Once Over Dust, Twice Over Rust

This was my motto today and all my fellow vets reading my post will totally understand my "lingo." :) This is something Navy folk become accustomed to on the ship. As we don our paintbrushes just after "chow" (breakfast), making our way through the "starboard break" (smoking section) and back to the "head" (restroom) we find ourselves slaves to the paint buckets. My very first time hanging off the side of the USS Whidbey Island on a short swing hung right over the rail with nothing but "line" (rope) and a 2x4 had me second guessing if that was what I had actually signed up for.. apparently I did. With a "greenie weenie" (Flat SOS pad, type green :)) in one hand, a paint brush in the other I proceeded to follow the rule all the while singing softly the omen..Once over dust, twice over rust.. the only problem with this is I had to start at the port hole and there was water dripping out of it, and each time the water met the steel, it created rust.. it was neverending.. wipe rust off, paint, water..rust.. wipe rust off, paint.. and it kept on until the nice gentlemen keeping watch of my handmade swing began to giggle.. I apparently was under initiation and they were not laughing with me at that point.. Being the only female in a division of all Boatswain's mate sent me home crying to Josh, luckily he was a boatswains mate at that point too, and more motivated for him to show this young sailor the tricks of the trade.. *the rest is history* and it wasn't long before I got to sit at the same table with the big boys! Thanks to JOSH!! My sweet saving grace at 18! :)LOL

So, now that you get my point.. and what I may or may not have been doing today..I had the Navy on the brain the whole time. :) I did get my hallway, bathroom, and shower room painted out.. trim and all. Josh fixed the 2nd sink.. so if you ever come to visit, there are 2 working sinks in the guest bath!! WOO HOO annnnnnd.....we got our brand new Kenmore dishwasher installed. it is a gem that was delivered last week compliments of our Home Warranty.. I was sooo excited..I waited all day to load it all at once and it is only half full!! I love love love it!

That's all for one Saturday, tomorrow is church and more painting.. Have a great week!

xoxox

Kitchen Project Progress

I really wanted the opportunity to post a quick update on the progress we are making with our kitchen.. It really opens it up and I am ecstatic about how this is turning out! In the pictures below, you will see how it is coming along. The white subway tiles open up the space even more and really allow the galley style kitchen to shine...

We hope to have this project completed by the end of this week!

xoxoxo

In Progress

This morning I woke up to the sweet thought of home projects. I am especially partial to them lately and am having a blast with Josh getting them accomplished.. It's almost like one day we made this mental list of everything that needed to be done and one by one the tasks are falling off the list and we are closer and closer to the finished product. I have to say that throughout this process so far, God has been so gracious and even the minor details like getting a counter top for $60 has proven to be a blessing for us. I think some of our hesitation on moving forward with finishing up some of the undone details of our home remodel has been due to thinking it would be way too expensive...

Anyways, I am incredibly excited about my new kitchen so far, Josh has worked his hiney off today and so have I, cleaning out Caleb and Ella's clothes closets and sorting for my GIANT garage sale I will have in fall.. Little by little junk stacks up and I just don't get it.. It's so funny because Josh and I always talk about the next place we will get and this will continue to be discussed until one day we win the Texas Two Step or Mega Millions and build a 3 story mansion in the hill country on a 1000 acres and live watching the cows, making crafts and hitting up the outlets every now and then. ;) But, in our next place, we are going to really take our time putting everything together as far as decor. .. I know I mentioned in my post yesterday that I am really taken by the Spanish style. The other style that is near and dear to my heart is Tuscany of course.. maybe we will do something Mediterranean.. Just thinking out loud. :)

OK, so here are a couple of pics from today's progress. Tomorrow is back splash tile and more paint.

xoxoxoxo

Kitchen Project

Quite a familiar site at the Kennington household! Projects that involve paint and tile. This time, we have decided to add a countertop to the mix. It all started one Sunday evening when I was going through some of the week's mail and came across some great Lowe's coupons. ( I don't know if you are on thier mailing list, but you need to be, they send some great deals and the flyers always say "For Builders" but they will let the average Joe use them too!) Also, with a DD214, they will give an additional 10% discount!! I love those who love and appreciate our service men, women and vets! :)

Anyways, I was bragging on Lowes and what a great store they were and how I just got another $25 coupon in the mail and Josh said let's go check out thier clearance section, which if you are a Lowe's lover, you know that it is awesome!!

