Sunday, December 26, 2010

Painting Update

The painting has been done for a few weeks now, but I have been to darn busy to post the results. Drum roll please....
The hallway is finished and I love it! The blue curtain still has to go and I have some things that still need to be hung on the wall. So much better than what we had before (you can see those pictures here). My buffet is done as well. We replaced this Sauder hutch that we had on loan from my mom and I am so glad to see it go (no offense mom :)

If that wasn't enough, my husband said we were on a roll and should just get the dining room taken care of- says the man who didn't want me painting in the first place. Here is a before shot:
The purple looked nice once upon a time, but if you remember, I recovered the old window seat cushions and got rid of the grape theme in our dining room. The purple just didn't match any more. I am in love with the new color. It's a brown with a little hint of red.
I've also been busy crafting away, but you'll have to wait and see all of those fun items after Christmas and the gifts have been given :)

Saturday, December 25, 2010

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Another Party Down, Several More to Go

We had another Christmas party today with my dad's side of the family. I always look forward to it sine there are 11 grandkids (plus two husbands :) and three great grandkids. It is always crazy and busy and wonderful. I really wish we could get together more often, but as the grandkids grow up, move away and start their own families it is harder and harder to get together frequently.
Ring Around the Rosie
Emma and Ellie dancing

Connie with Ellie and Emma

Emma helping Great Grandpa open his present

I'm so glad everyone was able to make it; it was great to see the whole family. We love you all and look forward to the next time we see you!

Moving On Up

Due to a nasty ear infection no one has been sleeping well around our house. On top of our little peanut screaming for hours, she has decided she doesn't want to stay in her bed if we try to ignore her screaming. Don't get me wrong, we don't let her scream often or for long, but after several nights with only approximately four hours of sleep, it's hard to be really patient.


On night number two of little to no sleep, Emma decided she was not going to sleep in her crib. After trying desperately to get her to sleep for two hours, at 5:00 a.m. mommy caved and made her a bed on the floor in her room. The next day we went out and bought a railing for her bed and now she is in her big girl bed!

Even though she didn't sleep through the night (she only had one dose of her new meds for her ear) she did stay in bed all night. Mommy is proud, but the moment is bittersweet- my little girl is growing up!

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Most Wonderful (and Busiest) Time of the Year!

Here is a quick catch up from Thanksgiving and the beginning of holiday craziness. Don't get me wrong I love Christmas, but all the hectic running around drives me a bit nutso sometimes... hence the lack of updates.

We celebrated Thanksgiving with my mom's side of the family this year. It was great to see everyone! My husband was thrilled to be part of the photo shoot for my mom's Christmas card this year as well.
As soon as we returned from Lansing, we put up our trees. Jason had put the outside lights up a few weeks prior to take advantage of the warm weather, but we typically wait until the Sunday after Thanksgiving to put up tour trees. Emma enjoyed it more this year, but was also a bit busier. She was unpacking ornaments faster than I could put them on the tree!

Only a few ornaments have broke and I am the only one who has knocked the tree down so far. Nothing like putting half of the ornaments back on at 1:30 in the morning after tipping it over twice while trying to put freshly wrapped presents under the tree!

The weekend after Thanksgiving we jumped head first into the Christmas festivities. We had a party with my mother-in-law's side where Mrs. Claus (aka Grandma Klein) came to visit. Last year it didn't go so well, so this year I prepped Emma a week before hand. I told her Mrs. Claus is a nice lady and if you be good and sit on her lap she will give you a present. It worked so well that when Mrs. Claus came out to read a story to the kids before passing out presents, Emma ran to her and sat on her lap right through the entire story!

She loves the new doctor kit she received and went right to work on Aunt Jessica.

Almost two weeks later Emma had the privilege to sit on Santa's lap at one of our favorite stores, Ecobuns. He even gave her a book to take home. She loved it!

The upcoming weekend promises more chaos with celebrations on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. I truly look forward to the time spent with family and friends. Let's be sure we never forget the true reason for the season!

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Holy Moly Savings!

Just had to give a quick update on the Shutterfly cards- thanks to my post, I received 50 free cards from Shutterfly! How awesome is that? On top of that, I had rewards points from when I used to buy Pampers diapers so I got another 25 free. Needless to say my $140 worth of cards was completely free- now that's a deal! All I had to do was pay $13 and some change for shipping. Not too bad :)

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

'Tis the Season to Spread Some Cheer

It's that time of year again.... I've really got to get in gear and pick out my Christmas cards. While the hubby couldn't care less about this ordeal, to me it's huge! There are a few friends and family that have never met our precious little one, so it's important to me to find just the right photo card to send out each year.

This year I have really been struggling to locate just the right one. I've got the pictures picked out, but finding a card that fits them all properly has proved to be a challenge. I can find ones I like, but typically the selection isn't big enough so I have a hard time finding one that meets my needs. Then I found all of these at Shutterfly. So many choices, I'm not sure which one to pick. Double bonus, they are all on sale right now too! There is something for everyone- whether you like bright vibrant colors or more traditional red and green. You can also order simple photo cards or get one like this that allows you to put a few pics along with a Christmas letter.


Here are a few of my favs:

(Feel free to click on the pic. to see all the info. at Shutterfly's website)

I also discovered they have folded cards that include your pics on the outside and a letter on the inside. This one fits our needs perfectly:

I have order pics from Shutterfly in the past so I already know the excellent quality of their products. I have always been happy with the pics I've ordered, plus it's so easy to simply upload them and then have the pictures delivered to your house when they are done. Now I just have to make a decision on a card!


*You can blog about Shutterfly for the opportunity to receive 50 free holiday cards this year*

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

A Painting We Will Go!

As if the month of December wasn't busy enough already, I have taken on a few home improvement projects as well. Not sure what I was thinking... Here is a sneak peek of a few of the things I am currently working on.
I have always wanted a buffet for our big dining room, but never been able to justify the cost. After a session at my MOPs group with Christy over at Room for Change I was totally motivated to find one and revamp it (check her out, she's got some great stuff). I found this beauty at Goodwill for $25! My husband didn't see the vision at first, but I think he's getting there :)
The stairwell and upstairs hall has been my other project. I have hated the paint since we moved in four years ago, but never had the gumption to do anything about it. I finally had it though and the old paint is going to go!

May I just express how much I detest taping things off to paint. I love the chair rail in the hall, but it made for a ton of extra work! Stay tuned to see how everything turns out.