I know some of you are itching for details about the house coming, and even moreso for some interior stuff, but I really want to document the basement.

While the trips to Warman to see our house were so fun, it was the ground breaking that made it real for me.  About a month ago they dug our basement and I’ve never been so excited about dirt and cement before.

How many times over the years had I looked out over that field and squinted my eyes to imagine seeing our home there?  And now it had finally begun.

My dear husband literally got greyer hair over the course of that week, though. It had been Saskatchewan’s snowiest winter on record.  (And when Saskatchewan breaks snowfall records, we’re talking A LOT of snow.)  It just kept falling, and falling, and falling, well into the end of April.  And it was cold too.  There were predictions of flooding of epic proportions.  Not exactly what you want to hear when you have a house scheduled to come in mid-June, and need your basement dug stat.

But God knew.  And even though the cold winter chill lingered far longer than any of us thought we could bear, beneath it all the snow slowly and  efficiently melted into the ground meaning that there was, in fact, no flooding where we lived.  The basement could go ahead, but we needed it dug NOW.

Fortunately my father-in-law’s close friend, Roy, owns an excavation company and they were ready to jump in as soon as they could.  And Sean’s friend, Matt, works for a basement and foundation company that was able to get to us in a timely manner.  (In fact, maybe so timely that the RM and the building permits were playing a bit of catch-up.) 

So, like I said, between flood-watch, excavation, building permits, inspections, last-minute revisions of the drawings, mortgage stuff, foundation pouring, utility applications… etc. etc. (all while finishing tax season and beginning seeding) Sean’s hair actually got greyer over the course of a week.  Poor guy.

But it happened.  God took care of the details.  Some key people stepped in and got things done.  My smart, capable husband worked things out.

And we got to celebrate.

We thought the excavation would be on the Saturday, but Sean got a call on Tuesday that they could start that day.  After working in the morning I whipped up a picnic lunch, rushed to the farm, and we waited and watched for the “digger” to break ground.

It was 27 degrees celsius that day.  Super hot for May.  But there were still piles of snow left on the ground.  Oh, Saskatchewan.  A memorable day, indeed.

The excavation was done that day, and when we went out for supper that night with friends, Sean received a call asking if the basement crew could start the next day.  Um… yeah!

The basement guys worked really efficiently, and before we knew it we were looking at footings.

Then walls.

We took a lot of walks to go visit our basement.

We couldn’t wait to put all of the pieces together and see our house there.

As I’ve let the design plans for the kids’ rooms simmer in my brain, I’ve been surfing Etsy for art that might work for their rooms.  I’ll have to hit up some used book stores and thrift stores before ordering anything online, since much of what I’m looking at is vintage bookplates and posters.  I like the vintage route for art since it is affordable, beautiful, unique, and adds so much character.

For L’s room I already have the Month by Month prints from Sarah Jane Studios.  I bought the little notecards long before I even had kids because I loved them so much.  So I’ll definitely be putting these in her room somewhere.

(“October in Polka Dot Wellies” from the Her Month by Month series by Sarah Jane Studios)

I also want to play with florals in her room - because where else can you do this with abandon than in a little girl’s room?  I often call her “Sweet Pea” so I’ve been on the hunt for vintage seed packets or books or illustrations of sweet peas, like this one:

(Sweet Peas and Nasturtiums [laser print of seed box] from Victorian Rose Prints)

Or perhaps a botanical print like this one:

And wouldn’t those yellow sweet peas look lovely paired with these little yellow butterflies?

(Both prints from Early Bird Sale)

She also adores animals, and has a particular affinity for puppies (one of her first words) so I’ve been searching out dog breed illustrations like these:

(Vintage Dog Breed Illustration from Iowa Jewel)

For the boys’ room vintage maps are such an easy go-to for art.  They’re interesting, beautiful, educational, and still pretty neutral.

(Antique Topographic Map of Canada from Reclaimer Vintage Goods)

M has some ideas of his own, though.  He’d really like some superhero pictures in his room.  And though he’s never watched anything Avengers-related, he’s obsessed with them and has a few toys and colouring books with them.  I kind of cringe at the thought of something character based being featured, but this minimalistic poster is pretty cool:

(The Avengers Variant Poster from William Henry Graphic Design, also comes in blue)

Though I’m not sure he’d find that sufficient.  Another route I’ve considered is framing vintage comic books. (Though it’s quite the hunt finding one that looks cool, features his favourite characters, yet is without anything scary or any scantily clad women on it!  Sheesh.)

