Update Your Garage In an Afternoon!

So before we get into it, I have to apologize for being so "radio silent" this summer. 

Summers are so busy for our gang and blogging gets put on the side burner for sure!

But what I do love about having James home is that I get to get a lot of my "bigger" projects done!

I've painted our living room (only took me 3 years), painted our bathroom cabinets, worked on the yard and garden, detailed our cars, and painted our garage door!

Phew! 

But I did want to show you what an awesome thing a can of black paint can do!

Look at this door! 

And as you can see I also decided to paint the stairs black.
Look at the before.
I'm not going to make this photo x-large (your welcome).

The  gray paint that the builders chose to use made it impossible to keep clean! Hence forth, making me give up on keeping them clean altogether.
I chose a can of black paint that was OIL based.
This made it so much easier to wipe off.
Dirt and grime just don't stick to the door or stairs anymore.

So there ya have it. One of my summer projects!
I hope that I can start to post a couple more for you guys soon!

Happy Summer!

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They Take Turns

If it's not one, it's the other.
They take turns being the "challenging" one for the day.

I just know they conspire against us.

"JoJo! I'll be super defiant one today if you promise to be the over sensitive whiner tomorrow. We know that Ella pooped on the floor all day yesterday, so she's going to be so adorable the next two days."

We can usually have 2 out of the 3 kids behaving awesome, on any given day. There's always that one. That one who is just plain naughty.

James and I always joke in the mornings, "Looks like we have our winner today". It's always first thing in the morning too. We just know it by the way they roll out of bed. We've even been so lucky to have children complaining about blankets, lucky charms, and cartoons. You know those days.

But hey, we can't have our cake and eat it too.
We can't have super adorable children who behave perfectly I suppose.
(Not that that was ever an option in the first place)

But gosh…I sure do love them.
Every. Single. Day.

And there's always wine.

What My Old Car Taught Me (and a car cleaning tip)

It's a 15 year old Toyota Corolla.
I've driven her since I was 17.
She has been with me though high school, college, marriage, and new babies.
And…it's weird I'm calling a car "she".

The wear and tear on that car is super noticeable. I've run into walls, driven through snow storms, lost hubcaps and side view mirrors. She has countless scratches, dings, and dents. A broken windshield and a broken rearview mirror. Yeah…I have been rough on that little car.

She's not pretty, fancy, or "cool" by any means.
But….she's loyal. I've never had a problem with that car. Not one. It is still getting around 38 miles to the gallon. She's running great.

And I catch myself hating this car. Every time I crawled into it, I wanted a new one. It's not even the car I drive. James takes it to work and I'll use it for errands. But I have had such a bad attitude about it.

It was disgusting inside. In college a can of OJ concentrate exploded (don't judge me!) inside and I could never clean it out fully. It's just grimy and gross. I had enough…it was time to clean it out! God was telling me to get over it and be grateful for what I had.

So I got a bottle of Turtle Wax Oxy Interior Cleaner and starting scrubbing, and scrubbing, and scrubbing.

AMAZING. Seriously, why didn't I do this years ago?!?!

I told you not to judge me. The car was nasty. Just wretched. But with about an hour of my time, some elbow grease, and a great cleaner it's like a new car.

Lets be honest, it's still not the prettiest car.
I mean I'm still missing a hubcap folks.

But the fact of the matter is I was not content with what God has given our family. He takes care of us. He provides everything and MORE than what we need. He's good to us. He's so good, and all I can do is sit in that car and complain.

I like to think of myself as a content person, but the truth is I'm a coveter. I covet all sorts of things that aren't mine. Things that God didn't intend for me. God has called us to be content with what he has given us. He knows what we need and what we don't need.

When I choose contentment, life is so much better. To choose to be happy with what you have can even make the ugliest car seem perfect. After all, she's perfect for us.