Yay! the NEW year is here!!!

can you tell i'm excited about 2010?  i just want to put 2009 behind me as it was a trying time (financial wise) and although i am greatful to have made it through and learned a lot i am looking forward to the plans that were put on hold over this past year....like more house reno and business ventures. =]

i want to jump back a few weeks and express how much i enjoyed my holidays.  aside from being tired of eating holiday foods, i am thankful for the time spent with family and friends.  it seems that Christmas morning changes every year as the kiddos get older and their excitement isn't as obvious (well, Brody still squealed, lol).  i think they enjoyed their gifts but they looked more like zombies than wide-eyed young-ins. lol

THEN...

the new year's day brought my daughter's 14th birthday.  i just can not believe every year when my kiddos get older.  i can't help but be flooded with memories of when they were smaller.  this year's party was VERY low-key.  if anyone knows me there has not been a birthday party for my children that DID NOT include balloons and other party decor but this year, my sweet Syd was just surrounded by a few distant relatives and a fun cake.  i have promised her a day at the mall with a friend.  she has saved her money from the holidays and her birthday so she has PLENTY to spend. =]

well, i'm sure i will be sharing much more creative decor ideas, home renovations and the crazy things my family does throughout this 2010 year.  stay tuned. lol

more festive decor

just thought i would share a few more peeks at some things i've put up around the house.

here is the wreath that adorns the front entry of our home.  the blue coordinates with the blue lights that outlines our house roofline and the blue ribbons that go down our step railing {future updating project, lol} and the red berries coordinate what red is 'going on' in the front living room (see previous post).

i found some fun goodies while "thrifting" at my local goodwill/salvation army stores.  this red hurricane style lamp is about 10" tall and has a battery powered light that reflects the snowflake designs around the outter cover and it casts them on the wall and table (sure wish i knew how to take a photo of that detail, sigh).  i snagged this for $1.00! 

i can not tell you how giddy i was to run across this box of ribbon candy at my cvs.  it brought back a flood of memories of my grandmother and how she use to always have three tiered candy dishes on her tables with oodles of ribbon candy and other hard candies that i just loved to sample.

each color/design has a different flavor and the best part, they are FAT FREE! =]

happy holidays

it's almost here...the BESTEST time of the year!  i'm going to give you a run down of what fun stuff i did here at our home this year.  i didn't take pics of ever. single. thing. but this is the jist of it.

this first tree is in our formal living room.  i started, two years ago, to collect ornaments of black, glass and silver colors.  everything you see on this tree is a product of an after Christmas clearance or Hobby Lobby 50% off sales before Christmas.  this year i decided it needed a splash of another color...i chose red.  i. love. it. =]

see the lamp across the room there?  that has a sign hanging from it that says "Merry Christmas" that is in black sparkly velvet covering.  i snagged two of those at HL after Christmas a couple years ago for $.99 cents!!!!  they were 90% off. sweet.

{don't mind our lack of crown molding...it's on our 'to do' list, lol}

see the silver bows with black velvet designs on them?  i have them on each lamp around this room.  love the little 'extra' that it adds.

don't mind my terrible pics of my tree lit. =[  i'm not good at having a steady hand and choosing the right flash setting.  i THINK you can get the idea though.  this was about a week ago as i have oodles more presents under it.

ok, if you've read my past blog post you will see the mantle shelf i was talking about pulling out of my attic.  this is it.  with a quick dollar store/thrift store holiday makeover it's working for me this year. =]

that empty frame is for our family photo that will go in it VERY soon.  i still will probably add a few more photos here and there. {i only put black and white photos in black frames in this room, if you haven't read my past posts}

these stocking holders have been a major topic with me this year.  well, not these particularly, but the whole holder thing itself.  i haven't ever had any before as i've never had a mantle to hang my stockings from.  since i came up with this fabulous idea of putting this mantle shelf up i was destined to get holders for our pretty stockings.

well, as frugal as i am, i didn't want to spend much of ANYTHING on FIVE stocking holders. lol  i searched the net for a couple days on ideas to make my own with NO luck.  i searched the bigger box stores and even thrift stores and the cheapest i could find was $4 each ones that weren't pretty AT ALL! blah.  i was even ready to pull the spray paint out if needed...still NO LUCK.

THEN...out of the blue i was AGAIN back at my local dollar store and there they were.  albeit, gold, but they were ONE DOLLAR each...i was resisting the urge to jump up and down.  seriously.  i have every intention of turning them to silver but i couldn't wait to get them up and take some photos to share.  although the gold tends to fade into my yellow wall color. lol  they aren't heavy enough to hold FULL stockings but that is ok as Santa always leaves heaping full stockings laying on gifts left for the kiddos. ; }

now, this tree, is in our back family room that we use daily.  it's more of a 'whimsy' style that is still 'work in progress'.  again, all these ornaments were dollar, thrift or clearance bought.  i'm ok with that. =]

{don't mind the leaning star...we've grown to love it like that, lol}

we actually use this tree to display our gifts for distant family and friends.  we keep OUR presents under the front room tree and that is where we open gifts.  this tree here is where we hold gift exchanges with a few distant family members.  it's fun to keep them separate.

this lime green birdie is my fave.  he sits nestled near the top of this whimsy tree.

thanks for browsing our holiday decor.  please share a link to yours, i would love to take a peek!

happiest of holidays to you and yours.

