Category: OUR ADVENTURES

FAMILY TIMELINE / WEEKLY REVIEW INTRODUCTION

This post was a LONG time in the making, and we are so excited to share with all of you!

Each week, we will be posting a video timeline sharing our family’s ‘week in review’.  The goal is to get the video up and shared via YouTube each Monday morning, showing a quick (around 2 minute) glimpse into our family life. We are excited about this fun and simple way to document our lives, and look forward to looking back on them through time to relive all the memories!

I likely won’t be making a blog post about each and every timeline, so you will want to check out our YouTube channel each Monday if you’re interested.  You can find our family channel HERE (hit subscribe if you want to be notified when a new video is available!) or click on the little ‘play button’ on the home page of our website for a direct link to Arrow Hill Cottage’s YouTube channel.

We are giving the first installation some special attention today… here is WEEK #1 of our family recap!

 

TWO NEW BOOKS + BIG PLANS

I mentioned in this post how much I enjoy house design, home decor and DIY type books.  I am happy to report that my collection grew by two this past weekend.  There isn’t a Barnes and Noble in our town, so it is a real treat to stop in on our way back from visiting family in North Dakota.

These books caught my attention and came home with me (click on the titles to get a closer look on Amazon)

Young House Love

Flea Market Style

They are both super inspiring!  I spent the remainder of the drive home pouring over each page, then entered our house and thought up a million ideas that I could bring to life!  Yesterday I started Project #1.  You will have to wait for the great reveal, but here is a sneak peak in the meantime.  Eeeeek!  So excited!  I’m starting to think that organization is my love language!

It’s blisteringly hot and humid here today, and I am more than happy to stay indoors with the A/C blasting – sorting and tidying things up.  Sounds like a perfect day.

THE HOUSE THAT GRANDPA BUILT

We spent our holiday weekend in North Dakota, visiting my side of the family.  It was so wonderful to see everyone. Our visits seem to be few and far between now that my sisters and I each have families of our own and we cherish the moments we are able to spend together, no matter how short.

One of the days we traveled a couple hours further north to visit my grandma, my dad’s mom.  As a child, we would get together nearly every 4th of July with my dad’s side of the family.  Such sweet memories were made at my grandparents home and even now, visiting as an adult, the house brings a big smile to my face.

The house was designed and built per my grandpa’s specifications.  He was a teacher by trade, but took on home building during the summer months as a way to keep busy and supplement the family income.  The house he built for his family (and the one my grandma decorated) was a trend-setter for sure, completely stylish for it’s time.   Just take a look at some of the key features and how they are inspiring the design of our cottage.

OUTDOOR SPACE

My sisters and I, along with our cousins, spent many hours outside in the ‘sunken patio’ space in front of the house, creating mud pies. Grandma loves flowers and each year plants petunias in the raised planters that serve as a half wall for the patio, offering privacy.  I loved this little patio space and definitely want to incorporate a patio at our own house.

LIVING ROOM

Growing up, my grandparent’s house was the only one I knew that had a vaulted ceiling.  It sits much the same today as it did when it was first built, save the carpet which was changed from red to orange sometime in the 70s. There is something electric about this living room.  Sure, it’s decor is a bit zany; But the fireplace wall, the amount of seating, the vault, the built in shelves and the natural light that pours in all combine in a way that promotes conversation and comfort.  For our future house, we have decided that the one room in the house that should be large and well detailed is the living room.  It will occupy nearly half of the square footage of the entire main floor, have a vaulted ceiling and a fireplace focal point.  There will be plenty of windows offering daylight, and seating all around.  Thanks for the inspiration grandpa & grandma!

GALLERY WALL

Look in any home decor magazine today and you will see plenty examples of gallery walls.  They are the perfect way to display family pictures and mementos.  They personalize a home and make a bold statement.  My grandma tested out this technique years before it was popular.  She asked my grandpa to cover one entire wall in cork so that she could easily display photos, and the results are stunning.  I still find myself looking carefully at each detail on this wall every time I visit the house.  We have our own gallery wall now at the farmhouse we are renting, and will definitely be incorporating another at the cottage.

My grandma still lives in the house that grandpa built for their family; And although the bedrooms are not always occupied and that cheerfully decorated living room is typically quiet, I am certain that when she looks around she feels happiness living in a home that was built with love.

