Finally Back Together!

After a long weekend...

the Dining Room is finally back together!

The Science project is still laid out across the 

table...but hopefully that will be gone in a few days...

I still need to have Scott hang some photos and 

find some new window treatments but

the final touches will come soon enough...

This week has been full of lots of up and downs...

right now Austin is very down.

The Father of one of his classmates was killed in 

an auto accident yesterday.

Austin goes to a very small private school,

everyone knows everyone... 

when one hurts, they all hurt.

This Dad was also pretty close to Austin's class.

He has come in and taught their Bible class

on several occasions and was a regular speaker

during chapel.

The kids are all very upset, but are banding together

and sticking close together.

Today, school was delayed for 2 hours because

we had tornado warnings this morning,

and once they arrived at school,

they just spent the day 

watching movies and being there for each other.

So, say a little prayer for Austin's friend and her family...

for strength, comfort and closure...

and for his class...

Sandy Ridge

We got a late start this morning.

Austin did not have to be at school until 10 o'clock...

we were suppose to have an ice storm...

umm...yeah, it had not even rained at 8 o'clock this morning!

We do still live in the South...

it was 47 degrees this morning.

But...every school system in North Alabama had decided last night

to delay the start of school before the first drop every fell.

Yeah, we panic a little.

Scott has spent the entire day

working on the Dining Room...

It's lookin' good!!

He primed the walls with a primer

that was called "High Hiding"

and it hid the red,

really well.

All primed and ready to go!

And there it is!

"Sandy Ridge"

by Sherwin-Williams

There's my little painter...

he's so good!

I can't wait to see what it looks like in the morning!

Then it will be time to move the furniture back and 

get things put back in their place.

And getting my Dining Room table out 

of the foyer and the china back in the cabinet!

I've been nervous all day, but 

Jackson has been really good and 

left everything alone.

One more project is about to be checked off the list...

Scott is moving like a mad man...

I better start adding to my list!

Movin' to the Next Project

Our Powder Bath project is complete...

with the exception of all of the 

fluff...new towels, accessories and such.

But, that will take a while...and a little savings...

but the paint and trim are all complete.

I love the new color and it makes me happy

when I walk by.

Scott started our next project last night...

and I'm getting really excited about it, too!

I asked him to take everything off the walls...

curtain rods and all.

We had several spots that needed a little help,

so he placed a few screws in the sheet rock and put 

a little mud on them and is giving it a day to dry really well

and then he'll come back in and sand before we get ready to paint this weekend!

Here's a little peak at some of the things I have found for the 

room after it gets it's little face lift.

The paint is called

"Sandy Ridge"

from Sherwin-Williams

I found the little bird picture at Kirkland's

a while back and that is where I 

jumped from.

I have some more ideas for the room that I talked about

way back when...

Much to do....so much to do...

I am also still in the market for new

window treatments and fabric to recover

the dining room chairs.

But first I have to clean up the space

so Scott can move around all of the furniture.

I guess I'll take this opportunity to take the

Christmas dishes out of the china cabinet.

Scott asked me the other night if I thought I was going to 

have to unload "everything" to move the furniture to paint.

I reminded him that when Mom and I got the wild hair to move it 

before, we only emptied the top of the china cabinet...

whew...that would be a job...

Check back this weekend...

Scott is off on Friday, so hopefully we'll get 

started on this bright and early...

(we also have a Science Fair project to help

someone work on this weekend...grrrr)

Going to the Chapel

I'm still trying to catch up on some of

the things we did over the holidays.

One of the biggest

things on our agenda was

seeing our sweet Kerri get married!

We have watched Kerri grow up and were

so excited to celebrate this next step in her life.

A few friends threw her a bridesmaids luncheon

the day before her wedding at a local little lunch spot.

The Brides' mother had boat totes

for all of the girls filled with

little treats for the big day.

Here's a photo of Kerri and her girls.

Three of these girls have know Kerri, literally, her entire life.

We had a charm cake for all of her bridesmaids

and Kerri picked out charms that had special meanings

for the ladies in her bridal party.

The girls all pulled their charms

and were then given a card with the meaning of the charm

and a happy wish for each of the ladies.

Each of the girls listening to the meanings of the charms...

And last, but not least, Kerri's Momma had bought

her a charm as well.  Kerri's Momma started her

a charm bracelet when she was about 16 and has 

filled it with many milestones and happy memories over

the years.  This charm was a wedding cake.

The next night I tried to dress up my crew and make them act

right for the night!  Here is Jackson all dressed up...

Mom and Dad ready for a celebration.

Nana and her first grandson...he's taller than she is now...

she's wearing heels...he's not!

And this was the best we could get of the four of us...

Jackson just would not cooperate!

Getting a 4 year old to small without saying "cheese"

and having a cheesy smile, is almost impossible!

New Year...New Projects...

Scott and I are jumping on some house projects

now that we have made it through the holidays!

First on my list was to paint the 

Powder Bath Room.

This room was the original color that we had

it painted when we moved in ten years ago.

There was no crown molding and 

it was pretty plain.

So, down came the mirror and small little

shelves that were hanging above the toilet.

I chose to paint the walls

Labradorite by Sherwin-Williams.

After a couple of coats it was all blue.

