teacher appreciation, collections, and a giveaway

Next week is Teacher Appreciation Week (May 7th-11th).

Last year I missed Teacher Appreciation Week altogether.

I was also late with my end of the year teachers gifts.

This year, with a little thrifting and creativity I have my gifts ready early.

Inspired by some ideas on Pinterest and my collection of globes I made these…

I am going to attach a card that reads:

“Thank you for being a bright light in our child’s ever-expanding world.”

In celebration of teachers being bright lights in our children’s worlds, I am giving one of these pendant lamps away!

To enter, leave a comment answering the following question:

What do you like to collect?

Deadline is Thursday, May 3rd at 9pm Pacific.

Winner will be announced on Friday, May 4th on the home is what you make it and colton+cadence Facebook pages (and here on the blog)!

{By the way, I have pairs and singles for sale at colton+cadence.}

home is…being a bright light in someone’s world.

*linking up with…

Home Stories A2Z

{through the rearview thursday}

There are times when I get caught up in life and blogging takes a back seat to other things.

However, there are a lot of things that I wish I had taken the time to blog about.

Some happened before I had a blog.

Some just didn’t get documented because I am too busy living.

I don’t mind with life gets in the way, but there are things I still want to document after the fact.

So, I am starting a new post series called {through the rearview thursday}.

Tune in on Thursday’s where I will catch you up with things I haven’t taken the time to and fill you in on and some of my BB (before blog) life!

Also, stay tuned for a giveaway and big announcement…

home is…continuing to document life when living gets in the way.

just wait 5 minutes…

easter20

This gallery contains 54 photos.

You know the saying. I think it’s used all over the country. And, unless you have lived in multiple areas of the country you think it only applies to where you live. Between my husband and I, we have lived … Continue reading 

an early spring walk in the burbs

So, I want to blog about our awesome weekend, but I need more time than I have tonight.

We’ve had some incredible spring weather here in the Pacific Northwest and we’ve been out enjoying it.

Our tulips are blooming and I couldn’t be happier about how our new landscaping is looking. We get daily compliments from neighbors.

We’ve had to use ladders for multiple projects lately and our monkeys are quickly learning how to use them!

And, after dinner we went for a walk around the neighborhood. Something that Ryan loves to do with the kids.

Lala brought her baby and Bobo brought his “weapon”.

There were new decorations in a tree in the neighborhood that the kids were fascinated by. I am not sure if they are there to scare the birds away (it might be a cherry tree) or just for fun. Either way, the kids liked them!

He was attacked by a bad guy and I had to save him.

Yeah, good mommy moment…too busy taking photos on my phone…”Hey, she fell down!”

But, if I hadn’t been taking pictures, I would have never caught this moment, right?!

Baby girl was fine.

She’s tough.

We live in the burbs. We only need to carry a nerf gun for protection.

But, leave it to Ryan to make sure we are safe.

And, we got home and the monkey wanted to climb…barefoot.

This guy has no fear when it comes to physical activity!

home is…a beautiful spring day.

breaking the rules

Yesterday morning I took a trip to Goodwill with the kids.

Usually, if they follow my rules, they each get to pick out a toy.

My rules are stay close to mommy, no running, and stay quiet.

They are usually VERY good at following these rules.

Yesterday was no exception, and they each found a toy.

The little guy found a Batman action figure from 2003…I hated to open it because it was new in it’s packaging and worth at least twice as much as we paid for it, but his happiness was worth ripping the packaging open once we got home.

Baby girl liked a little car with a pig in it. While she was riding in the cart and holding her car she realized that it actually  made noise and drove on it’s own and wanted to get out of the cart.

She immediately put it on the ground and let it go.

Oink!

Oink!

Oink!

ZOOOOOOOOM!

It raced down the aisle.

And, she raced screaming and giggling after it!

Breaking all my rules.

I have never seen her so happy about something.

She and the little guy set it on the ground and let it go again.

Oink!

Oink!

Oink!

ZOOOOOOOOM!!

I tried to keep them quiet as an employee looked around the corner to see what the noise was about.

She said, “I love to hear children’s laughter.”

So, I let them laugh.

And, run.

We were on our way towards checking out, anyway.

Baby girl screamed and giggled every time the car drove away.

This was one time that I didn’t mind them breaking my rules.

{Although, I think I came back to haunt me later in the day when they thought breaking my rules was OK when we were at the veterinarian learning how to give Hobbes his insulin injections.}

home is…sometimes breaking the rules is worth it.

spring break is here

And, so is Meme!

My mom is visiting for the week.

Yipee!!

The weather is supposed to be rainy.

We’re going to do some crafting, some shopping {thrifting}, and some hanging.

So, I may, or may not, be blogging.

For now, I will leave you with some of my finds from recent thrifting adventures…

Yahtzee…from 1961.

A beautiful globe…

And, a metal toy top…

home is…a bright and happy spring break (even if it’s grey and rainy)!

unexpected

It’s been quite a week.

Ryan’s been traveling for work.

Ben has been sick.

And, the weather has been wacky!

We have had more snow showers in the last week than we had all winter.

That’s not saying much for Portland, but it’s also saying a lot for Portland.

We don’t get much snow.

Rain, yes.

Snow, no.

So, while the rest of the country was enjoying spring or summer like temperatures today, let me remind you what winter looks like.

It started around 5pm on Tuesday Wednesday night…

Just falling, not sticking.

If you follow my Instagram feed (homeisablog), you may have seen some photos taken at 1am…I couldn’t sleep.

This morning we got outside early.

And, built a snowman.

“Hello, Snowman. I am Lala.”

(for the record, she no longer wants to be called a baby girl)

Ryan was worried about our recently sowed spinach, lettuce, and kale. I found (and knew from experience in Colorado) that snow insulates, so you shouldn’t cover your plants in the snow.

Despite the fact that it wasn’t even a normal school day for the little guy we declared it a “Snow Day!”

The little guy plowed snow with his new monster truck.

Our snowman watched happily.

The little guy decided the shovel was a better plow.

Lala gave it a try, but she wasn’t into the hard labor. According to her, snow pants were not acceptable fashion this morning.

So, I took some photos.

The little guy visited with the snowman.

And, posed for a photo.

Lala decided sitting in a chair under a blanket was warmer than playing in the snow. (Did I mention the not wanting to wear snow pants?!)

She’s smart, but…

…she’s got to learn to be tough if she’s gonna hang. We’ve got camping, skiing, and lots of other outdoor activities to do.

So, I snapped some more photos while the kids rested and played.

The blue sky was peeking through.

I am sure the Camellia would have been just fine without the snow.

There are definitely more to come.

By the afternoon, our snowman was all the snow that was left of our “Snow Day!”

He’s slumping a bit.

Looking watch over our garden.

By dinner, the kids were over the snow.

Lala moved on to dress up.

“Bat-Lala to the rescue!”

She was telling me that she needs a Lalaloopsy costume.

I agree.

These kids were raised in Oregon…they’re not used to snow.

We’ll have to see what our snowman does at night.

Stay tuned…

home is…an unexpected winter storm during the first full week of spring.