Big Changes

So for Christmas this year--my Mom and Dad decided to give us what everyone really wants for Christmas--CASH to buy whatever our little hearts desire!

So I recently took this $ and went on a little shopping spree on OVERSTOCK.com.  We needed new bedding for our Master Bedroom BADLY.  And I really mean BADLY. 

This is what we have been using for the last 6 years:

Then you might remember we added ourselves a little headboard for ONLY $1:

As much as I have LOVED the simple clean lines and bright fresh color or this bedding--It was just getting OLD.  It was actually my parents before it was ours--So I have no idea how old this thing really was.  But just let me tell you that it had STAINS and HOLES GALORE!!! 

AND as for our actual DUVET--we bought it about 10 years ago--and unfortunately we bought one that isn't sewn all the way around each square (BIG MISTAKE!!!)--so the down migrates all over the place!  So for 10 years we have had a VERY UNEVEN distribution of down throughout the duvet.  You have to stand on the bed and SHAKE and FLUFF all the down so that it will migrate back to where it is supposed to be--which most of the time is an impossible task--and so you are left with a whole bunch of stuffing in a few of the squares and the rest of the duvet is just the two pieces of material on top of each other!  Needless to say--we have hated it for 10 years. 

SO--during my little shopping spree I bought us these:

A No Migrating Down Alternative Duvet (in White):

And a Beautiful New Duvet Set (Including all the cute Pillows!) 

So now that I have new bedding--I have a whole new color scheme in our room.

So I get to paint the room--taking it from this green to something more neutral.  ANY PAINT COLOR SUGGESTIONS WOULD BE APPRECIATED!!)

I get to redo These Lamps (again):

And This Chair:

And these pictures:

And These Baskets:

And I haven't even started in the adjoining bathroom.

Its going to need a whole new makeover to match.

So wish me luck on this little re-decorating adventure!

I think I have my work cut out for me!

Oh and Thanks Mom!!  It's JUST what I wanted for Christmas!

Not Getting Much Done

YIPEEE!!!!  ITs the NEW YEAR!!!  And my list of things I want to do and get done this year is LONG.

  Even though I have lots I WANT to get done--I find that NOT MUCH IS GETTING DONE THESE DAYS.

And I'll show you WHY.

This is why:

For those of you who may not have seen my last post--we got this little smooshy musha musha puppy for our family for Christmas. 

Her name is DAISY and she is mix of a lot of different breeds.  Her mom was a Maltypoo Chihuahua and her dad was a Havanese Poodle.  So I guess that makes her a MaltyPooChuHavaPoo.  (Say that 10 times fast.)  But all those breeds mixed together to make the most perfect little puppy for us.  She is not only cute as a button--but the best tempered puppy I have ever seen or heard of in my whole life!!!

And let me tell you--it was LOVE at first sight for ALL my kids:

And also for ME:

OK--ESPECIALLY for ME!

I must admit--I am just not interested in doing much else besides play and cuddle and squish this little puppy.

And with my two oldest kids back at school full time, and the younger boys involved with their new Christmas toys--I have lots of time to have her all to myself!

And I am enjoying EVERY LITTLE LAST BIT of time I spend with her.

With a face like this--who wouldn't want to spend every waking moment loving on her?

And besides being super duper cute--she is also an amazingly well behaved little puppy.  She really is.  She is calm and loving and just happy to be with you and cuddle on your lap.  She is also well on her way to being potty trained and already has learned a couple tricks!

She also plays fetch with her toys (and she already actually brings them back and gives you the toy!!!--I grew up with two dogs that NEVER mastered that concept!! So I think she is pretty amazing just for that!)

She also loves the kid's tunnel and she loves to run through it and take little stolen items in there to chew on.  Here she has my little guys glove:

She is super gentle with the kids and has never tried to nip them or growl at them.  She just loves to lick them to death.

So I just wanted you to know where I was and why you may not be hearing from me for a little while.

Can you blame me?

I think not.

The Best Christmas Surprise EVER!!!

This year for Christmas--My hubby and I decided to give our kids something SPECIAL:

I have to admit--I wanted this little present just as much or more than my kids.  Ok--maybe a lot more.  But it really is a present the WHOLE FAMILY will love for many years.

Some of my other favorite highlights of Christmas 2010:

Of course--Christmas Eve's Re-Enactment of the Nativity.

Mary and and Her Smallish Husband Joseph:

A Shepherd and his Sheep: 

And a Wise Man: 

I was an Angel and thankfully there are no pictures to document it--I was rather stuck in my white pillowcase Angel costume.

Moving on with more favorites:

My little guy was given this awesome gift from his Grandma.

It was an INSTANT HIT with the little Super Hero.

And it gave him the ability to do a lot of Super Hero things:

We did however have a hard time getting him to take it off--AT ALL.

