Where am I these days? Home Remodeling! Part 3

Lately – my house has been chaotic!

My hubs and myself have been camping out here…

We have found all kinds of goodies here!

Like this…

I love this BIG SINK!  LOVE IT!  It is 46" long....that is like a football field for sinks!

and this…

I love this pot-filler.  It is simply elegant!

Those are just a couple of items we have found and bought.  The deals on Ebay are just amazing!  We are buying what we like and saving too!  (I sound like a commercial…seriously, I have no ties to Ebay!)

We also made a trip to Sears Outlet!  We made out like a bandit!

Believe it or not, stainless steel is so much cheaper these days…but I wanted black.  (Hey I have 5 kids and detest fingerprints!)  My new fridge has an icemaker…how I’ve lived in 100 degree weather most of the year without automatic ice is just a crazy notion now.  This thing makes my other fridge look like it should fit in a Barbie house.  I had no idea of the size...this is definitely something that belongs in Texas!

Then we also picked up our double oven!

No, this is not what I mean by double oven.  I just want to wait to show you the final product installed.  I’ll be so excited to have an oven with real numbers that you can see.  I won’t have to guess if I’m cooking 350 or 450 degrees anymore.

The cook-top is also gorgeous.  (Take my word for it - until it is in my kitchen.  Right now it is being featured in my guest room as wall art.)

 

Our porcelain tile was delivered.  The garage is stuffed – I honestly don’t know how much it can hold!

We also picked out our granite.  I had never been to a granite yard before.  Simply amazing!  Those rocks are beautiful.  It turned out to be such a neat field trip with the kids.  A friend of mine, who is an interior designer came over the other day to give me some pointers, she told me I’d be overwhelmed and I was.  I chose some that was called  Copper Brown.  Now, I’m second guessing myself.  I plan to make one more trip before the final okay.  The copper brown pictures do not do the granite justice.  It truly is a fine piece. 

The above pictures are from the same piece of granite.  Simply beautiful!  The bottom one is a close-up of one of the little knots. 

Then I saw these… and this…

Now I’m simply more confused…I like them all.  What would you like in your kitchen, waves or rocks?  It has to match the existing brick, back splash, and of course my porcelain tile.

My brain is on overload with all the decisions.  (DEEP BREATH!  DEEP BREATH!  deep sleep….) 
Okay, I’m better now.

Monday starts the true demolition…be ready for some pictures!  Can’t wait to start using my muscles (or lack-of).

Blessings to you!  You are loved!

Tearing up the streets

One of my favorite things about educating my children at home are field trips.  We thrive on seeing how things are made, how things work, how people work together as a team, and of course to see the final product.  Not to mention, all the similarities of the process to the process of eternal life.

This field trip was totally unexpected.  We didn’t even have to get out of our jammies.  (But we did.)

The local government came and repaved our street.  Now I know this might seem like totally boring.  But, it wasn’t.   It was better than Lightening McQueen (from Cars) paving the street.

That machine was simply amazing!  Taking off the old yucky stuff – getting ready for the hot, fresh, and black gravel that is going to make it look clean, smooth and a totally new creation.

These are my two firstborns – my firstborn son and my firstborn daughter.
 
Without the guy in the middle, the truck driver would not have known how far to drive up, therefore making a mess.  He was the helper or the guiding force.
The RX 700 was the machine that tore up the streets.  Without him, the new street would have been just patches not actually made new. 
The machines used where LOUD and abrasive! 
This girl doesn’t like LOUD things…including toilets. 

After a while, we had to quit watching and go do our bookwork.  

It was fun while it lasted and now my children have a greater understanding of the streets and other things.  When they ride their bikes – they have a greater appreciation of the hard work and the sacrifice that went into it.

Blessings to you!  You are loved!

Homemade Onion Rings – Shut my mouth!

First of all these are messy! 
Yep – they are worth every minute and every paper towel!

Beat 2 eggs and a splash of milk in one bowl. 
In another bowl, add flour, and a tsp or so of Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasonings (or seasonings salt and pepper).

In a skillet, add Canola oil and turn up the heat.  Cut an onion (not your fingers) into rings or petals.  Dip into egg mixture then flour then egg then flour again.  Add rings to hot oil! 
Fry those babies until they turn a light brown color only turning once!
Remove with spatula or device other than bare hands.
Drain on paper towel.
Be prepared to enjoy and your taste buds will thank you!

Warning:  These are habit forming.  They may not be good for your heart or well being.  They might be good for your marriage however!  Don’t wear a silk blouse when making these!

Disclosure:  This site or myself will not be held responsible for what enters your mouth.  The oil does get hot – be cautious around it.  


Use common sense (if you are not sure what that might be…go buy onion rings at Sonic.)

Blessings to you!  You are loved!!!

This is at the party
  at Funky Junk Interiors..,
Diary of a Stay at Home Mom
Kelly's Korner

Sweet Tea (without grits please)

I’m a Southern gal.  Tea is very important in our home.  In fact, my kids are taught to make this treat before they are taught how to multiply. 

