My Oh So Messy Table ~ Priceless

Today was one of those very stormy spring days. Dark and gloomy with thunder and lightening that kept my 3 year old’s bottom on my lap and hands over her ears.

Today was one of those days that mommy had things to do. While the laundry had been washed and folded and even put away there were still so many other things on the to-do list.

Today was one of those days that didn’t go as planned. Storms had us inside, frightened children kept chores from being completed.

Today my 3 year old crawled up into my lap and buried her head in my chest. I closed my eyes and rested my check on her forehead. When I opened them that’s when I saw it, straight ahead was a sight that made me give a great big ole sigh. The table was cluttered with more than the eyes could take in. The motivation inside of me to clean kicked in and I almost jumped up to tend to the mess that blanketed the table when my 3 year old clasped her fingers tighter on my arm. I Hugged her tighter and gave my messy table the stink eye. I started to put each thing that didn’t belong back in it’s rightful place in my head. Not sure what that was going to do but I’m never in cleaning mode so didn’t want to lose my momentum. As I categorized and planned my attack for cleaning that table I realized something.

I loved everything on that table. I appreciated everything on that table and besides the clutter itself, everything on that table was priceless.

Here’s why…

Cup of Coffee – There are no words…

That large stack of library books – we get to go and pick through hundreds of books at our local library any time we want for free. My kids love books and they learn so much from them.

Wipes – the ability to clean up my disgusting babies in one fell swoop.

Adult bible and bible for children – the most important part of our day and sometimes it’s the first thing that goes forgotten or pushed to the side, but not today.

Dinosaur bag – this was my oldest sons first back pack that made him feel like a big boy, my youngest son who is 1 year old today gets to feel like a big boy with this same bag. (This mama is getting all teary eyed up in here.)

Venom Cup – these hold my children’s precious drinks. Usually water and milk, (thank the Lord for a child who prefers that over juice;)

Centerpiece – we all need something pretty to look at.

High chair tray – this keeps my youngest safe while he eats.

Materials for kids crafts – crafts that teach my children how to be creative and artistic and most of all it’s our happy place.

Purse – this precious thing holds almost everything I need while I am on the go with all my kiddos.

As I looked ahead and had my aha moment, I suddenly didn’t feel the urgent need to clear away all of these priceless things from this priceless table that I used to eat at with my parents when I was little.

So I sat and held my daughter until the storms passed.

Sometimes it’s okay to look at a mess and appreciate the beauty in it!

Your Parenting Style Has Changed… for the better!!

When your kids looks like this and it’s okay!!

Just a Coat of Paint and a Pocket Full of Dreams

My house is in a serious state of despair. We are redoing our “master” bathroom; new paint, new lighting, new vanity, new decor etc etc. For some reason the rest of the house is suffering because one of the smallest rooms in the house is getting special treatment.

I’m a scattered mess when it comes to doing things in an orderly, step by step fashion. I’ve been known to start cleaning one room and end up doing something entirely different with an entirely different outcome and an entirely puzzled expression from my husband at the end of the day. For example; I started cleaning the kitchen (it was in one of those, haven’t been touched in a week stages). I was clearing off the table and saw a jacket so I took it to the closet in the living room which is where I found a pile of shoes. Oh my those need to be sorted I took a few pairs to my room and threw them on top of a lot of other pairs of shoes in our closet which is when I decided the closet needed some serious straightening. One thing led to another and within 20 minutes everything in our closet was out on the bed ready for some major sorting. But then the baby cried and he needed fed so the closet was forgotten as was the disarrayed kitchen and well the rest is history. My husband gets from work and just looks at me with a long shake of his head. He knows, oh he knows.

The simple task of cleaning the kitchen left me with my closet on my bed and my kitchen remaining in that sad state. So you can imagine where redoing a bathroom will lead me. Last night it lead me to the kitchen (yes the kitchen again) where instead of starting on the bathroom I ended up painting the trim in the kitchen white. Now if you have read my other DIY Posts you know that the majority of my house is honey oak. Honey oak wood floors, honey oak trim, honey oak blinds, honey oak cabinets and then everything else is brass. I was up to my eyeballs in honey oak and brass and was starting to get itchy scalp from it! (Itchy scalp – something that occurs after severe annoyances, such as noises, colors and people feel as though they are suffocating you. This actually originated from my sister, she used to start itching her head when she became irritated with something or someone and it always made us laugh.)

Anyways I have completed the bottom trim in kitchen and am back to the bathroom to finish what I started. Hopefully next week I will have an updated bathroom to share with you!

You can find the paint I used on the trim here

I didn’t sand or prime but did scrub it as clean as possible.