It might not be fancy...

We bought our home 4 and a half years ago. It was new. No custom painting. Carpet throughout, including under the table area (!!!!), and not fancy carpet at that. Everything about out house screamed "builder." We were totally OK with that.

Four and a half years later, builder grade carpet doesn't look so pretty.

Four and a half years later, builder beige in flat finish is looking a little, OK a lot, dirty.

Four and a half years later, our home needs a little help. OK, a lot of help. Thankfully nothing too expensive, like a new roof or AC.

We have been tackling some projects around the house, SLOWLY!

A year and a half ago, we painted our kitchen. A year ago, we put knobs on our kitchen cabinets (see, told you it was SLOW!).

Manly Man and I have been wanting to make the boys room special...something fun for them. About three weeks ago, I bought paint and painted their room. We finally finished putting it all together yesterday.

(Frank's extra helmet and old mask)

(Frank's shield, patch, and life saving medals from his time with Greensboro FD, yes something is falling in the shadow box!)

(Model fire trucks the boys got, and their baseball trophies)

We are also cleaning out, decluttering, and try to make our home a little nicer.

We really would love to rip up the carpet and put in hardwoods or laminates, especially with Jonathan's allergies, but that costs too much right now and we just aren't going to do it.

Our home might not be fancy. It might not (OK, definitely won't) win any awards for home designs. The carpet might look tie-dyed. And smushed. But it is our home. It is lived in, a lot. And we live in it well. We homeschool in it, which means more people are in our home more hours a day than if we didn't homeschool. So even though our home isn't all cute...I am learning to accept it for what it truly is...our haven. Our safe place to fall. Our sanctuary.