home

you know how people get writer's block?  and they have to get up and go do something else...totally unrelated...in order to have a prayer of getting past it?

well...that's me.  only...it's not writer's block.

it's cleaner's block.

i've spent the last several days...inside the house...going from one room to the next...un-packing from our 3 week journey, organizing the chaos that it entailed, and then cleaning the cobwebs and toilet rings that formed because we were gone for so long.

so...too much cleaning meant i needed a creative boost to get the juices flowin' again.  i can't go too long without writing...or i start to get ancy.

i love my home.  i love being here.  i love that i can walk from room to room in the complete darkness and still know where i'm going.  i may trip over a toy every now and then...but still.  i love that i know where the kids are and what they are doing just by the sounds that come from upstairs.  i love that i know where trout will be laying and where george bailey is sleeping at any given moment.  i love that it smells like a moonlit ocean in the summers and spiced pumpkin in the fall.

it may take me a second...but once i settle back in after a highly anticipated summer vacation, filled with friends, family, celebration, and laughter...everyone just better watch out!  because mama gets her groove back...and the depressing mornings when we wake up and don't have the cousins to play with or the mountains to look at...once again become mundane magic.  that's what i call spending the day lighting candles, smelling clean blankets and sheets coming out of the dryer, and finding spots all over the house for our treasures that we collected along our journey.

in iowa, we were blessed to be able to go into chad's grandparent's house and pick a few treasures that were his grandmother's.  even though a lot was already gone...i slowly examined and appreciated everything that was left on the "to sell" table.  i picked things up and turned them over and silently wondered what all she used them for.  i imagined warm bread being served at sunday family lunch, or her delicate fingers holding her cup and saucer as she sipped her tea.

i chose a few silver servers to be used as jewelry trays for mine and the girl's jewelry.  i also chose a cup and saucer to be passed done to each girl.

i also let aiden choose a bell.  she started collecting special bells about 3 years ago.  she has one from my great grandmother; one from my grandma; one that chase picked out for her from the statue of liberty; a cowbell that we were using with trout; and now two from chad's grandmother.  i love that she is doing this.

a saucer had been passed over by everyone...because it was missing the tea cup that went with it.  of course i couldn't leave it sitting there all by itself.  it has found a home on my kitchen counter and is a perfect little resting place for her old sugar bowl and my coffee spoon.

at one point, chad's grandfather picked up this little plate...handed it to me...and said, "take this.  it's an antique.  i remember her loving it."

i love it too.

chase found an antique, toy army tank and i found a quilt for colt.  chad's grandpa passed some of his WW2 stuff to him.  it's all very special...and very appreciated.

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annslee just HAD to have this little deer that she found on a shelf at iowa machine shed.  it stands proudly with her night light that once dimly lit my own bedroom as a child.

and when you are finding homes for you new things...it only makes sense to find new homes for some of your old ones as well.

annslee's room was the perfect place to move the kitchen.

now she can serve her dolls dessert while she is supposed to be going to bed.  maybe this will cure the "sprout obsession."

and wouldn't ya know it?  moving the kitchen made room for the tea party tee pee.  i move things around more than anyone i know.  i think that it gives things new life.

and new life is always good.

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we are making good on our summer bucket list.  we have been able to move quite a few clothes pins to the "done" side of the bucket.

done

go fishing

fire pit smore's

ride horses

summer road trip

swim in hot springs

still to do

plant flowers

make cookies for a neighbor

go to the beach

pleasure pier

eat ice cream for dinner

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we will get it done.  i'm sure of it.

and if we don't...

well...

we sure had fun trying.