We did not use as many lights as we did last year, but we made some changes. We brought back the inflatable Santa train, put candles in the windows, and illuminated the house with five red and green floodlights. I like the color scheme. We like to mix things up a bit so it doesn’t look exactly the same every year.

We also took out our nativity scene. I scoured the property for rocks to put in each piece so they don’t blow away as they did the last time we tried to put them out.

We finished the indoor decorations today as well. I will post pictures soon!

We got a couple of estimates for new garage doors. The second one was from the company who recently installed our new door opener. Their quote was $600.00 less than the first! We are going with the Stratford 2000 series by Amarr. It’s a double layer door (they said even the single layer one is three times more insulated than our existing 41-year-old doors). We went with short panels and clear glass. It’s a bi-level house with no window grids… So yes, I know I shouldn’t get too carried away with the exterior.

Installation day will be sometime in the next two weeks.

One of the first things we noticed when we bought this house was the condition of the garage doors. We talked briefly about replacing them, but quickly took to other projects. It’s been 5 1/2 years, and these 41-year-old doors are not going to hold on much longer.

I painted them in 2006, and that made them look better. Still, that couldn’t change the fact that the top panel of the left door never closed completely. It got worse over time.

If you stand in the front of Will’s bedroom during winter, you can actually feel the cold air blowing upward into the room. It’s almost as bad in Lily’s room. The culprit:

The opener on the left door wore out a few months ago. We bought a replacement, and finally got around to having it installed last week. It seemed to work fine. Then, it got stuck. The entire top panel bent.

I noticed from the outside that the old latch was turned to the lock position. I still don’t know how this happened. Something may have snapped. I don’t think the kids would have the strength (or motive) to touch it. Nonetheless, that is why the door would not open. The horizontal bar that acts as a lock is jammed. I’ve tried everything, but it won’t budge.

See the gap on the bottom? It’s almost as awesome as a PO’s choice to paint the interior side of the doors to make the garage look like a fire station. They even painted the support beams to match. Wow, thanks!

The company that installed the opener is coming back on Wednesday to look at it. We decided it was time to finally just replace it. It only makes sense to replace both at the same time. We’re going to get a few estimates this week.

I want to find a very energy efficient replacement. We also need something that lets in some natural light. I can’t wait to see what (affordable) options we have!

My parents visited for the weekend. The closet doors in the master bedroom had recently broken off (again). There were no doors on that closet when we moved into the house. They were flush to the ceiling, so we had to special order them. What we got were hideous, hollow bifold doors that never really functioned correctly. We lost a lot of space on both corners, which never seemed worth the tradeoff of reserving the vertical space. They became worn out over time. They fell off constantly.

Home Depot and Lowe’s didn’t offer any other style of door for that height (90 in.). We bought some standard height sliding doors instead.

My Dad built the framework. He chooses to “eyeball” his measurements. I don’t know how he does it, but everything always turns out perfect. It saved us a lot of time.

He also replaced our old drill “zappy” (it must have been from the 70s) with a fantastic new cordless one (no hex key required – imagine that!).

The drywall:

The finished product:

I love the way everything turned out. They’re not only functional, but they look much better, too. I moved my shoes from the top shelf to a wire rack that I bought for the floor. That made so much more sense anyway (no more jumping up and down every morning to get to them). I thought we’d lose access to that shelf, but I was able to fit some odds and ends up there without any problems.

My parents had asked recently what Micah and I wanted for Christmas. I tend to choose practical items every year. I asked for a new nightstand.

When we bought our bedroom set a few years ago, we couldn’t find a matching nightstand. Our particle board / cardboard nightstand from Walmart (Dad’s temporary work bench in the photo above) had fallen into disrepair, and was holding its contents hostage (shocker). We went to the clearance center and found this:

It has a black marble top. It’s missing one handle, but I will either find a match or replace them later. It matches our furniture perfectly, and it has three drawers for storage.

The Christmas season is almost here. We’re not planning on putting many lights up this year, but knowing us, that very well could change!

If you’re thinking, “Wow! 14 Bags of leaves. I guess you’re done with yard work.”, you’re not seeing the big picture (literally). Let’s zoom out a bit:

On the upside, we still have the $50.00 Homelite leaf blower that Micah won five years ago at a corporate training seminar. Every once in a while, the cheap stuff lasts. It saves us a lot of time!

Goodbye, rusted, deathtrap mess.

(Looks like something you’d find on the side of a desert highway, yes?)

Hello, shiny new gutters that won’t collapse when I lean a ladder against them…

(You mean, downspouts aren’t supposed to be held up by an improvised structure resembling a coat hanger? Wow!)

The guys just showed up at the door today and asked if they could start. Odd, but we were expecting an appointment sometime in the next week anyway. I am so glad we have a new gutter system!

Really. Eww eww eww. In case my neighbor visitors are wondering, we were not decorating for Halloween. Our shrubs were invaded by giant spiders, and they became engulfed in webs. I had to peel them away with an old broom handle. Thankfully, no spiders took refuge inside the house. As I finally reached the last shrub, I had to stop. This seemed too perfect – beautiful, even – so I left it there.

I may regret that in about a week. We’ll see.

We are getting a new gutter system soon. We already got the written estimate, and they said they could schedule our installation around the end of the month. I am relieved. Our gutters have worried me for so long!

We’ve been doing the basics to prepare for fall. The gazebo and lawn furniture have been packed into the garage. I organized the garage closet and managed to donate a few bags of housewares. I have been wanting a fall wreath for the front door. So far, this is the extent of my festive additions:

Those guys set me back about $4.50. Not bad.

This year’s beautiful apple blossoms have been replaced with beautiful, actually edible apples! It’s not nearly as good as our crop from 2007, but we had a lot of fun apple picking in our own yard today. It seems very early in the season for us to find so many that were ready.

Micah always spots the good ones:

Will attempts to join in on the fun (he insisted on having his own red apples):

What we have picked so far:

It’s time to bake a pie! I can figure it out, I swear…

I forgot to order a shelf for our china cabinet. We found it last year at a clearance center, and it was missing one shelf. That was almost a year ago!

I used the same company that made our cabinet door inserts for the kitchen. It cost $22.00. Why did I wait?

Our Christmas china fits nicely on the bottom, and I was able to free up some space in the kitchen cabinets.

It was time to get rid of the dishes the kids were using. They were flimsy plastic plates and bowls (the kind you get in the seasonal department at Walmart), and over the last few years, they became scratched and warped. I shouldn’t have kept them for so long! Each kid has their own new plate from Pier 1. I was so disappointed that the yellow ones were out of stock, but they are happy with red and green. I found bowls at Walmart for just $1.50 each! They match perfectly.

Micah and I found some cool new glass pieces to display in the kitchen cabinets. We went to Marshalls/HomeGoods to get new sneakers for the twins, and walked out with these lovely end cap finds:

Inspired by our suburban sunsets, perhaps?

I am starting a new category of posts called “Home Scenes“, which will feature our favorite spaces and details in our home. I encourage you to reply with links to your own blogs and photos. What do you love about your home?

Description: We have almost all of our windows open right now. There is a slight breeze, and the crickets are chirping loudly. That’s all we can hear right now because the kids are finally asleep! We have a lot of dimmable, soft lighting here, and I love the open floor plan in this area. It is great to unwind here after a hectic day.