Christmas House Tour 2016

Welcome to our winter house tour

I love how our cozy our home is right now with all the candles and twinkle lights. 

What is it about christmas lights? Something about them just draws us in. when it is dark and gloomy outside during the long winter days, we are naturally drawn to what little light we can find, and when they are tiny little twinkle lights, well that just makes us warm and cozy inside. 

This is a special season. My favorite time of the year. A time when we slow down and spend time with the ones we love. A time to spread God's love to people around us, a time to be thankful and a time to give. 

May the Lord bless you all this holiday season. 

 It may be dark and gloomy outside, but inside it is warm and cozy. 

 Thanks for visiting, 

Fall Home Tour 2016

Hello my dear friends, It has been a while since I took the time to post anything. The kids had been sick, and I have been rather preoccupied. This is a busy season for us. Kids are in school, I joined a BSF bible study group, so any free time I have, I do my daily lessons. 

I have been to bible studies before (which I never stuck to) and even read the bible cover to cover (which took me over a year)  So I need this kind of structure. I need to be part of a group so I am more responsible and make time for God. Because, lets face it, motherhood is hard and your responsibilites never end, If you don't make the time, you will never accomplish what you want.

 I have only gone to two classes so far and already learned so much! It is amazing how I have read these passages so many times before and NEVER actually understood them until now. I am so thankful for this amazing opportunity to spend two hours surrounded by different women who love God as much as I do, maybe even more. This is just what I need in my life right now. I have been praying for God to send me people who would motivate me, who would bring me closer to Him, people who would lift me up and enoucrage me and He has answered my prayers :) 

It is fall Y'all!! I am so excited for this new season. I have been putting up some fall decor for the past few days and am loving how warm and cozy it is now :) Not only do I love the colors of fall, but also the smells. I have already made an apple pie, and have candles burning, the weather is crisp, which is perfect for the blankets and fireplace. It is absolute perfection :)

I have so much to be thankful for this season. 

Family Room

Its been almost a year since we got our new Ikea section and we still love it! In this past year, I only washed the cushion slip covers twice. This is why I love gray slip covers so much! They hide all the stains, and believe me, we are not careful around this sofa, we watch TV, eat snacks and have drinks.

I ended up getting a new rug for this space. The rug I got last year was a pain to keep clean. You could see every stain and crumb on it, it drove me crazy. This is why I love jute rugs, they hide crumbs and little messes- a must have with little kids. 

I picked up a few new pillow covers from h&m (gotta love H&M prices) to freshen up the space for spring/summer and got a new palm plant for the corner. I love how bright and summery this space look now. 

-love this candle from h&m-

Thanks for visiting, 

Favorites in our Outdoor Space

It has been warming up here in the NW, and the fact that sun is here to stay for a while makes us very happy! We have a few little trips planned this summer, but I think the majority of the time will be spent in our back yard. From splashing in the kiddie pool, barbecuing our dinner, to camping out with  our friends.

We spend alot of time in our backyard. The  patio roof we had built two years ago was a great investment for our home.  Not only does add architectural interest to the the back to the house, but it is also practical. We get full sun back here in the afternoon, before we had the cover, we avoided being out here in the hot sun, now we have some shade and spend alot of time lounging out here.

One of the most common questions I get, is where our patio furniture is from. We chose the Woodbury pieces from the Hampton Bay line at Home Depot. We bought the Hampton Bay table set and the 3 piece patio set. I have washed and dried the chair dining cushions, and they were clean and good as new. The  slip covers on the 3 piece seating set are another story. Even though the slip covers come off to wash and air dry, they are  a bit difficult to put them back on. It is a good thing that the covers are under the patio and I don't have to do it very often. 

I may be a little weird, but I get excited for new household items like vacuums, or anything that makes my life a tiny bit easier ;). Its no secret that I like a clean house, so now that we are outside, I like it to be clean out here to, especially the patio area: the place we all come to relax and spend time together. 

Half Bath - updated

So I recently painted the bathroom. With stripes. Again. 

It was already striped, I just repainted them to get a fresh look. I alternated the stripes. It used to start and end with white, so the trims did not pop, now they pop against the gray. 

This half bath is so small, it doesn't even have room for a regular door. No kidding, there is a pocket door, which I do not love, but oh well. 

I know that striped walls are not as popular as they were once. I originally painted the half bath in 2012! (what?! its been 4 years?!) But I still love them in this bathroom. If the whole bathroom was gray, it would feel like a cave. Trust me, I tried that. Didn't like it one bit. When it was all white, It was boring. So stripes it is. 

I also had hubby put up these ikea shelves for me. Perfect place to store extra toilet paper and clean towels. I love them! 

This bathroom came a long way from where it was before - Can you believe that is the same bathroom?!

Thanks for visiting, 

Gardening with the kids...

Emily goes back to school tomorrow after a wonderful spring break. Her backpack is hanging downstairs, her pencil box is filled with new sharpened pencils and a fresh new eraser. Lunch is packed, and the dress she chose to wear tomorrow is folded on her dresser. As think about our spring break, I can't help but smile. Although, we didn't get to go on a family vacation, as I hoped we would, we still managed to have a nice spring break, filled with memories. We went to the zoo, the tulip farm, family bike rides, parks, multiple frozen yogurt runs and so on.  We spent the rest of the time we had in our back yard, the kids came up with new games daily, they were pirates one day and pioneers the next. As I watch them play, I can't help but think back to my childhood. I was blessed to grow up in a large family, we didn't have a TV, so most of our time was spent in pretend play. I remember hauling tons of toys outside and setting out our "houses" or "stores".  

Since we have been spending so much time outside, it was time to spruce up the yard. I loaded the kids into the SUV this morning and headed not to one, but two home and garden stores in order to get everything on my list. While the kids and I planted our garden, hubby built shelves in the shed and organized it. We brought out all our patio things and set everything up. The yard looks so great now, and we are looking forward to spending a lot of time out here. 

 Thanks for visiting,