Sunday, November 25, 2012

Decorating for Christmas


So I found another video tutorial today which I thought I would share with you. I like this one because she actually does five videos on various pieces to decorate: wreath, tree, garland, etc.
I got the kids' tree up and the main tree up.  I still need to work on the tree in the Toy Room and have to map out what other surfaces I'm gonna be decorating but that will have to be for another day since I promised my mom I would help her decorate tomorrow.

Here are some small shots of how I used the golden glitter deer I picked up from Dollar Tree as well as the Deco Mesh I picked up from Vinemont Flowers and Herb.  This is our main tree.  I like the results but my whole tree picture seems to be lacking something - I don't know.

On a completely different subject, check out this intense look Quattro is giving the iPhone while watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse:)
So, how's your decorating coming?  How many trees do you put up?  Are they real or artificial?

Saturday, November 24, 2012

What Don't Kill You Makes You...

Maybe due to my love for a list and the satisfaction of crossing off a task from a list, my personality gravitates toward tasks, seasons, items that can be clearly defined.  I do not care for individuals or stores that begin to decorate or stock items for Christmas as soon as Halloween is over.  I mean, there's still Thanksgiving to observe and celebrate. My Christmas decorations come out at the proper time - the day after Thanksgiving.
That is, until the flu, bronchitis, colds, and pneumonia hit our house.  For the most part, I am healthy.  Right now I'm the only one steering this ship called Home.   However, the past three nights I have grown nauseated and ran a low grade temp then the next day I'm fine and can take care of the family.  It's almost as if God knows at least one of us is going to have to feel okay for a majority of the day.
Needless to say, the Christmas decorations are not up but I have been pinning away on Pinterest like a mad woman.  I also made it out to two stores today to get some decorating items: 1. Vinemont Flower and Herbs and 2.  Dollar Tree.  After watching the following video, I had to buy some more deco mesh.  I love this stuff!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=iA8ylJWzzVc

So here's my loot and I'll share my plan:)
1.  Put up kids tree in the Toy Room.  The theme for this tree is Kids Crafts.  Whatever Christmas ornament the kids have made through preschool, church, at home, or school goes on this tree.  A lot of bright colored ornaments will be on this tree.  I found some purple glitter ornaments at Dollar Tree but in the above pic they're hiding behind the ribbon and they look maroon.  Trust me, they're purple.
2.  Put up tree in Dos and Tres' room.  Their room has a large front facing window so I put a tree in their room.  As I can afford more trees I will gladly add them to our room and the other two kid rooms but for now three trees will have to do.  This one is Snowflakes with lime green and red accents.  It's only a 3' tree but I loved to see the lights shining from their window when we pull in at night.  I bought some more ribbon for this tree to add some density to the decorations.
3.  Put up the big tree in the Living Room.  Since our ceiling in this room is 12' tall, we cheat and put the tree on a stand to make it look taller.  Again, one day, when there's money to splurge we will get a BIG tree but for this year, the one we have will do.  The theme for this tree is Snowmen and I'm trying to work in some vintage Christmas colors here but not really sure I can do that without scratching what I've got and starting over altogether. 
4.  New to this year:  decorating the TV armoire, the dining table, and the entry furniture piece with cedar boughs.  I'll keep you posted on how they turn out.
Hopefully we will get decorations out of the attic tomorrow - hopefully. 

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

We Just Might Make It

Took Dos and Quattro to the doctor today.  Since getting Tres' results of the flu back yesterday,  I figured I better get the boys to the doc before Turkey Day.  Neither one of them have the flu but Dos has run a low grade fever off and on with a lot of sneezing and runny nose. 
As I sit at my laptop, looking at a clean house, I am thankful for a lot:
1.  God gave me the strength to do a major overhaul on cleaning and disinfecting the house.  I can't even tell you how many loads of laundry I've done today.  But I can tell you all of our beds have new sheets and clean comforters on them. 
2.  Thankful for insurance.  Numero Uno made the move to his current employer eight years ago and I was skeptical.  For the life of me, I do not know why other than it was change and change makes me nervous.  It has been a great company with great benefits.  However, Tamiflu, even after insurance coverage still cost us $75!
3.  Thankful for an amazing husband who stood beside me today helping wherever it was needed.  I love the partnership he and I share.  I was busy cleaning and he would help with the little one or I would be feeding one kiddo and he would be helping the others. I feel like I can conquer the world with him by my side:)

Tomorrow we will have a makeshift dinner here with just us.  I'm about to map out when to start cooking each of my menu items and I'm pretty excited cause I'm gonna peruse The Pioneer Woman's site to see what recipes she has to share:)  Now if I can just hold off any sickness coming my way....

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

All Good Things Must Come to an End

Well, we had such a beautiful Saturday only to have a rough spot hit us Sunday - the flu.  Thus far we have two with the flu and one with bronchitis.   All Thanksgiving plans have been canceled to stay home and clean and get better:)
Have a happy Thanksgiving all!

