posted on by

Renovation update: new doors and picking paint

As I mentioned a few weeks back here, we are doing some long over due renovations to our 90 year-old craftsman house, known as and blogged about as “The Brown House.” We have a green LEED certified contractor who has handcrafted oak carriage doors for our garage, made from wood he harvested himself, on the property where his brother lives.

Our garage, an original structure to the historic house, was rotting. So new parts were built to look like the old. Today, the long awaited day came when the doors were delivered. I went out to greet the truck at 7:30 am in my pajamas, coffee in hand. I wanted to kiss the doors they are so amazing beautiful.

The man responsible for building them is Simon Hodshon with Clinch River Custom Builders. I can’t not say enough wonderful things about these contractors, a company run by Simon and his twin brother Christopher. I have joked about calling them the double mint boys. But they are truly top notch guys with a passion for historic renovations.

I am, after all, a little crazy about our old house and resorting it properly.

Also included in this round of exterior renovations is repairing rotted wood on the house and a new paint job. Eye-yi-yee this decision of what color to paint the house has been harder  for me than picking names for my children. And it seems everyone in our neighborhood has an opinion about it.

Our house is one of the oldest in the neighborhood. We still have folks living here who grew up playing in the basement with the family who lived here when red formica counters with chrome trim were all the rage. Hands down we feel like this house owns us more than we own it.

Yesterday the painter said he would be wrapping up the scraping and priming today, and planned to go buy paint by the end of the day. Nothing like a deadline to get my decision making process going in full gear! Wednesday at 4:00 it will be.

We laid out choice A and choice B, and started taking votes from workers, neighbors, bike riders and friends.

My oldest daughter kept a written record of the votes, hoping to get enough for the choice she was hoping for.

It’s almost 4:00. And I think the decision has been made. So what do you think? Will The Brown House become The Blue House? Will we stick to the traditional, safe choice, or try something new?

This has been a tough choice for me, and it’s what I’ve been up to all day – painting different variations of choice A and choice B, all over the house in different lights trying to decide to go for the new or keep the old.

You’ll have to wait for the next update to see.

posted on by

I’m joining Project: Simplify, at Simple Mom

Since last week I’ve been on a vengeance about spring cleaning and cutting the clutter from the spaces where we live, starting with my girls’ closet and room. My spark was lit while attending two Montessori workshops at my daughters’ school, when I realized how far removed our home had become from being a place where the kids could independently manage their own environments.

When I saw that Simple Mom was having Project: Simplify 2012, it seemed perfect for me to jump on that bandwagon and do some spring cleaning with a community of other folks my same boat.

In addition to wanting orderly spaces for my kids, these days I’m finding I need them for myself too. I can not allow myself to sit still and enjoy any time for myself until the spaces around me (or in the basement under me) are minus my piles of stuff to be read, dealt with, archived, mended, cooked and responded to. I’m thinking if I have less stuff to manage, I’ll have more time for myself.

Adding to that, our 90-year-old house is undergoing exterior renovations now, with the interior renovations starting in May. I’m bracing for that – trying to think ahead of what girl is going to be in what room, where my sewing room will land, how my new kitchen will be laid out and how we will live through having no kitchen at all. Much purging is in order!

Under Project: Simplify, this week’s hotspot is Kid’s stuff – toys, clothes and the like. For us it means toys and art supplies. I spent the entire day Sunday in my basement while the kids popped in and out wanting helping to  reorganize. I was surprised at how eager they were to sort, sell, donate, recycle and reuse items in new ways. Helping with the transformation was truely exciting to them.

For me, part of my challenge is to reorganize using what we have. That means I won’t allow myself to buy any new bins, baskets or systems to house our stuff. The point is to get rid of the stuff and not to buy more stuff to hold the too much stuff we already hold on to for too long.

Monday morning, with my two-year-old at my side, we started cleaning out the art space in our basement. At times it has been a peaceful place for the girls to do self-directed art with supplies left out for them to use freely. Since Christmas (and longer) our basement has been a dumping zone for things that I don’t have time to deal with at that very moment.

Included in this post is the grainy picture I snapped with my iPhone this morning. Friday I’ll share some after shots of the basement spaces we concurred this week, taken with my real camera and better light (I promise). It looks scary here. But already it is feeling SO much better.

Stay tuned…..

posted on by

Giveaway :: Set of three Montessori books

Finally, here is the giveaway I’ve been promising you guys. In light of my Montessori posts last week for Montessori Education Week, I’m doing a giveaway for a set of three Montessori books.

