Category: AROUND HERE

AROUND HERE: SEPTEMBER 2017

Around here we have been…

STARTING a brand new routine.  The kids are back in school, four of them all day long and little {M} a couple mornings of preschool a week.  I’m happy to report that they are all smiles at the end of each day, and that things are going well. They sit down and do their homework right away, and practice their instruments without much reminding. We have been experiencing lovely Fall weather, which means that a lot of outside play time has been happening in the evenings.

Tuesday and Thursday evenings, as well as Saturday mornings, are currently all about football. {D} was given the positions of quarterback (offense) and strong safety (defense).  I have to admit that although he is on the smaller side for boys his age, I have been impressed with his skills on the field.  Though he still says he wants to be a kicker, they do not offer that position in 5th grade football.

With the kids occupied during the day, I now have quite a bit more time to focus on other things, such as fine tuning this website! I’m excited about the direction things are going and have been enjoying the ability to write content that can help others. Check out THIS POST to see all that is in store!

RECOVERING and rehabilitating.  Craig’s knee surgery was a success and he has been diligent about attending physical therapy at least twice per week.  He now is able to bend his knee around 115 degrees, and can almost get it into full extension (straight).  He was thrilled when he graduated from having to wear the heavy leg brace at night, and after four weeks off the road, he was also quite pumped to be able to be given the go ahead to drive.  Though walking is going well, it looks like running or jogging may be out of the question for at least a few more months, which is disappointing. We may find ourselves using our YMCA membership quite a bit throughout the winter months that are quickly approaching- walking the indoor track or riding the stationary bikes.

CELEBRATING some exciting moments.  {K} was Baptized into the Christian faith!  It was such a special time for our family.  Her Baptismal sponsors are the foster parents who cared for her during her last months in China.  They are Americans who were living in China, and have since moved back to the States.  It was incredible to see our sweet, joyful girl with a huge smile on her face, receiving the blessing from our Pastor.

Both girls also celebrated their birthdays during the month of September! {K} is now seven and {M} is four.  Their birthdays are just a couple of weeks apart, and with the busyness of the new school year we decided to combine their party.  One cake.  One present opening. Simple. The girls are truly best friends and actually seemed to really love having their celebration together.  It is something we may consider doing in years to come.

This is just a glimpse of what our family has been up to.  If you’d like a closer look, be sure to check out our weekly ‘mini vlogs’ on our YouTube channel ARROW HILL FAMILY.  Be well everyone!

AROUND HERE: AUGUST 2017

Around here, we have been..

ENJOYING the last bits of summer vacation.  Our volunteer fire department has a unique benefit of providing each of the firefighters and their families a 2 week stay in one of four cabins privately owned by the fire department relief association.  It is a wonderful benefit that our family looks forward to each year as the final summer celebration. Camp fires and canoe rides are daily occurrences and our relaxed eating schedule means that there is plenty of yummy ice cream.

PREPARING for school to start.  The kids all helped pick out supplies and their new school tennis shoes.  {D} has already started football practice and was very excited to get all the cool gear necessary. {K} had an orientation with her kindergarten teacher and was happy to learn that she has black hair, just like her.  The boys aren’t quite as enthusiastic to be back hitting the books already, but are excited to see their friends and meet their teachers.  And {M}, who is starting preschool, has no idea what to think.  We feel blessed that all of the kids will be in the same school building and will be able to see each other throughout the day.  That connection is sure to be a comfort to the girls in particular, as they are learning what school is all about.

PRACTICING patience.  Craig’s knee surgery was just over a week ago and the healing process has been much slower than we had anticipated.  It is tough for him to lay around and rely on other people for help with basic tasks.  We are trying to remember that it was a major surgery.  For those of you who don’t know, the doctors removed a piece of his hamstring to recreate a new ACL, which Craig had completely torn.  They also repaired two meniscus tears.  Looking ahead, we realize that physical therapy, icing and leg elevation, plus the fancy new leg brace he was given, are now just part of our everyday lives for the next 6-8 weeks.

