I love this book, Let's Go Home, The Wonderful Things About A House by Cynthia Rylant. (here a post that has a picture of that book)
That book lives on a table in our family room. I've read it oh so many times and the illustrations are just wonderful - even looking through that book is like medicine for too many instagram house scrolls. You know that feeling, when you've scrolled for a little too long and all of a sudden you want a new mirror above your mantle, or many like that farmhouse, shiplap, or the cabinets look so much more appealing that the ones you have, on and on.
I recently deleted instagram from my phone for the distraction that it is. Distraction from the important things I do and just for the space it frees in my mind. I still have it on my lap top but it's not constantly in front of me.
When I'm away from other pictures of other homes I see mine in a different way. Simple things, like all of this milk glass. When I look at my things, my home, I develop my own tastes and enjoy my home more.
I moved around some things in my dining room hutch and have a little less milk glass there. Little collections grouped together, and I like it so much more. And I do so love milk glass that I can pull for anything I need - matches everything - a classic.
The bowl just above in the picture was my grandmothers candy dish. It was in her living room and I could open it, take a candy, and close it without anyone hearing - I was a pro at that (most of the time) Every once in a while my grandmother would say, "is someone sneaking my candy...." and then I'd know I was caught.
"And when you come down from the attic, back into a house that is alive with smells from the kitchen and dogs barking and tubs running and doors opening and closing and opening again... you can breathe in the life of this wonderful house and be glad that for not it is yours. Happy living." from Let's Go Home: The Wonderful Things About A House
These are not pictures of my house. But I think they are lovely. There is something about them. I'm sure I'm drawn to the natural beauty of wood. It's so warm.
(that vintage painting, the big wooden shelf, the baskets)
All of last year in my classroom I began the slow process of taking out all of the vibrant colors. All of the rainbow. As much of the plastic as I could. I took out the blue rugs and the bins of bright green. I took down all of the posters and the laminated letters. I slowooooly began adding all things 'natural'. Natural colored baskets to hold math manipulates. Wooded letters for the titles on my bulletin boards. A wooden lazy susan in the middle of tables for supplies. And you know what? Every time someone came into my classroom they said, "it's so calm in here". And that is exactly what I was going for calm. Children need a calm environment to work. And anything hanging in the classroom should be their work.
(that big wooden hutch, that table and chairs, and of course allll those teacups)
I saw it work right before my eyes in room 124 of my school. Like magic. I got so motivated to keep going I was often in thrift stores buying all of their baskets.
(old cabinets - you can't buy them like that - and that stove)
I think the same can be said of home. Wood is calming. And for me, vintage can be too.
(the table, the view, the old radiator)
Of course more than any way we decorate our homes it is the attitude and the atmosphere that is more critical.
"... what they most need is a warm secure home where they feel safe, arms to hold them and assure them that our God is in control, love that generously embraces who they are as they are, home that is a haven of goodness, beauty, with stories that bring light and hope. But someone is needed to conduct such a life. We must be intentional if this place that store's goodness will be a reality. Oh, that we might give our lives that our children will live to have hope and become virtuous". Sally Clarkson
(the sink skirt, the vintage trays, that wooden wall)
I chose to decorate a bit different in January than I have done in the past. I wanted a lighter look - no snowmen, no mittens. Lots of green with pink mixed in. Vintage dishes ❤ and a homey look that makes me smile just being home.
As soon as Christmas was packed away (like on December 29th) Anna looked at me and said, "well, it's a clean slate... now you can start making your vignettes!" She knows me so well.
I stared with my pie cooling rack. I've never make a vignette for that area because it's for cooling pies but I thought this looked sweet.
A vintage cloth, an old wooden bucket, a favorite pie cookbook, my rolling pin 💕, and a plate I saved from a thrift shop.
I even love it from the back - this is the first thing I see when I walk in the back door to the mudroom each afternoon.
Swoon, that window is original to the house from 1952. We we added on the mudroom the contractor asked me if I wanted to wall it off - slap up a piece of sheetrock over it... ummmm no!
My baking center has a sweet vintage January look to it.