More Favorites:

Kids in their New Christmas Church Clothes: 

Cute boys in matching outfits: 

More Favorites:

And of course spending time with Grandparents:

And Cousins:

And Lastly--but Not Leastly

My Favorite Christmas Decorations that my AWESOME FRIENDS spoiled me with this year.

This Incredible Advent Calendar that my friend Sherron made for me:

(Isn't she Amazingly Creative?  Luv You Sherron!!)

And then this next ADORABLE wreath was made by my good friend April.  I can only imagine how many hours it took her to wind all that felt over those hat pins!  SO CUTE!!

Thank You April!!!

So that is our 2010 Christmas in a nutshell!

I hope everyone's was as happy and memorable as ours!

My Craigslist Tree AKA Our Grinchy Tree

I would be sad and remiss if the holiday season passed without me showing and telling the story of Our New Christmas Tree.

So here it goes.

For the past 13 years we have always had a real Christmas tree.  We have done pre-cut, but most of the time we have gone to a tree lot and chopped down one ourselves.  We live in the Northwest--and the live trees are just beautiful around here.

But for the last few years our live trees have given me nothing but trouble.  And lots and lots of this:



And we didn't even get our tree early.  Usually we put up our tree around the 10th of December and take it down a day or two after Christmas!!

But still--by the time it is Christmas--the tree is just a dried up twig just barely holding on to its little needles--and if you bump the tree in the slightest or even walk by the tree and create a slight breeze--all the needles come tumbling down!

Now before everybody tells me WHY my trees are dieing--let me just tell you that we have tried EVERYTHING to keep it alive.  We chop it down ourselves--and re cut the bottom when we get home to make sure it will soak up water.  We water it and make sure that it is well hydrated.  We have tried the sprite/sugar water concoction.  We have tried it without the sprite/sugar water concoction. 

Our trees never used to do this--but lately we just couldn't catch a break!  It has been really frustrating!  So last year after I single handedly took down Christmas at our house and had to haul the blasted tree into the back yard--and nearly got pine needle poisoning because of all the pine needles that got stuck into me--I decided enough was enough!

I searched on craigslist and found this tree:

(And the picture just doesn't do it justice--I think it is one of the most beautiful fake guys that I have seen)

It was fully decorated with a billion lights and ornaments--and the lady selling it was asking ONLY $30 but I had to take the whole thing--lights, ornaments and all.

So I asked my friend Tiffany to take me in her truck to go pick it up that night.

So there we are in the pitch black of night, literally stuffing the fully decorated tree into the back of her pickup.  It was Hilarious!!  We felt like the Grinch that stole Christmas--stuffing a fully decorated tree into our getaway sleigh while the rest of Whoville slept!

Then the gal started taking down all her other lights and decorations around her house and handing them to us to take as well.  We made out with several more strands of lights, a few more ornaments, and a blow up Santa for my front yard.  She just wanted to be done with Christmas for the year and not have to put anything away or store it for another year. 

But it seriously felt like we had taken her Last can of Who-Hash as we drove off loaded to the brim with our tailgate scraping the road.

So this year--we put up our new Grinchy Fake Tree--and are LOVING IT!!!

Not only is it beautiful--but it is PINE NEEDLE FREE!!!

No more Pine Needle Poisoning for me!

SO Excited to do Laundry!!

So--The last couple months have been...well they have been difficult.  As I mentioned before, my father in law passed away on Nov 15th.  We also got into a 30 or so car pile up in a freaky snow storm coming home from his burial.  And also--by coincidence--my washing machine died the same day that he did. 

We surveyed the situation and did a little shopping and decided to buy a whole new matching set.  But the BUMMER of it all was that it couldn't be delivered until DECEMBER 15th!!!!!

That meant that we were a WHOLE MONTH without a working washing machine!!!! 

Have I ever mentioned that we have 4 CHILDREN?!!

But--with the help of NUMEROUS friends and also my Mom doing many loads of laundry for me (THANK YOU EVERYBODY!!!)--we got thru the month.

And now we traded in these old babies:

(And yes--you will notice that my laundry room is also my garage--so don't mind all the extra cans of paint and other miscellaneous items in the picture. )

Old Knobs and Controls:

For THESE new Babies:

(They are LG Front Loaders from Home Depot)

They are HUGE capacity, Energy efficient, Sleek, Beautiful and MINE!

New Fancy Knobs, buttons and Digital LCD Screen:

AND a sweet little elf purchased us the Pedastal drawers that go underneath for our early Christmas gift!

The drawers are SO wonderful and ROOMY!!!  Since we don't have a linen closet in our little house--I have chosen to use the storage for the kids sheets.  And now I have SO MUCH MORE ROOM in the bathroom cupboards!!

AND I still have one whole drawer that I haven't even filled yet!

Even though the timing was AWFUL and I don't look forward to getting my credit card statement next month--I REALLY LOVE THEM!!  And doing my laundry has never been so much fun or made me quite so happy!

Merry Christmas to us.