Spooktacular decorations

Okay, so I didn't go all out this fall for decorations. I still don't think I'm over the Radio Flyer incident. Here is what I did do this year:

I took a simple wooden decoration from Joanne's and painted the tree black, then I hung cute little Halloween charms from it (not the ones that came with the tree)

I added the crow...well, because they make everything look spooky.

I love white pumpkins. I love mini pumpkins. When I came across mini white pumpkins I knew I had to get them. So I got 3 of them. I pulled out my black paint and added some chic charm to them. I plopped them onto my mini cake stand and added the cloche dome (okay, it was a Salvation Army find - an ugly wooden cheese board & dome for $3...so I tossed the wooden board and kept the dome).

Abby gets credit for finding this little gem. It's a metalic hand (which is a pretty handy back scratcher). We found it at Target and it didn't have a tag on it, so I'm not sure how much it was...it was mixed in with the purchases for the rest of our costumes for this year.



 

I've had this cute little wire frame pumpkin, which I have my fall beaded candle wreath, but I need to  pick up a new candle.

Years ago, my Mom got me this cute little fall village. I've never seen more, so I can't add to it, so it makes a cute little set up on a small round table in the corner of the dining room.

Years ago Bobby & I found these hurricane glasses, but the stems were too tall to actually use, so they found a new home as candle holders. These candles smell amazing. Wish you could smell them. I've added faux fall leaves & stringy black yarn.

And our favorite Mrs. Bones! Years ago I found her at Michael's. I used my black Zig pen and added "stitch" marks around each bone, added frosted glass beads for her eyes, added a platinum colored gem for her nose and drew on her lips. I found a cute fuzzy for her hair accessory and a little pink glittery heart! She is adorable!

Bath & Body Works pumpkin jar resting on a candlestick holder.

Our Fall Wreath on our front door.

New this year...our house landed on the wicked witch!  $5 black & white long socks & $6 Salvation Army glittery hot pink shoes. Yeah, she's a hip witch, with so much style, it's a shame we flattened her!

The girls are sporting their "haunted trail" outfits.= (aka. not their costume for the year, since they may get snagged on branches out in the woods). Abby is a little witch and Catherine was scared half to death at a slumber party.

Okay....this isn't Halloween stuff....but these cute hats are so freakn' adorable!

Bathroom remodel

January 2011 ~ Powder Room
So during the New Years weekend this January (yes, we redid the half bath in our townhouse during a New Years weekend once before) we decided to rip out the outdated bathroom that's on the main floor of our house. It had 80's particle-board sink and carpet...need I say more? We decided to lay a slate colored ceramic tile in the bathroom. We didn't just stop there, we pulled up the existing grey 6x6 tile that was the walkway from the kitchen to the garage door, that runs in front of the bathroom.

This was our first tiling project but we felt confident that we could do it. Bobby researched the tile saws and made the purchase to make the job easier (we figure that with the other 2 bathrooms and the tile from the front door running towards the kitchen that needs to be upgraded at some point - we will more than get our $'s worth out of the purchase. At this point we've even loaned it out to different 2 friends to complete a kitchen & bathroom project).

Here is what we started with, the bathroom as it was when we bought the house.

Here's a shot of the walkway from kitchen, step down into family room. The garage door straight ahead, the first door on left is the bathroom and the next door is the laundry room.  It had a 6x6 commercial grade (at least it looked it) tile floor in the walkway, the bathroom had blue carpet. [yuck]

So the demo begins:

Next we scraped the floor clear of any debris, then we sealed it with an incredibly stinky pink primer sealer. Then started laying the tile down.

We laid 12x12 tiles down, so I used a sheet of 12x12 scrapbook cardstock and cut even thin strips of 1/4" thick all the way up the paper stopping about an inch from the top to use as a template to figure out cuts. I would just lay it down like the tile would be, then bent the little strips back until it would fit perfectly. I'd then trace the template shape onto the tile. Bobby would then cut the tile out in the garage.

I don't have pictures of us back buttering the tiles with mortar because as we started that step, I got smacked with a horrible case of the stomach flu and was incapacitated. Bobby had to complete that part of the process by himself, so he was up until the wee hours of the morning. So it was my job to grout the tile the next morning. It was a grey color, which it doesn't look it in this picture here.

Bobby repaired the walls (evidence of drywall dust in the photo below) and painted them Anonymous (780F-5) by Behr.

