Finally!

After six months of searching we finally managed to find a china cabinet! Just when we had given up hope of finding what we were looking for Dave happened upon this one the other day. Other than it being a wee bit taller than we would have liked it's absolutely perfect! 

It even has a drawer for our silver. It doesn't fit all of it, so we still need the box my parents gave us, but it fits the key pieces which is absolutely lovely. 

Just shy of ten months later and the last two boxes are finally unpacked! It's wonderful to finally have a home on the first floor for all of our wedding china and other special dishes. An instantly beloved piece, it is truly the perfect addition to our dinning room. It will surely be loved for years (and perhaps even generations) to come! xo

::Right Now::

 Right now I am::
::so very grateful that we finally have a fully functioning upstairs bathroom after fourteen weeks without one!

::beyond thankful to my parents for coming up on Saturday to make this upstairs bathroom vanity/sink install possible!

::excited to be at the point in this renovation where we need to choose new curtains, accessories for the bathroom and hang pictures back on the walls.

::looking forward to when we get to redo our bedroom, the guest room and the downstairs bathroom since they were the only three rooms in our house that were not part of the renovations.

::sad to have had a less than stellar garden this year, but happy for two hard working girls who harvested all those carrots and put it to bed for the winter.

::loving how much everyone's loving the new furniture, especially new chair in the window.

::grateful for fairies and tea parties and grammas who make fairy tea parties possible!

::in awe of friends who are able to know what's going on without me saying a word.

::thrilled for the friends and neighbors that we have, and the chance to spend time with so many of them these last few days.

::hoping that our Canadian friends had a lovely Thanksgiving.

::happy for such glorious weather these last few days, and thankful to live in a world where there are Octobers. 

::eternally thankful and grateful and so very blessed for this truly amazing life that we live! xo

A Throne For The Queen

Clearly, Queen Gretchen is pleased with the new chair that arrived today. xo

Wednesday Morning

One working on morning lessons and one painting a door. Just another day at our sweet old farmhouse! xo

Morning, Noon and Night

Morning, noon and night...three little peeks into our day today.

Morning, 10:30am.

Noon, 2:00pm.

Night, 5:00pm.

If you would like to play along leave your link in the comments section so I may stop by for a visit. xo

Sunday

Fresh squeezed orange juice with Sunday breakfast. Helping serve communion at church (the girls did a stellar job). More unpacking. Putting the finishing touches on the craft cabinet (welcome back Math Gnomes!). Making sure that the cat traps are indeed still working, and checking on the progress of the carrots in the garden. It was a splendid Sunday from start to finish! xo

A Home For The Cookbooks

Sixteen years of Dave working at Williams-Sonoma has created quite a collection of cookbooks for us (some of which are even signed copies). I absolutely love that after all these years they finally have a spot of their own in the kitchen! xo

In New York City

In addition to our early morning visit with the deer, and Emma mastering shoe tying, Sunday also brought with it Grace and Emma's first trip to New York City. Our love of the Night at the Museum movies was the inspiration for this adventure, and since were were so close to NYC it seemed like the perfect time to finally take the girls to the American Museum of Natural History.

The highlight for Grace and Emma was getting to see "Dum Dum" (and yes, the museum staff there do refer to him as such)! They were so excited to see him that they couldn't resist giving him a hug. It was very sweet! 

 The Planetarium was another favorite, and we all agreed that we really wish we had spent more time there than we did. 

"Mama, you know how we are all made of star stuff? I just love that!" -Grace

 Before we journeyed back to New Jersey it was decided that we'd swing by Donna and Peter's favorite market in New York to pick up some items for dinner. Our walk from the Museum to Citarella was just lovely. From the farmers market as we exited the museum grounds, to the playgrounds we passed on the way, it was truly a glorious day to be in the city! xo

{This Moment} Chess With Grandpa Ron

{This Moment} - A Friday ritual. A single  photo Two photos - no words- capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you are inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments section for all to find and see. We wish you a wonderful weekend! xo

Another Milestone

After our lovely Sunday morning walk and a delicious breakfast we all got ready for our adventure to New York City. The day before Peter had showed Emma how to tie her shoes, and wouldn't you know there she was tying her shoes with ease the very next day! It's been quite a summer for our sweet Emma Faith. First bike riding and now this! Well done Emma (and many thanks to Peter)! We are so very proud of you! xo

Sunday. 6:30am.

Our Sunday started with a very excited Emma bursting through the door to the room we were sleeping in to announce to us that there were deer looking at her! I got out of bed, grabbing my phone on the way, and arrived to find Emma and the deer looking at each other as it munched on some of the Hosta in Donna and Peter's front yard. I quickly took a few pictures, happy to have caught this very sweet moment between Emma and the deer. "Wanna go for a walk, Em, and see if we can see more deer?" I asked knowing full well what her reply would be.

We were joined by the rest of the family and stepped out of the cozy house into the crisp morning air. The sun was not yet fully up, and, if truth be known, it felt more like late September than late August. The peace of the morning was incredibly blissful. Bird chirped, deer munched and our footsteps (and an occasional murmur from those behind us) was all that was heard. While the rest of the world was still asleep we were very much awake and just basking in the beauty all around us (that view is going to be even more incredible come autumn). The girls and I had walked ahead of the others and were treated to a flock of geese arriving for their breakfast, too. We stood there in awe of the wildlife all around us, and so very grateful to Emma for having woken us up so that we could all begin our day in such a truly beautiful way. xo

Our Adventure Begins

On Friday we left bright an early so that the crew could re-finish the floors on the first floor. We stopped by the local coffee shop in town to grab some breakfast and then hit the road. We arrived in Dave's hometown in time for lunch and then spent the rest of the afternoon at the pool where he spent each summer day of his growing up years. After several fabulous hours of swimming we had a lovely dinner with his parents, a little more chess was played and then we we continued on to Donna and Peter's house for ice cream and a movie before calling it a day (and a fabulous day at that)! xo