Fall makes me happy.

…and pumpkins make me even happier.

Have you started decorating for fall?

I get so excited and want to start Sept. 1.

It’s hard to find pumpkins as early as September One, and I love to decorate with real pumpkins!!

So every year, I start with a few things here and there, and I’m always still wrapping things up mid-September when pumpkins become available.

I am picky about pumpkins too.  I am looking for a variety of sizes, shapes, and colors.

I also love pumpkins with fun stems, the mini pumpkins are a must, and don’t even get my started on the Cinderella pumpkins.

Those cute little pumpkins that look like they have been smashed flat.  There really is nothing cuter.

I enjoy decorating my porch as much or sometimes even more than the inside.

 

Pumpkins, Cabbages, and Mums are a must for outdoor decorating in the fall.  It was time to take out all my summer flowers and give my pots a little fall love.

Being outside in the fall is among one of may favorite things to do.  Sitting right there on those rocking chairs in the evening; there really is nothing better.

Once I get everything I want, I love to move things around, and around, and around.

I call it puttering around the house, and that is my favorite thing to do.

It is so fun to mix and match, and design and change.

I took these pictures just yesterday, and it’s been changed and added to since then.

So here it is for NOW or as of YESTERDAY; and probably how it won’t be TOMORROW.

So is here is our Abode this fall all tricked out with pumpkins, mums, banners, and love; enjoy the massive amount of photos.

You know how I feel about seeing all the details.

Happy Fall Y’all!

A few fun facts:

I made the fall banner this year with gold glitter felt found at Hobby Lobby, doilies from Michaels, and gold glitter pinecones from the $$ section at Michaels.  It is all hot glued together on twine.

All of the gold pumpkins came from the $$ tree.  They were little ugly ceramic pumpkins that I spray painted gold and made adorbs.

Sometimes I make my own printables, this year I borrowed.  Find this cute hello fall print here.

…and the little print in the gold frame …that is my baby(when she was actually my baby), with a favorite quote. 

Hey, I know it’s not October, but she is my October baby so I really love that month. Plus, the picture has pumpkins in it, and you know how I feel about pumpkins.

P.S. I am swooning over gold, and I just think it makes for a beautiful fall accent.

So go out and buy some gold spray paint, and get to sprayin.

oh,and I’ll say it again, only because I lived in Arkansas for 4 years and now I’m part Southern:

Happy Fall Y’all!

 

Our Back to School Dinner and introduction of our Family Theme

Yes.

 

These cute little children have been back to school for weeks.

Summer is officially over.

I’m a little slow or I guess you could say I’ve been a little busy…

…because I am so slow posting these photos of the first day of school.

This year we had our back to school dinner the night before the kids went back to school.

It was a beautiful night and a wonderful way to kick off the school year.

I set the table with our fancy dishes and glasses.

…but I kept the meal simple.  It was one of those crazy nights; so simple was all I could muster.

To tell you the honest truth, the kids really would rather simple.

Who doesn’t love pancakes for dinner?

I am learning that it doesn’t have to be over the top fancy to be special.

At each table setting I placed a simple reminder of our theme this year.

Our theme is:

I printed a little reminder that was placed at their table setting.  It was meant for them to hang in their room after our dinner; as a reminder to wake up each morning and shine.

Each child had a crown as a reminder that we are all princesses and princes.  With a beautiful light from Christ to share with others.

When we talked to our kids about light, I reminded them about the light source.

The light source in our life is the Savior.

When I do photography, the light source that I prefer is the true light.  The natural light; the sun light.

I know the light from the Savior is the true light or just for a little play on words; we could also call him the “son” light.

As I have been reflecting on this theme for months, I have had very profound thoughts about sharing our light and what that means.  I feel it very important for me to write these thoughts down. 

I hope you can learn from them as I have.

And because the Lord teaches us in ways that we can understand; he helped me learn in terms I know.  He taught me about the light by thinking of it in terms of photography; so pardon my metaphors.

  When I am taking photos, I go around the house and turn off all the lights.  The lighting in our house puts off such an ugly color hue in pictures.  But sunlight, that brings out the most vibrant colors in photography.

We know that the sun light comes through our windows.  If we think of ourselves as the windows we know we have to let the light in and through.  Dark curtains are never good for letting the light in. In fact, we close curtains when we don’t want any light in. How am I closing myself off to the light of Christ?  What are your dark curtains? I can think of many mistakes that I make that won’t let that light in.  This metaphor helps me to remember to keep my curtains open, so I don’t allow anything dark to stand in the way of the light.

