Dog for a day

The other day we had a strange dog show up at our door. He had a name tag with a name and number on it so I called, but I only got someone's voice mail. I left a message and hoped that someone would call back soon to come and collect their dog. I didn't want to just leave him out there, wandering around. He didn't seem to have much road sense. The kids on the other hand had different plans. They hoped that no one would ever call and that we would end up keeping the dog for our very own. Not a chance, not no way, not no how (as they would say in the Wizard of Oz) In the mean time my children were becoming quite attached. They spent a lot of time petting him, and I even caught Emma a few times just sitting out back on the deck with her arm around him like he was some old pal. Hours later when I still hadn't heard back from the owners, and Darren and I were getting ready to go out, I decided to start going through the phone book, one by one. I called the first name on the list - no lost dog. Just as I was about to call #2, I looked out my window and saw a woman walking up the road. She seemed to be looking for something, so I opened my door, unsure of what to say. She looked at me.....I looked at her. Than she asked, "You haven't seen my dog, have you?" I said, "I sure hope so!" She came in and got her dog, and we chatted for a few minutes. As she was leaving I asked her if she lived around here and she told me that she did, just across the street. As it turns out she is my very own neighbor! Pretty sad that I didn't know that. It was fun to have a dog for the afternoon, but even better to send him home (though he really was the sweetest thing)

Planet Earth

I picked this fun book up at Winners. It has an inflatable globe that the kids can play with, and play with they do! 

Pumpkins

Here are some more inspirational photos and links I found - just thought I'd share.

And if you can't find white pumpkins, apparently you can spray paint them! 

See the link 'A Penny Saved' below.

The Rustic Kitchen

Raised in Cotton

Gingham & Pearls

A Penny Saved

Habitually Chic

My Home Ideas

Autumn

Like almost every other blogger out there 

~ i love fall~

I have never really been one to change up my mantle for each different season, except for Christmas. 

While very one else in Blog Land is adding warmth to their homes in celebration of this time of year, I am feeling rather boring. 

I contemplated changing things up, adding a little brown and orange, here and there. 

But in the end it is just not me. If your home does not speak of you, that what good is it for. 

I have been saving up my hydrangeas from the garden in order to possibly make a wreath with them 

(if you pick them at the right time, they will keep their shape and color). 

So I went onto the internet to look up a few pictures of hydrangea wreaths in order to get inspired 

and to see if that is, in fact, what I wanted to do with them. In the process I came across this picture 

on this blog! 

If ever I was going to decorate my mantle for fall THIS would be exactly what I would do! 

There is not an orange pumpkin among the bunch, but it still speaks of fall - in my language.

Photo from: Roxanne the Artist

Little House on the Prairie

My girls are reading through The Little House on the Prairie books right now, and loving every minute of it. We planned to do a sewing project last Friday and I asked the kids to think of something that they would like to make. Bergen choose a little pillow for his stuffed animals, and the girls choose...bonnets! They each did such a great job.
Home schooled kids, some might say.
But that is the beauty of it all. I love that my kids don't know and don't care what other people think and that they feel so perfectly safe at 10, 9 and 7 to sew bonnets and pillows with mom. My children aren't awkward or strange, they get along really well with their non-home schooled friends. BUT they are absolutely free and comfortable to be who they are and do what they want to do.
I am all for keeping kids, kids for as long as possible. They will grow up, that is inevitable. They will spend most of their lives as adults. But they will only have 1 childhood, and I intend to let it last!

Winners

I have been on the lookout for a fan like this one for about a year now for our office, which is on the south corner of our house. It gets beautiful bright sun all day long, and even though we have air conditioning, it gets HOT! (I usually have to keep the door closed due to little fingers, as well, which doesn't help with the airflow) While I was at Winners the other day I saw the fan. I scooped it up as fast as I could, and then almost talked myself out of buying it since we are headed out of the summer season and into fall (it was also cold and rainy the day I went) I am so glad I bought it. It has been in use almost everyday since. The weather went and got hot again! And now I have a fan that works and looks great! 

I also saw these bottles which I have wanted to hold my bleach and vinegar in my laundry room. Since I have open storage I thought they would just look so much better than big ol' plastic bottles. I saw them at Ikea last year when I was there and didn't get them (I don't know why?), so I was super excited to find 2 (just what I needed) for a couple dollars each (just the right price). Winners - you gotta love it!

When mom's away the boys will play

I was away all day Saturday at Women's Conference - everyone had a great time at home with dad. 

It wasn't until the next day that Darren showed me this picture of Tate:

An elbow to the nose, while wrestling, of course!

BOYS!!

Country Love

I fell in love today.....with a kitchen that is - actually with the whole blog.
I am a country girl at heart and someday I see Darren and myself growing old and gray together
in a beautiful little cottage, surrounded by flowers, on a big piece of property, with a separate cottage for
 my children and their children to stay in when they come to visit (which I hope is very often!)
This farmhouse makes me even more excited for that dream to one day come true. 

{and although Darren doesn't know it yet, almost EVERYTHING in my cottage is going to be white!}

If you would like to see more here is a link to A Country Farmhouse

Which Came First?

We bought this game recently and played it for the first time today. 

We highly recommend it!

Date Night

I look forward to this day all week long. I need this night out. 

It is a reason to paint my nails....

to wear fun accessories....

and put on cute shoes.

A reason to get dressed up and be me for a couple hours, without hearing, "MOM!" every few seconds.

 

Tonight we get to go down to Sidney and celebrate my sweet sister-in-laws birthday with her!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JULIANNE!!

M is for mend

With a little glue, wood filler, sandpaper and spray paint, my M is almost as good as new.

(it will not be going back onto the piano where it will most certainly be knocked off again)

cut & paste

Before school started again we went through all the book shelves and tidied them up. We donated some, and others that were old and falling apart we put into a pile to be recycled. Instead of putting them straight into the recycling Darren suggested that the kids might want to go through them and use the pictures to make collages - they did! When they first started I heard Noelle say to the other kids, "this is weird." I think everyone felt strange about cutting up books, as normally that would of course be discouraged, but once they got started they had a great time. 

M is for mad

My kids don't break a lot of things. I have breakables all over the house. I have never really worried much about them. I do try to keep things that are super special up and out of arms reach. Things have been broken over the years of course, and usually I am pretty cool with it. But within the last 24 hours Tate has done some serious damage. Yesterday he ripped the gate off the wall. The gate that we installed only 12 hours earlier. This morning he climbed onto the piano and knocked my big letter M off the back and onto the floor. It broke... and I cried. I loved this M. I love what it symbolizes to me - that we are the McCullough's - a family! 

I need to remember that right now. 

School Room part 2

I found a use for one of my garage sale finds - I hung it above the chalk board to hold the chalk. I put the chalk in cute little glass jars I found at Walmart.

Nya has made this stool her personal desk.

I also used the very last little bit of lower wall space I had to hang the magnetic board I bought at Ikea last year. 

It fit perfectly.

I store the magnets in the smaller of the 2 bins - recycling goes in the other.

My new pillows from my mom!

The bars hanging on the walls above the sofa are curtain rods. 

We use them to display the children's art work there. It looks cute and they feel super special.

I am almost finished painting the top part of the walls. 

We still need to paint the armoire, satin the table 

and finish building the doors and shelves for the built-ins. 

Once they are finished I can paint them and then we will be all done!