Christmas 2016 - part 1

Since the holiday season is over, I thought it would be a perfect time to share some Christmas pictures.  And because I haven't shared in a long time, I thought I would share the entire month of December now.

Our holiday season began with Buddy, the Elf.  He followed Chad and I home from the store while were out shopping without the kids, enjoying the peace and quiet.  Chad set Buddy up outside and said no word to the kids.  We just waited.

Molly noticed Buddy right away and was not impressed.  Soon the kids found him and laughed and laughed.  Christmas season had officially begun.

We purchased a new pre-lit tree for Chad's office that still needs to be painted.

The colors of the tree can be changed by the simple tap of your foot.  Ella thought this was the best and would change it to rainbow color right after I would change it to white.  Over and over again.

Buddy finally made his way outside to greet the neighborhood with smiles - because smiling is his favorite!

Molly spent a lot of time sporting adorable bandanas as she chewed her holiday bones.

Chad made this HUGE chalkboard from barn wood from a house here in Ballston Spa.  It is from the same barn that we made the fireplace with.  It is so clean and pretty, that I have yet to write on it. Thank you, Mom, for that trait.

On the opposite wall of the yet-to-be-written-on chalkboard, we hung the advent calendar that Mom and I made.  Remember you can click on that link to go see how we made that.

I bought the kids latch hook kits to keep them busy and off electronics during the winter months. Remember those?  I think I am going to order myself one!

The kids got dressed up and helped decorate the tree.  Actually, they did most of it.  I sat and watched (and listened) in awe as they carefully chose where to place each ornament.

They then took all the tissue paper that was used to wrap and protect the ornaments and made Molly into a lion.

Ella found a new tree skirt.

And joined a mariachi band.

I dusted off my Silhouette and made a couple signs.

Ella likes to sneak my phone and take cute pictures of herself.  I thought I would pay her back by posting said pictures. You are welcome, Ella.

The girls are still in dance class and love going each week.

Ella and Caleb did chores.  Had to document that!

Chad's friend has a booth at a local antique store so we took a couple of my signs down there to hopefully sell.  It is a large store, full of treasures.  The first time Mom and I went there we never even realized there was an upstairs.  My signs are upstairs so that could be bad news.

We went out to dinner and played Hang Man and Tic Tac Toe.  Fun times.

We shopped for the kids Christmas ornaments in this amazing store.  It is three stories of ornaments, decorations, treats, clothing, jewelry, books, and more. 

Chad and I were invited to a white elephant Christmas party and we took this as one of our gifts.  The sign was a hit and three woman fought over it!

Chad and I went out for steak and crab at this local restaurant we had yet to visit.  So good, I had to yell at Chad for not taking me there sooner.

Olivia and I had a Starbucks date.

Icky modeled and was featured on HelloFresh's Instagram page.

Our shoveler shoveled.  Many, many times so far this winter.

The kids built a snowman.

Chad snowblowed... the kids.

The kids made snow for their science experiment.

The girls helped Chad pick out a tie for his holiday work party.  I rocked a black dress.

Ella photobombed another picture.

We bought an old Hoosier cabinet off of Craigslist and are refinishing it.  Our current pantry is extremely small and this cabinet will be much needed storage.   It was green and yellow and in rough shape.  The top still needs to be reconfigured to make it work.   Thanks to Papa for stripping paint, sanding and repainting!  Could you please come back and help with the top?!

Here is the bottom portion.  Much better than the open bookshelf we were using.  I can't wait for the top to be finished. Hint, hint Chad.

Caleb and I went shopping and donated animal supplies to the local animal shelter - and food to the local food bank.  Can we just take a moment to recognize how much this boy has changed since we moved?  His voice, his glasses, his braces.  Sniffle, sniffle.

I won an award.

So did Olivia.

It snowed again.

And we went to see Santa.

I still have more to share, but this post was getting too long.  Up next, part 2.  

