Making a House a Home, The Kitchen!

We have been in our new house since June, it finally feels like home!  After many projects, it is almost exactly the way I want it!  Just a few more to do over time, and it will be complete!
                             Our kitchen is one of my favorite renovations!
                                                    The Before:

 

 

The After:

 

We Are Blessed!

We had pictures taken right before Christmas of the kids on a Christmas tree farm.  I can not get over how fast my babies are growing!


Taylor....He is as wonderful as he is handsome!  What an incredible young man he is becoming!  God has great plans for this one!

 

This boy!  Hunter is the kindest, most tender hearted kid there is!  But at the same time, he is as tough as a bull! 



                                            
 God made her mine for a reason!  The life lessons this one has taught us!  She is Happiness and Wild all in one!

                               These are the best days of our lives!                                   

                                       

A Christmas Tour...

It has been a long time coming, getting to decorate our home for Christmas in the US!  The last few years while living abroad we have decorated, but not with the same excitement as this year!

We moved to a much colder climate than we have EVER experienced, but it is BEAUTIFUL with all of the snow!  It also helps get us in the Christmas spirit as the fire has been roaring, kids have been sledding, and the lights have been twinkling
                                                Welcome to our home.....

Come on in, it's nice and warm inside!

When you enter our home, you enter into the front foyer.  Our elf, Chippy, was visiting this spot when I was taking pictures.

This is our formal living room off of the foyer, with just a touch of Christmas!

Our dining room is on the other side of the foyer.  I love nutcrackers, and choose to display the larger ones in here.  On the table I used a mirror that I have had forever but was not currently using to display some mercury trees, vases and crystal rose bowls!  It is beautiful at night when the candles are glowing!

 

 

Our kitchen, which is one of my favorite renovations, is off of the foyer, dining room and family room! 

I love having a window above the sink...the warmth of the sunshine is awesome.

 

I love our glass cabinets, I put our Christmas china in them for display during the holidays.

I added wreaths to the window and on the back of all of the kitchen chairs.

I added beaded reindeer to each wreath.

This is the woodland tree, decorated with ornaments of objects or animals that we would find in and around our property.

I displayed our gingerbread house on the island.

Off of the kitchen is our family room.  We have our Christmas tree in here, as this is were we are the most.  We have a fake tree, and may one day go back to real but for now it is very easy.  All of our ornaments remind us of a time, place or of someone special! I love our tree!  I did not do anything fancy with our mantel this year, as the TV seemed to invade my decorating!

From the family room, you can enter our sun room. I love this area, it is so bright and you feel as if you are in the backyard.

My favorite wood craved birds from South Africa in an old blueberry picking basket.

The kids have their own trees in their bedrooms, I love the idea of sleeping with Christmas lights as a night light.  Claire has had a pink tree since she was a baby.

Taylor's tree has some sports specific ornaments that he likes.

Hunter's also has sports ornaments, plus they both have lots of other fun stuff on their trees....next time I am doing colored lights for them as they seem to like them better.

I leave you with an evening picture of the outside. 

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

 

I am linking up with the following Christmas Home Tours:

 

http://linda-coastalcharm.blogspot.com/2013/12/christmas-home-tour-party.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Another year, Another country!

A year has past, and we have experienced a whirlwind of activity!  We moved back to the States in June, and bought a house that we have been renovating ever since!  I am going to start journaling our life again, as we are still far from grandparents and loved ones....although much closer!  So hold on as I get our lives in pictures over the last few months in order.  I am also going to post our new house, and all the projects and renovating that we have under taken!

A Right of Passage.....

Unfortunately Claire had to have some dental work done last week, and was put under anesthesia to have it done!  With all of our "new" issues, the whole thing was a bit unsettling for me....but in true Claire fashion she did much better than I!  Claire came home and instantly had something to do (after the loopiness wore off)....put a tooth under her pillow!  Its the little things that mean so much around here, the absolute happiness of putting a tooth under a pillow; and the absolute joy of waking up and getting "paper with a lion on it", R50, South African money has animals on it!  A right of passage for a little kid....loved every minute!
                                          Claire Bear's tooth, ready for the tooth fairy.......

In other news... 

I escaped for a weekend away with my girlfriends!  I was very leery of leaving Claire, but am trying desperately to resume normalcy!  We went to Knysna, which is about 3 hours away and had a great time shopping, drinking and laughing!   Not sure how I will ever leave this place and these friends...we have such an amazing group of friends!  

The kids are out of school for a week, so we have been enjoying NO schedules and early morning drop offs!  The weather has been beautiful, and we are spending lots of time outside!  There has been a lot of golf playing, cricket playing and even a little basketball(Claire bought a basketball with her tooth fairy money). Taylor entered a Biathlon 2 weeks ago, and did so well he made the EP team!  EP stands for Eastern Province, the area of South Africa that we live in, and he will represent EP this weekend against other athletes around South Africa!  This is a huge deal around here, and we are super excited for him and can not wait to see him compete!  Hunter has been attending a cricket camp this week, and is gearing  up for a week in Cape Town with his school team as they go on tour to play other schools! 

    Hunter obsessed with practicing.....

I love weekends at home, and am a true homebody at heart!  I would much rather have lunch out than dinner any day of the week....much simpler!  Our past weekend was awesome, Friday night my friend and I went to a dear friend's birthday party while Pat took over Claire post tooth extraction duty!  Saturday we all went for lunch, then dessert and coffee at a new favorite bakery!  Saturday night we enjoyed a home cooked meal of shrimp pasta, Pat's garlic bread and dessert made by Hunter and Claire!  Sunday after church we went to one of our favorite outdoor spots and had brunch!  The following pictures are fuzzy, but what a fun night making supper together!  

                                                       We ALL helped make dinner.....

                               Pat cooking the shrimp, Taylor stirring the sauce and hiding from the camera.....

                                          Hunter and Claire making pudding.....

We pack up tomorrow and head north to Bloemfontein for Taylor's biathlon meet! I love road trips!