Christmas Preparations and Decorations

 MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

 

  The evolution of Christmas on Bonnie Brae. The yellow house below with the white Christmas lights. 

Above is our current reality. Grey house with LED multi-colored lights which are much more friendly to the bank account.

The Christmas tree hunt.

We drove out to the place I went growing up in Sherwood. 

 Here we have Steve humoring me for a photo.

 We found it! 

I think I have a picture like this next to a tree for 3 years in a row with the same jacket on.

Hmm.

 We were spoiled. All the saws were in use when we arrived so we didn't have our own to chop down our tree. Well as soon as we found our tree, one of the Sleighbell's guys just happened along and chopped it down for us!

Thanks Mr. Helper dude.

 Steve still had to do some of the work though.

Well each year I try to mix things up with decorations. I like making new things out of what I already have. Though, if I just could stick with the same old stuff every year, I could get the decorations up faster. 

But it's fun. 

So here they are. A couple of photos of what the place looks like this year.
I think the theme is berries and bells.
The lights were a last minute addition and I think I really enjoy them.

 I bought this bird cage thing in Sisters this summer and I keep moving it around and using it different ways. It was full of pumpkins in Oct. 

Now it is all topsy-turvy with giant jingle-bells pouring out. 

Weird or cute? Or both?

I'm keeping it anyhow.

 The tree. Looking pretty much like it does every year.

 So I have jumped on the band wagon of being in love with chalk boards. 

In October/November, it had a pumpkin.

Now it's bringing Christmas cheer. It's fun to have another creative outlet. 

(Some of the pictures seem weird. Still learning how to use the camera. But hopefully I'll be getting better soon. We signed up for photography classes together for Christmas!)

 Kind of an attempt at an arty-fartsy shot

 This is a result of Christine needing a CHEAP mindless activity one Saturday afternoon. 

I still LOVE the moment of truth unfolding snow-flakes to see what you've created.

 Playing with the camera.

 Playing more with the camera and playing peek-a-boo with the nativity in the background.

 And last but not least a shot of our little helper elf around here. 

Helping wrap the presents.

We hope your Christmas season has started out Merry and Bright!

Ok a little edit here to the post. More Christmas stuff has happened. So I thought I'd share.

 Here is a cute one of Hahhah from the day :)

My favorite of Brayden.

Cute of them in Santa's sleigh.

 

My Sunday craft projects. 

I thought these were going to be new stockings for Steve and I but they turned out a little small. 

And now I think I want matching ones. 

So I'll just keep these ones around to be cute.

And a Santa cookie I made for a Secret Santa exchange at work. 

This was a group effort. We all know I don't bake so I called Steve in to help. 

He made me the giant cookie, I decorated Santa.

Newest News in November

There really isn't anything life altering. But I do have random ramblings and fun photos to share. So sit back and enjoy :)

 

 

Halloween Happened. 

And I like HAPPY Halloweens. Not scary ones.

 

 The work in progress.

I dressed up for these pictures. Can you tell?

 

 

 

Oh there are those happy jack-o-lanterns :) 

I stole all face ideas off the internets. 

But oh aren't they cute? 

Glad I can entertain myself.

 

 Oh and these were my FAVORITE guests of the evening. A fireman and his trusty Dalmatian.

I don't know how Brayden will do as a trick-o-treater when he is older. He'll waste too much time if he asks "What's this one?" for each candy in the bucket!

So glad for their visit after a long day at work:)

 

But this little Hannah banana Dalmatian... she just won't smile for Auntie. 

I'll keep trying 

In other news. Here is the latest Honey-Do project. 

My very own desk. 

With a light!

I call it my SAD light for the winter ha ha ha :)

 

And there on my desk is the ever so wonderful Harry and David mailer.  

 Inside this mailer you will find the Christmas gift I LONG for EVERY YEAR. 

It's the one gift I ask for over and over. 

This gift gets me excited EVERY TIME. 

SOMEDAY it will be mine. 

It is perfect in every way. 

People, 

it's the Harry and David Signature Fruit of the Month Collection.

Look at all that goodness? 

(the picture is ever so sadly dark because i still don't know how to use our new fancy camera. classes will have to commence soon on that front.)

But go beyond the darkness into the world of fresh fruit every month. 

I can't explain it, but this is my dream. 

I am infatuated with Fruit of the Month. 

Beautiful.

 What is your ultimate dreamer's dream gift?

 And with that I'll wrap up. 

Soon I'll spend WAY too many hours planning how to organize my new built in desk. Then re-organize it with an even more efficient plan.

Why?

 Because if nursing ever fails me I will become a professional organizer. And organizing is my hobby.

Hope November finds you happy!

Bye for now:) 

Harvest Time

Well it's been a while since I last updated. Two reasons. 1) How does life just travel by so fast and I don't realize it's been 2 months since I posted? (Ok that was a question/observation) 2) We got a new camera and I'm still learning how to take pictures with it.

