Simple Home and Happiness

I was sitting here browsing the good ole web (do people call it that anymore?) and I heard the happy little chime of the dishwasher go off. Currently the dryer is still clack-a-lacking away. My daily chores are being done as I sit and type. Literally being done for me, like magic. How easy do we have it? I mean seriously? I have been reading the Laura Ingalls Wilder series to my girls at night before bedtime, and we read about the daily chores, and the once a week baths and the long winters and I am humbled. This isn't the first time that little pioneer girl has slapped some sense into me . I complain about the piles of laundry and the stacks of dirty dishes. I swear about the endless cleaning and picking up in circles around my two little ones. What I wouldn't give for a simpler time. Then it hits me. I have it six thousand times more simple than the pioneers did. I am the one who is making it hard on myself. My kids could stand to lose over half their toys and t

It's here! It's here! It's really here! Ok, I have been going on endlessly about Fall for so long that you all knew this was coming. In honor of the official start of all things pumpkins, I am busting out old and new copies of my Fall magazines for inspiration and my box of Fall decor and browsing the internet for ideas as well. We have been blessed with beautiful fall weather here today, cool and overcast, which makes it even better to do all things Fall-ish. I have been simmering a creamy vegetable chowder with bacon since ten a.m. I just had my first bowl for lunch. The five year old told me it was "the best fall soup". Yes, I am starting them young. Also rising on the counter right now is Mom's Homemade Bread . My mouth is already watering. And just for fun here, are some other ladies from around the web who are just as excited about Fall as I am! Grab a cup of apple cider, a warm muffin and a cable knit throw. Wrap up and click aroun

Today I looked back on the blog to see what was happening around this time. As luck would have it, I actually posted this exactly one year ago. It's hard to believe that was a year ago. It has gone by so fast! I know everyone says that. Especially when you are in the thick of things, and it is overwhelming and you are stressed out, people will tell you, "Soon you'll look back and this will all be a memory." And at the time, you kind of want to punch them in the face and say, "Yeah, well right now this sucks." That's not just me, is it? Anyways, people said that to me a lot. And I didn't punch them in the face, I plodded ahead, knowing that someday they would be right. And now, here I am, a year later. A lot wiser, on the home building front, a little wiser on taking things one day at a time , and none the wiser at   keeping up on laundry .  One year ago today we finished excavating the basement. I was in the middle of schedul

We have been in Lucky for nearly eight months now! It has been amazing. The functionality and practicality of this house is wonderful. Remember back here , when I said I was working on before and after updates? Yeah, I'm still working on that. I am hovering in the last remaining days of summer craziness , but I can smell the slow down coming. Autumn skies and temperatures are popping in to remind me that summer will soon slip away. The Hubs has been wanting to do an open house for quite sometime. Our way of saying thank you to all those who helped make this home a possibility, and also for a chance to invite over all the friends and family that have been asking what are you guys up to in that house?! The thing is, I keep dragging my feet. I always tell people I have an open door policy, if they can step over the toys, they are welcome anytime to come see us or the house! And I truly mean it. But an open house? It seems so formal. It brings all the unfinished pro

I took a little break from my summer rebellion to enjoy the Fourth of July. I camped in a tent, swam in the river, ate ridiculously too many hotdogs and all around enjoyed the number one summer holiday! It was hard to hate on summer, when I woke up to this each morning. Now I am back to my usual self, staying in the a/c as much as possible, baking zucchini bread, and drinking apple cider trying to think Autumnal thoughts. Mostly its the long hours that are wearing on me again. I just like routine and regular bedtimes and that has NOT been happening. Instead, work has looked like this lately. So I remind myself that I am blessed to be living this wonderful, exhausting farm life. The work is long and hard, but the view is pretty awesome.  When I am home, I am playing catch up on piles, upon piles of laundry and doing a little baking. The garden I planted this spring is not going to produce much this year. Turns out the cattle manure we mixed in the

Summer is not my thing. I'm sorry. Don't hate me. I can't help myself. I have always been an autumn kind of girl. The warm scents, the promise of cozy winter evenings at home, the snuggling and early dark. It is my jam. This summer time gig, with the endless days, for me means, crazy bedtimes for cranky kiddos, the hub's working till sundown (nearly 10 pm), snakes, bugs, etc. Most of these things are hard for me on their own, and as a whole, it can be flat out overwhelming. The other evening, well after kiddo's should've been asleep, I sat outside their bedrooms listening to them NOT sleeping, and crying I told the Hub's, "I hate summer". I was miserable and I was wallowing it in. And it was getting me nowhere. So I am pulling myself together and trying REALLY hard to embrace summer rather than fight it. It is not natural for me and it's not coming easy, but I am trying. Sometimes it's all about slowing down and rememberin

Have you heard of Bountiful Baskets? It's basically a co-op that you sign up for and pay a flat rate and receive fruits and vegetables every week to two weeks, depending on where you are. You can read more about it here .   This is only my second time getting a basket, but I love all the different things that are in the baskets, and I love figuring out what to do with them. When I received my basket this week, it had a couple heads of broccoli in it. I love broccoli, so do my girls, the Hubs? Not so much. Here's what I made for lunch today. The girls and I ate every thing, and the Hub's gave us his broccoli! Chicken and Broccoli Alfredo  Seriously delicious. Here's the run down on how I made it. Keep in mind I didn't measure anything, that's how I roll, but I'll give you the ballpark amounts on it.  Throw some chicken in a pan with a little bit of oil and salt and pepper. I used chicken tenders, but chicken breast would work as

Technology is not my jam. In fact, it generally makes me want to scream expletives at my computer. But today I conquered technology two for two and I am excited. If you haven't noticed it yet,  I now have a link up to my Instagram and Pinterest accounts! Check out the pics to your right, (my right is your right, right?) Anyways, you can follow me on Pinterest if you want to see my inspirations for Lucky or follow me on Instagram and see what I've been up to! I'm excited to branch out a bit, and show you another side of where my ideas come from! Well that's it for today. I am technologically spent! I'm going to go do something hands on, like hang the kitchen cabinet doors or make a gallery wall! Way more fun for me than widgets and html's... bleh! Thanks for stopping by today! P.S. I followed this tutorial for the Pinterest link and this one for Instagram! I literally couldn't have done it without them!

I finally cracked the ole paint bucket back open today. I got about half of the first coat of edging in the office done before life beckoned and I had to wash the brush and shut things down. What can you do? That's just DIY in real life. I start one project just to stop and start another. Painting walls isn't exactly kid friendly, so when the babes are around I try to do something a little less messy or just wait till nap time. So I decided to do a small project after lunch. By little, I mean it took less than ten minutes. I have a storage box that I use to store the girls' shoes in. There is over twenty pairs of shoes in this thing and the girls are in and out of this box several times a day. I bought the storage box for cheap, because the top cover was wearing off at the time. Soon after I got it, I pulled the torn cover off and it has sat in our entry way looking like this since we moved in. It needed a little update. I unscrewed the hinges that held the