toys are. For crawlers and toddlers. Lots of Melissa and Doug love there.

And what is a play room without their favorite stuffed animals.

I am ALL about storage and organization. But who says it can't be totally adorable. Thank you T.J. Maxx for these super cute baskets. Each basket is filled with specific toys and my kids (generally) know where they go. One is full of just princess figurines. One is full of hexicus pieces, the next is their "random" toys basket. There are two more rows of toys and books and baskets under here as well, all organized and separated. A basket for play food, a basket for the doll house toys, etc...

Like I said, I do not feel "completed" in this room yet and I am "toying" with a few ideas (see what I did there). 

But I can tell you this, we are LOVING this warm sunroom turned play room!

Easter Table

One of my favorite things about Holidays is decorating... well, that's pretty much just one of my favorite parts about everything. Some may say I'm a little crazy about my decorating, and they may be right, and that's ok.

This year I have been looking forward to Easter like CRAZY. Aside from being (tied for) my favorite Holiday, and the beautiful message we get to remember and celebrate of the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ - let's be real, aside from that, there is NO other reason to celebrate this season - I just absolutely love the colors, the flowers, the decorations, just all of it. Easter and Spring are just such happy and beautiful seasons that bring such hope and life into our lives.

I am usually a pretty "neutral" decorator. I love things to be bright and clean. But when it comes to Easter I am a sucker for light pink and gold **swoon**.

As I was saying, this year I have been extra excited to decorate. We are in a new house with so many fun remodel projects going on. One of the most exciting projects for me is our table. We made our own table (Blog post coming VERY soon on the DIY of our Farmhouse table). I have never had a "formal" dining room. In every apartment/townhouse and our first house, we have only had small eat in kitchens. Which was fine, it worked for our family just great, but I have been dreaming of this dining room practically my entire life, and now... I have it. I couldn't even wait to decorate for this weekend in my new dinning room, on my new gorgeous custom table. Literally... I practically stood by the table until the stain had dried, and then instantly started to decorate! :D

We are having Easter dinner for the first time EVER at my house tomorrow, and so I kinda freaked out (in a good way) that I got to decorate and it wouldn't be a "waste". I got almost everything at Hobby Lobby, with the exception of the small golden eggs I got at Kirkland's and the big pastel/gold speckled eggs at - of all places - Walmart. Feast your eyes on our Easter Feasting table... (see what I did there...) ........... anyway....

Here you go!

Happy Easter all you beautiful, beautiful people!

Being a Mom is hard... You are Enough

This is a question that is consistently on my mind. "Am I enough?"

I remember having a conversation with someone when I was pregnant with my first child. I mentioned that when I had the baby, I would no longer be working. This person was, quite frankly, in shock.

What - why - seriously - but just for a little while right...?

"No," I responded, "It will be a permanent change. I want to be a stay at home mom."

I cannot begin to tell you how difficult it was to listen to people tell me that I was going to get bored, that I was going to miss working, or worse, that eventually I would want to do something "important" again.

I had my my decision long ago, and I knew that it was what I was supposed to do. While some of these words hurt, they never confused me or changed my mind in anyway.

Why is it that in our day, and our society, it is frowned upon to be a stay at home mother? And increasingly more, to be a mother at all.

FRUMPY ----- LAZY ---- LET HERSELF GO --- HERMIT --- SHUT IN ---- UNMOTIVATED ---- WORTHLESS ---- UNIMPORTANT ----

Whether we say them to ourselves, or they are said to or about us, these words cut deep, and are long lasting.

In contrast, a few months ago I was talking to a sweet woman at the local gym. She asked me what I do, and I responded "I'm just a stay at home mom". OH my word did she stop me in my tracks when she returned with "NO, you are NOT "just" a stay at home mom! Don't ever use the word "just" when telling someone what you do. Take pride in knowing you are doing the most important work there is". It was all I could do to not just break down into tears right then and there in the middle of the gym.

I do this a lot. I throw the word "just" in there, afraid that I am not enough, that I'm not living up to my "full potential" or that I am somehow less than other women who seem to be able to do it all, have their own business, work inside or outside them home, and still end up somehow to be supermom at the end of the day, sewing, making fresh bread and 100 cupcakes for the bake sale. Unfortunately for us "Just SAHM" types, social media would have us believe that these women seem to take care of everything so easily and perfectly.

