Just like that commercial!

Did you ever see that commercial when the wife takes her friends into her new closet and they all scream and then they hear the husband and his friends screaming about the huge beer fridge in their basement. Well that is how this christmas was here. My husband has been itching for a flat screen with hd and finally got one this year.

I on the other hand like tv but not that much. I love to bake though and have wanted a Kitchen Aid Artisan mixer for years and I finally figured out how to get one without breaking the bank.  My husband used to travel alot at his last few jobs and collected lots of miles on different airlines.  They have been sitting there for a few years waiting to be used, but we just never used them so I got this great idea to cash in miles for gift cards this year. I got my mother in law Talbots and my brother in law wine.com and my neighbor barnes and noble and I got my husband a gap gift card. I also saved a few points to get 200$ in macys gift cards and used those to get the almighty mixer! I have already made mashed potatoes and banana crunch muffins and I am going to give bread a try this week. I love love love it, and I only had to pay 86 dollars including tax to get it!

Hope you all got what you wanted for the holidays, and lets hope 2010 is better then all the rest!

Busy, Busy, Busy!

Well it has been a while since I posted last. I have been busy eating turkey, Christmas Shopping (yes I went out for a whole 3 hours in the am on black friday), watching my sisters kids, and tonight we are going to my husbands 20th class reunion. In between my husband and I put together a project I dreamt up a few months ago.

A while back I posted here about my husband and kids painting. So I had an idea to make a display shelf to put their artwork on display in my dining room.  So we started by buying some bead board, a small sheet of oak plywood, some liquid nails and some trim. I already had some white primer and paint so we did not have to buy that. We started by having

 my husband cut the beadboard to the height of the ply wood. After he cut them all to match we put all the pieces of beadboard together and used liquid nails to attach it. We did have a little over lap which we cut off with an exacto knife (ran the knife right down a bead and snapped it off).

After we let the liquid nails set my husband cut the trim using the miter saw.  I then used the liquid nails again and glued the trim over the beadboard. I then used our staple gun (loaded with brads) and nailed the trim onto the beadboard. Oh I should mention the trim I bought is made to go over beadboard or panelling. It does not have a flush back. I think it was called panel trim.

Ok so now we added our "shelve" which is actually another piece of trim. The kind you would use to cover your drywall corners so they don't get chipped. Yet again I don't know the name. I promise next time I will do better! We again used liquid nails and brads to attach to the beadboard and plywood. I filled all the wholes and cracks with wood filler.  We let the whole thing sit over night and the next day I took on the priming and painting. Just 1 coat of primer and two coats of white paint.

Finally we hung it in our dining room(that is a weird shadow on my wall, not a bad paint job) We used large wood screws and finishing washers - right into the studs as this is rather heavy. We added some art and now we are good to go. Obviously the art showing is a little small for the shelves. I have given directions for 5x7s, 8x10s or 9x12s for future artwork.

I think it turned out pretty good, but let me know what you think?

The Stare at my Staircase Party

Well the day has finally arrived, beth@ thestoriesofa2z.blogspot.com is having a party and I was invited along with another 456 people. I am not taking it personally though. My staircase has been done over and the process took about 3 year! Ugh, actually when we bought our home 3 years ago we had hardwoods put in through out. However we ran out of the green stuff and had to put the bannister and railing on hold till just recently.

It is not quite as fancy as some of the other transformations but when you see where it came from I think you will see why I have been staring at my staircase! Here it is MY STAIRCASE, TA DA!










I am thinking of putting stair treads- nice ones- or a runner down the center but I have not made it to that project yet! Maybe it will be done before next years party!

A Baking Day

Ok I can't stand it when Halloween goes by and the kids have tons of candy! My kids argue over who has more or who has a better selection. I just let them have at it until it is gone. Well today I can finally say it is gone! So in celebration I baked today. I know, are baked goods better then candy?  I think so. They don't stick to your teeth,  My kids get the same exact thing and number and I have more control over what goes in it. Well at least I do with my cookies which I make from scratch with butter eggs flour sugar and all that other good stuff. My brownies I make from the box (Ghirardelli) because I don't think  I can make them any better.   My husband loves it when I bake. He is known to get up in the middle of the night, sneak downstairs to the kitchen and pour a cold glass of milk, and stand over the kitchen sink having chocolate chip cookies and milk.  Only thing that gives him away is the chocolate breath when he gets back into bed.  Oh and all the noise he makes taking the tin foil off and getting the milk and glasses out. He is not very sneaky!

