Décor, Food, Holidays, Just for fun, Leah

Gingerbread House

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pretzel gingerbread house header

I absolutely love making gingerbread houses and try to build one every year! Last year I bought a kit, but after seeing this log cabin, I decided I should try making one myself! So I found a handy contractor and hired him and his cousin to help me out 🙂

At first, they were acting way too cool for such childish activities, but once I got started they kind of took over! The outcome wasn’t as picturesque as this, but there was joy in the process. And isn’t that what matters?

The Tools

I rounded up all the graham crackers, gumdrops, peppermint candies, hard candy, frosting, pretzel rods, and sprinkles I could find.

how to make a gingerbread house tools

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Engineering, Joe, Just for fun, Life Hack

Doggy Training

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Doggy Duty header

Well now that Joe is recovering from his triple wisdom tooth extraction surgery, (Oh you, didn’t hear about that? Yeah he was pretty miserable) he’s ready for a bunch of projects. Those are his words, not mine. Most people would be thrilled at the chance to take three days off work, lay on the couch and watch movies while eating ice cream. Ok, maybe not thrilled. It wasn’t exactly a walk in the park. Nevertheless, he’s been going crazy not being able to do anything.

Here’s one of his ideas from last weekend: The Puppy Trainer 3000™

How to Train your Dragon Pooch

Shila is the best puppy ever, but she has a slight problem letting us know when she needs to go outside to do her business. So he thought that if she had some sort of bell system, she could let us know what she needs. She doesn’t really bark, so there’s no vocal cue. The ideas is, she rings the bell and we take her out.

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Fixes, Home Entertainment, Paint, Sewing, Space Efficiency

Spare Room Conversion

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spare room redo

Brown or Purple?

You be the judge. We really love this paint color, but everyone seems to have a different take on it. Depending on the lighting and time of day, it looks either brown or purple. Or both! For the record, it was in the brown section of Pittsburg Paint, but it must have some purple undertones.

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Crafts, Décor, Design, Engineering, Holidays, Sewing, Thrifty

Halloween Costumes

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halloween costumes

Costumes: An Anthology

I’m surprised I didn’t post anything about Halloween costume-making last year. But by now I have two years’ worth of costume concocting photos. Mwa Ha Ha. Would you rather buy your costume or make one? Or maybe you have a tried and true go-to that you wear annually. (I wore my pirate costume 3 years straight. I was in a pirate phase.) I’m definitely a fan of making something out of existing clothes or thrift finds.

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Uncategorized

Updates October

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summer to fall

All Things Fall

We have a lot of things to share coming up. It’s been a whirlwind week, so hang tight. Not to mention it’s Joe’s birthday tomorrow – Happy 26th Joe!

Meanwhile, we’re working on winterizing, holiday projects, and converting a new room.

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Engineering, Outdoors

Concrete Jungle

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Concrete Slab

It’s a Jungle Out There

And by out there, I mean in the back yard. Hey life is what you make it – maybe it’s just a simple pile of hardened dirt, but it’s pretty darn exciting to us. The yard is really coming together! And you may even notice a new addition out there…

This task involved a lot of 2×4’s, H₂O and this:

DIY concrete slab

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Just for fun, Life Hack, Outdoors, Thrifty

Fall Funsies

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falling for you

(Almost)

Holy smokes- it’s only 2 weeks away! Are you ready for the cool down this week? It’s sure feeling fall to us. And that’s 100% ok. I’m a summer baby, converted fall aficionado. Loving the crisp air.

fall decor

I’m ok with fall, but are they selling Halloween costumes already? I draw the line here.

I don’t have any grand updates, but just some day-to-day stuff that I’ll fire off.

Updates

For instance, did you know it was Joe’s 5 year anniversary at work awhile ago?

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Fixes, Holidays, Just for fun, Outdoors

Labor Day Weekend

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lake life is the good life

Laboring Days

Did you have a restful weekend? As much as Joe tried (or I tried to coax him) to relax, he found ways to work. We snuck away to my grandparents’ cabin in Wisconsin for a couple days and soaked up the summer/fall goodness.

Activities included the mandatory games of Phase 10, walking around the lake, boating, giant garage sale in the city of Siren, Shell Lake Days, and plenty of stories and laughs. But by Sunday afternoon, we were right back to fixing up the yard and boat.

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Just for fun, Outdoors, Water

S’more Summer Ventures

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summer

Hold on!

It’s gonna be a bumpy ride.

These days, we’re trying to get the most out of each summer night. We’re on the lake 2-3x/week and squeezing in any and every outdoor activity possible.

Although I love summer, I love fall just as much and can’t hold back my excitement for all things autumn. Look, the foreign exchange students are already back in my building! Saint Paul Prep School is now in session.

foreign exchange students

I got the first day of school jitters this morning just seeing them 🙂

Back to summer…

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Landscaping, Outdoors, Plants, Water

YardWork

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backyard cleanup

Putting the Yard to Work

At last! You may remember that we put in irrigation a couple months back. And we did reseed the back lawn as well. But that’s about it. It already looks better, but was in a pretty sad state. We always brainstorm such great plans for the back, but they never seem to come to fruition. The back is primarily the hangout for bonfires, hammock nights, and the bunnies’ playground. Yard work is now underway! (I know, I know. Summer’s almost over. shhhh. Don’t tell the lawn.)

backyard clean up

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