November flew by

we had a great thanksgiving and sadly i did not take photos other than catching my little guy in action while he helped me make desserts the night before.

 

i can't believe i did not make it to the black friday sales this year...a first in MANY MANY years.  it just didn't work as i didn't have anyone available to keep an eye on Brody.  it's all good as i actually got an early start on my Christmas shopping this year and i'm over half done.  i probably would have been done this weekend but my frugal side kicked in and i was resisting the prices on some things as i am confident i can find them less somewhere else. lol  this might come back to haunt me but my stubborn side won this weekend.

Brody was a big help with putting up both trees today.  he amazes me daily at what he can do and the things he talks to me about.  just tonight my daughter (13) asked me why i talk to him like he's an adult.  i had to stop and realize what she was saying but i then answered that i talk to him like i would anyone else.  i don't do the baby talk.  i don't discuss things that aren't appropriate either but i try every day to make situations...learning experiences.  Brody is my little sponge.  he knows so much and his memory he DID NOT get from me. lol

have i ever mentioned that he can make a mean cheese roll up??? lol

i'll be back soon to share some holiday decor and a project i'm working on.

holiday hugs! 

 

Christmas music and shopping!

oddly our local radio stations are blasting the holiday music.  don't get me wrong, i LOVE my holiday music but not at the beginning of November.  not sure why they are doing it so early this year.  i shouldn't complain as it was nice hearing it in the stores i shopped today to get a start on my Christmas shopping.

i finally made it into this GREAT store today for the first time and i'm in LOVE!  i found several great Christmas gives at fabulous prices.  if you have a Gordman's near you...please pay them a visit!

i also managed to get a start on the stocking stuffers.  stocking stuffers for my kiddos have always been important to me.  every year i've made it a challenge to get the most unique and fun trinkets and special things to fill each stocking.  they rarely get candy but sometimes there is a special treat that they favor in there.  i just have a truly good time finding specific things for each of them.

well, i'm beat...it was a busy day shopping today and i'm ready to hit the hay and relax.

Happy Halloween!

just a quick entry sharing a pic of my two treaters from last night.  our treating was a day early in my town.  besides the rain, wind and lack of interest from my boys it wasn't all that bad. ha.

they got their share of candy and had fun visiting family and friends houses.  my little guy was a "in-ja" (ninja) and my NOW 11 yr old wanted to be a barbarian.  i enjoy every year making something out of much of nothing.  i don't think this was my best work as lingering colds kept us from getting a good head start on making costumes this year but it didn't turn out too bad.  i get satisfaction when someone guesses right off what he is and that happened at about our third stop at treating.  Lake was a real sport going to the Salvation Army store to hunt downt he perfect clothing pieces to transform into his costume.  fun times, good memories. 

hope your halloween is memorable.  be back tomorrow to share some birthday party pics of Lake's 11th birthday Wii themed party.

 

pumpkins....trains....fall....

love it.  fall that is. 

after a LONG week of being sick it was so nice getting out and taking in some fresh air.  sure we still have a bit of a cough but we put that behind us as we were happy to be doing something fun.  i ran across a website where they had a 'pumpkin train' at a local farm.

i was bummed to realize i didn't have the good batteries for my camera so i was very limited on the photos as the camera kept dying. *cry*  i did manage a couple for my scrapbook so i'm good for now.  as for the kiddos that keep swiping my rechargables for gaming controllers...that's another story. grr.

 

going green...

as in the challenge #3 at Urban Anthology!  i finished this up using some random things that would go to recycling or garbage.

 

 

follow the link at the top of this entry to see close ups and details about how i made this layout. 

 

hope your easter was wonderful, ours was so just that, that i forgot to get many pictures...kinda bittersweet. lol

 

 

 

this last photo is of my nephew and he just loved sitting on Brody's peddle car. :)

have a creative day!

Valentine's Day and Etsy

My Valentine's Day was wonderfully relaxing!  Fun breakfast with the family, shared valentine treats with the kiddos...sent them off to grandparents, great steak dinner with hubby, funny movie (Mall Cop), foot massage (hubby gives the best-est ones, teehee), chit chat and snuggling.  I got the best surprise this morning when I found that hubby left me the sweetest, most heartfelt Anniversary note on our bathroom mirror...it made me cry....I love him! :) 

isn't this cute???  i was inspired as my little guy just turned 4 recently.  visit my etsy shop (link to right) and you can order one of these cuties with 1, 2, 3, or 4 candles with it! :)

***off to scrap and catch up on challenges over at Scrapperie!