Kitchen Update - Phase 1

The Long Awaited Kitchen

Our kitchen has come a long way since we first moved in 6 years ago. The yellow and blue walls with American flag border was less than desirable to us (though the previous homeowners obviously liked it).  

It was not pleasing to our eyes at all, especially since our decor was Italian Vineyard.

But being new homeowners we were just happy to have a house, and so we left it, being sure to let everyone know we had plans to change it right away.  "Right away" turned into 2-3 years. (oops).

So eventually, after 2-3 years, we did take down the border, paint the walls, and redecorate.  Ah, a nice refreshing change.

But still not the kitchen we really wanted.  

Begin Kitchen Update - Phase 1

The first thing we did (about 2 years after painting the walls and redecorating) was purchase a new over-the-range microwave and a countertop refinishing kit (since we couldn't afford new countertops). The product we used is Rust-Oleum Countertop Transformation. We used Desert Sand and got the kit at a steal of a price ($89).

It's hard to tell, but the counters really are darker than before

Fast forward a year. I created a coffee bar with an old dresser I had. That was something I had been wanting to do for a long time, but the dresser was in use as a changing table/dresser. I was so excited when we no longer needed it to house clothes (or diapers).  Here is a photo collage of that process.

Fast forward another year and this takes us to last month. We decided we wanted to paint our kitchen cabinets to brighten up the room and make it look bigger. I began searching the internet for inspiration and came across this photo

Needless to say I was in love with this kitchen.  Knowing we could not afford the high end appliances right now, or the butcher block counter tops (which I also love), we did like the raised cabinets with the shelves. So, we went to Lowes and made some purchases.  I guess I should give this lady some mad props and credit, so here is the link to her blog for those who may be interested. She actually has lots of other awesomely inexpensive projects on her blog for all you DIYers.

Ok, back to our update.  We purchased a de-glosser and some primer to start the process. 

 Here are our weapons of choice.

Day 1 - we removed all the cabinets, doors, and drawer fronts and got to work wiping them down with the TSP. *Note: with the de-glosser and primer it is not necessary to sand (thank goodness).

My husband hard at work

Next came the primer.  We even got the kids involved in the process (hey, they begged us....how could we possibly say "no"?).

After wiping and priming (and drying), we were able to paint. My husband brought in some saw horses and ply wood and created a nice painting surface for us to use. Of course that meant our kitchen table and everything that was in the cabinets was now in our living room. I did not take a picture of that chaos. But I did take a picture of the cabinets after paint coat 1 (of 3) was applied.

The entire painting process took much longer than we anticipated. We were not factoring in all of the coats, plus flipping the doors to do 3 coats on both sides, and all the dry time. Plus we had to cut, sand, prime, and paint the shelves. Needless to say we were painting for over a week. Aaahh!!!

FINALLY everything was ready to be hung and I could get my kitchen back in order. 

Such a hard worker

And now, here are the completed after photos of Phase 1:

 

I even found this cute little decoration at Go Fish in Circle Center Mall

Total cost for Phase 1 (paint, primer, wood, hardware) = $150 (approximately)
Add in the countertop kit, and microwave and it takes us to $400 (approximately)

Phase 2 will include new stove, refrigerator, dishwasher, sink/faucet, and floors. But that will probably not be until next year. That's ok....I can live with this kitchen for 8-9 more months. It is beautiful and I absolutely love it!!!

*Please feel free to follow my blog or leave comments.  :) *

Soccer and Racing and Dancing.....oh my!

Eliott just finished his Spring session of soccer. He did great for never having played before. 

Here are his photos.

 

I also have a couple of videos posted on my Youtube channel.  Visit often to see if I have any newly uploaded videos of the kids.

My hair business is really taking off this year.  Weddings almost every weekend, new weekly clients in the salon, and now being partnered up with a couple of local fashion magazines.  This is very exciting and is helping with the finances a lot.  I will also be doing hair for a local independent film. This is totally God's hand as I haven't really done anything different.....but word of mouth is working and my name is being spread around. So all glory goes to God.  I has wanted this for years, but all in His timing for sure.