So we decided to pack the kids up, and go. Two hours later we had completely outfitted our kitchen complete with a new paint color, much more neutral than the brilliant red that I loved so much for almost 2 years, but more appealing to a buyer's eye.. not everyone loves rustic red as much as I do! We also decided on great laminate countertops. We saved LOTS of money on these, because one, our kitchen is galley style so one 8 foot piece and one 6 foot piece would do it, and two, Josh can install! Yay me, if I haven't said it before **HAHAHHAHAHHA** I will say it now, I am one lucky woman to have such a handy man for my man!

Last but not least, for the backsplash, we are doing the all white subway tiles.. These are rectangular tiles that we will stagger (for those of you who are like..what the freak are subway tiles) with a dark gray and black chair rail about two rows up to pop the counter tops!

The new color really brings out the floors, opens the kitchen tremendously and looks lovely with our crown molding, which we already had in place..

Lastly, the other major addition to our kitchen, compliments of the home warranty is the new over the range microave, it's the 2009 version of the 1800's model we had (included with the house) that shot out flames from inside and nearly caught everything I nuked on fire! I love home warranty.. :) Anyone who has a home needs a home warranty!

Anyways.. I will post more pictures as we make some more progress with this project. This weekend, Josh and I are going to tackle it and get as far as we can... we have yard work to accomplish this weekend too, so stay tuned, I will keep you posted..

xoxox

Just Your Basic Blessing

This morning I was thrilled once again to sleep until after 8:00 a.m.! It seems like for the last year or so it would be a miracle if I got to sleep past 6:00 a.m., not because I would just wake up for no reason, but one of the little treasures needed me. It was a constant until I just got used to stepping out of my comfortable tempurpedic to refill a water cup, warm up a bottle of milk, turn on the bathroom light, find a lost Mr. Bear, change a dirty diaper, let the dog out to pee or hush the waning of my cat (for some reason, he howls in the morning.. it's almost like having a rooster, only not :) )

And in our house it's more of a domino effect... one.. Caleb-two...Cat-three...Ella-scratch, scratch, scratch (Bonnie's nails tap dancing on our floors)- then it's Caleb again...Ella...(Milk... Milk....Caleb... Momma! Mommaaaaaaaaa! .....all the while Cat whaning.... weeeooooooowwwwhhhhhhh at the back door..

I am hoping by now ya'll have a very good picture of what my 6:00 a.m. sounds like and why I have said over and over in these short blog stories how grateful I am to sleep in until after 8:00! *chuckles*

So, feeling rested = happy momma

Happy momma = happy daddy

Momma and daddy can conquer anything together! I am so blessed to have such a wonderful husband and it doesn't hurt at all that he is so handy.. So, what did we conquer today you ask?

A brand new toilet, just your basic blessing :) I actually posted on Facebook today how ecstatic I was about it because now I don't have to give my guests a brief tutorial on flushing the spare toilet by filling it with water every time you want to flush.. with the shower head!

Not only that, but Caleb and Ella and the guests are the only ones who usually use that toilet, and Caleb cannot reach the shower head, nor did he realize how important it was each and every time it was used.. he just thought it was cool that at bath time, when I went in there, I would have to "fill" before bath.. Anyways.. enough about that! We have a new toilet, Thank God...er um and Josh for installing it!

Chipping away the linoleum to make way for the new throne! That is hard work when the linoleum has been in place 30 years and has 2 layers! Ugghhh.... It is going to feel good as we continue this project on through to the finish..tiles on the floor and a new tub..or refinished.. we haven't decided yet..

This is a picture of toilet we got for that bath..once the tub and tile is done, I will post a finished project.. that will come over the coming months...I think I will call it.... Trials of a Sugar Land Handy Man.. Er.. um.. Probably isn't the best of titles.. :) or how about Kennington's "Krazy" House Project weekend.. complete with a before and after of everything we have done in the last 2 years! Amazing!!