Five Brown Kids

 I love that the landscaping around our house is filling in so nicely.  Scotia has been busy with ferns and flowers and it all looks so good.  The gardenia bushes smell so good. A large jasmine vine crawling up the back deck and a peach tree in the front left corner getting big. Two happy peony bushes. Annual bougainvillea baskets on the back porch. And a little work in process. Done. The deer def like to chew on everything.  But some are still holding on.

 

Dad's soil recipe worked too well!  We have a whole tomato and zucchini jungle in the back yard. 

This is a post about an important family member. When we lived in Chapel Hill (2002-2004) our downstairs neighbors moved and left us this lovely mass cane house plant in the left corner.   For 20 years it has followed us around in each dining room- adding a little life to an empty corner. I watered it with leftover water from dinner drink cups. And kept it alive amongst all the chaos of multiple small kids and moves…

We celebrated Sara’s birthday a little late this year. It was a crummy year- she was diagnosed with breast cancer last fall, did all the chemo and a double mastectomy and is now on the mend. Still alive to celebrate another year! 

A quick tour of our house...

This is a fun art tour of my house. Many, many years ago my mom said I should collect art instead of furniture because it wouldn’t get killed by little kids. My collection isn’t fancy but I love it! 

We finally crossed off a house project that has been our list since we moved here. We hired Landvision to deal with the drainage on the sides of our house, add a patio in the back and some more plants around all of it. They did an amazing job... so delighted with the end result.  Before:

I did a little painting in the living room. It’s so striking! 

It snowed!  We were really worried we were going to go the whole winter without any...  but then we got this beautiful dusting!

A few house updates.   The office got a gallery wall and a new extra large desk and some shelves.  The walls are painted a dark green.  I love it  - especially when the sun shines in.  First floor move in house tour  here  if you want to see the before.  Office shows up 32 seconds in....

We bought a big new couch for the basement.  Room for everyone now.

We are one year into our new house.  I love it even more than the first time I walked through.  When the listing showed up with a half finished basement we jumped on it fast, and in hindsight it was a great move.  The house has bedrooms for all of us (Before Big D arrived, at least).  Girls and boys both have separate play rooms.  I love the quiet, private cul de sac we live on tucked in amongst the trees.  I love how modest the house looks from the outside (and then when you walk in, wow!).  Our neighbors are great and best of all I am close to the gym and school and carpool for swim and SuperTarget. Before - with those awful brown shutters Current - Grey shutters and big flower pots Before - Living Room move in day Current - Living room Before - Girls Playroom After - Girls Playroom After - Girls Playroom Before - Basement Bedroom and Bath Before - Basement Bedroom After...