Kids have the day off for the holiday tomorrow so I am trying to come up with something fun to do. I am thinking we may go to visit my husband at his new office in the sky ( in a skyscraper). The kids have not been there yet and there are lots of other fun things to do in the city for the day! 

Crafty Me!

My house is a work in progress and I guess I am too. I like to procrastinate but as of late I am hard at work on projects around the house. I was driving through the center of town the other day and noticed someone was getting rid of a brass coat rack. So being me, I grabbed it and threw it in the back of my car. I brought it home primed and painted it and now it is a place for my daughter to hang her robe, and scarf collection (they always seem to be on the floor). My daughter loved it! Even after I told her I took out of someones trash.

The next project I saw on http://oursuburbancottage.blogspot.com/2009/10/diy-monogrammed-doormat.html

and I just had to try it myself.

I did it a little different but the idea is the same.

I used contact paper (which I had already) and taped the printed letter (which my husband supersized for me) to the contact paper. I then used an exacto knife to cute through both layers. Then I pressed the contact paper down firmly and spray painted the S, my rug already had a black border around it.. I love the way it came out.

 Last but not least I did a simple switcharoo to my candles. Just a change of color from black and white for halloween to cranberry  and white for fall/ christmas.

Hope you like my projects!

Oh and here is one interesting one of the vacuum truck coming to pick up our leaves. Of course one of my trees lost all its leaves today!  A day late. Oh well! I know how lucky we are to have this available in my town.

It is an early turkey day around here

I just came back from dropping my daughter off at school. When what to my wondering eyes should appear but seven turkeys walking through my neighborhood with no fear.  I have seen them before but not a group this large. Now we do live in the suburbs but not in the boonies and it still surprises me to see wildlife roaming around. A few years back I saw a red fox in my neighbors back yard and we hear coyotes once in a while at night. I just think it is so cool to see turkeys at this time of year...  I am now officially in the mood for Thanksgiving.

Oh what a night!

Another Halloween has passed.  We had a great night. The rain held out until we got back and My husband and I got to take the kids trick or treating this year while my mother in law gave out candy. My daughter was a black cat tonight, and my son was Jupiter, of all things.

The kids had so much fun and got tons of candy!  We probably had about 200 plus kids come to our house tonight.  All in all a success. Now the countdown will begin for Thanksgiving, and then Christmas.  My kids love counting down to anything!  Happy Halloween!

The artsy duo

My husband was looking for a way to get some daddy/daughter time with my oldest. My youngest tends to demand a lot of attention from us and my husband thinks it is important to have that time with my daughter. So they set up a studio in our basement to start doing painting and pastels.  I love it because it means free artwork for me. I have also suggested that my daughter wrap some up as christmas gifts for grandparents, godparents and teacher. She is actually pretty good.  My husband is also doing some painting on his own which I think is great.  It is a great way for him to relax and get work out of his head.  

AMS is my daughter

Painting Frenzy

I went to maine this weekend and even though we had family things to do, I did make it into 2 antique shops both in Windham Maine.  The first was the Ruby slipper where I found some great milk glass, and the second was pendexters antiques where I  found a few cute things. I found a really cute plant stand/ table there. It is just small enough to leave at my entryway. It was a dark ugly brown stain and I just primed and painted it today! Yippie! I love the way it turned out and cant wait to accessorize it when it dries.

Some cool finds!

Had a nice outing with my neighbor the other day. We stopped by a favorite antiques market place and I found the best wreath to hang in my stairwell. I also went to homegoods that weekend and found this cute mirror to hang by my front door. I am still looking for a little table to put underneath it. I am also thinking of doing beadboard in this hallway. I am not sure I am up for the task yet. My big project coming up is painting my kitchen cabinet. They are old and dark and I can't afford to tear them out so I am thinking a coat of paint will help. I only hope I can pull it off. I am thinking it will take me a week or two to do the whole project and my kitchen is going to be in turmoil for that period. Looks like we will be doing a lot of take out. I am hoping to do this project in the next few weeks. I will keep you posted In the mean time here are some pics of my cool finds.

New Bannister

Here are some pics of my new bannister. I can't wait to decorate it for the holidays!

Finally

Well my family has been in our current house for three years. Before we moved in we had hardwood floors put in throughout our home(my youngest has asthma and both kids have seasonal allergies). However we ran out of money when it came time to do the bannister. Then this spring, I finally got around to calling about a quote. When the quote came in we found out my husband was losing his job so yet again we put the job off. Finally today the guys came and installed the bannister! I absolutely love it! I can't wait for the holidays to use it as just another way to decorate. I am also glad for safety reasons to have it. I have already fallen down the stairs 2x. The first time was a small fall from a few steps up but the second fall was from the 2 step at the top of the stairs. Lets just say my rear end was sore for weeks after that!