We lost the medicine cabinet going with a traditional mirror, so I asked Bobby to create a cabinet that would fit between the studs & be hidden behind the door. This provides extra storage while keeping the bathroom nice and sleek. First he cut the opening between the studs.

He actually created the cabinet like a little box in the garage, brought it in and slid it into it's designated spot and nailed it into place. He used his router to create the door for my new cabinet. Talk about custom cabinetry! You can see it to the left of the (primed) door.

The bathroom is 90% complete at this point. We installed all new fixtures. The pedestal sink visually opens the room. The sink top extends out the same amount of the previous sink, but you would never know it! We had planned on keeping the existing toilet, but decided to replace it with a Kohler that has great flushing capabilities but still not a water hog. We picked up a simple light fixture that has 3 sconces in the matching oil rubbed bronze (ORB) finish.

I love my new large framed mirror with beveled edges. The ORB finish on the towel ring, faucet, paper holder, light switch, electric face looks so sharp, we even upgraded the handle on toilet.

I love the ease of this holder. Now there is no excuses for any family member to not replace the toilet paper! :)

We have to add the crown molding, touch up wall paint and trim out the edge of the wall cabinet, but this looks so much better than what we started out with! Oh, we have installed a curtain, but it's not pictured here.



2010 Pictures

May 2009 we put our house on the market and in under a month we sold our townhouse. We found a house that kept the girls in the same school. We gained a nice front & back yard. We still have 3 bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms. We gained lots of space with having a family room, garage and basement too. I will share pictures later, but first I wanted to do a photo burst to recap the year.

We flew our parents up to see us in 2010, so we didn't go on vacation per say....but we had a lot to do all year! When Bobby's parents came up, we relaxed around the house and got in a nice visit with each other. When my Mom came up, we went shopping and went out on a few adventures. ;)

Please enjoy these pictures (they are not in perfect order)

Abby learned to ride her bike w/out training wheels..she didn't think she could do it, but learned within 5 minutes! She was so proud of herself when she realized that she was riding her bike and Dad wasn't holding on!

  A little shopping at target after getting hair cuts.

The Summer of BUNCO (we started up a group in Dec '09 and played once a month for the whole year!)

Bobby installed the hammock for me (he ended up replacing that 4x4 pole with a 6x6 though.

 Yes, I still like to bake! Neapolitan cupcakes anyone?

(okay, so Easter pics should have been right after the St. Patrick pictures....oops)

Easter Morning 2010 (after Easter Baskets and before Easter Egg Hunt)
Catherine is 10 and Abby is 8.

Scott, Afton and Adalyn came to see us in July 2010! :)

We went to Gettysburg, PA

We went to Baltimore, MD

We visited the aquarium

 We saw the Dolphin Show:

 We ate at the Hard Rock Cafe, Afton and I bought matching hats.7

We went to Washington, DC

and we went to Hershey:

This summer Bobby and I took the girls to the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire for the first time. It was the Queens Birthday, so it was a special weekend where they had lots of special activities for children. 

The Queen pronounced each girl a Princess of her Court. She called each one by name.

Abby played her first season of Baseball!

In September Bobby and I went to the Gettysburg Wine & Music Festival. We saw lots of our friends there, we bought tons of wine too! :) My friend Heather watched the girls and I think they wore her out!

2010 School Year:

Catherine 5th Grade, Abby 3rd Grade

Halloween

As annual tradition we went to Jenn & Tony's for their Haunted Trail that they set up every year. The live on a mountain in Dillsburg and they have a whole Scream Team that scares that boogy out of you! :) They get me every year and I love it!

For Trick-or-Treating and for their classroom parties they have their main costumes. Abby was a princess complete with blonde hair. Catherine was a chocolate chip cookie. She named a few of the chocolate chips too. That girl is so crazy! :) Catherine jokes that she will have me make her a costume every other year. :) So...here this was, it was pretty easy to make with just cutting out the fabric, wiring it to a round shape, adding the chips and cutting out the arm/face cut outs.

Puppy Adoption!

We researched and searched for the right puppy and we finally found her. We traveled and picked her up the week before Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving

{I will insert pictures once I locate them}

We had a nice Thanksgiving this year. We had our good friends Dave & Penny over with their boys. Alex came home from the Navy & brought his girlfriend too.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Morning