Lately in Spring

Hullo everyone! Just wanted to drop in and say hi. We are indeed still around. Things just seem more low key around here. We've mostly kept to home (aside from 2 little trips) and enjoyed 2018 so far. Weekends have turned into my time to do most of my school work, unless I know there is a lot planned for a weekend. So though we do stay around more often, I feel like we have been out exploring our own area more and more. Spring does have a tendency to offer ALL the events and things to do.

I'll just share a few pictures from the past couple of months and let them to the updating :)

Sister Sunday :) I have begun this tradition of trying to capture the girls together everyday. They are just too stinkin' cute together. Also usually about to fall apart since right after church is nap time. 

Baby Logan was born on 3/1! We have 2 nephews now!

Visiting JoJo back in March at rehab. One of the sweetest women I've ever met. We didn't know it at the time but this was the last time we would get to see her. She and my grandma passed away to the Lord about a week apart. John and I are both thankful we got to have our grandmas as long as we did and that our girls got to know them. 

On a different note, the girls got a handmade swing set thanks to Grandpa! Ellie asks to swing just about everyday.

John and I took a week belated birthday trip tTho Blowing Rock, NC while my parents were with the kids. It was quick but much needed and so pretty there!

                                              Our humble cabin for the night.

  Dyeing Easter eggs together. Evie was more than happy to dump all the eggs into the dye cups lol

This picture was all the little grandbabies together as we got ready to leave for my grandmother's service. Our whole family (except some spouses and other great grands who stayed behind-including Ellie thanks to a stomach bug) was there together to honor her. I still can't believe she is gone sometimes. 

Evie with her eyes on the prize :) We did visit my parents church for an egg hunt before heading back to SC. Evie had no problem taking part!

Evie and Reid! Ready to ride!

 This picture pretty well sums up Easters at JoJos. Everyone gathered together in her house, eating before the big egg hunt. I love that we still went to her house to celebrate. She LOVED welcoming her family into her home. 

Easter girls!

   These are just snapshots of some of our favorite spots in the house right now. Cozy places to play, read and just be together. I set a little "library" for the girls on our loft and it's a great way access books which may otherwise fall to the bottom of the box. The toy/guest room is self explanatory for it's fun-ness. The girls are at such a good age though (almost 18 months and 4) they can honestly have fun almost anywhere with a little imagination. 

A little spring decorating...

This post could also be labeled as "if you can dream it, my dad can built it". Truth. While some of this post does relate to my own cycle of continuously rearranging and redecorating, it has just as much to do with me showing off my dad's woodworking skills.

Remember when I posted my home tours from October? I think I even pulled some line like... the house is mostly the way I want it! Yes kinda true. But! I carried on with some new ideas this spring which I was eager to see through completion after we saw the whirlwind of newborn-ness and the holidays change to more content baby days and a new year! Needless to say I'm so happy with how it looks. How one's home "looks" or presents itself is not the most important thing by any means but its OK also to enjoy seeing pretty things in your own space and making it a cozy place for your family.

I'll start with the outside space. A cleaned and stained deck and fresh potted and planted flowers.

Here enters some of my dad's work! Our outside love seat! This couch is so great out here. We needed more seating and something comfortable so we got just that.

 

My dad helped me replace our old closet light fixture. We had a huge florescent light here and I was ready for it to go on day 1 of owning this house. After I took this picture I told John he had to move his bags at the top of the closet...OCD for life!!

Back in December, we got our Christmas gift from my parents: a new kitchen table with benches. Enough room for everyone!

 

I also decided to do something I've wanted to do since day 1 in our home and that was to paint the kitchen. It's the same color as the dining room and looks so much better. We also switched out the hardware for brushed nickel.

Our powder room. This one was by far the most time consuming but it turned out beautifully. I thought the bathroom too plain (so dramatic) but loved a certain ocean blue in bathrooms. Well I didn't want to just add dark paint in a small space so the board and batton idea came up as a way to break up the paint. We had previously changed out the light fixture to something more fitting of the space.

As some of you know, our living room shelves are insanely tall and at point I said I'm not worried about the top half! You have a have a much taller ladder to even reach them. Well apparently the time came to finally decorate them a little so I bought some (many) books from Habit for Humanity and turned them spine out so they all blend in. My dad made several bookends to hold them up as they previously kept crashing over. Not convenient to fix! But now they are all good. For the other shelves, I got a bouquet of wool ball flowers in put them in jars. Done. Now the top half of the shelves (which I never plan to touch again in the near future) are consistent looking and give the living room a more cozy atmosphere. Also a new wooden frame to rest on the mantel! Thanks dad! 

Also in the living room? My new cart! Yes.. my dad made it complete with galvanized shelves per my request!

In the playroom I added a rug under their table which helped with the overall layout of the room and hung some "new" wall art. These fairy tale prints are from a storybook I had from childhood.

