Autumn

Today I had a "theme" day at home.

  All things Fall. 

 I put the garden to bed (minus the overgrown tomato bed, because I ran out of room in our yard waste bin). 

 I tided up the porch and watered our fall flower pots. 

 I put my winter clothes in my drawers and took care of Kip who is home sick with croup. 

She's a wonderful patient.  Just popsicles, juice and lots of tv.

And finally, I finished my first "antiquing" project! 

 All of our other battered items are legitimately battered 

because they are old and loved.  

This chest is old and well-loved, too.  An old toy box from my grandmother.
We are going to use it to store pellets for our stove this winter.

 I decided it was time for it to match all of our other old treasures 

so I tried my hand at antiquing it.  

I've now decided I'm going to do this on ALL my future projects because I hate the detail work of painting and this is the EXACT opposite!  

You paint it fast and messy.  

Then you mess it up some more which hides your painting errors. 

 It is the perfect type of project for me!! 

Hope you all are enjoying Fall wherever you are, too!

Embracing Reality

Today, I'm having one of these days:

Coming back from vacation (hoping to do a post on that soon) is always hard for me.  The hours of relaxation always inspire me to come back and take my game to the next level.  I used to spend our car rides making lists of all the amazing things I would accomplish once I got home, refreshed and renewed.  I learned years ago that I was never able to follow through so I've quit making lists, but I still can't get away from the idea that once I get home things will be better. More productive. I will finish ALL the projects.  You know how it is.  

Then, reality sets in.

I need a vacation from the vacation.  Things get off to a slow start, but my mind is still dreaming of that new level I'm going to achieve.

For fun, let's take a look at how this plays out in my head, shall we?

I imagine our garden will look like this:

Reality:

I'll finally hang some artwork:

 Reality:

I'll finish repainting Kip's dresser:

Reality:

I will follow through on my commitment to keeping my laundry room neat:

Reality:

The front porch will be an oasis:

Reality:

Everything from the suitcases will magically get put away in beautiful, organized bins:

Reality:

We'll finish the home office we've been working on:

Reality: 

My children will be beautiful angels who cherish one another at all times:

 Reality:

This one teases... 

until this one cries.

 But then....

Sometimes I find beauty where I did not plan for it or work to make it grow.  Pure grace.  Not through any effort of mine.  Free gifts, if I will take the time to look for them and enjoy them.

Reality:

Pretend

I love it when my kids come up with their own "pretend" activities.  Today they are playing doctor-

complete with a diagnostic sheet:

 washing station:

 medicine cabinet:

 and a pet, for extra comfort.

I was their first patient (bee sting), and they both have a really nice bedside manner!

Cabo!

I

It's been 9 years, two kids, and two houses, but we finally made it back to Cabo San Lucas.  We are trying to relax and unplug, so for now this is all you get!

Long overdue

It's been more than a month since we slipped away for a family vacation to the mountains of Va, and I'm just now getting around to posting some pictures.  Kinda tells you how busy we are at the moment!

We had a really wonderful, relaxing time.

We did some hiking....

A lot of swimming...

Some family gaming....

Spent a morning at the Children's Museum....

But in the end, the highlight for the kids might have been taking baths in the jacuzzi tub!

This is the face of pure, relaxation bliss, don't you think?