Making lemonade...

We've all heard that expression when life hands you lemons, make lemonade! Sometimes the lemons aren't exactly our own.

Life is funny. You live one way for most of it and then age, circumstance or whatever sends you a giant curve ball and things change. That's when it's time to reassess and make lemonade!

My daddy would do anything for almost anyone but not always will he do for himself. What I mean about that is if you knocked on the door and said you were freezing he'd give you his coat, invite you to warm up by his fire and probably feed you. Make sure you were doing well and then send you on your way. He wouldn't give it a second thought. The next morning after realizing he gave away his only coat he would pull out his sweater and go about his day. COLD but again not give it a second thought. I do love this about him.

The Farm ©Get Inspired with Teresa Stephens Harvey

BUT for every golden trait we have there seems to be a flaw. My daddy's flaw is he's a wheeler and a dealer. He can't pass up a good deal. That may not sound like a flaw to you, and maybe it's not in general. But, with all these good deals he brings home tons of stuff that we may need someday. My mom loved to have a clean house and she likes pretty things. So, when they were younger my daddy drug it in the front door and my momma quietly drug it out the back door. Making lemonade! It was harmony.

The Farm ©Get Inspired with Teresa Stephens Harvey

Then you have to remember where I started this post. How sometimes the lemons aren't your own. Life, time and circumstance change. My mom is very sweet and has worked hard all her life. She worked in the business world, juggled 3 kids, and took care of her husband and her home. That all changed for her and us in 2001. Something went wrong and she got sick. It's never been the same since. We all still love her and do what we can for her but she can do very little for herself these days. Let alone all the things she used to do like drag that stuff my daddy drags in out the back door! So the lemons began to pile up. I knew they were but I was away and it's easy to think of it as not that bad. Then one day my daddy did something he rarely does. He asked for help. So I loaded up the cleaners and my crew (that would be my child labor and hubs!) and drove out to the farm to see what we would see. All I can say is it took a heap of sugar to turn it to lemonade!

The Farm BEFORE PIC ©Get Inspired with Teresa Stephens Harvey

When we got there we were greeted by STUFF! Lot's of stuff. Memories, old and new. Good deals. Duplicates because the original good deal couldn't be found, etc. So, we embraced those lemons and made them our own. Why? Because I love my parents. Because my children love their grandparents and because sometimes life changes and having sweet lemonade is so much better than just dwelling over a large stack of lemons.

The Farm ©Get Inspired with Teresa Stephens Harvey

With a little TLC, a few tears, lot's of laughs, and more than a little hard work we mixed it up until it was just right. Until my mom who rarely says anything took a walk around and noticed her pretty things and touched them, admired them and then said "No, Teresa, I don't want you to move that dresser. I like it where I put it!"

The Farm ©Get Inspired with Teresa Stephens Harvey

I laughed and smiled. I cried a little for the mom that she used to be and rejoiced that part of that mom is still there. 

The Farm ©Get Inspired with Teresa Stephens Harvey

I can't change my daddy and his good deals and bargains found on the side of the road. Chances are if you need something he's got it!

The Farm ©Get Inspired with Teresa Stephens Harvey

The Farm ©Get Inspired with Teresa Stephens Harvey

I do fret that I am so far away and not close enough to help more. But, I am thankful for the time spent. I am thankful that I can give back a little of my time, because, they have all ways made time for me.

The Farm ©Get Inspired with Teresa Stephens Harvey

The Farm ©Get Inspired with Teresa Stephens Harvey

It took a few days to get the task done. The lemonade was sweet and we all got to enjoy the perks of being at a farm. We saw new life. Baby chicks were born while we were there!

The Farm ©Get Inspired with Teresa Stephens Harvey

So enjoy your summer and the chances to make lemonade. ~Teresa

A lesson in Koi

Hello out there! I've been so busy. Working on revamping a Koi pond. FUN. I will admit I was not thrilled when faced with the task of helping revamp and save a swampy haphazard koi pond. But, I looked at it, took a few pictures then did the research. It has been a work in progress and I have more to learn but it is coming along. Here are a few pics of the progress.

Is there a backyard project you are tackling that you weren't excited about? How is it turning out?

BEFORE

PROGRESS!

