A Day with Mae!

Arabella had thought Mae needed all the Kitchen toys

Mr. Orrin & Miss. Maebrianna

exploring the little kitchen

Birthday for two!

My sister & her family came in from MT last week.

So as visits can be few & far between

we decided to celebrate birthdays of

Jared Valor {1} & Arabella Jean{2}

a little early.

Little goody bags for all the cousins

Our quick attempt at decorating the cake

Jared went right for the cake!

Loved the corn on the cob

Orrin started crying when I took away his cob,

you can see he is holding on very tightly

[and yes that is a dish towel! you use what you have when your at grandma's]

Lots of help opening gifts

Bon Voyage , Gott sei mit euch bis wir wieder treffen {Grandpa & Grandma}

Have a wonderful trip, God be with you until we meet again!

{Grandpa & Grandma}

Jack Dominic Moriah Maria Arabella Owen Aidan

Seth Jared Orrin

10 grandchildren 5 and under

Off to Europe

May you let your Light{CHRIST} shine before all men

where ever you are where ever you go.

We will be praying for your safe travels.

We miss you already!

Play time with our friend Cole

Trying to fill their Daddy's shoes

Dogwood designs

Re-Introducing Dogwood designs

[to those in Ohio]

We are setting up on

main st,piqua

friday 9-5

sat 9-2

sidewalk & craft sale

Come on over and visit

[we actually have no idea what we are getting in to!!Could be fun, could be interesting ]

Here are a few of the items

Size 5 girl's skirt

Vintage baby bouncer n Blackboard play mat[ chalk included]

I am so excited to find this blackboard oilcloth! Love it!

aprons n lavender sachets n purses n zippered bags n pillows n table linens

Bad Photographer! Who takes a picture of such a sweet apron wrinkled!

one in a hurry

Girl's Skirt

&

Cute little Bella hand

Blog to come soon[hopefully]

Fourth Of July & the after party

Watching the big booms with wide eyes!
Bella's first sparklers

A pajama party winding down

Kate~Brooke~Arabella~Isabelle

[minus Reed]

Sharing space is always interesting

[notice the books overlapping]

Creative Concealment: Large Baby Items & concealing Paint

So after a week I finally got a little time to share how we conceal a few of our "unpleasantness" in our little home.

This is how it got started, Melissa @ The Inspired Room invited everyone to share[we learn from each other. yes! yes!] their creative concealment's. Melissa so nicely describes this concealing:

I do not believe in house perfection or hiding everyday living. Even if it starts out perfect, I fully expect nicks and dings along the way. I am fine with scratches on my furniture, imperfect walls and even crooked floors. Those are what makes life charming, seeing a house is well lived in. But, sometimes you just don’t want the glaring eyesores to steal the attention from beauty. I don’t think our houses should look unkempt or neglected or have areas that are just plain unattractive (at least permanently!). If we can fix things as an investment in our home, that is great. But sometimes we need to be content with concealing.

Ok Here was my first issue .

1.Everyday Large baby items + small house = tripping & eye sores

first solution

storage behind the couch

Our bumbo,boppy & bouncer all fit.

That is even a love seat[don't look to close it's one of those family heirlooms]

Second solution

under the crib

the exersaucer + a basket of toys [we don't typically keep Arabella under there!!]

When Orrin was smaller I also put his car seat when I brought it inside.

Second Issue

2.Our Kitchen cabinets

We had 4 different kinds of material in cabinets,

• Metal[which I really like]



• Particle board or something


• a cabinet pulled off a construction site[not in the best condition]


• unfinished ones from Lowe's
  Black Paint + old cabinets= excited bride[wow four years already!]

After

the chandelier was also painted and white candle things bleached

Also there was stained linoleum which was torn up to reveal wood underneath that was then stained.

Before

[Sorry the before pic is after]

Before = Bachelor's pad