Home – Page 19 – Letters from Home

Canning Tomatoes & Old Fashion

Richard and Timothy canned 25 pounds of our garden tomatoes this weekend. I did the dishes and listened for the cans to seal.

Those metal lids making that satisfying popping sound is an old fashioned sound.

I’m an old fashioned person.

I wish I could still wear barrettes and not look outdated. I don’t have a smart phone. I don’t own a maxi skirt in a chevron pattern. I hate the name “maxi skirt”. I don’t have any throw pillows in chevron fabrics. I stopped watching television years ago. I’m not on Pinterest or Instragram. I still write letters. Am I the only person who still does this? It seems like it.

It’s funny to joke how women tend to halt in their fashion at some point. They find something they like and they don’t move on. Maybe I’m there because I can’t get excited about maxi skirts.

Framing the Kids’ Art

This summer we had a few friends walk through our house and our framed children’s artwork drew a lot of positive comments. For years I have displayed their art in simple frames around the house because I love it, but it felt good to hear that other people loved it, too.

Today I framed Paige’s poppy painting and a couple of the boys’ Eric Carle inspired art projects from years ago. I like the shadow box frame for the beach scene. Maybe it would be pretty with a few shells inside.

There are many more to go, but I’m loving how this project is coming together. I also think that I might frame some of their piano compositions in the music room. The frames are from my first trip to Ikea. I truly thought that I would never find the exit in that store.

Texas

I missed a recent Austin reunion with friends because I had some car problems. How disappointed I was to miss some of my favorite people who had come to town.

I’m in the middle of painting the craft room. It’s not good blogging material. It’s lonely work, but Elphaba and Glinda have been singing to keep me company. I’ve thought a lot about Texas lately… the memories, the friends, the family.

Because I knew you, I have been changed for good.

My latest wedding gift idea

Wedding gifts put me in a quandary and I’m not good at them, but I have decided to fix that. I think it’s a good idea to have a stash of gifts handy for weddings. Certainly family wedding gifts require a little more thought and love.

Over the years I have been slowly typing up my recipes and putting them in a binder so they are all accessible in one place. When the kids move out I can print out the recipes that they want and send them off with their own recipe books. It occurred to me that I could share these recipes with my niece who is getting married next month.

I bought a small binder and small sheet protectors from an office supply store and some pretty scrapbook paper on clearance. I have used a normal sized binder for recipes for years, but it is bulky and wastes counter space, so I think the smaller binder is better. I printed out each recipe on a half sheet of paper and assembled the binder with lots of pretty paper dividers. I took pictures because I will miss it when I give it away. I still need to make one for myself.

What is it about recipes and memories? Every time I use a recipe from a friend from Texas or Arizona, memories of them surround me as I cook. My aunt compiled family recipes a few years ago into small binders and I experience the same thing when I use them. Suddenly I’m back in Grandma’s kitchen.

I know the recipes won’t mean much to my niece for sentimental reasons, but hopefully she can make some great memories of her own as she prepares these. I wasn’t much of a cook when I got married, so cook books were some of my favorite wedding gifts.

My most requested recipes over the years have been our whole wheat bread, decadent brownies, chocolate chip cookies, butternut bisque, Mexicali pie, and black bean salsa.

Things I need to face

My paint project: I’m whitening up the the basement doors and trim with semi-gloss enamel paint. It’s a bigger project than I expected, but I am loving the results so far.

My quilt project: the squares are complete. I *just* need to assemble them, do a border, select a backing, sew the backing, quilt and bind it. Quilters, do you really find this enjoyable? My mom says that it helps to have a good machine, which I don’t have, and I’m not asking for one. I am not sure I want to be a seamstress. Maybe I will change my mind when I fall in love with my completed Strawberry Shortcake quilt.

Someone said that it’s a good exercise to find out the activities that you can “get lost” doing. You lose track of the time and other thoughts when you are busy doing your special thing. For me, it’s writing and reading, but I also love to develop new skills. I want to be capable and well-read. This is how I will accomplish this today: I get up from the computer, walk downstairs and keep painting. Later, when my arm is tired, I will wash up and maybe sew a row of squares. If I do these things, I will reward myself with a little theology reading. Wish me luck.

