favorite things

I love spring when the weather starts improving (less gray clouds, more light!) but it also brings on my spring fever (restlessness, dissatisfaction, and a familiar phrase to my family, "I hate our house! There's no room to put things!"). Kids in and out of the house tracking in mud, grass & dirt, backpacks thrown carelessly on the floor, cubbies overflowing, lots of school papers, family, school & church projects everywhere doesn't help.  

So I decided to be positive, combat my spring fever, and start looking at some of my favorite things around the house. 

First stop, our living room. I love this old metal dresser I found at a garage sale. It has tons of drawers and is very rustic. I moved it to the living room to make more room in the dining room. This wall accent I made from an old cupboard door (again from a garage sale) and rub ons my friend Kelli gave me for Christmas. I love the saying and the look of this. This is the piano that my dad bought from an old church, refinished and my siblings and I practiced on. It's big and old, probably out of tune, but I love it. Even though the ivory is coming off some of the keys and a few of the keys stick, it's precious to me. A wooden cardinal holds the music stand up so my music books don't fall off (probably the only type of bird I like--the wooden kind!). We've gone through quite a few lamps over the years. Having the living room as the playroom too tends to be hard on furniture! This lamp has stuck around for a couple of years. The simple metal lines are part of my style. Right beside the lamp is one of the birdhouses I collect. Another collection, naturally, are a few old cameras. The oldest one I found at a garage sale for just two dollars! Scattered around the living room are photos, many of my favorites and some that are a sampling of my style, plus a few metal stars. They always brighten my day to look at them. Occasionally, I change them out and put in new photos just for a change. Maybe it's time to change them again... For one of my birthdays, I painted my entry barn red. While it's been several years now, I still enjoy it! A fun picture frame with hooks, pics of my kids and old spice cans accent the rich red. Another favorite are the old suitcases I use to store things in a cool way. These suitcases sit up on an old armoire that holds videos and games (the armoire is also the backboard for indoor basketball games!).

frog economics

It started with a folded paper frog made by Jason. The other kids wanted some and so Jason started making paper frogs. Someone came up with the idea of "paying" Jason using paper money they created. Soon everyone had their collection of frogs. Then Darin decided to make leashes for the frogs and sell them to the frog owners. Tanner created foldable ponds for the frogs. Someone created frog houses and another a frog runway. All of this paid for with "frog" money. There was frog talk in the car on the way to school ("Four of my frogs drink milk and one drinks water. That's so strange" "My frog has special powers. It's so cool"). After a couple of days of frog economics, Jason grew tired of folding frogs. At my insistence, he taught the others to fold frogs. Then a new flurry of frogmaking arrived. Everyone started folding frogs and drawing designs on the frog backs. Jason even experimented until he could fold a teeny frog. Of course, I had to photograph this frog excitement so that I could send everything home with them!