and we're off

Well peeps, the outside lights are up, 

along with the huge snowflakes and big ornaments.

And I got my front porch all ready, which is always fun for me.

You may recall THIS ONE and THIS ONE from years' past.

 The last few years I've edited a lot of "stuff" on my porch,

cuz now I'm starting to take more of a minimalist approach.

You know: "Less is More" and all that... at least I'm trying :) 

 When the Christmas decorations descend from the attic every year,

it's truly like seeing old friends again. Such a great feeling:)

I feel like I just stepped off the bus after a day at school, 

 to go inside and put Christmas records on the stereo. 

I keep trying to add more spirituality each year as well. 

My angel sets a nice tone to enter into our house :)

 Here's a close-up so you can see her serene expression.

And no, that's not a carton of fries on her head - it's the tip of a star!!!

I scored this wreath after looking and looking everywhere. 

I like it a lot but I keep thinking it needs something special.

Actually, I bet I'll be fiddling around with the decorations

until Christmas, just to make sure everything is balanced.

I love these trees. The 2 made out of cones were 

some of the first antiques I ever purchased. 

And I got the "Danny's Candy Cane" while Daniel was 

in Argentina for 2 years and I thought I'd DIE I missed him so much!

When I saw it, I nearly broke down right there in the store.  

I got 2 so I could send him a little Christmas tree also :)

So there you have it - at least for now!

I'll continue posting through the weekend, which I don't usually do.

But my posts were pretty sparse this week, so I need to get with it!

Next up: my little snowman village entry way :) So stay tuned! 

holiday toes

 You knew it was bound to happen sooner or later, 

so stop thinking I'm all self absorbed and obsessed with my toes,

and just be happy for me that I finally got my birthday pedicure

and those sparkly little snowflakes are just so doggone FESTIVE!!!

❄ ❄ ❄

it takes all kinds

 This List Tuesday is about all the lists I'm laboring over today. At least 5. 

Lame.

I was really excited to write a list about everything that BUGS me.

With pictures.

But I am trying to get a LOT done this week along with the usual stuff,

so I'm using various lists to keep me focused instead of paralyzed.

So the above photo (my dining room table) is my home base today,

and that's exactly what it looked like when I started this morning.

Finishing Christmas cards on the left. That was a big list, but I enjoyed it.

 Filling out next year's calendar - lists & events are already on there! 

SHEESH!

 Starting to make and write my thank you cards for all my friends...

they were all so amazingly thoughtful for my birthday - so fun!

It makes me smile every time I think about the last week :)

  iTunes on my laptop showing yet another list - various songs

to be put on a Christmas CD for some very special girls I love ❤

My main list - the Motherboard, hahaha :) I live and breathe by this list!

And hopefully by the time you read it, a lot more things will be done!

~

I hope you are all having a great day today!

The weather here is gorgeous and things are good.

I'm going to have a diet Coke and give myself a time out!

You can always find other cool lists right HERE :)

tie dye surprise

 Such an awesome surprise! ❤ I love these girls ❤

So as I was celebrating my birfeeday last Tues. with my fam...

my awesome co-heart Kerrie and my adorable church girls

were making their own TIE DYE shirts and plotting to surprise me!

 Which they did last Friday afternoon!

They descended upon my house wearing their amazing tie dye shirts! 

They brought Ruffles! They brought diet Coke!

*From left: Pearl (notice her socks!), Emily, Megan Kacy, me, 

Tory, Emily, Kirsten, Lauren, Sarah, and Kerrie :) 

Kerrie even made hand decorated TIE DYE CUPCAKES!

They were to DYE for! Get it? Haha :) 

Ok but seriously they were totally fabulous!

It was the coolest thing ever - they made me feel so loved :)

THANK YOU TO KERRIE & ALL MY PRECIOUS GIRLS!!!

(did I mention I ❤love❤ these girls???)

just too, too good

Seriously? The voice-overs nearly DID. ME. IN.

~

happy weekend everyone!

yep, I'm still celebrating :D

best. surprise. ever.