There are a lot of different reasons and scenarios out there that would have you feel poorly about your situation, or make you feel like you are "just" this or "just" that.

A few months ago I had what one would call a "minor" breakdown. I remember after an unbelievably frustrating morning of cleaning up the same toys 15 times, vacuuming up gold fish crackers that had just been "rain danced on" in the carpet, and fighting with my kids to eat their breakfast, and no... marshmallows are NOT A FRUIT... There seemed to be an overflow of tears that morning, and everything that could destroy a 4 year olds world was crashing down on her... after all... the episode of Doc McStuffins she wanted to watch wasn't on, and I couldn't magically make it appear, so naturally the only conclusion was that the world was ending.

I put the girls down for naps/quiet time, went in my room and cried... I cried for over an hour, wondering how my life got to this point. When did I suddenly become a glorified maid/daycare provider.

I remember that night, getting ready for bed, I couldn't even look in the mirror while brushing my teeth, I didn't want to see myself, that person... whoever she was, I didn't want to look at her - look her in the eyes.

I was in a slump for a while, a couple weeks went by and I couldn't shake the feeling that I was, well... a "loser". I didn't get out of my pajamas for days, and I cried at the slightest things. (My poor husband was grasping at straws trying to make me feel better).

Then the thought came to me - did I not want to be a mother? Sadness was quickly replaced with guilt and anger at myself for even thinking such a heinous thing. There was nothing more important to me than my children.

I prayed so hard the next week or so that I could be first of all, forgiven for whatever heartache I was causing those around me, and for just being straight up impossible to live with. Then I prayed that I could be given the answers that I needed. I needed to know what to do in order to feel better.

General Conference came, and I listened more intensely that I ever remember listening before. When Elder Holland got up, I remember feeling impressed that I needed to pay very close attention to what he had to say. He always knocks it out of the park, but for some reason, I was especially drawn to him that day. We were at a friends house, with children running around and people talking, but I remember it like it was yesterday, as though everyone was gone, everything had just disappeared, and it was just he and I, alone in a dark room talking. I felt as though he looked right at me, right into my soul and said, “Thank you. Thank you for giving birth, for shaping souls, for forming character, and for demonstrating the pure love of Christ.”...“Thank you for your crucial role in fulfilling the purposes of eternity.” ...".You are doing better than you think you are".

I have hesitated for some time in sharing this experience, but today I felt the urgency to do so. Since that experience, I have looked at my role as a mother differently. I have felt more passion in the "mundane" day to day tasks, and the importance in being my children's mother. I am at times, able to see myself through their eyes, and am constantly reminded that, while the world my look down on what I do, My Father in Heaven, and my sweet daughters would have it no other way.

I want to say to all you mothers who are struggling, you are enough, and you are doing better thank you know! There is nothing more powerful than the love of a mother. If you don't believe me, look into the eyes of your child then next time they say "I love you", or notice how often they look at you throughout the day for YOUR assurance to them.

As mother's we have the day to day jobs of doing laundry, dishes, cleaning up toys, making dinner, etc... but our real job is, to nurture, to teach, to lead, but most importantly to love our children. We have been blessed and entrusted with God's children. We get the most precious blessing of holding them in our arms, and chasing them around our homes. I know our Heavenly Father misses them, and how lucky I am to be blessed to be the mother of two of His choicest spirits.

Motherhood is hard... it is brutal. It is often Thankless, and demanding. But I echo the words of Elder Holland when he said, "Today I declare from this pulpit what has been said here before: that no love in mortality comes closer to approximating the pure love of Jesus Christ than the selfless love a devoted mother has for her child."

I urge and encourage each of you to read or listen to this talk, especially if you are struggling (I have this talk saved on my phone for those especially rough days, and without fail, these words calm me, and strengthen me each and every time I listen to them).

We are enough, we are MORE than enough. We are mothers.

A mother is she who can take the place of all others but whose place no one else can take. — Cardinal Mermillod

Painting Cabinets (without sanding!)

Painting Cabinets...