Saturday, November 17, 2012

Alabama Saturdays

Ah, Saturday, sweet Saturday.  This may just be the best Saturday I've ever had.  Let's recap:
1.  Slept late and awoke to breakfast made by my wonderful man. 
2. Was able to watch my "stories" ( The Pioneer Woman) while sipping coffee - yum!  By the way, she did her Thanksgiving show and I LOVED IT!
3.  I got completely dressed make up and all while my man took the kids on some errands.
4.  Cleaned my house and folded AND put away ALL laundry.  The all caps lets you know just how amazing this feat was.
5.  Shopped for seats to go in the toy room but instead bought these babies which will go beautifully with my curtains I'm making:)

(I already had the solid orange pillows, I purchased the floral pillows this evening at TJ Maxx.  This color palate matches the color palate of the Waverly material I had wanted to purchase but was way too expensive.  I got a good deal on these at the Maxx)
6.  My little girl went with me shopping:)
7.  My man made homemade chili (recipe compliments of Pioneer Woman).
8.  We watched the Alabama game.
9.  We had Family Game Night where every member of the family's name gets put into a bowl and a name is drawn one at a time.  Whoever's name is drawn selects the game that will be played and EVERYONE must participate.  We set a time limit of 20 minutes per game since there are five of us (little man doesn't count yet).  I picked Just Dance 3 and let it be known, I kicked butt!! 

Best day ever!

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Giving

Although fall is my favorite season of the year, we are entering my favorite time of the year.  I hope the difference is as evident to you as it is to me.  Thanksgiving, Christmas - brings a time of joy, love, and generosity to me.  During this time of year, I want my children to birth an attitude of praise and thanksgiving.  I also want to show and teach them there is a world out there full of people in need of love and help. 
As with many subjects, there is an internal struggle within me to be selfish and to be generous.  I catch myself thinking of, "one day I'll have..." then moments later think,"oh, I want to give to that cause or that project".  I realize there is a delicate balance but what I want to cultivate and nurture my heart toward is a heart of kindness and generosity.
Who would have thought kindness would be such a challenging subject matter?  I believe I took it for granted until here lately, with the kids getting older, I've been made aware of how snippy and harsh sounding I can be toward them.  Another doozy is my temperament while driving.  I really didn't pay attention to how I treated other drivers until I heard one of the kids say, "you shouldn't say 'idiot'".  Well, I'm working to improve my kindness.  I'm still reading The Happiness Project and she talks of a mindfulness of how we behave or treat others.  I'm trying to have an ongoing reminder in my head of, "Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted...".
Back to generosity: We've participated in Operation Christmas Child in the past.  Numero Uno and I would buy a box "from" each of our children.  Our kids would be with us when we bought the supplies but that was the extent of their participation.  With the conversation I had with a friend earlier in the year of "teaching our kids that this earthly kingdom is not what life's about", I wanted to include my children more in the reasoning and process of Operation Christmas Child.  As usual here lately, I was able to find a pin on Pinterest with pointers on what to pack.
Pinned Image
On a side note, I met the author of faithfulprovisions.com at the dot MOM conference.  She was really nice.  Her list of what to pack was very helpful.  It also included the idea of your child writing a letter to the recipient of the box and including a picture. 
So here is what we did this year:
1. I showed my kids the DVD provide by Operation Christmas Child (needless to say I was crying while watching the video).
2.  I asked my kids to think about how much of their own money they would like to give to buying items for Operation Christmas Child.
3. I added what me and Numero Uno were going to contribute financially to the project.
4.  I took the kids shopping and let them pick out what they thought were good ideas based off the list I copied from Pinterest.  I did add a blanket and toothbrush to each box.  I'm not sure my kids would have ever suggested either:)
5.  My kids wrote a letter and added their own pictures to their boxes. 

You know what I noticed?  These actions produced some results I wanted and others I did not.  The part I didn't want but realized was a necessary lesson? When one of my kids wanted to take the money back after he had given to the cause.  (Understand he only gave a little so it was not like he was left in need of something) Why?  Because he saw what we had added to the pile and thought he would be able to get all the money.  It was hard for me to see my kiddo not wanting to be a willing partner.  However, we all are selfish.  I'm even guilty of thinking "what could we do with the tithe we give?"  I feel a little ashamed of admitting that last one but it is  a life lesson I am still learning to give.  Now my reluctant one eventually abandoned his selfish desires and got involved in the process.  My kids really enjoyed the letter writing and it gave them a sense of ownership.  They also started asking questions about the boys and girls who would be receiving the boxes. 
My desire is to show my kids that I am still learning everyday to follow Christ, to deny self, to help others.  I do not want my relationship to be fake and I want to be open when I struggle with obedience because I believe that frankness will do more to show my kids what it means to follow Christ than slapping on a smile and listing out all the do's and don't's of the Christian life. Don't mistake what I'm saying, I would much rather give my kids the do's and don't's.  In fact, I would much rather they adhere to the "Do as I say and not as I do" philosophy but then in my heart I know there would be no depth to their character nor a true depth to their relationship with Christ. 

