Christmas Decor Details :-)

I thought I'd show you some of our Christmas decorations close up, plus I have added a couple more. ;-) The bottle brush tree was another TJMaxx find. ;-)

Nathanael loves this little snow man who is counting down the days with him. :-)

Some of my favorite ornaments on the white tree....

Cardinals seem to be a theme on our "real" tree this year, which is appropriate, since there are real cardinals in our our yard and at our feeder all the time. :-) Such pretty, Christmasy looking birds!

I am linking up with Julia's Holiday House Tours http://hookedonhouses.net/2011/12/08/hooked-on-holiday-house-tours-a-show-us-how-you-decorate-linky-party/. :-)

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas :-)

Welcome to our home, where Christmas has definitely arrived! :-)

This is the best pic I could get of our tree, for some reason. Ha

I love these vintage style Christmas houses, and I looked online everywhere trying to find a good price. Then, I went to TJMaxx, and happened to see these ones for $12.99 each! And they are much bigger than the ones that cost way more. I think that store is one of my new favorites. I found some cute vintage looking ornaments there, too. :-)They are glass, however, so one has already been broken by a certain little 2 year old....

I couldn't get a great shot of this wreath, on the inside of our back door, but it is actually one of my favorite Christmas decorations this year. So Wintery!

Some little Christmas touches in the Kitchen. :-)

I love my little, white "shabby chic" tree. :-)Heading downstairs, this is the view from the lower level. We have a split entry, so you can see all the way up to the big tree from down in the family room.

"Silver bells, silver bells..."

I found this little tree at a thrift store. It is pre-lit, and I put most of our red ornaments, and a lot of the boys' cute little toy type ornaments on it. :-)

Our Christmas village. The new addition this year was a fire station, Nathananael's choice. ;-)

This is the front porch entry at night. I tried to take a picture with the flash off first, but the picture was too dark. ha

Hope you are enjoying the beginning of the Christmas season this year! We sure are. :-)

Jessica

I am linking up with Julia for her "Holiday House Tours" http://hookedonhouses.net/2011/12/08/hooked-on-holiday-house-tours-a-show-us-how-you-decorate-linky-party/. :-)

And the Christmas Home Tours at
http://theinspiredroom.net/2011/12/12/virtual-christmas-house-tours-linky-party/

And The Nester

http://www.thenester.com/2011/12/2011-christmas-tour-of-homes-2.html

Our trip to the Christmas tree farm! :-)

We went to a nearby Christmas tree farm today where you cut your own tree. It was really fun! They had wagon rides and hot chocolate while you wait for your tree to be shaken and tied. Teddy especially loved the wagon ride! He even ventured a quick pet of the horse. ;-)

Not a great shot of us, but the only one with all of us together...

Teddy headed straight for this tractor! Haha

My pictures ended up backwards order on here. Ha Oh, well.

Sawing the tree down....

The chosen tree. :-)

We have the tree mostly decorated, but we need to get some more balls or something to fill in with. The tree is big, so we don't have nearly enough ornaments. Ha I have two other small (fake) trees, so a lot of the ornaments got used on those. ;-)

I will take a lot more pictures soon of our house all decorated for Christmas and post those. :-)

Jessica

Happy Thanksgiving!

"O give thanks unto the Lord; call upon His name: make known his deeds among the people".

Psalm 105:1

I am so thankful to the Lord for the many, many blessings he has given me. Most of all I am thankful that he saved me as a 6 year old little girl! I am so thankful that I was raised in a Christian home, and was given the opportunity to receive the Lord as my Savior so early in life.

Have a Happy and Blessed Thanksgiving!
Jessica

A Quote For Today :-)

I came across this quote in a book called "Storybook Cottages" by Gladys Montgomery:

" It often happens that some modest cottage, all chaste and simple and expressive, but in strictly correct taste and good keeping, awakens in our minds a far higher pleasure than the most costly saloon, bright with gilding, and rich with satin and velvet, where we only discover magnificence and expense without taste or propriety. We feel that there is some living spark of genius in the former, but in the latter- only unlimited credit at the banker's. "

- Andrew Jackson Downing, The Architecture of Country Houses, 1850

October Glory

October has been such a beautiful month! Mostly great weather, and a wonderful time with my family visiting from Idaho. :-)

Our "October Glory Maple" in all it's splendor: More front porch decor. The "mums" are a late housewarming gift from our realtor friend. :-)

While my family was here, we went to a few houses in the local tour of homes. My sister and Nathanael posed for me in the girl's nursery in my favorite house of the tour. :-)

The leaves on our maple tree were so beautiful, but shortlived. They are already half dropped off now. :-(

At the American Girl Store in Overland Park, Kansas.

I still love these dolls. ;-) "Rebecca" is my new favorite.

We had a nice little tea party on the back deck, after which we played "Authors", which is my little sister's favorite game. It is quite fun when you are as fond of books as we are. :-)

It was a little sunny outside. Ha

Last pics before the visit ended yesterday:

My dad was here for a week of my family's visit, but I didn't get any good pictures of him. :-/I think he would rather I didn't publish the ones I did get. Haha

Have a wonderful last few days of this beautiful month!

Jessica

Big Boy Bunk Beds!

Teddy was outgrowing his crib, so it was time for a big boy bed! We decided to get bunk beds to save space in their room, plus kids love bunk beds. ;-)

Nathanael and Teddy, all ready for bed.

We did a little rearranging of wall decor, as well as furniture, since the Peter Rabbit quilt was hidden behind the bed. The room seems really spacious now!

Making the bed! :-)

We had the "N" and the "T" on the wall before, and Ben came up with this good idea to put them on the beds instead. I think it looks really cute. :-)

Changing Up The Family Room :-)

The first two pictures are how our family room looked until about a week or two ago. My sewing area, etc were mixed in with the boys' tent and table at one end. And most of the boys' toys were with the sofa and chair at the other end. So, pretty much what you saw when you walked in the front door and looked downstairs was toys. Not so good, expecially when they weren't picked up like they are in this photo. Ha

I changed the furniture around so that there are now two distinct "rooms" in one big area.

This is now the view to the downstairs from the front door. :-)

Much better!

The toy and school area are at the other end now, where it is also easier to keep an eye on things from upstairs. ;-)

At the other end is the family room seating area as well as my sewing stuff. The seating works much better now for viewing the TV, too. Which didn't matter before because we just recently put a TV down here.

The whole effect is much cozier now, too. Before it seemed like everything was just scattered around a huge space.

The sofa and the pillar divide the "rooms" nicely while still having an open plan feel.

My sewing corner, and the TV cabinet.

The boys love their new play area! :-)

I just started Kindergarten with Nathanael and he loves it! He is doing really well, too. Teddy has even been picking up some things, which is so cute. :-)

Jessica