Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year!!

I always start thinking about Spring right after Christmas. I know we're only 10 days into winter but I can't help focusing on Spring. I don't know, maybe it's my longing for the warmer days or maybe it's simply the sense of renewal that the new year brings. A brand new year, a chance for new beginnings. Whatever the case, I'm ready to start spring cleaning as soon as the Christmas decorations come down!

The very last day of 2007...it was a good day!

The morning started out in the vet's office...our little hamster has "wet tail." When we purchased her, the saleslady at Petco told us that this could happen. She told us what to look for and gave us the number to the vet's office. Sure enough, Lucy got it. I noticed all of the symptoms last night. She was a little dehydrated so the vet gave her a shot of fluids under her skin which will be absorbed to correct the dehydration. She is also on antibiotics for 7 days and Petco covered all of the costs! I sure learned a lot about hamsters today!!

I'm happy to report that Lucy is feeling much better now and even got a chance to play a little with the dogs!

The boys and I stopped for lunch on the way home and then when we got home we played cootie. I promised them we would play it today. Do you remember that game from when you were growing up? I always loved it!

So...now the kiddies are in bed and I think it's finally time to play with my Christmas toys! My dear sweet husband got me a brand new Epson Picture Mate Personal Photo Lab!! Can you say scrapbooking??!! And look at these beautiful papers I got as well...

Mmmmmmmmmm...I love all these shades of pink

I think I see a few blissfully quiet hours of scrapbooking in my future!!

Happy New Year everyone...may 2008 be the best yet!!!

Stay Safe!!

A Wonderful Christmas Was Had By All!!

I hope each and every one of you had a very blessed Christmas with loved ones!

WOW!!! What a week! We all had such a fabulous Christmas spent with lots of family and friends. On Christmas Eve we all went to my husband's mom and dad's house. All of his brothers, sisters and family friends gathered there as well so there were tons and tons of friends, cousins, aunts, uncles and of course lots of yummy food and baked treats! We had such a great time. Then we came home and had Christmas morning at our house. After we opened our gifts and had breakfast, we packed up and went to my mom and stepfather's house. Another day with lots of fun and food. My sister came from South Carolina and my brother was there too. We had a delicious dinner of Smoked Cornish Game Hens, Broiled Asparagus with Garlic Butter, Cheesy Mashed Potatoes, Green Bean Casserole, Dinner Rolls and of course a table full of delicious treats to choose from for dessert! Then, on the day after Christmas, we gathered with my sister and my dad at my brothers house and we did it all over again. I love this time of year! We continued to visit more family through out the rest of the week and yesterday my mom and my sister came over and we all went shopping. Then afterwards, my husband met us for dinner at a brand new pizza place that just opened up in our town. It was delicious!! Whew!!! It's been a long week but lots of fun!

As we're slowly drifting back into the swing of things, we decided to take it easy today. It's cold and raining here so we decided to take this day and make it cozy. I got out the popcorn popper and we made some good old fashioned popcorn and snuggled in to watch Mary Poppins.

I want to thank all of you sweet bloggers for visiting our Christmas Home Tour and for all of your kind and generous comments! You all are the best!!

Dinner at my mom's...Cornish Game Hens and all the trimmings...

The table is set!

My mom's living room tree.

And speaking of gifts, would you just look at the gift bag that my mom and sister made? They actually made lots but this is the only one I got a picture of. So cute!!

They made really cute gift tags to go with them too. Those crafty ladies!!

Merry Christmas From Our Home to Yours

Merry Christmas from our family to yours! May it be a blessed Christmas filled with peace and joy! I know it's kind of late in the game, but I thought I'd join in BooMama's Christmas tour of homes. Just think of it as a Christmas Eve candlelight tour.

Welcome to our home! Won't you please come in?

First, as you come in the front door, we have a few different views of the foyer. Here is part of my teapot and tea cup collection

and then there are a few shots of the lights and garlands going up the staircase as well as on the rail upstairs overlooking the foyer.

Here we have a view of the dining room trees and garland.

Now we'll head into the living room


a view of the tree and fireplace.

the top of our mantel

a little tree on the top of a roll top desk

a vignette on top of a china cabinet.

Here is a centerpiece I made for the dining room table. I filled a dish with vintage ornaments. These belonged to my grandfather when he was a little boy.

Another view of the ornaments and the dining room Christmas tree.

Here is a display on a table in the foyer

This is a hall table in the hallway going into the kitchen.

My mother's sled that she played with as a little girl.

And now we're headed into the formal living room. Here are two trees on an old buffet server that I found at a flea market.