As always, our weekly review ‘mini vlogs’ are available on our family YouTube channel ARROW HILL FAMILY.  Lots of bonus photos and videos you may want to check out!

INTRODUCING THE ‘AROUND HERE’ BLOG FEATURE

As my last post eluded to, I am currently doing a lot of research and soul searching – trying to figure out what direction this blog & website is headed.  When I started out, the plan was to make it mostly about our house design. But every house has a family, and mine is with me every.single.day (at least in the summer), and so I was finding it easiest to do quick posts about US or posts about things that WE were doing.

But now, when I look back on my first 75 days of blogging, I’m seeing that there hasn’t been a lot of talk about Arrow Hill Cottage at all!  That fact makes me a bit sad, and has me longing to sharpen my focus.

We are keenly aware that quite a few/ probably most of our followers up to this point are friends and family who know us well, and love to see images and videos of the things we are up to.  And so although I will be trying to focus more on home design aspects, I am also planning to keep up some family blogging to a lesser extent.

Each Monday, you will still be able to log into YouTube and get a little recap of the previous week.  Such as this video compilation, which includes tons of rainy day fun!

 

If you don’t subscribe to our family YouTube channel yet, we recommend you do so – because I won’t be making posts about each video we upload!  We have all our videos organized into playlists for convenience of finding the content that you want to watch.  As of right now, we have playlists for Family Home Videos, Arthrogryposis/AMC related videos and of course, our Weekly Photo Vlog.

On the blog, I plan to do one big recap near the end of each month or beginning of the next.  This feature will be titled ‘AROUND HERE’ and will chronicle all that our family has been up to in that corresponding month (school starting, holidays, birthdays, eventually even house building!)  If you click on the ‘AROUND HERE’ tab on the top of the website, you can access FAMILY ONLY posts through the ‘our adventures‘ menu and learn more about our HOME DESIGN & BUILDING through the ‘our home‘ menu.

Again, thanks so much for taking this journey with us!

PS:  Planning on making the last post about our weekly meal rotation tomorrow, and after that the FOCUS will begin!

SATURDAY SKETCHBOOK: DIRECTION

Ok. I know.  It’s not a sketch, but it’s what has been on my mind a lot lately.

I won’t go into much detail besides simply saying that I can sense this blog is starting to head in a direction that I never intended it to take…so I am going to be working over the next weeks/months to try to steer it back in line with my initial vision.  The Saturday Sketchbook feature will likely still continue on, but may not happen quite as frequently, so that I share sketches I truly want to instead of scrambling to get something together just to ‘check’ the box.

Craig is my default technology person, and will be helping me make some modifications to the website layout as well, but keep in mind that we are both very new to this, and learning as we go.  There are sure to be some hiccups along the way!  (If you are an email subscriber you will have already experienced one! ha!)

On my letter board this week I have this quote:

And it is so, so true.  I’m really looking forward to what this blog and website could turn into, but it scares me at the same time.  I need to place those fears to the side and just put one foot in front of the other to make this a space that truly represents what I want to share. At the end of the day, I need to remember that the journey is just as beautiful as the destination itself.

Thanks for walking it with me.

 

DOLCH SIGHT WORD FLASH CARDS – FUN READING ACTIVITY!

Summer is nearing it’s end *sigh* and around here I have been nudging the kids ever so slightly back into the academic direction. The girls, of course, have been busy getting the basics down before their school debut.  {M} will be in Preschool 2 mornings per week and {K} will start half day Kindergarten.  They have been easily persuaded and seem to enjoy the special learning time we have together.  The latest activity we have been working on is letter flash cards, and they almost have recognition of all the letters in the alphabet.  Yay!

The boys though?  Well, they would rather be outside riding their bikes through mud puddles than reading a book.  I get it, I really do.  Summer is a fleeting moment, and you need to squeeze out every second of enjoyment you can!