You couldn't really tell from the before picture but there was a medium sized Japanese Maple at the top, we removed it and transplanted it to a new spot in the yard. The Koi were then captured and put in a 5 gal bucket while we drained the pond and scrubbed and cleaned. Cleaned the Filter and put new filtering material in place. After that we rearranged the flagstone and rocks, added soil to the small planter spaces and added a Koi Fountain to the top of the water fall area. After 24 hours of running the filter it was time to reintroduce the Koi and add new plants. It's been 2 weeks and everything is going well. Next step is to introduce 2 new Koi and to add a larger filter. Don't you love to see progress.

Teresa Stephens Harvey loves Bluebonnets!

Bluebonnets are upon us! Love this time of year in Texas.  Everything is blooming and looks so inviting and the dog days of summer are still in the distance. 

Brings reminders of how fortunate my life is.  Always makes me thankful that I'm blessed with a terrific husband and beautiful children.  I know, I know I'm the wife and mom, but, I've earned bragging rights. ☺

Our family is preparing for the next exciting phase in our lives. College, new houses, new states, city's, schools, etc... CHANGE is a good thing and we have a lot of it going on. Thank you to those who have been praying for us. We covet your prayers and continued support.

We LOVE Texas and leave behind amazing friends and family that will always make this part of the world home. We will be back often. Now we look forward to all the new friendships and experiences we will find.

"There's always room for improvement, it's the biggest room in the house."

Louise Heath Leber

Hope this Spring is a great one for all of you!

Paying it forward. Dream builder. Mentor.

These are terms you hear often. How often do you incorporate them in your life?  Four times a year I enjoy doing a week long personal event I call Random Acts of Kindness. I pay for someone's Starbucks or an oil change, etc. It is anonymous and no credit is given or expected but it truly boosts my spirits and moral because I am lifting someone else up and giving them a chance to look at their day or life through that small gift.

There is a reason God teaches us to give and to look outside ourselves. Those small moments when you teach a child to read, or you help someone with a flat may be the moment in that persons life that opens the door to fully see who they are or what they can be. It may be the moment they learn how to live differently and give back to others.

Yes, your life may be happy. Yes, you may have a good life but until you give back or reach outside your own boundaries to teach, give or uplift someone else you can't see the full benefits God has available for your own life.

A few days ago, I was the recipient of a Random Act of Kindness.  I had been working on our yard work and depend on my son to help me keep this acre+ lot looking great. However, he and his sister were sick and my life seemed to be snow balling with to do's. A sweet neighbor was talking to me on the phone & listened to what was going on.  She said I will be there in 10 minutes with my weed eater! I said you don't have to do that. She was in my yard 10 minutes later edging my yard!! This sweet neighbor and friend uplifted me when life was a little too full. She gave my heart a huge smile and the energy to work with her to complete the task at hand.  It's wonderful to see God's amazing Grace at work. It's also so rewarding to see how he provides.

So this week when you are busy with your daily routine and own busy life don't forget to take a few moments to look for ways that you can be an instrument to  enrich the lives of others.

Kids Rooms ORGANIZED?!?

Yes, it can be done.  The first thing to remember is that any kids room is going to get dirty and messy.  It's the life of a child and the way they learn. 

However, that doesn't mean that you have to accept it as a lost cause.  Most children as well as adults are more productive, creative and calmer with order.  So how do we find that happy medium.

1) Take stock/inventory of the child and their needs.  What does that mean?  It means you have to take the time, and with kids this means at a minimum two times a year, realistically with younger children it means more like 4 times a year, to sort through all clothing items, toys & even decor to assess what the child uses and needs now. 

2) Minimize.  Success comes with being able to manage what is there.  Children really need only a few various types of toys and clothing. Contrary to popular belief they don't need a different outfit for everyday of the month and more toys does not equal happiness.  If you have a play room keep larger blocks, doll houses, large plastic toys & cars in the play room.  If not then select an area in the child's room and limit these large items to 1 or two. 

3) Sort like with like.  Put stuffed animals with stuffed animals, blocks with blocks, cars with cars, small dolls with small dolls, large dolls with large dolls, dinosaurs with dinosaurs, etc... Putting the items in bins that are easy to handle and carry by the child is important.  They will try to move these around the room even at a yound age unless they are attached to a shelf or wall.  Having clear bins makes it easier for a child to recognize and sort.  If you use colored or dark conainers put pictures or easy recognized words on tags of the conatiners.  Take the time to show the child each container.  If they are at least 18 months of age have them help you sort.  Using the words and names of each item you put in the container. 