With tablecloths I've collected here and there.
The dining room has lots of milkglass and my Susan Branch books.
Pom pom curtains hang on the above the kitchen sink.
A vintage table cloth on the kitchen table.
Our family verse.
In the living room I decided to keep it realllllly simple. The water color of my girls over the fireplace. I've never hung that piece in here but I really like it. It's more of a 'formal' room so I think it suits it just fine.
While in the family room with all of the red and green gone, it was time for some spring-like green. Not that I'm wishing away winter but I longed for a cheery look. Did this in like 4.5 minutes.
Back teaching in the classroom is H U G E {still} and even though it makes me oh so happy and I walk in each day to room 124 at my little school in the woods with a smile on my face {I think "those are MY bulletin boards" "I can structure this day in the way I see best", on and on and on - - } but it's huge with papers to correct at night and planning
B U T
B U T
it's so so so so so important to me to pour love into my home. For our little family to have a shelter from the good and from the storms. A place we want to be in when we're not in our schools. Home.
"Every act of love is a work of peace no matter how small" (Mother Teresa) and to me {and my family} how I make my house a home is an act of love.
I decided to do something a little bit different this year. I put together a video of our home all wrapped up for Christmas. So grab yourself something warm and yummy to drink. Come back... I'll wait for you.
When I took these little videos I didn't clean up my house and I just noticed little piles her, a phone cord charger there, even a ladder propped up to the gutters that Scott had just worked on the weekend before. Real life, ha! But snow was fluttering down when I was walking around my house taking these shots.
So here is the place we love to call home on Christmastime.
(simply turn up your sound, and click to enlarge)
I do love decorating for Christmas and doing all of this while teaching full time with 23 kiddos and a pile of teacher planning, correcting, meetings, and boy howdy all those emails can take it's tole on my in the merry month of December. But I'm determined to make my home a festive, welcome, beautiful place for the 4 of us... so here are a few tips I can recommend to those busy mamas out there:
1. Start Early -although it feels weird to pull out the Christmas things reallllllly early it's better that way. I actually start the day after Halloween. Bit by bit. I like to think of it as scene by scene. I love how it was just beginning to be Christmasy in our home on Thanksgiving. The dining room was still all fall while the rest of the house was just beginning to show signs of Christmas.
2. Make a Decorating Plan -This year I actually typed out some new ideas I had for vignettes that I wanted to create. I made a plan. I had access to it on my phone so starting November 1st whenever I was out shopping here or there I could take a look at what I still needed. One of the little vignettes I wanted to create was in the corner of my kitchen counter. I love baking. L O V E it! And I thought how lovely it would be to have baking jars all set to bake for my girls and to give as gifts. So one early November weekend (way before Thanksgiving I make a bunch of these cookie jars) I love how cherry they looked in my kitchen. Made me F E E L like I was still that mama at home allllll day with lots of baking time on my hands... and let me tell you it worked! Just feeling like it relaxed me, brought peace to my heart, and reminded me that I D O have time to do all things (just not all at the same time)
For example I knew I wanted to tie wreaths around these little lambs and it was actually typed up in my plan. Yes, something as small as that I didn't leave to chance.
And then there was our new porch. Oh how I couldn't wait to decorate that room. Even though we'd have to enjoy it from inside our house {since it's cold here} I wanted it to be all dressed up for Christmas.
3. Don't Compare Myself to Anyone Out There -{in blog world or insatagram} We all know how that can feel... you've finished decorating and one day you sit down to enjoy someones blog and all of a sudden you see a house that bigger, prettier, newer, has just the furniture you wished you had but don't... and before you know it the little touches of Christmas you've put around you house feels icky, not enough and it's almost like you can't enjoy it. Well, gosh by golly, I was not having A N Y of that! I put up "Christmas in the forest" every year because it reminds me of the Christmases when my girls were even just a few years younger and they were enchanted by the forest. I'll put it out every single year. And while others are going alllll W H I T E {I love all of that on instagram} I still have lost of red and green. And that's okay. We can all still admire and enjoy others decorating while doing what we like in our homes.