Regardless though, we definitely do not want them to lose all the skills their teachers worked so hard to give them during the past school year.  {L} especially is in that formative ‘learning to read’ phase, and had mastered a series of entry level reader type books at the end of Kindergarten.  We were given a sight word list at his last teacher’s conference – a list of all the words he should know/recognize.  And though a great resource for us, {L} has had no interest in sitting down with the list.  He actually doesn’t care to sit down with a BOOK either, unless someone else is reading it to him.  I think he gets overwhelmed by all the words he ‘might not’ know.

So, I went into mama research mode.  How could I help him fine tune his reading in a fun and engaging way?

I looked online and discovered the Dolch Word List – which essentially is a collection of the most frequently used words in children’s literature.  It consists of 220 (non-noun) words. There is a separate list of 95 popular nouns. The Dolch Word List was originally compiled in the 1930’s, but still remains relevant today.  How is that for stay power?

With this collection of words, I set to work.  I developed a series of flash cards – color coded by grade level.

Then I sat down with {L} and laid out a few words – ones I knew he was familiar with – to make a sentence.  He read the sentence, looked up at me, and smiled.  Success!  I realized that if I made {L} sentences out of the words he already KNEW he would be less intimidated by reading, and we could slowly add in words to make the sentences more challenging.

He calls this new activity his ‘Reading Game’ and asks for it at least once per day.  Sometimes he helps me make up silly sentences such as ‘Go jump in the little bed and eat a ball.’  Boys will be boys, even when they are reading!

Go ahead and print off these cards and give them a try!  They are divided by level, so you can print only the words you need.  As each level is mastered, print off the next set!  I recommend you print them on white card stock paper for durability.  If you have a big bunch of kiddos that might benefit, maybe even consider lamination.

The 95 noun flashcards can be accessed here

I also compiled a quick list/reference of all the words included on the cards.

It can be used to track progress of which words have been mastered.  I saw some cute tips on Pinterest regarding word flashcards, such as punching holes in one corner and using a binder ring to keep them organized into three categories – 1.) words I know, 2.) words I’m working on, 3.) words I will learn.  A fun way to keep them all organized and keep your child motivated!

If you found this post helpful, remember to click on the buttons below to share it!

Happy Reading!

ARTHROGRYPOSIS ADAPTATIONS – PLAYGROUND PART 2

Last week we began a lifelong journey. Our girl, home three months, had her first evaluation in the United States to begin a specialized treatment plan for her arthrogryposis.  We visited the Shriner’s Hospital closest to our home, about 2 1/2 hours away.  Shriner’s is a leading expert on orthopedic conditions , and specifically treat children from birth to age 18.  We had heard great things about them preceding our visit, and all were justified.  This place is amazing!

It was wonderful to sit down and talk with doctors who are familiar with this condition.  Because it is fairly rare, many doctors have never treated someone who has arthrogryposis.  They knew just what questions to ask, what x-rays to take.  They taught us what to keep an eye out for, and what to stop worrying about.

Generally speaking, all of the experts were in agreement.  Our daughter is amazing.  Through her six years, she has developed many techniques that work best for her own body.  She has adapted beautifully.  Considering she had essentially NO treatment for the first 5 years of her life (typically babies born with AMC will begin casting and intervention just a few weeks after birth), and the fact that she has been walking for less than a year, they were quite pleased with her range of motion and muscle strength.

There were a few surprises too, however.  It appears {K} has a slight bit of curve in her upper spine, the start of scoliosis perhaps.  The pediatric orthopedist mentioned that nearly 25% of arthrogryposis patients will develop scoliosis over time, simply because of the way their bodies compensate for alignment differences.  It is possible that this curve developed for {K} before she had her hip surgeries, and perhaps now that her hips are in alignment her spine will remain stable.  We are following a wait and see approach.

She was able to pick a toy for being so patient during X-rays.  It was no surprise that she chose something Hello Kitty related – girl loves her some Hello Kitty!  The puzzle was a great distraction for her while waiting.  Win-win!

