It’s been a year since we moved into our little ol’ house in the Cincinnati suburbs. I thought it would be fun to go through my phone photos and highlight some of the little things I have come to love about the home that we ended up in. You may notice that I only talk about the outdoors! There are things we love about the inside too, but it’s definitely a work in progress. I’ll save that for another post.
First off, there is someone on this cozy street who has been there to greet us since day one and we have been so blessed to have him in our lives. His name is Walter.
He even made an appearance in this photo that we have with our realtor. Proof that he was with us since the beginning.
He was actually a puppy when we met him, so I guess he is about a year and a half old now. His family lives directly across the street from us, but they don’t have any little kiddos so I think Walter enjoys being around a gang that is as rambunctious as he is! And since we don’t have a dog nor do we plan to get one anytime soon he fills that void for our family.
The first Holiday we celebrated in our new home was Easter. We were able to host lunch for 18 people! I cut fresh lilacs from our tree out front, we hid eggs in the yard, and Mémé and Pépé brought kites and other goodies for all 8 grandchildren. It was the picture perfect day.
Next up we got to know some of our neighbors. Most of these houses have been around for close to 50 years and a lot of the residents have lived here the whole time so we are one of the youngest families. Not entirely though, there are several boys that are Z’s age.
This has been so cool for my little man who had to leave all of his friends and his school (although thankfully they are still not far). I love that he has friends to hang out with. If the weather is nice I guarantee you our doorbell will ring at least once a day. They play sports, hike, swim, shoot nerf guns, and get plenty of fresh air and exercise.
We have this awesome living room window that overlooks the street and I get to spy on them! I call it my eye in the sky.
Another thing I love as a mom of small children is that we live on a dead end street off a dead end street so there is no traffic! That means when the kids are out of school they are in the streets.
Just pick your favorite way to roll!
Sometimes I see this kind of mess in my driveway and it makes my little mama heart flutter! I love being a place that kids know they can come and park their bikes. It is my favorite!
Here is another pic that really shows what our street is like.
There are a couple different neighbors talking in the middle of the road with dogs sitting around and a kid coming down the hill on a skate board. I mean really! That’s our house in the middle of the picture in the background. I know this isn’t a luxurious dream spot that you are going to find on TV or in a magazine, but in my book, it’s even better.
Okay now let’s talk about our yard. We’ve got some awesome trees. We wish we had more. Our neighbor behind us has a pool, a playground, a shed and a trampoline with a chain link fence. To be honest, we would love a little privacy between us and them, but I’m being nitpicky here. Those tropical looking plants are banana trees. They die in the winter and get super tall in the summer. They do not produce fruit because the warm seasons aren’t long enough here in Ohio.
J hung a couple of swings from some of the tress and the kids love to play outside!
In fact, this yard is what sold us on the house. The patio area is perfect for us.
For my 35th birthday my family came out and they gave us a grill!
So we cookout and eat outside every chance we get.
In the summer we garden! We have loved getting plant berries and vegetables and to make the most of having a place to grow things.
The list of gardening benefits goes on and on. It’s fun and educational for the kids. It’s therapeutic for us. It’s healthy for everybody! I hope we get to do it again this year.
Last but not least what I love about my house is the view. Our street name is Hillside and I love being up high on hill. We don’t have a scenic overlook and we aren’t in a completely wooded area, but it’s wooded enough that we see alot of critters. Chipmunks, woodpeckers, hawks, bullfrogs, humingbirds and deer are frequently spotted in our yard.
I love seeing the sunrise over the hillside. It is so beautiful and after feeling like vagabonds for 5 years this house such a miracle for us. I’ll mention again, it’s not perfect, but we are blessed to be here and I refuse to take this gift for granted. I thank the Lord that he led us to this place. Everything about it is right for our family. This is where we get to raise our family. What an honor.
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