Reclaiming Home

I must admit, this is the first year that all remnants of Christmas (except for the presents) have already been carefully wrapped, stacked and tucked away inside massive storage containers, until next year, when it all starts over again.  It isn't even New Year's Day!  Yikes!  I suppose I just needed to get a little of my normal back, whatever that may be, earlier rather than later this year.

Of course, joyous holiday feelings have also subsided due to the frequent vomiting in our home the past several days.  The thought of cleaning and disinfecting amid the Christmas decorations...again...was just too much for this weak soul to take.  No, I'm not the one attached to the bathroom.  Yet, anyway.  Sigh.

So not to be all doom and gloom, I did feel pretty liberated at the sight of my now-rather-naked family room and the cleared off window sills and such.  A mini cleansing of the soul I think, ha!  And today, I braved the arctic wind to get to the grocery store for the sake of my poor family, and I was...alone.  Alone!  Wow!  I don't think I have ever enjoyed puttering up and down the aisles of a grocery store so much!  Did I mention that I was ALONE????  :)  Anyway, I treated myself to a beautiful new pink Primrose plant to welcome in the new year (something I began a few new year's ago), and I think it's the prettiest $3.33 I've seen all week.

If you've seen the Christmas pics, then you're in for a real treat when you feast your eyes upon these post-clean-up pics!  Ha Ha

 

Aaaaaahhhhhh, I have my quiet space back

 What to do with that bare corner in the back...

 

Yup, still waiting on my mantle....

My little reading nook, overlooking our secluded, woodsy backyard

Now onto the kitchen...

Needs something up there- I'm thinking through options

Up here too

My ill-equipped, uninspiring dining room...

I've found a temporary cure for my longing for a sideboard!

This little set up works beautifully for the time being, and I'd rather have it here than taking up too much space in the family room

Finally, that awkward area I've been working on...ta-da!

Hello Isabelle!

I've got one thing in mind for the empty space on the left...betcha can't wait, right???

And of course, just a few moments ago, the slipcover suffered unbearable trauma and will most likely be retired from duty...so the very (faded) blue denim over-stuffed chair will have to make a return to the office space because I'm not dealing with another slip cover in the meantime- no way!  We do not get along!  When does it ever end?  Wish me luck!  :)

Another Wonderful Christmas

Getting ready for Christmas this year felt really special.  Too stressful at times, though I try my hardest not to give into those kinds of pressures, but mostly joyous.  Thoughts of Mary, a frightened and obedient young girl, faced with awesome and incredible events, humbled me often this season as I reflected on the very first Christmas day in the stable so many years ago.  What an amazing gift was given to us all!

Here are some favorite pics, and I didn't even play with my edits...yet.  Gasp.  :)
Christmas morning (and the night before); family dinner with my folks; Christmas with Bill's family a few nights ago.  Whew!  

Jonah felt inspired to drop and do 20 with his beloved Pats shirt on!

 

 

 

 

Turkeys, Trees, and Recycling Furniture

Okay, first things first...being the genius that I am, I choose Christmas week of all weeks to ransack, rearrange, and recycle furniture from one room to the next.  Did I mention that it's also vacation week, so I have tons of extra "help" here?  Hmmpf.  Sometimes a girl just wants to be left alone in the midst of her mess, figure it out, and get crackin'!  Am I wrong?

I wish I'd taken some before pics to show the changes, but alas I didn't, so you'll have to imagine.  I discovered a great new blog this past week - Transforming Home - and she totally inspired me (I'll bet she doesn't know that!) to start tackling those areas of our home that really bug me.  I mean really bug me.  So gung-ho I went, knowing full well that I still have presents yet to be wrapped, cards yet to be addressed and sent, dresses yet to be hemmed, jammies yet to be sewn...and I like it!  It feels pretty good, at least for the moment, and it was FREE!

Long story short: the TV stand (Bill made me that!) now houses the mittens and stuff, which used used to sit in boxes on the tiled floor (Bill did that too- the carpet got so gross there); I dragged up an old table thing my Dad made when I was little and plunked the pitiful TV (used for games) on that; the room still looked pretty dumb because last month I moved the one chair from here into the family room, where it fits much better, but there is still a large ottoman to sit on...so I'm embracing the office/mudroom/music room/play area/craft room with gusto because I'm not entirely sure what else to do with this space!

At least the kiddos got to benefit from some of my creative juices this morning before my clean fest began.  I have decided that the gingerbread tree (or house) in a box, complete with all the trimmings, is the way to go for this family!  So much fun, so little prep time!  Looks cute, right?

We still have to add the snow

And of course, as we sat down to create our tree masterpiece, Ethan spied a turkey out back.  Those things have grown!  They are GI-NOR-MOUS!  We counted about 13 in all- there used to be around 25 that would waddle their way into the backyard, and across the front, and down the street...quite comical actually!  We noticed one turkey flat out on the snow, not really moving, and the boys got nervous.  We are an incredibly animal-sensitive family, and it made me smile to listen to the boys' contemplating their rescue mission for the bird.  The oldest 2 threw on boots and coats, and ran out in their jammies.  It became apparent that there was nothing wrong with this turkey, except that now it's scared to death because little boys are chasing after it to rescue it, and it ran.  Then it FLEW!  They all flew!  I didn't know a turkey could do that!  I mean, they aren't the most agile things, and they're hefty, but they could fly!  We watched one up in a tree for quite a while, stretching its wings and such.  Pretty cool!

Here they are now...

Here they were as little turkey babies...

They're still pretty big, but I can't find the pics of them when they were teeny, and as I've already shared, I do not have all the time in the world to spend hunting up (nice pun!) photos of turkey babies

But it will bug me, because they were so cute!

Mmmmm, someone else enjoys watching turkeys too!