this corner isn’t IN our home…it’s in the backyard.
it’s the playhouse that my dad and i built for the kids last march.
i still have some work to do out there (painting), but it has been such a happy space for the kids and their friends to play in all spring and summer!
you can read more about it here.
lanterns: IKEA
My parents came out to visit us over Spring Break. It was the first time my mom was able to travel on an airplane after having BOTH of her knees replaced last year! She has recovered amazingly and we had so much fun being active over the break!
One of the main highlights of the trip began after we all went to watch the little guys baseball practice on the morning after my parents arrived. Shortly after we got home, there were multiple trips to Home Depot to get supplies…to fix our large deck near the house…and upgrade where the old playhouse used to sit into a new “clubhouse” for the kids!
We removed the railing from around the existing deck between the trees and started building walls on Saturday afternoon!
Between Ryan’s deck project on our large deck and the project my dad and I were working on it was a flurry of activity in the backyard. My mom was helping out by keeping the kids entertained…which was so amazingly helpful.
By the end of the day on Saturday, the walls were framed.
By Monday morning, the roof supports were taking shape and we were measuring and cutting cedar fence boards to put on as siding!
By Tuesday, Topher was putting the roof on and nailing the last finish pieces of trim onto the clubhouse.
It was so much fun to work with my dad on this project for the kids.
We made fires in the firepit almost everyday as we worked through the changing Oregon weather.
We celebrated and played in the clubhouse the rest of the week after we returned from our other adventures.
I have plans to paint the interior ceiling white and the interior walls a turquoise color.
I will also add canvas curtains to the front entry and to cover the windows and the slide door.
Until then, it’s ready for play!
I am not going to write up a post about how we built this…it was a labor of love. However, I will say that I was inspired by and The Handmade Home’s Handmade Hideaway. Their posts were invaluable in showing my dad what I wanted to accomplish and helpful for us to figure out how to get it done.
Thank you, Topher, for helping me bring my dreams into reality. It was so awesome to work on this project with you!!
I will be sharing more details in the next weeks as I add more finishing touches…in fact, Ryan added an awesome touch last night that I will need to share with you!
home is…a labor of love.
This year I have been taking “daily” photos of our backyard. You can see them in my instagram feed or #dailybackyardphoto2014.
I actually take a couple a week, but it is really fun to see how the yard changes with the seasons.
I get comments each time about how people love our yard.
It hash’t always been my happy place, but has evolved into my happy place in the 6+ years that we have lived here.
When we moved in it already had “good bones”. Awesome 80-100 foot tall douglas firs, a large deck, a flat grassy area held up by a rock wall that separated a lower “dirt” area that was great for the dogs.
The dog runs fit almost perfectly into the lower corner of the yard.
It stayed this way for 3 years. That was all we needed at the time. The kids were young and we didn’t need much to keep them amused…grass and a few toys and it was just fine.
About a year after we moved in we had some landscaping plans drawn up for the front and back yard. Eventually, I talked Ryan into an idea to build a platform between the two trees in the middle of our yard so that the kids could have a play/tree house.
Later that year we had the landscaping done. It was a bigger project in the front yard. In the back yard, we added a gravel path through the lower dirt, had some stone put in, and added gravel for our fire pit area.
Since 2011, the backyard has been my happy place. We’ve hosted birthday parties, backyard movies, impromptu late night fires with the neighbors, and spent hours and hours out there as a family.
It gets a perfect mixture of sunlight and shade during the summer.
After the leaves fall, it opens up to get more light during the dark winter months.
In late spring, as the leaves fill out the trees and the grass finally fills in, we can fully enjoy our happy place.
Here are more posts about the landscaping and playhouse:
{in our garden} the big dig…and move, and build, and fill, and plant
home is…evolution of a happy place.
The saying goes, “April showers bring May flowers,” right?
Well, the showers started today after beautiful warm weather at the end of March and the first few days of April.
And, we already have some flowers.
Tulips.
Daffodils.
Mint.
Fiddleheads.
Hydrangea.
Daisies.
And, strawberries.
The back yard is beginning to come alive, too.
Raspberry and blueberry bushes are beginning to get their foliage.
The ground is sprinkled with wild cherry blossom petals.
My makeshift potting bench from our old picnic table.
Tilted pots inspired by Pinterest.
Pansies around the fire pit.
This is what the kids were doing when I was taking photos.
home is…new growth.
For the first time in the five summers of living in this house we did not make it to the Tigard Festival of Balloons.
I love to get up early beginning on Friday morning and walk down to the park to watch the balloons launch.
Unfortunately, it was rainy.
Friday.
Saturday.
And, Sunday.
When my 5:20am alarm went off each morning, I listened for the rain, heard it on the roof, and went back to sleep.
Here are a few photos from years past…
And, you can see my posts from last year here and here.
It all worked out ok as baby girl woke up on Friday morning with a fever, so we spent the day lounging and fighting her fever.
By Saturday she was getting some energy back, so we headed out to goodwill while the boys washed Ben and took Odyssey for a swim.
We found a couple of treasures…
so, I have new projects to work on.
