Cabinet Reveal

I am finally getting around to posting about my cabinets. In my old house I thought many times about repainting my cabinets but reading blogs about how difficult it was always stopped me. When I started painting these ones at the new house I was determined to have a different tune to sing to all my viewers, telling the blogging world that it really wasn't that bad to do my cabinets. After 4 weeks of painting and feeling like giving up hundreds of times, I am sad to say that painting cabinets IS NOT easy. I do feel like I had no other choice and these cabinets were nothing to write home about to begin with, so I could really do anything and they would have been improved.
I do have some tips that I will try to follow when I do my bathroom cabinets and those are...
1- get good paint, do your research and find some that will not require 6 coats (which mine did, no exaggeration)
2 - polyacrilic the outside, I did do this and I just love that it gives it a resistant finish
3 - take the doors and hardware off to paint them. It's just easier, I tried both ways and off is much faster.
So here we go, with the before and after pics.

This is what the house looked like the day we moved in. I will be honest, I did wonder if we made the right choice when I walked through this kitchen.

This is how the floor was left when they pulled out their fridge. I was so disgusted, I took a picture because I wanted to remember how much work this house really took.

First step: Pop out the existing inserts, I want beadboard instead. Now "pop out" makes this steap sound really easy, this was the most physical part of the whole project, countless nights I went home with bloody knuckles because it was so difficult. Then I got smarter and started wearing gloves.

Step 2: take off all the cabinet doors, and start priming

I wanted beadboard around the island. The day that I brought it over to put it in before the flooring went in, the flooring guy happened to be there, and installed it for me. SO NICE!

Step 3: paint the drawers. I got antsy and wanted to see something finished so I went and installed all the hardware on the drawers before the cabinets were done. Lots of math and measuring was used for the hardware, it felt so good to put hardware on, and it's amazing the difference it makes.Step 4: install beadboard. We did this at my husbands work, they have a giant saw and got them all cut and stapled in, in less then an hour.At this point, I was sick of having my kitchen in ruins, by now we had moved in, and cooking was difficult to have my kitchen chaotic. So we hung them up and I thought I would paint them hanging. Which I did but I wouldn't recommend it, it took forever. The last and final coat I took them down and it was so much faster, I should have done that from the beginning but oh well.The final reveal!!! You also get to see our new flooring in these pics, which I just love, and no we did not do that ourselves.
This pic shows the new lights we installed also. The beginning photos show the old lights that had to come down.

So so so very much....

The title to this post is how I feel when I think how much I must do to catch up on this blog up, so I will try and make it brief, but just too be clear so very much has changed.

The day after I took this photo (1st day of school)

Jaya chopped her hair, and changed to this... she donated it to locks of love

Darrin grew a beard and ran his hardest race to date. Imogene Pass Run, here is a brief description The Imogene Pass Run (IPR) is a 17.1 mile point-to-point mountain race within the western San Juan mountains of Colorado, run along a route which connects the towns of Ouray (7810 ft.) and Telluride (8750 ft.) by way of 13,114 foot Imogene Pass.

Did you catch that? it's an elevation climb of over 5,000 feet! Crazy guy, but he finished and felt really good about it, not so much that he would do it again, but at least he was walking.

One of the next biggest changes is we said goodbye to the only home my 3 girls have known, sure Jaya and Baylie have lived other places, but the morning of the day we moved, I was laying in bed with Baylie and I asked her if she remembered our last house, which she was two when we lived there, and she said no. She didn't remember any of it. It was a bittersweet parting, it was certainly time to stretch our wings and spread out a bit but it's been a wonderful home, we had a wonderful church group, and we just loved the town, but it was time.

So here is our new house! Doesn't look like much and when we first moved in it really wasn't much, but we have been neck deep in renovations and when we are done, and even now we have really made a huge transformation to the place. I can't wait to show more pics, but I really do have to finish the cabinets and then I will post photos.

Here is a picture of a tree in the backyard, the yard is the real reason I bought the house, and this fall has been gorgeous!

Another year has begun

School has started, I've got a 3rd grader, 1st grader and a preschooler. One is left at home...seriously what will I do with myself? I am excited for the chance to have my little buddy around and get some good boy time.

The world's best...

HUSBAND, FATHER, MAN

TRUE STORY...I LOVE YOU DARRIN

To be TWO...

My new little two year old,

I may have told you this before but for every birthday for about 4 years before you were born, every time i made a wish before I blew out my candles it was for a little boy to join our family. Sisters were born before you, but you have finally made your way to our family. We are so blessed to have had you for these last two years. You are so full of personality.

I have never met a bigger copycat, you copy everything you see others do. From diving into the pool to wearing Eden's high heels. We often stress over and over again to the girls that you are always watching and they have to be your good example, which most of the time they are.

You love to yell, maybe it's because you are the 4th child and must raise your voice to be heard I am not sure, but you sure do have volume. You share a room with Eden and every morning you wake her up (and the rest of us) by yelling.
Your vocabulary is growing and growing, we are still laughing about the time you said "I got this."

You love to play with your sisters and you don't really care what it is they are doing as long as they are including you. You chase GraCie (the chicken) all over the yard and have just recently been getting in her pen, which really freaks her out. You love to swim, although you are too small to get in the big pool, but you don't seem to mind the baby pool.

You have been going to nursery at church for about 6 months now, and you cry every time I drop you off, but then as soon as I shut the door you start playing. You love to be held and cuddled (which I love). You give great hugs and even good sloppy kisses. I have often seen you from your window blowing me kisses as I drive away, most often as you are crying.

