Valentine's Mantle

I love to decorate for Christmas, but I can't say that I do a lot of other seasonal decorating.

Between cooking, cleaning, teaching, and all those other mama things, I just don't have the time, energy, or money to make the house festive all year long.

Or, so I thought.

Then I stumbled upon some super cute seasonal subway art downloads.

If you're looking for something quick, easy, and inexpensive- here's a project for you!

I started with this really yucky $4 frame from Goodwill.

I took it apart, cleaned it, and spray painted it white.

Then added this sweet, free download from 1825.

(I printed it out as a 16X20 at Sam's for $6).So, for $10 and about an hour of my time, our house has some Valentine's decor- for the first time in a long, long time!

Now, I'm off to shop the house for some other red items and decorate a little more!

(I also had this free download printed for later in the year. It's stored behind the Valentine's print, so I can just swap them out and use the same frame.)

Day 363~

Great night.

Friends over for dinner.

Computer working again.

Yummy southern leftovers for later.

A clean kitchen to boot.

Quick photo before heading to bed.

Day 357~

Just a couple quick shots before heading to Central... most of these presents will be unwrapped there tonight.

Ahhhh, I'll be home for Christmas!

Day 302~ The Old House

We've procrastinated long enough!

Today was the day to finish emptying out the old house so that we could rent it out.

Seeing it empty actually fills me with relief and not the first bit of sadness.

It is the first home I lived in with Superman, the home we brought our little, bitty babies home to, but also the home we have future plans for.

And for those plans to happen, we needed to move out and move on...

Day 276~

Decorating for Fall!

Day 274~ $2.50 Chandelier

I usually avoid the dollar section of Target.

But, I strolled down it this week, and found something that made my day!
My kitchen sink before.

My kitchen sink after!If you want one, too, they are mixed in with the Halloween items!

But I think this one will stay up much longer than just Halloween!

:)

For $2.50, Superman no longer has to hear me repeat how much I'd like a sparkly chandelier in my kitchen!(up close without flash)(with flash)

P.S.- The 'SMILE' canvas in my window is from Elizabeth.

You can visit her etsy shop here.

You can see another post about her here.

Day 249~

This area is quickly becoming my newest favorite nook in the house.

In our last home I was hesitant to hang many things on the walls.

We lived there 13 years.

What a waste!

I've already hung lots of things on the walls here, and we only moved in in March.

It feels good!

In June, Superman's grandma gave him this cross-stitched picture.

I almost cried when he opened it.

It hung over his grandpa's desk area for years.

And, was one of the few possessions of his grandparents' that he has ever truly wanted.

If you ever knew his grandpa, you'd know he was very old-school in his thinking concerning women.

But, we were all the better for our experiences with him.

He taught us all so much!

Superman has quoted the poem from this picture to me for years!

;)

"Man wants little, is easy to please.

Woman, bless her heart, wants everything she sees!"

Priceless, huh?

I call that saying a 'Tiny-ism'.

(Superman's grandpa's nickname was Tiny.)

It's just one of the many zingers that wise, sweet man was full of!

Day 215~

LOOOOONG day!

Good, productive, and happy, but very long!

I'm off to take my shower then snuggle into my fresh, clean bed.

Can't wait...

Day 181~ How to Really Love a Child

So, it's 11:50 PM.

I've just gotten home from a night with some of my homeschool mama friends.

And I'm either high on caffeine or shopping!

Not sure which one!

Because normally I wouldn't post such yucky, no-natural-light pics!But I tell you what, I am in love!

And I just had to share!

So, please forgive the picture quality!

I saw this print before Christmas.

It spoke to my heart!

It was the only thing I asked for.

But they sold out before Superman could make it back to the store to buy it.

When I walked in tonight and it was there, I gripped it in my hands until my knuckles turned white!

I was taking it home with me tonight no matter what!

And I did!

P.S.~ A LOT is TWO words, not one!

Day 86~

We still have a lot more to do in Wyatt's room, but we've got a headboard that fits now!

And that's a step in the right direction!

Day 61~

There is something to be said for a fix-it man!
And I'm so lucky to have THREE of them at my house!
Superman has become quite skilled at laying hardwoods, and I'm tickled that the joys have been able to learn along side him. It does a mama's heart good to see her hot, hunk of a honey teaching her boys such things!

Here Wyatt and Superman are finishing up the last line of flooring in Wyatt's new room.

Thanks again to Grammy & Paw Paw for gifting Wyatt with his new floors!

Day 26~

Load #3 for today.

Longing for summer laundry.

A lot less material in shorts and t-shirts compared to long pants and layers.

But grateful that my family has clothes to wear, and modern conveniences to help with this chore.