Home Celebration

A year ago we made an offer on this house. What a wonderful house it is.

The kitchen is bright in the mornings and I love the shelves in the kitchen.

I love it when sweet neighbors stop by.

The basement is the perfect place to find a quiet corner or to build a fort that your mom won’t make you take down right away.

The boys got some new bed coverings from Grandma. Such happy, patriotic colors.

We continue with our home improvement projects:

A water softener,…paint, electrical work…

… and a paint re-think. I don’t like this parchment color as much as I thought I would.

The flowers out front are taking off. I love my snapdragons. The petunias thrive in their sunny spot. Our garden is coming along nicely. Richard’s irrigation project and sprinkler repairs have made the yard just beautiful.

Timothy takes special care of our garden and brings us ripe raspberries each day.

I’m thankful that we found this neighborhood and this house. I knew that this was the house I wanted the minute I walked inside.

In June we had a neighborhood party and the previous owners came by. The children who lived here asked if they could come back inside. We had the mother join us. It wasn’t as awkward as I thought it would be. I wanted them to know that their old place is still loved and cared for. I think they saw that.

They shared some of the home’s secrets and the children’s delightful name for the grove of trees with the stone pathway through the periwinkle in our front yard.

The boys hang hammocks from the trees in the backyard and the little boys have found their climbing tree. I look outside and see feet dangling from limbs all of the time.

Trees, grass, flowers, sweet neighbors, a mountain view, four seasons, proximity to extended family and temples are a blessing. The silent air of winter, the mountains clothed in all of their variety, and the familiar honeysuckle summer evenings of my childhood seem to call out to me, “You’re home.”

Happy Independence Day weekend to you!

Blooms of the week

Our yard is an Eden.

The pink tree in front of our house bloomed for our anniversary. It looks like the tree is covered in pink crepe paper flowers. It seems we’re always meant to have pink blossoming trees in our yard. This plum tree is a beautiful substitute for the crape myrtle trees like we had in Texas and Arizona.

We planted some tulip bulbs last fall, not knowing what the previous owners of the home had planted. It’s been a delight to see what has emerged. For me, the anticipation has felt almost like Christmas. What shade of pink will those buds be? WHEN will our tulips come through the ground? Wow, the previous owners loved tulips!

First we had a long row of purple and white crocuses peek through the snow. Next came the daffodils, some petite and some large. Next came the small tulips, red, yellow, and peach colored. Next came our large tulips (shown above) which during the afternoon open up as wide as wild poppies.

I have a dilemma about what to do with these blooms which are growing everywhere, in the bushes, through the periwinkle… everywhere. By the time fall comes around and I can transplant them, there will be little evidence of where the bulbs are located. I don’t want to pull them up now. They bring me a lot of joy.

Some of today’s beautiful things

Tomorrow is our 18th anniversary. We went out to dinner last night to celebrate and Richard bought me roses.

Paige is working on a painting this weekend at home. It’s from a photograph taken at Pines Ranch when the poppies were in bloom. The little boys and their friends have been avid observers. When she started painting the poppies, celebrations ensued for Mark. One of Timothy’s friends said to me, “Your daughter is a REAL artist.”

When I look out any window, I see blossoms on trees. Wow, what a beautiful place, inside and out.

Here are some photos of a few of the fruit trees in our yard.

Variations on a Theme

We have had many methods of listing jobs at our house. Most of the time I’ve written out the lists on bits of paper, but I am not very consistent. I decided it was time to do something new with our job lists.

My new job chart system had to

indicate levels of importance to help the kids prioritize,
incorporate large and small tasks, as well as daily and weekly tasks,
provide an incentive,
look pretty enough to keep in a prominent place in the kitchen.

I made about 50 magnets. The green magnets indicate personal scripture study. The white magnets indicate making beds and doing homework. Yellow and red are for music and dance. These colors remain constant each day and are placed in order of importance.

The dark blue and light blue tasks rotate. The dark blue tasks are “big jobs” and the light blue tasks are “little jobs”. Most days each child has one big job to do and one small job. The big jobs are things such as changing sheets or weeding. Little jobs are things such as emptying a rack of the dishwasher or picking up toys in a common area or putting away laundry. I don’t have personal hygiene items listed on the job chart. The kids seem to do pretty well with this without incentives or cute reminders.