The specialists also noted that her left wrist may merit some intervention.  It is currently mostly locked in a downward position, but she has amazing grip with that hand.  They feel that by unlocking that wrist she would have an easier time with self care tasks, such as dressing and grooming.    They sent us home with a hand brace/splint that they recommended she wear at night and for short periods during the day, to help stretch the wrist ligaments.  On our next visit, six months from now, we will meet with a hand specialist who will talk us through some options for the future.

{K} was fitted for some new AFOs (ankle foot orthotics) since her feet are growing and her toes are creeping over the edge of her old set.  She was pumped that they let her pick out her own color and pattern for the new set, and chose a butterfly option.  We will go back in a few weeks, once they are made, to try them on and do a final fitting before bringing them home.

Most of all we are just so, so happy that {K} will be able to start school this Fall with no limitations and no surgeries on the horizon.  A chance to be just like all the other little kids in her kindergarten class. The ability to have fun and play at recess, just like everyone else.  She has already mastered the ladder/slide combo!

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Again with the amazing grip – am I right?!?  The hanging on the bar before going down the slide?  All her idea.  This girl will move mountains!

YOU SAY GOOD MORNING

Every night as I tuck {K} into bed, she says to me ‘You say good morning’- not so much a question as a statement. A fact. I am quick to answer ‘Yes.  I will say ‘good morning!’  It is a little way that she reminds herself that even though she is closing her eyes now, when she opens them her family will STILL be there.  Precious words from a child newly home and still learning what family is all about.

This past week found us in many waiting rooms.  Waiting to see specialists who would begin evaluations for what will be years of care.  She has already been through so much, and will continue to be faced with many challenges. More on that tomorrow.

After the appointments we were able to meet up with some very special people who knew our daughter long before we did.  The incredible family who fostered her while she was living in China (and coincidentally live only a couple hours away from us now!) and the sweet doctor from Shanghai who lobbied to get {K} the care she needed, the care she deserved. These people are so, so special to us and there will never be enough thank you’s to properly acknowledge how grateful we are that they stepped up for our girl, saw her worth, and were willing to fight for her. The fact that we were able to break bread together and see everything come full circle is nothing short of an orchestration by God Himself.  We are so blessed.

We were a bit worried though, that seeing these people from her past may set her back a bit – confuse her.  Worried that all of the doctor’s appointments might scare her and cause her to lose trust in us.  But God showed us, once again, that he is making beauty from ashes.  Through it all {K} held strong, she looked to us for reassurance, she leaned on us for comfort, and really seemed to understand that we were going through it all WITH her, FOR her. She understood that at the end of the day we were going to bring her home and back into that same bed in the evening, where we would tuck her in and she could once again say ‘You say good morning’. Our bond is getting stronger.

 

A reminder, if you ever want to catch up on what our family is up to – you can check out our family YouTube channel!

SATURDAY SKETCHBOOK: THE KITCHEN

With all of the posts lately regarding food, I have been dreaming of a bright beautiful kitchen to cook in!  So today I sat down and sketched out some ideas.  They are by no means refined, but hopefully they can help you all visualize what we are planning.

First, a quick floor plan.  As discussed in THIS post,  the kitchen is located in a very convenient spot on the main level.  It has direct access to the dining room and is just a short walk from the mudroom which will connect to an attached garage.  It also is within view from the front entry – which means I will need to be extra diligent about making sure it stays clean!  And in order to keep it clean and organized, the layout and function of the kitchen itself will need to be spot on.

Here is what we have so far

From the front entry you would be looking into the kitchen from the bottom of this floor plan sketch, and would see the three large windows above the sink as a focal point.  That sink is something that we are all SUPER excited about – a cast iron original farmhouse sink that was taken out of the farmhouse we are currently living in years and years ago, salvaged from the woods by us, and stored in Craig’s parents shed.  It is a ‘one basin’ design with a built in dish drain, and refinished it will look SO great!

The three main stations (oven, fridge, and sink) are arranged in a triangular fashion – a technique referred to as the ‘work triangle’.  I can imagine that corner of the island that falls within the triangle will be a great drop zone to bridge the gap between the three zones.  I am playing around with the idea of using a microwave drawer on that end of the island as well, but haven’t fully decided on that.

