August Fields

God Bless America! and….A Winner!!!

happy fourth of july!  
from our home to yours….
i am so thankful for the freedom to teach my children at home, to boldly 
enter a church and worship……God bless America!

and now to announce the winner of the Katie Daisy Giveaway!!!  first, can i just say that i had so much fun reading through all the comments and meeting soooo many bloggers!  i was blown away 🙂

we had 212 comments!

and the winner is……………………   #189  Kate Hollis

Kate said:  
So fun! I love the “You are my sunshine”. My grandma’s nickname for me was her “Sunshine”.
 The teacher in my loves the “Faces of the Moon” soo cute!

Congratulations Kate and thank you Katie Daisy! 🙂

a KATIE DAISY giveaway!! this is good. :)

my second official giveaway.  and this is good!  
do you remember that adorable print above my drinking fountain??
 I bought it on etsy at the wheatfield by katie daisy 

be kind to others.  it’s a simple truth.  and i like simple….and i like the truth.
it makes me so happy!  the whimsical design and colors.
miss katie daisy is so sweet and her work …well, let’s just say i would love
one of everything! 🙂
i have two of her pieces.  the other one is in the mudroom. 
“you are my sunshine my only sunshine”.   see?  it made you smile didn’t it? 🙂

so here’s the GREAT part for you!  katie (via august fields) is giving away 
One 8×10 print of your choice to one winner!!  
to enter the giveaway leave a separate comment for:
1.  go to katie’s awesome shop, come back and tell us a favorite item.
2.  become a follower and let me know (if you already follow, leave a separate comment saying..”i already follow!” or something like that 🙂
3.  blog about the giveaway linking back here.
*if you don’t have a blog make sure to leave an email, in your comment, where you can be contacted*
giveaway will end saturday evening.  i’ll announce the winner with a BANG on the 4th! (sunday) 🙂
Katie Daisy  on etsy

Thank you Blogland!!

this post is sure a long time and coming!  since i began blogging…well wait, actually before i even had my own blog and just perused everyone else….i have been SO thankful for all the ideas shared by all!

picture from THIS etsy shop

my idea files are nice and full due to fellow bloggers sharing their DIY projects, design opinions, and decorating secrets!  here are just a FEW…….

clover lane

busy budgeting mama

cote de texas

i also have been so blessed with so many sweet people that leave nice comments and compliments…like these three bloggers! (there are SO many more… Thank you!)

between you and me

good girl gone glad

five girls the army and me

thank you for encouraging me when i had questions or shared a project!

flowerpatch farmgirl

pretties and posies

thank you for featuring my kitchen!!!   🙂  that’s fun. 🙂

home and harmony

please check out some of these lovely blogs and basically every blogger who has left a comment (that should keep you busy!! 🙂 ) and keep spreading the love!

happy blogging!

The Kitchen – Inspired by Sally Wheat

i am so so excited to be able to share our kitchen!  after living here for 3 1/2 weeks and really using the kitchen i must say that i am super pleased with the layout and the choices we made.  phewsh! 🙂
when we first started planning the kitchen i really wanted black soapstone countertops and white cabinets.  (by the way i still really love that look!) 
but when i was scrolling through cote de texas one day i stopped and stared at a post joni did on sally wheat’s kitchen.
gray cabinets?  marble countertops?  i. loved. it. !!!!  so back to the drawing board we went 🙂
i was already planning on a gray paint throughout the house (Benjamin Moore Vapor Trails) so switching to a gray kitchen wasn’t so hard.  thankfully i was able to use the exact color sally did (Benjamin Moore Fieldstone) and it compliments the walls so well!  
this picture is out of order so we’ll talk food for a second.  we decided on the kenmore pro refrigerator and freezer pair pushed next to each other finished with a stock trim kit to make it look like one unit.
real quick for all my organizing gurus….the freezer drawers have dividers in them!  ahhhh… i was so excited 🙂
the center island top is made out of walnut.  i have been doing most of the food prep on the island and serving off of the peninsula behind it.

now, i am just an ordinary, everyday mama.  so my open shelves have the dishes that we use!  it may not look the most magazine worthy but man is this concept practical.  reach and grab.  love it.  highly recommend it.
so what i did when i saw sally’s open shelves was print off a picture and bring it to our cabinet maker.  one thing that makes these shelves unique are the thick stiles and shelves.  we made the backer v-groove panelling.
the picture below is sally wheat’s kitchen from cote de texas
this is a picture of our shelf.  SO pleased!
“peek a boo!”  this little passage door opens into the schoolroom 🙂  
you can see the painted brick wall here.  it is actual brick sliced about 1/2″ inch.  we painted it the same color as the walls ( Benjamin Moore Vapor Trails).  which is lighter than the cabinets (Benjamin Moore Fieldstone).