(The Avengers No. 151 Comic Book from Sidewalk Comics)

One item I’m totally kicking myself over not purchasing is this 1921 Canadian flag.  My kids really like flags, and they might find it cool that pre-1960’s our Canadian flag was actually different.  This flag is linen, it’s cool, it’s patriotic, it’s historical, it’s beautiful - what a treasure!  But I waited, and it sold, and I can’t find anything like it online (for a decent price).  Darn.  Seriously kicking myself.

(Historical Upper Canada Flag from PapillonArtBoutique)

This old bookplate is pretty cool, but given its age it’s missing a lot of provinces and actually has the old Saskatchewan flag, which may annoy M or confuse my kids as they learn.  So I’m not sold on it.  And really I just want that old linen flag.  

(Flags of Canada from Peony and Thistle Paper and Print)

I obviously won’t be getting all of this, but the hunting sure is fun…. We’ll see what I end up with!

M is already scheming great plans for “when we live on the farm” - riding his bike, getting a dog, driving a dirt bike, buying a horse.  Whoa, there, Little Buddy.  (I told him no dog until this new Baby’s bigger, dirt bike riding can wait until he’s 5, and a horse when he can pay for it.  I’m a bit of a dream crusher some days.)  But I love his excitement.  My kids are going to embrace farm life completely, and I’m delighted.

One of his favourite things to dream about is our garden.  He’s “helped” my parents with their gardens in the past, and he and I have done a few potted plants, but we’ve never had a yard for planting anything.  He can’t wait until we can grow our own.  He’ll pick up our copy of Farm Anatomy by Julia Rothman and we’ll draw up lists of all the fruits and vegetables we’ll grow.  

I’ve told him we won’t have a garden this summer.  I’ll be super pregnant and trying to set up the house.  Also, our yard will likely be a bit of a muddy mess from the basement excavation.  And Sean and I aren’t ready yet to sit down and seriously plan out our yard - financially or mentally.  I told him we could start our compost, though, and that seems to appease him.  (Thank you, Curious George for making my three-year-old stoked about composting.)  In the mean time, we’ll just keep dreaming.

Here are a few pictures I’ve collected so far:

Oh, there will be twinkle lights. (Bodine Street Community Garden in Philadelphia featured in Martha Stewart Living)

I love the simple boardwalk, beds, and lights strung from the poles. (Bodine Street Community Garden in Philadelphia featured in Martha Stewart Living)

(Home of Kathryn Windley, Photograph by Mikkel Vang for Country Living)

 I like this unobtrusive wire mesh fencing. (Matthew Cunningham Landscape Design LLC via Houzz)

If our yard is still a mess next summer, I’ll likely opt for some container gardening to start out. (image from Martha Stewart)

I like the simplicity and symmetry of these raised wooden beds… maybe not that many when we first get started! (And we’ll need some kind of fence to keep dogs or stray cattle, pigs, goats, bunnies, donkeys, ducks, etc. out of the gardens.  Seriously.  My sisters-in-law could start a veritable petting zoo!) (Home of Neko Case, Photograph by Bjorn Wallander for Country Living)

You can check out the ideas I gather throughout the year on my Pinterest boards: Farmyard, and Let’s Plant a Garden.

We’ve gone twice now to visit our house in-process up at Warman Homes.  What a cool, strange experience!  As I opened a door or walked through a hall I tried to convince myself: I will be doing this thousands more times!  This is MY house!  Crazy.  After years of waiting and dreaming it’s pretty surreal.  Little moments of praise to God around every corner.

The first time we went it was just us and the kids.

Little M has pretty much wrapped his brain around the whole idea now (This is our house.  This is my room.  A big truck is going to move it to the farm.  We will live there soon.)  And it was really fun to see him get excited.

We visited on a Saturday and there were tools all over the place (duh.)  But no workers.  M wanted to know: “Where are the workers!  Why are they not working on our house!?” Be very afraid of that kid if he’s ever your boss some day. ;)

Little L was also super excited.  Maybe she sort of understands.  Maybe she was feeding off of our excitement.  But mostly it’s just a super great place for hide-and-go-seek.

I loved being there and seeing for myself how light and bright the house was!  (After 10 years of living in apartments or basement suites you can never have too much sunshine!)

On the first visit I was thrilled to see some of the light fixtures installed.  I had picked them from pictures and descriptions online, and had my fingers crossed that the finishes would look right and the scale would work.  I was really happy when I saw them in person. (Obviously that chandelier will be lowered after the house is moved.)

