Christmas Packed Up, and Ready to Ring in the New Year!

I packed up all of our Christmas decorations today. As much as I've tried to wait until after the new year to take them down in the past, I've learned that I would much rather start out each New Year clean and fresh, so I have officially made it a new tradition to take the tree and all other decorations down on December 31st of each year. I'm quite excited about the packing job I did.

 

First I put all of the shatterproof generic ornaments in large Hefty zip bags.

 

 

 

I placed all of my treasured keepsake ornaments in a sturdy box, to be covered with tissue, and placed in the large bin.

 



 

 

I'm most excited about the way I stored the lights. I got this idea from "Auntie Martha," better known as Martha Stewart. My friend likes to call her "Auntie Martha," and we've all just become comfortable with it. It just sounds right and normal to me! Ha ha. Anyway, I just took cardboard about the size of the storage box, and I cut a slit at the top and bottom of the cardboard in opposite corners. I put one end of the light strand in one slit, wound it around the cardboard, and placed the other end into the other slit. These cardboard pieces stack so perfectly in the storage container, and no tangles, no fuss for the next time they're needed. Brilliant! Why didn't I think of this before?! Thank you Auntie Martha.

 

 

Now everything is packed away, and ready to go for next Christmas. And now, I have 50 minutes left until 2013. Happy New Year everyone. I'm going to finish watching a movie with my family as we ring in the New Year!

Post Christmas Savings

My dad gave my kids cash for Christmas. He usually does this and wants me to get for them what they need. Usually I put the money away, and spend it as needed. This time, I took the cash with me straight to the store. After having cleaned out my boys closets (a long awaited project), I was able to get a better feel for what they needed. I went to The Children's Place, and to Kohls and took advantage of the major after Christmas clearance sales they had going on. I got some serious loot. I can't remember the last time I bought so many items at one time! The sales were so good. I purchased $724.90 retail value in clothing, but only paid a total of $241.56 for it! It gives me a little high when I score at the clearance racks. This was a good score! Here is a picture of most of what I got for the kids. Some items were not included in the photo as the boys were wearing their new pj's at the time, and had the other sets folded and put away. I also got myself a little cardigan that I wanted, and it ended up on clearance. I used my Kohl's cash for that one.

 

Christmas Week With Loved Ones

I've had an eventful, busy week thus far. First of all, Santa came and dropped off some presents for the kids. They were quite happy. "Santa" put a lot of thought in making sure the children didn't receive a bunch of stuff they didn't really want. Quality, not quantity, was the goal this year. I think that goal was met. The kids were happy, and mom is happy. No need to spend unnecessary money and add clutter.

 

 

 

I don't think it's too late to share some of my holiday decorations in my home:

My fireplace setup. I love all of my household's stockings with their initial pin!

 And here are a couple of close ups of some of the ornaments on my tree.  I love my ornament collection.

I bought this table cloth, kitchen towel, and door mat on big clearance at Kohls. I love me a good clearance sale!


My holiday table cloth.



and a more closer look at the details. I love holly and pine cones.

 

Also, my husband's birthday was on Wednesday, the day after Christmas. At this time of year, I've got Christmas presents, and my husband's birthday on the brain. This year, I surprised him with a grill that he really wanted. I think we'll be having some grilled meals in the future!

 

 

A couple of nights ago, we had good friends over for dinner. I am still elated from the joy I received from having them in our home. I said on a couple of occasions, "I should have you guys over some time for dinner." I got sick of hearing myself talk, and decided to act on it. I'm so glad I did. This has been a challenging year for me, with the life change of a new baby, along with still caring for a toddler and two older kids. As I've said before, my house is certainly not put together the way I would like it to be. Add to that the flood earlier this year that has things out of place. The thought of having people over in spite of this is usually cause for increased anxiety for me. I've really made an effort to not let such things get to me as much, and I'm so glad I have. I don't want to waste opportunities to nurture my friendships. I know they don't think less of me. Things will get back in order in due time, but the joy that friendship brings, especially these friends, is priceless. Here are some photos of my table setting:

I made this arrangement from a flower bunch I purchased at Trader Joes.

I used the fine china that I inherited from my mom, and charger plates given to me by my mother in law...

...and these Princess House crystal drinking glasses, also inherited from my mom.

 I never really cared about any of these fancy table settings and such. I probably wouldn't even have any were they not given to me. Now that I have them though, I do like them. It's nice to use pretty, fancy things at times. I think it's important to use our nice, fancy things, even if it's with a bunch of people (including myself), who are normally super casual in nature. We owe it to ourselves to treat ourselves well. Hope everyone had a good week. I'm winding down from this week, and looking forward to 2013.


 



December Time

Happy Friday everyone. I really should say Happy December, and Happy Holidays. I've been mia on here for too long now. I completely let my "thankful for" posts in November fall by the wayside. I was gonna try to play catch up on that because I can not stand to start something and not finish it. I've decided to forgive myself for that one though. I've been crazy overwhelmed with life as a super busy mom of four. I'm trying to stay positive though. Some days, I have to try harder than others. Today happened to be one of those days, but after taking a moment to cry it out, I feel a little better. Stayin' positive!

Ok, so here's just a couple of highlights from my month so far. My husband and I went to his company Christmas party earlier in the month. I like to joke that it is our one out of two dates we get to go on per year. It's actually kinda true. Perhaps in the future, that will change. That being said, I look forward to it every year. His company goes all out to make the party super fabulous, and this year was no exception. It was a 007 theme and it took place at an auto club. I can't remember the name of the place, but it was cool. They had some really nice sports cars, and muscle cars, and antique cars on display. So fun. Anyway, what's a girl to wear to such an event, you ask? I wanted to go sparkly, and I didn't want to spend a dime, so I pulled out an old dress that I couldn't bear to part with because I always had certain "plans" for it. This was the time to carry those plans out. I wore this dress as a sponsor in my cousin's wedding over 11 years ago. I always wanted to chop it off and make it a cocktail length dress for such an occasion as this. I did it! How I found the time to do it, I'm still wondering myself. I ended up having to do it the day of the party. All I know is I did a sloppy rushed job, no measuring or careful cutting, all while my toddler thought it would be great fun to roll around on the dress as I had it laid out on the couch to cut. A very comedic memory, I must say. Here's the dress before:

And here I am in the dress, posing in front of my future vehicle!

Although it was a sloppy job, I was very pleased with the outcome. In addition to raising the hem, I also pulled it up at the shoulders for a bit more coverage. I may not be completely done with this dress yet. There may be an addition of cap sleeves one day. I'll keep you posted.

 

And, here is a photo of me and my hubby at a local restaurant after the party. So in love with this man!

And in other news, a young friend of mine got married also earlier this month. That was quite the happy event for us all. She's a young lady that I've known through the church since she was a child. She met her, now husband, in mid October, and just a couple months later, they are now married! Sounds crazy, but she's not crazy. She has such strong Christian character, as does her husband, and I'm so excited for their new life together in service to the Lord. I had the honor and privilege of doing the bride's hair for her wedding. The style suited her well, and I was pleased with the final outcome. Most importantly, she was pleased with the outcome. And, here are photos of the beautiful bride and her lovely hair!

 

 

I have had the privilege of knowing all of these lovely young ladies since they were small children. They've all been my bible class students as young kids.

The back view of her hair

 

The bride and the groom off to start their new life

 

Well, that's it for now. I'm happy to finally have posted after some time. I'm hoping to post a couple more times before the end of the year, so stay tuned. My downstairs work is almost finished. I can't wait! Until next time, happy December everyone.