Falconhead Holiday House Tour 2013

 Disclaimer:  this is the first time I am shooting in manual.  If the pictures suck.. well, deal with it.  I'm still learning..

IT'S CHRISTMAS YOU GUYS!!!!!!!!!!

Ermergherd I love Christmas so much.  This year I am so excited to share the holiday with Hunter.  The Saturday after Thanksgiving, we put the tree up during his nap.  When he came downstairs afterwards, he started saying "Oo! Itsa Christmas tree!!  It has yights (lights) on it!"  Every day he gets excited to "help"  Mommy plug in the lights.  

This year, we were able to trust Hunter to not bring the Christmas tree crashing to the ground and set it up in the living room again (last year it was tucked away in the kitchen).   The living room is a lighted ball of festivity

Can we be real for a second?  I am damn proud of this mantle.  Around Thanksgiving I started getting a vision in mind and this is exactly what I saw.  I love it so much.  

I really wanted a simple, classic look with lots of sparkle.   I broke out my chunky candle sticks from Party Lite (no longer available).  And of course added my 'Ark of the Covenant' deer that JEGs loves so much (heavy sarcasm).

In years past I've always gone very symmetrical, but this year I decided to add these BLOMSTER candle sticks from IKEA.  I.  LOVE.  THEM.  $14.99, y'all.  You can't beat that.   I am pretty sure these will never be put away.

Our stockings are hung with care, each with a jeweled initial.  

I love these stockings so much.  I might hit up the December 26th sale and grab one more.  You know, just in case...

Last year, I couldn't find an H for Hunter's stocking, so I had this dinky pin.  I was so excited when Target brought these back this year, I snagged it-- *gasp*-- at full price.  I know.  I must have really wanted it.

The garland was on the steps last year, but this year I wrapped it with some gold and silver ribbon  from Michael's.

I would like to remind the class that the JOY stocking holders were free on Freecycle.  Winning.  

Even though we moved the tree back into the living room, we still decorated with Hunter-proof ornaments.  We don't trust him that much.  Last year I invaded the Target after-Christmas clearance and bought all the felt and wood ornaments I could get my hands on.  

I still have a couple that have sentimental value.  This is something I inherited from my mom.  It was always a favorite of mine growing up (probably because it's gold and covered in glitter).

I also added DIY ornaments from the past like our glittered sea shells and this guy from 2010

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We are trying to enforce the "one finger" rule with Hunter.  It kind of works...

The banister got it's usual swag of garland and lights.

Since my child is 100 ft tall and can reach all points of the kitchen table, I needed a durable centerpiece.  I  set my jute trees on a gold charger with some pine cones.  Rustic at it's finest.  

The buffet got a make-under this year.  We hosted a holiday party this year, and I used that area for serving beverages.  I didn't want to have to deconstruct some elaborate set up for one night, so I went simple. with a linen table runner, two faux  trees in burlap, my other two candlesticks, and wreath in the windows.

I also put our nativity set up front and center.

I had this pine cone garland from last year leftover, so I quickly sat it on the window sill.

Are you guys ready for some night time shots?  Again, first time in manual mode, so bare with me..

Living room

Kitchen

extreme nativity... whooooaaaa

Just the tree (I am having a devil of a time getting that start to stand up straight)...

Wishing everyone a very happy and healthy holiday!

Want to take a look at previous years?  Here is 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012.  

Always & Forever,
  ME

Special Moments on Saturday Morning

In September, Hunter moved into a new classroom and the teachers made a simple request:  bring in a family photo.

You guys, it took me damn near a month to find a recent photo of the three of us.  The last one I had was from July 2012.  I had to fix this.

So I called upon my favorite local photographer, Kelly Miller, to get some good family photos for us. She did Hunter's newborn shoot (and by 'newborn, I mean two months old, because that's how long it took me to get around to scheduling it), and I trust her to make us look good.  As always, she did not disappoint.  

Kelly's really great at capturing the special every day moments, and just followed us around as Hunter ran around we explored this great spot she picked out.

This is typical play in our house these days

Also, I hope you'll notice his beautiful hair blowing in the wind as he runs.  I am NEVER CUTTING IT again.  Yeah, I am *that* mom, and I don't even care.

..and 30 minutes later, he was all played out.

Again, so many thanks to Kelly Miller Photography.  She is so great to work with-- I cannot say enough good things about her.  If you are local to the Philadelphia area, I highly recommend checking her out.  I wish wish wish I had hired her for my wedding.

Always & Forever,
  ME

First Annual Falconhead Independence Day BBQ

An alternate title for this post could be "Lizzie Discovers Washi Tape and Proceeds to Put it On Everything". 

The weekend after the Fourth of July, I had our family and neighborhood friends over for a little Independence Day BBQ.  We noshed on my in-laws amazing BBQ chicken, corn on the cob, my mom's awesome German Potato salad, blue berry cobbler and other picnic-type foods.  

In my mind, I would have beautiful red flowers overflowing my pots and in my planting beds.  However, we've had SO MUCH rain this season, I am having a hell of a time keeping anything from not drowning.  So to make up for my lack of flora, I stuck flags I snagged from Target's Dollar Spot in each pot.  

