An old hutch finds a home

At the beginning of the summer, my mom mentioned the my Great Aunt was moving and had a couple of items in her home, that I might be interested in. We had just unpacked from moving, and the last thing I wanted to deal with was finding room for more items in already small house.

Fast forward to the the beginning of July and my Dad asked if Adam & I would be interested in helping him move a couple of the last items in her house. We walked in her garage and I knew instantly that I could make room for the hutch, which happened to be one of the items my mom thought I would be interested in.

This old white hutch would look perfect in our kitchen. We have a very spacious kitchen, or at least eating area. There is a whole area of the the kitchen that I had no idea what to do. I didn't want to buy anything for the space, especially since I knew we wouldn't be here long term. Since we have a lot less cabinet space and pantry space than we have had in the past, I knew the hutch would look great against one of the walls and provide extra showcase and storage space that I have been wanting.

 It had been painted white, which isn't really a problem, but it looked a little too polished for me. Nothing a little sanding couldn't do. This is the hutch before.

 And this is the hutch after. You can't really tell, but I roughed up the edges a bit. It must have had several coats of the white paint, because even with an electric sander, it was still a pain. Note that I took away the drawers to add more room and open it up a bit.

Here it is against the wall that I had no idea what to do with. I love the red mixed with the turquoise margarita glasses. Just a little pop of color.

Pinterest Project

I adore Pinterest! There are so many great recipes, decorating tips, clothes, and other cool things to look through. It's funny, because Adam asks almost every night what cool thing I found on Pinterest. After going to Pinot's Palette a few weeks back, I decided to get back into painting. When I was younger, anything dealing with art was one of my favorite hobby's. I sketched, colored, and most of my free time was spent doing art. My parents took note and signed me up for private paint lessons. I learned so much and loved every bit of it.

Most of the decor hung on our walls are pictures. I don't mind it, but I wanted to spice things up a bit. I started looking on Pinterest and came across some ideas for my wall decor for the house. I showed Adam each one and asked for his opinion. I wanted to start off with something fairly easy, since it has been awhile. I came across this and thought it would look great in our living room.

I spent a Saturday morning at Hobby Lobby picking up the needed supplies. I already had the paint brushes, but needed everything else. My plan was to start it that night, but the same night, I was hit by the stomach bug. A few days later when I was feeling much better, I started the project during the kids nap time.

 Step 1 took about 2 hours. Thankfully, acryllic paint dries pretty quickly.

 Step 2 was a bit harder. Trying to line up the branches perfectly was very detailed. The branches were supposed to get smaller as they spread out. Notice the green canvas? It has a thick branch. Thankfully, I knew I could cover it up with Step 3.

All done! It's not exactly like the painting, but close. I actually like it a little better. We have yet to hang it, but hope to this week.

Family time in pictures

In between the stomach bug and the Mooney's visit, we had some fun family time.

Mason & Peyton

Mason & Peyton have a special bond. They absolutely adore each other, which is evident in this video.

The Cardboard Diet Week 7

I have been absent for awhile from the blog world and missed weeks 4-6 due to out of town guests, and the dreadful stomach bug.

I just wanted to reiterate that this isn't really a diet. LFT came up with this great idea and you can learn more about it here. I'm participating because I feel like you are able to accomplish your goals when you have others hold you accountable. This is the perfect place to do so, especially since you are sharing your struggles and achievements with everyone else. You can read about everyone else's journey here.
My goal is two-part: I am training for a half marathon in October and want to cross the finish line. I don't care if I'm fast, I just want to finish. Second, when I take care of myself, I'm happier. That means eating foods that provide great nutrition for my body, which enhance my training. All of this eventually leads me to losing the last 30lbs that I would like to loose off of my 5'8" frame. By incorporating healthy habits into my life and continuing to make the right choices for my body, I'm overall a happier person. I don't expect this to happen overnight, but I promise myself that this will happen!

Weigh In: At the beginning of last week, I had a stomach bug, which led me to lose 5 lbs in a about 2 days. Not what I recommend. After my body getting back to normal, I'm still the same weight I was weeks 3 & 4.

