Category Archives: home

A new fixer upper (life update)

If you follow me over on Instagram, you already know this, but we moved! We’re finally, somewhat, settling in, so now I can share more about it here on the blog.

If you have never lived 3 hours from your spouse while prepping and selling a house, while also homeschooling a large family, well – I don’t really recommend it. Whew. It was an adventure. We survived though, and are all so glad to be on this side of it now.

We closed the sale of our previous home in early March, but a few weeks before that we bought our new (really old) house. We aren’t certain how old it is, or what kind of house it started as, but currently our home is a 4 bedroom, 1 bathroom, with an office type space and a (extra large!) laundry room, ranch-ish style.

*Yes, we downsized. Yes, it was intentional! More on that later.*

We have lots of work to do, and I can’t wait to share it all with you! However, just like everyone else building or remodeling right now, a big part of the project is just waiting on supplies. At this point, most of what we have done has been the necessary, but less exciting stuff (like a new breaker panel and putting up electric fencing for our animals), but we have big plans for our new space.

I’ll share more about those in another post, along with some before pictures. Be sure to sign up for the email updates to see the progress!

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Beginning our Bathroom Renovation 

When we bought our house, I wasn’t planning to renovate the bathroom anytime soon. I liked the vintage look (minus the flooring), and it fit so well with the house. We actually discussed adding an addition on to the house. However, life happened and plans changed. 

A few weeks ago we bought a new vanity and mirror for the bathroom and started to rearrange plumbing. That’s when my husband discovered our bathtub drain was completely deteriorated and every time we drained the tub, it poured out under our house! 🙈🙈🙈 Talk about old house problems! 

Soooo, we decided to just gut the whole thing. 

Then the washing machine died. 😂 

Here we are, a few weeks later, sink ripped out (and in my flower bed😁, but that’s another post), new washer & dryer installed in their temporary location, tile and new fixtures sitting patiently in the shop, and our bathroom being ripped apart.

Here’s a little before peek!
   

Did I mention this bathroom was added in the 1950s? Lol 

Our new plan will allow for a bit more space and functionality for our family. I’m excited about that. The actual process? Not so much. Anyone want to come lay some tile? 

PS – Stay tuned to see what’s under all that wall paper. 😁

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Filed under home, home improvement, Making Our House Our Home, Uncategorized

Our new (old, really old) house

I had intended to save this post until we had internet at our new house, so I could include the pictures from the day we first looked at it. However, we’ve been here 5 weeks now and still haven’t found an internet provider. So, here we go… On Father’s Day we looked at this house for the first time. 20140907-151149.jpg

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And fell completely in love. We put in our offer 2 days later and signed a contract on Saturday. We closed a little over a month later. This house is the perfect mix of my husband and I. It has the elegance and charm of a Victorian farmhouse and the ruggedness and history of a log cabin – because it is both. Originally built in 1901 as a dogtrot cabin, the house was put under one roof in the 1930s. As soon as we have internet service I’ll be sharing more pictures and some before and afters of the projects we’ve been working on so far. Here is a small recap of our activities this weekend – yard work!
little sister has taken some wonderful naps in the yard this weekend. 🙂
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Today we planted two cherry trees to finish off the weekend. 🙂 20140907-161618.jpg

20140907-161552.jpg PS- You can also get a sneak peek over on Instagram. I’ve tagged some pics with #movingourzoo and #ourlovelylittlefarmhouse 🙂

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Filed under daily adventures, home, home improvement, Making Our House Our Home

Motherhood: Live a life worthy of it

Moms…

Was yesterday a bad day? It was for me. Really, bad isn’t the word. Terrible? Nope, still doesn’t fit. Anyway, you get the picture.

Don’t dwell on it. Pray. Repent.

Repent at my rebuke!  Then I will pour out my thoughts to you,  I will make known to you my teachings. (Proverbs 1:23)

Hug the sleepy little one that just shuffled down the hall to sit with you on the couch. Write a scripture or two on your hand, and pour a cup of coffee.

Look at your children and remember your calling. Motherhood.

As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. (Ephesians 4:1)

Live your life today worthy of that calling.
Live a life worthy of the children God blessed you with.
Live a life worthy of the hugs and laughter.
Live a life worthy of the tears.
Live a life worthy of the hot baths (however rare they may be).
Live a life worthy of the messes.
Live a life worthy of the late nights.
Live a life worthy of seeing the sun rise.
Live a life worthy of the crying baby and ornery toddler than gave you both of those.
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Live a life worthy of your calling.