Childhood felt house and new picture books aren't all the rage out there on istagram but I love it. So that's what I did!
4. Remember the R E A S O N Why we Decorate - Well we all know the reason for the season is Jesus born to us; to fill our hearts with love. Well, I like to remind myself the reason for decorating because sometimes I don't want to finish. And sometimes my little ol mind wonders 'why am I doing allllll this? It's all just coming down January 1st." For goodness sake, kick that voice outta my head. It's Christmas after all! It's the merriest, best time of year. Now, get busy, create, and bring joy to the hearts of those you love. And if I have to I say out loud, "you're doing all this because you love to"{my Dad always taught me to say this when I was stressed out} and sometimes I even put myself in my home on Christmas morning and think 'what do I want it look like, feel like, taste like, smell like' and then I'm motivated.
5. Don't Do It All - Yes, you heard me. There are some things I didn't get to this year. {and that's okay} This year we didn't put up our tree in our bedroom where I hang all of the girls ornaments they've made when they were preschoolers. I adore that tree filled with literally hand prints and fingerprints of their littleness. But I just didn't get to it. Could I do that today, December 23rd? Sure, but I don't feel like it. So I'll do it next year. Maybe I'll even S T A R T with that in 2019 decorating so I make sure it happens. And guess what? I'll enjoy those handmade ornaments even more next year because I didn't see them this year. Honestly if I asked Scott to go into the attic and get another tree he would do it for me because he loves me... but is that really fair? This season is about enjoying our home and now that we are all home for some time I want my hardworking, principal amazing husband to relax and enjoy his home. One more tree might make us all grouchy and so next year will be perfectly fine.
This year because I had some new Ideas I spent what time I had on those and felt it was okay to not get to everything else. I reallllly wanted to decorate my childhood dollhouse for Christmas. I wanted to make it a farmhouse Christmas and I L O V E the way it turned out. It makes me so happy to walk up the stairs each night and see it at the top. It's a reminder of my Childhood Christmases and my heart feels full.
In my plan I had typed up 'farmhouse dollhouse' so everywhere I went I kept my eye open for things to make it magical. Abigail helped me find the horses at an antique store!
6. Think About This -Something Scott will like, Something Anna will like, Something Abigail will like, Something I will like {in that order} Sometimes I get carried away with decorating ... for goodness sake I start on November 1st... and it can quickly become all about me... what do I like... But really this year I tried to think of my sweet family too. And as I decorated I thought, "oh Anna would love this just like this; Scott would enjoy this and I would make is life easier this Christmas; Abigail would adore this" So I went about my decorating a bit more for others this year. Guess what? It made it so much more fun and such a blessing to make T H E I R Christmas house just for them.
One thing I loved this year was creating a non-pinterest coffee tea area on my counter. Although I have always had a tea table around the corner in my kitchen I wanted to have out a way to quickly make coffee for anyone that visits. I decided to buy an old fashioned percolator - I love the way it makes my house smell and how cute it is when it bubbles up to the glass lid.
My something for Anna was a cherry mudroom to walk into each day after school. Anna is the first one home and it is important to me to welcome her just like I used to when I was at the door each day. Since I can't be there until after she is home I filled the mudroom with touches of love.
I knew Abigail would love this paper (right outta golden books) garland above her bed. When she was really little she adored Little Golden Books. So this reminds her to younger childhood Christmases.
For Scott, an orderly family calendar for a quick glance makes it easier for him. I love the Susan Branch blotter calendar. Yes, this family still uses paper and pencil. We love that way it gives us that 'big picture' look at a month that I just don't feel like I can get from a phone screen.
7. Start with What I Love and Let the Rest Fall Into Place- When I start with my children's books the rest just kind of just happens. I love to pull out certain things and make them the 'stars' of each room. And then everything else just falls around it.
One Last Thought - I'm not expert at decorating but I do know that when I put my mind to it I can do anything - I can be that homemaker I still want to be; I can {try} to be that teacher I so desire to be; I can make Christmas magical in our home... I just need to remember that I can do it all - just not all at the same time.