Another view of the dining room. Did I already post this picture? Hmmm.....I think I did.

The Nativity scene in the basement family room.

Also in the basement, a vintage glass tree

and last but not least, our basement family room tree!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

SO GLAD YOU CAME BY FOR A VISIT!!

My Boys' Room Before and After!!

My gosh, it seems to have been ages since I've posted anything! So much happening this time of year. I always think I have so much more time that I actually do. Well, first things first. Remember that room I was redecorating for my boys? It's finished!!

Here is the before picture. I had actually started clearing things out and taking bedding off of the beds and just making a huge mess when I suddenly realized - uh-oh...I didn't take any before pictures. So, the room is a huge mess in this picture! Oh well, such is life. You can get a basic idea of what it looked like.

And here is the after picture! We went with a travel/safari theme. The boys have a large giraffe that was our inspiration piece and they already had airplanes hanging from the ceiling so we went with that.

I have a cute old luggage rack that I had painted white as well as an old metal suitcase on hand so I placed the suitcase on top of the luggage rack and voila - an instant side table with a travel theme twist. I also painted a vintage dresser black and decoupaged some girrafe print tissue paper onto the drawer pull plates. The drawer pulls themselves were painted red.

then, I found an adorable picture of two giraffes

here are the kids existing airplanes

and a few other things around the room

Christmas Thought of the Day

29 Days Until Christmas!!!

Candlelight and Starlight

By candlelight and starlight came He then,

To kindle Hope of Peace in hearts of men.

And every Christmas candle on the sill,

Reminds the world that Hope is burning still.

We see a promise in it's glowing beam

Of one day the fulfillment of that dream.

By candlelight and starlight came he then;

May star and candle light his way again.

~Helen Lowrie Marshall

We're going to go to a neighbors house today to help her decorate for Christmas. Lots of garlands to hang and decorations and lights to put up! I love to decorate and since my house is all finished, she asked if I would come and help her out. The kids don't go back to school until tomorrow and she has five of them so all of the kids can play and have a good time while we decorate! Fun times!!! Have a great day everyone!

Happy Sunday!

November 25...Exactly one month until Christmas!! I hope everyone had a blessed Thanksgiving! I know that we did. My sister came up from South Carolina as well as my brother. My two stepsisters came, one with her husband and the other with her fiance on leave from Iraq. The wedding is next weekend so we'll all get to see each other again very soon!

We're all in Christmas mode now. I love Christmas and have decided that I will post a little Christmas joy each day from now until Christmas day!

Why do the bells of Christmas ring?

Why do little children sing?

Once a lovely shining star,

Seen by shepherds from afar,

Gently moved until it's light

Made a manger's cradle bright.

There a darling baby lay,

Pillowed soft upon the hay,

And it's mother sang and smiled:

"This is Christ the Holy Child!"

Therefore the bells of Christmas ring,

Therefore little children sing.

~Eugene Field

Today I have decided to tackle the boys' bedroom with a paint brush, roller and a couple of cans of paint! Hubby and I have discussed painting the boys' room for awhile but just haven't seemed to find the time to do it. So, I have decided, with the help of my boys (well, sort of, they're 7, 5 and 6 months old), to do it today and surprise him with it! It's going to be so cute! I painted the walls ochre above the chair rail and then I'm going to stripe them with a creamy white. Below the chair rail moulding, I'll paint the walls in the same creamy white. The chail rail is going to be painted a nice shade of red. With all that cream and ochre, I'm going to need a punch of color! We're going to have a travel/safari theme. The kids have this huge giraffe that they can actually sit on like a chair so that was our inspiration piece. They have antique airplanes hanging from the ceiling already, so that is where the travel part of the theme is going to come in. Well, we just took a short lunch/blog break and I can hear that the baby is awake from his nap so I must say goodbye for now and go feed the baby, play with him for a bit and then it's back to work while my troops (aka boys) look on.

Have a great day all!!

Happy Thanksging!!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! Wherever you may be today, I hope you have a blessed day with loved ones! For those who will be traveling, I wish you safe travels!

God Bless and be safe!

HUGE Score at the Flea Market!!!

I decided to go to the flea market today and would you just look at what I found!!

I got lots and lots of pink, white, blue and mint green vintage Christmas balls as well as a vintage Woolworths Christmas tree topper. It has silver tinsel surrounding all of the white lights.

I also found a pretty little teacup!

I love to collect those cute little baby planters in the nice shabby pink and blue colors and I found one of those too! A great day at the flea market!!