So here are some pictures to entertain you with the comings and goings around here. Except I am realizing there are no pictures of us in this group. Oh well.

 

Here is our sweet little niece Hannah during a field trip to the pumpkin patch!

 

Brayden being a MOOOOOO cow. 

 

Playing with the little chicks. They were so cute :)

Can't you tell Hannah is impressed?

 

Grammy and Hannah (who is tired of pictures).

I shot all of those pictures in auto mode on the camera because trying to figure out all the settings manually that day was getting me all flustered. 

This next group of pictures I messed around a lot trying to practice using my camera to it's full extent. 

I didn't go over board with my fall decorations this year. Mostly centered around the fire place. 

 

My cute little dollar store scarecrow, corn and last years homemade pumpkin craft making another appearance. 

 

The mantel. I bought that chalk board at an antique store a couple weeks ago with the pumpkin already drawn on it. That is not it's final resting spot, but that is where it landed for the fall season because I liked the pumpkin so much. 

 

 This is the other frame I bought that day. These will actually flip flop with this frame going above the mantel and the chalk board going on this wall. Eventually. The house is a work in progress.

 

Here is the detail of the frame. Isn't it gorgeous? It was such a steal too compared to similar ones I've fallen in love with and refuse to pay the price people wanted for it.  

 

Oh and here is a close up of the pumpkin drawing. It makes me happy every time I look at it. 

Soon I'm going to round up some punkin's from Mom and Dad's garden and carve them up so our front porch can be all festive for the trick-or-treat fun next week. 

Long absence. Ho-hum post. I'll try to liven things up around here a bit for next time.

Organized Chaos

Where to begin? 

Oh, okay, pictures of Bailey first.

 

Steve and Bailey bonding. Please ignore the whole in the shirt. It's a work shirt. We've been working hard lately. 

 My turn to cuddle.

Next up. Locks of Love. 

My hair grows fast. Once again I found it was long and I needed...something. A cut? A trim? A new style? Well as I pondered the destiny of my hair, it kept growing.

And growing. 

Until it became this.

 A friend had mentioned considering donating her hair to Locks of Love and it got me thinking. 

I couldn't decide to do with my hair. 

It was fast approaching Rapunzel length. 

Perhaps donating it was my answer. 

So I just chopped it off. 

In the end 12 inches were donated and 2 more were lost in the styling and trimming process. 

 Here is the hair after. 

I have a picture of the ponytail that was cut off, but honestly, it's kind of gross. Or maybe just an odd thing to share, so I'll spare you. 

You still can see the end result. 

 This is Bailey looking in. I can't help but think she must be thinking "What in the world are you guys doing to my world?" With the house layout changing daily/hourly with LOUD pounding and banging from nail guns and hammers, things around here haven't really be relaxing.

Here is the main entry through to the back door. 

Here is what makes my blood pressure rise. Clutter. There has been lots of deep breathing around here. A little retail therapy. And a vacation from dusting. 

It's gross.

But I just had to let it go. It's been a month free of housework!

And a month full of the stove traveling into the family room. 

Trying to find room to serve dinner amidst the old school boom box, clutter, and the duvet that needs returned before it gets lost in the mess. 

And we are currently in the midst of the FINAL STAGES. We are living in our bedroom, patio and garage. Here, we have the convenience of doing laundry and making dinner all in one location! 

Do you think it'll be the new thing in house design?

Need to dress up? Obviously the first place to look for a dress is in the garage to the left of the bandsaw and behind the kitchen/laundry station.

Outside, we have what a friend at work referred to as Glamping. Gourmet camping. I like it. 

The rolling island is our counter top. The BBQ my savior (prepares hot meals with no dirty dishes, bliss!)

The refrigerator WITH filtered water and ice machine hooked up. 

*SIGH* This makes me so happy. 

 

And just because we are living outside (thank you Oregon for another week of summer sunshine) does not mean I have to go without a beautiful bouquet of dahlias from the front yard. 

Seriously folks, do we know how to camp at our own house or what?

Since the master bedroom really isn't all that big, Bailey found her way to the bathroom, and was content being there for the evening. 

Classy.

 

 But I tempted her out for some cuddles. 

What a little love bug.

Oh, and for those of you actually interested in the actual flooring project, here you go. 

This is the transition from the carpet in the bedroom, then a sliver of the old existing wood, into the newly sanded floor covered with latex filler.

They ran out of filler. They'll be back for more tomorrow. 

UPDATE as of 9-6-12

This is how we've been able to enter the house lately. Different, but Dave Ramsey approved rather than adding the cost of a hotel to the project budget!

 

Here is the latest progress. The final coat goes down tomorrow.

SOOOOO looking forward to moving back in and having life back to normal.

The good news is we are SOOOO happy with how things look! Can't wait to see it all put together with furniture again:)