Our Winter Beach Day...

A couple of days ago, the weather was nice, so I surprised the kids with a quick afternoon trip to the beach.

Our view of the channel.

I introduced the kids to tidepools. Brandon had fun looking for sea anemones so he could touch them and watch them close up.

We saw banacles, mussels, and seaweed.

Also, sea snails, hermit crabs, and even a jelly fish.

The kids threw rocks into the ocean.

{while I got some awesome shots of them!}

{I can't get enough of these boots...or the toddler that fills them.}

All of the kids exploring...looking for creatures, shells, and sea glass.

The sunset signaled that it was time to head home.

Here Comes the Sun....

Winter is a bugger in Washington. So many grey and rainy days. So many so, that the last 2 weeks we have had flooding throughout the valley and the river was threatening to spill over too. Wednesday though, the SUN came out! It also happened to be my day off:) I was so happy to be home to witness this....

The kids took their sidewalk chalk outside...

and started a hopscotch grid on the street in front of our home.

The smaller kids took turns jumping...

While the older ones continued on with the grid until it stopped right in front of their best friends' house. All 132 squares....how adorable is this?!

Spring is coming, I can FEEL it!

My Newest Typewriter...

I'm still working on the other post that I promised you yesterday but I just HAD to share with you my newest typewriter!

New Year's Eve, me and Michael hit up my new favorite junk store called {Vintage & Thrift}. This is the same store that I found those cool vintage glass ornament balls at two weeks ago...

It's not super old but it's a lovely shade of blue and will fit in here nicely.

The kids are enamored each time I bring home a new one and Jake had fun typing out some new spelling words that he's been learning in school.

I plan on using it for some new artwork that I'll be starting on soon. I've got so many ideas and so much inspiration has been swirling my way lately that I can't wait to start creating again!

Happy Birthday{s} and Hello, 2011...

The beginning of every year starts right out with 2 birthdays. Mine on January 1st and my youngest son on January 8th. My Mother is visiting us from Arizona so we celebrated them both today so that she could be a part of the celebrations. We ate dinner at my favorite restraurant {Olive Garden} and then we came home to our cakes and gifts...

Since we were doing a {kid} cake as well as my cake we opted to get two small cakes for Matthew instead of a 1/4 sheet. The idea was that he could pick one for himself and the other kids would split the other one and there would be no left-overs. We've eaten enough this holiday season! {g}

He chose the Buzz Lightyear one...and was totally excited to have it all to himself! In a 5-kid family, it's always a treat to have something completely to yourself!

He had a great time opening his gifts. He is such a sweet, happy boy and is always smiling these great big smiles...the hat is our family's traditional {birthday hat}.
The cheesecake sampler that I chose this year as my {cake}. I was the official picture-taker so there are no pics of me...such a shame;)

Hello, 2011!

I sure have high hopes for you!

{Next post, my word for the year as well as my goals/hopes/dreams...}

12 Photos of Christmas...

Well, it's been a month since I last posted and a little thing called {The Christmas Season} has come and gone. I decided to share {12 Photos} from our Christmas here on Spring Lane....

#1} My bottlebrush trees that I made last year grouped with family photos and some vintage glass ornaments that I picked up this year.

That red one is my favorite...don't tell the others or they might be jealous...

Religious candles that I covered with vintage sheet music and tied with jute...I had 6 more outside on the front steps...they turned out lovely.

The whole grouping on my vintage dresser that I refinished and distressed then collaged...{sorry the photo is horrible, it was night time when I took it.}

More vintage ornament goodness...displayed on my glass candleholders...

My little tinsel tree decorated with glittery Martha Stewart ornaments....

My new {old} camera that I picked from a local antique store....so excited about this one!!!

More vintage glass ornaments in {Retro Kitchen}...

The scale that I got at the same time as the new camera...I made it festive with a red pillar candle...I am {loving} the chippy white/green paint!

The sugar cookies that hubster and the kids made...in a vintage Pyrex dish...

Mugs ready for tea and coffee to go with the sugar cookies after Christmas Eve dinner...

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from {Retro Kitchen} and all of us here at Spring Lane Designs!

Pumpkin Time...

On Saturday we headed off the pumpking patch to pick out our pumpkins that we are going to be painting tonight at Grandpa's house.

We went to a local farm which had tons of beautiful ones...

It was hard picking out just the RIGHT one...

{This is the one that I would have picked out if I would have gotten one for myself...}

They had rows of beautiful sunflowers....

So sunny and cheerful...

We went inside the barn to pay for our pumpkins and they had lots more goodies inside...we brought home some fresh corn on the cob.

Including these GORGEOUS french soaps...

{It was all I could do not to take them all home with me....}

Settling In...

I am so sorry for the silence this last month. We have been super-SUPER busy with homeschooling and moving. We got all moved in last weekend and we are beyond excited. It feels so good to be {home}.

I have had fun decorating, especially in my kitchen. I have slowly been collecting all sorts of vintage kitchen items from thrift stores. Things like vintage aprons, vintage cookbooks, and vintage Pyrex. I was also lucky enough to receive some of my grandmother's vintage salt/pepper shakers. I am affectionately calling my kitchen's style {granny chic}.

Here are a few peeks into my new kitchen. I will share more as I continue putting things together...

