Happy Elk Family

Out our front door, we have a view of these gorgeous animals.  There are also Bison down the way that are so much fun to watch.  When we first built our house, the elk herd was all male.  Every fall, we would be sung to sleep by bugling elk.  During the day, we would watch them stake their claim to non-existent females by flexing their racks and fighting to be the big man on campus!  We would sit for hours and enjoy this bit of nature that many do not get to see, except for on Youtube!  Last year, all but one of the males disappeared and in came 6 females.  To say that the male was excited about this little development would be an understatement!!!  He pranced and ran, whilst foaming at the mouth.  I'm not joking!  Come fall, we again witnessed {maybe not quite as enthusiastically} a bit of nature that many do not get to see, except for on Youtube! ;)  The sad part was because the male had his harem, and zero, zip, nada competition, we no longer heard bugling!  However, this last May made up for it. Over the course of about 7-8 weeks, 6 babies joined the family.  They are adorable, spotted, bouncy, lovable balls of energy and we couldn't love them more!  Well done Daddy, well done!

Practically Imperfect...

What I say:

Please {Sometimes I say please... I try, but there's 4 of them!} take your stuff up to your room!

Clean up after yourself!

If it's here in an hour, it's trash!

You have a hook in the mudroom for that!

There's a hamper right in the next room! 

How many cups do you need to dirty in one day?!?

What they hear:

No, no.  I don't want to bother you!

Just go ahead and leave your stuff on the kitchen table

 and I'll take care of it.  

Oh wait, the table is full of everyone else's stuff?  

Then just dump it on the counter!  

It adds to the decor!

I take credit for the sewing machine, but the rest is all them!

#kids 😏😆😖

Don't Fence Me In!

Actually, yes, please fence me in!  We did it!  The fence was installed this week and now our children can run free... at least until the fence stops them!  I also realized that I never posted pics of the deck!  It's a bit muddy since we just went through the fence installation and it really is the first nice weekend we can get out and do some work in the yard, but it will give you an idea of how well the backyard is finally coming together!  We hired someone to build the deck because my husband, bless him, isn't a builder so to speak.  He is amazing with lawns and gardens!  Our lawn will be the greenest, fullest, most beautiful lawn ever!  However, when it comes to something that needs to be built, to specific standards, to avoid a collapse that would bring out the evening news teams, he leaves it to the pros!  Smart thinking!  Plus, the two gentlemen that built our deck were very nice and listened to Neil Diamond.  I think we made the right choice, but I can't be trusted... I hired Stronzo and then Stronzo Jr.  However, our deck turned out beautiful and I couldn't be happier!  We had him build the hot tub into the deck to prevent it being and eyesore on the top of the deck.   We will be adding framed lattice skirting, but have to wait until we get the stone in for the patio that will be on that upper tier.  Down the road a bit, we will add a pergola above the set of french doors on the right and hopefully a stone fireplace and outdoor kitchen.  This is down the road because I am desperate to start working on the inside!  We'll see who wins.  It will be me!  I'm very manipulative... uhm, I mean persuasive! ;)

Remind me, why did we buy a 1/2 acre again?

My husband is the best!  We have a backyard!  Soon, we will remove the wooden stairs Stronzo Jr. installed at the 2 back doors and add a large deck with a hot tub, followed closely by a fence!  I feel like getting this house finished is a hurry up and wait kind of game.  It's always about time and money!  This backyard has taken plenty of both!  Our backyard had quite the slope towards the back fence.  We really wanted a flat area to play volleyball and maybe one day add a pool.  To make this possible, we added a stone retaining wall close to where the deck will start.  The rest of the yard should be fairly flat!  Yay!!  I'm not going to lie... I hurt!  I hurt everywhere.  Sod is heavy, but it looks so good when it's done! 

We Have a Studio!

I can't believe we have made some progress!  Let me explain this post...

