Wednesday, December 22, 2010

A Prank For All Seasons

The First Noel, the angels did say
was to certain poor shepherds in fields as they lay
In fields where they lay keeping their sheep
On a cold winters night that was so deep
Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel
Born is the King of Israel
N-O-E-L or is that L-E-O-N?
Yes, the prankster struck again! Josh, Susan, and Sara hard at work stuffing envelopes.



Merry Christmas!

Sunday, December 12, 2010

One Last Look

This afternoon we headed to the old house for what will probably be our final visit. I took a few pictures and we loaded up the lawnmower. Closing will be on Friday and we have the keys and garage door openers already to go to the new owners! Guess I really shouldn't call it the 'old' house because once Bobby and DIY Sara were finished it's really almost a brand new house. Come have a litte tour!

New paint and carpet throughout. New light fixtures here in the kitchen & dining room!

The office!
That old nasty country rose wallpaper was so stubborn to remove that we ended up putting up new sheetrock.
Living room with new paint, carpet, and ceiling fan! Upstairs bath with updated paint, tile, granite countertop and sink, light fixture, and mirror.
Even a new toilet! The master bathroom is my favorite 'madeover' room. Sara did a great job refinishing the vanity. I love how this room came together with the darker tile, granite, black mirrors and lights. I think it looks great with the khaki paint. And a new toilet here too! Front door and hallway. New tile here and you can't see it in this picture but there is a new light fixture hanging up high in the entryway!

Basement finished! Love how it turned out with the white trim.

View of the basement from the stairs Basement bedroom (aka my old scrapbooking room)

Basement Bathroom So goodbye Pebble Lane home, thanks for the memories!

Cheers to the new homeowners, may they enjoy this home as much as we did!

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Christmas at the Duck

Part of the fun of having a new house is decorating it for Christmas for the first time!
All the Santas congregated on a table!
(Josh if you're reading this, notice your Reader's Digest Santa is prominently displayed!
This year we were nice to RD Santa, no cellphone pictures sent to you of him heading for the fireplace like last year!)

Angels on a shelf.
I decided to scale back a bit this year, the angels didn't all make the cut for display, only my favorite angels are floating on the clouds, the rest of the collection are still in their boxes.
And these two are my most favorite angels! Sara made them from Fimo clay when she was probably 10 or 11 and gave them to me that year for Christmas. Of course I cried, but that's not a big surprise huh? My very special Josh, Sara, Daisy & Josie angels. So sweet & cute and very special to this mom!
I really like the look of these retro ornaments in glass bowls
(these are the ornaments we had at our house growing up)

Gingerbread men handmade by Debbie and Madeleine.
They came with a slip of paper that says 'family is always only a heart away'.
A very special gift from when Debbie lived in Lexington.
They used to hang out on the piano each Christmas but Sara had to find them a new home since the piano is gone, I really like her idea of putting them on the kitchen window.

The tree with the angel topper that used to be Debbie's.
All of the ornaments hold so many memories, trips taken, special interests and sports from the kids' years growing up, handmade ornaments that the kids and other family members have made through the years. The angels that Debbie gave everyone her last year with us.
And of course there's stuffed Sebastian of Little Mermaid fame who came free with a fast food dinner so very long ago. Each year Sebastian barely survives the trash can where Bobby threatens to put him! And where did Flounder go? He's not on the tree, hmmmm, I better ask Bobby if he had anything to do with that!

The fireplace minus the stockings. Sara hung the stockings on the living room windows because the fireplace gets so warm!
And the best thing about decorating this year? The boxes didn't have to be brought upstairs from a basement which made decorating a breeze.

Saturday, December 4, 2010

SDBB - GNO - 25 years

Here's to good women,
may we know them,
may we be them,
may we raise them.
Twenty five years ago a group of young women who had been high school friends ten years earlier got together for dinner to celebrate the season and to catch up on each others lives. That evening they decided to start meeting each month for dinner and a girl's night out group was born. Friends of friends joined the group too. And now, twenty five years later the group is still going strong. Tonight we clinked our glasses together toasting friendship and holiday joy.

Together we've rejoiced when babies were born, we've celebrated marriages, new jobs, promotions, new homes, and new romances. We've shared tears and grieved together for the loss of parents. Three of the group are brave breast cancer survivors. And two members have moved away to other parts of Missouri but return frequently to join the group.

The year we all turned 40 each person took a turn planning a special event in honor of another person during the month of their birthday. What a fun year that was! There was a laser tag outing, a gym was rented and we played volleyball and ate pizza, we went back to our old high for the homecoming football game, a limo was rented that took everyone out for an evening of bowling, and one evening was spent dancing at a club.

The year we turned 50 a traveling package was mailed from person to person for their birthday. The package included a journal, a troll, a princess crown and a disposable camera. There were instructions to memorialize your 50th birthday with a picture taken on the camera with the troll and wearing the crown, create a journal entry, and add an item to the package that represented who you were at 50 and mail the package to the next birthday celebrant, oh and to keep it a secret. Once everyone had reached their 50th milestone we met for dinner and passed the contents of the package around the table. There was lots of laughter and a few tears too as the contents were shared.

A cruise has been suggested to celebrate our 60th birthdays!

Ladies, here's to you and the next 25 years!