Nothing Says Welcome Home Like Dirty Socks

Yesterday was a beautiful day for a Sunday walk. The weather was perfect, we had the time, and a lovely neighborhood to walk in. While walking through a neighborhood with fairly new homes, my husband and I were discussing what makes an attractive entrance to a house. I love an attractive wreath, and maybe a pot of flowers on the porch. We love simple but elegant things, not much clutter on a porch. You may remember that one of my New Year's resolutions is to have a cute porch. So I like to study other porches to see what works and what doesn't.

What works: A Plant or two
What doesn't: A fake, faded plant

What works: A chair or some furniture on the porch
What doesn't: Plastic chairs or benches

What works: A nice door hanging
What doesn't: An oversized door hanging that hits you in the head when you enter, or anthing made with plastic Christmas ribbon

I think you understand what I'm talking about. As we were walking back home, we discussed our entrance (yes, we like to talk about deep things sometimes). As we approached our home, I noticed the semi-swept dirt on our walkway (our kids had to unload the dirt in our flowerbed to bury their bones from dinner - we had ribs. This was not a parent-approved activity, btw. But they had "cleaned" up their mess. The dirt clods were indeed gone, but the walkway was still dirty). I noticed our cute chair and pillow, our flowers on the door, and the mismatched pair of shoes. Oh, and the dirty socks.

It's not quite the elegant entrance I planned, but it definately said "Welcome Home" to me. Without my kids it wouldn't be a home. I'm glad for them.

What works: classy wreath on door that insinuates peace and order in the home
What works even better: kids who feel welcome in their own home.


My five for the day:

1. I think I finally found a good book. Since Twilight nothing is worth reading. But I found a cute book called The Redheaded Princess. I'll let you know how it goes.

2. Chocolate eclairs. We *gasp* didn't make brownies last night. We made eclairs. They were delicious. As good as they were, however, we'll still probably have brownies for FHE tonight.

3. The weather is beautiful outside! I loved my morning walk.

4. E.L.F. cosmetics. It's about time to reorder makeup. ELF is the best! Good quality makeup delivered to my door. The best part is their makeup is usually $1 each. I love their tinted moisturizer, fingernail polish, eyeshadow and eyeliners. Plus they have a great eyelash curler for ONLY A DOLLAR!

5. Pasta salad. We rarely have it because I'm the only person in the family that likes it, plus it's fattening. But I made it for dinner last night, along with our ribs. I enjoyed it. And I get to enjoy it all week because nobody else did.

Over the River and Through the Woods to Grandmother's House We Go...

Last night I had the opportunity to hang out at my grandma's house. It has been years and years and years since I've been to her house. Now, I've always known my grandma was an amazing woman: she has faced many challenges and always is strong and has a great attitude. Last night she threw a party with some of her kids and grandkids. Many people came, but she spent most of night talking to my sisters and I about her life, her memories, her goals. She showed us what was in her hope chest, what she has sewn and collected. It was so fun! I am not a trinket person, but her house was decorated so cute! Her trinkets are so old that they are in style again, and I LOVED IT! And with every trinket came a memory and story.

I love my grandma. I love how she took the time to be with us and talk to us, how she shared her house (we went through every room), her goals, her love. She raised 10 kids, but still found time to sew, cook, take classes, learn to paint.

My new goal: make my house meaningful. Don't decorate just for the sake of having it look good, but try to include things that have meaning. For example, my grandpa (who passed away a few years ago) carried a huge silver lunchbox to work everyday for years. It's now decorating a shelf in one of her bedrooms. She has books with meaning, pictures, vases that were given to her, pieces of embroidery that her mom made or she made, even a beautiful desk made by my grandpa.

What impressed me the most was that she's still learning and doing and progressing. She's collecting stories of her ancestors and putting them in albums. She crochets blankets for all the new babies. And she throws a great party.

Thanks grandma for a very meaningful and fun night!

My Five for Today:

1. My grandma and last night's visit
2. I'm glad I wore a coat this morning.
3. I'm glad that I didn't sleep in this morning.
4. I brought my quote-book to work so I can update my quote of the day now.
5. It's Friday!

The Truth

So my daughter heard from a "friend" that there is no such thing as the tooth fairy. She went directly to my husband to find out the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. After indirectly answering the question ("What do you think?"), my husband finally had to admit the truth. My daughter was sworn to secrecy and will not reveal the Great Secret to her brothers.

Her reaction? "I wish you hadn't told me."

Growing up sucks.

My five for today:

1. As least Santa Clause is still real...
2. The smell of rain in the air.
3. The smell of Pie Pizza and Macadamia-nut cookies in the office.
4. My bus route goes through the Avenues. I don't think I'll ever get sick of looking at the houses.
5. Comments in my comments section (hint hint)