Aaahhh....

I know it's short-lived. I'm not getting my hopes up.

So I am not not taking it for granted. Not even for a minute.

When you live in Louisiana, and have been enduring 100+ temps for weeks, 94 feels really good. It was down to 60 Tuesday night. My, am I ready for fall!

We spent all morning outside, drinking it in. Feeling the cool breeze, hanging clothes out on the line, and watching the kiddos play contentedly. In the background, the girls clucked a comforting tune, adding to the symphony of the morning. I never knew I'd enjoy the chickens this much. I love watching them, feeding them, and listening to them bicker with one another. I'm proud to report that we have no further casualties since DH boarded up the bottom of the coop.






Neither did I know that hanging clothes on the line would be offer such a peaceful time of reflection and prayer. There's so much to pray about these days, more than I can ever remember. Lately, I'm finding it easier to walk through the day in a spirit of prayer. Somehow it seems I can feel His listening ear bending down closer to hear my petitions when I am busy with the tasks of my home, completing them with a spirit of contentment and thankfulness.




How 'bout this little house, created by little hands and big imagination? It's great to be able to return to childhood through the play of my own children. To leave behind the burdens of adulthood for just a little while, and rest in the simpleness of youth.




I hope the weather has been milder your way as well. Fall, I see you peeking around the corner! You're welcome to make your debut anytime you feel like it! Don't be shy!

Tour De Home (Part III)

Today will be the conclusion of my Home Tour.

I have lots of pictures waiting to be framed and hung down the hall (on the walls, of course). Waaiiting....:)

The bathroom: This bathroom is what made me want to buy this house! I thought if the rest of the house can look this good, then let's do it!



Next we have the girls' bedroom. I have plans for this room that have yet to be accomplished: Emma's name on the wall, a "sisters" saying in vinyl, and some drapes for the window that I have started but haven't finished.





The Master Bedroom: I have been desperately desiring to makeover my bedroom. I want to repaint, get a new bedspread, buy some wall decor, and make a headboard from a door, Nester style. It's just so blaaah as is. It's so much more fun to clean something when you know it looks good, kwim?


I can't believe I'm actually putting this picture on here!! The toddler bed is being stored in our room for now, and these big tubs is where I put the kids' clothes as they outgrow them.

Now for Elijah's room, aka The Cowboy Room:




Thanks for coming along with me for the tour! Come visit us! We love company!

Tour de Home (Part II)

Last week, I showed you a little bit of my palace. This is the fourth house I've lived in in 7 years of marriage, and it's pretty close to being my favorite. It's 2600 square feet, and when we moved in it was bare drywall(no-primer)with a seriously out-of-date kitchen (understatement of the year), and awful pet-stained carpet. The living room floor was just plywood. I am proud of all we have accomplished in a year and a half! We're still not finished by any means. Our master bathroom is completely un-usable at this point. Even so, it truly is a palace to me. Anything can be a palace; a mobile home, an apartment, even a camper. It's the contentment in one's heart that makes a dwelling a home. The decor aspect is a slow and on-going process, and definitely not what I want it to be, but I do love my home!

Today I will show you the den/library/computer repair shop, the living room, and the laundry room.

Den/library/computer repair shop:
Our new FREE couch and loveseat::


My husband's sermon books:


Isn't the cord coming out of the wall lovely?


The Living Room:






Laundry Room:
I love my laundry room! It has lots of storage. The wall to the left has a 3-unit storage cabinet, and then there are the cabinets over the washer/dryer.


I'm so thankful for my home and for all the wonderful friends who have helped us in the remodeling process. We've had some great help with every aspect. What a blessing! Come and visit anytime!

ndry

Tour De Home (Part I)

Yes, I know this is not the actual French translation, but you get the idea.

Four the last couple of weekends, DH has been heading to the woods on Friday & Saturday. He goes to his grandparent's home in the country, about 60 miles from here, and prepares for (hopeful) deer slaying season. Poor deer.

While I miss his presence around the house, my sorrow has been lessened somewhat by the fact that DH takes my two eldest children with him, giving me an entire evening on Friday and 1/2 day Saturday in a quiet, tidy home. Well, as tidy as it can be with a 1 year old Destruct-ress around :).

So, what better time to give you a tour of my home than when it's actually clean and tidy? In part I of this series I will show you my foyer, dining room, & kitchen.

Welcome!



The foyer area (front door) view from the dining room. As you can see, we have yet to repaint that patch on the wall that was sanded down when we sheetrocked the kitchen.



