Christmas Tradition Idea

I came across this idea this morning as I was looking for Christmas decorating ideas. I LOVE IT! I found the idea here. (I love reading 320 * Sycamore blog!)

And the idea is...

Wrap up 25 Christmas books and place them under your tree. If you like to do a 24 day advent calendar, then use 24 books. Have the scriptures be the 24th book. Unwrap and read one book each night, and finish off with the birth of the Savior either on Christmas Eve or on Christmas Day, depending on if you do 24 or 25.

I'm actually excited about this one! Now I need to go through all of our books and pull out the Christmas ones. I think I'll go to thrift stores and see what I can find as well. Check out the blog for some great book suggestions! Happy Reading!

Organization Please!

This is the current state of my linen closet. I just know you all want to help me get it organized!

Conversation

Hailey: "Mom, when can I get my ears pierced?"

Me: "When you're 12."

Hailey: "Will I be out of the house by then?"

Me: "No, honey, you'll still be living here."

A Place to Rest

Chase came wandering in tonight just a little bit ago. We layed this bed on the floor a couple weeks ago. I was so tired of sharing my bed with a wiggly toddler. So tonight, he woke up, wandered in, layed down, and fell right back to sleep. Sweet! Now I just have to get him to stay in his own bed.

When the Cat's Away....

This is what happens when I leave for Relief Society Meetings.

Trunk or Treat

It has been a VERY busy day! Not only have I had to get ready for trick or treating, the trunk or treat, and cleaning the house for the football game, I've also had to work! Wow. I made it, though!

I found these really cool sweatshirts at Old Navy yesterday for $2 each! I bought 3, one for each child. They LOVE them, and it's a good thing because Chase decided he didn't want to dress up today. Oh well. At least he was somewhat festive.


The trunk or treat was a lot of fun, with good food! I was hoping more people would decorate their cars, but alas. Maybe next year. This was my creation.

SPOOOOOKYYYY!

Rion won the child's contest for best costume. He was Kip from Napolean Dynamite and Hailey was a glitter witch.

After trunk or treating, we came home and passed out candy. Hailey and Rion went around the subdivision with friends and got even more candy. Go figure. It was a fun night! On to the next holiday!

Before and After

Yay, yay! I got a new lamp today! We were at Savers looking for a jean jacket for Rion for Halloween, and we came across this ugly thing for $6. It did, at least, have potential.



After a little bit of work, and lots of time to dry, here is how it looks now. This was the first time I have ever covered a lamp shade. I'm hoping it gets easier since I still have Eric's to do. I used an oil rubbed bronze spray paint for the base. WAY better! I sure love that stuff!

Virtual Room Design Giveaway

I came across this blog a couple of weeks ago called Addicted 2 Decorating that is FABULOUS! I love the designs that Kristi uses, and especially the fabric choices that she uses in her creations.

Well, she is holding a virtual room design giveaway here! Oh heck yes!! We have lived in this house nearly 3 years and I'm still having design issues in our master bedroom. It's HUGE (23.5 feet long by 15.5 feet wide) and so it seems like a very daunting task. So I figured I might as well enter the giveaway and see what happens. Here goes!

View from hallway. I JUST did that lamp on the left today! So excited about that, and I'll post that next.

From hallway slightly to the left with the window.

And a little further left...

Left side of the room, facing the bathroom door. Yes, the elliptical is gathering dust. Time to get moving again!

Far right side of the room. Eric and I have two separate work stations. Mine is on the left in the armoire so I can close it off when I don't want to think about work.

Here is the view facing the door to the hallway. There are a few unfinished projects against the wall, of course.


And there you have it! One of these days I'll finally get it all looking wonderful! Wish me luck on the giveaway!

Halloween Dance

Date night! I love date night. I would love to say that we never get one, so when we do it's extra special, but that's not the case. Since we go to the temple every week, we know we have date night regularly. However, tonight's date night was the Stake Halloween Dance. I sent this picture to Eric to see if he wanted me to have the pretend mole for my costume. Let's just say, he liked it. (I do believe his exact words were, "Mmmmm, Seeexxxxyyy!" hee hee hee)


We borrowed some awesome biker gear from Gail, a lady Eric carpools with. I think we looked the part, even if I do say so myself! We went with Melissa and Boyd Ricks to Sizzler first, which was WAY packed because of their 2 steak dinners for $10.98 deal. Worth it, though. Their steak was GOOD! Then off to the dance! We had such a blast! Hopefully I'll have more pictures to add once I can get them off Eric's iPhone and from friends.

More Halloween Dance

I'm still waiting for more, but will add them here when I get them. I wish I had more of just Eric! He was awesome!

Human

Chase just ran through the house yelling, "I'm human now!" Gee, I wonder what he was before?

Red Ribbon Week

This week is Red Ribbon Week at school, and today is "Crazy Red Day". Here is what we came up with. Sorry for the blurry photos. These were taken at 7:00 this morning with my camera phone.

Fall Decorations

It's Fall, y'all!

New Tag

Chase sure loves his blankie! He loves it so much that he's rubbed the corner raw where the tag is!

And the poor tag isn't looking to well either!

So today, Chase brought in the tag blanket that Tori made for him and told me to cut off the old tag and put this new tag on. (Yes, I know, it's Hello Kitty.) So that's what I did.

Unfortunately, once I started cutting off the old tag, he started crying, "No, not my tag!!" I seriously doubt he'll even pay attention to the new tag.

More on hair...

Ok, I LOVE the way this picture looks. It's not posed at all, but is way cute and is a somewhat good example of my new hair cut. As soon as I get the rest of the photos from Angie, I can post more. :-) Loving it!

By the way, this was taking at the Santa Cruz Diner in Santa Cruz, CA. FUN day!

Hair cut

Eric and I both got hair cuts today. Since it was done at Walmart, they didn't really style mine before we left. Afterward, we went to Applebees for dinner. On our way in, Rion turns to me and says, "Will your hair look better after you comb it?" Wow! I guess I should go somewhere that they style after a cut!

Self Portrait

This picture CRACKS ME UP!! Hailey has been into taking pictures with my camera lately, many of which are of her. This is the funniest one by far!

New Project!

I found this cool sofa table on craigslist yesterday for only $15! I've been looking for one for a very long time. I do have plans to repaint it, and I'd love to fill in the bottom to make it a shelf, but I'm still deciding if I want to replace the glass with wood, then fill it and paint that too. Any thoughts? The glass isn't clear, it's the smokey glass.

Now, I just need to figure out if I want to spray paint this or paint by hand. Big dilemma, I know.

(FYI, this is not in my house. I just didn't want to confuse anyone.)

Caught Up!

Woo hoo! I have officially caught up on my blogging. Make sure to check out the posts...even as far back as April 3rd!

On a side note, I have also updated the June Food Storage list. Have at it and good luck!

Birthday Party Time

We had a fun family get-together tonight for Rion's birthday. Kelly and Will were in town, so we thought this would be a great time to celebrate.

We blindfolded Rion and made him walk around the room to find his presents before he could open them. That was pretty funny.

He had a pretty good birthday. He got a multi-tool from Larry and Stacy, a bike lock from Kelly and Will, money from Grandma and Papa, and a bike from us. Happy Birthday Rion!