Last but not least, is my little nook on the loft upstairs. I was at a lost for what else to do here (I had my desk set up in front of the windows since day one but that was it) but I finally got it. Cozy chair, side table, repainted lamp and open shelves all make for a nice reading nook. The chair is new but all else is recycled from what we had. My dad helped me cut and hang the shelves. I tell ya, natural wood is just so beautiful. After all these products, mostly all I like to see is stained wood. It's just lovely.  Anyway, with fresh flowers from our yard an knick knacks from my travels, I'd say this space is good to go. Happy reading and relaxing!

Home Tour, Part 2

Welcome back for the second leg of the tour. Hope everyone has had a fine Monday or weekend at least...I was supposed to work this weekend but did not due to low patient census and what seemed like constant contractions and overall weariness. Anyway, today was a good day and yes I'm still pregnant. No babies yet...

So like I had said, the second part will entail the upstairs. First up, the toy room/guest room/multi-purpose functional room. I had grand plans for a room like this-often called the "bonus room". It was simply "upstairs" at our old house and the most under used space because it was where the dogs stayed so often and the temperature was sometimes hard to control. I always said though, if we stayed longer in our first home (we lived there for 5 years) that bonus room was going to be re evaluated for function. Not just a dog- a clean, organized one of course!/TV room.  Anywho, this multipurpose room is the bees knees. It's spacious, separated  and has a barn door type deal so you can close kids off but check on them by peeping over the stairs. AND No dogs are allowed upstairs ( our 2 bigger dogs are still inside). Like ever. I had to banish them from part (half) of the house cause I need my space. white carpet and dog hair are a no go.

This room is half  a dedicated guest room space if needed and the other half is a "toy" room as Ellie calls it. Not too many little kid things, not too many adult things but just a nice mix of the two. We use the bed as a sitting area for movies sometimes and the couch was recently added from our 3rd floor as extra seating. Thank goodness for it. Ellie adores this room so much. She has free range to all her stuff and we can all just hang out together. The closet holds most toys but thanks to a birthday gift of a toy chest to Ellie we can display some too. My talented father crafted a beautiful chalkboard AND table for kids too. (I believe some matching benches will be coming!) Totally spoiled but his work is better than what money can buy and no splinters in sight.

Up the steps further is a loft area (my claim as a space since it has all my little things here including my desk which has been my friend since college and wall art from days past). Its a nice sitting space but I think it could be more functional too? Don't know but it's pretty so there's that.

2 other little spaces are...the laundry room and a bathroom. The laundry room is also partly a supply room for light DIY stuff and present wrapping/messy project doings. I painted the countertop gray (it was teal) and switched out the hardware (it was gold). The difference is big and just fine.

The bathroom was also painted in January with my mom's help (it was like aqua blue) and john switched out a hideous sprayer that was in the tub. I replaced the mirror recently and hung some new art work.

Ellie's big girl room was done in June after we got back from a trip to AL and John and I powered through it in a weekend. I tried to decorate in a way in which Ellie would actually like it and could grow with her a bit. So the walls were painted mint green which she loves and we brought in the bunk beds the previous owners gave us (thanks!). She also got an antique dresser (Johns hates antiques lol),some woodland art work for the wall and of course bedding.  I tried to think of simple things Ellie likes and went with it: the color green (also blue but blue walls weren't happening-sorry kid), books and animals in general. Also loves Minnie mouse, Frozen and most things Disney but that's a little harder to sneak in...Some things from the nursery stayed too like her toy chest which was mine as a child and some artwork from a baby shower and things I made her.

The baby's nursery was done in August after summer vacation and probably not a moment too soon because it was not easy even at that point to paint and climb around even with John's help of course. The nursery had been a hold room for baby and random stuff since we moved in and after we finished Ellie's room it was a hot mess of furniture. Both of the kid rooms were painted a pale creamish yellow beforehand. I decided (after a while of debating) to have her room be mostly coral pink and gray with some gold and white here and there. I wanted it be a little brighter and playful. Ellie's nursery was very "lady like" with light lavender walls and dainty touches which was lovely but you know, new baby new style.
I added in pinwheel accents for fun and really love how it all turned out. Of course baby got Ellie's old nursery furniture (all second hand!) but we did purchase a new rocker and OMG its already worth it. But besides that and new crib sheets, its all hand me down and things I made for her/or repainted for her space.

The last part of the house to mention is the "bonus room/John's space/movie room, etc.etc." I didn't take pictures because it's technically on the 3rd floor (thought its the only room up there) and people I'm 9 months pregnant so no way and its partly a holding space for extra baby items at the moment. Just picture a big TV, 2 recliners and Clemson décor and there you go...You're not missing out but it is a fun space when you've got the time...and energy.

So that's our home mostly and I hope/look forward to the day when more family can come visit and hang out. We are looking forward to hopefully many a good years here and raising our family in this space.

Also sorry for the lack of pictures from the front on the house but you know privacy stuff...I'd rather just stick to mostly indoors. We will be back to regularly scheduled programming after this though, and hopefully some baby pictures sooner rather than later!