Thanks, John & Sherry!

So, I go on a bloggy break and the very day after I announce it, we get 130 visitors at one time :) Go figure! Thanks so much to John & Sherry for featuring our kitchen door project, and welcome to everyone who came over from YHL. Hope to hear from a few of you - we'll be back to blogging before too long!

~Jacci

An Extended Snow Day

I called up some of my other homeschooling friends tonight and told them I had an official announcement to make: "School is cancelled for tomorrow morning. It's a Snow Day". So, we're all meeting up for a snow day tomorrow morning at a nearby park. Homeschool kids need snow days, too :)



In a roundabout way, this brings me to the next paragraph. I've been tossing around the idea of a blog break for a few weeks now. The project department is slow-going. Funds are a little less abundant lately due to an unplanned appliance purchase and two February birthdays as well as a February anniversary. GREAT reasons to have less of a house-project budget, really :) I'd much rather have a birthday party than another length of basecap moulding. And, yes, we had an awesome weekend away together for our 10th - thanks for the congrats - totally worth the lighting fixtures we won't be buying this month. We're still planning on February goals, but nothing earth shattering or even interesting enough to make a good blog post. School is taking up a good bit of each day, and Sam and I are trying to cut back some on evening 'puter time, too. When I add all of those factors up, it seems like everything is pointing to an extended snow day of sorts for the blog.

We'll be back. Not sure when. I guess when we have something noteworthy to share with you all :) If you'd like for me to swing by and let you know when we're back at it, just leave a comment below (you can include your email if you don't have a blog or website) and I'll be sure to pop in and say "hi" when our little hiatus is through. I love visiting your blogs and hearing from you all over here, too - I'd like to keep that up. We just need a bit of a break. So, please leave a comment if you'd like to stay in touch, and we'll see you in a bit!

~Jacci

It Just Takes Time

I was getting ready to blow-dry Shug's hair tonight after her bath, and she plopped down on the ground in front of me with a daydreamy look on her face. "Mama", she began, "Mama, I miss the old house. It was just so... cozy, and I miss it". I pulled her up into my lap and snuggled her close. "Sometimes I miss it, too", I admitted. Then we talked for a little bit about what she thought she missed most about it. She couldn't pin it down exactly, but I think - after listening to her for a bit - I think I know what she means. Guess what, Shug, I feel the same way.

Every once in a while, I look at photos from the five years we lived in our previous home and find myself looking at the rooms in the background. It's funny, because it's not like the house was ever really decorated. It was comfortably furnished, but the years we lived there were busy years, and I didn't spend much time or money on it. It was a great house, but not because it had fabulous interior design or because the rooms were drop dead. It had great light, high ceilings, and plenty of room, but the physical features of the house are not what we miss. What really makes me miss that house a little is all of the memories we made in it.



The kitchen, especially.

It was never even painted, for pity's sake, but I have such a warm place in my heart for that boring, builder-grade, cookie cutter kitchen :)

We celebrated birthdays in it :)

We had Thanksgiving dinners in it (that's Mom in the pink!)...

Made gingerbread houses (that's Sissy)...

Threw wedding showers...

Made messes...

With all our hearts...

Punkin and Little Dude spent their babyhood there...

It was our art room...

And our first classroom...

It was the heart of our home for almost five years...

So, Shug, sometimes I miss it, too. See, I love Home, and I really don't do well when I don't feel like Home is established and familiar and cozy. I think maybe I've been trying to hurry up and do as much as I can to this new house to try to make it Home more quickly. Paint, curtains, trim... all those things are nice and I'm thankful we can have them, but... they won't make this house Home. That just takes love, and learning, and smiles, and birthdays, and silly faces, and messes, and - time. It's coming along, though. You'll see. Before we know it, this house will be the best one, yet.

New Rug for the Entryway

Hi, all :) Haven't been posting much since there aren't really too many house projects getting accomplished these days. The fridge deal ate up our home improvement budget! Little Dude does have something to share with you from a few weeks back, though. (Your eyes do not deceive you - there is no seat on that bench, but I have a pretty fabric picked out!).



Just before Christmas, Sam and I bought a new rug for the front entryway. We knew we definitely wanted something there before any snow fell, and it turned out that we picked it up just before the first real snow fall of the winter :)



It's a Dash & Albert indoor/outdoor rug... this one. Perfect for high traffic areas. We've had it for about 6 weeks now, and it's been just the ticket for all the muddy little feet that walk through that door.



I'm missing hearing from you guys, by the way. If you're lurking, come on out and say hi! :)