On our second visit a bunch of Sean’s family came with us, which was really fun.  By that time our kitchen cabinetry was installed.  Seeing our kitchen was definitely a moment of complete disbelief.  ”No way is this my kitchen.” I could probably fit all 5 of our first kitchens into that kitchen and pantry area.

That island alone would take up the majority of our condo kitchen.  (Kidding.  Mostly.)

And most of all, what hit me over these visits is how perfect the timing is.  God knew all along.  All that waiting and pining for this - and now is the right time.  Now, after we know much better what we want and need in a house.  Now, when we can share this adventure with our young children.  Now, when we’re at this time in our lives and marriage.  Now, when we’ve seen His faithfulness and been stretched in our trust, and contentment, and maturity, and perspective about what really matters in life.  Now, when we still have so many years of living ahead of us.  Now, when we are so overwhelmingly struck with what a massive blessing this is.  Now’s the time.

I mentioned awhile ago that I’ve been dreaming of the design schemes for the bedrooms in the new house. For the most part I’m trying to reign myself in when it comes to decorating plans. I know that:

A. You should live in a house first. Let it inspire your direction for colours, furniture placement, etc.

B. “Brand new house.” Unfortunately those words don’t leave piles of extra cash lying around for decorating purchases.

C. Shortly after our move-in we will be welcoming Baby #3. I don’t know about you, but having a newborn eliminates me from productivity at anything for roughly 6 months minimum. (Hint: Expect blogging hiatus.)

But it’s also really hard not to get all excited. And a part of me would really like to establish some “done-ness” in the kids’ rooms over the summer so that it really feels like home for them. (And I discovered that this actually matters to my son, who has lamented how much he misses his old room in the condo the entire time we’ve had our temporary stay at The Pink House.)

So with some consultation (and a few veto decisions on my part. Sorry, kiddos), we’ve come up with the colour directions for their rooms.

Girl Room:

I want it to feel like a yellow room without screaming YELLOW! This is hard to do. The trick to success with yellow (and red, in my opinion): no yellow walls, just accents of yellow. Keep the walls neutral. So the yellow polka dot fabric will be the drapes - providing the major sense that the room is yellow. It’s a nice buttery soft yellow, which is hard to find (most yellows I found were a more lemony hue or more golden.) L also asked for “boo and geen” in her room, so the warm aqua blue background on the floral with green, yellow and pink in the flowers is a lovely pairing and provides the vintage feel I want. I’m thinking the floral may end up as a headboard. With two patterns as bold as this being featured in large areas any other fabrics will likely be more neutral - yellow, cream or white solids, or small scale stripes or gingham.

I knew from the start I wanted yellow - it’s sort of my colour for Little L. Her name means “light”, and her disposition is usually so cheerful and humourous that yellow’s always been the colour I associate with her.

Some other gorgeous yellow fabrics I considered (but eliminated, largely due to cost)…

Isn’t this one so incredibly beautiful, yet understated? I’m still tempted to use it somewhere else in the house, but at $30/yard I’m not sure I can do it.

I knew I wanted a floral and that I wanted yellow. So this one also tempted me.

I reeeally love this large scale floral. It has the prettiness of a floral, but a not-too-girly colour scheme. And it pairs well with the polka dot. But it was $10 more than the floral I chose and had a more limited palette to work with.

For the Boy room M and I were in definite agreement that the main colour would be his favourite, “dark blue”. Navy is my go-to colour, and is a colour I’ve always associated with M. (OK. I realize I sound crazy colour coding my children. It’s how my brain works. Anyone else know what I’m talking about?!) But we aren’t exactly in agreement on the accent colour. He also loves orange, but I felt it would turn the room too modern, and good orange fabrics are hard to find. He also offered red for consideration - which I’m still open to - but didn’t want the room to turn too nautical (which I feel red might do). My sister-in-law recently decorated my sweet little nephew’s room with a nautical feel and I LOVE it (I’d love to show you some time), so I don’t want to be too copycat. Plus I’m really liking the way this deep spruce green looks in the mix. And I may or may not have already decided that green is the next baby’s favourite colour. ;)

M loves plaid (I find it so funny that a 3.5 year old has a favourite pattern) and I want a mix of fairly low key (not too graphic) patterns - stripes, plaids, herringbone, etc. Sort of what you’d see with mens’ suits. That navy ticking will likely be the roman shade and I would love to see that navy and white plaid on a headboard. We’ll see.