Incase you missed the posts, they are A Montessori Journey, from a Montessori Mom and Practicing Montessori Principles in our Home. You also might find my post Tips for Organizing your Child’s Closet helpful – which was recommended last week to parents during a workshop at my daughters’ school. On my brian for my next Montessori themed posts is something on potty training.

Back to the books. I won them at an auction at my toddler’s Montessori school this fall. And now I’m passing them on to one lucky, interested reader.

I first read the book Montessori from the Start, The child at home from birth to age three, when my middle child was a baby and I wanted to learn ways to implement Montessori principles into our home for her. I found the information helpful in ways of setting up our home, that resulted in happier babies/toddlers wanting to do things themselves before they were able to communicate what that was. This book is a staple in the parent library at my older girls’ Montessori school.

Montessori Madness, A parent to parent argument for Montessori education looks at how Montessori is different from mainstream education. Written by a father of three children, it details why they made the Montessori choice for their children.

If you have every wanted to learn more about the science of Montessori, an education method developed by a scientist herself  (Maria Montessori) – then the book Montessori, The science behind the genius is the evidence based book you’ll want to read on why the method works.

Really, whether you are a parent exploring the Montessori philosophy for the first time, a homeschooler, or someone like me who has had children in Montessori schools for five years, these three books offer so much to learn.

The giveaway is for all three books mentioned above. 

To enter to win, leave a comment below. If you share it with others, via Facebook, Twitter or a blog post, enter again with an additional comment.  If you are not a SNM subscriber, please like us on Facebook or sign up to be a Twitter follower. Giveaway ends at midnight on Friday, March 8, 2012.  The winner will be chosen using Random Number Generator and announced Friday, March 9, 2012 – right here at this post.

Good luck and thanks for reading Simply Natural Mom!

Number 3 was chosen as the winner for the giveaway. Congrats to Amy Gatzemeyer!

posted on by

Practicing Montessori principles at home

Over the past five years of having children in Montessori school our home has been adapted and readapted in order to fit their needs and involve them in most all parts of our daily lives.

Our kitchen has a separate cabinet down low for the girls to access their own plates and glasses. There is a drawer for all their utensils – from forks to child-size pizza cutters, spreaders for butter and whisks for making eggs.

But I must admit lately I’ve been slacking off readapting these environments for my younger girls to be self sufficient. As my oldest gets older, she does things easily for herself and her sisters.

Since this week is Montessori Education Week, both of the Montessori schools my daughters attend recently hosted workshops on how to practice Montessori principals in your home. My youngest goes to a different school that offered a class for one-year-olds, where the workshop was more geared to toddlers under age three.

I left both workshops with a fresh dose of inspiration to create  better spaces for my children, and realizing (once again) we have way too much clutter and toys in our house for the girls to take ownership of it all in a manageable way.

Feeling motivated on Sunday, my oldest daughter and I went to the store to come up with a new system that would work better in the room she shares with her five-year-old sister.

Previously there was a large shelving unit on the wall that could hold a total of 12 one-foot cube baskets. The piece was eight feet tall. My oldest daughter also had a desk on her side of the room. Neither was working.

The shelf had become a tower of clutter with four bins of stuffed animals deemed “too special” to get rid of. The desk was nothing but a landing spot for “important” papers that continued to live there way past their expiration dates.

When my five-year-old’s new space was finished she was ecstatic to have more open floorspace. She didn’t ask one time what happened to all her special stuff.

Now her mirror and hairbrush is easy to access while getting ready in the morning, right next to her hanging outfit that she chooses from her closet the night before.  Her jewelry box of necklaces and bracelets sits next to it, with her box of tissues that she always wants within reach – along with a trashcan next to it on the floor to conveniently dispose of the tissues.

Having these things on a new shelf at the proper height for her, with only three small bins to hold a few special items, made her glee with delight.

It was such an eye-opening experience for me. All those things I thought were so special to her were really not special at all.

What meant the most was having less things being more accessible.

Now she can keep her new space orderly, clean, and always knows where to find her headbands and favorite necklaces when she decides to wear them.

In Montessori there are three important factors to using principles at home and creating an environment for children to be successful.

The first is establishing order and independence. Keeping things within their reach, clutter to a minimum, setting up spaces with things such as simple bedding to make it easier for a child to make their own bed.

