Thursday, August 5, 2010

Open House Link-up with 4 Moms: Yard and entryway

Ok, I was NOT ready for this.  If only I'd had a few days notice I could have made it look much better, but this is our reality- for today, anyway.  Hey, I'm pregnant, it's hot outside (this is Texas), and I spent the last two days cooking for our church supper and all morning making playdough with my kids.  So here goes... don't judge me too harshly :) .

We don't live like most of the 4 Moms on acreage in the beautiful countryside- much to my husband's chagrin.  We're crammed between two other houses in a neighborhood full of houses with itty bitty yards.  On the up-side, my parents, my husband's folks, and my Granny all live within .8 miles from us in the same neighborhood.  The kids love riding bikes and scooters back and forth.  You may not be able to see our front door in this picture.  It's hidden behind those two overgrown montrosities that are supposed to be bushes.

Believe it or not, this is actually empty compared to what our front porch normally looks like.  I'm always apologizing to friends about the obstacle course to our front door.  We had company for lunch after church on Sunday and I had the kids totally clear off the porch, but alas, it's Thursday and things have begun accumulating again.  The stroller is my fault.  Notice the dead flowers in the flower pot there.  I usually have beautiful flowers on my front porch.  I don't know what happened this year.  Blogging maybe?  Or perhaps my Spring was clouded by morning sickness.  That sounds about right.

This is what you see as you step through our front door.  Strange, I know.  Hey, we didn't build the house, we just live here.  Let me turn a little to give you a better view. (Big D did redo all the floors, though including the tile in the entryway which he laid out in this nifty pattern.)


Here's our slightly off-set entry.


To the right of our entry is the formal dining room.  Notice anything different from the last time I showed you pictures of our dining room?  I'll give you a hint.  Something is missing.  Something big is missing.  Remember my Christmas mistake, the dollhouse?  Yes, my dining room has served as a little elve's workshop for the last 6 months.  It's so nice to be able to see the table again!  I wish I could tell you it's because the dollhouse is finished, but I can't.  When I realized Sunday morning that we needed to be able to seat 17 people for lunch I moved it, pregnant and all.  You'll see in the next picture that I didn't get very far with it.



This is the room we call affectionately "Daddy's special room".  This is really a bit of a misnomer since it's become blogging central for me :).  It does have Big D's stereo including his turntable and his vinyl record collection.  These bookcases hold our coffee table-size books, photo albums, the Franklin mint 100 Greatest Books, our Bible collection (I use the term collection loosely), books on art and music including museum shop books, dictionaries, gardening, landscaping, and carpentry books, and books on molecular cloning (mine) and raising livestock and farming (Big D's).  Now prepare yourself to see our messy back porch.


This is it as it really is, a BIG MESS!  Our living room that we use for read-aloud and family worship, Bible study, and just about everything else we do is just on the other side of this door.  We actually do clean off our porch now and then, it's just more then than now.


In case you weren't totally shocked and appalled, I'll give you a close-up of the slip-n-slide.  Looks like someone decided it was a good place to store side-walk chalk.


The yard is very cluttered with play equipment.  There's a story behind that.


This is Big D's fabulous garden.  We've been eating lots of zucchini, yellow squash, cucumbers and beets.  We're just starting to get bell peppers, red cabbage, and tomatoes.  I love the garden.  I think it's great.  It just happens to be in the spot we had decided to put a rectangular trampoline.  So...


Since the side yard was taken, Big D told me to just buy a round one at Walmart for the backyard.  And I didn't realize it would take up quite this much space.  Anyone want a trampoline?  Or a Jack Russell terrier for that matter. (He has the courtyard and you don't even want to see that.  Believe me.)



It may be a crowded, itty bitty backyard, but the kids really do have a lot of fun back here.  And I really am grateful for Big D's garden!  Each week after the kid's Bible study I bring refreshments out back and the kids play until their parents come.  So, believe it or not a dozen kids can play happily back here.

Now go and check out the beautiful environs of the 4 Mom's habitats:

Kimberly at Raising Olives
Kim at In a Shoe
Connie at Smockity Frocks
Headmistress at The Common Room


16 comments:

  1. itty bitty back yard, ha ha ha ha ha!!!!! In England that is about the size of three back yards, with another four in your front yard :) I'm just saying....

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  2. Love the pictures. Enjoyed the blog. Thanks for sharing with us. God Bless

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  3. Liz, I agree, but I posted mine just to show them all how lucky they are.
    This is a wonderful child friendly yard and I can see why they have a wonderful time.

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  4. I'm not going to show my husband the acreage homesteads since that's been his lifelong dream. We love our home, but he dreams of having goats and chickens. I think the kids would love it, too. Me, I love the city!

    Celee

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  5. Your home is lovely. I'm looking forward to seeing the rest.

    We live on a half acre lot in a neighborhood, so you're not alone and we'd love to take that trampoline off of your hands, but the garden has taken over the only level portion of our yard.

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  6. You don't need to apologize for your messes. This is your home, not your museum! It looks like a place to kick back and relax. That's what home should be, a comfortable place where your family loves to be. I think it's just perfect. Thanks for inviting us in. God bless you.

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  7. What a beautiful home! I am glad to see some chaos!

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  8. i think it's great...and you are brave. i didn't take a pic of our back deck!

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  9. Beautiful! And what a great garden! (We have an itty bitty backyard, too!)

    Thanks for joining our Open House!

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  10. It is absolutely gorgeous - I love the colors inside your house - can't wait to see the rest of it. And it certainly looks like you enjoy life to the fullest in your yard - love it!

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  11. My house and yard is the same way.... a sub with crammed houses and small backyards. One day our dream is to own our own homestead with acres.... until then I will love our Little Red house.

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  12. Your home is beautiful! I love it. And please, stop apologizing about the mess. That's love and real life. :)

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  13. I think we could totally hang out. Your home looks lived in and happy. I love it. Well... except for the trampoline. I'm one of the only ones on this whole linky who hasn't caved to the trampoline temptation. I am sure glad my kids don't read this. ;-) Lovely, lovely home and family.

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  14. Actually, while we're on vacation some of our friends are taking the trampoline off our hands. It's too big, kills the grass, it's an eye sore, and it makes me a nervous wreck when Louie (22 months) jumps- and she LOVES to jump. Maybe we'll get another little one like we used ot have.

    Celee

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  15. I love all that beautiful, green grass. It just begs for kids to run all over it, and picnic on it. You have a beautiful house!

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  16. I think your home is absolutely beautiful!

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I'm an on-the-run mom to 6 kids who studied and taught exercise science in a previous life. I love all things running, nutrition, and health-related. I usually run at zero dark thirty in the morning and am often quite hungry before, during, and after my run, but I live a rich, full, blessed life with my children, family, and friends. My faith in God is my anchor, and looking to Him and His promises allows me to live fully even when life circumstances are difficult. While running gives me an appetite, my desire is to hunger and thirst for righteousness more than for physical food.