Live a life worthy of being chef.
Live a life worthy of being housekeeper.
Live a life worthy of being laundress.
Live a life worthy of being taxi driver.
Live a life worthy of being personal assistant.
Live a life worthy of being teacher.
Live a life worthy of being wife.
Live a life worthy of being friend.
Live a life worthy of being missionary.
Live a life worthy of being mom.

Live a life worthy of your calling.


Don’t expect to do and be all those things perfectly. We are not perfect. Live a life worthy of those opportunities and blessings though.
God gave us all of these because He wanted us to have them. We didn’t earn them. We were blessed with them.

my boys sitting together

my baby girl at almost 9 months

 

 

(This is just as much, if not more,a post for myself as it is for you.)

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Filed under Christian Living, family, home, parenting

More space? How about less stuff?

With every pregnancy well meaning friends, relatives, and often strangers, share their advice whether you ask for it or not. Sometimes this can get annoying, but for the most part I just nod and smile. I’m not so sure I get this unsolicited advice as often as others do, however, as most my friends and family know that I have no issues with telling them my opinion or what I think of theirs.

I have been a bit surprised by all the opinions on the size and arrangement of our home though. I was expecting comments on the number of children or how close in age they will all be, not comments on the lack of square footage in our house. Even with the birth of our second son, a few people were surprised to hear that we did not give him his own bedroom even though we do have a three bedroom home. The third bedroom is being used as a playroom for the boys, and we like it that way. Now with #3 on the way, we plan to keep the same arrangement and have all three kiddos share a bedroom. You would think we were committing a crime from some of the looks we get! Several have commented that we have “outgrown” our home. While I agree that our home is small by today’s standards (It would have been “small” even in the 1980’s when it was built.), and we do plan to buy a bigger home next time (because we plan to have more children), I don’t feel that we have outgrown it yet. We have central heat and air, a roof that keeps out rain, a large kitchen, three bedrooms, and two bathrooms. They may be small rooms, but they function, and that’s more space and luxury than most people around the world have. Most of us have heard the statistic that the average home in the 1950’s had 900-something square feet of space and the average home today is 2000-something square feet. Why? The average family size has decreased, so it definitely has nothing to do with the number of children.

Stuff. It’s all that stuff that we “need” so much. I am constantly being made aware of how much our culture focuses on “needs” that aren’t really needs at all. For over a year now I have been making a conscious effort to rid our house of unnecessary stuff. Just like most other families in the US, we have lots of it. Toys, books, furniture, electronics, dishes, cooking utensils, bath products and towels, and more clothes than some people own in their lifetime.  When I start feeling overwhelmed, like I have too much to do, and my home is suffering for it, it’s time to get rid of some of those things that aren’t necessary in my home and life. My husband and children are what is important, not my possessions. Not to mention, the fewer items you have in your home, the less time and energy it takes to keep clean. Just this past week I was steam mopping the floors for the second time (potty training forces you to do such things), and I was thinking about how much I really dread having a bigger home when potty training future children, as I know it will take much longer.

I’d like to encourage you to join me in this! Take some time this week and clean out one room, closet, cabinet, or drawer. You might just be surprised by how many unnecessary things fill your home and everyday life. Feel free to come back here and post a link if you blog about it too!

Here are a few tips to get you started.

  • Grab a box or bag (I like diaper and wipe boxes because it’s what I have on hand) and start tossing stuff in it that you want to donate. Don’t leave it sitting around the house though. Immediately put it in your car so it can be dropped of while you are out running errands this week. I found this is much less stressful, and it gets everything out of my house faster than waiting until I have a larger drop-off load.
  • Don’t just assume it it is all your kid’s stuff cluttering your home. We adults have useless junk too!
  • Facebook and Craigslist can be great ways to sell unwanted items. Just don’t get sucked into buying more stuff while you’re there!
  • Dishes – Do you really need 2 full sets of drinking glasses? When was the last time you had 20 people over for dinner and didn’t use plastic cups that got tossed in the trash?
  • With lots of teenagers graduating high school right now and getting ready to leave for college in the fall, find one and load them up with your unneeded dishes, towels, bedding, and cleaning supplies!

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