BooMama's Tour of Homes

It's that time again ... and I'm three days later than I intended to be. I'm also not as thorough as I intended to be. This Christmas season started with a bang for me, then hit a lull ... and now, has wholloped me in the head with the fact that there are only three days left! But, a few of you have mentioned that you would like to see some of our decorations, so here it is !!!

Here's our front door. We actually have lights outside, but - to be completely honest - this is the coldest night of the year (so far) and I wasn't interested in huffing it out to the sidewalk to get a picture. So, let's just start with the door!


This is the tree in our Dining Room. Don decorated this one on his own. He really should do this professionally during the holidays. He has a great eye for this type of thing.


This is my little Christmas Village. It's really gotten the shaft since we moved to Texas. In Tennessee, we had it on the mantle in the Living Room. We had all the little accessories (including battery-powered lights on the houses, a pond, etc.) - it was really "Christmas-y". Now, it gets thrown on the entry table as a side thought. In fact, we didn't even unpack it last year. So, it's going on Craigslist on December 26. I hope it finds a good home.


This is our tree in our Family Room. It holds all of our family ornaments and things that we all love, especially ornaments that the kids make themselves! This year, Don added the red poinsetta's and he made the topper! (Notice that I haven't wrapped yet. The only presents under the tree are from Aunt Tempa!)


This is one of my favorite ornaments. It goes in the center every year!


This is one of those "much better in person things", but I love that I am married to someone who can look at the top of our shelf and come back with something that totally fits and only costs 75-cents! The jug and the mirror live there 365 days a year - the jar with ornaments from Wal-Mart appeared via Don during a commerical break from Boston Legal.


This is our mantle in the Family Room. The garland is lit although the picture doesn't show that very well. It looks gorgeous when the candles are lit, but again - I'm doing this quickly :)


This is the best part - the lights on the playset. The kids LOVE it. It's hard to tell from the pictures, but there are lights inside the "fort" so that the kids can go in at night and play.

* The kids have a Christmas Tree in their Gameroom. I'll take a picture tonight and post it. They both fell asleep on the couch tonight watching ABC Family channel's "12 Days of Christmas". We left them on the couch to sleep. I didn't want to risk waking them up with the flash.

So, now that you've checked out our house, head on over to BooMama's Tour of Homes. It's so fun to see what everyone has posted! Get ready ... it's addictive :)

The Water Heater

Our water heater is in our garage. I remember very specifically the day they installed it during the building process. It has a sticker on the front - you know the one, with the red X indicating not to touch because it might be hot. I remember Avery asking what that sticker said. I'm foggy on what my answer was. Whatever it was I'm sure that it went something along the lines of "don't touch, because it might be hot ... even Mommy's and Daddy's can't touch it."

Now, every time that we pass the water heater, every time that anyone passes the water heater ... be it us, friend, repairman ... Avery and/or Piper (I've heard it in stereo many times) say "Only God and Jesus can touch that!!!" They are very committed to that.

It's a funny balance trying to teach the kids about God and Jesus, and just religion in general. During Christmas, it's hard to distinguish between God and Santa - both can see you all the time, both love you very much, both want you to share and be good all the time ... Jesus, since he was a man, is easier to teach. But, when I hear them say "Only God and Jesus can touch that!!!" I know that at least they understand that God and Jesus have powers far beyond what us, as humans, do.

I pray every morning that they will understand the power that God holds over their life, and that they will always trust him to guide their path. That same thought speaks to my favorite scripture:

Jeremiah 29:11 - "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

... and that future holds, at least for now, not ever touching the water heater :)

Piper's Room ReDesign

Don and I love looking at model houses. It's been one of our favorite past times since we moved to Texas. If you know anything about where we live, you'll know that it's a hot-bed for builders. It was recently cited as the fastest growing suburb in Houston. It's expected to grow by 80,000 people in the next 5 years! Unbelievable. But, with that said, most of the houses are less than 10 years old, so they are building like wildfire out our way. No sign of a recession there.

For the past two weeks, we have totally re-done Avery's room. Gone are any signs that a toddler lived in that room. It is maxed-out-little boy. Complete with a loft bed, school desk, and cool decor - he's sure to be so excited when he gets home. I'll post pictures soon I promise. (PS - please don't share any stories about how your kid fell out of their loft/bunk bed. I'm mortified of him sleeping up there.)