This little lady is The Sassy One.  She is a freakin' amazing ballerina!  This is my blog so I'm allowed to brag about the children that I created!  Plus, what is a farmhouse without the people inside?  It's a house, not a home.  This is one of our tribe that make this freakin' awesome Farmhouse, a home!  She has danced since she was 3.  From her first day, I was told that she had a gift for dance.  That gift has grown into an amazing talent and she loves it more than anything!  Even more than her smart phone and you know that in this day and age... that's A LOT!!! This last year has been a rough one for her.  If any of you are familiar with competitive dance, it's hard on the mind and body.  From stretch classes where the dancers are required to sit in "super splits" for several minutes all the way down to  force stretching extensions that your body is just not ready for, it's rough!  This is the world of competitive dance.

This is her team.  They are pretty amazing, but Haven just wasn't loving it.  She danced hard and didn't let her team down, but all of the stuff outside of the actual dancing wore her out.  If you can't pick her out, she's the little blonde in the middle and her facial expression pretty much sums up her feelings about the politics and drama of competitive dance! I love her!!!

Unfortunately, after years of avoiding injury, this last year our 10 year old has had her fair share.  It started with a broken foot last fall and ended with a torn hip flexor and pulled labrum compliments of her over eager ballet teacher.  Then she ended the year with a sprained wrist because her coaches made her dance full out before she was ready and she fell pretty hard.  In competitive dance, if you're puking, you come and dance with a garbage can next to you.  If you are in the hospital, you ask to be discharged in time for rehearsal because if you miss, you're out of the dance and blackballed FOR-EV-ER!    

Needless to say, after 10 years at the same studio, we decided to look for teachers that could help her with her rare talent and leave behind those that couldn't.  To keep her spirits up, we promised her a studio where she could practice.  So, as part of the basement finishing, we added a raised floor with a marley top so that she could dance all day and all night if she so desired.  It would have been wonderful had we had the 9 ft ceilings that we were supposed to have {Argh! Stronzo!} but although she won't be practicing a Pas down there, she can still turn and run choreography so she is happy.  In these pics, the marley wasn't even installed and she couldn't wait to get down there!  Here are some photos after the install.  We still have to touch up the baseboards, run the TV wiring behind the wall and add shutters, but overall, it turned out great!  Shouldn't every Farmhouse have a dance studio?  Yes... the answer is always YES!

A Backsplash for My Birthday!

Flowers, shoes, jewelry, clothes, vacations, spa days... these are usually the things that women ask for on their birthdays, but not me.  I wanted my back splash done.  We didn't have much of a budget, but luckily Lowe's had what I wanted.  I wanted a beveled edge, glazed subway tile.  We tiled the back splash at our last house and it looked great so we decided that we could do it again.  It was a mess.  It was a pain.  It hurt.  We had moments of frustration.  We had moments of triumph.  I know I'm making this out to be more than it was, but DIY projects are always more of everything {time, money, physical exertion} than you planned.  Overall I love the way it turned out.  I still need to caulk the edges, but it is exactly what I wanted and I will check this one off as a success. 

October, How I Love Thee!

I'm not going to lie, I live for October.  I love Spring with all of it's blossoms and warmer weather.  Summer is wonderful because it's filled with kids, swimming, vacations and fun!  Winter has Christmas and that is hard to beat, but if I had to pick a favorite month and season, I will always tell you that it's October and Fall! My husband and I chose October as the month to get married and I have never regretted it!  There is something about the cooler temperatures, the trees changing colors, the gutters filling with leaves, the last lawn mow to get your yard ready for snow, the decorations, the hot chocolate, the anticipation of the Holiday season, pumpkin everything, haunted houses and hayrides, gah I just love it!!!  There are two sounds and smells that I can't get enough of.  One is rain.  It is so calming to have rain on the rooftop when you're drifting off to sleep... and the smell!  {Insert thumbs up!}  The other is a walk in October when the leaves are crunching under your feet and the cooler air smells like nature and the smoke coming from the chimneys of the close by homes.  {Insert happy dance!}  I imagine Heaven to be something like that! ;)