Can I move in?

Am I think only one who loves Alicia Paulson's house?
Some day, I would love for my house to look just like her's on the inside.
I'd even take the Polish pottery. And I'm seriously trying to convince Mr. Mike that we need (I want) a corgi. Just to look cute around the house, ya know?
(BTW, has anyone read her new book yet? I'm dieing to get a copy in my hands, but haven't taken the plunge yet. Why is buying books for myself so hard?)

Who wouldn't love to move right in? All the vintage-thrifted-handmade goodness. Pinks, blues, white, and lots of beautiful sunlight.
Swoon!

But I think I most love her home at Christmas time. It has the most magical glow, everything sugar-coated and tooth-achingly sweet.

This is what I want my girl's memories to be filled with.
Delicious goodness, sparkling ornaments and a cozy place to celebrate.


I adore the little snow covered Christmas village and so want to start collecting my own. Olivia and I have a fascination wiith all thing minature, and if it's Christmas related-even better! The only problem is that I have never seen any in the antique stores, I suppose I must start scouring Ebay even though I hear (via Country Home magazine) that these are very collectable and highly prized. So, dear friends, if you happen to see any on your sojourns out and about and it's got are really awesome price tag on it, grab it for me! (If you're not planning on keeping it for yourself, that is:) )


Here's is one of my most favorite of her Christmas posts.
She references to "the wreath" which I'm coveting. I want one of those!
She also gives the link to the instructions but you basically need a styrofoam wreath form, 3lbs of gumdrops, and 160 toothpicks broken in half, and time (she mentioned several hours:) ) I've been tossing around the idea of throwing my own gumdrop wreath making party, but I don't think I know anyone in real life who would be interested. So I may just be making one on my own. Maybe a small one for Olivia to work on and a big one for mommy to work on.
Soon. We are going to be decorating the gingerbread house this weekend so maybe while I'm out buying candy for that, I'll pick us up several pounds of gumdrops and some wreath forms. I'll keep you posted!

December Daily: Day 6, 7, and 8

Just a quick rundown of the weekends activities since so much went on and I'm 2 days behind. :)

Day 6

Daddy went to the paintball fields at 9am
Olivia and Mommy finished all the decorating
and then went shopping for an hour or so.
Came home, cleaned some more
(it never ends)
Daddy came home, we ate lunch,
got dressed for church, went to church and then
went to see the Christmas lights
at James Island County Park.
Two accidents and a tank of gas later,
we made it to the entrance to the park.
Thankfully after that it was smooth sailing.
We had lots of fun looking at all the lights
and we joined up with our friends at the
"Santa's Workshop" area to
roast marshmallows,
drink hot chocolate, take the nature walk
which was lit with giant butterflies
mushrooms, and dragonflies,
We rode the carousel and looked at the giant
Christmas cards all before deciding
to ride the rest of the way through the lights.
We arrived home a little after midnight.
I enjoyed the quite drive home,
listening to one of my favorite Christmas CD's
and listening to my family sleeping peacefully all around me.
Lot's of fun and a great way to help
kick off the Holiday spirit.

the welcome

the new bridge in lights

in a tunnel of lights

the kids all got snowman light-up necklaces.

close up of giant sand sculpture

the full sculpture

riding the carousel
the smile says it all, doesn't it?

roasting marshmallows

my favorite part, right at the end
a giant live oak with every limb and twig dripping with
icicle lights.
The pictures doesn't do it any justice.

Day 7

We slept in,
recovering from the previous late night
and then Mike made pancakes
substituting baking powder for baking soda
(unintentionally, but with not so good results)
we cleaned house (again)
and took a walk around the neighborhood
enjoying the midafternoon sunlight and watching
all the neighbors putting up lights.
We had our last homegroup meeting
of the semester.
Everyone showed up for the 1st time of the entire semester.
We had to laugh, but it was good and lots of fun.
We are looking forward to the 5 week break,
but can't wait to get started again in January.

Day 8


Such a quiet day
spent only at home.
I gave Olivia her very own
silver tinsel tree for her room.
We are going to decorate it in
mini turquoise balls and pink ribbon garlands.
It well be so sweet looking in her room.
I made my Christmas swap gift with Olivia.
(shush! I'm a few days late!)
We made a jingle bell wreath and it is so adorable.
We want to make a bunch more.
We also worked on stringing up a bunch of popcorn
to adorn our green feather tree that is wearing
only handmade ornaments this year.
We read books, looked at magazines,
and addressed Christmas cards.
I love days at home where all is peaceful and calm
and we can enjoy being creative together.
More projects to come tomorrow!
Along with pictures of today's crafty-ness.