Recently, my blonde son has been making it.  He knows how to boil the water then steep two bags for at least 10 minutes before pouring into a pitcher that holds 2 scoops of white sugar.  (We used to drink it stronger then realized we like it like this better.)  Then he fills the rest of the gallon container with cold water. 
Simply delicious.


Then a couple of weeks ago something changed.  I’d get to the end of my glass and tons of gritty grounds were at the bottom.  There is nothing worse than a dirt like substance that sneaks into your mouth when you are not expecting it.
 
I honestly thought that my son just forgot to turn off the heat when he put the tea bags in and they may have busted.  But, when asked – he said that didn’t happen. 

So, we watched him make another gallon.  Then we figured it out.  He had squeezed the bags.  When he did this, the grounds went back into the pot, thus surprising the palates of many, with grit like substances. 

YUCK!

I’m sure many people squeeze their tea bags.  But, I gotta' tell ya’ – it is just wrong to have gritty tea!  If you feel your tea is too weak then add another bag  or leave the bags in longer but don’t squeeze.  If you feel you must get rid of the liquid before you dispose of your bags in the trash – then squeeze them over the sink. 

Again, I’m from the South and like grits just fine – just not in my sweet tea!

Blessings to you!  You are loved!!!
This Works for Me!

Life has a funny way of dealing cards.

I know a lot of my friends have no idea how to play poker.  My step-dad taught me when I was young.  We played with toothpicks. 

When I went to Europe when I was in high school, it was valuable information.  We had a group of boys from a California that liked to play on our bus.  We didn’t play with real money, I’m thinking we played with chips but I really can’t remember.  I remember beating them but I acted like I had never played before…yes, it was fun!  Totally a “Poker Face!”

There are some days in my life, I feel like I’m holding a royal flush.  That means I’m holding the Ace, King, Queen, Jack, and 10 of any suit.  (My preferred would be hearts, because hearts remind me of God’s ultimate love.  Can you tell I’m a visual person?  Everything has a meaning down to the color of my toe polish.)
When everything is going my way –i.e. my hubs calls me beautiful, my kids are playing together while encouraging one another in hushed tones, dinner (sushi) is prepared, the mailman leaves a huge box full of un-melted chocolate on my doorstep, and I’m able to take a long long long bath with a great book…my cards and heart is just FULL!

Some days I might have a flush.  A flush is 5 cards all of the same suit.  (Again, I like hearts!)  There are days when I barely have time to take a shower.  We get so busy, I forget to get something out for dinner.  Kids are fighting.  Husband barely talks to me, much less calls me beautiful!  You know the days.  But!  I still am breathing, still have food, still have a Father in Heaven that adores me, and not to mention perfume to cover the smell from the lack of shower. 

Then there are days that I have been dealt a straight.  5 cards, any suit, that are dealt in order, 10-9-8-7-6.  These are days that I have had a death in the family, my car won’t start, my kids are sick, my a/c goes out in 120 degree weather or my doctor gives me news that I have asthma or something worse.  A straight can be life changing.  These are the hands that God seems to be right there saying – “I’m here…I’m not letting go!  You are still the love of my life daughter!”

But, never-ever-ever in all my days, have I been dealt a hand of “garbage” or a “nothing” hand.  This is the hand where nothing matches other cards, no pairs, no straights, just a hand that needs to be put down.  God won’t allow it for his children!  There will always be HOPE and LOVE for you and me!

God is the ultimate dealer.  He deals cards to glorify Him!  He deals us cards for our good and not evil.  He never cheats or does something crooked to make us fail for the fun of it but rather for us to have to lean on Him, and Him alone.

I just need to be alone with the Dealer!  I need to learn His heartbeat and His way of doing things – which is certainly not how I would do things.  (That is why He is God and I am not!  Not to mention…not even possible.)

The scripture that keeps ringing in my head over and over this week is:
1 John 4:19
We love Him because He first loved us!

He loved me even before I was even introduced to Him.  He loved me before I even knew of His wonder and majesty.  He loved me before I knew that He was to be feared.  He loved me before I knew we could be friends.  He still loves me if I mess up.  He still loves me when I sin.  He still loves me when I have chosen to sin and disobey Him on purpose.  He still loves me when I come to Him and say I’m truly sorry.  He still loves because He is the ULTIMATE definition of LOVE!

Blessings to you!  You are loved today and forevermore!!!

Look what we found…for the big renovation! - Part 2

 
Do you like?  This is going behind our stove-top as our focal-point along with a handmade oven hood and a pot-filler!  We will have small 6 inch tiles as the rest of the back-splash.  Plus, it will go beautifully with the granite.  (Will be posting pictures very soon!)

We needed something to tie in our big brick columns from the living room to the kitchen because now our home will have an open-living concept.  It almost matches our brick exactly except it is concrete and stacked.  

Okay, I know the pictures below are horrible.  They were taken with my webcam.  But, it also shows you the brick columns in my living room.  I’ll try to take better pictures later.
My children were singing to someone on Skype when I took these.

This totally Works for Me!