While the guys were working I made cookies- some for them and some for my kids- they love homemade cookies and milk when they get home from school. I also got around to making my first pie of the fall season. I am having company tomorrow and wanted to make something nice for dessert. well thats all for now!

Family Ties

Dropped my parents of at the bus terminal yesterday. They are heading back home. I had a great time seeing them over the last week and a half and I was sad to see them go. My dad is now 75 and I see how many pills he takes everyday. It makes me feel a little sad. My kids had so much fun spending time with my parents. They love their grammy and papa so much. On the last day of their visit, one of my children said goodbye to grammy but never got a chance to say goodbye to papa as he was out for his morning walk. My child looked so sad at the bus stop. I decided that this was one of those moments when it was appropriate to bring my dad to the school to say farewell. At the school my son bypassed me and ran straight to Papa. Three sets of hugs and kisses later and we were headed back to the house. I wanted to cry it was so sweet! It was a moment I will remember always and I think it really touched my dad too.

The official start of fall.

Well it is finally here. The official start of fall. I am enjoying waking up every morning to see the leaves changing colors and drifting slowly out of the trees to my front lawn. I know that at some point all the beautiful colors will also bring lots of work in the form of raking but right now I am just enjoying the moment. My children are so excited to get the rakes out for another purpose. They enjoy raking little piles to jump in and have fun. Such a simple activity but so full of enjoyment. Here is a photo of my son on his roller blades. He is a maniac and I usually have a magazine in hand that I can lift up and cover my face until I hear him say "I'm Ok, I'm Ok" That is my queue to look up !

This is my favorite time of year. I love waking up to cool air blowing in my window. I love that I only need a sweater to go out. I love walking my kids to school on a cool morning. Just cool enough though. I don't break a sweat but I don't freeze either. I enjoy talking to my kids in those few moments alone. No distractions to pull our attention away from one another. I find the fall to be a peaceful season.

I cherish these last few weeks outside before the cold of winter hits hard. Then I will be back to indoor activities and projects. Back to painting and decorating, back to holidays and birthdays and back to counting down to the next falls arrival.

Oh the chaos!

This week is starting off very chaotic. Sunday we went to an art show for my husband- he did not win anything but I did as I already have the artwork hung on my walls. Then we went to a triathalon for the kids. Yesterday was not so bad except that the kids could not wake up in the morning due to sundays festivities and that I cleaned my oven and heard a pop in the process. I thought I broke the heating element, but thanks to a friends suggestion I found out it was only a tripped circuit breaker. As for today, we started out having to get up earlier then usual to take Dad to the train. After dropping the kids off at school I made my way to the nursery to pick up fall flowers and gourds. I then proceeded to come home and mow the lawn, weed, laundry and clean and now I am about to bake cookie for tonight's dessert and get a meal prepared for coworkers of my husband who are coming for dinner. Nothing like fitting it all in! I am looking forward to a days rest tomorrow, if I am lucky and nothing comes up!

A beautiful fall weekend

What a nice weekend with the family. It was busy but fun. We went to a party for a friend on saturday and the adults had a great time, one of the kids had so much fun and the other was wishing she was not there. My son knows how to fill his time by talking to people he does not know about rocks and space, while my daughter shies away from making new connections. Someone at the party asked me if my son was the "well spoken scientist". That about summed him up! We also went apple picking this weekend. A time honored tradition for our family. The kids love picking fresh fruit and having a bite or two in the fields. They also love getting cider donuts and apple cider to take home. It is fun for us all and mom gets to bake with the apples at home. I love to bake and made apple crisp for dessert last night. I also love the fact that the kids request apples for their school snack instead of cookies or chips. It is a refreshing change.

Back to school

Well, that time of year has arrived and the kids are back to school. Now don't get me wrong. I love my kiddos with all my heart but I have been waiting for these days to arrive again. The days when I can go to the grocery store by myself (which takes about half the time and about half the money as no one is requesting *extras*) the days of cleaning a room and not coming back 5 minutes later to find a bigger mess, and the days of folding laundry while watching a few minutes of the today show instead of phineas and ferb. I have been waiting for these days all summer long and now they are finally here! Yes, I do have to get up earlier to make lunches and get the kids ready and yes, I do have to help everyone with homework and yes, I have to be more prepared for things then I do in the summer but I find it all worth it. I miss them when they are gone and I smile when they return to me, but I am enjoying the quiet "me time" which I think every mom deserves.