The second is to include children in your daily activities such as picking up toys, clearing dishes from the table, putting clothes in hampers or raking leaves. Sometimes it helps to have smaller size dishes or rakes handy for them to enjoy helping successfully.

The third is to be a positive, mindful model – creating daily routines, limits, clear boundaries and things like focusing on the effort not the result.

I think our little project on Sunday meshed some of these ideas together. It definitely inspired me to do more of these reorganization projects in other areas of the house.

Montessori principles have become more popular and there are blogs popping up displaying ways to practice them at home, sometimes through homeshooling. I’ve seen people set up whole rooms with expensive Montessori materials and have readers ahh and eww over the pictures. DON’T DO THAT.

It’s missing the point of what it means to bring Montessori principles into your home by just buying the stuff.

I surely can’t tell you why all in one post. So I’m including some helpful web sights you can go to for more good examples of using Montessori philosophies at home, while fostering independence and honoring a child in the ways a classroom setting accomplishes by creating a child-led community.

How we Montessori

Living Montessori Now

Creative with Kids

Maria  Montessori

Aid To Life

Helpful items to have around the house to make things more child friendly, and tasks more manageable, can be found at For Small Hands.

Lastly, the book In a Montessori Home, published by N. American Montessori Teachers Association, is fabulous.

posted on by

The Montessori Journey, from a Montessori Mom

I was smitten by the order, peace and child-led work of the Montessori classroom from the first time I stepped into the toddler room at my daughter’s school five years ago.

I didn’t think there was any way I was going to send my first baby off to school five days a week when she was just shy of her third birthday. I just wanted to see what the alternatives were to the average preschools in our mid-size town.

Leaving my babies in the hands of another has always been extremely difficult for me. But after seeing what I saw, I decided to do it.

Now in her firth year at that school, I know it has been the very best thing for her. She has been engaged in ways that I could not have ever accomplished at home with her myself.

Every year, through every developmental stage, I learn more about what Montessori means as I see the benefits through her.

This week is Montessori Education Week so I’m going to be sharing a few posts on Montessori, from a parent’s perspective.

In honor of Montessori Education Week, my daughter’s school hosted something called The Montessori Journey.

It was a three-hour workshop where parents began in the toddler community and progressed though each classroom in succession through middle school. It was hands-on. We were encouraged to choose lessons, work directly with the materials and projects available in each classroom. Just as the students do in the varying age groups throughout the school.

By now I have a clear grasp on the importance of what Montessori does for children ages 3-6, by creating an environment for them to be successful at the things they are capable of doing themselves. From choosing lessons on the solar system, watering the plants, counting beads, writing out the names of objects to preparing their own snacks – the child takes joy in learning and doing these things that become important to them.

Naturally, learning, reading, and having inquisitiveness for wanting to know more happens because the way it is presented is enriching. They are learning by doing and not by just doing worksheets.

My first baby is now in the first grade. At her school they don’t give homework, but she brings work home to do just for fun. She fills whole sheets of paper up with multiplication problems that she does just for fun. At Christmas she created word search games – the kind where you draw a grid, fill it with letters and include hidden words to find – and gave them as gifts to family members. She took pride in her work and she wanted to share that.

On a three-hour car trip to Atlanta she read a whole chapter book, cover-to-cover out loud to her sister. They never asked to watch a movie one time, which they usually get to do while driving long distances. They were both in deep concentration, entranced by the fairy book.

“Maria Montessori was the first female doctor in Italy,” explained the school’s director at The Montessori Journey workshop. “She believed education starts with observations, just like in science. It is the basis of Montessori, follow the child to see what they need. To first observe and then to act.

As a parent, I’ve gotten to see the results of this philosophy at home.

One of the lead teachers in one of the 3-6 year-old classrooms where two of my daughters attend, helped organize The Montessori Journey. She had some meaningful things to say, that I see at home too.

“Children enjoy repeating meaningful work, until they feel like they have mastered it,” she said. “I have seen children show intense focus on one lesson for 20-30 minutes and even up to two hours. This is the deep concentration you see in a Montessori classroom.”

“In a Montessori classroom they are doing everything themselves, from lessons to snacks. And she (Maria Montessori) set it up this way as to what she observed,” she continued.

What I loved the most about going on my own Montessori journey that day, was seeing how the materials and lessons built upon each other, through the mixed age classroom settings.

I always thought the middles school seemed like a great place to spend those volatile ages. I see the freedom those older students have, sharing community spaces, on sofas working with laptops and preparing lunches in the home-style kitchen.

