Life with my sister

I have so many fun ideas in my head but very few make it to fruition these days with being a working mother of a toddler and wife to a husband who travels. I love my many blessings, so don't think I am complaining...just being for reals here...a girl can't do it all, all the time! So, this past weekend I decided we were going to create and that we did! It was a crazy, fun time. It felt so good to get it out of my head and see the ideas come to life. I am loving Pinterest. I am getting all sorts of handprint/footprint ideas for H. I decided to do a handprint or footprint each month this year and make a calendar of them next year. So, we made this footprint into a snowman and we went ahead and did a Valentine hand craft. It is suppose to make a heart in between, but with a squirmy 2 year old, we are just happy to get the idea of a heart. We also made some fun thumbprint cards for some special Valentine's. Henry loves to do crafts. They do them at school all the time so he is ...

Our little elf is excited to show you his Christmas house. Isn't his excited face funny?! This is our living room. It is always fun to decorate because there is endless options and lots of room. We also do not use this room every day so it can have the breakables in it since our little elf likes to touch, feel and throw these days. Our living room tree is such a fun addition to our decor. We had it for the first time last year. The elf's Nana gave it to us because she said our front window needed a tree in it really bad. So, here it is. I like to make it sassy and fun since I prefer a traditional family tree in our den. I had to put my nutcrackers up high this year. They look kind of funny up that high but in order to have them for years to come, I had to shield them from the elf's reach. I have a forest of trees and a garland wrapped light fixture in the dining room that both make me smile. Our little elf loves eating in here instead of at the bar and that too makes me sm...

A few years back I walked into our Aunt Janet and Uncle Mike's house and saw spinning ornaments on their always beautiful Christmas tree. I was so impressed that Randall and I left their house and headed straight to Hobby Lobby on Christmas Eve and bought all the spinners they had left. I have had spinning ornaments since then and I heart them so very, very much. I have had them for three years now. I hang my finer ornaments from them. Last year all of Henry's firsts hung from them. It was so special. The spinning ornaments always gather lots of attention from our holiday house guests. It is pretty unusual, I reckon. This year I am having spinning dilemmas. I know there are bigger issues in this world like war, starving babies, drought, etc., but if you know me, you know my Christmas tree is just about as important...well, to me at least. This will be my first year to have fully decorated trees in both sitting rooms. I say this will all humility, of course. My mother-in-law ga...

I love Fall and Wednesday is the first day of the cool, crisp, colorful season. I thought we would go ahead and put Summer behind us a bit early, even though it is 90 degrees in my area today. Boo! I know the hubs would rather not have the abundance of leaves we will have in our yard soon but I just love the way it looks when the leaves are dressed in their best colors before they fall off in his yard. Wow! ( I blurred out our last name on the ghost for privacy reasons) My yard decor makes me happy. It is the simple things, I tell ya! The ghost is out a little early, but I just love it. I got it for $1 at Goodwill 2 weeks ago. It said "BOO" and "The Johnston's" on it. I spray painted it white and then repainted the "Boo" and put our last name on it...since we are not the Johnston's, of course! I plan to add 2 more pumpkins in a few weeks so there is one for each of us. Randall was afraid the ones out now will be rotten before Halloween. I got the ...

This is what I came home from Hobby Lobby with this afternoon. Randall gave me a gift card as one of my Christmas gifts. This morning I decided the kitchen need a little spice now that the fall and Christmas decor has been removed. It was looking a bit sad. This is what I picked out. I went from section to section and pieced all this together, from one end of the store to the other. It took a small forever, but it was worth it. End result on the "fridge side" End result on the "sink side" I think it has just the right amount of spice now! Abby

Now that the Christmas decor is down; my house is empty. Boring. Bland. Blah. I have had seasonal decor out since we moved in. I had fall and then Christmas...and a lot of both. It is too early for Easter and I refuse to decorate for Valentine's Day. I have spread out all 1500 square feet of decor in this 3000 square foot home and it is not doing the trick. I am now realizing we need to take a little shopping trip to Kirkland's and Hobby Lobby. It makes me anxious and those of you who really know me can only imagine my anxiety with all the blandness (is that a word) and then the impending trip to buy things. "I am blessed to have the home". This is what I keep telling myself as I look at empty shelves and tables. Abby