Another thought that was impressed upon me, is if I truly am thinking of myself as the window, then I must remember that I am made of glass. It reminds me of how vulnerable I am.  Glass breaks.  It breaks easily.  We break easily too.

It is through the Savior and his atonement that we can pick up those pieces of broken glass and be put back together.  He makes it possible to let our light shine.

With that in mind, I like to think of myself as a beautiful piece of stained glass. Through the atonement I can be renewed as each piece of glass is put back together, allowing all the beautiful light to pass through. It helps me a lot on those days when I let one to many things break down my glass. 

Even though I am broken, it is through the Savior and his atonement that I can shine and be beautiful.

With the struggles in today’s world I want my kids to remember to draw upon that light, and to use the atonement.  I hope and pray that when struggles come they renew themselves and let the Savior put the pieces back together.

I hope I have taught them well enough when they are not in my presence. I pray that they can remember the light of Christ within; and with it they can bless themselves and others.

I pray that they let their light shine.

As a reminder of our theme this year, I bought this beautiful stained glass star.  I love that it is pieces of broken glass put together to serve as the reminder that we are all broken; yet still beautiful. A reminder that we need the Savior’s loving sacrifice.

My other favorite part is that it is a star with the reminder to shine.

…and so it hangs to remind us each day to let our light so shine.

Shortly after our dinner and introduction of our theme, we finished up with our back to school tradition of Priesthood blessings.  These blessings are given to them each year by their father.

A blessing is meant to give comfort, counsel, and guidance.

Each blessing was filled with beautiful promises, and amazing blessings.

I was touched to hear of the blessings promised to each child throughout the school year if they were to remember to pray morning and night.

When we fulfill what we have been asked to do the Lord is bound to fulfill his promises.

This promise brought me great comfort.

It was a good night.  I love nights like these.

 

House Tour Continued…A room fit for a Super Hero {Isaac’s Room} and a freebie!

When we bought this house Isaac’s room looked like this:

We bought the blue beds off the previous owner, and I just knew we had to make it into a super hero room.

Super Hero’s have blue beds.

I’m sure of it.

We also had the room painted grey.  It was originally green.

This room is one of my favorites in the house because it has the beautiful finish work on the walls.

It is also a very masculine finish work.

I put this room together on a very small budget.

I kept the boys original bedding. (see boys original room here) It goes great with our super hero theme.  I just added super hero emblems on the pillows with some felt and wonder under.

I made the banners from comic books that I picked up at a book store.

I also framed some of the comic pages in frames around the room.

The red frames are from IKEA.

The super man print was a lucky find from Hobby Lobby.  (of course I used a coupon)

The blue dresser is the dresser I have used for my boys for years.  This dresser has been so many different colors.  I painted it blue while we were still in Pennsylvania with the hope that it matched the beds.

I think I did really well at matching it from afar.

In fact, all the furniture in here is just stuff we had, and repainted. Like this desk; I painted the same color as the walls.

New knobs really make a difference.

As for all the “stuff” on the desk.  I already had it; and I just made it work in the boys room.

Of course this room is always littered with Legos.

So I wanted to add some Lego paraphernalia to the room.

I dumped some of Isaac’s Legos in these glass jars that I ordered online for another purpose; and then ended up using them for Legos instead.  They look great on top of his Lego books.

I also took some close up prints of his Lego figures.

This was such a fun project.

I turned them black and white and added them to some sleek frames.

This is one of my favorite parts of the room.

And as you know I love to share.

If you would like to download and print these for yourself; click on the images below.

I printed them through my favorite printing company; mpix.com. 

They were delivered right to my door.

I framed them and Wa-La; exciting art for my boy.

…and because I think it is always fun to see the storage in the room; here is Ike’s nice big closet. I’m nosy like that. I love to see how people organize.

And Yes! Those bins are full of Legos; all organized by color.

We love Legos around here.

Except when we step on them.  Ouch!!

Now it’s time to say goodbye.

My little superhero needs to go to bed.

Oh, and so do I!!

Night. Night.

P.S.  Don’t forget to check out my sisters Facebook page and order your custom stockings before Christmas slaps you in the face; like it does me every year.  I absolutely love mine. Find her here, and read more about it here and here.