The Aftermath

My precious hubby has been working all day to put my IKEA bookcase up, install the ceiling fan in the guest/craft room and hang my new cross and avocado posters.

Me, you ask? Cleaning up THIS. The rest of the house is more of the same.

If the mess is any indication of the fun we had, you know ours was especially MERRY!



Now he's got his new Xbox 360 up and running and is happy as a clam. I've gotta start getting my books onto that bookcase now...

Merry Christmas!!!

This is us this year. Drew and me at 32, Andrew at 4 and Ethan at 6 months. This was at Ethan's baby dedication in November.



So Merry Christmas!!

This is just a quick family update so you know our latest and greatest!

Drew is in his second year at Baker Commodities and enjoys his job very much. He only has a 30-minute commute and never brings his work home with him. It's a blessing when you enjoy your work! He still serves as an elder at our church and enjoys his video games, reading, watching football, keeping up with politics and playing with the boys. Drew and I are both planning to start running in 2010 and hope to encourage each other in our efforts!

Us in November.



And Drew and the boys recently.



My year has largely been occupied with Ethan. We call him our redemption baby because he came home from the hospital on May 13, a year to the day that I miscarried in '08. God is good! Ethan Ryan was 8 lbs. 6 oz. and 21" long and his birth was remarkably "easy."



He's still measuring very tall but because he's so active, he's never been as chubby as Andrew was. He is an incredibly easy-going and cheerful baby and brings so much joy into our lives.



Ethan adores his big brother! He just cut his first tooth, is crawling and cruising and loves to chew on everything! He's a "morning person," and brings a smile to my face every morning when we wake up next to each other! We just can't imagine our lives without him.

At our visit with Santa at my friend Chrissy's house.



I'm still serving at church on the women's ministry team, the prayer team and the teaching team. I'm taking a break to do some studies of my own and will do my "How to Study the Bible" class again in the fall. I just hit 100 sales in my Etsy shop and hope to get it fully stocked in time for Valentine's Day. Drew's sister, Sarah, moved out after six years into a nearby home of her own and her former room is now my craft room/guest room. I'm looking forward to doing a lot of crafting in 2010!





I love hosting events (like Christmas dinner for the family, pictured below) and have a big Peter Pan-themed Valentine's Day tea party in the works! I want to really embrace my "Domestic Goddess side" in 2010!



Andrew is a typical 4-year-old and still obsessed with all things Thomas the Train. He loves to play in his sand box, trips to "Popcorn Target," doing artwork at his easel, watching videos and crafting with me. He loves hearing and telling stories, singing and dancing and wrestling with Drew. He always makes me smile and he loves making his baby brother laugh.



We enjoyed getting together with Drew's family the week of Thanksgiving and took all the kiddos to the Phoenix Zoo.



Our family also took a trip on the Verde Canyon Railway in November. Andrew even got a birthday cake on the train and the entire train car sang to him! It was marvelous!







Here's the boys at our neighborhod's annual Christmas party. We take this picture in the snow every year!



Here's us at our nephew's Cardinal's birthday party!



Drew and I feel incredibly blessed this year and have so much to be thankful for. Besides our home and our boys, we are blessed with loving families, wonderful friends, a terrific church home and so many other things. To God be the glory!

May you embrace the peace and love that only Jesus can bring during this Christmas season. Wishing you a prosperous and joyful 2010!

Lastly, Drew and I are both on Facebook so that's the best way to keep up with us and to see our latest pictures.

E-mail me if you need our address or phone numbers--please keep in touch!
tabandrew@hotmail.com

7 Random Things About Me

Thanks to

Shelly at My Lily Eden

for this post! :)

1. I kissed about 35 guys (only one of which was an actual "boyfriend) before I met my husband. Not only was my hubby my blond-haired, blue/green-eyed first kiss--our first kiss was on our wedding day, AFTER we became husband and wife!!

2. I make this weird noise when my throat itches, to "scratch it." Evidently this is a rare "talent" but my son can do it, too.

3. I have a weakness for sweets. I can easily do without a lot of foods but dessert is very hard for me to pass up. I love all types of candy, too. I'm especially fond of Snickers, Dove dark chocolate and M&Ms.

4. I feel my emotions in my belly. Even a "happy-excited" feeling gives me a tummy ache! I don't, however, get headaches very often.

5. I'm a gum chewer. And I blow bubbles. My son has never tried gum and doesn't really know what it is. When he sees packs of gum in the store, he asks for "bubbles."

6. I have a weakness for office supplies. I love fresh Sharpies, Post-It notes, notecards, pretty envelopes, nice pens...

7. I joke around a lot with people in public. My dad does this, too. Sometimes I'm ignored and sometimes people think I'm being rude but most of the time, it gets a laugh and lightens the situation...which is just enough encouragement for me to keep doing it!

So now you know! :)

We don't so much DO costumes

Andrew doesn't even like to wear clothes, let a lone a mask, hat or other cumbersome clothing. And I'm way too cheap to spend a bunch of money on a costume, anyway, so...

Andrew went as a hunter. That's right. Camo clothes and a toy gun.



Ethan went as a sleepy baby. No, we're not neglectful parents...we live in Phoenix, where chocolate candy actually melts on Halloween, so naked baby legs are completely appropriate.