SATURDAY SKETCHBOOK: CHALK ART

Today’s installation of Saturday Sketchbook is a perfect example of how this busy mom gets in some relaxing art time while hanging out with her kids.

It was a cloudy and cold afternoon yesterday and the kids were all outside coloring on the driveway.  It seemed a good opportunity to do some sketching myself and I was about to head outside with my sketchbook in hand.  Then I thought ‘why not sketch with chalk?’  So I sat down beside my 5 little munchkins and set to work.  As I continued on, they began throwing out some outrageous complements such as “That is the coolest thing I have ever seen!” and “You could sell that drawing for ten thousand dollars!”  They asked questions like “How did you learn to do that?” and “Can you teach me how to draw?”  I witnessed them bringing to life their own personal creations which included a large butterfly, a wagon wheel, and a robot guy.  And, most of all, we were able to spend time together.

The sketch isn’t nearly as important in comparison – but here it is anyway…. daydreaming of our future front porch.  I can about imagine sitting on that porch swing reading a book and grabbing a cold lemonade from the yellow side table – maybe doing some sketching there someday as well.

And my all time favorite photo of the sketch – surrounded by all the doodles from the kids.  Love!

ON THE ROCKS

At the start of this summer season, we busted out the grill.  A hand-me-down 1970’s Weber charcoal unit that has seen it’s fair share of misery through the years.  Dents and rust prove that it has been well loved, and we decided that it was finally time to let the old guy retire.  As a Father’s Day gift, Craig chose a brand new dual burner unit with a unique feature – it can cook with gas OR charcoal!  Charcoal for the days when taste is a high priority and gas for convenience.  It is the best of both worlds, but it did present us with some challenges because of it’s size. It is at least 3 times larger than the Weber and does not hide discretely near the side of the garage when not in use.

Craig has been such a good sport for the past 15 + years we have been together.  Most of the time he will entertain my crazy ideas and is usually the one handling the bulk of the labor to bring them to life.  Begrudgingly at times, perhaps… but he gets the job done.  Every once in a while I try to contribute my own sweat equity and tackle a project without enlisting his help – to give the poor man a rest!  And so, with the goal of giving the grill a home and Craig a space to enjoy some solitude while he uses it, I set to work on a long forgotten corner of the yard.

Many of you know that we sold our American Foursquare home in the historic district of our city and moved out to ‘the farm’ in 2015. We are currently renting the homestead of Craig’s grandparents.  The lived here for well over 50 years before moving to an apartment when they were in their late 80’s.  Needless to say, in those last few years they lived at the farm, they did not have the energy to keep up the yard work and other home repair projects.  This little patch was no exception.  While it used to be the backdrop of nice landscaping, it had been overtaken by weeds. The landscape rocks? They were pretty well buried under the weeds and years of sediment.  Exhibit A: The Before

Ugh, well that was embarrassing to share!  See that broken window?  Yeah, not safe, especially when you have kids who like to roam around barefoot during the summer months!

The idea was simple.  Get rid of the weeds, free all of the landscape rocks from their dirt prison, and clean up the area. Before I go any further let me just say that if any of you reading this believe that sounds like fun, you might want to have your friends and family hold an intervention.  It wasn’t fun.at.all.  Part way through the project Craig looked at me and said something along the lines of ‘Why do you keep doing this to yourself?’ – I could only muster up a small sigh and a shrug of my shoulders. What could I say? I’m a glutton for punishment apparently.  As time went on and the rocks seemed to be multiplying, I came up with some creative ways to sort them faster.  There was the ‘rake sifter’ method, the ‘scoop and sort’, and my all time favorite (and fastest) the ‘rock and roll’ – where I essentially kept rolling the rocks down the sidewalk until the bits of dirt and debris fell off and only the rocks remained.  True insanity.  Every once in a while the kids would stop by to make sure their mom hadn’t completely lost her mind. They would pluck a few rocks into the buckets before boring of the tedious task and finding something fun to do.

Kids are fast learners.

