a christmas house

a christmas house has children,bouncing off the walls,  hopped up on sugar and anticipation, crazy,crazy.children.
a christmas house has sprinkles on the floor,snowflakes in every corner,and a mom with flour on her pants. everywhere she goes.
a christmas house has jingle and jangle,christmas tunes all day long,and a favorite song sung every night at bedtime.
a christmas house has a place we go. 

day nine

after school
I am thankful for my little house.ok ok, most days. let's be honest.(just don't ask me while I'm making a big dinner)Now I won't lie--I have to swallow down a lot of unkind words I've said about our house, but at the end of the day, each day, I am very thankful for it's teeny-ness. 
Let me tell you why.
We are always together. heehee, like it or not. The rooms spill into each other,

artsy fartsy

The house needed some art. color. The kids needed a project.I needed something bright and happy to remind me of them when they leave me for school in a few days (how can they do that to me??!!)So it was decided. They would paint. I asked them to paint me some flowers, and I am so happy with the results....all you  need is canvas, craft paints, creative little hands.....and VWALLA! new art!

after hours.

An Advent Calender for the Procrastinator.

I procrastinate everything, which is why we are starting our countdown to Christmas at 20 days rather than the classic 25.
But really, who says it has to be 25? I say even a 5 day countdown is better than no countdown at all....right?? So if you still haven't got around to finding or making an advent calendar this year......fear not! This one took me less than an hour (and I watched tv while

welcome december

day eighteen

I am thankful, SO THANKFUL, that I get to be home with my kids all day.I love it. I love watching every little bit of their day (the good and the bad:)I am so thankful for the fun we have playing, cooking, and creating together. 
I love how the sun comes through the window at the end of the day, and turns the insides of our old house pink and gold. The kids fight over who gets to sit in the

day eleven

I am thankful for fall colors.
both inside, and out. 
What are YOU thankful for today?

(a very) DIY Halloween

So.....I won't lie. I'm not a huge fan of Halloween. gasp! I love to dress up.....love to put together costumes for the kids.....but fall is just so pretty, and Halloween is just not. Especially when the Christmas stuff is already glistening in the stores, with it's twinkling lights and tinsel,  but before we can get to all that pretty stuff we have to go through Halloween, with it's blacks and

blue.

did I tell you? last month I cleaned my room.and then decided to paint it. all in one day.except it took a few days. I painted it blue.I like it.and I like to take naps in my blue room.the end.

random thoughts on thrifting

Scenes like this make my heart pitter patter. Garage sales and outdoor markets are starting up for the year and I am soooooooooo......ooooooo excited.(your welcome coca cola for the free ad) I seriously think I have issues. There are a few things that I cannot pass up buying, and old books is one of them. Do I need them?? no. Do I HAVE to have them because they are 50¢....YES!-The Running of the

pompom garland

3 posts today. what has gotten in to me??I forgot that I hadn't blogged this yet...and thought that I'd better in case you needed to whip up something quick so your house looks semi-festive and springy for the weekend.You can find the original Martha Stewart pom-pom tutorial HERE.Here is my take on it...What you need:-tissue paper-floral wire-string (for your garland)fishing line (to attach

outside in

It's cold. and its windy. and its trying to snow.

It just makes me mad.
So today, we brought a little outdoors, indoors.
I have been wanting to make some little terrariums for a while now, and just never got around to it. Today's forecast of snow was just what I needed.
What you will need:

containers: they sell beautiful containers specifically for terrariums, but I am a lover of glassware

How to Build a Farmhouse Table

(the anti-climactic big reveal)So I had hoped to have a grand ribbon cutting for the big reveal of the table....complete with chairs around the table filled with happy guests, new (old) furniture in the room, our bookcases painted, art and photographs neatly hung on the wall......but come to find out, all that takes more than a few weeks! I'll keep you posted as we add to the room.....so for now,

progress....

The couch and chair are GONE! I now have money to play with. $800 (and considering we bought them for $1200 5 long years ago.....not too shabby)Moving on with our plan.My taste in tables was much too expensive for our budget....so that's when we improvise. So we headed out to look at wood (I love the smell of wood)I braved death by riding in the back, holding on to our precious sweet smelling

Projecting....

is that a word??That is what I'm doing.When we bought the little red house, we had only planned on being here 2-3 years MAX. Next month will be three years, (how!?) and it doesn't look like we'll be going anywhere too soon.....So here's the plan. My kitchen/"dining room" is probably smaller than your closet.....I don't know how they did it back in 1948! It is impossible for our little family to