December 11, 2011

almost there...

Well, we got a real tree this year! It's been sitting bare for a few days, so we finally got around to decorating tonight. I've been playing around with the other decorations, too, I'll have to post a few more pics.

D says hi! and declared the new tree lights we bought are 'trippy'.

Chris says hi! too. We all miss you guys and send our love!

XOXO


December 04, 2011

deck the halls

Well, this might be the earliest we've ever decorated, which is nice. We don't have a tree yet, mostly because we haven't decided whether or not to get a proper fake tree for our much larger living room (the 5' just isn't going to cut it any more) or to get a real tree.

Last year we used the 5', but we ended up propping it on a bucket so at least from the outside it 'fit' the window. From the inside, of course, it looked a bit strange, in a hilarious kind of way.

I grew up with real trees, and Chris has expressed a real interest in having one, so I think that's in our future. I'll keep you posted!

So I've had this little tree for years, and I usually put it in D's room. I made a little garland out of ribbon and found some boring, plastic fake lights. Last year I found a little baby light strand that is battery powered, and much to my delight 10 minutes ago, I discovered that they're perfect. Now it has real, light-up lights!

Imagine my excitement when D walked by and actually said, 'hey, that's pretty cool.' High praise, by far.

So he'll have a proper tree of his own this year.

(In the background is a picture of him eating on the streets of New York City. He proudly bought a hot dog from a street vendor one morning, and I captured the moment. My sister, our hostess in the Big Apple, bought him the frame the following Christmas.)


November 27, 2011

caution: wet paint

I really wish I had a 'before' picture I could post with this. Just imagine wood paneling, brown trim, and yellow ceilings. It's been a goal of mine to paint this room since we moved in, for two reasons.

First reason was to make it more appealing, in general. Now that the back door is fixed, we'll be entering and exiting the house through this now-mud-room. But it shouldn't LOOK like mud, I say.

Second, there is only one light fixture in this room (poor planning on our part for telling the electrician to cut the rest of the power to this room). So, the white will definitely help to make the most of the one light.

My hope is to get a new light fixture as well, to help. My thought is track lighting could do wonders.

Now we just need to paint the door (your son has chosen a beautiful red), and to put the room back in order, including a neat row of snow boots. :)


November 24, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had dinner at my dad's today, with their neighbors (old family friends) and my brother, his wife, and my new little nephew! I can't get enough of the little guy. And I actually changed his diaper (first time ever), which Chris thoroughly enjoyed watching.

It's always nice to see their neighbors, the wife was very close with my mom, so we enjoy sharing stories. She always has stories I've never heard of some adventure they had years ago.

The weather has held off and it's almost 60 degrees, although I still brought my scarf and puffy coat, just in case.

Hope you guys had a very Happy Thanksgiving, too! Gobble gobble.


November 19, 2011

the smell of the ice

We went to a hockey game tonight, the league is full of young kids, several in high school.

The guys weren't excited to go, but I was very happy! I spent many nights growing up watching hockey there. And, of course, they enjoyed some good fights that broke out.


November 13, 2011

and on Sunday we do this...

The birds have discovered the window ledges. This morning they had some bagels and then enjoyed chirping at every fallen leaf that drifted by.


November 05, 2011

at the fair

I forgot I had taken this picture. We made a trip to the Crawford County Fair this August—it's the largest outdoor agricultural fair in Pennsylvania, to brag.

They had a rodeo in town that night, and we saw the bull-riding and some barrel racing. Great show!

After we made our way through the chickens, roosters and bunnies, I made Chris and D pose with the giant cows. They're my favorites by far!



July 24, 2011

watchbirds



Rocket and Rudy watched the bird seed for a bit...we took the bird house down to replace it but haven't quite finished the job. The outside birds don't seem to mind.

April 30, 2011

a tall tree inside



The birds are always trying to get to the highest spaces in the house. Therefore, they LOVE D's shoulders. They sit politely while he walks around the house, and Rudy even preens his hair sometimes...