Friday, November 30, 2012

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas!

I have been especially excited about decorating for Christmas this year.  I have so many lovely Christmas items and Don finally has a job where the holidays are not a super busy time.  We're still pretty busy, but we've had some time to sneak in a bit of Christmas decorating.  I'm going to just say this is a work in progress, because we still have another tree to decorate and I may be waiting on some vintage goodies to arrive from eBay and, thanks to an extra mischievous one year old, we need to find a safe place to hang the stockings.  Oscar has even gotten in on the Christmas spirit, decorating pine cones with paint and glitter.  We've got some other crafty plans too that I hope we can work on soon!  How's everyone else coming along with their decorating?  I still haven't found my camera, so stinkin' iPhone photos it is! 


Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Seasons Greetings

We haven't sent out Christmas cards in recent years.  A few years ago, I found the cutest little cards.  They were square and had the cutest little cartoon illustrations.  Apparently the postal service had issues with the square format or maybe they just don't appreciate cute like I do, because most of the cards were returned.  I haven't been motivated to send out cards since then and, honestly, I probably won't get around to it this year.  There are so many really sweet cards available.  If you're feeling more ambitious than I am, here are some suggestions-








Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Catching Up!

I'm at home today battling a cold or allergies or whatever else makes a person super congested and weak.  I sound like Phoebe on that episode of Friends where she's sick and sings the song about her sticky shoes.  If I could play the guitar, I could take up a gig at a local coffee shop for some extra money.  I can't even pretend to play the guitar, so I'll stay on the couch watching recorded shows about the paranormal until I get scared enough to turn every light in the house on.  I was lucky enough to have my mom here with the boys this morning and she has now taken them to my dad's, so I can continue resting. 

I really hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving or Thursday, if you don't celebrate Thanksgiving.  I would say that it was a really quiet and lovely long weekend for us, but that would be partially lying.  Our boys have been the most rotten little things lately, getting into everything and responding no or uh-uh to every question and command.  There's a whole list of casualties for which Ben is responsible- ornaments, a vase, a platter, my patience.  I've made several "calls" to Santa and shed a few tears, but we did still manage to have some fun.

We got most of our Christmas decorating done and I will share some pictures as soon as I find my camera.  Oops!  The boys and I did have a great day out, after I cleaned up all of the broken things and shed those previously mentioned tears.  We shopped, watched snow flurries, and went for milkshakes, because clearly that's the logical thing to when it's really cold and snowing.

On Friday, when all the crazy people were out early waiting in line for black Friday deals, we headed up to an antique mall to meet my grandparents and load up the most amazing piece of furniture.  There's a bit of a back story here.  My grandma and I saw this cabinet the previous weekend and it was love at first sight.  My grandma, who is so stinkin' clever, always carries a tape measure.  I wrote down the measurements and the price, took pictures, immediately started brainstorming where I could possibly fit one more piece of furniture in my house, and rehearsed my presentation to Donnie.  I ended up paying for the cabinet over the phone, because I was so anxious someone else would buy it.  I spent the better part of Friday afternoon arranging some of our toys on its shelves and filling the drawers with video games and DVDs.

It's hard to get a really good picture of the cabinet, because it's in a pretty dark corner of the room and I had to use my iPhone, but here it is!


Thursday, November 22, 2012

Happy Thanksgiving!


I've been noticing a lot of people listing something on Facebook that they are thankful for each day this month.  Well those people are overachievers.  I am fortunate to have many wonderful things in my life to be thankful for and I like to think that I appreciate those things year round, but for now, I'm jumping on the bandwagon and reflecting on those things for which I'm truly grateful.  In a few hours, I plan on stuffing my belly full of stuffing, among other things, and I'm thankful for that too!