the chandelier is from lamps plus.  you can read about it here.

the beams were stained the same color as the floor.  the floors are 5″inch oak and the beams are poplar so the color is slightly different.  The beams were made by clamping three pieces of poplar together and having them hand hewn.  here is a picture of the beams being clamped by a ton of clamps 🙂
okay…back to the kitchen!  we had a table made by a local wood worker.  i really like it!  it is a trestle table that can seat 12 or more if chairs are at the corners.  speaking of chairs…yeah, well these are the chairs we have for now.  i would LOVE some suggestions for seating here.  
anyways…these chairs work and we have so enjoyed having lots of people gathered around talking, eating and laughing!
the table is made from ash wood, hand distressed to perfection and stained to compliment the floors.
the complimentary brick “kick wall” under the bar counter area.  this brick is painted vapor trails too.
the counter tops are white italian marble.  we looked at several carrera marble slabs but they were too gray.  interestingly one “marble guy” told us that the mountain they cut carrera from in italy is getting cut into further and further and the carrera is “grayer” towards the center of the mountain.  
well since i wanted the white carrera look and there was only gray carrera available we went with a marble called “White Italian”.  i really like it 🙂  i am NOT picky though about water spots.  if you are i would not recommend this marble.  i am fine with the natural patina and spotting that may and does happen 🙂

the hardware is from restoration hardware.  i looked at several sources for chrome bin pulls but found that restoration offered them in various lengths.  this is nice so that the longer drawers that require a longer bin pull can match the other ones.

these little lovebird salt and pepper shakers were given to me from a friend.  are they not so sweet? 🙂
we are still waiting on our second pendant globe.  ðŸ™‚  this shot gives a good overview of the layout though.

the back splash was always going to be white subway tile.  but since we have white subway tile in other places of the house we decided to put a beveled white subway tile in the kitchen to set it apart a bit.
do you see the drinking fountain?

best. thing. ever.  
today was 85 degrees outside and i think the kids used this fountain 25 times.  think of all the cups saved! 🙂 

moving day

we did it!  two weeks ago our family made the big move to our new home.  i spent the week prior to the move packing things up and labeling the boxes.  below is a picture of the boxes of BOOKS! i used sticky name tags and sticky address labels on each box labeling which room to place the box in at the new house.  
this was helpful because several of the boxes were from friends who moved prior to us and wrote their own things on the boxes.  everyone who helped us just looked for the label.
speaking of help….we had LOTS of family and dear friends come out for the morning and afternoon to help us.  our pastor even stopped over to pray with us that morning.  the day was beautiful and spirits were high.
daddy loaded the truck with bikes and garage stuff.
my brother in law took the first official load of the day!  his van was packed!! 🙂
thank you a million times to our family and friends!!!  
this guy here rocks!  he is 13 and the oldest of 5.  i love this family and we are so thankful for the 
overpacked boxes of books   boxes of school books and other stuff that was moved with love.
three cheers to this cute mama!  we grew up together and she came with her 3 little ones and filled up the back of her van to help with the move. another friend brought her two adorable girls and helped too!
 do i have the best friends or what???  
my dad (in the red) and more friends!  we had about 15 people come out to help.  amazing.  
we are so blessed.  
not only did friends and family come to help move…there were others taking care of our children all morning!  the 3 big kids came late in the morning so they could participate 🙂
yikes!!  the kitchen was the FIRST room to get unpacked and cleaned up….even after simplifying before the move i am amazed at the amount of stuff used in a kitchen!
okay….another huge blessing was this beautiful table of food set up for our family and all the workers!
one couple couldn’t physically help that day due but the wanted to bring lunch.
they came, set up this beautiful table with a table cloth, fresh flowers, homemade sandwiches, chips, fruit, snacks and cold drinks.  this was amazing!!
boone and me.  he couldn’t wait to start sorting out his books on the new shelves in the bunkroom! 🙂
master bedroom.  the day of the move my dad was in charge of putting together the crib in the nursery and our bed.  thanks dad!  it was SUPER helpful to have this done and not have to think about it later that day.
nana and dancy making her bed up for the first time.  my mom always has helped made up my bed wherever i have moved since college 🙂
here is a picture of our main family room.  
we are trying to get settled in and organized and so far its going great!
i will be posting more since we are now connected to the internet!  
thank you again to all our friends and family who helped in so many ways on moving day!  we started at 9:00am and were done by 3:00pm.  one moving truck with 3 men were hired to move the big stuff but i still thing being done by 3 was pretty impressive! 🙂