I look forward to so many more years with you, I just know we are going to have so much fun. You are going to be an amazing person.

I love you, thank you for picking me to be your mom.

Love,

Mom

Meet GrayCie

This is GrayCie and she is our chicken.


For several months, maybe even close to a year now, I have had it in my head that all in the world will be right if only our family got a chicken. I love that they lay eggs, we are big egg eating people, and they seem low maintenance, not really a tested theory before I got one, but has proved to be true.
Here is the story of how our lives were blessed by Miss GrayCie...
Jet was a small chick that grew up with a wonderful family called the Stegelemeirs. Now as time passed and Jet grew, so did her sisters. The Stegelemeirs started seeing the blessings of eggs and decided that the next Spring they would get more chicks. Well as most chicken people know (I did not) you can't bring in baby chicks with the older chickens. So Jet's time at the Stegelemeirs came to an end and she was lovingly adopted by another caring family the Dare's.
Sadly though, the Dare's already had their own chickens and Jet was not accepted, something we like to call the Pecking Order is a true thing, and Jet began to be pecked. The Dare children renamed Jet to Baldee, because before long the other chickens had pecked her bald. One day Papa Dare woke up to find Baldee laying lifeless in the cage, the thought that she had finally meet her demise crossed his mind and he grabbed a bag as he went to check on her. But a fascinating thing happened a miracle of events so too speak, and Baldee was not dead, simply playing dead, so she could avoid further persecution. The Dares did the only thing they could and let her roam free in their backyard. Knowing this could not work for long, they decided to find a new loving home for Baldee, and the Case Family eagerly accepted. They did not have a coop, food or a roost but they did have love in their hearts.
After a couple of different names, Mama Case decided that it had to be a girl name, Scooter just seemed too boy, and the Case Children, decided on GrayCie because she is Gray. She now roams the yard of the Case family, she is happy and starting to heal from her head wound. A coop is being built but in the meantime, little boy Case will happily chase her around the yard. Just as I suspected all is right in the world, and the Case family live cluckily ever after. The End.

Soccer Star

I DID IT! This year I really did enforce the rule that each child gets to do one sport at a time. It's hard to actually make this happen, because my kids want to be involved in everything, but with 3 kids in things it's just too much. So our little Baylie choose soccer. I was so happy, I just love soccer, I love to watch my kids play, I love to practice with them too, it's just all around a good active sport.
We always have the incentive that if you score a goal in a game we all get ice cream and fortunately Baylie did score in her 2nd to last game and we got our favorite...Maverik frozen yogurt.
After her soccer party, when she got her trophy, we were walking back to the car and she said "I love soccer mom, I want to play again" being suspicious of the motive I asked her why she liked it, her reply..."because I got a trophy" I had to laugh because my friend Celeste, who threw and organized the end of season party did it solely so that her daughter could get a trophy, I guess trophies really do mean a lot to kids.

A Special Thanks

THANK YOU is not sufficient enough for the wonderful teachers that have taught and loved my girls through the year, but it will have to suffice...Thank You to Mrs Dirst and Mrs Reid (Baylie's Teachers) Miss Lind and Mrs Tate (Jaya's Teachers)

Friday was the last day of school, YIPEE, while all things must come to an end I must say this was one of the more emotional ends for some of us Cases. For some reason as I dropped Baylie off in the afternoon for her last day of Kindergarten, which is half day, it just hit me that next year I won't see her all day. Some may think, my goodness Darcy that is a whole Summer away from happening, which is true, but I will miss my Baylie so much. Having her home in the mornings and Jaya gone, has been such a different dynamic in our family. It was WONDERFUL to get to know Baylie a little better and I discovered what an amazing asset she is. She helps tremendously and will often do what I ask the first time. She is a natural organizer and cleaner, what a blessing to have her around.

After school when I picked up both girls, Jaya had a red puffy face, I asked her what was wrong and she said "I am just sad that I won't be in 2nd grade anymore." So I told her, "Well go back and you can stay in 2nd grade forever!" Really we went back, but it was only because I didn't get pictures. Jaya got to say her final goodbyes and I told her all things come to an end, and I have most often found when something ends, something greater begins, even though it is hard. I love my girls.

JOY School graduates

Another year of Joy School has come to an end. (I taught Baylie 2 years ago). I had my hesitations teaching this year, mainly because it's a lot of work, but this year was great! I think the fact that I wasn't 9 months pregnant by the end of the school year helped, but really the year flew by. The things I LOVE about teaching Joy School are...I get to know my child on a social level...I get to know my children's friends...It forces me to plan and teach my children (I wish force wasn't involved but it most often present)...I always learn more about MY friends and admire each one of them for different reasons. Thanks Mindy, Amy, Celeste and Lisa for being dedicated, creative, loving, patient mothers, you are AMAZING!!!

Future Olympian?

Better than TV?

Who knew that the purchase of our front loader washer and dryer (which I am ecstatic about) would go over so well with the kids too? This was not staged... Eden pulled up a chair on her own and just sat and watched, she was soon joined by the others, but they didn't have chairs so they didn't stay as long.

Never too late for Easter

Easter morning...

I love that Baylie has her jelly beans
organized by color, this is just like her.



Jaya was a little bummed that the Easter bunny brought the pet shop to
Baylie, but Baylie was kind and gave her the sticker which she has been
collecting to get a FREE pet shop.


Kale was just happy to get SUGAR, in whatever form it was.