**With clothing this means seperate clothing according to item.  socks in a small drawer, underwear in their drawer, shirts in their own drawer, pants, etc...If you have large or limited drawer space you can use one drawer for two clothing items and put drawer dividers in to keep things seperated.  Closets for younger children can be used to hang dressy clothes, jackets and sweaters and to house shoes.  Some closets are large enough to hold the dresser and the additional space can be used for shelves for bins of toys or large toy items.

3) Rotate.  IF your child has a lot of clothes and toys then separate them into the according bins and drawers and then every two weeks or every other month rotate the items that are available to the child.  This will help give variety and also to gauge what items the child prefers to play with or wear.  It also helps limit what is available in the child's space so that they don't become overwhelmed with choices.

4) Limit decorative items in the room.  A picture or two on the walls and a few items on the shelves is all a child needs.  You don't want to over stimulated a child in their space and all items in a child's room can become an object to play with or in other words another toy.

5) Be realistic to the child's age and ability.  The younger the child the shorter the attention span and motor control.  So large easy to play with toys for younger children.  Small toys and multiple pieces become choking concerns and also are more likely to be strewn all over the room.  Help younger children put things away by encouraging them to sort or put things in the right bin or basket.

6) Keep things within reach and at eye level that you want the child to have access to.  This lets them know what is available to play with and it also makes it easier to help clean up.  Toys or clothing that you want them to use only at certain times or with supervision should be put out of reach. 

7) Establish a routine.  Set aside 15 minutes a day to "tidy" up.  Schedule twice a week to vacum and dust. Once a week to clean toys.  Most childhood viruses are spread from contact with dirty toys.  All plastic toys can be put in a plastic tub with warm water & a few cap fulls of bleach, wiped off and then laid out to dry. Large toys can be wiped with disinfecting wipes.  Once a month stuffed animals need to be washed and hung to dry or sooner if they are heavily soiled.  Remember younger children put almost everything in their mouth.  Twice a month change bedding.  Once a week is preferred but twice a month is sufficient unless the bedding is soiled or the child has been sick.  Clean all bedding immediately if soiled and/or sick. 

8) Involve your child.  Having a child help and participate in cleaning and caring for their room is what will teach a child how to clean and care for their room as they grow.

9) Don't leave empty space under the bed!  Put large plastic containers under the bed with seasonal clothing or with large sorted toys.  Otherwise the space under the bed becomes a magnet for all things the child does not want to put away.  Out of sight out of mind.  Help your child learn to put things back where they belong by limiting places to hide & easily stash their items.

10) Stick with it! Once you have everything sorted, cleaned and in it's place you are not done.  Sticking with the routine and plan is key to making a tidy and organized room a success.  If you ignore even the cleanest most organized room for weeks then it can become an overwhelming task for everyone.  A few minutes a day really is all it takes and setting aside a time when you first get in for the day or 15 minutes before bath time will help everyone stay more organized and feel more at peace with their space.

Enjoy your beautiful new rooms and have fun with your kids. :)

My paper was printed in the Waxahachie Daily Light!!

I wrote a paper about the turn around of my new neighborhood.  It was printed and they have a writer for the paper that is going to do a follow up article on how the neighborhood has survived the fraud, squatters & recession to continue to move forward as a great neighborhood to live in!  They will be highlight several families and taking pictures of the improvements.  LOVE it!

This is a copy of my article, happy reading.

Happily Ever After….


By Teresa Harvey



That is what every new home owner hopes for. However, just a year ago that dream seemed far, far, away for homeowners in Honeysuckle Estates, an upscale neighborhood, located in the town of Midlothian just a few short miles from Waxahachie.

The neighborhood was riddled with fear, fraud and terms like squatters. There were approximately 17 homes for sale mostly due to foreclosure as of January 2009. Realtors would steer their clients to more “desirable” neighborhoods. This is what our family found when house hunting a year ago.

