Around the house

This is the new view through my kitchen window. I love the house we’re renting. Of course it isn’t perfect—nothing is—but like all things in life I choose to focus on the positive.

This is the view as I make dinner… ——> Absolutely perfect.

Look at this smile as Ginger gets a ride though the leaves. Oh the leaves. And the trees. And the smell of the leaves and the trees. And how much fun it is to watch the squirrels in the yard, and the Bluejay who lives there too.

Do you know how much I can’t wait to begin planting the garden??!! I think it’s going to be huge.

Of course these top two photos are from several weeks ago when we first moved in. Now the leaves have all fallen and been raked to the back, and snow has come and gone. But we still eat and play outside—It’s always warm in the sun here in Colorado. Well, almost always.

The house is a Cape style which means that it looks like a one story house from the outside, but there is an upstairs, and the walls are slanted like this. I always adored finished attics. The little girl inside me is glowing.

This chalkboard was a freebee that we found on one of our first walks around the neighborhood. Gotta love that! Picture all three girls and I walking home, Ginger in her Ergo (a fantastic hand-me-down from my dear friend, Amanda. Thanks sweetie!), Ashley pushing her babydoll in the stroller, and Zoe carrying this chalkboard with the “free” sign taped to the top. A lady drives by in her car and slows down. Thinking it was the owner of the chalkboard I gear up to thank her, but before I get a word out she says, “I saw you walking and I was going to tell you about that!” with a smile, and keeps on driving. I love that she had to tell me that 🙂

Practically the second we moved in I made these scones, and then when the persimmons were gone I made them with jam. Yum.

Ginger tried one, but decided against it. She and Ashley rarely eat baked goods. You can also see two prints I hung in the kitchen. The top print is a quote from C.S. Lewis, “You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me.” The bottom is measurement conversions print by our friend Beth.

Outside we put up this clothesline. About the only thing I’ve found comes out terribly on a clothesline is towels. Why is that? There must be a trick to towels that aren’t stiff as a board when they line dry. Or is there?…

Did you know Zoe started a blog of her own? I tell you, I’m one proud mama. You can read the book Zoe is writing on her blog too (newest chapters appear first). She decided to cut her hair chin-length after this photo was taken two weeks ago, and it is a-dorable. One thing we didn’t get in this house was a wood stove. But our little electric one is the next best thing. We’ve had it for several years now, and we love it.

It’s so funny how Ginger wants to do everything we do. Zoe and Ashley weren’t like that at all. Ginger wants to get on the counter and cook like me (and eat everything too!), and she won’t think of touching her food if it isn’t presented exactly like everyone else’s. I’ll never forget the look on her face when I realized she was about to cry because I thought she would eat with her fingers rather than a fork. “Don’t treat me like a baby!” is the message she wants to give us.

She started walking a few weeks ago, and she never stops. “The blur” is what I call her. Here she is in front of a house on Roosevelt Park, wearing her elf hat (that used to be Ashley’s, that used to be Zoe’s), and puffy coat. She LOVES her puffy coat.

In the kitchen we put up this big chalkboard (because one chalkboard in the house wasn’t enough 🙂 and I’m still trying to sort out the table situation. The kitchen has this awesome built-in bench with shelves above one side, and storage all below the seats (like I said, AWESOME), but it requires a table with a pedestal so you can get in and out. Only I couldn’t find a pedestal table that was the right size. Whoever made the bench must have made a custom table too, but sadly took it with them. So I got this little round pedestal table, and I’m going to put a new top on it that fits… one of these days 🙂

But for now we’re too busy enjoying the lights, and the Christmas records (yes, records—we are obsessed with our record player :-). We’re having eggnog, watching Emmet Otter, and doing craft projects nearly every day.

Wishing you all joy, and sending you love! ♥, Kelly