It is May, and that means race season here in Indy.  Steve has been working the track on his days off which also helps with finances.  He enjoys it a lot.  It is a fun experience.  I took the kids out there yesterday and we were able to visit with him for a little bit.  Here is a photo from that.

Haley's dance is winding up for this year. She will get a month off and then start a new season.

She competed in two competitions this year and has had several performances as well. Their big end of the year recital is coming up in June and she will be performing in 8 dances. 

In her competitions, her dances won several awards and trophies.  They are a very talented group of young dancers with wonderful instructors.  Here are a couple of photos of Haley.

Change in the making

Life in the Schenk house is carrying on as normal.  School is going well.  The kids have a new schedule and Peanut actually does learning time with Little Man on his three days at home.  They love doing it together and it is not nearly as challenging as I thought it would be. Then on Thursdays and Fridays Peanut goes to preschool and Little Man goes to his Learning Center as part of the hybrid school system.

Haley continues to do well in school and dance. Competition season is coming for her dancing and she has been preparing hard for it.  Her first competition is March 9th. 
She is currently still doing Hoosier Academies (the hybrid school she has done for the last three years), like Little Man, but since she is entering high school next year (did I just say that?) we are exploring other options and praying for the best fit for her. Private school is out of the question due to cost and we really don't want to send her to public. So the options seem to be to keep her where she is or move her to a charter school called Herron High School.  It is a classical liberal arts, college preparatory, tuition free school. She would go 5 days a week like a public school, but the focus on academics is much better, plus students can actually earn college credits while completing high school. The ONLY downside is that they don't offer busing so we would have to figure out transportation. However, we recently learned of a family in our church who send their daughters to Herron and talked with them about the possibility of car pooling.  Please pray for guidance in this situation.  The website for the school is www.herronhighschool.org if you want to take a look. We welcome opinions and advice from others.

Steve is still working as a float with Indianapolis EMS. It is daunting and we are praying he gets on a permanent truck. however, we are thankful he has a good job that he loves and he is able to provide for the family.

Jennae is continuing to teach the kids at home three days a week, and do hair at home three days a week.  She also leads a women's group where they do different studies to learn how to more biblical women, wives, and mothers. Right now they are doing a study of the Proverbs 31 Woman. She is learning a lot and trying to incorporate good changes into her life.  The family dynamic and routine is changing as a result.  Jennae is being more responsible with daily tasks, The kids are being more responsible at home, and we are enjoying life together and looking for ways to serve others.

God is continuing to show His provision and protection over us and that we can trust Him 100% with EVERYTHING.

Merry Christmas

Wow, this year went fast. We are having a blast this Christmas season and I thought I would share a photo collage of some our good times thus far. There will be more to come this week so be looking for another collage after Christmas. 
Going clockwise:
1. A family photo taken at church.  2 & 3. Haley at her Christmas dance performance (Haley is in the middle of both photos).  4. Peanut and Little Man dressed up as Mr and Mrs Clause.  5. Peanut and Little Man posing with the gingerbread house they made.  6. Peanut and Little Man sitting in a sleigh at the mall.

Follow your heart?

You know the sayings "Follow your heart" and "You can't help how you feel".  While I understand both of these quotes, I also have issues with them.
"Follow your heart". The problem with that saying it that it is based on emotions. And emotions are ever changing based on circumstances. Therefore when we follow our heart it often leads us to a place of uncontentment. Emotions and feelings can lie to us.  The devil can cause negative emotions to rise up inside of us or he can allow positive feelings to rise up, knowing we will act upon them because it feels right, even when it could be completely wrong.  Our hearts can lie to us and deceive us. (this I learned from a Beth Moore study. I found it very insightful and wanted to share it).
"You can't help how you feel". False. Our feelings and emotions are something that we have control over, we just don't often exercise that control.  We give other people the power of controlling them. We allow situations the power of controlling them. And while our feelings are important and need to be properly expressed, we need to be careful not to judge ourselves or others because of how we or they might feel.  Feelings change from moment to moment. One day I feel like going swimming, the next day I don't. That doesn't mean I don't enjoy swimming or that I should give up swimming, it just means I don't feel like going. One day I may be happy with my kids and the next day I may be furious with my kids, but it doesn't mean that I don't love them or enjoy spending time with them.

