Getting there . . .

I got a lot of decorating done yesterday and am making good progress. I just really need to put away the boxes (back in the garage) and clear up around here some! I do think I need some stuff to decorate the kitchen, it's rather bare. So sometime this week I'll make a trip to Hobby Lobby ;-) I was going to go this morning after the gym, but decided to come straight home and get caught up on laundry first (I'm so behind on it because I didn't do much over the Thanksgiving week).

I did snap a few photos last night of my 'work in progress' - wanna see?

I love these Santa figures. I'm trying to collect one every year, usually I wait til after Christmas and try to get one in the sales, but I might buy one early this year (using the $$ my Mam sent me for my birthday) :-)

This guys is what started off my 'collection (I only have about 5). It's a Boyds Bear Santa. Jason bought me this quite a few years ago, I think before Kristen was even born! 

I love that he has 'real' eyelashes ( you might be able to see better if you click on the pic to enlarge)

ha ha, this Santa is perfect for me - right? ;-) I bought him last year at Kohls. 

 this is the tree in the dining room. I've only added this the past two Christmas's when I realized I was the only one in the cul-de-sac that didn't have a tree in their window! Last year it was decorated with all my little Boyds Bears and any other bear Kristen could find to add to it! This year I've added the doggy ornaments that were up on the game room tree, because the game room tree is different (I'll show pics of that next time). 

 The dining room table is a work in progress. I like the burlap table runner that I got earlier this year, it's so versatile. It looked great at Thanksgiving (even though I didn't host it, I still set my table! but now I can't find the picture I took of it!! I seriously need to organize my picture folders better). And I like the big poinsettias added to the napkins. 

another Boyds 'Angel' Bear on the stairs

the living room tree is up and the mantel decorated, although I will add fresh greenery like I did last year, once Lowes starts getting in their Christmas trees. They probably have them already, I just haven't been up there yet. 

All that's left to do is PUT ALL THESE BOXES BACK IN THE GARAGE!!!!!

Well, that and buy some fun stuff for the kitchen. Once I've finished everything I'll take you on a tour of the house :-)  How's your decorating going? I haven't even made a start on the outside yet!!

Busy Monday!

Hi everyone, thought I'd make just a quick post today. I'm up to my eyes in Christmas decorations! Now I really do wish I'd started a week ago, and it would all have been done by now!!!  I started getting boxes out on Friday but I'm finding a lot of lights not working this year which is slowing progress down! I've had to go to Target twice for new lights, and I still think I need one last box today. I won't even go in to the details, I'm sure I'm not the only one with lights out on a prelit Christmas tree!!

Someone asked to see my desserts from Thanksgiving, so here they are. The pecan cheesecake pie turned out really well and it got great reviews from hubs and mom-in-law, but I still prefer my pumpkin roll ;-)

and despite my good intentions of taking lots of photos, all I got was the table and one of Kristen, wearing her new furry jacket!!

Here's my stairs all decorated . . .

I've used the deco mesh for the first time this year, and I'm happy to say it was easier to use than I thought. I'll show more pictures once I do the whole house.

Birthday Girl . . . and Bella!

Hi everyone, hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day yesterday. We had a lovely time at my inlaws, it was a quiet afternoon, just the 5 of us (plus Boo!). I made two desserts to take over, but I'll show you those later this week.

Today is Kristen's actual birthday! Yes, 11 years ago today I had just gotten through 46 hours of labor (seriously! it started on Thanksgiving day which was of course a Thursday, but Kristen didn't arrive until Saturday morning!) . . .  and you can BET I'm having a glass of champagne tonight to celebrate that victory, lol :-)  That is my yearly tradition, every year on Kristen's birthday I open a bottle of bubbly. I'm hoping one day she'll share a glass with me on this special day.  So, here's a few pictures of the birthday girl today . . . .

opening cards from the family back home

always filled with the 'green stuff'! THANK YOU Uncle Michael.

and many thanks to Nana and Aunty Brenda and Uncle George.

Mommy and Daddy bought her a Kinect for Xbox this year, and yesterday she got some games for it too from Grandma and Papa

she also got the new Justin Bieber Christmas CD

And finally . . . . 

Meet Bella!

Kristen wanted another hamster for her birthday, but this time a teddy bear hamster, not a dwarf one like she had before. I must admit I prefer the look of these ones, they are so cute and much easier to handle too. We went out this morning to Petco (they are the only ones that carry them around here, Petsmart only have the dwarf ones) and we brought this little cutie home with us. Kristen named her Bella  :-)

she is very calm and easy to handle. Kristen has picked her up easily today but we've left her in her cage for a bit to get settled . I think she's going to be a cute little addition to the family.

Boo was certainly fascinated with her!

Thanksgiving

For some reason I never seem to take photos on Thanksgiving day? Well, last year I did but that was because it was Kristen's birthday, but looking back in my photo folders I don't see many of the Thanksgiving table or all of us together! I really must change that this year.