Then I stepped into the math and science room where calculators, formulas and equations were set out for the parents to figure out the astronomic miles between planets, just like the students.  In class the students worked together to hang the planets from the ceiling making a correct-to-scale model of the solar system.

So far at our house we’ve just seen loads of colorful planets and one-dimensional galaxies coming home on flat construction paper made with crayons and pencils.

This was one small example of how I saw the pieces of this meaningful, hands-on work, go from age three to 13.

As a parent watching this journey unfold with my own children, I also appreciate the well-rounded affects that the Montessori philosophy has on a child’s wellbeing.

“The Montessori model of education has the goal of peaceful education,” said one of the teachers at The Montessori Journey. “This model inspires the children to be problem solvers while recognizing each other’s unique qualities and differences.”

“The foundation of everything we do in a Montessori classroom is respect for the child,” she continued. “Just like adults in a work place. We respect them and they respect us.”

I can see these seeds being planted in my oldest daughter as we try to recreate some of these philosophies at home. Recently during conflicts with others I have started calmly asking her to be a mediator, to patently explain what happened, be a leader and set good examples for the older children around her.

At a weekend house recently staying with a total of 12 children under one roof, she took pride in this role. For a brief seven-year-old moment, it worked beautifully and conflict was resolved.

But I’m not taking the credit. I too have learned a lot as a parent about children from the Montessori school – from workshops like these and others.

After we took our journey and were wrapping things up, one parent asked the director of the school where the children typically go on after middle school.

She reported that 60-70 percent go on to large public schools where they do well to find their way, form new groups and become leaders. Some are going to a new science magnet school. Others choose private schools.

And now, I’ll leave you with the fact that many of the world’s great successful people did so after attending Montessori schools, where they learned to think for themselves.

This Youtube video by Trevor Eissler titled “Montessori Madness!” – 321 FastDraw  is a great illustration about how Montessori philosophies foster independent thinking.

It’s easy to do a few quick Google searches and see lists of successful people who associate their success with Montessori education.This article titled The Montessori Mafia from The Wall Street Journal is one of my favorites.

I’m not expecting to generate the world’s next great inventor just because we sent our kids to Montessori preschool and beyond. But for now, I am even more smitten by my children having the opportunity to attend this school as I was the first day I saw it.

I have not included the school’s name in this post, or the teachers names, because I choose to keep it private as to where my daughters spend their days. If you are a Montessori professional or a local parent looking for schooling options for your children, and you want detailed information about this school – just email me. I’d be happy to share.

posted on by

Spring mud pies and backyard ideas from Pinterest

Flowers are popping out in unusual ways during these oddly warm winter days we are having in East Tennessee. It makes me sad a bit. The sleds didn’t get used one day this year. Not one single snow day was had. Barely any paper snowflakes were made.

Nonetheless, our neighborhood groundhog is back, popping his out in full motion sending all my girls curiously looking out the windows to see if they spot him playing this little game of his. And so, with the early arrival of spring, comes the desire to plant, get muddy and dream up simple ideas for backyard fun.

Our favorite backyard play is mud, good old fashioned mud. Maybe mixed with a little homemade play dough. This is not by my choice. But when you throw out some old pots and pans from goodwill, wooden spoons that were eaten by the garbage disposal, a child size wheelbarrow, garden gloves and a watering can – you get a hours worth of fun in the mud. Then comes an early bath, hot chocolate and little girls who are happy to be inside.

The simplicity of all this will wear off as we approach spring for real. I know it will. So I’m happily arming myself with some more earthy idea from Pinterest for backyard play. I popped on there last night and found some very fun things and lots of inspiration. You can follow me on Pinterest, and find my boards labeled Creative Backyard Fun and Gardening with Kids.

Here’s a glimpse at a couple of the ideas I found.

Organizing all those mud pie making tools into one place is a great idea. This is super cute from Squiggle Mum.

We’ve hung pots and pans in the backyard to make banging bands, but this xylophone hanging in the trees is way cool. Here is the tutorial from Instructables.

What kid wouldn’t love a brightly colored bowling ally in their backyard? It’s from Parent’s magazine featured in a birthday piece. But I say any day is a good day for a bowling party! I’d just have to put out the call to my neighbors for 2 litter bottles living in their recycle bins.

I think this brightly colored chalkboard is really something that I am going to do, and attach it to the back side of our house by our basement door that no one ever sees. How fun! It’s from the Creative Crate.

