The Porch in Fall....

Forgot to share what the front porch looks like for Fall....

Lots of real pumpkins this year...

My interpretation of a sign I pinned on pinterest....

 My wood mice that I made a few years ago using  the Martha Stewart paper mice as a pattern...

Stuck a dead tree branch in the top of the pot belly stove and added my tin bats...

Cleaned out the geraniums from my bucket and added some mums and cabbage... Also you can see where I put my wood crows that I made a couple years ago...

There are some more big pumpkins in front of the garage and around the yard... we have a lot of carving to do over the next few days.

Tiff

Beautiful Giveaway From Camp and Cottage Living....

Head on over to Camp and Cottage Living, Kimberly has a beautiful giveaway going on. I won't tell you what it is, you have to go look for yourself.... I would love to win it(and wear it!).

Happy Weekend,

Tiff
I'm free I'm free, Soccer is over!!! Yay!!!!

Yarn Along...

I'm joining Ginny in her Yarn Along.   I don't really knit(though I would love to) but I do crochet. Right now I'm working on an infinity scarf for me using this pattern from Ravelry.  It's super easy and working up quickly.  The book I'm reading is Tree Wagon. Yes I realize it's a children's book, but it's quite enjoyable and great for a nice effortless read.

What are you working on and reading?

Tiff

More Fall....

A little more of the house decorated for Fall....

This is the mudroom....

 I repainted and added hooks to this little church sale find (that I had hung in another hallway at one point) and put it here in the mudroom to hold our keys and stuff when we walk in the door. It's working out well so far.

The front hallway....  My " new to me" rug that hubby bought for me on my birthday road trip.  It's a "Hooked on Vermont" rug that we found at an antique store for only $35.

And  the game/man cave room.... no Fall in here, but I thought I would share what it looks like at the moment.

And last but not least... my two youngest got Baptized two Sundays ago.  Aren't they handsome little men? :)

Have a lovely day,

Tiff
(who's wearing a size 8, wooo hooo!!)

The Kitchen in Fall...

Lots going on, but I don't really have much to blog about.  Thought I would share pictures of the kitchen that I took last week....

And I forgot to tell you all... I hit 70 lbs gone a few days ago!! 12 more lbs to go.

Have a fantastic day,

Tiff

Fall Family Room...

My computer still won't recognize my camera card and hubby tried everything. After an hour he realized that I could download with the cord!LOL! We had both forgotten about that since I hadn't been doing it that way for so long.  Of course my camera is spazzing out, not very clear pics and half of the ones I took are empty files, so I don't have all the ones I wanted to share and I don't have the time to take more right now.

Anyway, here is my family room for fall.  I rearranged the furniture a bit last week, preparing for winter, and I like it so far.

Looking towards the back of the room and the fireplace...

My cow wall.... I love cows :)

My cow head. Don't worry, he is just paper. My kids think I'm so weird for hanging a cow head in the house, but I think he is great.  He was painted an odd black and gray, but I decided to just go all white with him....I think I may sand and distress him a bit though.

The fireplace... I kept it simple this year.

My chair corner ....

Isn't this crow great?!

Next to my chair... the little owl is from the same company as the crow.

I painted this cupboard again last week. I had gone light blue with it, but it didn't work in the room, so neutral white it went. And I like it so much better.  Also love the bee burlap in it.

The opposite view of the room... behind the sofa is a game/puzzle table, which makes good use of the space(this room is so awkwardly long).

Still working on cleaning and organizing my new craft room, what a huge and boring job, but I think I will enjoy it when it's done.

Have a wonderful day,

Tiff

Fall Swap Goodies...

This has been a crazy busy fall so far, and I am very much looking forward to the end of it.  I haven't even had time to decorate the inside of my house yet!  And now my computer doesn't want to recognize my camera card,  thus making a blog post out of the question.  I did finally have my daughter download pictures and email them to me, so I can post.

Ok, now I can start to catch up on what's been going on.

 I participated in Amy's Fall Swap(of Bumble Bee Lane) and was paired up with the lovely Kendra of

The Stone House Primitives.   My package happened to arrive on my birthday which was an added treat to the wonderful treasures I found inside.....

My favorite is this framed stitchery...I love love love these kind of things. And this can stay out all season.

And then there was this adorable pumpkin and candle mat. Again, they will stay out all season :)

  And more fun things.... the spray is awesome and I use this scent all year long. I need to hook the pumpkin wagon up to one of my crows or a turkey would be cute too.

 And she was so thoughtful and took the time to find this magnet and sticker, knowing about my new running hobby.

Kendra spoiled me with an absolutely wonderful fall swap. Thank you so much!!!  Now I really need to get my house decorated for fall so I can put all this stuff out!
Check out Kendra's blog and add it to your blog roll.