I was going to share some photos of Thanksgivings Past, but that's how I discovered I don't take any! Here's one I have from years ago, Kristen was 2 and it was just me Jason and Kristen for dinner that year -2002 (my inlaws still lived in CA, and we were in Maryland). . .

I think Kristen had a mouth full of eggnog! Looks like she isn't enjoying it but she does like it - trust me ;-) I just bought our first carton today, ready for tomorrow. I won't let her have any until Thanksgiving day or her birthday (whichever is first), even though it shows up in the stores now in October!

I think our meal was from Boston Market that year!

I set the timer on the camera but couldn't get Kristen to look at it at the right time!

Libby's Pumpkin Roll! I made this one a few years ago, it's my favorite Thanksgiving dessert. I'll be making one of these this afternoon ready to take to 'Grandma's house tomorrow. I'm also trying a new recipe from a friend 'Pecan Cheesecake Pie' :-) I'll be sure to take photos and let you know how they turn out.

This week off school sure is going fast. Today we have piano lesson at 11.30am. Then I'll be heading up to the gym with Cheryl. This afternoon when I get home, I'll start making desserts for tomorrow AND I'll try to get some Christmas decorating started. I did get my garland out for the stairs yesterday and I'm trying to use the deco mesh for the first time. I'll be sure to take lots of photos this year too.

Party pictures . . .

After more help from Becky at CBOTB, I've changed the template back to 'Picture Window' and still managed to add one of her wonderful seasonal backgrounds, AND center my header. I used to have 3 columns but I actually like this two column look, so I'm leaving it like this for a while. It all looks good to me now, please let me know if that's not the case, and you're not seeing the Christmas background.

We had Kristen's birthday party here on Saturday, with our neighbor friends, inlaws and a couple of Kristen's 'girl' friends from school (and their moms). We all had a great time, the kids just entertained themselves either running around the back yard (in the pitch black) with flashlights - who knew that could be so much fun!!! and playing upstairs on the Wii. We had pizza and cake, and I also borrowed Cheryl's chocolate fountain :-)

We didn't start the party til 5pm, so I could serve the adults 'seasonal cocktails'. Cheryl found us a cocktail to try called a B28 which was Baileys, Kahlua, Amaretto and Butterscotch Schnapps! We changed the name of it (to go with our seasonal cocktail theme) to B-Thankful :-)  I also served Pomegranate Fizz, which was pomegranate schnapps and champagne, and fresh pomegranate seeds. I wish I'd remembered to take pictures of them! 

Jason took a lot of the photos of Kristen blowing out her candles and opening gifts but unfortunately I had the camera on the wrong setting (again!) and a lot of the pictures turned out blurry :( Here's a few of the 'not so blurry' ones. . . .

friends (I forgot to take another picture when the rest turned up!)

Pizza 'al fresco' - it was such a warm night, the kids sat outside to eat.

 

she blew all 11 candles out in one go :-)

Boo loves to help open pressies!

Our last guests didn't leave til after midnight!! Thankfully they only had to stagger walk next door to get home! I'd say that was a great party, wouldn't you ;-)

Happy Friday!

Well, after much trial and error I've changed my blog back to the blogger 'minima' template so I can add a Christmas theme. I'm still not liking how close the left column is to my typing, but I tried what Marla suggested and blogger says I can't change the width settings (probably cos I'm using an old template), but thanks for the suggestion Marla. It will have to just look like this for now.

I made a new header which I think looks cute. I love that first picture of Kristen in the Santa hat :-) It was taken December 2001 when she was just one year old - it's one of my favorites. 

Yesterday was Thanksgiving Lunch at Kristen's school. Our last one in Elementary, and I have to say it was rather tasty :-)  I forgot to take my camera so no pictures. After lunch it has been 'our tradition' for me to sign Kristen out and she comes home with me. Yesterday before we headed home we decided to go get her hair trimmed.

She didn't want it styled or shaped (I'm sure that will come soon) so we just got a couple of inches taken off the bottom. After we got home we decided to go out again to Justice for Girls. I said we should go looking for something new to wear to her party tomorrow.  She was all for it, but then when we got up there she just seems bored in the store, and nothing catches her eye. I mean what young girl doesn't get excited about getting something new to wear? Mine obviously!  She picked nothing, and we came home empty handed. I have been trying to look for something that she can wear for Christmas too, but I have to say there's not much 'christmasy' stuff out there except the pretty 'party dresses', and you know she's not going to wear those!  I was blessed with a Tom Boy, and I just have to accept it ;-)

I'm off to Kristen's school again this afternoon to take in Brownies for her birthday.

HELP!!!!!

+++++ OK, I've figured out how to load the old minima template again, thanks to Becky at CBOTB, and I've loaded a Christmas background. I'm still not happy with how the typing is too close to the left menu, so I need to look in to that. Also want to make a new header, but will have to wait til tomorrow. Off out to Book Club tonight.