Now moving into gardening. Because no mater what the outcome, big or small, yummy or rotten – spring planting with kids is a must. And since I’ve been dreaming about getting some spring chickens to go along with our gardening, I’ll start with this one – a chicken coop with a garden on the top. Brilliant! It’s from Sunset magazine. 

I love this idea especially because I have a box of cans in our basement waiting for a good idea. We will be doing this one. They would make good end of the year teacher gifts. It’s from Dos Family.

Now since I’ve seen this I’ll be requesting all the old rain boots from my daughter’s school, where they are required to keep a pair all year long. We have a few. But the colorful the better. I’m going to be setting up a kids garden space in my yard along the fence shown in the photo up top. This is a must. It’s pinned from A Few of My Favorite Things. 

Lastly, this might – might – be the year we finally make a fairy garden. And since I have an old galvanized bin exactly like this one, it might provide the motivation I’ve been waiting for all this time. It was pinned from Burgh Baby. I’m filled up with ideas now. You probably are too. If not, take a visit to Pinterest. It’s a fun, dangerous place to visit that will keep you up way past your bedtime.

 

posted on by

Tips for organizing your child’s closet

With spring-like temperatures making a visit this past week my girls started requesting more spring-like clothes. I know the cold days will return. But I agree it was time to move the  heavy sweaters aside.

I always dread the task of changing out their closets for a new season. This time I’m getting an early start, taking inventory of what they need and taking advantage of spring break sales for the things I need to buy. With the system we have in place now, I am pleased to say reorganizing their clothes this season will not be such a dreaded task.

Heck, I already started filling baskets with items to put aside for fall consignment sales, which I pass over to the Little Red Hen Consignment Tagging Services to be tagged, priced, and taken to a consignment sale for me. It’s a beautiful thing and it helps me keep organized without getting overwhelmed by the task of doing it all myself.

My two older girls share a small walk-in closet. When setting it up I had several goals in mind to make it work for both of them, foster independence and function in an orderly way which they can help maintain. They have both attended a Montessori school since they were two, and our closet system tries to bring home those philosophies of setting up an environment for a child to succeed at doing things themselves.

One, is to have things easily accessible for them to reach. Underwear and undershirts are kept in baskets hanging in their closets versus separate dressers with big drawers that are too cumbersome for them to manage. Three-to-five sets of play clothes are also kept in baskets for when they need a mid-day change of clothes. My five-year-old’s clothes are hung down low for her to reach them. A children’s stool is kept in the closet for them to reach rarely used things that must go up high to save space for more frequently used items down low.

Two, is to have things designed to make mornings run smoothly. Outfits are paired as “complete outfits.” For example, long-sleeve shirts for layering, dresses and leggings are hung together – by placing a rubber band around the hangers grouping the items as a “complete outfit.” The girls pick out their outfits the night before and hang them out by their beds for in the morning. This way there is no scrambling for pieces and parts, or hem-hawing over what to wear. It is a chore for me to hang all their clothes this way, but it pays off. And they like it when things get mixed and matched up differently, making old clothes feel like new outfits.

Three, is to have individual hampers for them and a system for laundry. Hampers are placed in their closets to help prevent all the dirty clothes from landing on the floor. I’ve started keeping all their laundry separate because it makes it easier to put it away. I wash all socks, undergarments, pajamas and play clothes (that go in baskets) separately for each child. They are responsible for helping to put those items away. Pajamas go in a small dresser next to their bed. Socks go in bins with their shoes by the door, with their coats and school bags.

Four, is to have baskets set up in the top of their closet for outgrown and out of season items. One basket is for items that will get donated, one is for items that go to consignment sales, one is for out of season items that I think will get used again and one is for outgrown items that get passed down to the next sister. Each girl has this set up on the top shelf above her side of the closet.

Five, is a place for towels. Living in a 90-year-old house we don’t have the luxury of linen closets or bathroom storage. So on the wall in their closets, next to their hanging baskets, are hooks where they keep their bath towels. Again these are kept within reach for them to hang up their own towels. Along with a basket of clean towels for them to choose from.

I’m not going to mislead you and tell you it always runs as perfectly as it sounds. Yes towels get left on the floor and yes I find dirty socks under the beds, like everyone else. But it does make things easier for my girls to have things laid out in a way that works for them.

