A Blizzard

Yes. Winter finally arrived last weekend. Boo. I didn't get to get out of the house much because it was snowing like crazy on Saturday. I'm not a big fan of snow, but it was gorgeous! It was that really wet snow that sticks to everything it lands on, so it covered all the trees and bushes in a blanket of white. The best part about all the snow was that Hudson finally got to use his new snow pants and snow boots that my parents bought him back in October. He also got to build his first snowman and go sledding for the first time...it was only down a tiny little slope on the side of our house, but he loved it!

Here is my handsome boy all bundled up and ready to go.

And I finally got to get a few pictures of Harper in the snow too. She is wearing an old fleece snowsuit given to me by my sister back when Hudson was a baby. I thought about buying her a new, cute pink one, but it's been so warm here, I wasn't sure when she would get to wear it. This one worked fine and matched her cute hat. She was laughing and trying to catch the falling snow in her mouth. It was adorable!

It was so bright out because of all the light reflecting off the snow, so you can't see where the snowman ends and the snow on the yard begins.

Here are Hudson and daddy on the sled.

I'm hoping to bet back to work on all our projects this weekend. We are for sure painting the nursery. And I'm going to try to get Harper's little artwork finished. I think I have a new plan for it now though, so we'll see how it turns out.

P.S. I'm joining Ali Edwards for Day In The Life today. I love a reason to take lots of pictures...not like I need one though! If you would like to join in, click on Ali's name and it will take you to the blog post and a download freebie! So awesome!

Frame Gallery

I've been wanting to add a frame gallery to the wall that leads from our living to our kitchen forever, pretty much since we moved in here...4 years ago. I finally finished it this weekend. I basically put it all together for free.

I didn't have any money to spend on the project other than a few bucks for some white spray paint, so I used what frames I had around the house. Some of them were black, so I had to spray paint them. It's not perfect by any means. I would've loved to have bought all new frames in just the right sizes, but there wasn't money for that right now. However, I'm really pleased with how it turned out and it definitely adds a lot to the space.

I decided not to do all photos, but instead added other things to the frames as well. I already have quite a few photos hanging around the living room, so I didn't want to overdo it.

Hopefully I can continue to add to it over time and maybe even upgrade to some better frames along the way.

Oh, sorry about the photo quality. It's very dark and cloudy here today, so I had to turn on all the lights in order to get pictures without the flash.

The D is slightly crooked. Those letters are hard to get just right because the holes in the back are so uneven, but we're gonna try to fix it.

 One of the other pieces that I added was a fortune from a fortune cookie. I got it at the perfect time, so it has a lot of meaning for us. All I did was add some scrapbook paper as a background. I love it!

 This is one of Hudson's many paintings. I have an idea for some of his paintings that I found on Pinterest, which will eventually replace this one, but I haven't had the chance to do it yet, so that will be a separate post.

 I made this pebble piece while we were camping during the first year that Jeremy and I were dating. It's been framed in our house ever since and I'm so glad I added it to the wall where I can see it all the time again.

The rest of the frames are filled with photos we've taken and one of our wedding photos. I'm excited to have it completed and happy with the "free" price tag! If ever there are any major changes, I'll be sure to blog about it, but for now it's working just fine.

Uggghhh...

So we've had these chairs on our deck for 3 years, sure they're really faded from the sun, but they're still comfortable and still do their job. 

However, this year the squirrels finally discovered our padded chairs and decided to take the filling that they needed to build their nests!  This happened to my sister's patio chairs a couple years ago and I was surprised that our lasted this long without being destroyed. 

Not only did they trash one chair...

 But they thought it was necessary to destroy a second one just for good measure.

We don't have the money to buy new chairs or new covers this summer, so I guess we'll have to suffer through the rest of the season staring at these poor things.  If I were a professional seamstress I would try to make some new covers, but alas I'm am not.  Bummer!

If anyone has any secrets to keeping squirrels away from padded lawn furniture, I would LOVE to hear them!.

Flowers

Since we were about to have a new baby, I didn't want to get a bunch of flowers that I might not be able to take the best care of this summer, so instead I decided on some low maintenance flowers (and not very many) and called it good for this year.  They're not very fancy, but they look good and add some much needed pops of color to our otherwise colorless yard.

This is the pot on our front porch.

 Please ignore the filthy dirty table.  We've had a lot of rain lately.