Does anyone know why I can't get a background to load right? I used to use the 'minima' template from blogger but I can't see that option anymore. I'm using the 'simple' template, but the background from CBOTB isn't loaded right?

Anyone got any ideas?

Under Construction!!!

I'm trying to change my template so I can add a Christmas themed look. It's rather messy at the moment. Hopefully I'll get it sorted out soon!!!!

Random Things

I met my friend Cindy for coffee this morning and took along my camera :-) I didn't have anything to blog about so I thought I'd take a picture of my coffee! Then I asked Cindy to snap my picture too ;-)

I was wanting to order the EggNog Latte, but I got online this morning and checked how many calories was in it!! perhaps I shouldn't have, 460 CALORIES, and that was without the cream!!! I just kept thinking of all that hard work I've been putting in at the gym. So, today I opted for a Gingerbread Latte, and just like Sadie, I drank it in memory of our sweet bloggy friend Elizabeth, who we sadly learned passed away suddenly last week. 

The Gingerbread latte was only 320 calories. If you want a really low cal drink, think of trying the 'skinny Peppermint Mocha', it only has 130 cals for a 16oz cup (no whipped cream). I may treat myself to the eggnog latte sometime in December, but for now I want to use my calories wisely ;-)

I made this for dinner last night . . . .

I should think eating like this for the next few weeks AND going to the gym at least 4 or 5 times a week, will mean I can easily fit in to this . . . . 

This is my new cocktail dress :-)  Cheryl is hosting a cocktail party for her Mom's 65th birthday in December. I wanted to treat myself to a new little black dress this year.

And one last thing, I made this over the weekend. . . .

I took a few photos when I made it with some roses and rosemary in it from my garden, but I can't seem to find the photos on my computer? And they're no longer on my camera? I don't know what I did with them. Well, this is harder to do than it looks I must say. The candy canes are not all perfectly straight so or the same height! But it still turned out looking rather nice. I'll be sure to take more pics when I add roses to it for Christmas.

Getting busy . . .

Things are starting to speed up here! Kristen's birthday party is fast approaching. I'm having the neighbors and some of her friends over on Saturday afternoon so I need to start planning. I can't believe next week is Thanksgiving - NO SCHOOL after Friday :-)  I am not hosting this year so there isn't much to do for that.  

The gym seems to be taking up all my time, although I don't know why as I'm only there for an hour and a half each morning, usually getting home by 10am!  I didn't go this morning - Cheryl called just as I was leaving the house at 8.30 to say she'd been called out. She planned on going later about 11am, but I went for groceries and when I got back decided to get stuck in to housework. I want to tell myself it's ok to have a day off (from the gym) or even two days off a week.

I got the game room all cleaned up, dusted and vacuumed. Did 3 loads of laundry, put the laundry away, cleared up in the kitchen, swept the kitchen and hallway floors. At least I feel like I've accomplished something today. 

We went over to Cheryl's on Saturday night. She'd bought some champagne to try that the store was having samples of :-)  I had to take a couple of pictures (especially for you Nenna - we were wishing you were here). 

Hope you're all having a great start to your week. I just realized why I want to decorate for Christmas so early. . . every time I turn on the tv there's a commercial on with Santa in it!! AND they're already showing Christmas movies on Hallmark channel!!!!!!

I'm Ready. . .

I am SO ready to decorate for Christmas, but hubby keeps poo-poohing the idea!! Yesterday I bought this little guy from Ross. He's not that little, actually he's just under 3ft tall :-)

I stood him half way up the stairs, and when Jason came home from work he said "bah humbug - there shall not be Santa's in my house before December!" Hmmm, well I have other plans, so he better get used to Mr. Santa ;-)  I'm not hosting Thanksgiving this year, we'll be going to my inlaws for dinner, so I think I will get my decorations out during the week we are off school!

While I'm feeling all 'Christmasy' (it's really cold out today, I feel like lighting my candles and playing holiday music!) I thought I'd share a few pictures I have in my Christmas folder on Pinterest.  If you go to my Pinterest page HERE, it will give you the source of the pictures.

I would love to make one of these pretty flower arrangements this year!

 I love how bright this staircase looks, and love the ice skates hanging up.

 This is the lovely Becca's Christmas mantel - LOVE it. I have a picture of her bedroom all decked out for the holidays that I absolutely love - need to add it to my Pinterest. You can CLICK HERE to see Becca's gorgeous Christmas Home Tour from last year.

OK, I found it (and pinned it), here's Liz's gorgeous bedroom. I think she's redecorated since then, but I love the color scheme she had in there, it totally went with all the Christmas decor.

 I need me some Christmas pillows for the sofa!

So, fess up! Have you started decorating yet? I know Liz has (not that Liz (above), I mean this Liz from SAVVY SEASONS :-)  I'm rather jealous that she's already got her tree up!