Early Morning View

I couldn't get to sleep on the early morning of 'Adam's Eve' (12/23). I had finished making the last of the presents. Finished the wrapping. I was pooped! But, I just couldn't sleep. So I snapped a few pictures of the tree and presents. No matter how I tried to rearrange the presents, I still couldn't hide the boys' Transformers wrapping paper. Oh well, I guess I should just be thankful that they wanted to help me wrap!
I love our little Santa! When I bought him, he stood taller than the boys! Oh, how times have changed!

My Boy's Menorrah

We're not Jewish, but...

We sure love to celebrate the holidays.

Especially the littlest joy!

He also loves to help me decorate for Christmas.

A couple of years ago we were at our local Cracker Barrel in December. And when at Cracker Barrel, you MUST shop a little. As I perused the ornaments, candles, and stockings, I found myself being tugged by little hands to see a decoration that we needed, or so he proclaimed.

And this is the decoration that he spied with his little eyes.

How could I tell this little face no?

Obviously, I didn't!

Christmas Tour of Homes

This will be our last Christmas spent in this home. We're not going far, just to the house across the street. The house across the street is currently our rental property, but soon it will be our new home. There's a little more room there. The layout is better for our family. But, now that I'm trying to make sure we enjoy each and every last moment in the home in which we've lived since we were married 12 years ago, I'm finding it a little bitter sweet.

But enough of that! That's not what this post is all about!

I've enjoyed setting up Christmas a lot this year! The best part has been doing our family tree. I didn't take out my blown glass ornaments this year. It was too stressful last year, worrying about how many more of the ornaments were going to get broken. This year, we used all of the boys ornaments and family ornaments. My only rule was that the ornaments couldn't be easily breakable!We turned on Christmas music as I unpacked the Christmas boxes. The boys put on each and every ornament themselves! Even when they put 6 ornaments on 1 branch, I didn't say a word. And, I didn't go back and rearrange them. At the end, the littlest joys told me that, "This is the best Christmas ever!" I think we just may have a new tradition at our house!

I'm spending lots of time in the kitchen right now! Lots of Christmas goodies to be baked and shared! Here are two recipes I'm working on this week that you might like to try cheese straws and Holly Treats.This is the first year I've had a little tree in the kitchen. Don't know why I waited so long to indulge myself? It's such a cheerful little tree!And it's dressed with lots of mini kitchen items.I bought a set of 12 mini cookie cutters at Target for $5.00. And just tied them on the tree with little bits of ribbon.Also with that tree, I have the boys' What God Wants for Christmas nativity set.Do you have one for your children? You can find them here. (And they are on sale right now!)Last year, after Christmas, we picked up several nutcrackers for the boys' tree. Since we put all of their old ornaments on our family tree, I'm so glad we picked up new ones for the boys last year! I had to sneak in while they were sleeping to get these pictures:*Christmas storybooks are wrapped under their tree. We open one a night, and read it together as a family.

Their tree normally has white lights, but the pre-lit ones died this year. I cut them all out, and they requested colored lights. Their white light star looked a little out of place, so they opted for a Santa hat on top.
But this is what it looked like when I found it tonight...Obviously they feel free to take decorating control this year!

I love this versatile little apothecary jar. Want to see what it looked like at Halloween? If so, go here.

Speaking of my children feeling like they have decorative liberties these days, come back tomorrow and I'll share the story of this decoration. It begins with, "Well, we're not Jewish but..." See you back tomorrow for the rest of the story!

ahhhh, pretty!

Have a whole lot of this going on...

be back soon to show you!

Halloween-ish at Our House

I usually don't decorate for Halloween!
It seems like too much work, when all I really want to do is pull it all down and put up Christmas decorations on the first day of November.
Superman has always thought I was crazy to want Christmas decorations up so early! But, I just LOVE the Christmas season!
And, I think I've rubbed off on him!

Here's my usual idea of decorating for Halloween:

(Thank you very much, Krispy Kreme!)

This year I bowed to the peer pressure (from my children & Superman) and did a little bit of decorating.

After seeing these all over the blogosphere, I had to make a few for us!

We started with these: (each one was $1 or less!)

And some of this:

This would be a good place to add that had I just bought the little bottle up front, the Martha Stewart glow-in-the-dark glitter, that would have been plenty for all three of my boys! It was their FAVORITE part!!!

However, I honestly planned to make all of them myself!

That is, until SUPERMAN decided he was going to help me get my Martha on!Then the littlest joy joined me!Then the oldest joy! So now, we have a little of this:and this:and this:

and this:

But if you look closely, you'll see that Superman has been decorating, too...

Lord, help me!