We were visiting friends here in Midlothian and were looking for a new home and not finding a lot of options, in our town or in our price range, when my friend said we should take a look online to see what might be available in Midlothian. It was a Sunday afternoon and immediately our search, for a new home, led us to several really nice large homes on anything from a regular interior city lot to really nice size lots of ½ - 1 acre. The prices were a little less but not much less than our town until one popped up that was way below the other listings and was listed as “new” on 1+ acres with 4800 sq. ft. WOW. I thought it was a typo, but took a chance and called the realtor. The realtor answered and said she couldn’t show me a property out “there” but I could call the office. Strange. We found a realtor who agreed to show us the home but wanted to show us 3 others first. I loaded up the kids, my hubby and our friends and took off for location number 1. We liked the 3 homes we were shown but the lots were smaller or the prices were over double of the home we were holding out for. So, the realtor finally said, “You really don’t want that neighborhood. Look, I have to tell you it’s had problems.” I assured him I didn’t scare easily and was looking for a diamond in the rough.

Our first drive into Honeysuckle Estates was on a cloudy cold January day approaching dusk. Looking like we had found the local version of a ghost town rather than a residential neighborhood, we drove into the driveway of the home on the listing. After a few calls to find the right code for the lockbox we made our way inside. Amazing! It wasn’t finished but there were beautiful hardwood floors, granite countertops, custom wood cabinets and SPACE! The home was just under 4800 sq. ft. with 4 bedrooms, 4 baths, a game room, a media room complete with a Texas size lot of just over an acre. The price was dirt cheap for anywhere. I felt sorry for the builder but was intrigued by the possibilities. As we walked around we noticed home after home for sale. We immediately decided we wanted to see them all. The next day after taking my children to school I drove the hour drive that would become an almost daily trip out to Honeysuckle Estates from our current home to see what was there. I found homes in all states of disrepair, completion or vandalism. It didn’t add up. I was told the builder had financing problems and the homes had been foreclosed on. A little web search of the area and neighborhood led to more details. It seems the prestigious neighborhood, which started off with a bang of families looking for that true dream home or investing in their retirement home, became a nightmare as mortgage fraud and an almost unheard of term for today “squatters” took over. A neighborhood with custom upscale finishes and elite living had been hijacked!

By the time I started exploring the possibilities there were no more squatters but the evidence of their presence was everywhere in the homes that were left behind. Our family decided we would gamble on the amazing deal and bid on a home. We didn’t get the first home we bid on but won the 2nd. Foreclosures are not always a quick method of buying. It took us from March 1st until June 5th to finalize our closing and take possession of our “new” home. We took possession of a home that was missing a cook top, had a busted water heater, was lacking caulking on all the windows, had a hole in at least one wall of every single room, leaky roof, missing insulation and a big dirt & rock back yard! Rolling up our sleeves we got busy turning the negatives to positive and making this our home. Those first few weeks were busy but almost eerie as no one was ever outside! Finally more and more of the foreclosed or for sale homes sold. By mid July we were down to about 5 houses left on the market. People were starting to come outside. Children could be seen playing, sprinklers were running, and flowers were popping up from the stingy rock with hope and beauty. Hope. That is the feeling people started to share in our tiny little neighborhood. We started meeting neighbors. A group of neighbors started sharing stories about fencing cost, where to buy sod, who was a good pediatrician. I started a Yahoo Group for neighbors to have a central place to get information and share ideas. We had our first block party on Halloween. It was a BIG success. 23 families from our neighborhood of 46 homes showed up. Kids had a blast decorating pumpkins, showing off costumes, participating in the cake walk, fishing game, pumpkin toss & hayride. Adults mingled, talked, corralled kids, and laughed at the kids playing. Speaking to a few of the “pioneer” families we learned of the long road they had endured to reach this moment of hope. Many of the first home owners may still be a little upside down on their investment but things are definitely moving in the right direction for Honeysuckle Estates! As of September all our homes are sold. Fences are going up, yards are sporting beautiful landscape, several new pools have been carved out of the rock, beautiful new doors have replaced the builder specials, and everywhere you look you see families working hard to turn these houses into homes and creating their version of “Happily ever after”.

Everything in it's place...

I don't know about all of you but this is something I continually strive for.  I have been studying Interior design & home organization for years and find there is always room for improvement! 

Coming soon I will share tips for budget friendly kids rooms and how to get them on top of their game with taking control of their own rooms!  Keep in mind I'm not a miracle worker & age appropriate expectations have to be the focus.

Kids rooms can look great and they can keep it that way!  From elementary to college I will highlight rooms that are truly lived in.