Thursday, January 21, 2010

Love around {our} Home



When DK and I served as Pastors, I would buy a gift for each one of our board member's wives.  Then, during our Christmas party, we would have fun... 'white elephant' style.  One year, this lonely angel was left. It reminds me of a dear lady in the church who took on sort of a surrogate granny role to our girls.  She collected angels... and has since passed due to her battle with cancer, I think of her every time I look at it.

 
My hubs gifted this Willowtree 'family' to me at Christmas.  It represents each of us.  The couple who loves to snuggle, the little girl who loves to collect sea shells, and the little girl who holds an extraordinary love of books.

 
Can you see the baby elephant carved inside the elephant?  This is one of the missionary gifts that we have been blessed with over the years.  It's hand carved all within one block of wood.  Simply amazing.  The tree is something hubs and I picked out together.  It reminds me of the "Family Team" tree. ;)
 

The girls and I have made so many canvasses... filled with memories.
 

Decorating a baby's nursery is always fun.  When we were expecting our first miracle, DK bought this wall hanging for me.  It was such a cute Boyds Bear nursery, filled with bears of old, that we used it for our second miracle as well.  Since I... they can't part with the decor just yet, it now fills our loft.
 

These pictures line the shelf in my laundry room.  Let's face it.  A laundry room needs all the 'happy' it can handle, right?  They remind me of an earlier time in motherhood that passed all too quickly.  Nator used to say, "I want to hold it."  She loved holding Gracie for a minute, then dropping her arms to her side, she'd say, "I'm done." ;)
 

This hangs over Nator's room and has special meaning because there was a time that I would not buy my girls anything that said 'Princess'.  I didn't want people looking at them as if they thought they were better than anyone else.  Does that make sense?  That was, until I read the book, Gigi, God's Little Princess.  Now, we make sure our girls know they are God's Little Princess'.  ;)
 

When I was a little girl, my stuffed animals were limited and at one time, they had to be packed away due to allergies.  It broke my heart because I thought they had souls.  Don't laugh. ;) Our girls feel the same way and have an abundance of them.  They love them and know each of them by name.
 

Gracie has a love of seashells... and we all love the memories tied to them. 
 

A house full of girls = a love of dance.



Diamonds are a girl's best friend?  Nah.  I'm more of a costume jewelry kind of girl.  Once a year, my hubs takes me to a particular street that is loaded with stores in which you pay wholesale prices.  It's worth the trip.  Is my love for the jewelry?  Well, yes... Ha!  Really it's the fact that my family loads up, chauffeurs, and waits while mom shops.  Of course, maybe I should have posted a picture of the DVD player in the car... because that's what occupies the girls while mama shops.  Dad has his iphone... and patience. ;)

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For more pictures, visit i should be folding laundry.
Don't you love the name of her blog? ;)

19 comments:

  1. I'm impressed! I really love the "stuffed with love" and "patience" picture.

    Oh by the way, how do you make those FANTASTIC canvases. I want to try to make one of my own!!!

    http://damainiacs.blogspot.com/

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  2. Great captures!

    I'm thinking you need to do a tutorial on how you and your girls made those canvasses!

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  3. Wow. So many great photos. I love the canvases and I totally agree that a laundry room should be cheery. I think I should add some photos to the walls in my laundry room.

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  4. LOVE the canvasses! You have inspired me to get crafty and give that a shot.

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  5. This was great and I felt the same way about stuffed animals... My hubs still makes fun of me when I won't let him get rid of a stuffed animal that was mine as a child.

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  6. this was AWESOME!!! I loved getting a glimpse into your home through pictures!!!

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  7. Wonderful photos! I love the stories behind them almost as much as the pictures themselves.

    I totally agree with Jenn who commented earlier that you need a tutorial on how to make those canvases.

    Thanks for sharing.

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  8. Ditto what everyone else is saying--tutorial the canvases--so cool!
    AND.....I totally concur on the costume jewelry thing :)

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  9. Great pictures, thanks for sharing!

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  10. I love seeing everyone's photos this week...it's taking a little peek inside their home and seeing what kinds of things they enjoy. It's a great way to get to know people. :) I love the pictures! I have that same Boyds Bears blanket...it's on my couch. I also collect Willow Tree figurines. I love that they are simple and elegant at the same time. :) Great post!

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  11. Your pictures are lovely. And those canvases...wow...that's all I can say. I don't even really know what canvases are -- some kind of crafy project? But whatever they are, they look spectacular!

    Thank for visiting Graceful today!

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  12. Lovely. Simply lovely.

    Thanks for sharing these special things...

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  13. You captured it all so well! That elephant is truly amazing.

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  14. I loved all your photos and the stories to go along with them, but the memory canvasses just jumped out at me! I love that! I'm thinking I just might try that for my little one. =)

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  15. I love that elephant. My daughter collects elephants and I would love to find something that gorgeous for her.

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  16. Your photography is amazing. First time here. Jumped over from a fav...Suburban Sanity.

    Wholesale jewelry show me the way. :D

    Off to read more.

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  17. as usual, great pictures.
    i'd love to see more of the canvases you and the girls did. those look so neat!

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