December Daily: Day 5

Day 5

Today was an incredibly busy day.
Our morning was smooth -
breakfast, baths and hair washing for all,
school work and tests,
a movie and then lunch.

The afternoon had me running
hither thither and yon.
I picked up some yummy handmade soap
from a friend,
dropped Olivia off at another friend's,
attended a surprise birthday party
{just for mommy's}
at another friend's.
Stayed way too late eating yummy food
and talking about running over squirrels and
frosting recipes.
Run quick to pick up Olivia,
home to pick up Mike,
who made us dinner that we ate in the car
on the way to another friend's house
that was babysitting for the evening
while Mike and I went shopping for the
"Top Secret Project"
which left me giddy with excitement and possibilities.
Ran into some very dear old friends and introduced them
to Miss Sadie~Rose.
Went to Barnes and Noble to browse around
and got coffee at the in-store Starbucks.
Went to Kohl's and perused the "sale"
that wasn't much of a sale.
And then it was off to pick up Olivia
who had spent the evening teaching the adults
how to make sugar cookies
and watching Frosty the Snowman
and The Polar Express.
The daddies made plans to go paint-balling
in the morning
while the mommies secretly plotted
what all they could get done
while the daddies were out. :)
Home again,
and every one to bed.

...and to all a good night.

December Daily: Day 4

Day 4

Today was tree assembly and decorating day.
Not that I have a specific day of the year
that I have to do it on.
But for some reason
"tree assembly and decorating day"
was marked in bold letters in my brain for today.

It took me all day long to assemble that tree
and put the lights on it.
7:15 am to 4:00pm.
I'm not kidding.

I was so tired of it all
and when I ran out of lights
{because my last two strands of 100 ct. lights
were at a friend's house from a birthday party}
we packed up and went to the grocery store
to buy some more.
Because, really, could I leave the last
12 inches of my tree unlighted for over 24 hours?
That also meant that
we couldn't put any balls or ornaments
on the tree until after all the lights were on.
Because that's how I do it.

Yes, I know.
I'm nuts.

So, we went to the store,
bought some lights and a few other things too.
Like these candies
{which are divine sprinkled on vanilla ice cream}
and eggs.
Because I've got this baking itch right now
and all I want to do is bake.
Crazy, right?

When we got home
I was able to finish the lights,
start supper,
{black bean and chicken chili}
and make a batch of pumpkin bread.
While it was baking we started
putting a few ornaments on the tree.

When the bread was done,
Olivia was banished to the school room
to watch a movie
{Sad, I know}
and Mommy and Daddy got a big plate
of pumpkin bread
and a nice glass of wine.
So good.
Rose loved it.
The bread -
not the wine.
Which she would probably have loved that too.
Little mooch that she is.
We laid on the bed and watched "Get Smart"
and enjoyed some really good laughs.

All in all,
a good day.
Just busy and long.
But that's ok
because we love it anyways.

You know how last year I tried rolling my Christmas lights
in balls to put them away?
{Per suggestion of Design Mom}
Well, DO IT!
It's the best way ever to store your lights.

Sadie~Rose adored all the lights.

She kept putting them on like a necklace.
Thankfully, she didn't strangle herself.

I officially love taking photos of my kids
with Christmas lights.

Mike took both of these while we were decorating.
He was laying on the couch.
Because he really dislikes decorating in general
and for Christmas specifically.
We enjoy it for him.

Yum, yum, and double yum.

December Daily: Day 3

Day 3

We went to a friend's house for dinner tonight.
Both the Daddie's were at work Christmas parties
that the mommies weren't invited to.
Se we had our own peaceful evening.

We read the children the true story
of St. Nicholas
{which you can find here}
and then we put on a Christmas movie for the kiddies,
rocked the baby to sleep,
and enjoyed a few quite, indulgent,
peace-filled 45 minutes.
We chatted, looked at all of my Christmas magazines
{I have a few}
swap gift ideas and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
It was a good day.


The picture was taken when I went in to tell
Olivia it was time to go.
They were watching their movie.