Monday, November 12, 2012

At a Loss

Well since the great curtain debacle of 2012 (yes, I am referencing two days ago) I have been at a loss for what to do.  I did return my fabric to Hobby Lobby this morning and as I suspected they will not receive any more material until next Monday.  If you only knew how long it takes me to actually come up with a DIY plan and follow through on it.  This set back may put me off from doing curtains all together.  My one saving grace is the fact that I wrote about it on this blog and now will have to carry it through:)  So, what have I been doing with my time?
Well, I made a chocolate chip pie...
It lasted all of three hours.  My family consumed it.  Very easy to make.  I will have to make another one soon but I'm gonna have to wait until I go get groceries cause we are LOW on groceries.  I'm making my family eat from what we have in the pantry and it is killing them.  I believe we are a tad spoiled. 
I have been slightly tiffed with Numero Uno over the past few days and have been more silent than usual which has left me with some alone time.  Yes, we could stop and discuss the fact that I'm certain it is not good for a relationship to be in a tiff for a few days or we could just move on to what topic I'm getting at.  I choose the latter:) (Also, in a perfect world I would not divulge my tiff but ehh, I'm not perfect)  Needless to say, I've been perusing my old Southern Living magazines.  Which, by the way, I LOVE!!  So need to get me a subscription for the new year.  I noticed in the November 2010 (told you they were old) a table scape pic.
Here is my rendering of it.  Your thoughts?
Now, before you burst into laughter, please realize: a). I do not have an ample budget to fund this scene and b).  I'm entertaining my little pod of a family not the White House.  Okay, so seriously, should it stay or should it go?


Sunday, November 11, 2012

The House of Halfway

I should really do a better job of cataloging my attempts at DIY projects and the "bumps" I meet along the way.  I would probably have enough material to write a short novel:)
I came across this pin on Pinterest a while back and was immediately pumped.  But like most pins, it sat there for a while until I realized I probably had enough money in my budget to make the curtains.
DIY curtains
 
Well I headed off to Hobby Lobby to find some material I would like to use.  I absolutely love Fall colors.  However, my big problem is I use TOO much brown and burgundy and my house comes off looking dark.  Recently, with the painting of my pantry door and painting of my foyer piece, there are some pops of color.  I wanted my curtains to add some color as well to brighten the room. 
There was some absolutely beautiful Waverly material there but even with the discount my cost would be $154. 
 
Multi-Color Chevron Zig Zag Curtain Panels - set of 2 - Pick your color - Pair 84-88 - FREE SHIPPING
 
While they are BEAUTIFUL, I simply can not afford that!  So... I found a cheaper material that I was just as happy with.  $35 for 6 yards.
Armed with my list of instructions (which by the way, House of Hepworths does a fantastic job detailing this project) I was ready to go.  After multiple trips to Hobby Lobby to make sure this was the fabric I wanted and multiple phone calls to my sister-in-law who is an interior designer, I was ready to go. 
Step #1: Cut fabric 10" longer than needed.  I measured my window length to be 98" so I had added 10" to make it 108" needed for one panel.  I doubled that number and purchased 6 yards of fabric...or, so I thought.
 

I laid out my fabric on a clean floor as instructed, measured out 108" and cut.  As I went to lay out my next 108" of fabric, this is what I discovered:
SICK.  That is the word that describes what I felt upon my discovery.  I looked at my order ticket: "6 yards at $8.99 with 40% discount".  What I measured?  5 yards.  ONE YARD SHORT!
So, what is the life lesson I learned today?  Measure the ENTIRE length of your material to make sure you got what you paid for before you cut.  Since the lady behind the counter informed me to get all my material off the same board in order to ensure the same color throughout, I have to wait until tomorrow when the store is open to go and see if I can order some more material since there will not be enough left at the store.  Ugh.
I knew that pin was too good to be true:)


Friday, November 9, 2012

Wish Me Luck!

Well I am starting a new project tonight.  Something tells me it will take me all weekend.  I am making curtains!!  I saw a pin on pinterest on how to make your own curtains and I'm gonna attempt it.  I will take pics and keep you posted:)

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Dedication

Sunday marked two weeks since our baby's Dedication service.  For some reason I'm not exactly sure of, I have taken a hiatus from blogging for the last two weeks.  I'm chalking it up to a temporary funk I am in and am moving forward.
 

I was beginning to wonder if Quattro was going to be dedicated since he's 10 months old!  It never seemed to work out with Numero Uno's work schedule.  Both sides of the family were able to attend and it was a nice service. 
I'm extremely grateful for the church we have and I pray God's continual blessings on it.  As far as blessings go, I also pray a special blessing on Quattro that he will grow in strength and character.  I pray he will enter into a relationship with Christ as a natural result of the family environment he is in.  I pray God will be his peace and comfort no matter what troubles of life arise.


About Me

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I'm a thirty-three year old stay-at-home mom to four beautiful children. I am daily learning what it means to be a Christian who loves God.