I need to have hubby look at my laptop to figure out what the problem is, and hopefully I will have time to show you some of my other treats from my birthday.

Have a lovely day,

Tiff

And Today Brings 40....

Yep, today I'm 40.  Don't know where to go with that. Really I don't.   I don't feel 40, but then, what is 40 supposed to feel like, I've never been it before, so I wouldn't know. Right?  It's just a number, so they say. I can tell you though, this number has been hitting me hard. I don't know why, but it is.  I feel like it is getting old or something. Not that there is anything wrong with growing older, it's better than the alternative.  Maybe it's just that it is the beginning of another era in my life. I think the babies are behind me, which is hard. It's a sign of age I guess. I know that I am much more than a mother and baby making machine... but that has been my life for the last 20 years and I love it.  

Am I past the "as good as it gets" age?  I hope not. In fact I think I'm in better shape now than when I was 30 or even 20, definitely have more muscle, but then I definitely have more wrinkles now. Give and take I guess.

I'm not down on this birthday, it just seems like such a huge birthday and I really can't believe I'm here already.

I had a lovely weekend (which I'll share later), a lovely breakfast out with girl friends, gifts from my family, a wonderful swap package arrived(which I will share later too),and lots of hugs and kisses from my littles and hubby.  I couldn't ask for anything more.  So happy 40th birthday to me :)

And a selfie taken today to remember a milestone age.

Have a lovely day,

Tiff

Prayer

I know a lot is going on in the world right now and sometimes I feel and I realize I live in my own little bubble...a sheltered little world that I create for my family and myself.  It's not a bad thing, but sometimes the jolt of the outside world can be harsh.

I pray for the lives lost and the families left behind from the Navy yard shootings....May God give them peace and strength.

And I don't know if you heard about it, but on Monday there was a training accident at the base my son is stationed at.... too close to my bubble.  A Marine was killed and four were injured.  The young man who was killed was only 21, please say a prayer for his family... I can't even imagine what they are going through.
My son will be 20 next month and I worry about him every day being a Marine.  I know he is smart and strong, but I am his mom and he will always be my baby.
He is being deployed on Monday, so if you could say a prayer for his safety, I would greatly appreciate it.  And please keep all of our military and their families in your prayers, it's not an easy life.

Tiff

We've Become One of Them....And did something for the first time

The busy time of year has officially started and this Fall is ultra busy for us....to the point of it being almost too much.  We value our family time and have never become an over scheduled family...it just wasn't our cup of tea.  However, this year, lots of people wanted to do lots of things that require lots of time.  So for future documentation and to remind myself not to do this again....here is the run down....

15 yr old daughter= musical theater dance class, steel drums, and play

12 yr old son=Football(practice 4 days a week and games on the weekend, steel drums

10 yr old son= Soccer, practice one night and game on Saturday

7 yr old son= Soccer, practice one night and game on Saturday

Daddy= coaching 10 yr old's soccer and working full time

Mommy= coaching 7 yr old's soccer and volunteer commitments

Ok, it doesn't sound like all that much, but for us it is. And when you throw in school, homework, work, dinner, and chores...it makes for a busy week.  Oh, and trying to get workout and run time in there too.

I think we have become "them", that busy sport family, the family that I never understood. It's good and bad. We are all getting healthy and active, which is very good. And we are still spending time together. But I think it is too hectic and I don't like family dinner time at the table to be interrupted. Luckily, most of this will end with winter.

Ok, so here was our weekend.  

Started off Saturday morning with two different soccer practices, me at one, hubby at the other....

 Saturday afternoon, hubby, 15 yr old, and I went for a 4 mile run to town and back(major hills). I was amazed that we did it. Just six months ago I never would have imagined even walking it. I felt so energized about it that I told hubby that on Sunday would should enter the 5k run in town.  To my surprise, he and my daughter were both on board with it :)  they are crazy like me.

And today.... the three of us ran the 9/11 Memorial 5k !!! Our first 5k race... and I did it 10 days shy of my 40th birthday.   Here we are before the race....smiling....

 And here we are after... still smiling !   We did it in better time than any of us could have imagined.... 33m47s for my daughter, 33m52s for me, and 33m53s for hubby(he let me beat him).  We feel great!  We hadn't planned on running our first 5k until the day after Thanksgiving but life is crazy and when things come your way, go for it.  Now we can shoot for 30 minutes or better in November.

After the race we headed straight to my 12yr old's first football game that was over an hour away.  He joined the team late and has only had 3 days of practice and doesn't know the game... but we are so proud of him for giving it his all and pushing through the tough workouts.   That's him in the white pants(we didn't know he needed game day black pants).

Busy but fun and active weekend.  I'm enjoying this new venture in our family's life but I'm also looking forward to winter when things relax a bit.

Have a great week,

Tiff