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Thursday, September 29, 2011

Family Room Tour

Welcome to our family room:

Our family room from the breakfast nook.

And this is the view from the entry way.

Our amazing couch.  I LOVE this thing!  We bought it off Craigslist years ago when we lived in the duplex.  Michael would always lay on the couch and I had no where to sit so we got a longer couch (with a chaise so we both could lay).

There is the entryway again.  Notice the adorable dog?  That is Chance.  He is such a great dog!

Our picture wall.  Yes, I know some of the pictures are sideways - but I am slowly (really, really slowly) replacing them.  I reused frames from high school (hence the sideways FFA officer pictures) and painted them all black to make them all work together. 

View from my spot on the couch.  Michael made the entertainment center in high school woodshop.

The other view from the couch.  The love seat is across from the couch.

Our beautiful fireplace.  LOVE the bricks!

On the mantel is my grandpa's flag.  My dad's dad was a principal and he saved all of the flags when they replaced them (when Hawaii and Alaska became states and every few years when they wore out).  After he died my aunt got me that figure holding the flag. 

A flag star that Michael picked out from (of all places) Safeway.

A candle holder and a framed picture of baby Heman.

A few pictures I took and framed.  The top picture is Michael and Tyler with 'the girls' (the Tyler's cows) and the bottom picture is Michael walking along the bank of the river when we were fishing.

Our new sliding glass door - it looks out onto the backyard.

The kitchen connects to the family room.

And then there is our wall behind the couch.  I never really look at this wall - it is behind me most of the time but my goodness it is boring with nothing on it.  I would love to put up a few big pictures . . . I don't know.  I would love to hear some ideas for that big blank wall!

So, that's it - the family room! 

What are your ideas for the wall behind the couch?  What is your favorite part of your family room?

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Wordless Wednesday - baby love

Last weekend we watched my nephew . . . His name is Heman and he is adorable!!  He is 3 months old and enormous.  Here he is with Michael (Michael is growing out his man-flague aka 'face camo' for duck season - probably not too noticable since there is an adorable baby in the picture but, just wanted to point that out).




I love this little man!

Monday, September 26, 2011

Hunk of Meat Monday: Chicken Kabobs

I LOVE kabobs - they are easy to make and are a balanced meal on a stick.

Michael prepped everything while I was cleaning the house yesterday.

We had red potatoes, orange and yellow bell peppers, and green bell peppers.

We had onions and mushrooms and chicken chunks.

You can make kabobs with anything you want and put them on the stick in an order you want.  They are pretty versatile. 

Then, put them on the grill - turning as needed.

And enjoy!  We served them with garlic bread.

Next time we will marinate our chicken, so if you are going to be making kabobs make sure to marinate your meat!

What do you like on your kabobs?

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Classroom Agriculture Theme

This was set to post last Sunday but for some reason it didn't - here it is a week late!

Remember when I told you about my theme for this year?  Well, my first grade classroom is put together and I have incorporated my agriculture theme as best I could.  Here is what my classroom looks like:
Bought this cute set at the dollar store a few years ago.

I went with brown paper and I really like it!

My favorite border - the food groups!

Our cubbies - we put books and white boards and anything that stays at school in here.

And they are labeled with our number on an apple.

Another board - Michael's mom did this (her name is Paula for the record) and I will hate when I cover it up with pictorials and charts and chants but that is what it is for.  Thanks Paula!!

The border - only along the bottom.

A tree to represent forestry - another one of Paula's creations.  Have yet to put leaves on it (my plan is for the kids to do it).

My job chart - cute overalls. 

Another space for posters and the like.

Grass border.

And honey comb border.

We put our backpacks in the hall in these cubbies.  They are labeled with cows - the dye cuts we have are cows with horns and udders so I cut the horns off.

Remember my idea for the hallway wall?

Here it is!!  I LOVE it!!

I am going to add tractors with their names under each paper.  Notice the row crops behind the green papers?

The border - bees.

This window was all Michael's sister's idea (Stacey) and I LOVE it!! 

honey comb border

Bees made by Paula and lines drawn by Stacey. 

There it is - how I brought agriculture into my classroom . . . I love the theme!!  I did have trouble finding the borders I wanted but I am happy with the end result.  Now that my students are surrounded with agriculture I am going to start teaching them about it. 

What do you think?

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Kitchen and Breakfast Nook

Here is more of our house.  The tours starts at the bar, so grab a drink (seriously ... I will wait)

Here is our
Kitchen and Breakfast Nook

Kitchen view from the bar.

and the view from the breakfast nook

We have a galley kitchen and I am not in love with it at all - so does I am not even in like with it.  But, it works and that is that.  You may have noticed my sweet zebra lunch bag - it is pretty awesome and I love it! 

We have a nice window over the sink.  It looks out over the dog's kennels so the view isn't good but it lets in lots of light and I like that.

Yes - this is a picture of our garbage cans.  We have two - one is for garbage and the other for recycling.  Can you guess which one is recycling?

Recycling is RIGHT.  Get it?  It is on the right and it is the right thing to do. It is still funny after 2 years!!

Dish soap.  I LOVE this container - my sister bought it for me for my birthday.  LOVE!!  You can get one here.

We also have a duck and her ducklings on our counter.  Aren't they cute?  I bought them at the thrift store for less than $2.  I don't know why I love them so much, but I do!  I also bought the candle holder for 50 cents at the goodwill. 

Our breakfast nook.  The chandelier is from the bar area.  We bought the table a few months after we moved in.  The table always has place mats and cloth napkins ready for dinner.  We eat dinner here together every night. 

Other side of the kitchen - pretty standard.  counter area, stove/oven, and a small "pantry."

I love this little letter organized we have on the counter.  It is a great place to put stuff without looking too cluttered.  I bought it a LONG time ago when I worked at Ross and they were having an employee sale (we got 40% off everything a few times every year). 

We also have a bowl full of apples (from our sad little tree in the backyard).  I don't know why we have so many apples - we hardly even eat them and they are starting to get mushy (maybe I should make applesauce with them).

Our knife set - Michale just bought it from Cabela's and he got a great deal on it.  It was $50 marked down from $150.

If you haven't noticed by now - we are the proud owners of blue counter tops.  Yes - they are blue!

We have a nice little breakfast bar.  With two chairs that match out kitchen table.

See - they match!  All we have to do it pull over the two chairs and our table seats 6 - it is great when we have company!

Hope you enjoyed our kitchen tour!  I will try to do a room each week until they are all done!

What is your favorite thing about YOUR kitchen?

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