We thought we were home free on Miss Piper's room. Hang some pictures, paint Avery's old bed white for her, and she was good to go! Well, that was the plan until yesterday. I was re-inspired for her room. I've always wanted to do something different, but didn't really want to invest the money because I wasn't completely sold on any one idea. I always knew that I wanted to eventually do a Hollywood Regency style for her - it screams her name. Well, yesterday we saw two rooms that totally blew me away.

Here are the inspiration rooms:





I like elements of both rooms. I like the simplicity of the pink and brown room. It's so clean and so fun with the "wall words", but I love the glam of the black and green room. I think we're going to do a combination of the two. Let's call it "Traditional Hollywood Regency." I'll get back to you with pictures as I progress ... but if I have my way, and can find some great bargains, our little Diva will be set when she comes home from vacation!

Our First TX House

(Our first Sunday in the house ... going to church!)

I'm sad today. I found out that our first TX house is now in foreclosure.

I know that a house is merely material, and to be quite frank - we only leased that house. But, the fact is,that it was in that house that our whole lives changed. So many things happened:

• Our marriage improved. When you move to a state where you have no friends and family, you begin to rely on each other.
• Our finances got straightened out. We came to Texas completely drained. We had no savings, no retirement, no nothing - literally. We had completely drained everything we had to survive after having two babies back-to-back.
• We experienced spiritual renewal. It's amazing that when God strips everything material away from you, you begin to realize that it's either get back on track with Him or continue to live in ruin. We chose to get right with Him. Amazingly, after that, we experienced an overwhelming abundance of blessings in all areas of our life.
• We potty trained two kids in that house. This will only seem like a "life memory" to those of you that have every potty trained a child. I think why this is such a house memory to me is that all of our bathrooms had two potty chairs in them - one for each child! And, as luck would have it, we were able to get them both out of diapers at the same time! HALLELUJAH!!!
• I loved everything about that house. It has double ovens ... a huge gameroom ... a large front porch. Things that I have now in our "first mortgage house" (all but the double ovens!), but I think it just the memories.

Now to know that it sits empty ... Knowing that the yard is unwatered, grass is dead, the roses are dying ... it hurts my heart. That house deserves the laughter of children and the love of a family.

I hope someone buys it soon. It was such a great place to live.

It's Tuesday ...

We had a productive weekend at home after a grueling Thursday and Friday at work. I was certainly ready for the weekend, and NEEDED the weekend!

We have decided to repaint the kitchen and two walls of the den. The paint color wasn't working for us so we're trying a darker shade. I've been meaning to post pictures of the house, but we aren't quite there yet. I'm ready for every room to be finished decor-wise, although I know that it will always be a work in progress.

The season premiere of Desperate Housewives made my heart happy. I so LOVE that show. It was an amazing episode and I'm really looking forward to the new season :) I, still, as I have every season - can identify with every character:
- Bree: I love to have control over situations and I seldom let anyone see beyond my surface.
- Susan: I'm extremely quirky. I have bizarre things happen to me at the most random times.
- Lynette: I'm also the exhausted mother who takes on anything anyone throws my way.
- Gabrielle: I used to be a Gabrielle personality (pre-kids), so I identify with her via a previous life.
- Eddy - Well, I guess the only thing about her (I often forget about her) is that I love real estate!

I'm so disappointed in Britney. Kaylan, we have to push her higher on our prayer list!!! She needs us! :)

Only 65 days until Disney ----- YEAH!!!!!!!! Super excited ...

Cruddy Thursday

Piper has had the crud since Sunday. She's all snotty and has a cough that sounds like a grown man! Well, now I can feel it coming on too. I think it's just allergies, but I hate being sick.

I've been busy making curtains for the house. Don hung the first set last night, so that was fun. Avery had his Home Depot (plastic) tool kit and was working right along with him. I took lots of pictures that I'll post soon.

I'm ready for the weekend. We have no big plans which is why I think I'm ready! I'm looking forward to doing things at our own pace.

Busy Times

Quite a bit has happened since I last posted. We bought a house (actually, we closed on a house that we built). It's been a whirlwind of activity.

The kids had a good time on their "Tour de Grandparents". I hope that this is something that they can make a yearly event. It's a good and welcome break for them and for us.

Dinner with Rick Rodriguez and Joe Fant tomorrow night. Good times.

PS - Piper has informed us that when she's a mommy, her baby's name will be Barbie Redford. (That is Barbie's real name for all of you non-collectors.) Don is horrified.