Merry Christmas

                                                                Merry Christmas!

                                     Once in a while I can get them pose nicley together

                       Little Miss Copper and our 2 cats are the reason there are no presents under the tree..we kept them in the office.

                       After church on Christmas Eve, the church gave out little bags with surprises inside.  Marcus got a little stuffed bear, so he put him on the tree.

                                                  This was Christmas Eve after church...

                                                                   Present time!

                                        It sure doesn't take them long to rip into it all!

                                                        Marcus left cookies for Santa

                            This was part of our spread on Christmas Day...then we turned Mitch's brisket into bbq shredded beef...it was yummy!

                                                          The kids played outside...

                                Im bummed this one came out blurry...this was Mac's big gift...a keyboard.  Marcus got a wii gaming system all to himself...

                           Just hanging out enjoying the day...Merry Christmas everyone!

Getting ready for Christmas

                         My tree is covered in these little guys..to me they taste just like a Cutie...right now I am picking about 5-7 of them every other day...so fun!

                                 Mitch was up early today to start smoking the brisket...half of the brisket will become burnt ends and the other half into shredded bbq beef for sandwiches on Christmas day.

                       These are the boys that Marcus plays with a lot.  In order starting next to Marcus is Derek, Austyn and then Bryce...

                                 They are just hanging out and having a good time...

                                  These are cookies that will be waiting on a plate for Santa....

                                        Still playing outside....coming in for a drink and snack...

Marcus' gifts

                           Look what my sweet boy came home with today!  He has been working hard in his class to make the adorable rudolph and the brick snowman...he was so excited to give it to me that he said he would unwrap the snowman for me!  The kids only have a half day tomorrow and I know Marcus gets to wear his pj's and watch a movie. Such a fun time!

Decorating for Christmas

                                  Mackenzie is at the park with friends, so Marcus and I are hanging out.  I have been working on decorating the house...

                                   This is by my front door.  My long time client and friend Linda Benson gave me the adorable Hallmark Snowmen and dog set.  They play music and the dog howls at the end and Copper goes crazy!  And I have to mention that the red and white striped basket was from Stephenie Meyer (Twilight Author)...

                                      The tree is in our front room (yet to be named room)

                               As you come in the front door this is your view....we have lots of garland and lights...

                                                     lights on the loft.....

                                     Miss Copper wanted her picture taken.

                                              Picture of the pool..even though it's been warm out, the water is freezing!

                   This is the view from my kitchen looking up the second set of stairway.  And you can see pictures are hanging on wall up the stairs....

                             .....and this is what it looks like so far.  I need to add many more photos of our grandma's and papa and aunts and uncles and cousins and nieces and nephews...you get my drift

                                  I added lights and garland to the top of the hutch..it looks so pretty when I have all the other lights...

Thanksgiving Day

        Marcus took a quick timeout from his wii game to pose with his mom.

                                             Earlier that morning, Mitch dared the kids to jump into the pool and they did it!  I can't tell you how cold that water is, but both of them had a look of shock on their faces when they came up out of the pool!

                                                                Family photo

                                       You will probably see this one again on our Christmas card.

                                                               

                       Copper LOVES Max and whenever he comes over he gets lots of love from her.

                                                   Do these 2 look like brothers or what?

KU and Family project

                     Look what Mitch and I got in the mail from my "Mother #2"...that would be my Best friend Joyce's mom :)  When I was back home I was at Joyce's house and saw these place mats on her kitchen table. I told her how neat those were and she must have told her mom because now we have them too!  Yay!  Thank you Mom #2  :)

       Here's my giant letter project...I have filled the bottoms with rocks so they wont tip over, glued the tops and now just waiting for it to dry...then I will paint

                                                     Here they are!!!!!! I wanted a rustic, beat up look.  It is actually supposed to have a metallic look to them, but it's hard to tell in the pictures.

                       You can see it's high up...that's Marcus' bedroom door...

    Im going to get some plastic green plants and a vase or 2 to add to it and then that top area should be complete.  When I was looking for letters, I couldn't find them big enough and the ones I did see cost anywhere from $10-$18 a piece.  All this project cost me was 2 cans of Spray paint and tacky glue a total of about $7..everything else I had on hand.  I actually finished a project!!!

Friends

              Both Mackenzie and Caitie go to different schools this year and it's been since June since they have seen each other.  We met them at sort of a half way point between our housees last night so Mac could spend the night with her.  They were happy to see each other!

             Ok...well, Im still hanging in there on this project.  Gluing all the letters was time consuming...but now I think Im ready to remove the rubberbands, add some rocks or sand inside them (the tops are still open at this point) to give them support to stand up and then seal the tops.

                                           After I do that, then I will start to paint...

13th Wedding Anniversary

                           Mac thought she didn't get her face in the picture; she was working on a little project.  Doing modge podge with some pretty colors then adding the names of all her friends...kept her busy for a couple hours :)

                                 Tuesday the 13th was Mitch and I's anniversary! 13 years...he surprised me at work and walked in with the roses and chocolates and then came home with the wine!  Im so lucky, so blessed and so happy :) :)

Projects

                    This is a project I decided to see if I could do myself.  I have been looking for giant block letters that can sit up on their own and just haven't found what I have been looking for.  So to start off, I made these stencils.  Then I traced them onto cardboard and cut them out...

    ....then I took a break to take this picture of my Goodwill purchase that I repainted for Mitch's "Hideout"...I LOVE this table :)

   okay...now back to my letters.  Let me just tell you...the letter A was very time consuming.  Trying to hold it all together while the glue set up; So Mitch helped me tape it...but later I discovered rubberbands work great and I wont have tape marks later.  My goal is to paint them a rustic red and brown (each letter only 1 color) then rough them up with sandpaper to give it a "beat up" look and may even Modge Podge a letter or 2 with vintage writing or music notes.  I know it's hard to visualize the final outcome; it's still trapped in my mind just waiting to come out :)  I will hopefully finish this project and share pictures when it's done!....to be continued!  :)

                On to another project...painting my house.  This is the 4th room Ive done.  This color is called Gardener's Soil.  I know you can't really see it, but it has a touch of plum color in the brown.  Very pretty.  I was scared Mitch might think it was too dark, but he loved it!  Yay!

                                     My furniture looks great next to the paint!