Enjoy slice of Heaven this Christmas season and enjoy making your home all you want it to be. Merry Christmas!
Dinner planning can be daunting sometimes. I know deep down that if I don't plan our food ahead of time nothing goes well. Scott is a great cook! He can 'wing it' by stopping at the grocery store, picking up a few things, and come home to make a fabulous, flavorful dinner. I can't do that. Never have been able to. I need a plan, a recipe right in front of me.
There are several ways I've planned in the past. When I was home full time I had more opportunities to go to the store so I didn't need to worry as much. But now that I'm teaching again and life is full with these growing daughters of mine I plan out all of the dinners for the week: Monday through Friday. (usually on the weekend we have a bit of a different plan going on)
Keep in mind that all of our dinners need to be allergy safe for Abigail, so we eat DAIRY free, SOY free, PEANUT free, TREE NUT free, FISH free, SHELLFISH free in our home.
Most of the recipes in any cookbook or online aren't tailored to meet our allergy needs so when I read recipe I 'keep it':
if I think it can be altered (if it calls for milk, I use Hemp milk)
if I can make it for us and then make a substitute for Abigail (I don't like to cook with her allergy safe 'cheese' so sometimes if a recipe is heavy on cheese I'll make it for us and make a separate mini one for Abigail with her 'cheese'
Having allergy safe dinners might seem overwhelming (it did to me 10 years ago) but now I automatically read a recipe and see if I can adjust it so we can all eat the same thing or if I should make it and then make a whole separate one safe for her. And a lot of recipes just 'don't work' for us because of allergies so I ditch those and move on. I'm so used to it now that it's simple as can be!
So back to how I plan dinners! This is not rocket science. It's a simple plan that works for me. Here's what I do to make sure we have dinner in our home:
I read cookbooks for fun. I love all kinds. I used the internet too but I like a cookbook in my hand most of all. I like to read cookbooks when I'm not planning meals. I just like skimming through them. It's not a task, it's just one kind of book I like to read. My favorite ones are seasonal (gooseberry patch, susan branch, etc)
I put a little sticky flag on a recipe that might work for us as I go along
I stack these up in a little pile on the dining room table right next to where I keep my planner ready to go
Now it's dinner planning/gotta grocery shop time - and all of the 'work' is already done! I simple open up a few of the cookbooks (or printed online recipes) I have right there and plan them in my planner, write out the ingredients, and done!
Some home/family 'chores' are just no fun at all. I find that when I take time to make something pretty, and do a bit of the 'work' ahead of time, it makes making that list and planning those meals so much easier and more enjoyable.
If you don't like planning out all of your meals one of the biggest tips I can give you is to 'read' cookbooks (or if you're an online recipe person, search online and bookmark or print out) ahead of time. Ahead of when you actually need to be planning. Trust me, it is so much more enjoyable that way! And it can actually be fun and exciting to finally cook those meals you read about!
This week I noticed some beautiful things. Even when our days are full. Really really full I notice. Sometimes I pick up my camera or at least my phone. But sometimes I don't. Here are a few things I noticed this week...
... how cute Abigail looked in her knee socks when it was her turn to lead the viola group class
... how pretty these roses were day after day
... how catching bugs on field trips make my girl smile (thank you Mrs. Mulready for the picture)
... how I bake even at crazy hours like 9 at night because it grounds me, makes me feel relaxed.
... how I'll do anything for a home cooked meal that I'll even cook the veggies early in the morning so that when I get home from work I've got dinner started.
... how the 'one grandpa taught her' she got right on the test
... how wittle my babies were
... how the sound of her playing doll house is beautiful to me
... how the sound of her playing viola fills our home with loveliness
... how pretty she looked in her fall colors dress practicing one afternoon
... how doing 'bible time with mommy' every Thursday after school gives their eyes a sparkle
... how golden light, late afternoon is starting to make the turning leaves sparkle
... how gently, carefully she puts her babies to bed each night "love you baby girl. mama is proud of you." she says
... yes, all of those things I noticed this week. And I'm grateful it is the weekend. More time with my sweet little family. Wishing you all a blessed and wonderful weekend.