And I love it!

Next I asked Scott to add a little crown molding...

seemed simple enough of a request...

except they did a horrible job with the corners of the sheet rock

and there is a funny little angled wall.

But my sweet, loving husband figured it all out

and with the help of this little dude...

The crown was up and Scott had not decided to leave me!

I think he did an awesome job!

All painted, crowned, caulked and DONE...

except for the decorating...

Time to go and find some pretty little accessories

and some new hand towels...

Next up...the Dining Room!

Re-cap of Christmas Day

Christmas morning we were still nursing the sick,

so our plan was just to stay home all day and relax.

We usually head over to Scott's parents on 

Christmas afternoon for a yummy lunch

and Christmas with his family, but this year

we decided to not give anyone the flu for Christmas

and just stayed home.

Presents waiting to be unwrapped...

A shot of the tree.

A few years ago we bought a new tree. 

I had wanted to get a 9 foot tree, but decided on a 7 foot tree

and Scott made a box for it to stand on to make it taller.

Saved us some money and it gives a little extra space under 

the tree to stash gifts.

Austin was about to explode...he was ready to start opening

presents around 6am...Jackson...not so much.

Austin went in and drug him out of the bed at 7:30 and poor

Jackson didn't come around for another 30 minutes.

Jackson is funny on Christmas.

He's not one of those kids who unwraps one present and 

then starts on the other before he really takes in what 

was in the first box.

The picture above was of him playing with his candy canes

that we in his stocking...Austin had moved on to his Santa Bag.

but Jackson was still taking in the stockings...and still half asleep.

Austin was about to bust a gut to see what

Santa had brought him...he even started to open 

Jackson's bag for him so we could get this show on the road.

Austin was really excited that Santa

brought him exactly what he wanted!

 

Sleepy little Jackson was trying to figure it all out.

Austin had opened his bag on the corner so Jackson

could see what was inside...he crossed his little arms and said

"Well...look at that, Santa brought me the castle I wanted"

Trying to figure out what else was in the bag...

Austin was trying to convince him that it was time

to go and see what was under the tree...

Jackson was just wanting to open his new toys that 

Santa brought and play with them.

Daddy took his castle out and now it was time to play...

Insert Austin about to have a conniption..

Austin finally got to start in on his stack of presents..

Jackson didn't really seem to know what to do with all of

his presents!

My little stack of stuff...

can't wait to see what's inside...

We love to throw off Austin every now and then...

he opened a pack of ping pong paddles and replied...

"umm...did someone forget to tell me we have a

ping-pong table?"

Ummm, yep! ha ha...go and look downstairs.

One of my goodies was a set of zip ties and a zip tie

cutter gun thingy...

(this was a gift from Scott so I would quit using his)

Nana got a new iPad for Christmas....

and Scott got me a new camera...

I have been begging hinting for a new camera

since last Christmas...and he finally got me one so I would shut up

granted my wish!

Nana started playing with her new toy

right away...

No White Christmas for us...

we had Tornado Warnings for Christmas...

Jackson and Daddy spent the rest of the morning

building and playing with all of his new toys...

Although we missed seeing the rest of the family,

it was kind of nice to be able to sit around and let the kids

play with their toys and relax.

Christmas Rewind....

Well...

I think we are about to come out of the funk!

Scott is still not back to normal, but after a third trip to the Doctor,

I think he is going to live!

This was horrible...

but we did manage to squeeze in some fun time around the sick times.

So here's a little recap.

We threw a little party for Jackson's 

4 year old bible class kids the week before Christmas.

Everyone puts out cookies for Santa,
but this year we wanted to make sure that we didn't
forget his Reindeer, so we had a little get together
and made reindeer food!

The kids wore their Pajamas to the party,

and no, Jackson does not normally wear a turtleneck to bed.

It had been a very warm December, until this night and it 

turned off COLD and windy, so running out in our PJ's 

was a little cool...so we added a few layers.

Jackson even had on Rudolph shoes for the party.

His nose would light up when he stepped on them.

 

Mrs. Kim set a festive little table

for some yummy snacks.

A place just for Jackson.

We had little jars for the kids to make their 'Reindeer Food'

and who could resist a cute little snap shot of this little boy!

Here is a shot of Jackson mixing together his 

reindeer food...They had Elf Donuts (Cheerios's),

Jingle Berries (raisins), Snowballs (mini marshmallow's),

Elf Ornaments (mini m & m's),  Flying Powder (powdered sugar),

Holly Jolly Sprinkles (green colored sugar), 

Rudolph's Rosy Red Sparkles (red colored sugar),

and Christmas Tree Trimmings (holiday candy sprinkles)

The kids mixed up a jar of 'Reindeer Food' to sit out with 

their Cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve.

Then they played Pin the nose on Rudolph 

And went on a flashlight scavenger hunt

 through the house.  We had planned on doing this outside, but it turned off
way to cold to do it outside.

Mrs. Kim had found little paint with water pictures

for all of the kids that was a picture of 

Rudolph!  Jackson hugged his picture and said
"this is the best Christmas present ever"

All of the kids had a great time and I think 

we had a lot of fun with it, too.

Come on back and we'll see what goodies Santa came and left

us under the tree!