Dr. King had a dream... Peace
Finally Mr. Crackers had had enough (Since I spent more time in that room than anyone else in the family I had become immune the room's wild decorative elements) and so we decided it was time for a change. Mr. Crackers took down the chair rail, made me a new desk and put a new closet system in place so that I could organize all of our accumulated junk important stuff. Once all the hard work was done, I repainted the room a light tan with a burnt orange accent wall (I wasn't kidding about that accent wall thing - I'm a huge fan). I'd post a picture of the completed office here, but I can't seem to locate them on my hard drive & honestly I'm just too lazy to re-take pictures to show you right now. But trust me, it looks great!
Even though the walls are currently blue and I normally like to make a big change when I paint a wall, I'm still leaning toward repainting the walls a slightly darker shade of blue that is already on them.
I like the green too, but I think since our bedroom was close to that same shade when we moved in & I was so relieved to paint over it that it seems a little weird to reintroduce the color in another room (Of course since this room will NOT be sponge painted the green will probably look a lot better).
I'm really not sure how I feel about a yellow bathroom. Does anyone want to enter a bright yellow bathroom first thing in the morning? It seems like it might have the potential to permanently damage your retinas. It could be a little overpowering in such a small place. Hmm...I just don't know.
I put a ballot up on the wall so everyone can have a vote. We'll see what happens. Do you care to weigh in on the subject? What's your color preference? I'm open to all opinions at the moment, so fire away.
It didn't seem to dampen the children's enthusiasm though...
We've built a lot of Lego sets,
we've played a lot of Wii,
(and I managed to show my family how bad dancer I really am...and to think I used to go dancing a few times a week in my younger days. Thank goodness that was long before the days of smart phones and youtube!)
we've played lots of board games,
we celebrated C's 8th birthday (Wow! How is it possible that he is 8 years old?!)
we even managed to get out of our PJ's a few times and leave the house to go see the movie Tangled (which we all loved) and visit our local Children's Museum.
And the whole family actually stayed up until midnight on New Year's Eve to welcome in 2011 (even though I think Mr. Crackers & I would have happily gone to bed long before the ball dropped - the kids were wide awake). I fear that Dick Clark's countdown proved to be a little anti-climatic. I think the kids were expecting something a little more dramatic for all the hoopla associated with the holiday. Perhaps next year they'll decide they don't need to stay up quite so late (a girl can dream, right?!)
But all good things must come to an end. So this morning we all woke up at our "normal time", dressed by 7:30 (bye, bye comfy PJ's) and got back into the swing of things. Here's hoping 2011 proves to be just as wonderful as the year we left behind.
I will forever love this photo. It was taken seven years ago (wow!). We were a little surprised at his reaction since C was one of those babies who happily went to anyone. He'd let anybody hold him without becoming even the slightest bit bothered. When we first put him on Santa's lap he seemed fine, he was his normal smiley self. I think it was our backing away that elicited the scream seen in the picture above. My favorite part of the picture is the perfect smile on Santa's face despite the obvious distress of the wee child sitting on his lap. I remember seeing the pictures and wondering if we should order them - but they were so funny, we couldn't resist.
Clearly the experience did not scar my son. This picture with Santa was taken at the Christmas festival held at our church a couple of weeks ago. As you can see, C has definitely gotten over his Santa anxiety. In fact, he wore the red shirt, vest and hat with the express purpose of looking like the big guy. They chatted for quite some time.
We don't have any screaming pictures of K on Santa's lap because she wouldn't even let us get close to him until she was 2. After some coaxing and a chocolate candy bribe this Santa was actually able to touch her hand - but that was as close as she would come. There was absolutely no lap sitting.
This year all it looks like all of our Santa jitters are a thing of the past. In fact, I think this Santa was afraid my kids were never going to leave. This year the candy bribe was used to usher them off the stage so the next kids in line could have their turn. It's amazing what a few years will do.
Our good friend KK sent us this nativity set a few years ago. We all love it & it sits in our entry way every year. It's really the only Christmas decoration that you see when you first enter the house. It's small and very simple and is after all what the season is all about. I love it.
I think last year I hung a bunch of ornaments from the dining room chandelier. I couldn't really remember which ornaments I hung last year or even how I did it, so this year I scaled back (or maybe I was just lazy) and decided to just hang one ornament. It's working for me though.
The bowl of ornaments on the dining room table. These may or may not be the ornaments that hung from the chandelier last year. In a bout of confusion I decided just to place them in a bowl this year. Festive 
My parents bought the kids the advent calendar gingerbread house and the train from Kohl's this year. They are a big hit. What's not to love? They are adorable and behind every door is a chocolate surprise.
This is my favorite nativity scene. It was made by C two years ago when he was in Kindergarten. It's just 3 small pots, some wooden beads and three pieces of cloth. Simple. Beautiful.
I probably should have taken this shot when we had an actual fire in the fireplace. It would have looked a bit more festive. The lights on the wreath were the only lights that worked as soon as we plugged them in this year. (Of course now that I think about it, I replaced the light strand on the wreath last year.)If you are wondering what is up with the piece of wood blocking the fireplace opening, let me introduce you to one of Mr. Crackers' latest inventions. He made it last year. It is a piece of pink foam insulation that is attached to a piece of wood to appease his wife who hated the concept of pink foam as a focal point in the family room. Add a couple of handles so it can be easily removed and ta da... you have a something that is both practical and attractive. It may not look as warm as a fire, but it sure keeps out all those cold drafts when we don't have a fire blazing.
This picture contains the favorite ornaments of both Mr. Crackers & myself. Mr. Crackers' favorite are the white doves. He found the white "love birds" at Target a couple of years ago. He always puts them toward the top of the tree right next to each other. "These birds are Mommy & Daddy" he told the kids as he put them on the tree. How could I not love this guy?
All goofiness aside, I also love this ornament. The colors and glitter look beautiful against the twinkling lights of the Christmas tree. And speaking of lights...
Our tree...it actually looks better in the daylight than it does at night. The dark mid-section isn't quite as noticeable. Mr. Crackers and I keep waiting for the bottom strand to burn out too. It hasn't happened yet, but I feel certain it will soon. The only new strand on the tree is on the top and I feel confident it will be the only one still glowing on Christmas morning.
A giant snowman and his many minions. The more I look at this picture the more disturbing I find it. They kind of look like a terrifyingly cheery snow army... I didn't even remember that we had a Christmas salt and pepper collection. I'm not sure how this collection even came into being, but the kids love it, so it's staying. 
I like the smiles on Joseph and Mary's faces. Jesus looks a little bit toothy for a newborn to my eye though. But what do I know? I wasn't there now, was I?
