Our Festive Family Room & Fireplace

After the fall decorations left us for the season, I found myself staring down the large, barren, brown wall behind the fireplace without a clue what to do with it for Christmas. This is my very first year with a mantel (which I luuuuuve by the way...you can read about our adventures in designing and constructing it here) but with it came an unexpected bit of anxiety about decorating it!

I began by tossing up some greenery, adding some candles and things and I really like the color and textures. I don't normally decorate with red in the family room...whoa! I know, I know. I'm a wild one.

I am still on the lookout for a giant old farmhouse picture window or frame to use as a backdrop, which one of my friends keeps finding for free at her local dump (we aren't allowed to pick through the dump in our town, shucks!)...maybe she will feel inspired to donate one to me after reading this. Hint hint.

While I would love to hang our stockings that my Mom knit us, I know I'd be forever dissuading the three felines in our home to leave them be. A battle I would lose for sure. So picture six gorgeous stockings hanging there....

 Looking in from our kitchen...

...and the picture windows overlooking our backyard

Here are the turkeys posing in front of the newly-decorated albeit rather homely Christmas tree, but that's another whole story.

At least our Christmas kiddos are cute!

Thanks for stopping in to visit & have a Merry Christmas!!!
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Southern Hospitality Merry Mantels!

Fun Friday!

This adorable cook was a big help yesterday morning!

  Here she is "SPINNING" the cookie dough, ha ha!

We had a million things to do, which may have included an impromptu trip to the grocery store after dropping Ethan off at school...and of course this would be the morning I had let Isabelle ride in the car in her jammies. Oh well! It was early so it wasn't even crowded, kinda.

At least I was dressed!

I felt pretty accomplished yesterday, juggling loads of laundry all the while keeping tabs on the cookies, putting together a crockpot dinner, organizing some odds and ends, working on a sewing project, and adding a bit more Christmas cheer to our home. I've switched things up this year, and I'm really liking the changes so far.

Then we were off to Ethan's school for some presentations, hence the cookies, which was lots of fun. Isabelle looked so pretty in her Christmas skirt and velvet beret (I've got pics on my phone), and it was so sweet watching Ethan show her off to his friends and teachers. Hey, he didn't seem too interested in showing me off, ha ha!

The rest of the afternoon went by in a rush...lots of running around here and there, but it ended up being a nice, quiet night at home. And dinner was all set when we walked through the door- that's always a plus!

We just got back from cutting down our tree and Grandma and Grandpa just showed up...it seems I'm going out on a date tonight. So...see ya!  ;)

Housekeeping, Jesus, and a Little Christmas Spirit

I spent all day today cleaning and gussying up our home for Christmas. 

This was just the beginning, meaning there's a lot more to do, but it was fun to see Isabelle so excited with the few things I put up. She ran around with her dolly friends, pointing out the decorations and explaining that they were for Jesus's upcoming birthday party.  Clever girl...I hadn't explained it quite like that to her.

Speaking of Isabelle and Jesus...my little princess is a true princess, an heir to the throne of God! It all happened in the car, after dropping Ethan off at school, in such a wonderfully random, completely God-unique way. It really moved me, ministered to my soul, in a way that only Christ can. I'm so thankful.

So today I guess I was so busy with my mountains of laundry, sharking the floors, scraping greasy grime off the tops of the cabinets above the stove- let me just say EWWW, that's some nasty stuff!- and pulling decorations out of boxes and such that I didn't actually take any pictures.

But I've got pictures of last weekend at the...BEACH???

Yup!

So beautiful- it was a perfect day!

We did a little sea-side hiking, found lots of crabs, starfish and little lobster-y crayfish things...a good day for sure!

so much for a nice portrait...boy oh boy! those monkeys!

Then the week flew by and it was suddenly Thanksgiving!
We finally made it downtown to the Tree Lighting Ceremony, something I've wanted to do for years but we always forget- it was really fun! There were even fireworks and a little petting zoo for the kiddos. I think Santa may have been strolling around but we missed him in the crowds, and Isabelle has been wandering off lately so I wanted to get out of the thick of it...it absolutely petrifies me and I don't know why she's doing it all of a sudden. Is she too old for one of those animal backpack leash things? Ha!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Is this Spring or November?

New England sure seems to be experiencing some interesting weather trends these days.

I'll take sunshine and warmth over the white stuff anyday!

She's actually getting hot out there in long sleeves! Wow!

These guys are loving the warm, fresh air too!

It smells like spring in here...so odd, especially since I put up some Thanksgiving decorations yesterday.

I'm sure the cold will return soon enough, so I'm going to enjoy this awesomeness while it lasts!