Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

Good Morning~

I am enjoying this beautiful sunny , but chilly morning with my yummy cup of coffee. Red Velvet flavor...YUM!!! This Christmas season has been a particularly busy and tough one. With my Mom being ill and all the hustle and bustle, I  never felt like taking pictures of my home. It was not a priority. And just when I was getting inspired to do a post ( thanks to some great friends), the tragedy happened at Sandy Hook. My decorated house seemed so..... very unimportant.

But, as the week went on and I heard such beautiful stories from families of the angels at Sandy Hook I started to feel like the decorations and the happiness they brought my kids did matter. My children LOVE them and I am so blessed to watch them smile when they look at their favorite nutcracker or look for their favorite ornament on the tree. So, this post is for them and the friends who have told me my decorations make them smile too. 

Here are some of the nutcrackers the kids collect. We have close to 100...... They are placed throughout the house. The best part about decorating is when the kids find their favorites in the boxes. They still get so..excited!

I made this felt angel with my mom many many years ago. This angel is dedicated to all the beautiful Sandy Hook angels. They will never be forgotten....

So that was just a glimpse into our Christmas house. Our decorations are NOT subtle, but we wouldn't have it any other way:)

May your all have a blessed holiday with your family and friends. 

And to all the people that have encouraged me and inspired me throughout the year..Thank you!

xo~

Cheryl

Deck The Halls

Good Evening Everyone~

I don't know about all of you, but this has been the busiest holiday season I have had in years. I just can't seem to come up for air. I feel like each minute is scheduled, hence the late night posting. Well, it is a miracle I am even getting in a post. It feels like forever. Even though I haven't had time to post, I have spent time reading others blogs and have been getting so inspired by everyone's holiday decor and creative ideas. I guess that means more to try and do;)

One thing I have been busy with is my Etsy Shop, My Soulful Home. We were lucky enough to be involoved in a few holiday boutiques recently which are always such fun. It is tiring, but the three of us always have lots and lots of laughs so it is worth it. And we sell a lot of our items so that is an added bonus too. We have been working hard and recently added many items to our shop on Etsy. Here is a peek:

*** We have many more items in the shop** 

Google just told me I am out of picture space...ANNOYING so this is all you will get to see for now;((

After I get this Google thing fixed I hope to take some pictures of my decorated house. We go a little crazy, but we have so much fun and the kids LOVE it. Thats really all that matters. 

Hope you all have a wonderful and relaxing week! I know I am certainly going to try:))

xo~ Cheryl

Thankful

Happy Thanksgiving!

xo~ Cheryl

Christmas In The Shop

Hi~

As I am thoroughly enjoying and am thankful for this rainy Saturday, I thought I would show you what is new in My Etsy Shop:

These are our vintage grain sack stockings. Love these so...... much. We also have lots of fun ornaments and will be adding some Shiny Brites too! Come check it out and get ready for Christmas. It is hard to believe that it is already here:) 

Hope you all have a great weekend and be thankful for all that surrounds you!

xo~

Cheryl

Sunlight Shining Through

Hi~~

I just love it when the sun shines through the rooms in my house in the perfect way. You all know what I mean, right?? 

Here are few pics I have taken over the past few weeks.....

This is taken in my "blue" den. We have two dens so I have to differentiate between the two. This room gets morning sunlight so I have to be quick with the pics because it goes as fast as it comes:)

The same room. This couch used to be dark blue, but I have it covered with a white French linen sheet. It is sort of a "sloppy" look, but I love it. And of course one can't have enough pillows.

You can really see the sheet here. What do you think????

Grain Sack Pillow was made by my sister in law Michele at Maison de Michele. The chair is the Ektorp from Ikea. Love it because it is comfy, a slip cover and it is really inexpensive;))

I just love this little rose in this cup!!

