Full

Most of the time, I feel like our house is filled with stacks of unwashed dishes, piles of half-finished laundry, sand-filled shoes, books on the floor, paper airplanes stuck behind the couch, bouncy balls stuck behind the bookshelf, half eaten apples, untouched tuna sandwiches, too many text books, piles of junk mail, half-finished home improvement projects, unbalanced check books, missing coats, and "hurry, hurry, hurry."

But sometimes, I have a chance to clear my head, take a deep breath, and actually look.

And then I realize that our house is actually a home.

And it is filled with bedtime stories, extra marshmallows for hot cocoa, doors that open as soon as I get home, laughter, slobbery kisses, hugs around the knees, Candyland, bright shiny blue eyes, high fives for everything, jumping as high as you can, socks that slide perfectly, the chance to be a hero, stuffed animals that are real, memories, noses pressed against windows, stacks of artwork, snuggles, and love.

Oh, and a whole bunch of silliness!

Arrived

We've been in Iowa for 6 days.

We've unpacked 5, maybe 6 boxes.

We are still getting our clothes out of suitcases. We are sleeping on the floor.

There is sawdust, and plaster dust, and paint everywhere.

I'm beginning to think that trying to do an entire home renovation in 10 days was a really, really, really bad idea.

But we love Iowa. We love our neighborhood. The woods next to us are filled with fireflies, caterpillars, cardinals. There is a little bunny that lives in our backyard and squirrels in our front tree. It is a little boys paradise.

For the first time in, well, forever, we can really say we are home.

Even if there is nowhere to sleep.

Kitchen Table

It's no secret we don't like our apartment.

In fact, we are Done with apartment living.

We are actually in the process of looking for our very first house!! (In Iowa, of course.) There are no words about how wonderful this is.

Our apartment is bursting at the seams. It's really hard to fit a family of four into a two bedroom, one bath, ~750 square foot space.

Even so, I do have my favorite place. A place with the best light and the least clutter.

And the place where my color scheme is best seen...

Don't you love the colors?
Aqua, apple green, yellow!

So come on over and pull up a chair.

Just please call first, so I can hide the rest of the mess.