One of the many sets of salt/pepper shakers from my granny's collection...

A vintage Pyrex salt/pepper set that I won in a giveaway over on Shalet's gorgeous blog, Peculiar Momma...I have all of these salt/pepper sets lined up in my windowsill. They are so cheerful and make me smile just looking at them:)

This is a cutting from my friend's mint plant that I am trying to root...I thought it would look charming in this vintage china cup that I got picked from the thrift store's {free} bin.


This is a fun set that I found a couple of weeks ago...it makes a beautiful little morning coffee/tea nook in the kitchen.

I hope you all are having a warm and cozy start to Fall. I am looking forward to the holiday season and hope to have my shop back open real soon:)

We Interrupt Our Packing.....

To find a sock:)

"Mom, I'll find me some socks!"

{3 minutes later....}

"I Found one!"


{She was scaling the laundry pile that is waiting for me to sort through for packing/donating/throwing away....that old towel right there is definately NOT making it in the box! LOL}

Paint Update

Sooo...like a dummy, I forgot to take more pics of our house while we were there for a week doing repairs. I did snap a few shots of the girls priming over the horrible red in their room though:)

It did cover pretty well and after 1 1/2 coats of color it's a pretty shade of lavender:)

I don't have a pic of it finished but if you're curious about the color it's Valspar's Lilac Rose.
{Click on the purple palette. Then type Lilac Rose into the "enter search term" box.}

I don't have any pics of the boy's room at all but the color we picked for them is Valspar's Royal Gray. {or "Seahawk's Blue" as they like to call it.}

It's Officially Official!

We're over at our house for a week doing repairs and painting....We got word today that hubby's transfer is official! We are moving!!! I'll post some pics after the weekend of some of our progesses. Not knowing a thing about home repairs, we are feeling pretty victorious that we were able to complete a few projects with some help from my father. AND, we were able to successfully cover a "fire engine red" room with a lovely shade of purple/lavender for our girls. It reminds me of a blueberry milkshake:)

Wishes do come true...

My husband came home for lunch. He asked to borrow my computer, I was doing the regular early afternoon blog-hop. I assumed he was checking his work email. When he finished and handed me back the computer, this is what my screen read:

Start Packing

There are a few details to work out and a final confirmation from the higher-ups but we're pretty much set to move back to Spring Lane at the end of September! I can hardly believe that it's finally here! Five loooong years and we'll finally be reunited with our house:)

We are heading there next week to clean the place up and to do some minor repairs to get it move-in ready. I am so excited and have my paint colors all picked out! My Flying Lessons teacher, Kelly Rae Roberts just posted her renovation pics today on her blog. {She and her husband completely renovated a 1911 Portland bungalow.} I am borrowing some of her colors and pining after some of her light fixtures. I think they'd be perfect in our home! Now, I just have to save up the money for them:)

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In case anyone is wondering WHAT in the world happened to cause us to move in the first place....let's just say, never have anything to do with those people promising to buy your home from you if you don't have enough equity to sell it yourself. {They also promise to buy your house if you are close to bankruptcy or foreclosure. I'm sure you've seen them advertised somewhere...}

Two lawsuits and a bunch of money later, we are finally free of that tangled mess that we got ourselves into. By some miracle {and the fact that the guy didn't know how to do the paperwork properly!} we finally got control of the property back. It's really quite an embarrassing story and one we've regretted over and over again, but I'm sharing it so that hopefully no one else falls prey to someone like that. I know that a lot of people out there are struggling in the struggling economy and these people are out there preying on people who are desperate financially. Don't become a victim!

But I'm sure you all have much more sense that we did, so I'm not worried...

My Type of Garden...

This Summer I became a gardener. I've always loved plants but this Summer I've gotten more serious and I've almost become obsessed:) Since we are in an apartment I'm limited to container gardening, But, it's been fairly productive and I shall have a small harvest of tomatoes soon.

Anyways, on facebook this afternoon, I came across a blog with a post about a gardening project involving a vintage typewriter. And you all know how much I love vintage typewriters! If my wish comes true and we get to move into our house, I shall expand my garden to include one...

I'm not sure I can muck up this beauty though. I might have to find one that's not in great shape to experiment with:)

Still Waiting...

We are still waiting {patiently} to hear about the job that will move us home to Spring Lane. I am feeling rather tossed to and fro with all of it. I will go from wanting it so badly that there is no other option but to move back to surrenduring to whatever the outcome may be...that is where I am at right now. Surrenduring. Willing to give it up if need be. Yet, secretly hoping by some miracle that the path will be cleared.

My friend Jan of Hazelnut Cottage fame posted a beautiful quote last night on her blog which really spoke to me this morning when I read it. I hope it blesses you too...{P.S. I bought one of her new mixed media houses. It is adorable! Check out her new work if you haven't already!}


“To wait open-endedly is an enormously radical attitude toward life. So is to trust that something will happen to us that is far beyond our imaginings. So, too, is giving up control over our future and letting God define our life, trusting that God moulds us according to God's love and not according to our fear. The spiritual life is a life in which we wait, actively present to the moment, trusting that new things will happen to us, new things that are far beyond our own imagination, fantasy, or prediction. That, indeed, is a very radical stance toward life in a world preoccupied with control.”

{Henri J. M. Nouwen}