Hello Tatertots and Jello Visitors.

I am so thrilled to be featured by Jen at her amazing blog, Tatertots and Jello . (Anyone know how to make it so readers just have to click on a word to go to that link?) I have been a long-time follower of her blog...don't you just love the name?

Anyways, I was somewhat horrified when I looked at the picture in the feature. Here it is:



I immediately thought, "What a mess!" and "Why didn't I style the top of the buffet better?" and "Oh no, now everyone can see the unfinished parts of my family room." I whined a little to my husband, and he responded that he liked the pic so much because it does show a real house that real people live in.

Sometimes when reading design blogs, I get caught up in the perfection of everything. However, we don't live in House Beautiful magazine or a Pottery Barn catalog. We are a family with 3 small children and 2 large dogs. I set the plants on the buffet because they get good light there. You can see Wii Rock Band in the background because the girls love to play it. While the neatness, organization, furnishings and decor are important to me, it's the people in the house who really matter. So, if my house is sometimes messy, I'm trying to live with it and accept it, and even spend more time playing with the kids instead of always trying to get them to keep it neat.

Just so you can see what I was struggling with (with a smile on my face, of course!) as I tried to take pictures for that blog post, here you go:

Such a ham. She wanted to be in all the pictures.

Having so much fun climbing on the chairs and then flipping over onto the couch.