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Tag: home

  • Making a Gingerbread House {Wordless Wesnesday}

    Making a Gingerbread House {Wordless Wesnesday}

    We picked up these gingerbread house kits at Ikea the last time we were there. 
    The kids had a lot of fun making their own home with candies like they like.
  • Piano {Wordless Wednesday}

    Piano {Wordless Wednesday}

    One thing I really miss having is a piano. While visiting my parents for Thanksgiving, I got to enjoy Mark’s music as he played almost daily on their beautiful piano.  As soon as we close on this house, and move in, I think our next big home purchase will be a piano. My fingers are itching to play again.

    Music truly makes a House more of a Home.

  • We found a House

    When we decided it was time for a change, and made the decision to sell our home of 1 year, it was hard. For me, it was extremely emotional. We had spent 6 years moving around, renting where we could find the cheapest prices, and we had finally decided to settle our family down, in a home of our own, where we could paint the walls however we wanted.

    Packing up and moving a year later was not in the plans. Not even the slightest thought of that. But we did it. It happened. After being home owners, though, going back to renting has been extremely difficult. I am grateful, mind you that our landlord rented his house to us on such short notice, so we could move as a family. I’m grateful for a roof over our heads, that keeps us (mostly) warm at night.  I am grateful for a kitchen, with a stove and fridge to prepare yummy meals for my family.

    I am most grateful however, for my husband. That together we knew we wanted to find a home for us again. One that fit our lifestyle, and our kids. One that we could change from just a house, to a home.

    And after much searching, we finally found it. I was hoping to show you pictures this week of us moving into it. But it’s taking a little longer to close than we had hoped. That is not going to get me down though! It means instead of moving over our holiday break, we get to relax and enjoy family time.

    However, I do want to show you some pics of our almost new home.

    Sorry it’s not the greatest picture. It is pretty amazing though! I can’t wait to show you more pictures once we’ve moved in…hopefully before Christmas.
  • A 2 year old, a Hammer, and a Single Pane Window

    A 2 year old, a Hammer, and a Single Pane Window

    What do you get when you mix a 2 year old, a Hammer, and a Single Pane Window?

    Are we remodeling? you ask.  No, No we’re not. This happened shortly after Princess R, the mentioned 2 year old, locked herself (for the 3rd time) in one of the bedrooms. I attempted using the hammer to pry the door open, but the walls are a good 2-3 feet thick, and my hammer is not that long.

    I guess I left the hammer on the floor….though I may have also put it on Mark’s dresser. But that doesn’t matter, because Princess R climbs his dresser all the time in search of treats. I guess this time she thought the Hammer would be a fun toy.

    There I am, pot of water boiling for our Oh so Healthy Macaroni and Cheese lunch, mixing up a bottle for Prince L, when I hear it. The sound of glass shattering.

    What in the world? I say to myself. So I hand Prince L his bottle, and go investigate.

    I yell up the stairs “Girls, did something break?”

    “MOM! R has the Hammer and she hit the window!”

    SHOOT! Off I go, running up the stairs, just as I hear it again ~Shatter~ 

    Once I got the kids out of this room (which we don’t use for anything anyways), and the glass picked up, I made the dreaded call – our Landlord. How was I supposed to explain my 2 year old having a hammer, because I left out, because the doors have privacy locks that she can lock, but can’t figure out how to unlock, so I needed the hammer to pry her out without breaking the door, which resulted in her getting the hammer and breaking the window?

    Thankfully, it boiled down simply to “The kids were playing upstairs and a window got broken. What do you want me to do?”

    Well, hopefully he’s on his way over today to fix it. In the meantime, I probably should go cover it with some cardboard and tape to keep some semblance of heat inside the house.

    Of course after this little incident, we then had Princess C turn off the lights, and lock Princess R in another room. Sigh. I’m going to need some of these door muffs to keep the locks from being turned!

    Source: etsy.com via Adelina on Pinterest
  • Home Essentials for the Fall

    Home Essentials for the Fall

    Have I told you how much I love fall? yeah, I may have mentioned it a time or two, or three, or every post. I just love this season!! Something about the cool crisp air is just so refreshing, and brings out the ambition in me.

    Every home needs these essentials when Fall weather hits
     
    Warm blankets, scattered all around the house. My kids are sleeping with up to 6 blankets each the last few nights.
     
    Great reading materials and a mug of hot cocoa or apple cider
     
    And lastly you need a place to enjoy it all.
    I love my couch and huge picture window. On sunny days I enjoy letting the sun shine through and just basking in it’s rays.
     
    I hope you are all enjoying fall, where ever you may be.
  • It’s so SOFT!! {Wordless Wednesday}

    It’s so SOFT!! {Wordless Wednesday}

    I entered a contest with HGTV Home and Shaw Flooring. I didn’t win, but just for entering, Shaw sent me this gorgeous area rug.
    I’m not kidding when I say this is soft. It’s like walking on a cloud.
    Don’t believe me, ask Princess R. She faceplanted into it and exclaimed “Soft!”
  • Mailboxes – Think About It!

    Mailboxes – Think About It!

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    This week’s topic
    MailBoxes
     
    What? Seriously, mailboxes. I want to hear your thoughts on mailboxes. Do you love them, hate them. Are you a P.O box only kind of person, or a two timer?
     
    This thought was provoked by my good friend Diane’s post “I Have a Love Affair with my Mailbox” from last week.
     
