The Den

Hope every one's weekend was good:)  As it turned out, I had not forgotten a thing-whew.  But some good friends of ours had their beautiful baby boy, Jackson, this weekend so we got to visit with them and hold that precious little babe!  

I thought I would share some before and after pictures of our den today.  It's been 'done' for quite a long time but I had just never taken 'after' pictures because it's usually a mess{we really like to go for the 'lived in' look around here;)}

Here are the before shots; with lots of paneling(although the paneling in the den had actually been painted blue by the previous owners), dark trim everywhere, old yucky carpet, and a knee-wall complete with spindles:

Before we moved in, every wall was painted a light grey and all of the trim and paneling was painted white.  My uncle helped Jon removed the spindle wall thing before the floor was put in.  The carpet was replaced with dark laminate 'hard woods', which we love-you can not mess these floors up-perfect for kids and adults alike;).  And I don't have an official 'after' picture of the floors, probably b/c they were covered in boxes pretty much the second after they were installed.

About a month after we were moved in, we began sanding, cleaning, vacuuming, painting, caulking,etc.,  the old built ins and brick fire place.  Not a fun job.

And here are the after pictures:

And it occurred to me while uploading these photos, that I did not take any pictures from the den's other direction-like facing the couch and in the direction toward the wall that was taken down to open things up into the kitchen.  So I searched for one-and I really can't find one that shows what is going on with the rooms.  So that will be another day when I show some pictures of our kitchen progress:)

The 'after' & a little party prep

Oh why, good morning Terrance and Tinkerbell.  So nice of you two to land in my camera!  I found this picture this morning as I uploaded my camera to Iphoto; Laila is a camera snatcher and likes to capture things through the lens{when I'm not looking}.  Perhaps she is imitating me, as I click away at random objects through out our house:)  But she is pretty good at it; the above sample is completely 'unedited', and for a shotty camera and a 4 year, old-not too shab?

So onto the 'after' pics of my little table.  Here are some pics of her; I was trying to get the true color in the 'good light' and came fairly close.  Although, in 'real life' it does appear a tad more blue.

I decided to go with the lightest of my choices, Martha's Love in a Mist.  And I like it a lot.  I do wish I had mixed a tinch{tiny+inch}of grey with it so it would be a little deeper.  I loved scratching it up with sand paper.  'Antiqueing' is good therapy, people.

And now we come to what will be my consumption for Friday and Saturday:  Maier's 3rd Birthday preparation celebration:)  We are having sort a play date for a party, a very last minute{7 days ago}plan.  So there's gonna be a little bunting, a little outdoor playtime, and some Oreo Surprise.  Oh yes, yes there will be O.S. instead of cake.  Because it is that amazing.  So there will be some pictures and a recipe to follow:) And trust me, you do want to try this at home!

Happy Friday and weekending!!

A day off

We had beautiful weather on Monday and since the girls were off from school for President's Day, we spent most of the day outside.  In fact, they even ate 'dinner' outside{sandwiches&juice boxes}while they played with neighboor kids; then we had to carry them into to the house straight upstairs for a bath b/c they{mostly their orange&brown feet!} were so dirty.

 Jon actually was 'off ' as well, not because of Pres day, but because he worked Saturday.  So we{Jon}got a little project done:)

Our swing is hung:)  It too came from my Aunt Violet's home and I knew that I wanted it here, in our front yard.  We have rather large trees pretty much every where{some of which I would love taken down}but the one's in the front are beautiful-perfect for shade and swinging:)

You can see the kid swings hanging in the back there under that Magnolia in the center of the cul-de-sac, and now the grownups have a place to ride too.  But this swing is so long it fit's all of us on it perfectly.

This is looking up into the tree from the swing; all the little leaf buds are budding and I CAN NOT WAIT for full blown spring and green grass.  Bloom babies bloom!

