home is where my story begins...

A Pretty Pillow

February 2, 2016 By Becca Leave a Comment

I’ve been looking for a pillow for the pretty chair in my dining room for about a year now. When I made my new curtains last year, I also recovered the chair that sits in the corner. It was one of those spur of the moment projects where the red and yellow toile fabric was just not cutting it anymore and I happened to have the perfect size of paint drop cloth to use on the chair. The chair looked great but it certainly needed a little something else. Creamish/tan fabric looks a little boring all by itself.

I emailed my friend Courtney, over at The Golden Boys and Me, and asked her where she finds her cute pillows. She said she orders them through H&M. I have never been to H&M and I would never have even thought to shop there online, so I was glad to have the suggestion. I spotted this Herbs & Spices pillow and knew it would be perfect in my dining room!

I’m loving the charcoal gray! It looks perfect against the drapery panels.

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Don’t you just love the way a small change can just make the room?

Valentine Sugar Cookie Recipe

January 29, 2016 By Becca Leave a Comment

I make sugar cookies for just about every occasion. With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, I’m thinking I might need to make some of these this weekend.

My daughter loves to help frost sugar cookies. She did a fabulous job with the snowflake sugar cookies that we made at Christmas. She tends to get frustrated when her lines don’t turn out as smooth as mine. I first started making these when I was about her age, so I’ve had a bit more time to practice.

Sometimes I use decorator tips and pastry bags to frost cookies and other times I just use Ziploc bags with the tips cut off. If you choose to go the Ziploc route, make sure you use freezer bags. Regular sandwich bags aren’t strong enough.

I love decorating cookies with my kids!

I usually buy my sanding sugar from Williams Sonoma, because I love the bright colors. With a little sugar, food coloring, and an empty Ziploc, you can make your own sanding sugar.

A cup of sugar and one or two drops of food coloring is all you need. Shake it all together, in a Ziploc, until there are no lumps of color.

My color, for these cookies, wasn’t as vivid at the color from Williams Sonoma, but it sure was less expensive!

Here’s the recipe for the sugar cookies, if you haven’t seen it before.

Happy baking!
Happy Valentine’s Day too!

Home

January 26, 2016 By Becca Leave a Comment

I always struggle a bit this time of year. I just can’t stand the dark, gray, gloom that surrounds the Pacific Northwest during the winter months. (Who am I kidding… it’s most months here.) Don’t get me wrong, we have beautiful days here and there, but for the most part it’s pretty gray around here. I love being outside and working in my yard, but this time of year everything has died and there is just a muddy mess of leaves that we didn’t get around to picking up and skid marks of mud where we once had grass.

It’s dreary, Friends.

Well, at least we don’t feel the pressure to work in the yard every weekend when it’s a muddy mess.

My attention turns to inside this time of year and making a cozy and inviting place for my family. I focus more on cooking, baking, cleaning, organizing, and decorating than weeding, planting, pressure washing, and dead-heading.

As I was feeling down about the gray and rain again today, I reminded myself how much I LOVE home. I want my home to wrap my kids and husband with coziness. I want it filled with smells of good food and the sounds of laughter. It’s a happy place, and do you know what? It’s not so bad to be trapped inside because of the gray and gloom.

It’s a time to nest a bit and create as many memories inside the house as we do outside.

Home is a good place to be.

Happy Homemaking!

Confessions of a Blogger

January 24, 2016 By Becca Leave a Comment

I recently moved from Blogger to WordPress and I’ve been reorganizing old posts. I ran across this post and couldn’t help but laugh at myself. I remember, when I first posted this, that several of my friends commented on how snooty I sounded at the beginning and then read on to see that I was just trying to show you the reality of blog life. My photos may look good, but I’m just pushing clutter out of the way to take pretty pictures.

Here you go:

I strive every day to have a clean and organized home. Do you know that feeling when someone stops by unexpectedly and your house is a complete mess? Not me! I keep my kitchen counters clear, my kids know how to clean up after themselves, and I find it brings a sense of calm to our day.

Each night, before I go to bed, I make sure everything is completely put away and if I feel to tired to do it, I just tell myself that clutter is the enemy of a relaxed and happy family.

Ummm. Then, I wake up!

It’s only in my dreams that there is a place for everything and everything is in its place. Sadly, there is always a pile of mail, kids’ papers, and lunch boxes all over my kitchen. Rarely do I actually see the surface of our little desk area. Yes, I do have a place for everything, but I’m not so sure about that part where everything is in its place.

The kids are constantly leaving things on the counter and, it never fails, we usually run out of room for all of our glasses in the dishwasher. When I write a blog post about a meal I’ve created, you can rest assured that there is a pile of dishes that has been pushed out of the way before snapping the picture.

I can’t even believe that I’m showing you the horrid laundry room. It is a constant battle to get the kids to hang up their backpacks and put their shoes in the cubbies. As a matter of fact, my son’s backpack is sitting in the middle of the family room right now. So much for those hooks I bought for them to hang their things on!

