Thanksgiving Mantel

I didn't decorate much for Thanksgiving other than the little bit on the porch, but I did find this banner online. I loved just adding this one little thing to the mantel, lighting the candles, and calling it a day.

(It was quite a day, by the way. We stayed home and my parents and grandma drove over from Chicago. Only their car broke down and they were stuck on a tiny shoulder of a bridge for two hours waiting for a tow truck. Then they had quite an adventure trying to get a rental car from the airport. They didn't arrive until about five hours after their anticipated time. But, they made it. And we ate. And ate. And decided that Black Friday shopping was not worth it because sleep had to be worth something, right?)

Notes to future self when preparing for Thanksgiving:

• Lots of dvds from the library to keep the kids happy - yes! good idea!
• Buying a gargantuan turkey just because it doesn't cost too much more - ehhhh, not so much. I almost couldn't fit that bird in the oven! ("bird" reference for my father's sake)
• Adding lots of extra, unnecessary side dishes is.....unnecessary. Keep it simple please.
• Bread pudding - I love you.
• Please put the dressing in the oven earlier. Two years in a row I have been waiting on dressing to cook.
• Make the kid table much more exciting and enticing. Put a huge bowl of candy and fudge in the middle of it if necessary. Just make it better than the big table.
• Make place cards. They're pretty, practical, and I always wish I had when it's over.
• Take pictures! Of people and of food. (yes, the food. I want to see it for years to come after all that work that goes into it!) I have NO pictures of our Thanksgiving day this year. =(

I think that's all. Now, if I'll just remember to read this next year.....

Spring

I've lived almost all my life in Texas so being this far north is something really different and new. And wonderful! Texas really only has summer and winter (if you want to call it that) and they switch so fast that you don't get to enjoy the transition.

There are four very definite seasons here and I have loved every one of them so far. Spring has been amazing. After enduring the most winter I've ever lived in, going outside in 60 or 70 degree weather is incredible. I've never been so happy about every little bud on the trees or seeing all the bushes bloom. And then there's my bulbs I planted in the fall. They are all coming up and it's just amazing.

Julia picked a flower and found it had a lady bug on it.

Some of the daffodils from the bulbs that I planted months ago.
(Me! I did that!)

I love the purple and yellow together in my hanging basket under the tree.

Aren't these yellow blooms gorgeous?
(I brought some in the house today. I'll post a picture of that later.)

More daffodils. I'm thinking about naming every one of them, I'm just so in love.

Fall Has Fallen.....And There's A Lot of It!

John David's newest outdoor activity is raking leaves. He used to ask every day if he could ride his bike, but now he asks to rake the leaves. And that's all right with me because the amount of leaves in our yard is crazy.

I couldn't capture with my camera just how crazy so you'll have to trust me. Last weekend we had a few leaves scattered here and there but throughout the course of the week fall arrived in full force at our house! One tree went from being beautifully green to yellowish orange to almost completely bare in the last few days.

One cool thing about this city is that in the fall they come through with big trucks that have big sucking hoses (or so it's been described to me) and all you have to do is have your leaves raked to the curb. "All you have to do." Ha!

We've (and when I say "we've" I mostly mean "I") spent hours this week raking and my arms hate me right now. It's such a hard thing for a perfectionist to do though because once you've started you just want to get every single last leaf....which is impossible because even as you're raking it's "snowing" leaves.

You know what else I've realized? Our home's main source of privacy comes from the abundant landscaping - trees, bushes, and vines. Let's just say I saw the house behind us for the first time today - and I think we're about to be seeing a whole lot more of them. Which means they're about to be seeing a whole lot more of us!

The Dining Room Nightmare

I previously mentioned that I was enduring quite a trying time getting our dining room painted. I'm happy to say that it is finally behind me. Whew! Let's see if I can recap it all so you can, ahem, enjoy the transformation as I did.

Here's the dining room before we ever moved in.
Who are those children in my picture???

After hours and hours of messy and tedious work, the wallpaper was gone. There was also chipping and peeling paint that had to be scraped.

I meticulously taped off the floor and then primed the walls with two coats. I'm not sure from this picture if I had painted the wainscoting yet or not. That was no small task either and it took several coats to get it pretty and white.

After priming twice with one coat primer from Valspar, we saw that the places underneath were still showing through. Using plaster, I filled in lower spots where the paint had peeled and attempted to copy the existing texture on the walls. Once dry, I sanded it all down lightly.

I primed the walls yet again. And here goes the red.. Not so sure I like this color but the man really wants it.....

Bad lighting (it was the middle of the night - when else is a mommy of four supposed to paint!?!), but I think you get the idea. The red is intense (!) and the areas I re-textured are still showing through after multiple coats of one coat coverage.

Look at this next picture. Have you ever seen anything so ugly when painting??? These walls are totally dry and this is what they look like.

Here's the paint I used from Valspar (Lowe's signature paint).
I took both the primer and the paint and returned to Lowe's where they gave me exceptional customer service. My money was returned and after they saw the pictures and heard the story they said they would contact Valspar to see what we needed to do.

Valspar said that because it's a thick paint and fast drying you really have to paint a small section of wall and cut in. Then move to the next small section. You can't go back later and cut in around your trim. (???) They also suggested a flat paint. Valspar and Lowe's hooked me up with everything I needed to redo the room (on their dime) and I got right to work.

First I sanded the walls down. So ugly!

I didn't take pictures of all the next steps because I just wanted to be done! Next I primed it all again with a green tinted primer. I took this opportunity to change the whole red plan and go with my choice - green. My "Mark Twain House Olive" flat paint from Valspar went on beautifully. I did not use the one coat coverage again, nor will I ever!

I can't replace the light fixture just yet, but Home Depot was clearancing out their shades so I replaced those and took off all of the gold berry vines that were wrapped around the light. Some of the bulbs are too bright, but you get the idea.

I can't wait to make/find curtains and hang things on the walls.

So happy now.

P.S. John did admit that he does like the green better than the red. He really wants something to be painted red, but I've just had to explain to him that I do NOT like that color and it makes me unhappy. It also greatly disables me when it comes to decorating. I think he understands now. =)