Decorating With The 5 Senses-Sound

We got the neatest book for a wedding gift that talks about decorating with the 5 Senses by Terry Willits. It got me thinking about implementing little things into our home to make it a warm, cozy place to be. Today we are talking about SOUND.

• How does your house sound? The atmosphere? The tone of your voice when you speak? As a Mama you have a lot of control over how your house sounds. Stop and listen.
• WOODWICK CANDLES: these are the neatest candles. The little wooden wick crackles like a fire when it burns and they smell great. Cracker Barrel carries them. Maybe Hallmark too. I'd call before I loaded up the bus to go get one just to make sure the store you have in mind carries them.
• Greet people by name when they enter your home. It is so personal.
• Use a tea kettle to warm water and listen to it whistle at you when it's ready.
• Play great music. (Frank Sinatra, Nora Jones) Hallmark, Walmart, Targe' all carry neat ideas. You can even listen to them before you buy.
• Fill your home with laughter. If your home is running short on laughter ask God to change things and fill it with laughter.

Here are some traditions we've been doing that provide lots of affordable laughter:

• SODA RUN: After dinner yell, "Soda Run"! Load up the bus and go somewhere for cokes. Cracker Barrel, a gas station, Sonic, wherever.
• MOVIE RUN: Load up the bus and go get a Redbox. After that stop by Walgreen's for everyone to pick their favorite box of Movie Style Candy or stop by a grocery store and let everyone pick a treat at the check-out line.
• FAMILY FUN NIGHT: Friday's are family fun night at our house. Everyone gets to cuddle in our bed for the night!
• FOOTBALL NIGHT (Sundays): Put big blankets on the floor and pop lots of popcorn and fill a big bowl. Everyone sits on the blanket, eats popcorn and watches the Cowboys get beat :(. Have nacho salads and cokes for dinner.
• CAMPOUT IN THE LIVING ROOM: Pull out the hide-a-bed and let the kids sleep in the living room. Make big pallets on the floor if your couch doesn't fold out.
• GAME NIGHT: Sit at the kitchen table and play Hi Ho Cherry Oh or whatever age appropriate game fits your family. This will get you all laughing.

Above all you want the sounds that fill your home to be positive. Right now I'm listening to two little boys playing on the couch bed they got to sleep on after the game last night. We were all cuddled up on the bed and watched the Cowboys and I slept out there with them. That is a fun memory that costs nothing.