So there you have it:  I sorted and moved around thousands and thousands of rocks.  Now I’m done, and Craig has a place to grill.  If that doesn’t prove my unending love for him, I’m pretty sure nothing will. Please be impressed with Exhibit B: The After

 

HEROES

They come in many shapes and sizes.  Lately, my hero is a tiny 6 year old girl who has been living in a non-cooperative body her entire life, but has never let that fact dampen her spirit.  A girl who only took her first steps months ago.  A girl who recently left all that she has ever known in a country far away to start a new life in America with her forever family.  A girl who continues to amaze her family and others with her strength and determination. Our girl.

I had the pleasure of sharing {K’s} story on the well known China adoption advocacy website No Hands But Ours.  You can read her story here.  Arthrogryposis is so much more than a scary word.  If we had not seen the child past the medical diagnosis, we would have missed having this hero living in our midst.

WHAT MOM DID

Do you ever feel like life is one big check list?  I’ll admit it, I’m a check list girl myself.  Sadly at the end of the day I tend to focus more on what didn’t get crossed off instead of all that was accomplished.  And many times those accomplishments happen when we are just doing life.

I will use my day as an example:

  • I didn’t put away the laundry – but I did wash, dry, fold and sort 20 t-shirts, 10 pairs of shorts, 8 pairs of pants, 6 towels and countless socks and underwear.
  • I didn’t cook any gourmet meals.  In fact, I brought the kids to the local summer meal program for lunch and served PB&J for supper at a ridiculously late hour (after 7pm. Shhh, don’t tell anyone!) – but I did make sure 5 little bellies didn’t rumble.
  • I didn’t get any ‘me’ time – but I was there for {K} as she bravely navigated a new piece of playground equipment and happily declared one of her newest English phrases, “I did it!”.
  • I didn’t tackle any yard work (dandelions and various weeds reign supreme around here these days!) – but I did finish up the outdoor project I have been working on for weeks, with my little helpers by my side.  We all rejoiced in the reward of a job well done after hard work and perseverance.
  • I didn’t get the house clean like I planned – but I did make sure the kid’s feet and faces were washed up before I tucked them into bed.
  • I didn’t get a chance to do my Bible study/devotion – but I was able to discover the beauty around me in God’s creation.

At times it is helpful to step away from the check lists and realize that our worth is so much greater than words on a piece of paper or what we can accomplish in 24 hours.  I for one am going to bed tonight with a full heart and a smile on my face.

 

ORCHESTRA DAY ONE

In high school I desperately wanted to learn to play the violin.  My family lived in a small town that offered band classes to students, but not orchestra.  I saved a bit of each paycheck I earned in the hopes that one day I would be able to buy one and teach myself at home; But as time went on and my schedule became more demanding, the dream went by the wayside.  It wasn’t until college when I met an amazing man and shared with him all of the desires of my heart that it resurfaced once again; And in early 2001 this man proposed marriage to me in a creative way, with the use of a violin.  We married and used it as a prop for our wedding photos.  It is a beautiful symbol of love. Whenever I look at it I am reminded that I have a husband who wishes to make all my dreams come true, and I believe that with him by my side I can reach them.

In 2006, upon finding out that we were expecting our first child, we came to the realization that if  I didn’t start learning the instrument soon I may lose my chance for many years.  And so with great anticipation, I began violin lessons at a local music center when I was about 2 months pregnant with {D} and continued with them until a few weeks before his arrival.

We like to joke that because he had a front row seat to each of my lessons and subsequent daily practices, {D} retained some musical knowledge, but we know the truth.  His love for music comes from within his soul – a God given gift.  It’s a beautiful thing.

Today the proverbial torch is being passed from mother to son.  {D} walked into his very first orchestra lesson and took a baby step in learning to play the violin.  We are so incredibly excited to watch his skills develop and I look forward to the day when we can play duets together.

SIMPLE SUMMER BREAKFAST

Craig and I try to model healthy eating habits for our children.  Generally speaking, we eat pretty basic foods – sort of a Whole30 approach, but with some added diary and grains to make it a sustainable way of eating and not a diet or cleanse.

One of my favorite summer breakfast treats is this:

Sliced banana plus a few raspberries, covered in a bit of coconut milk and sprinkled with slivered almonds.  It’s so delicious that I decided to eat on the front deck this morning.  Sitting in the peaceful clean air, surrounded by the lush green of early summer and listening to the birds singing their sweet tunes, I was reminded of THIS SONG.  It speaks of what we want for our children – a simple childhood where they can appreciate all of God’s amazing creation.