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Friday, December 31, 2010

Best and Worst

There are lots of wonderful things about owning an old home.  The fabulous wood floors in each room.  The character it has with the moldings and trim work.  The big rooms and high ceilings.  I could go on and on.

There are some downsides as well.  One bathroom.  Virtually no closet space.  Lots of repairs needed.  Like, for instance replacing the trim work around our guest room window.  Outside.  Because it FELL OFF OF OUR HOUSE.

Happy New Year.  I'm looking for a contractor.

Top Projects of 2010

In keeping with some other blogs I've seen, I'm going to list my top 10 projects of 2010.

 We took a cheap craigslist bench that looked like it came from a hotel lobby and made it a cute bench for our (old) kitchen. 
Now that fabric matches nothing in our new house and the bench will be recovered again!




This was the project to start projects for the next thirty-ish years.
And it's a good thing I don't have buckets of money at my disposal.
I'd be buying houses every day. 


Moving with three children, two dogs, and a full-time job is a treat.





This is an ongoing project. 
I love me some craigslist.
We've gotten a ton of great, inexpensive things this year.
Like what?
Eight dining chairs for $80.
An enormous braided rug in like new condition for $40.
The bench in project number 1 for $20.
A desk for $20.
Three matching twin bed headboards for $40.
A hoosier cabinet for $150.
I know there's more, but those are the things I can remember off the top of my head.

 5.  Unpacking













This project is still in progress, but has already added a lot to our kitchen.

I know 2011 will bring us several more projects. . . the biggest will likely be to fence our backyard!

I'm linking to Rhonda's top projects post at Southern Hospitality.


And to A Little Knick Knack's Everything But the Kitchen Sink party. 


Christmas, The Finale

As you can likely imagine, there was a lot of Christmas excitement around this house.

Each of the boys opened a gift (or two) on Christmas Eve.


None were too excited about their Christmas pajamas.
Whatever.

Christmas morning was another story.

And they sure looked cute in those matching pajamas. . .

 The Bat Cave was a huge hit. 
With all of the boys.

Our tree looked like we were having Christmas for 20 people.
We weren't.
Just eleven.

The gift opening was a whirlwind.

Nobody was interested in "laundry".
You'll note the Gymboree boxes piled up, unopened. 
If they saw a "laundry" box it just went to the side.

Everyone seemed pretty happy with their gifts.

Even Max was a good boy.
He must have known Santa was watching.
He hardly peed inside at all. . .

Despite the serious look on his face, David did have a nice Christmas.

Little Jack. . . who wouldn't want this fireman to save them?!

The boys got a trampoline from Nan and Gramps.
They're SO excited!
You can see Bingo on the hutch behind them - this was the hit gift.
David LOVES to be the "caller".

And, the aftermath.

Why don't I remember having to clean this up as a child?
Oh right, because I DIDN'T!
The mother has a lot to do after Christmas. . .


The aftermath seemed to trickle through the house.

And Jack realized that opening presents all day is hard work!
I hope you had a Merry Christmas!

Monday, December 27, 2010

Christmas 2010, Part Two

This year I used tons of ponsettias to decorate - I love them and got them at HD the day after Thanksgiving for 99 cents. 
I was really happy they lasted as long as they did. 
They're starting to look a little rough.
Outside, we did garland on the porch and trees at each door.
I love our porch, and I was very happy with how it looked decorated for Christmas.

I'm also in love with the transom window with our house number. 
It looks so great at night all lit up.



We even had a (sort of) white Christmas!
Unheard of for Tennessee!


 On Christmas Eve when I went to put the baby Jesus in our manger, I found this.
Lego Indiana Jones.
I left him there.


We put out our cookies and milk for Santa.
Right near our mini gingerbread houses.

And miraculously, everyone went to bed without a problem!


And Santa came!