So that’s where I’m headed! Whaddya’ think? Anyone else colour-code their children? Man, that makes me sound super type-A and controlling. Really, I’m not. I’m not! At least 57% of the time. ;)

(Photograph from BHG.com)

I’m holding back quite a bit on the decorating plan for the house.  Though I have some specific ideas of what I want the rooms to look like, I’m working on the foundational layers of the building process first, and won’t make any major decorating moves (or purchases or projects) until after we’ve moved into the house.

But the other day my dear little boy lamented to me once again that he missed our condo.  He has an impeccable memory for a three-year-old, and can be really sweet and sentimental.  But I was surprised that he still felt that way.  I asked him, specifically, what he missed.  ”My room” he said, “I like the way my room was.”  

Since we’ve been in the Pink House (the house owned by our church) I haven’t done a lot with their room.  There’s a big clunky double bed in there, and an old wooden rocking chair. Plus we jammed in the change table/dresser and the crib.  I did hang a few pictures on 3M command hooks, and did hang the drapes from their old room, but it still feels pretty dreary.  And certainly not like home for him. 

And so, with my heart strings pulled, the kids’ room made it to the top of my priority list for decorating.  How wonderful it would be for that room to feel finished and homey right away when we settle in!  So I’ve been pinning away and looking for the inspiration I need for their room.  They’ll share a room again (though some of the adorable girls’ rooms I’ve come across have me rethinking that slightly…) and I definitely want matching twin beds.  I’d love old brass beds, or painted wooden beds, but my second-hand hunting has not been fruitful as of yet, so we may end up with cheap IKEA beds and DIY upholstered headboards.

You can see some themes running through my pictures: pale neutral walls, with lots of room for displaying the colourful things kids love (books, toys, momentos).  A definite vintage vibe.  A sort of raw, natural feel.  Eclectic art.

Speaking of eclectic art, I just found this cool vintage paint-by-numbers painting on Kijiji… I may just have to pick that one up!

A new frame and this could be a great jumping-off point for the room.  

I’m getting excited - kids’ rooms are my favourite to decorate!  Let the dreaming begin…

Don’t forget to hug the ones you love tonight. -Justine

I love Easter.  To me, I think creating our own Easter traditions with my children may be more important than Christmas traditions.  Part of it is a faith thing, for sure.  I want the message of Easter to resonate in my children’s hearts.  I want them to rejoice at the arrival of King Jesus in Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.  I want them to feel the sorrow of the cross on Good Friday.  I want them to marvel and delight in the power of the Great Overcomer on Easter Sunday, and praise our risen Lord!  But I also just love the celebration of Spring, new life, and the end of Winter that Easter brings too.  There are many things I’d love to do with my kids to celebrate Easter in the years to come, but I don’t want to “wait until they’re older” either.  

Little M and I have been reading in his storybook Bible the stories of Easter week, and learning a couple new songs.  And this week we decorated eggs.  There is no way that this could not be a gong show with a toddler.  (Unless maybe you have girls.  I don’t know.)

I considered draining the raw egg from the shells so the the eggs wouldn’t be wasted, but knew they’d be too fragile to be handled.  So I hard boiled them.  You can’t really see it in the picture, but those things are shattered and cracked and pretty gross.

Last year, when he was one, we just dyed them.  This year I wanted something easy to make them more interesting so we used mini rubber bands to create some criss-crossed lines.

They turned out pretty well, and Little M was SO excited.  He wants to make more.  And we just may, considering I had to throw these out today during his nap because he’s manhandled them so many times.  Ah well.  Good Easter memories made.

Sometimes in icy cold mornings, when we stay in our p.j.’s and Baby L naps nicely, Little M and I pull out the pencil crayons. (Side note: it makes me proud when I ask what he wants to draw with and he says he wants white paper and pencil crayons…)

I usually end up taking requests as to what to draw (and usually end up sketching basketballs, triangles, and Buzz Lightyear). But one morning he was content to work on his own, and I was free to create whatever I liked.

I’ve been working on a gallery wall in the master bedroom and there was one larger area to fill. I needed a gap filler for the spot. I wanted to make something colourful and a bit more fun to juxtapose against some of the other art nearby.

I decided to do a geometric, deconstructed zig-zag look (inspired by this AMAZING Etsy artist, whose art I still want to purchase). I felt like I was in grade 3 art class again. It’s very relaxing to have no rules sometimes when you draw.