Hope you all have a wonderful week.

xo~

Cheryl

A Little Bit Of Fall

Hi~~

It is just barely beginning to feel a bit like Fall out here in California. This is the first week we have had in a couple of months with temps under 90 degrees!! What a relief. I have taken every opportunity to wear long sleeves and jeans. And to be honest, I really need to stop wearing shorts! Even though it has been hot, the tan is long gone and legs aren't looking too pretty;)) 

We haven't put up all the outdoor Halloween ghoulish decor, but I have managed to put some little white and  pink ( yes, I said pink) pumpkins throughout the inside of the house. They are just the perfect touch. 

This pitcher is a smaller version of the one we have listed in our Etsy shop. Love the look of the blue stripes.

Love it with the mercury glass candles and the grain sack runner

Ok... here is the " pink" pumpkin. I think it looks much more peachy, but the sign said PINK!!!! 

I love it anyway!! And the Cinderella pumpkins are my favorite

Perfect fit for the bistro chair;)

Hope you all have a wonderful week

xo~

Cheryl

Never Forget.........

xo

~ Cheryl

The Little Things

Good Morning~

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend with family and friends! 

Take time to enjoy the little things that we sometimes overlook with all our busy schedules:)

First nice bouquet of roses that I have had in a LONG time. My roses have been in a funk this year. 

LOVING and appreciating  these!!

xo~

Cheryl

Serenity At The Lake

Hi~

 As summer is quickly coming to an end (Wednesday to be exact) I start to feel both anxious and relived all at the same time. We had such an amazing summer filled with so many memories, but the need of some structure is starting to become apparent:)) The kids are starting to get a bit "squirrelly"... I only wish we could have the school structure without the loads of homework and those darn lunches I have to make each day. You know what  I am talking about, right?????

Last week we took our last summer trip up to Silver Lake ( near Mammoth) for some fishing and relaxation.  The drive was 5 1/2 hours , but seemed so quick. Lots of beauty along the way, a few stops and tons of candy consumed:) I think as you get older, you start to appreciate the natural beauty that is surrounding you. It really can be breathtaking.

Here are a few images from the trip...

Silver Lake

I wish I could take the peaceful feeling I get from the lake and have it with me all the time;))

How cute is this baby deer?? They were everywhere and not afraid of humans at all. What beautiful creatures they are.

Blake and his first fish of the trip...he is was so..happy!!

Avery and her fish! We ended up catching 15 fish in two days! Not too shabby... Blake was known as "The Fish Whisperer" because every time he put his pole in the water he had a bite within seconds. I will admit I did not catch ONE fish, but I did a heck of a job with the net helping to get the fish in the boat!!! 

We did have some rain and thunder and lightning the last day! It was welcome! We have been having such hot temps here at home that the rain was a blessing.

They were so proud!

Well, off to finish the laundry, label the backpacks and lunch boxes,organize the school supplies etc. I think while I do this I will reflect on the memories from the Summer of 2012 and dream of the memories to come for the Summer of 2013:)

What memories did you make this summer???

xo~ Cheryl

~~ I was using my old camera  to take these pics~ The difference in quality is so obvious...WOW!!!

Dreaming of Paradise

Hi or I should say Aloha~~

I am back..well at least for a little while. We just got back from a family trip that we have been waiting to go on for several years. We saved and saved and finally made it to Hawaii. We had a such a fun time. We stayed in Kaanapali, Maui. We opted to stay in a condo which was the way to go. We loaded up with food and drinks at Costco so we has breakfast and lunch taken care of. Very helpful. We enjoyed fantastic dinners out.  We swam, took walks, laughed, snorkeled, swam with sea turtles, parasailed, banana boated, ziplined, ate, drank, and ate and drank more. Truly heavenly.

The sunsets were so unbelievable. I went crazy with the camera.

Here are some of the my favorite pics. We took over 400 pics !!!!!! 

View from our lanai......How I long to be back

See the rainbow

"C" For Cabot

That's my son Blake jumping off Black Rock! It was awesome, but I was a nervous wreck. He did it 4 times!!! That is his cousin Brooke behind him waiting to jump too. We unexpectedly ran into them. What a fun surprise:)

Cheers and Good bye Hawaii...until next time.

Hope you all enjoy the rest of your summer!

xo~

Cheryl

The kids had their own camera too! They took over 100 pics and I have yet to download them. They took some really great pics...Impressive