We put down the down payment for our porcelain tile today! 
We decided to go with 20”x20”. 
This is a little different than what I posted the other day.
We found a guy who gave us such a sweet deal plus - good customer service is always a great sales tip.

My hubs also bought us a professional wet saw.  I can hardly wait to learn how to cut tile.

We are still shopping for appliances. 
We are looking for a French-Door refrigerator…oh, I can hardly wait for that beauty! 

One of the guys we will hire will be here tomorrow to tell us how to deal with the load-bearing wall.

(Load-bearing wall means if we knocked it down, the entire house would fall down. 
That is not going to happen on my watch
because I’m going shopping or to the beach or anywhere that won't remind me of walls coming down.)

We have so much more material shopping to do before we actually start ripping down walls.

We are looking for:

• double convection oven
• stove-top
• kitchen sink (I would like a triple bowl)
• pot filler
• lighting
• chocolate
• paint colors
• I’m sure a lot more that I can’t think of at the moment.

To be continued…
please come back because I'm going to be sharing how to do renovations and NOT to do renovations.

Blessings to you!  You are loved!

This post is linked to Tackle it Tuesday and A Soft Place to Land and Anything Related.

Just a stroll outside…

Amaryllis I wish this would bloom year round!  I bought this plant last year and forgot to plant them.  The looked all dry and dead but I still put them in the dirt.  Can you believe they still made it?  They just spread cheerfulness. I know you can’t see this very well…but they are Kentucky Wonder Green Beans.  I can’t wait till they bloom.  This is one of my faves. Just seems to say
“Hi…I’m blooming down here.
Thought you needed to be told your special.”

Blessings to you!  You are loved!

I’m sharing with Home is…

and Mellow Yellow Monday

Just some wildlife…

This was outside my bathroom window one morning.  The ground doves decided to snuggle for some warmth.

Just some Texas cattle hanging out!

Blessings to you!  You are loved!!!

Tile – Porcelain or Ceramic? - Part 1

Our DIY Project 1970’s home coming into the new millennium has begun!

This is a HUGE project.  In fact, one of the largest projects my hubs and I have ever done.  (and WE have done some JOBS!)  We are doing this by ourselves.  In other words, we are not hiring out any of the jobs.

In fact, we are sending all the kids AWAY!
  
(BIG SMILE!) {Thank you John Deere Grandma and John Deere Pawpaw for keeping all of them!} 

It will just be my hubs and I all by ourselves! 
(Can you say second honeymoon?  Okay, not really…since we will be working our tails off!  But we will be enjoying our time alone – I can’t even tell you the last time we were by ourselves for 8 hours or more.) 

We are both excited to be working together on this project.  Well, excited might be the wrong word…he’s excited.  I’m a nervous wreck.  I’m a little less nervous though than I was at the beginning. 

Every night my hubs has watched Renovation Realities on DIY network.  For those who don’t watch…it shows normal people doing a remodel project in their home.  Things always go wrong!  Big time WRONG!    I don’t like when things go wrong, at least without a plan. 

So, my hubs has made a detailed list of things we need and are going to do the house.  We HAVE a PLAN!  Plus he drew me pictures!  I’m a visual learner so I love pictures.  Then he budgeted HIGH for every thing.

He left the minor details to me.  Like picking out the tile, paint colors, and tape and floating.  (I like to tape and float – but not the sanding.) 

I thought no problem when picking out the flooring, something neutral and something not too expensive.  Wow – I was overwhelmed when I went into the floor section.

What kind of floors do we want?

• 
  
  
  Wood?
• 
  
  
  Tile?
• 
  
  
  Ceramic?
• 
  
  
  Porcelain?
• 
  
  
  Marble?
• 
  
  
  Carpet?
• 
  
  
  Dust Free!
• 
  
  
  Self-cleaning!!!

Yeah, there are a lot of choices!  Not to even mention the prices!

We have narrowed our choices:  Are you ready?

We want tile.  We want Porcelain Tile.  We want a neutral color tile.  We want a deal because we are doing our entire house. 

Yeah it is the last one that puts us at a standstill.  At least for a few days.  Love that waiting!  ha!ha!

So here is what we have learned so far:

• 
  
  
  Porcelain is more expensive that ceramic.
• 
  
  
  Porcelain is fired at a higher temp that ceramic thus making it making more sturdier.
• 
  
  
  Ceramic has a reddish background and porcelain is the same color all the way through.  Thus if it chips – ceramic will show the reddish undertone.
• 
  
  
  Both have tons of colors to choose from.
• 
  
  
  None of the flooring is self-cleaning.

 
Taken from the Home Depot Website. 
We are looking at
MARAZZI Montagna Belluno 16 In. x 16 In. Porcelain Tile. 

Do you like? 

We bought a sample home and it is the exact color that I have in my kitchen at the moment.  Except what we have is vinyl.  Yuck!

Okay, well there is more to come!  Can’t wait to share the rest of the details – I’ll be posting more pictures very soon!

Blessings to you!!!  You are loved!!!

Please take a look at my Rachael Ray Cookware Giveaway! 
(It is so easy to enter – all that is needed is a comment!)

This has Worked For Me!