Next summer I'd like to do a lot more.  I love how cheerful flowers are and how even just a few pots can transform a entry or patio.

Welcome Spring!

It's finally starting to show signs of spring here in Nebraska!  We couldn't be more excited!  Especially the little guy.  He loves playing outside.

The proof that spring has sprung around here...

Can you see my daylilies poking through?  Once they break through, they really take off, so it won't be long and they'll be in full bloom!

I hope spring is starting in your neck of the woods!

**And stay tuned because we have TONS of home improvement, decorating and landscaping projects to come here this Spring and Summer!

Alphabet Artwork

While cruising blogland yesterday I came across some great free artwork for Hudson's room re-do.  I had been wanting to add something with the alphabet, but couldn't find the right thing, until I saw this.  I just love everything about it.  It's from Amanda and Jenn over at Kind Over Matter  and comes in a few different colors.  They have a ton of free printables, so go over and check them out! 

 Thanks for sharing the awesome artwork Jen and Amanda!

Bringing In Some Green...and White

We were on vacation this past week and made a trip to IKEA where I picked up some cute little plants to bring some green into our home.  Unfortunately, I don't have a very green thumb (I'm working on it though!), but I thought I'd take a chance with some succulents.  I always hear how easy they are to take care of, meaning that they're super low maintenance, which seems like a great way to start.

The shiny new white pots are the best part at just $1.99 a piece!  I adore these pots from IKEA and have wanted some for a long time and now I finally have some of my own.  I can't wait to find the perfect spot to put them all! 

Finally Fireproofed

This is something I've been meaning to do since Christmas, or Black Friday, when I bought the safe. 

I finally got around to putting all of our important papers into our fireproof/waterproof safe.  I also added dvds full of all the pictures of Hudson since birth...which took FOREVER! That was my biggest job yesterday and I didn't finish until 8:00 last night! But my pictures mean so much to me that if anything ever happened and I lost them all I would be devastated, so now I don't have to worry about that anymore.

 Hudson was a big help with the safe...all he wanted to do was stand in it, on it and take everything out of it!

12 hours later the dvd's are done!

Here is the safe.  It's small, but we don't have much else to put in it, so it gets the job done!

A Green Home

Over the past few years we've been doing as much as we can to turn our home into a much greener one.  It's so important to us to do whatever we can to make a difference for the future of our planet.  Here are just a few of the things that we do on a regular basis to be more "green":

1.  Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs
We have these in every room in our house.  At first I hated them, but now they don't bother me at all and they save us lots of energy every year.

2.  Recycle
We started recycling when we moved into our house 3 years ago and haven't looked back.  It's such an easy way to do our part and doesn't cost a thing.  We recycle so much now that sometimes we have to empty the bin in our kitchen more than once a week! 

We recycle so much from our bathroom that I even set up a little recycling bin in there.  That way nothing that can be recycled gets thrown away by accident. 

(wow, I didn't realize how dirty our toilet paper holder is until I saw this picture!  yikes!)

3.  Reusable Shopping Bags
I ordered these a little over a year ago from www.chicobag.com/ and love them!  You can get them in all different colors, but I liked them all so much that I had to get one of each except black.  And they fold up into tiny little pouches that can fit into your purse or clip onto your pocket.  We keep them in our car and use them as much as possible.

4.  Green Cleaning Products
We've slowing been switching our regular cleaning products over to "green" products as we run out.  These are just a few in our collection.

5.  Terra Passes

In the past we've purchased these for our cars.  I think we're a little behind this year.  If you want to learn more about them click here.

6.  Buy Local

We try to go to our local farmer's markets every weekend to buy local produce.  We bought eggs for the first time last month and I couldn't believe the difference in freshness!  Yum!  Everything tastes so much better!

photo courtesy of omahafarmersmarket.com

Like I mentioned earlier, these are just a few of the things we do around our home to be more "green".  We are always learning more and trying new things.

Too Much Rain

We've had so much rain over the past month that my wave petunias haven't been able to really get going.  I'm hoping that they'll really take off in July.  My mom's are already much fuller.  I guess they are starting to look a little better after a couple of dry days.  My daylillies (in the background) on the other hand are doing great!

Peonies

Our peonies are really looking good this spring.  When my hubby was finished mowing the other night, he picked some so I could enjoy them inside too!  They smell great!!  I love the way bringing the outdoors in always makes the house feel so fresh!