Both boys did, however, end up trying on their cousin's costume.





We enjoyed trick-or-treating...



...coming home for taco soup...



...and plenty of play time with friends and cousins.





Here's our family on Halloween!



And me with the boys.

Matchy-matchy

I'm "one of those women" that always wear jewelry that coordinates with her outfit. It's almost a sickness. I feel naked without earrings, and at least one necklace and bracelet. I wear, bear minimum, my watch, wedding rings and earrings every time I walk out the door, even if it's just to run to the grocery store or drop something off at a friend's.

On a really good day, my shoes and bag coordinate, too. I also choose my makeup pallete based on what I'm wearing. If I'm wearing cool colors and silver jewelry, I wear gray eye shadow, pink blush and pink lipstick and gloss...if I'm wearing warm colors and gold jewelry, I wear brown or gold eyeshadow, peachy blush and brownish lipstick. It's how my mother does it and how her mother does it. I think it might actually be genetic.

So. I like things to match. Or at least coordinate. In the South, you say it "goes." As in, it's not a perfect match..."but it goes."

I also like to adhere to the "waste not, want not" philosophy so when I make my decorative file folders, I use the scraps to make other things like bookmarks or gift tags.

Well, now I've really hit on something. Introducing...

MATCHING FILE FOLDERS AND MARBLE MAGNETS!!!





I think the set would make a great gift for "one of those women" who likes things to "go." More sets are coming soon!!

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5509271

The tale of the craft room makeover

FINALLY!!! My dream of a dedicated craft room has become reality!

And here's the story.

My husband's sister, the one who introduced us eight years ago, bought her own home a week ago and moved out after living in our back bedroom for six years. When she started house hunting six months ago , I started dreaming about what I'd like to do with that room. I knew right away: craft room! We also need a place for guests to stay so we knew it would have to function as a guest bedroom, too.

Here's my craft table in my Morning Room. It worked well in there but did get messy, which made the whole room messy. Once I knew it would be moving out of the room, I didn't even bother cleaning up after myself--which results in this amazing disaster!



So after Sarah moved out, job #1 was painting her former room. I had two inspiration pieces:

This bird...



...and this piece of "Joom" artwork. I later realized it was loosely based on my favorite coffee mug, too. No wonder I liked it!



Here's the final (tentative) color scheme. I was going to do the walls in the middle aqua color called "Serendipity" and accesorize in the orange and green.



I hung the aqua paint chip in the room and looked at it throughout the day and realized that it was a little more washed out than I wanted.

So back to the drawing board. I headed to a different home improvement depot, er, store...the one that carries my dad's favorite paint brand. They had a chip I fell in love with called "True Turquoise" so I grabbed it and a few coordinating green and orange chips, too.

On the spray paint aisle, I spotted "Apple Green," which was strikingly similar to the green in my hand so I grabbed a can and told my hubby, "I should spray paint the table!"

I placed the chips in the room again and watched them during the day. In the meantime, I also went to Glidden's web site (oops, I gave it away!) and played with their cool program that allows you to "virtually" paint your room. That's how I came up with my final color scheme!

This was it.



Picturing my green table, I thought it would look super-snazzy against an orange wall so when I called to beg my dad to come paint the room, I said, "And by the way...can we do an orange accent wall??? Pleeeeeeease??" Good thing I'm a Daddy's girl!

So the plan was born. Three "True Turquoise" walls, one "Orange Slice" wall and one "Apple Green" table.

My Dad, The Happy Painter, arrived on Friday morning and was susprised to find my SIL's former room to be so...well, "painted." She had done an amazing job of hand painting her walls with several cool motifs.

Vines and flowers...



...a castle...



...lamp posts...



...and a forest.



So after he painted the ceiling bright white, he did a layer of white on all the walls.



In the meantime, I moved the table out to paint it, leaving the room like this.



Here's the table BEFORE, painted in a sort of shabby chic off-white...



...and then "Apple Green!" It really makes the lines on the table stand out!



I was loving the turquoise as it went up!!!!



And I could tell the orange was going to look perfect! Yes, that's my SIL's Orlando B. poster on the back of the door! :)



The Happy Painter



That's some serious precision. That's why he makes the big bucks.



And then it was time to move the furniture in!!!

Here are the three colors together!



And with the bookcase and futon in the room.



Then the fun really got started!! I moved all my "stuff" back...



And got to work!

I covered the futon in a pretty quilt. It'll work for now. Eventually I'll get a proper cover.



Then I put everything back on the bookcase...



...and back on my table.



It'll need some tweaking as I actually work in there, to see how it all functions. But at least it's all IN there!

And now here's a good BEFORE:



...and AFTER.



Another AFTER.



And now my Morning Room is looking more like its usual self! My dream is to have a whicker love seat and chair in there someday.

For your reference, here's the before...



...and after.



My favorite spot in there is My Chair, where I do my morning Bible reading and praying. Now I don't have to sit there and feel guilty about the mess across the room!!



And there ya go! Now we're got all this empty space in the living room where the futon use to go so we may be moving more furniture around soon.

For now, I'm thrilled with my room! We still have several more projects to do in there, including hanging shelves and putting up curtains but for now, I'm excited to have my own space to CREATE in. And my mom has a private place to sleep!!

Stay tuned for more soon...