Near the fridge I am planning an entire row of pantry cabinets, with the upper cabinets stretching all the way to the counter.  I want to keep the look really clean, and was thinking that the large doors could be telescoping (slide in and out of the way) to reveal a spot for a coffee machine and toaster.

On the other main wall will be the range/oven station.  Again, I am playing around with the idea of bringing the cabinets straight down tot he counter to keep things clean.  The left cabinet I can imagine housing spices and cooking oils, and the right cabinet might be the perfect spot for the dishes to be stored.

In the middle of all the action will sit the crowning jewel of the kitchen, the island.  It may have a different finish than the rest of the cabinets and perhaps a butcher block island.  I haven’t thought through all of the details yet, but I do know that at 3’0″ wide x 7’0″ long it will be large enough for all five kids to sit at!

Just for fun, I made another sketch of the kitchen – kind of looking at it from above.  I think it shows the layout pretty well.

If you want a better idea of what types of colors and finishes (and organization tips) we are considering utilizing in our kitchen, go check out the Pinterest board HERE!

 

ARROW HILL STUDIO SNEAK PEEK

When I mentioned in THIS post that I was planning on starting an Etsy shop, I piqued some of your curiosities – and have been asked by a few of you WHEN this little branch project is going to be open for business, so I thought today I would give you a quick update on how things are going.

Initially I had thought that I would have everything ready by the end of July.  Then, I started tackling some other projects around the house – such as {D}’s tiny bedroom and our Family Command Center – and I’m not ashamed to admit that there are only so many hours in a day/week/month… not like you didn’t already know that!

We are rounding the corner on summer break.  The kids got their school supply shopping lists last week.  Eeek!  This both thrills me (routine, again!) and has me scratching my head.  Didn’t school JUST finish up for the summer?  At any rate, I am trying my best to soak up every last second of this fleeting season with my kiddos, and as such the Etsy shop project is moving slower than I had anticipated.

But, it IS moving forward.  I have been able to create and photograph a few of the products already and am totally loving the vibe that these items send out.  They make me happy.  It is always so much fun to see an idea that was once in my head come to life for others to see.

While creating more products I am also working through not so fun logistics regarding packaging, shipping labels, and shop policies.  All told, I am now shooting for a grand opening date of September 1st.  Stay tuned here or on one of our social media venues, such as Instagram, for the big announcement!

COTTAGE ROOM DESCRIPTIONS {LOWER LEVEL}

It’s time to describe the final level of our future cottage/home!  If you missed the other levels, go ahead and click the links below to get caught up.

MAIN LEVEL

UPPER LEVEL

As I mentioned in THIS post, our building site is quite sloped.  Therefore, it was the perfect candidate for a walkout basement.  We are super thrilled about that prospect!  Not only will we have great connection to the outdoors, we will also have a basement with decent lighting – which is the stuff dreams are made of.  I’m pretty sure that natural daylight is one of my love languages.

Below is the layout of the lower level.  Use it as a guide while you read through the descriptions, and take a look at our Pinterest boards (which are linked at the end of each room description).  They show some inspiration images we have found for each space.  And here comes the disclaimer…* As mentioned before, these floor plans are currently not showing any real detail – I will be working on adding detail for future posts.

Generally speaking, the lower level is laid out in a fairly straightforward way.  The bathroom is stacked under the main level bathroom, with the mechanical space nearby – to cut down on plumbing costs.  All of the rooms situated on this level, besides the mechanical room of course, are ‘extras’ – meaning that they are not as important for the day to day function of our family.  If money runs short while we are building the house, they can be left unfinished and DIY’d or hired out at a later date.

