Porching

After school started and all the kids were at school all day long for the first time, I finally decided to pay some attention to my much-neglected porch.  It had been used for four years for the landing spot for strollers and scooters and little bikes.  We're beyond the stroller stage now, the kids' bikes are too big to be kept on the porch in good conscience, and we keep the scooters in the garage with them.  So, I scouted out some deals on a few cozy items, and in the process, I discovered an extra room to our house that we didn't know we already had.

I tried to make the front door more welcoming to guests and to our family.

I had this new sitting area facing the street for awhile.  Yes, the tags are still on the cushions because they were on trial and I wasn't sure whether I would return them.

I ended up putting the chairs over here.  They felt much more cozy.

We discovered that the porch was a great place for Jonathan and me to debrief after school each day.  You can see how hot and sweaty he gets on the ride home...and how much he's enjoying his new instrument in band.

Grace loves reading on the porch, too.

It's also a great place to take pictures of the silly kids.  This was picture day for the youngers.

The porch has turned out to be a great place to sit and chat with a friend, too.  Time to sit and chat - as well as friends who have time to sit and chat - are difficult to find these days, but my friend Ashley and I have broken in this spot and found that it is perfect.  She coined a new term to describe sitting on the porch and chatting:  porching.  If you're in the neighborhood, I hope you'll drop by and enjoy some poaching with me!