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A Pretty Happy Home

Life, DIY and Random Things That Make Me Smile

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    • Apparel and Shoes
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    • Home Improvement
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  • Projects
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    • Crafts
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    • Moving to Ireland
    • Living in Ireland
    • Visiting Ireland
    • Travel
    • Family and Parenting
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  • Privacy Policy
  • Home
  • About
    • About
    • Contact
  • Shop
    • Apparel and Shoes
    • Books
    • Crafts and Sewing
    • Decor
    • Furniture
    • Home Improvement
    • Kid Favorites
    • Kitchen
  • Projects
    • Cleaning
    • Clothing
    • Colonial Farmhouse
    • Crafts
    • Decorating
    • DIY Projects
    • Holidays
  • Adventure
    • Moving to Ireland
    • Living in Ireland
    • Visiting Ireland
    • Travel
    • Family and Parenting
    • Humor
    • Learning
  • Privacy Policy

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  • books my kids are reading part 13
    education,  gift and learning

    Books My Kids Are Reading Part 13

    May 12, 2021 /

    It has been a good long while since I published a Books My Kids Are Reading post. My kids are 11 and 14, so they don’t want to sit on my lap reading stories like they did when they were younger. Also, they are a little too big to sit on my lap now. *sniff, sniff* I’m not crying. I just have a speck of dust in my eye. Because of our current life stage and the fact that I had a speck of dust in my eye, I almost clicked delete on an email from a book publicist before I fully read it. I’m not sure if you’ve noticed,…

    read more
    annisa 0 Comments

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    decorating

    Well Bucket Book Holder

    June 22, 2020 /

    I never imagined I’d string these four words together: well bucket book holder. But that’s how my life works, so I just roll with it now. I pinkie swear I’m running out of “I found this left in my house/garage” stories, but that is where this well bucket book holder originated. I found a faux (and definitely not old) well bucket in our garage when we bought the Colonial Farmhouse. I actually liked it as is, but had no use for it at the time. Also, I couldn’t work that green paint into my decor scheme, so the well bucket sat in the garage for a year mocking me. A…

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    annisa 4 Comments

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  • science comics cats
    gift and learning

    Books My Kids Are Reading Part 12

    November 20, 2019 /

    It has been a good long while since I’ve shared a list of the books my kids are reading! Since my kids were babies I have read to them each night before bed. My 7th grader seems to have aged out of this practice this year. *sniff* No, I don’t want to talk about it, but thanks for asking. My 4th grader is still very much into this nightly routine. Thank goodness. I don’t think my heart could take both of them outgrowing this tradition at one time. Here are the books he and I have read together recently that are worth recommending. He’s nine, but most of these books would…

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  • Five Old Books I Found in Our New Home
    colonial farmhouse,  decorating

    5 Old Books I Found in Our New Home

    July 31, 2019 /

    Old houses are full of surprises. (I’m a master of the understatement.) Our colonial farmhouse has already given us plenty of surprises – most of them electrical related. I also found some old books and magazines in our new home. That’s a WAY better surprise than realizing you only have one inconveniently located outlet in your master bedroom! Since I previously told you the seller left tons of unwanted items in the house when he moved out, you might think that I found these old books in one of the four gazillion dozen boxes of junk on the premises. Nope. I found the old books and magazines in two places.…

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  • education,  gift and learning,  learning

    Books My Kids Are Reading Part 11

    May 8, 2019 /

    It has been longer than usual since my last “Books My Kids Are Reading” post. We’re still consuming stacks and stacks of books, but not as many that I’m reading out loud to the kids. In fact, there are only three in this list that I read aloud to the kids and there’s a reason for that. My 3rd grader needed to work on reading comprehension. Since I am a sucker for reading “just one more page” when the kids ask, it was cutting into his nightly independent reading time. We did a nighttime reset so that he has a solid 25 – 30 minutes of independent reading time. When…

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  • decorating,  DIY

    Bookrack Makeover for an Older Boy’s Room

    March 20, 2019 /

    Before I get rid of anything in our home, I do not ask myself if it sparks joy. No. I ask myself if I can repurpose, reuse or makeover the item to make it work better in our home. I also ask myself if I have the energy to repurpose, reuse or makeover the item. Sometimes the answer is “no.” Sometimes the answer is “maybe.” Sometimes the answer is “I really shouldn’t, but I can’t help myself!” Then I end up doing something drastic like cutting off belt loops on Handy Husband’s old, ripped-up jeans to make hanging loops for kitchen towels. Remember that project? Still using those towels, by…

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    June 17, 2020
  • education,  Family,  gift and learning

    Books My Kids Are Reading Part 10

    November 26, 2018 /

    I’m back on this lovely Cyber Monday with the tenth installment of what my kids have been reading lately. My kids are 8 and 11 years old. That’s 3rd and 6th grades. I have one kid who goes to school with a book to read on the bus. I have another child who is ‘forced’ to read 25 minutes a day for homework. It’s a bit of a mixed bag in our household, but I still LOVE to read out loud to my kids and they enjoy that too! All of these books should be available in your local library. If you’re shopping online for children’s books this holiday season, please…

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  • education,  Family,  gift and learning

    Books My Kids Are Reading Part 9

    August 22, 2018 /

    It’s been awhile since I updated you on what my kids and I have been reading together. How have you survived without this list?! My dad is out there right now saying, “I survived just fine!” Hahahaha! Before I get to the book list, I want to share my library receipt with you. I promise this is interesting. Our library recently started indicating on the receipt how much you saved by checking books out instead of buying them. On this trip we saved $262! Isn’t that a clever marketing idea? Alright, onto the good stuff. Our summer schedule has been pretty loosey-goosey and I felt like we haven’t been reading…

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  • education

    Books My Kids Are Reading Part 8

    May 9, 2018 /

    “A children’s story that can only be enjoyed by children is not a good children’s story in the slightest.”  ― C.S. Lewis I mainly agree with that C.S. Lewis quote. If I’m going to read a book aloud to my kids over and over and over, I want to enjoy it too. However, as my kids have become independent readers, there are some books that my kids love (aka Captain Underpants) that I love less. However, I’m glad these books make my kids want to hide under the covers with a flashlight to read after light’s out. Here are the books my kids and I have read recently that are…

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Hi! I'm Annisa.

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