The "week" before moving.

We've set everything up and we're moving on Friday!! I'm so excited <3!

We didn't finish half the stuff I had set out to do before move-in day. But I am so happy anyway! The newness of the house made for all kinds of entertainment, and the kids allowed us to work quite well (for the most part) and we all had a very good time working/playing (and complaining about the work, in my case. More on that later ;) ).


The kids really really wanted to paint their room. We visited the Bd family in Lubbock a little bit ago (thanks for the boxes!!!) and Miss E was so enamored with their (not so) little girl and her room. J was telling us -Miss E included- all about their new house, which was all kinds of fun for me, and there were obvious signs of a house-wide painting project. K (J's girl) had painted a hot pink accent wall in her room, which of course is very cool, and it really stuck in Miss E's mind. So--- when she saw that Mommy had her own painting project, she decided she would have her own as well.

I scoured Pinterest for ways to allow them their wish without sacrificing style. My solution: clouds. I have this weird mix of The Little Prince in the works (clouds, a theme of adventure, with airplanes, trucks, elephants, and even a castle) and am hoping it will come together without looking too busy. I pined lots of inspiration pictures here, including these:

And here are my beautiful children painting:

I'll incorporate their doodles into a mural of sorts on either side of their room (one for him, one for her) and ta-da! That's what I said about my project.

My project was the kitchen cabinets. I'm leaving the rest of the house as it is because we want to be mindful of our budget and there is so much more that really does need to be done. But the house had pink cabinetry, y'all! PINK! So I really wanted to do something about it.

At least I didn't get this!

This is what we inherited (the previous owners thankfully did some very serious work on the house):

This is my "mood board"

And this is what it looks like right now:

After THREE DAYS of ALL-DAY painting, we did *not* finish the job. Tomorrow we have no choice but stop to pack up the rest of our belongings. But the kitchen still needs a coat on the exterior and wax. I am using Annie Sloan paint and very much wish I had listened to my husband and used regular paint from the beginning. I did eventually give in and we used some super paint from SW for the grey (yes, I know, I did it all backwards! I should have started with the chalk paint for the interior. I'll have to do what I swore up and down I wouldn't do and eventually take everything out to do a VOC sealer because I doubt this paint is low VOC or green like Annie Sloan paint.) Oh, and I need to paint the hardware :P

So there it is... the unfinished story of our kitchen cabinets. I love them again now, since they are starting to look like they will one day be done. But in the middle of things when I was sick (literally and figuratively) and tired, I complained that I had started out praying over the cabinetry and our people/family/friends who would use the things in the cupboards but ended up imagining a bonfire of kitchen cupboards in the backyard! Oh goodness...

Wish us luck tomorrow/Friday!! This is happening, you guys!