{ELEVATOR / LIFT} Let’s get straight to the obvious. This is not a typical feature in most houses, but we felt that it was an important addition for our family.  First off, we want to be able to live in this home for as long as we can – and there is always the potential that stairs may become difficult or even impossible at some point.  Secondly, our oldest daughter {K} has arthrogryposis and even now stairs give her some troubles – we want to make sure that the entire house is comfortable and useful for her.  We have dreams that she will one day live independently, but if that is not possible, the lower level can become her apartment. Lastly, if in the future either of our set of parents live with us, we want to provide accessibility for them. Essentially, the elevator/lift will allow us to plan for multiple scenarios – and ensures that all the awesome features of the lower level are not limited to only some inhabitants and visitors.

{BATHROOM} Probably the best feature of this room is it’s location.  Located near the stairs and the lift space, it will definitely be a go-to room when the main level bathroom is occupied.  It also is across from the pool room.  Handy. This will be the largest of the three bathrooms in the house, and will feature both a tiled shower and a separate jetted soaking tub. (PINTEREST)

{POOL ROOM} We aren’t talking about a room that houses a pool table.  No, this room will feature a pool pool, the kind you swim in. Something from Endless Pools perhaps – where the water jet provides a current to swim against. It is the one surprise luxury that we are having in our house, and it’s a useful one. Our daughter {K} will be able to do her pool physical therapy at home and the rest of our family will be able to get some good exercise as well.  There will be plenty of natural light coming in through large windows and a glass door that leads out to a lower level patio. (PINTEREST)

{MECHANICAL / LAUNDRY} This space is definitely still in the idea phase.  Essentially, right now it is just a large open space where all of the mechanical equipment will be housed.  It is also where the washer & dryer will be located. When I was first designing the house, the laundry was for SURE going to be located on the main level.  But, because we decided on a smaller footprint, some concessions had to be made.  Essentially we took the space that could have been used for the laundry equipment on the main level and replaced it with the lift/elevator space.  Don’t worry though, I have a back up plan if it gets to annoying to haul laundry up and down the stairs or if we need a second set of appliances.  There is a large ‘broom closet’ on the main level that will be fitted with water hookups, just in case a stack-able washer/dryer is it’s final destiny. (PINTEREST)

{DEN / GUEST} Craig has been dreaming of this space for such a long time.  On a day to day basis it will be used as his ‘man land’ – a place to watch a football game in private, read a book, or work on some computer programming in peace & quiet.  I imagine the vibe in here to be pretty laid back and cozy.  The room will have a couple of small closets and a pull out couch to accommodate guests.  (PINTEREST)

{HALL} Rule number one of small house design is to eliminate hallways – and such, this ‘hall’ is more than just a walking space.  It is essentially a connecting room.  It will house some pretty important features.  On the wall that connects to the pool room, we will design some nice computer/ homework niches for the kids.  There will be high windows in this location, to allow the natural daylight from the pool area to spill in.  A kitchenette will be placed on the opposite wall.  Again, planning for all sorts of situations, the kitchenette will have a fridge, small sink, microwave and possibly a small cook top.  Day to day it will be a place the kids and their friends can go for snacks. The hall space inspiration images are included in the family room Pinterest board, linked below.

{FAMILY ROOM} We are imagining this room as a great space for our family to kick back and hang out together.  I envision lots of comfy seating and a large TV for family movie nights.  In one corner I would love to have a table that can be used for arts & crafts projects, and also as a place to gather and play games.  There is a set of multi-pane glass french doors in our current farmhouse that we are hoping to remove and install in the cottage.  As of right now, we imagine the family room being the perfect spot for the doors.  When closed, they would create a nice separate room that could double as a guest space when we have visitors.  The family room will also have great access to the outdoor patio space through a set of sliding glass doors.  (PINTEREST)

{PATIO} This will be located, as I mentioned, right off of the family room and the pool room.  If you look at the above graphic, it will fit in the little ‘L’ shape adjoining the two. As of right now, I don’t have a separate Pinterest board for this space alone, but thought I could share the outdoor board which has a few photos of what I am imagining. (PINTEREST)

And there you have it!  The entire house layout / floor plans!  My next step will be to take you inside each room and add details, colors, and even furniture.  I’m hoping to have the computer video recorder up and working next week to share a video.  Now… which shall I detail  first?!