Christmas Eve Birthdays

my first baby grand

was born on my mom's birthday

~Christmas Eve~

it was a very snowy 

cold night in germany... 

i was there from start to finish

bringing this little one into

the world that night...

this is the first year she has been

~home~

for her birthday

so early morning 

before all the chaos to follow 

i let her open my present to her

it was a a musical porcelain doll

that my grandmother had given  to me when I was four

it sings the happy birthday song

then later when her 

great gram

got here we all 

celebrated with a tea party

i am hoping my 

~sister~

got more pictures

i was a bit too busy

by then

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care

The socks are done...
the grands are coming so I 
thought up putting a plastic pocket 
so that whoever happens to come will have
their own stocking
working on getting the pictures in there

Mom & Madeline's
Christmas Eve
birthday presents

per Annie's request
as a child she loved mom's train set and asked  
for  it set up for her kids to see
I was able to make it work
she's right the grands are going to love this

isn't it funny the things they remember as kids
those special christmas memories...

brother tony and i went to see dad in 

~florida~

i am loving that place...

sort of a spur of the moment

let's show dad we love him

and sorry we can't be there on christmas day

sort of trip

got home to computer not working

 the router got fried when the hubs turned on 

all the lights 

inside and out 

to show a buddy he is 

~mr. christmas~

power surge

then i got a cold/flu thing

the hubs is just getting over it

this is day 2 for me and he is still sick on day 7

son helped us get new router hooked up today

yahhh... we are up and running

why is it they move out when you need them the most?

we have a baby due any day... 
already one false alarm

we will find out more on tuesday about his arrival

&

we have a daughter and 2 grandbabies coming thursday from across the country...

my arms ache to hold them...

my sister and family are coming on friday to spend the weekend

mom and brothers family
joining us all on Saturday

I wonder if we will have snow like a few years ago
so far they say no
but....
you never know up here in the
~northwest~

and that little guy in the middle is having a
birthday celebration on wednesday

i am so excited for it all

the crazier the better

all my shopping and decorating is done

i was going to spend this week

enjoying the christmas season

but i'm too sick to get off the couch

so i am doing nothing

laying here doing nothing
enjoying my holiday decorating

and it's driving me crazy

the calm before the storm

wish me luck

 I wsh you all a very

merry christmas

leaving you with one of my favorite pictures
taken on Christmas morning a few years ago
we love snow

New Kitchen Chandy it's a Dandy

A finished project

I couldn't be more excited

I've had this chandy for months

bought it on sale at Ethan Allen from my friend 

~Jen~

I just love the detail in this chandy

I was showing her pictures of ones I liked for months

and then one day she calls and says she saw one in the 

~clearance room~

I rushed down and bought it

that was several months ago

~problem~

we both thought it was black

it wasn't

it was

~green~

dark, dark, green...

so finally a few days ago I got up the nerve to spray paint it

hung it from the hanging basket

hanger thingy

 ~Debbiedoos~

 needs to be thanked for giving me the encouragement

like she said 

"it's easy"

she was right....

it couldn't have been more easy

it was cold outside and dried very fast

yesterday Rog came by and put it up

he's asking how high to put it

yikes that was a tough one

I had to go look at pictures

notice we have one bulb in to see

if it works

I had bought for like 5 bucks each some shades that were adhesive

so I cut out the pattern they give you and stuck the fabric right on there

then put the sticky trim on

 ~love~

JoAnn Fabric for this stuff

~voila~

the hubs walked in and didn't notice until I pointed it out

~he loved it~

yeahhhh

I couldn't have been more proud of myself

the easiest, simplest project

and here I had put it off 

so intimidated by it

Ok I'm ready for another! 

P.S. 

did you notice it's the same fabric I used on the 

settee

Master bath reveal

coming next

New Kitchen window treatments

I have been working so hard to get this decorating done

so I can enjoy the rest of the holiday season

here's the kitchen

I replaced my sunflowers 

for a Christmas look

most of this came out of the backyard

mom gave me some cool 

pinecones

so I put them in this big ole thingy

I am loving my new window treatments

in the kitchen

It is so hard to see this because the light coming in makes it hard to get the flash to work

this is what was there before

I like this so much better

I wish I could get a better shot

new years resolution...

figure out how to use my 

~camera~

next up the family room...