    I too have a love affair with my mailbox!  Sigh. As Diane said, it brings a lot of junk, but yet I keep hoping to open it and find more than just junk. Why? Because I love my mailbox. I love getting mail, even junk. Silly it may sound, but I feel even if I get junk mail, then somebody out in the world was thinking about me.  True right? 
    The days I really get let down when I open my mailbox, are the ones that contain nothing. Not even junk. I start thinking negative thoughts. Mostly along the lines of….eh hem….”I just wasted time coming out to check you!” Come on, Adelina, it took all of 10 seconds to walk to the mailbox, and check it.
     
    Maybe if I feed my mailbox more, I would get more out of it? What do you think? See I keep sending letters to my brother (serving a 2year LDS mission in Boston), but he hasn’t written back yet. He’s been gone 6months. I know he’s busy, and honestly I’m not complaining. I enjoy sending him letters.   
     
    Since that’s the only mail I feed my mailbox, I should probably try giving it more. Maybe it will then give back some. It definitely couldn’t hurt.
     
    It’s not just what’s inside the mailbox that I like. I like the look of mailboxes. Something about them just screams Home to me. How can you have a home without a mailbox? It just wouldn’t look right. My parents live in a neighborhood that shares a big box of mailboxes, all with keys, and then shared package slots. It’s great for safety concerns, especially if you live in a well off neighborhood. With all the crazies out there you’ve got to keep mail safe. I wouldn’t want one of those though. I prefer something more like this from bhg.com
     
    Source: bhg.com via Bonnie on Pinterest
     
    Or what about something sentimental like we see in Disney’s movie UP
     
     
    
    Next Week’s Topic
    Fall vs Autumn. What do you call it?
     
    The ground rules:
    1. No Giveaways or reviews please, we want to stick to our topic or whatever
      thought provoking topic you have decided on your own. We want to get to know
      you personally not what you like or give out right?

    2. Make sure that you follow all the hosts via GFC and/or Facebook! (Mumfection, Home Maid Simple, Tim and Angi’s)
    3. Only thought provoking posts, which is why we always have a great topic
      for you prepared in case you are just having a blank day.

    4. Make sure your post has our Think About it Thursday
      button!

    5. Have fun, make some friends, follow, comment thoughtfully and above all
      else be respectful! Don’t forget to let people know which hop your visiting
      from!

    6. Suggest a topic, this is not mandatory, but we would love your input and
      we will definitely consider it for future meme’s!! If your topic is chosen you
      could end up receiving an e-mail giving you a chance to be one of the
      co-host’s!!! 
    

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  • One copper vase – Many uses

    One copper vase – Many uses

    To be honest I don’t even know what to call this particular item. It’s had many uses in our home. It’s a piece that I love. If you’ve been around here awhile, you may remember when I picked it up. It was about 1 year ago, at a yard sale, for about 50 cents!  What a steal!!

    Originally I used it as a flower vase. We had so many beautiful Irises, and I just love having fresh flowers in the house. Once winter hit though, there were no more flowers going in it, and it sat empty.
    My design process-ees started going, and it ended up as a very stylish bathroom trash can.
    (I won’t share a picture of that….)
     
    With our recent move, it has once again served another purpose
    kids umbrella holder! I love how easy it is now for the kids to come in and place wet umbrellas in this “vase”. It keeps the drips off the carpet, and they always know where their umbrella is.
    We love playing in the rain, so this has been quite the helpful home made storage.

  • Is this home? A Theme Song for the blog

    Have I told you all about this house we’re living in?
    No?
    Well, I think I may have purposefully been avoiding it.
    See, when we first looked at this home, we loved it. It has a great layout, and lots of land.
    The problem was we looked at the home while it was still packed with a lifetime of stuff, that had been shut up in rooms untouched for years.
    When we moved in, we saw many many more problems than we expected.
     
    1. The foundation. It’s almost certain it is falling. I have a nice hill in the kitchen, and the front room slopes eastward.
    2. Walls. There are holes in the walls, from the old pot belly stoves, that were never closed up.
    Which brings us to the soot that covers every wall, from the pot belly stoves. Add to that the coal mine just a mile down the road, and we’ve got some black walls.
    3. The bathroom. Where do I start? From the toilet that grows mold daily, or the leaky bathtub with wood rot?
    4. You are so lucky this blog can’t send smells to you! Not that I would want to send this to you, but I’m pretty sure there’s something dead somewhere in this house. We just haven’t found it yet.
     
    We have a Beauty and the Beast Broadway music CD, and it’s often one we listen to with the kids. Shortly after our move, we had the CD playing and Belle’s song “Home” came on. Wow. I thought she must be singing about me! I laugh now, but that first week, I very much wanted to cry listening to this song. I think it has a great message though, for anyone going through a hard time, moving away from where they consider Home is.
    Remember,  Home is where your Heart is. You can make where ever you live Home, especially when you put your Heart into it.
     
    With that, enjoy “Home” sung by Susan Egan (Belle on Broadway)
     
  • Our new Home

    Our new Home

    I’m back! I hope I didn’t lose too many of you in this week of absence. I tried to have enough guest posts to keep you all entertained, and hanging around.  What I wasn’t expecting was for our internet to take so long to get set up. We’ve moved a lot in our married life, and we’ve never had such troubles.  I’ll talk more about that later though. For now I just want to share a picture or two of our new home with you.

    Cute home huh?  I actually really love it. The problem we are having is that it hasn’t been taken care of very well. So for now we’re renting. We’re actually heading out tonight to check out some more homes around town.