                       

In the mudroom, I created a drink station.  I had bottles of water, Capri Sun and beer in the cooler, iced tea in a pitcher and I made Skinny Dragonberry Rum Twist in my drink dispenser.  

I had been eyeing up Pottery Barn's Rhodes Dispenser Stand- and was totally willing to pay full price for it- until I realized it would be too small for my nearly-nine-inch container.  So you know how I roll-- I do it my damn self.   I snagged a pot and base from Lowe's, sprayed them a glossy red, and glued them together.  

I was inspired by Kim's fence planters, and sprayed a couple leftover cans the same glossy red, trimmed it in washi tape I picked up at Lowe's for about $2.50 and added some patriotic flowers from Trader Joe's.

The bulk of the party was meant to be held in the backyard, so I opened the fence gate and decorated them with a fabric banner I made from scraps I had leftover from a Halloween costume gone wrong.  

I probably should have ironed it before I hung it.  Whoops.  

On the day of the party, it was projected to be 97* , so I left sunscreen both inside and out in the back yard as well as bug spray (just in case).  I had snagged a little tray at a yard sale for $.50, sprayed it the same glossy red and trimmed it in the same washi tape.

I was going to have about 10 kids at the party, so I wanted to make sure there were plenty of activities to keep them occupied.  We set up an  inflatable pool, along with a water table to help keep them cool.  I set a basket of goodies outside for them including sidewalk chalk, pool toys, water guns and DIY ribbon wands I made out of ribbon, dowel rods and, you guessed it, washi tape.  

 You guys, I love me some washi tape.  Expect it on everything now.

Another thing that kept the kids attention was the Play and Freeze Ice Cream Maker.  My sister-in-law, Angie, brought it with her to pair with the blueberry cobbler, and the kids sat outside rolling it back and forth to each other.

Abby gives it a roll

Owen intercepts and sends it to Bridget across from him

Of course, I think it only kept their attention for about half the time needed.  I am pretty sure my mom and Angie finished making the ice cream.

I love hosting family gatherings.  My family lives about 45 minutes away from me, and while that isn't a ridiculous amount of time, I don't get to see them as much as I'd like to.  I especially don't get to see enough of these sweet faces:

my nephew Hayes.

His sassy sister, Skylar

my niece and goddaughter, Abigail.

Our friend's daughter, McKayla

our handsome neighbor, Townes

This is one of my favorite group of pictures from the day; my 21-month-old son pushing his nearly 8-year-old cousin on his Mater toy.  

This kid is a beast.  

It was such a great afternoon, and I got the best compliment from my niece Abigail-- she said Aunt Lizzie throws the best parties.

Seriously the best words ever spoken about me.

I hope to make this a yearly event, so next year you'll see a recap about my 2nd Annual Falconhead Independence BBQ!

Always & Forever,
  ME

Coming out of Hibernation

Instagram: lizzieinprogress

I took the day off work yesterday.  No big plans, nothing had to be done;  I just wanted the day off.  JEGs and I realized with the work we wanted to do on the house and the few weddings we had this summer we weren't going on a vacation, so I've decided to use up my six days of PTO sporadically through out the summer with three day weekends (something I never get with my job).

Anyway, JEGs took off too, dropped Hunter off at daycare at 7 am and snuggled back into bed until 9:30 am.  I had a massage scheduled for 10:15 and afterwards we drove to Coyote Crossing in Conshohoken for lunch.  JEGs had a monster sized burrito (as you can see above) and I ordered the mango and duck quesadillas -- or what I now refer to as "quackadillas".   We came home, sat on the porch, contemplated a few house projects and snuggled and smooched on the couch like we were still dating.  It was a wonderful way to remind myself what I used to be like before the stresses of being a wife/homeowner/mother came.

After a particularly difficult winter (depression/ sickness/ family traumas) I am really looking forward to the spring.  The weather in Philadelphia has been beautiful the past couple of days and I can feel my spirits lifting.  I can feel my creativity coming out of hibernation, and  hope that means a resurgence on the blog.  I miss blogging.  I have a couple small projects that we did over the winter months that I'd like to catch up on, and hopefully JEGs and I can pull together the funds to do some bigger projects (that's right guestroom/man cave/ playroom.  I'm looking at you and your Buzz Blaster Blue walls).

How about you- does your creativity go into hibernation when the weather gets colder?

Always & forever,
  ME

Simple Pleasures: 4/4/11

One of the best feelings in the world:  having a baby fall asleep in your arms

My niece, Skylar, passed out in my arms on Sunday.  She was so cute... and a little heavy too ;)

Always & Forever,
  ME

Simple Pleasures- 4/26/10

Happiness is spending the afternoon picking wildflowers with your neices.

Her wish was to be Hannah Montana forever and ever

...wasn't quite able to get the hang of it

Here, I'll show you how it's done!

This doubles chances of your wish coming true

Let's pick flowers for Lizzie's wedding bouquet!

using all her might!

The most perfect bouquet ever.

Always & Forever,

Aunt Lizzie