To start off I want to just say... THIS IS NO BIG DEAL. In all honesty I was terrified to paint my cabinets. So much so that I didn't do it at all in my last home, even though I hated my cabinets, because I was simply too afraid to even try it. I will tell you right now, if you are afraid... don't be. It's seriously no big deal, at least not the route we chose to go.

I knew I didn't want this to be a 3 week project. I am a "finisher". I absolutely loath starting projects and having them go unfitted for weeks, months or even years. If you start a project in this home, you better be fully committed to finishing it as quickly as you can.

I finally set my fear aside when the loathing I had for my cabinetry outweighed it, ten fold.

Like I said. I did NOT want this to be a drawn out process that took over my entire house/life for weeks on end while my children were banished from the very center of our home. I found the most incredible primer ever. It is called Gripper from Home Depot. The kind gentleman in the paint section promised me this was THE stuff to use, and I wouldn't haven't to sand my cabinets (you still can if you are so certain it must be done, but I'm here to tell you... with this stuff... it most certainly isn't necessary).

We started with our Kitchen, because why practice on a bathroom when you can go all in kamikaze style on the focus of your home. Once I got up the courage I literally just started taking the doors off the hinges. My husband walked in and was like... Okay... this is happening! (It's a good thing he likes me so much!)

The one thing I will tell you about prepping to paint cabinets is CLEAN THEM... clean them really really well. We used a straight blade to take off any "gross" deposits from the previous owners.... you don't even want to know...

Once they are cleaned and DRY then you can begin by priming them. Make SURE your primer is done as smoothly and evenly as possible. This is where your paint is going to be adhering to, so you want as smooth of a finish as possible. One other thing to note is that, primer is ugly, it just is. So don't freak out when you are priming that your cabinets will be hideous and this crazy Kelsie girl led you astray and now your house is going to be SO UGLY... calm down... deep breath, you're good girl! Primer is just ugly.

Gripper also dries insanely fast, so don't dilly dally... get er done! I used a small paint brush on the inside crevices of the doors and any small spaces that a roller just couldn't get to , and then I used my favorite high density small foam roller for the rest, it doesn't leave a texture like a regular wall roller does.

Now... the paint. I have said it before, you get what you pay for. If you are wanting beautiful DIY cabinets, you are going to need the best paint. I highly recommend not using just any paint. I wanted the best finish possible for my cabinets, so I went with Benjamin Moore Advance. It is a self leveling paint (you read that right... self leveling) and is an enamel paint so it dries hard and beautiful, just like a cabinet should look. It gives a gorgeous finished and polished look. I used Benjamin Moore Advance, in "White Down" for my kitchen and guest bathroom. and Benjamin Moore Advance in "Pure White" on the other two bathrooms.

Apply this generously. I learned that the more lovingly and thicker it is applied the better the end result is. Don't try to squeeze every last drop out of the roller. You aren't painting a closet here, you are painting a statement piece, GIVE IT LOVE. Don't just pour the paint out... but definitely put it on thick and evenly.

I let them dry over night before I attempted to hang them back up and put it all back together.

In the morning, they didn't look "finished" but I hang them up anyway. I have learned (after doing an entire kitchen, and 3 bathrooms) it is easier to get that "finishing touch" done when they are hanging up, you can get every last nook and cranny while they are hanging that you can't get as well when they are laying flat. Like the edges, those are difficult to get when they are on the ground or wherever, So I like to finish the job while they are hanging up.

I am SO in love with the finished product in all of the rooms we have done. I do think however, I will be going back in the next few weeks and giving them an "extra" seal with a high traffic crystal clear polyurethane. Just to make sure they are long lasting, and make me less anxious when my kids run at them with toys, or forks, or anything really.

I hope I covered enough here to help you with your - not so scary - project. I am MORE than happy to answer any questions. Please just leave a comment below if you have anything you need answered! And most importantly... HAVE FUN!!! It really is so much fun to do these projects and see your visions come to life in your home, plus it's really fun to be able to say... we did that! We made our home beautiful!

Kitchen Before

Kitchen After

Powder Room/Guest Bath

Kids Bathroom

Master Bath Vanity

HAVE FUN! XOXO