Here's my long list of some of the things for which I am thankful-
  • My amazingly supportive and loving husband
  • The most beautiful, silly, and sometimes rotten little boys
  • Our amazing parents, who help enormously with those previously mentioned little boys
  • My extended family- I would love to list them individually, but they're all pretty damn awesome and there's a lot of them!
  • A job that I love and the coworkers who make that job even better
  • The loveliest group of friends a girl could have
  • My big old house and really the fact that we are fortunate enough to have a home to call our own
  • Morning snuggles with my boys
  • A counselor who lets me fully unload and offers the best insight
  • My iPhone, yes it's just a material possession, but I freaking love it!
  • Coffee in general, but especially our Keurig
  • Our two stinky rotten dogs and their seemingly endless love
  • Weekends at my grandparent's house
  • Doctor Who -See the previous day's post


I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!  What are some of the things you are giving thanks for this year?  


Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Madman With A Box

A few months ago, a friend suggested I watch Doctor Who.  Another friend from work was always talking about how great it was.  I grew up watching the show on PBS and I don't really remember it being that great, but I thought I'd give the relaunch a try.  Holy smokes!  I pretty quickly learned what these friends were talking about and have been sucked in ever since!  I now spend entirely too much time talking about this damn show with anyone who will listen, have flown through the entire series, and have amassed a small collection of tee shirts and artwork.  It is really weird to say that a television show about a time and space traveling alien changed my life?  It is?  Oh well, I just said it!









Monday, November 19, 2012

Backseat Dance Party!

This week's playlist is a short one.  When the boys and I are driving home each day, I usually have my iPod on shuffle.  Oscar is pretty vocal about his dislike of darn near every song that comes on, but there are a few that he likes to listen to repeatedly.  Both boys clap their hands, dance, and try to sing along to these songs.  Well, Ben kind of just yells along really.  For a long time, Oscar only wanted to hear Wonderlust King, which he calls the da da dat song, but we've started to slowly add some songs.  Thank goodness!  Here's what we are currently listening to on our drive home each day.  Let's hope we can add to this playlist soon!


Friday, November 16, 2012

Another Thrifty Post, Of Course!

I've had a few occasions recently to go thrifting with some awesome friends and we've found some pretty great things.  I've picked up lots of things to give as gifts, but I can't really show those off yet!  I've been especially amazed by the cute Christmas decorations.  I'm heading up to my grandparent's to recharge and I'm thinking my grandma and I will probably at least pop into the nearby antique mall.  Strolling through a thrift or antique shop is so relaxing and one of my favorite things to do, even if I don't find anything.  I'm hoping for some things this weekend, though.  Here are a few of my recent finds!

 
This felt Santa is my favorite Christmas find so far.  Heidi took me to some of her favorite spots and that's where I found both of these items.  I got some really cute vintage clothes for the boys there too.  I'll have to show them off in another post!
 
 The Santa in the top right is a candle and the guys on the bottom are salt and pepper shakers.  I think Mr. and Mrs. Claus are meant to be a candle holder, but I think I'll use it to hold candy canes!

 This is another find from my trip with Heidi.  We think she holds a birthday candle.

 I have plans to spray paint these guys!

 These are my favorite kind of old children's books!

 This story is so cute and you can't go wrong with Maurice Sendak!

 I was drawn to the cover of this book.  The stories are actually kind of odd and don't really go along with the cute cover.  For instance, there's one about Lewis and Clark.

Vintage cookbooks are the best, especially ones by Betty Crocker!
 I found the cookbook first and was so excited.  I love anything to do with the Girl Scouts and the cookbook actually has great recipes.  I found the magazines later in the day.  The ads are my favorite, but there are some articles and features that are fun to look at too!

 This little guy was in a bag of graduation decorations and doesn't look like he's ever been used.  I think I'm going to open up his honeycomb decoration and display him on one of our shelves.

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Inspired By Nature ~ Narwhals

Narwhals are totally the new owl or whatever other animal took the owl's place.  I'm calling it.  Has anyone ever even seen a narwhal?  I mean besides people who make nature documentaries, of course.  I know they live in cold water and are about as adorable as the items on this list.