Those of you who are jealous of our walk-in-pantry will feel better know that most of the time we can barely walk in it. I swear, the kids actually drop food as they are getting out a snack and don’t bother to pick it up!

Most of the time, I’m not horribly embarrassed by our mess. We actually do live here. I do strive for cleanliness and organization, but I’m not perfect by any means. I’m pretty sure I’m not the only blogger out there who is guilty of pushing aside some of the clutter so that it doesn’t distract from the photo. We clean up pretty well, when we have to.

I do believe that organization is important, but I can’t say that my house is perfect (or even close).

I’m frequently asked by people how I get it all done. People wonder how I keep my house clean, cook wonderful meals, spend time sewing and crafting, AND manage to take photos and blog about it. Well, the reality is, I don’t. If you stop by my house, there will probably be warm cookies for you, but I guarantee my house will not be in perfect shape.

I’ll just take a picture. It will last longer.

Happy cleaning!

Welcome to My New Home and A Few Things I Love

January 15, 2016 By Becca Leave a Comment

Welcome friends! My blog may look the same, but I have a new address. I decided to move to WordPress because everything I read about blog growth starts with a move to WordPress. I love that people actually read my blogs and my wish is to make new friends and keep the old! I have a handful of updates to do, like load the sidebar of the blog so I can find things again. I will get to those things as soon as I can.

Now onto my post.

The things you love help you create the space you love to retreat at the end of a long day. My work days seem long lately. I think it’s because I wake up in the dark and it’s dark by the time dinner is on the table. I feel like I haven’t seen my yard in weeks. In addition, I’m spending most of my evening hours at doctor appointments or physical therapy. (I’m still recovering from back surgery.)

I absolutely LOVE coming home at the end of the day. I crave homelife. I love cooking, baking, crafting, sewing, gardening, and spending time with my family and pets. I struggle with decorating and find myself using catalogs and Pinterest photos for inpiration, copying their ideas when I can. There are a few things in my house that I really, really, love. These things help me create the space I love to come home to at the end of the day. Yes, I love coming home to my kids, hubby, and pets but we also need cozy blankets, handmade quilts, and maybe candles here and there.

I love decorating with old books, especially when they come from my family. Most of my old books belonged to my grandparents.

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I do love to bake. (You may have noticed!) I love greeting my kids with a plate of cookies. In the “good old days” I only worked part time and every Friday was Cookie Friday. It was my favorite day of the week.

I love my yard. Ok, I really, really, love my yard. I tend to be a fair weather gardener and a sunny day in the garden is my favorite place to be.

I really enjoy family get togethers. My husband says I’m a hoarder of dishes. I may have a few different sets, but it’s fun for me to make different tablescapes for every party.

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Once in a while I even go all out and set up a pretty tablescape for our little family of 4. This was a day that we made clam chowder and set the table so pretty. My youngest loved helping in the kitchen.

I love to sew and my house is filled with quilts. There is nothing better than cuddling up with a homemade quilt at the end of a long day. The quilts I made are very thin, but if you are under them for a few minutes, they warm up quite nicely.

Pictures1 How about you? If you had to make a list of things that make your house a home, what would your list include?

My New Stadium Seat

December 21, 2015 By Becca Leave a Comment

Hello friends! I want to share a product that I love with you. We spend a lot of time sitting in basketball tournaments for our two kids. After back surgery, my husband bought me a new seat, so I didn’t have to sit on uncomfortable bleachers for hours on end. Here is my new queen chair!

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The reason I’m sharing this with you is because I have been asked, more times than I can count, about where I bought this seat. It is super comfy, padded, and even has padded arms. It is so much better than a bleacher seat. I do get a little kick back from Amazon, as I’m an Amazon Affiliate. If you are interested in a new stadium seat, this is the one!

Happy shopping!

Hot Cocoa Station and Warm Quick Bread

December 5, 2015 By Becca 3 Comments

The hot cocoa station has taken its place in the kitchen. I think this is one of my daughter’s favorite traditions about the Holidays. She loves coming home after school and making herself a cup of cocoa. My absolute favorite cocoa is Williams Sonoma Peppermint Hot Chocolate. It’s to die for, friends. It takes a little longer to make, so my kids tend to go for the Nestle Quick hot chocolate. I pour that into a cute jar and it’s ready to go for an afternoon warm-me-up.

When you combine the hot cocoa station with some homemade banana bread or some warm pumpkin bread, it makes for some happy kids after school.

I must confess that the pumpkin bread is from a box. I bought the Krusteaz Pumpkin Bread from Costco before my surgery because I didn’t think I’d be in the mood for baking. We’ve all decided that we like this with butter and cinnamon sugar on top.

