So I mentioned a while back that I was going to try to challenge myself to jump in and link up with The Nester for her 31 day series challenge…along with hundreds of other bloggers. I have been humming and hawing, dragging my feet, talking myself in and out of it and finally decided it is worth a try. In the midst of my mommy bubble I am excited to be more disciplined about writing. And the topic will be “31 Days of Savoring Home”.

For those of you that don’t know our story….basically we bought a house while overseas, returned to fix it up and now call it home! The process has been interesting and challenging in many ways. A growing experience for sure! Our desire is that our house be a haven for our family and a place of warm welcome for family and friends!  So, this month I will slowly write and photograph my way through how we have been trying to make our house into a home. The good, the bad, and the ugly.  And also sharing some ways to make a space “home” even when it isn’t your forever home.

But have no fear, I won’t spend 31 days just talking about our home sweet home. I have friends around the country and globe who have agreed to share their favorite spaces in their nests with you.  Their homes are so lovely and I am so excited to introduce you to these gals!

Check back here tomorrow as we take a kitchen tour! You can check below for the addition of the daily posts!

31 Days of Savoring Home: Day 1  Our Kitchen, the heart of our home!

31 Days of Savoring Home: Day 2 Kitchen Before

31 Days of Savoring Home: Day 3 Leigh’s House!

31 Days of Savoring Home: Day 4 Smells like home!

31 Days of Savoring Home: Day 5 Dining room

31 Days of Savoring Home: Day 6 Power Washing!

31 Days of Savoring Home: Day 7 Personalities

31 Days of Savoring Home: Day 8 Jenny’s home!

31 Days of Savoring Home: Day 9 Overgrown!

31 Days of Savoring Home: Day 10 Daniela’s flat

31 Days of Savoring Home: Day 11 Leaving Home! 

31 Days of Savoring Home: Day 12 Little Boy Rooms

31 Days of Savoring Home: Day 13 Fill the cookie jar!

31 Days of Savoring Home: Day 14 Sharing!

31 Days of Savoring Home: Day 15 A home in Maine!

31 Days of Savoring Home: Day 16 Finding Quiet

31 Days of Savoring Home: Day 17 Pretties! 

31 Days of Savoring Home: Day 18 Safe Haven and Spring Board

31 Days of Savoring Home: Day 19 Treasures

31 Days of Savoring Home: Day 20 Done with this mess! 

31 Days of Savoring Home: Day 21 Hanging on to Fall! 

31 Days of Savoring Home: Day 22 Emerald Hill Farm

31 Days of Savoring Home:  Day 23 Lego-free zone!

31 Days of Savoring Home: Day 24 A little (LOT of) help

31 Days of Savoring Home: Day 25 Dwelling Place

31 Days of Savoring Home: Day 26 Sprucing up!

31 Days of Savoring Home: Day 27 Cheery Space!

31 Days of Savoring Home: Day 28 storms

On the second day of school we were walking up to the school to get Jackson and found a little friend. We offered it to Jackson’s teacher thinking she might like a fun little thing for the kids to watch….she held back a shriek and rejected the poor little guy. So, we took him home and put him in our fanciest old spaghetti sauce jar with holes punched in the top.  I’m telling you, we lucked out. About 2 days later the butterfly had formed into a chrysalis. It remained that way for about 2 weeks. At that point I noticed it was looking much darker. It appeared to be turning black. I was worried that it was dying and getting moldy but at closer look it was actually the darkness of the black wings forming. The next morning we woke up to a beautiful swallowtail  butterfly.

stunning home, huh?

it appeared to attach to the stick by a few small strings…it looked so delicate but amazingly strong enough to withhold  the ear hands that jostled it.

almost there

ta da….

no one’s home! pretty impressive handywork!

We let her go after breakfast. It was a super windy morning so she hung out on our flowers out front most of the morning. Owen and I checked it out later in the morning and she blew onto the sidewalk. Yes, she was a she to us. Not sure how all of that works with butterflies. But she was a she to us. Anyhow, when she decided to fly it took her a little while to get the hang of it but we sat and watched her figure it out. Owen cheered as she began to get higher and higher!

It was such a neat process to watch. Those of you that know me know that my first instinct would not be to have a big caterpillar sitting in my kitchen but these boys are pulling me into their excitement and I might, I just might have a bit of my mom in me. She was notorious for hiding a fawn in the shed at boarding school to keep as a pet, attempting to break a wild horse behind the school gym and had a collection of monkeys and toucans.  No joke.

our not so fortunate guy (yes, this one was a guy) lived in another spaghetti jar paradise but only enjoyed it for a couple of days!

The air is crisp and breezy here today. The house is peaceful…at the moment…and as the breeze blows through our open windows the pumpkin spice candle is working away on the kitchen counter. I love fall! Good hair days, pulling out the cozies, a reason to cook comfort foods and little boys that are much morel likely to want to cuddle.  Sure we are fighting the traditional runny noses and the everyday tiffs but something about the sunshine and cooler air helps to make things not so stressful.  So if you are one of our dear friends or family in Texas I recommend cranking up the A/C, lighting a yummy candle, baking one of those great pumpkin spice recipes and just pretend with me. It’s good, I promise!

This morning our little chipmunk friend “Chippy” was working the early shift. He was filling those chipmunk cheeks with nuts and bustling them past my window next to my desk. He must know something we don’t know about the upcoming winter. He’s working like it’s going to be a long, cold winter.  Eeeek.   Not sure I am prepared for that…better just savor fall for now.

Op, I hear foot steps now. Better run. Just wanted to say a quick hello from our house to yours! Our week is off to a good start, hope yours is too!

It’s been a while since I set this space up and I realized that I am long overdue on adding some of my latest favorite blogs.

I have gotten to know a few of these ladies better than others but all are writing great things. Some blogging about decorating and home goodness, foreign-servicing (yes that’s a verb), others faith. It’s a variety.

The first is Hot Pot: Life Lessons from Overseas. Dani keeps it real about the overseas experience with a little one. If she didn’t I couldn’t read her stuff. She gets out and about and really savors where she is. She takes great pictures too! Check her out!

The next is Stumble Abroad…Ana Gaby is a fellow momma to two boys! Need I say more?! She is also a writer on World Moms Blog. She and her husband are globetrotters and doing it gracefully with kids!  Ana Gaby is keeping it real too, seeing a pattern here!

Dwell on Joy   is a great newish blog that i discovered recently. She posts nice simple recipes and lots of everyday life projects, gift wrapping, life with kids kind of stuff!

A Barefoot Day is an encouraging space where Meg shares her daily life and things she enjoys. She posts a weekly menu and she isn’t putting on a fru fru show….she, like these others keeps it real!

Our Yuppie Life  is another great blog about life overseas with kids. Sara and her family live in Ethiopia and she recently started selling baked goods in her area…a big temptation of mine when overseas!

So I just added all of these to our blog roll!  Happy reading!