By Sunday afternoon, the sun began to come out…
These horses were out on my drive home from Trader Joe’s.
And, I was able to get out and enjoy my happy place a little bit.
We weren’t able to cross balloon festival off our summer list, but we’ll be working on some other items this week.
Stay tuned for a peek into our home later this week…
Oh, also…
Source: kellehampton.com via stephany @ on Pinterest
Kelle liked my yellow dress!
home is…no hot air, but lots of rain.
I was going to write a big post about our yard and how it has changed and grown since my last post, but I am tired and I didn’t take photos with my good camera today.
This morning was beautiful and I enjoyed our backyard…sipping coffee while the kids watched a show inside (it was a bit cold out).
After that, I organized, crafted, and cleaned inside while the kids ate breakfast and played.
Once it warmed up, we moved outside where we organized, played, cleaned (think car wash) outside, and made rainbows.
Summer definitely made an appearance here in the Pacific Northwest today…
I hope you all had a great day, too!
*all photos taken on my iPhone with Instagram…you can follow me @homeisablog
home is…summer.
As you may recall, we had a big landscape project done on our front and back yard last fall. We also added a “treehouse” for the kids which you can read about here and here.
In April we enjoyed the daffodils and tulips that we planted last fall and decided that we definitely need to plant more tulips this fall for next spring.
Anyway, we have planted the rest of our flowers and veggies. Here’s a tour…
All of these beauties are along the border between the rock wall and the driveway or front sidewalk. Soon, the day lillies will be blooming, too.
On the right, as you walk up the path through the yard there is our veggie garden…
herbs…
chard, baby leaf lettuce, and spinach…
and, we’re going to try pickling cucumbers and mini pumpkins growing on the arbor this year.
We’ve also got tomato (heirloom brandywine, cherry, and roma), peppers (cherry, banana, and jalapeño), corn, carrots, asparagus, and artichokes.
Four different varieties of strawberries…
Hydrangea are on their way, and the rhododendron is blooming!
The last of the camellia are blooming as you walk around the side of the house to the back gate…
with our “beware of dog” sign.
This year I planted all of our hanging baskets myself…I’m hoping that they grow!
We planted “stepables” between the stones in the walkways in the back…where there is not stone, there is gravel.
Our landscaper moved the plants that were in our front yard to our back yard to add some green and softness near the fence line. We may make some changes, but for now it feels much better!
The gravel path leads down to the dog runs and the backside of the playhouse…
I added solar lights from IKEA and they glow right after the sun goes down for a couple of hours each night. I love looking at them from our bedroom window.
Ryan came up with the great idea to make our dogs houses from wine barrels shortly after we moved to Oregon! Aren’t they awesome?!
And, I have planted more flowers in extra hanging water buckets on the dog run.
Our original landscape plan had an extended deck and a hot tub in this area, but we opted for some gravel and a fire pit for now…and I am glad we did. It is now my favorite part of the yard since I added these bright red chairs from Target!
I saw this project all over Pinterest and decided to give it a try! It definitely adds interest to what was an uninteresting and un used corner.
We have a freestanding firepit that I built the rocks up around. The rocks were scattered around the lower portion of our yard when we moved in to the house. You can also see our compost bin between the fire pit area and the dog runs…we used a full bin of compost on our front garden before we planted this spring!
Ryan has the grass fenced off after we planted over 5 lbs. of seed in April. I am hoping we can take the fence down in June and start using the entire yard.
For now, the kids can still use the playhouse and the rest of the yard and we do just fine.
I have some more projects I would like to finish up in the next few weeks and then I hope to just sit and enjoy.
I hope you enjoyed the tour!
home is…extending your home outdoors.
It’s been a while.
Why don’t we catch up…
home is…lots of fun thrifting, playing, creating, and spending time with people we love.
As you know we have been working on making our yard kid and family friendly this summer.
Our backyard was a clean slate as far as kids toys and activities were concerned. Up until this summer we got by with a few riding toys, a hose, some balls, and the dog water buckets.
This summer it changed.
I saw it coming last summer and had a plan in place. I knew what I wanted to do, but also knew I couldn’t get it done by myself.
You can see the progress of the plan here, here, here and here.
We have some professionals coming in a few weeks to finish the job, and I will post an update when they are done. I think it will take until next summer to really see how things turn out, but we are happy with the progress.
Our latest addition was an easy one that came from an idea I saw on Pinterest.
As I told you in this post, we don’t have a chalk friendly sidewalk or driveway at our house, so I have had to come up with other ideas.
So, along with the sandwich board chalkboard, I also made a large 4′ x 4′ chalkboard that we hung up on the fence.
I bought a precut 4′ x 4′ piece of plywood, primed it, and painted it with chalkboard paint. Ryan hung it up on the fence with screws (we also added some extra blocking with a 1′ x 4′ where he attached it to the fence).
All we had to do was add chalk.
I think I will also hang some of the buckets of chalk like I did with the sandwich board.
It adds some fun to the backyard and is definitely nicer to look at than the fence. I also think we will be able to use it for some fun photo opportunities in the backyard!
home is…family friendly backyards!
*I am linking up with Today’s Creative Blog…
stephany taddeo 