The banana bread is homemade. I couldn’t resist baking when I saw that we had a few over-ripe bananas. As much as I love making homemade bread with yeast, I also love a good quick and easy quick bread recipe.

Here’s the recipe I use for Banana Bread:

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter, softened

2 eggs

2 medium ripe bananas (mashed)

1/3 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease the bottom of a bread pan.

Beat sugar and butter until light and fluffy.

Add bananas, milk, eggs, and vanilla. Mix.

Add the rest of the dry ingredients. Mix.

Add 2 cups of chocolate chips (optional).

Bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes.

Happy Baking!

Christmas Front Porch

December 2, 2015 By Becca Leave a Comment

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas at my house! I’m still not lifting or moving too much since my back surgery, but my pointer finger works just fine. My kids and my hubby really like it when I ask them to do something and then just sit and point at what I’d like done. (Can you hear the sarcasm?) So, I can’t take credit for the loveliness of the front door. My hubby did the work and I just pointed.

I have used the same garland and wreaths for many years. I’d like to bulk it up, but it’s hard to splurge on decorations when I could use that money to buy gifts for people.

This is my favorite sign of all time. If you live in my neighborhood, you know how true this is.

Ok, maybe this is my favorite sign.

Ok, I guess I have a problem deciding which sign is my favorite. I love this one too.

I cute sign, a bucket of holly, and some birch logs from the deck are all it takes to make my chair kind of cute!

This is the sled I grew up using. It’s missing the middle wood piece, but I still love it. That sled has seen many miles of happy hills!

I’m having a hard time believing that MY sled could possibly be an antique!

Happy decorating!

My Back Surgery

December 1, 2015 By Becca 6 Comments

I have a confession to make. I’ve been reworking old blog posts lately. I haven’t been cooking, baking, decorating, sewing, and photographing all of those fun adventures. Instead, I’ve been sitting in my recliner chair, snuggling in my electric blanket, and spending time thumbing through magazines and looking at blogs.

See this picture:

It’s a picture from my MRI. Right in the center of the picture, there is a little gray thing that looks like it’s about the size of a pea. Well, that little thing is not supposed to be there. It’s been causing me serious problems since last Spring. I started going to the doctor last April, telling them that I had some very intense pain that didn’t feel muscular, but felt deeper. They thought I had everything from muscular pain to heart problems. After being tested for anything and everything, they finally did an MRI and decided I had a herniated disc in my neck. They wanted to do surgery at the beginning of September. I’m pretty sure I either laughed at that or stared at them blankly. Ummm. Hello… I teach kindergarten!

So, after several months of agonizing pain combined with cheerful singing in kindergarten, I finally had surgery a few weeks ago. I didn’t want to post anything because (true confession time) I have a fear of some crazy-pants-lunatic reading my blog (because I’m sure lots of crazies enjoy reading homelife blogs in their spare time) and breaking in to steal my pain meds. I had to wait to share this until I was better and out of meds so the crazies would stay away. You understand, right? Please tell me I’m not the only one who thinks this way!

Surgery went well, although pain really sucks. I was supposed to rest and not do ANYTHING. As a matter of fact, rule #1 on my post op directions said, “Don’t use this time at home to complete projects.” So, I sat. I rested. I napped through Thanksgiving. I napped every single day, as a matter of fact. I’m two weeks out from surgery now, and I still can’t wake up. The doctor says it’s just a side effect of anesthesia and I just need a little more time to shake it off. I still have pain. Have I mentioned that pain sucks?

During the surgery, they shaved off part of my bone and pulled out the herniated part of the disc. This is supposed to relieve the pressure on the nerve and reduce the pain, numbness, and pressure I feel in my neck, arm, back, and chest. It’s amazing that something so small can cause so much pain.

Looking on the bright side, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed being home with my kids. My daughter says she wishes I could break my arm or something so I would need to stay home again. Hmmm. I’m not sure I like that plan. I’m not exactly sure I remember the past two weeks because of the anesthetic and the meds, but I’m sure I enjoyed the time at home.

I took this picture of my daughter because it sums up her life perfectly. Her hair is unbrushed. Her snack bag is on the chair. She has a combination of basketball uniform and jammie pants for her outfit of choice. Her soccer blanket is close by because she loves to be warm, and she’s happily doing puzzles in the entry way. I wish I would have taken the picture just a few minutes earlier because the ipad was set up and she was finishing a movie, while calling a friend to see if she wanted to come do puzzles together.

While I had my camera out, I asked my son if he would let me take a few pictures. I wanted to see if I could get the ball spinning on his finger in a blur, while he was in focus. It took me a few tries, but I got it. It was then that I really appreciated being home with my kids. It was Thanksgiving break, so I would have been home with my kids anyway, but it just felt more restful. (Possibly because I had been resting for days upon days.)

So, that’s my story. I’m doing better, but I wish I could say I’m 100%. I will be back to my regular blogging and teaching soon! Until then… Happy Resting!

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