Exercise Completed: My training took a short hiatus due to being sick. Slowly getting back into the swing of things. Race day is Oct. 27th.
Splurge/Guilty Pleasure:  We had a dinner party last Friday night and served Steaks, Baked Potatoes, Salad and Strawberry Shortcake for dessert.
Success Story: Building up my endurance and still being able to run the pace and distance I want after being sick.

Recipes: None this week. Sorry!
Photos:Sorry again, no photos this week.

The Mooney's Visit

When we lived in California, we met the Mooney's. They quickly took us in and we became the best of friends. Last summer, they flew down to Fort Worth and spent a week with us. Marissa and some of my other favorite California girls flew down three weeks after Peyton was born for some much needed girl time. I am truly blessed!

This summer, we were supposed to head up to Bakersfield to visit the Mooney's, but due to Adam switching jobs, we knew it wouldn't be possible. I was talking to Marissa in May and she told me that her and Ray decided to take a road trip down this summer to visit our family. I was floored by their love and so excited. It was exactly what I needed.

After a couple days of driving over 1500 miles, they reached our house on a Wednesday evening. The kids were so excited to see each other. Our current home is much smaller than our last, so we knew it would be tight quarters. Mason gave up his room, so Ray & Marissa could have his bed. Braden and Luke also slept in Mason's room with their parents. Madison and Taylor slept in her bed, while Peyton slept in her crib and Mason was on the floor in Taylor & Peyton's room.

We decided that the ladies would have a girls night, and the guys would have a guys night during the visit. Adam suggested we try out Pinot's Palette. If you haven't heard about this place, each night they feature a different painting and you sign up for whatever night hosts the painting you wish to paint. You bring your own appetizers, wine, cocktails or drink of choice. I used to paint when I was younger, so Adam was speaking right to my heart. I have been wanting to try this out for awhile and was thrilled that Marissa and I could do it together. We had the best time and I can't wait to sign up for another class.

 Step 1

 Step 2

 Step 3

 Marissa & I with our finished paintings

My finished painting

The guys chose to go see the new Batman movie. Originally they had tickets for a late night showing, but when they realized the movie was almost 3 hours long, they opted to sneak into an earlier showing. Of course, guys don't take pictures like the ladies, so we don't have anything to show for their male bonding time.

Over all, it was a fantastic five days with the Mooney's. It was so hard to say goodbye. Peyton and Taylor loved Uncle Ray and it's crazy to think that next summer, Peyton will be running around and have changed so much. I tried to hold back tears as we said our goodbyes, but couldn't help it. We just love that family so much. 

 Luke & Taylor

 They took all the blankets and pillows and built a fort at the kitchen table.

 Taylor, Braden and Mason making silly faces in the fort.

 Luke, Madison, Taylor, Braden and Mason on the couch for movie night. The guys were in charge of all the kids on Girl's night.

 Little Pirates

 Since it was hot, we headed to Memorial City Mall for some play time at the "Green Castle"

 Frozen Yogurt to cool you down.

 Swimming

Another one bites the dust

Remember how last week I said I would get around to posting pictures, well this week I will finally get around to it. Little Miss Peyton was struck down yesterday with the icky stomach bug. I thought for sure that since a week had passed since the last victim, that we were in the clear. I mean, I cleaned my house and every single toy the kids have.

As I fed Peyton breakfast yesterday, I noticed she wasn't all that hungry. She didn't even touch her bagel, which is her new obsession. Since she received 4 teeth all in one week about two weeks ago, I assumed she was getting another tooth and sucked it up to that. As we went to sit down in the living room, she threw up all over herself, me, and the floor. Thank goodness our living floor is tile. It made clean up yesterday much easier and less smelly. Poor girl got sick way more than Mason or I. Our normal wiggle worm, just wanted to sit in my lap and sleep all day yesterday. Normally, she can't sit still. I hated the circumstances, but loved every minute of the cuddle time.

She was able to take a bottle last night and keep it down. This morning, she is in a better mood, but still not back to her normal spunky self. One bottle down and a little bit of rice cereal. Hoping tomorrow is much better. This is the picture I took of her sleeping on me yesterday.