Living room built ins

Here is a picture of our living room when we first walked through the house:

Here is what it looked like when we closed on our house:

Here are a couple in between pictures:

And here is what it looks like now:

For the most part, it is done!  Chad did all the building.  We purchased unfinished, Amish crafted bookshelves and cabinets.  He removed the bottoms of the bookshelves and stacked them on top of each cabinet and viola!  He added the plank wall behind the TV and added the molding to the top and along the floor.  He also removed the cabinet door fronts and cut decorative metal sheeting to fit so that the remotes work with the doors closed.  And all the components (Xbox, cable box, dvd player, dvds, etc.) are hidden.  I did all the painting.  Notice I used the same mustard color on the back bead board that we used in our Texas dining room?!  (It is actually that same paint.  We packed it and brought it with us...  insert maniacal laugh).  You can see how we built those here and styled them here.  We still need knobs... which my wonderful mother said she would look for next time she is at Hobby Lobby.  Thanks Mom!

The mantle is an antique that we found at an antique fair back when we were living in the corporate apartment!  We were told that it was over 150 years old.  It is heavy and covered with years of dirt and memories.  We stored it in the apartment garage and crossed our fingers that it would fit.  Thank goodness it did!  We cleaned the mantle up a bit and left it as is.   Chad bought old growth barn wood from a 200+ year old barn that was being taken down here in Ballston Spa that is going to be transported and rebuilt...  in Texas!  How's crazy is that?!  He cut the barn wood to fit behind and bump out the mantle a bit.

One last BEFORE:



And one last AFTER:



Quite a change.  I am so happy it is done!  The finished pictures were taken with my phone, hence the bad quality.   I plan to take pictures with my real camera and will then show the entire living room.

Our new house

Hello!  Does anyone even check this blog anymore?  I started this post MONTHS ago.  We have officially lived in New York for just over a year now.   We moved into our house nine months ago. Time to get caught up, huh?!

After looking at approximately 40 houses, we finally found one.  Our original plan was to find an old farmhouse on land.  Land would allow us to have room for the kids to explore - and I could finally have the goats and chickens I have always wanted.  We didn't find the right farmhouse on the right land.  So we went back and looked again at the houses that would work.  This house is located on a long, quiet cul-de-sac which is perfect for our kids.  The kids can ride their bikes/scooters or rollerblade with no traffic.  They have neighbors to play with and also two acres to explore.  Our backyard is all woods - perfect for trails and a tree fort!  And, we can still have chickens - someday!

Time to show some pictures.  Here is our house when we bought it!

Chad and I both disliked the outside of this house.  The faded blue shutters looked dull and the matching blue door was just plain ugly.  But, we knew we could change all that.

As soon as Mom and Dad arrived from Texas, we got to work on replacing the faded blue shutters with brand new black shutters.  Already a huge change!  The black shutters are a much better contrast on the yellow house.

Caleb even helped Papa with the hard-to-reach shutters.

As much as I hated the blue shutters, I loathed the front door.  It made me angry.   We priced a new front door and it was over $2,000 - for a basic door.  We decided to try and paint the front door first and see if it would be okay.   Thanks to Mom (and approximately 6 coats of paint) our door looks fabulous!

I chose two red paint swatches and we let Caleb pick the winning color.  He picked Show Stopper red and it is a perfect pop of color!

We didn't stop there.  Our little front porch needed something.  A railing.

I adore this railing.  It makes the porch feel bigger.  The black coordinates with the black shutters. Our teal milk crate even works!

Here is a BEFORE of the house:

And here is the AFTER:



The front door BEFORE:

And the front door AFTER:

We also:
*replaced the old light fixtures with larger ones (must be a Texas thing!)
*removed shrubs

This job is best done by a 12 year old on his 4 wheeler, while wearing pajama pants.

With a supervising dog.

*removed small pebbles that surrounded the front walk and replaced with larger, more practical stones.  Thanks, Dad!!

Okay, that is enough for now.   

Next up, the inside and more projects.  And homeschool.  And birthdays.  And animals.