When a job is completed, the kid turns the magnet upside down. This saves time. As for the incentive, each job completed is one point. Each night I add the points to a running total. When the kids collectively earn 100 points, I take them out to eat. The system is forgiving; I understand that some days are busier than others, so I put up fewer jobs. Also, if a child is swamped with school work, they know what jobs are most important and they work from left to right. If they don’t get one of the last jobs completed, no big deal. They know that they have done the most important things.

If there is a job that I don’t have a magnet for, I just put up the magnet that reads “Help Mom” and they ask me what to do.

So far, the kids and I really like this system.

If you are interested, here are the details of how I made it: The letters are stickers from the scrapbook aisle. The square magnet/dry erase board and easel are from Walmart. I made a list of the jobs that need to be done and ranked them according to importance, frequency, and size. I assigned colors for each category. I typed the jobs on bright circles of color and printed them on glossy photo paper. I cut out the circles, glued them to round magnets and then glued the glass stones on top. I used round magnets and epoxy.

The job chart came about because we had so much success with our family home evening chart which I made in September. Making crafty wall hangings is not my thing, but stretching myself to do this has really helped our family. There is accountability, fairness, and I LOVE the lessons that my children prepare. This chart has made our family home evenings a success. The jobs which rotate are Prayer, Song, Lesson, “Helper”, Conduct, & Treats.

I made the family home evening chart with vinyl rub-on letters which were not very forgiving. Stickers are definitely a better method for a beginner like me. The metal board with the frame was on clearance at Hobby Lobby.

These charts fulfilled personal progress goals that I am working on as a leader and a mother in Young Women.

Home Tour

The other day Timothy decided to take some pictures of our house to send to his friend in Arizona. I have been working on writing all of the time. Looking at the photos was a wake-up call for me. This house needed to be whipped back into shape. Here are a few before and after shots.

Kitchen BEFORE:

Daniel’s sleeping bag from the scout camp out is draped over the kitchen chair. I don’t know why. The island is doubling as a pinewood derby workshop because the garage workshop is too cold to work in. This was the picture he was ready to send to his friend. Oh help us.

Kitchen AFTER:

This is a house tour for Timothy, so he’s posing in a few of these shots. Sparky, confused, wandered into many of our shots. The finished pinewood derby car sits proudly on the kitchen island.

Craft room BEFORE:

Let me just say that this room is beneath the stairs and it will never be pristine because craft rooms are work spaces. This week, though, my craft room was a dumping ground for every project. There are costumes, monster hats, family history photos, slides, notes, and general clutter from the kids keeping me company. The 100 year old photograph of my great-grandmother sits on the table so I could photograph it and so she could be in my thoughts as I write about her. Yes, oh yes, he was going to send this photo to his friend.

Craft room AFTER:

It’s not magazine quality, but who wants to live in a magazine?

Mark’s bedroom BEFORE:

Mark’s bedroom after

Basement reading room BEFORE:

The impossible puzzle that we have been working on since December sits prominently in the middle of the room. Just one day later Daniel manned up and finished it for us. We are ready for a new puzzle!

Basement reading room AFTER:

The puzzle is gone and Timothy shows us where he sits when he reads each day. Here are a few other views of the big basement rooms.

Aren’t you so glad you get to see a picture of our huge sofa today? It’s better than doing dishes or attending to other things, surely!

I won’t show you all of our messes, but here are a few more shots of the house so you can see where I have decorated and where I have not.

I believe in having computers in family areas. When my kids Skype with their friends, there’s always a mother looking over their shoulder, even if it looks like she’s just making dinner. I don’t believe computers make for good decorating, but it’s worth it. Can we ever be too vigilant about computer use in our families? Richard hates it when I ask rhetorical questions. I hate it when I come home to find that the kids are online when I’m not around.

April is my home repairs and decorating month. Caulk, paint, decor, plants… they’re on their way!!!

Some of you will be pleased to know that comments are currently being accepted. I’ll probably stop soon, so take your opportunity while you can.