 Two days before Thanksgiving, I was standing in my closet with no pants on.

It was laundry day and nearly all my jeans were in the washing machine.

Big knock on the front door... OH GREAT! I pull on some capris and

run to the door, and looking at me through the window are 

THESE ADORABLE FACES!

~ My oldest son Daniel and his partner in crime Alissa ~

They drove all the way from Utah to surprise us - we had no idea.

I screamed my face off and doubled over with emotion

and never wanted to let go of them or stop looking at them!

BEST. SURPRISE. EVER.

Oh Daniel... you're such a lovable DORK.

They got to surprise the Mouse and Davy too -

they jumped in my bug to go pick up the Mouse from school,

then they went to the college to pick up Davy from his classes!

SO. AWESOME.

 So although you may think you had the best Thanksgiving ever,

I'm really sorry to tell you that WE actually had the best Thanksgiving ever.

You all know that my most favorite thing is to have all 3 boys under my roof.

And this time we got the extra bonus of A GIRL TOO! YAY!

~

Well, these kids are no slackers, and they both have a heavy load at school.

And they're both Teacher's Assistants, so they had a LOT of papers to grade.

Like, a LOT of papers... like hundreds of papers. So they did a lot of this.

 And they were tired. Like really tired. So they did a lot of this.

But I didn't even care, because they were HOME :)

 And when they set up camp in the front room, it looked like this.

And Daniel has a way of s-p-r-e-a-d-i-n-g his stuff all over the place...

and they had mounds of laundry to do (which Luna loved laying on)

but I didn't care, because they were HOME :)

 And for the first time EVER, we went out to eat for Thanksgiving!

We went to Claimjumper's and it was AWESOME!

Aw, just look at us all together... it was just the BEST :)

 We were able to fit in a super fun game night too - YAY!

With Davy's best friends whom we ❤ like they were our own.

(except we really, really missed you Liam!)

Apples to Apples with 11 of us... now that was FUN. And LOUD. 

 That's right: Val came home from college as well! Yay!

It was great to see her, and Davy sure was happy too :)

 Ah, the usual shenanigans... I love it :)

*Ski, Darren, Jimmy, John, and the Mouse*

 Yeah, it was just a little bit of fun. And mayhem. And cheating (DAVY)

So that was our Thanksgiving. BEST. TIME. EVER.

Look at these precious faces. No wonder I feel so blessed.

❤

sincere thanks and... par-tay on

Oh my gosh you guys!!! I had the best birthday EVER. 

Thanks in BIG part to you and all my DEAR friends from over the years!

Comments here, emails, phone calls, texts, visits... and Facebook was NUTS!

I lost official count somewhere around 120 but I think it approached 200.

Do you have ANY idea how ❤LOVED❤ you made me feel???

There just really are no words to describe it, and I'm not speechless often.

I just want you all to know how much you touched my heart ❤

Every one of you is such a blessing in my life.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

 So life around here has been one big ongoing PAR-TAY!!!

Celebrating my birthday WEEK is just the most fabulous thing :)
And I did a LOT of the things on my birthday list! And more fun awaits!

~

So look what John did for me!!! Colorful paper lanterns in our front room!

I've wanted to do this forever, and I got the lanterns some time ago.

Since I get to boss everyone around my entire birthday week... time to hang 'em!

He did an amazing job, and believe me it was not easy up there at 14' in the air!

I think they look AWESOME! And they were so festive for my birthday!

 This is basically what the big picture looks like - YAY!

And when my chairs are done being reupholstered (SO EXCITED!)

It's gonna look freaking A-MAZ-ING!!! I can't wait! :)

(YES we have 2 couches and I know how WONKY it looks!

I'm still trying to sell our big red sectional - split apart right now - 

and our gold chenille paisley love seat from the other room!

The sectional is wonderful and for $350 it's yours!) 

Have an awesome day everyone! I'll keep you updated on my birthday antics!

I have lunches with friends to look forward to... my pedicure... addressing cards...

and forcing all my men to watch chick flicks with me! Bwa-ha-haaa! Harsh!