It’s a system that has been tweaked and changed over the years as my girls grow and advance through different developmental stages. The hampers and baskets in their closets have been in use since they were born and were part of their nursery decor. We reuse hangers from the store and rarely buy new ones. You don’t have to spend a lot of money to make a closet like this work. When we needed an extra shelf we simply cut some boards at the hardware store and put them up ourselves using existing trim that was on the wall. Same for installing a low hanging rod for my five-year-old’s clothes.

Yes there have been times when I’ve dreamed about new closets in new homes and custom built-in shelving systems. But not having these things, or even a big dresser, has forced us to get creative, use what we have and make things work. And for now, it’s working quite nicely.

So come on spring. Bring it on. I’m ready this year!

posted on by

Funny quotes and things I find around the house

One of my blogger friends, Heather Alexander at The Mommyhood, keeps a sidebar of funny quotes from moms and kids that readers send her. Because really it is true, as the cliche goes – kids say the darndest things. Sometimes the parents say them too, in the heat of the moment without even realizing it.

My point is, sometimes life is funny. We should remind ourselves to take note of that once in a while, and laugh at ourselves, with our kids and at all the silliness around us.

Currently I have a quote up at The Mommyhood. Recently my oldest daughter was eagerly awaiting her hot chocolate she was making by herself in the microwave. I hate the microwave to begin with. And I really hate when my kids stand next to it, at eye level to the countertop.

“Step back so you don’t microwave your face please,” just popped out of my mouth like all was normal business in our kitchen. Then it hit me, that sounded pretty funny.

On the flip side of things, my middle child said something awe strikingly intuitive last week. It was funny at first but then I realized how simply profound it was.

“When I’m with grown ups I use grown up words so they can understand me,” she said. “And when I’m with kids I use kid words.”

I don’t want to be stuck in a grown up world! Do you?

Especially when I’m reminded in such sweet ways that I should stop and take a moment, so to say.

“Mom, it looks like you are in a bad temper,” said my middle daughter. Me: “Yes honey. When little people pee their pants in car seats and laugh, run down the sidewalk too close to the street not following the rules, and throw pencils all over the floor – It puts me in a bad temper.”  Her reply:  “Mom she can’t help it if she peed in her pants.” Me: “Yes you are right.” We all laughed, hugged and it made things better.

There are days when I walk around my house, a lot of them actually, and I find random sorts of funny things hanging, decorating, wearing and stuck in peculiar places.

The grown up in me sometimes gets frustrated at the mess of it all. But there other times when I laugh and it makes the tough times of parenting better too.

Lately I’ve been trying to embrace these findings – like socks hanging from the chandelier – photograph it and remember it. Because soon these days will be over and I’ll be walking around the house wondering where all the stuffed animals went that used to live perched on the lamp shades.

Because that is normal right?

Following are a few photo happenings from our house last week.

First is Toto wearing a Bitty Baby Christmas dress with his neck wrapped in a Valentine necklace. His fur was accidentally felted when we went into the dryer. He is sitting on top of our couch, safe from our eyeball chewing dog Lulu.

Next up is a collaboration by my two oldest girls. Inside those boots I found three play phones, two headbands, numerous hair clips and pair of doll sized ballet shoes.


My toddler needs no instructions when adding to the fun of putting things in places that don’t belong. But like that quote from my middle girl, really this makes perfect sense.

And lastly, when I cleaned out the doll closet/play fort/school house/other things that only a seven year old can understand – I found that Molly and Ruthie have their own files for their (real) completed school work. I don’t even have files! This trait to be mega organized and follow all the rules make up all the rules, must be an oldest child trait.

I’d love to hear the funny things you find and hear around your house. What about the boys? What do you find from them?

posted on by

posted on by

Weekending, in the NC mountains

On this long weekend, we are spending it in a blissfully beautiful place, stomping in the grass, dipping toes in the water on an unseasonably warm day, playing with rarely seen cousins, catching up, being outside and breathing fresh clean air. It is wonderful. It is is nature. And we are soaking up every moment.

A weekend at this hidden gem of a place, with his cousins around him, is just what a seven-year-old boy wanted for his birthday. We are the lucky ones really, to have been invited to this wonderful gathering.

I hope you all are having a blessed, wonderful weekend with your families.

As always, when we leave The Brown House, our pets sitters and critters are left holding down the fort. It is a beautiful, peace of mind that we are so lucky to have when we travel. So thanks to the most awesome pet sitters, who are always there for us and our spur-of-the-moment, get out of town trips. 

 

Subscribe


 

Archives