So to sum up what I am trying to say....
When it comes to major decisions, pray for wisdom and guidance from God and follow your head, not your heart.
Proverbs 14:8a The wisdom of the prudent is to give thought to their ways.
And while sometimes we need to express our feelings to others, we may not need to express EVERYTHING we are feeling. Because feelings change and you may regret tomorrow something you said today that was based on feelings.
We should give it to God and ask Him to help us control our tongue.....neither of which is an easy task and I am the most guilty of not doing this....but it is something I am giving over to God and working on.  I am not perfect by any means, but I try to learn from my mistakes and offer help and encouragement to others.  That is the purpose of this blog.

Updates and Halloween

I apologize it has been a while since I posted. School started, business started picking up and life has been crazy busy again. But that seems to be how I function best :)

Little Man is doing great in school.  I teach him at home 3 days a week and he goes to a Learning Center two days a week (Thursdays and Fridays).  Peanut goes to pre-school each day from 9-11 in the mornings and so I get those two hours with just Little Man to focus on his tougher subjects.
We do Bible Study Fellowship on Wednesday mornings.  The kids and I have been doing that the last 3 years.  We all enjoy learning more about God's word.  This year we are studying the book of Genesis.

Below are pictures of the kids.  One is of Little Man after he lost his first tooth last month.  The other is of Peanut on her first day of gymnastics a couple weeks ago.  I also included pictures of them in their Halloween costumes. They enjoyed Halloween but it was cold so they did not make it around the neighborhood very far. But their costumes were big hits.
Enjoy!

Lost his first tooth

First day of gymnastics

Peanut as Loonette the Clown from The Big Comfy Couch

Little Man as R2D2 from Star Wars

Youtube and other things

If you didn't know, I have a youtube channel where you can view videos of the kids and other things that we enjoy.  You can click on the "subscribe" button once you go to my youtube page and stay updated when new videos are posted.
Here is the link:  https://www.youtube.com/user/indymama309

Things are going ok here in Indy. I am trying to figure out how best to serve my family and still honor God in regards to me working.  Please pray about this decision.
School starts on Monday so I am sure after the first week I will have lots to update you on.  Little Man is extremely excited about starting school and I am looking forward to having a schedule again. Summers tend to be chaotic and the daily/weekly schedule gets thrown out the window.

We are enjoying watching the Summer 2012 Olympics.  The kids have even gotten into it.  After that we will welcome the start of a new NFL season and cheer on our new Colts team.

That's about it for now. Take care and God bless.

Fun Times with Opa

So Steve's dad just came for a short visit.  It was good to see him. The kids were so excited to pick him up from the airport and kept asking or droppies the entire time.  We all enjoyed our time with him and wish it could have lasted longer.
During his stay we ate at a couple of our favorite restaurants (Olive Garden for one), visited The Children's Museum, went shopping at Greenwood Park Mall, and went swimming in Opa's hotel pool.  Below is a link to my youtube channel where you can watch the kids swimming with Steve in the hotel pool (plus a few other videos of the kids). Enjoy!

Click here to watch the swimming video

Little Man Swimming

Steve has been working with Little Man on swimming.  This is a short video of his second time practicing.  Once Steve introduced him to the snorkel he swam non-stop the rest of the afternoon.

Family Photos

It had been 3 years since our last family photo session, so we figured it was time.  The lovely Jessica Limeberry of Lemongrass Photography was such a sweetheart and did an amazing job.  I highly recommend her.  Check out some of our favorites below. (photos are copyright protected. If you would like any prints, please let us know)