And I love the way its modern, playful vibe plays against the vintage portrait of the Royals I bought on UsdRegina a while back. Pretty good for a gap-filler.

Christmas Moments: Helping decorate “his” tree.

Hey there.

My name is Justine.  In case you forgot about me.  I blog here.  In theory, anyways.

I thought I should check in with you all and let you know that I’m still alive.  And still have every intention of continuing to blog here - I just need to take care of life as it demands first. Consider this a bit of a blog sabbatical.  A “blogbattical”, I like to say.  (Because I’m a nerd who often makes up words inserting “blog”)

So I’ll be back.  Maybe this week.  Maybe in a month or two.  I do miss this terribly, but other things are a little higher on the to-do list these days, like:

• enjoying every minute I can with my two beautiful children.
• spending every moment I can with my kind and gorgeous husband.
• enduring every stressful second of raising a baby (I don’t do the baby stage well, unfortunately, and right now she’s teething like a… um… like a baby getting 4 teeth all at once.)
• surviving serious sleep deprivation. (Example above.  Not so good with the creativity these days.  Actually not so good with the thinking in general.  It’s been a bad stretch the last few weeks between Baby L being up, Little M waking through the night, and my own bit of insomnia thrown in.)
• cleaning my house.  This is an impossible, never-ending task with a  two-year-old tearing around.  I want to go back in time and say to the pre-kids me, “Just clean your house.  It’ll take no time at all.  It’s so eeeeeasy.  And it won’t be when you have a two-year-old.”
• blogging.  Wait.  What?  Oh, not here.  Over at UsedEverywhere.  Straight up, folks, I get paid for that.  And not for this.  So.  (Tell me how to feature ads, and then pay me to advertise cool stuff.  Not dumb stuff.  And then my blog will start making money.  And then blogging will move up my to-do list.  Cool.  Good idea.) ;)
• home projects.  Whoa baby, when I DO start blogging again I have some cool stuff to show you.  I’ve been chipping away at many projects (with the help of our team of free babysitters.  Family and in-laws rock, peeps).  Hopefully in the new year I’ll have a bit of a living room tour with some major changes we’ve made(and are making), followed by dining room and bedroom.  hopefully.
• church stuff.  Sean and I are teaching grades 4-5 Sunday school together this year and I’m loving it.  I’ve worked with these kids since they were tiny, and it’s so good to stay involved with them, even on my maternity leave.  Plus mom’s group, and my sweet care group.
• Aaand that’s kind of life right now.  Oh!  And another reason my blogging’s been slow this fall?  My computer was broken.  But I got my Christmas gift from Sean early, and this it’s inaugural blog post.  It’s big, and silver, and has a cute little apple on it.  (Traded in the macbook pro for an iMac.  A desktop makes more sense to me with growing kiddos around.)

SO!  check back in a while, OK?  I promise I will too.  And if you’ve only recently started following my blog, a big fat apology.  I’m not usually this lame.

I consider last week an initiation into a new stage of parenthood: Sean and I ventured out on our first week-long family vacation with two little ones.  We learned a lot.  We laughed a lot.  Both Sean and Micah had no clean pants left by Wednesday.  (I’ll spare you the details, but if you’re reading this, good Calgary Harvey’s employee, my apologies for the one incident.)  We had a very excited two-year-old who only threw up twice,  a poor three-month-old who was introduced to the perils of teething, and two twenty-something parents realizing how much their lives had changed.

We visited old friends, older friends, the zoo, shopping hot spots, and my kids’ great great grandma.  And by the end of the week I found myself marvelling at the patience, resilience, and kindness of my husband (whom I dubbed “Super Dad”).  It was a great week.

 And we visited our house.  Sort of.  In the Spring we found out that we have permission to subdivide the farmland to create a spot to build our house.  Shortly after that Sean and I agreed upon a house plan.  Last week we were able to visit a showhome model of the plan we like.  (And if any of you have ever bought a home from a floorplan, you may understand what an incredible opportunity it is to see the actual space beforehand!)

It was great to see how big the windows are, how the ceiling peaks, the size of closets, or how the rooms flow.  It was also great to meet our sales lady and know that our “hunch” about her being awesome and knowledgeable was absolutely right.  It was nice to inspect the craftsmanship up close.  And it was delightful to stand in the rooms and dream a little bit.

So, now we have a lot of other things to do before we begin building… but it sure is nice to have a specific space to plan!  Woo hoo!