The house is decorated!

The wreath is hanging on the front door. My Christmas dishes are stacked in the cupboards. The nativity scene is set up and I CAN'T WAIT FOR CHRISTMAS TO GET HERE!

First and foremost, I must show you a picture of our completed fireplace. In the previous posts there are pictures of what it used to look like. I am so proud of my handyman husband who worked on this....laid the tile himself and built the hearth and mantle with his own two hands.

Because I have to be just like my sister, Christy, I worked on a project too, only a bit different than hers. She posted about her "PEACE" today.

Anna Claire received her first Christmas ornament in the mail from Didi and Papa. I absolutely love it! It is a Lenox 2009 "Baby's First Christmas."

This picture is for Mom and Christy so they can see the tree skirt. It looks perfect doesn't it? Christmas came a bit early for me...My "oh so crafty" Mom made it as a gift! (Mom...the "3" is on the candlestick).

And of course, I can't leave you without a couple shots of our girl. We visited family in Alabama for Thanksgiving and my husband's cousin took some pictures for us. This will be the last time Anna Claire wears this jumper for pictures--she chewed on the buckle the entire time! Here is a little peek!

20 minute project

The December issue of Country Living arrived yesterday and I think I dog-eared every other page. It is full of ideas and recipes for the Christmas season. This is a take off of one of the crafts they have featured. It originally called for holiday ribbon, but I don't have any yet. What I do have is burlap...and tons of it.

I'm telling you, this was so easy to make. I had it done and hanging before Anna Claire even woke up. I have it hanging right inside our front door so when we come in, we are greeted by all of the Christmas cards and pictures of the season.

What you need:
2 dowel rods (shortest rod should be 8 inches and increase each one by 2 inches until you have 5 rods)
2 yards of ribbon, fabric, or whatever you want to use. I was originally going to use toile fabric but didn't have enough.
Enough coordinating ribbon to tie in bow for the top

I cut 2 yards of burlap and then used fabric tape to fold over the edges to give it a cleaner look. Fold the 2 yards in half lengthwise.

Starting at the top, hot glue the first rod about 6 inches down, each following rod should be approx. 5 inches apart.

I used a piece of twine to hang it with and then attached the ribbon. Use clips to hang Christmas cards and pictures.

See....I told you it was easy!

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

A NEW post!

For those of you who keep checking in to see if I have posted, thank you--I know my posts have been few and far between. So to make up for not posting in the past couple (okay, several) weeks, I am going to catch you up on what we have been doing. Note: lots of pictures to follow.

I found a fun, fun, fun new blog www.shanty2chic.blogspot.com that has given me lots of inspiration and ideas for around the house, plus lots great ideas for Christmas. I've seen lots of "numbers" around blogland and in magazines so I added a few to our entryway.



This past summer, Mike worked tirelessly on the outside of the house, working in the yard, pulling up trees, tearing down the chain link fence and planting grasseed. He also rebuilt the railing on our front porch. When all was said and done, we wanted someplace to sit. So he built us a bench. I'm noticing that in the pictures, the paint color looks a little orange. Let me reassure you, it's not. It's a true barn red color that matches our front door.




In the middle of all of this, Christy, my sister came to visit for her birthday. I asked her what kind of cake she wanted for her birthday and with no hesitation, she said, "Chocolate." Of course I turned to my trusty friend Ina Garten for help! Seriously, it's the best cake I have ever had. I won't tell you that I made it on Thursday night and it was gone by Sunday.


When we moved into our (fixer-upper) house, one of the MAJOR things we wanted to do was gut the fireplace and start over. Well, we are in the throws of doing that. I guess our thought was to start the project as close to the time when it would be getting colder so that we would have the motivation to get it finished. In the first picture, if you put your nose up to your monitor, you will be able to see what the original fireplace looked like. There was a gray marble surround that was cracked in several places, the mantle had about 4 coats of paint on it, one of which was a cherry red and there were smoke stains ALL around it. Gross.





The above picture is where we are now. We decided to build a raised hearth and we will be adding tile and a new mantle. Oh I can't wait to decorate it for Christmas!

Now for the funnest project (I wish I could take credit for it!) After my grandparents passed away I was given a green velvet wing back chair. This chair has TONS of sentimental value to it. I can still remember my grandmother sitting in it on Christmas day. When it was given to me, I had new fabric put on it to match my living room. After moving into our new house and changing some colors up, I knew I didn't want it to have such a bold fabric on it anymore so I waited until I could find the perfect thing. Along came drop cloths from Home Depot. Who would have thought? Certainly not me! Have you seen what you can do with these?


I asked my friend, Addie, if she knew of anyone who could make a slipcover for the chair. She said she didn't but that she would be willing to give it a try. This is the only picture I have of her working on the chair. I was planning on getting action shots of her at the sewing machine and putting the pieces together but when I went to her house yesterday afternoon to work on it, she had it DONE! My thanks and love to you dear friend!

I just love the skirt detail she added!

It has TOTALLY changed the look of our living room and I can't stop looking at it!

Okay, so as you can see, it's been busy around here. And of course, I couldn't leave you without sharing a little piece of WHO keeps me the most busy.

Thanks for sticking around through all the pictures! Have a wonderful weekend!

First Visit

...to the pumpkin patch!

I'm still here...

I know...I know...no new posts in a month. I have a good excuse, this little girl has kept me busy!

She loves her carrots!

We have definitely been busy this past month. I looked at the calendar this morning and realized that it has been 6 weeks since we have had a free weekend without anything planned! We've had family in town, we've been out of town and have had friends for dinner. We are looking forward to a weekend with NOTHING to do. Oh, except for a trip to the pumpkin patch!

Rainy Tuesday

Not too much going on around here, as the sun is hiding behind the clouds and there is rain in the forecast for the next several days. I thought I would share a few pictures of our girl!

She is getting used to her johnny jump-up--she just doesn't realize that her feet are what makes her have all of the fun!

Anna Claire has started to roll EVERYWHERE--even towards Mommy who is down on the floor taking pictures!

On another note, I just finished a wonderful book (I won it a few weeks ago from Nicole Baart). I am not good enough with words to give you a review of it, but if you are looking for a wonderful, insightful, page-turner to kick off your fall reading, this might be the book for you! It's Havah: The Story of Eve by Tosca Lee

Hope the sun is shining where you are!

September 4, 2009
A Birthday Letter


There is so much I want to tell you and share with both you of all that has happened in this last year. You would have been 2 years old today. Some days it feels just like yesterday you were born, others it feels like a lifetime ago. Regardless, I miss you....terribly. We are going to visit the memorial garden today and have a picnic. My heart aches to have you here, eating cake and singing "Happy Birthday." We will sing together soon though and I know the songs you are singing now are the most beautiful anyone has ever heard.

You are big sisters now! Anna Claire was born in February and captured our hearts the moment we heard her first cry. We tell her about you and one day will share the beautiful pictures we have of you. I know you two would have been amazing big sisters.

I want you to know that people remember you...cards are sent...flowers sit on our table...friends ask about your lives and strangers want to know your story. We remember you everyday, but especially today, Allison Elizabeth and Emily Ann, on your birthday.

Rest in the arms of Jesus, sweet girls...until we can hold you again.

We love you,
Mommy, Daddy and Anna Claire