Ye Olde Kitchen



The Dining Room

Straight through the foyer you will find our dining room. This room and the kitchen are the hub of our home. Here we eat, homeschool, and create. The kids stay here at this table the majority of the day and color, draw, put puzzles together, play with play dough, and make messes! It's also where I make hairbows and put the sewing machine when I bring it out.








The curio cabinet you see to the right there was a gift to me from my Pawpaw on my 10th birthday, I believe. I used to collect porcelain dolls and he bought it for me to display them in. Notice there's only one shelf? It's actually a pretty interesting story, how the rest of the shelves got broke. But that's another post.

I think I would make a good real estate agent, because I LOVE houses! Thanks for letting me pretend to be an agent for you :). Stay tuned for Part II :).

I've Been Busy!

This week, my Mom has been here helping to keep me from getting lonely while DH is away. I am so glad she has been here, for else the days would be terribly long and lonesome! There has been no watching the clock this week! I look up and say, "Wow! Is it lunch time already? Is it time for supper already?" We have been very busy, completing those all those little projects that I have started and got stuck on and had to stop, and also the ones I've had in the back of my head and never even started.

The first matter of importance on our list was to make a cover/cushion for this storage box/bench thingy in my dining room. The previous owners installed it and I've always thought it was kind of odd, but it is pretty handy for storage. Here is how it has looked for the 1 1/4 years (can you believe it has been that long?) that we have lived here:



And here it is after our little "makeover"! Better, eh? I got the fabric at Hobby Lobby, off of the remnant table for around $9.00. The cushion was not so cheap, and I was not so happy with the thin-ness of it, but it does the trick! I love it!



Project #2:
Mom got me this white lamp base at a yard sale when we first bought the house. I dunno how much she paid for it, but I'm sure it was a steal. Since my daughter's furniture is white, I thought it would need something to make it pop a little. I bought a pack of vinyl wall stickers at Target on the $1 rack.
I've seen other people blog about recovering lampshades and thought, "I can do that!" Have you ever thought that? You know what? You CAN! Just DO IT! It's liberating! And if you mess up, oh well! So I watched yard sales for a nice lamp shade, and finally found one for $3. I bought a yard of fabric at WM for $1.50. Grand total=$5.50. I was very pleased with how it turned out.



Project #4:
My girls' hairbows were taking over. Spilling out, over, and everywhere. And of course I keep making them and adding to the loot. So they needed a new place to call home. I found a canvas board at Goodwill one day for $1.99, and bought some fabric at WM, again on the $1.50 table. Ain't it cute? It looks even better with all the bows attached.



Project #5:
Kitchen curtains!! Yeah! And I sewed these on my own, with a little over the shoulder guidance from Mom. I'm so proud. I think they probably cost about $2 apiece. Pretty good when compared to the $15.00 valances I wanted at Target. These are to hold me over until I can get what I really want. But until then, I love these!


Project #6:
We made Grace a skirt out of a pair of jeans. It's so hard to find skirts long enough these days. Sorry but I don't care to have my 3 year old dressing like a hootchie :). FYI, I got these jeans at a yard sale for $2. No pic yet, but I will take one of her sassy little Highness wearing it soon and you can see.

We also cleaned out my den/computer room/storage room/study/computer repair shop. I have 8 garbage bags and 3 boxes of stuff sitting in my foyer waiting to be taken to Goodwill. The room now looks more like a den/computer room/study/computer repair shop. And a lot more tidy at that. No pics of that yet (tomorrow).

Can you see why I've had nooo problem falling asleep at night? The evenings after the kids go to bed have been spent in companionable silence, reading a book and eating popcorn. Don't we sound like two little ole ladies?? Even old ladies can have fun!

It Is Finished!

My kitchen is now fully functional! Yeah! I've never had a kitchen this nice and I cannot stress how much I love it! After about 8 weeks of living kitchen-deprived, you can imagine how great it is to once again have a fully functional kitchen. No decorating has been done as of yet, but that will come in time. A visit to Target yesterday left me with a lot of inspiration in that area. It will be fun to see it all come together. Here are some pictures (finally).






If only we had some "before" pictures, you would really appreciate the transformation. It was BAD, folks. This kitchen was built in the 40s, and had not been updated very much since, besides about three layers of hideous wallpaper and faux green brick on the walls. Yes, green brick. Lovely. But now, it is a beautiful red and I am one happy Mama!! :)