A recipie and a 'Before' pic

We had this for dinner a couple of nights ago and it was a success,{I measure success by the amount of serving/number of helpings my girls eat/ask for}.  So that means I can share the pictures I took while preparing it.  And it is easier than my over used chicken soup takes because it's a crocker {not Betty} meal.  It does not have an official name but I am thinking maybe Enchilada-less Chicken Enchiladas Verdes.  I just wanted a long name for something.  Not really, I just didn't have any flour or corn tortillas on hand.  So maybe the name should be Tortilla-less Chicken Enchilada Verdes?

Ingredients:

• Salsa Verde (a green chilies salsa that is not spicy)
• 1 tbsp Minced garlic
• 1 c Sour cream
• 1 c Cream cheese (I prefer whipped b/c it is less lumpy when mixed)
• 1/2 Sweet onion
• 4-6 Chicken breast (frozen or thawed)
• 1/2-3/4 c of Milk
• Shredded Cheese
• Crock pot aka crocker

 Mix together

•  sour cream,  cream cheese, milk, and minced garlic
• spray or oil your crock pot dish and layer your chicken with the sour cream mixture 
• top with sliced onions
• cover and cook on high for 4 hours
• top with shredded cheese and salsa verde

I don't have any after pictures because really, food just sometimes looks like slop when you serve it up in a bowl with melted shredded cheese on top you know?  And know one wants to see that.  But if you like enchiladas or cheese or mexican food or chicken even, you so should try this.  We ate it with tortilla chips this time but next time I might get fancy.  I may serve it up actual enchilada style, with mexi-rice and all.  And whatever you do, if you try this, don't skip the salsa verde; that stuff is so good, "I put that sh*** on everything!".  Please tell me you've heard that commercial on the radio for Frank's Red Hot sauce??  If you haven't you need to google it now-so that you don't think I am crazy and so you can laugh you buns off.

Oh and here is a couple of pics for a little furniture 'project' I am working on.

This is an entry way table I got to inherit after my great great aunt Violet passed away.  I love it.  And I actually like it the way it is but I would love it even more if it were a shade of white blue.  So she is sitting in my garage with a coat of kilz primer waiting for me to pick which color to paint her.  It isn't going to go in my entry way, it's going to be a 'sofa' table.  My couch is white so I want a little color and I really can't decide on how 'little' or lot to go.  Hmmm-it will probably be a lot easier if I just forget these 3 color options and just go back to the Depot and get lost in a ridiculous sea of choices.

Sarting again:)

So I began last fall with this idea of attempting to start a blog and then I sort of crashed and burned with that goal!!  It was a bit too much to add to my 'lists' at the end of the year--an un-realistic expectation for myself at that point!  We had just moved in our 'new' old house in April and spent most of the summer unpacking/adjusting and then began our first year of pre school,(for both girls), and then the start of the mad rush of the holiday season.  When I look back over last year I sort of don't recall how it went so fast or recall many details at all for that matter!  

I am going to set goals for myself; goals that I can possibly meet. I would love to be more purposeful in my daily living;  So that my daily roles as wife, mom, friend, etc. firstly could reflect my being as a child of a holy and graceful God.

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from last year in our "new" home:

                                          Here is the 'spindle' wall.

                                                 'Spindle' wall is coming down!

                                                  It is almost non existent, yay!

Jon painting red bricks white; he hates painting but...it has to be done, a lot in this house;)

    The girls crafting their pipe cleaner fairies; these girls focused like crazy on this 'project':)

                                          Summer time in the blow up pool:)

 First day of school!!  I love this picture; Laila is such a 'pose pretty' while Maier is looking like, 'not sure           what she's doing...?' kind of thinker.

          These last few were taken by my friend Laura:)  Amazing photos she captured of our family:)

The girls started back to school this week and 2011 has officially begun-at least in my head.  And for the remainder of this week, we will try to rest our focus on this:
                     "The Heavens are singing about how great God is; and the skies are shouting it out, 'See what God has made!'  Day after day...Night after night...They are speaking to us."
Psalm 19:1-2(paraphrased from the Jesus Story Book Bible)