And because we made it in just before Christmas, we got to set up our Christmas tree. Hurray for Christmas!!!
Pierscen also wanted to decorate his own tree, so he decorated the vacuum. It was pretty darn cute!
This adorable little bug started climbing up the stairs because she finally had stairs to climb! And notice the wonderfully soft carpet?
My dear friend from Casper, Christina, surprised me with the sweetest gift ever. A real tea cup and saucer! It was her turn to host book club coming up (I still participate via skype) and she was going to have a tea party, so she picked one out for me. I almost started crying when I opened it. Could it be any more perfect?! The design is gorgeous. And look at the color!!! It is the EXACT same color as my new kitchen. We must be kindred spirits if she picked out something so incredibly me! I love her dearly and consider her one of my best friends. She's one of those people that you know you will be friends forever no matter what - but moving away from them sucks big time.
While the light situation was still going on downstairs, Ryan got to work replacing the missing like in the upstairs "kids" bathroom. I am typically a brushed nickle kind of girl. That's what we did for everything in Casper. But this time around we opted for oiled bronze. I think it looks a little more sophisticated. I really love the light fixture. We bought the same one for the master bath too. Looks pretty spiffy, yeah? I'm so grateful I have a handy hubby!
I tackled the master bath with fervor. Behold the mustard! I taped everything off and began cutting in with Repose Gray. For all those thinking of painting, please use tape! I was appalled at how much paint there was on the tub and counter. It takes a little bit of time and looks so much better. I ended up painting over the mustard splatters on the tub with some of the white paint I got for the hall. It's not quite as bright as the ceilings. It's not a perfect solution, but it certainly looks a lot better.
I snapped this picture a couple days ago so you can see the finished product. :) Isn't it pretty?
I
Things weren't totally cleaned up for these pictures, but here is the non purple kitchen!
Minus this one section... We named this the Neapolitan wall because it reminds us of the ice cream - only purple instead of pink.
I opted to paint this one section of the kitchen wall the same taupe as the living room and bedrooms so that it would be one seamless color instead of this tri-color section, or awkwardly meeting the Sea Salt and the taupe in the middle of the stairs. Our plan was to take the taupe all the way up to the two story wall, but I was not comfortable painting that high up on a ladder. Ryan said he would do it, but he really didn't have time. So the Neapolitan wall remained untouched for about four months. It drove me crazy!
In the picture above you can see the existing color in the living room was much more yellow than the taupe I picked out. Really glad I changed the color.
Originally Ryan's parents were going to head back before Christmas due to previous engagements, but they were able to make other arrangements and they opted to stay. Yay!!!
Christmas morning was wonderful. Santa managed to find us in our new place - though I'm not sure how he got in without a fireplace. :)
Looks like Santa got his letter! I spy Lincoln Logs in the first picture and a fun light up easel from Grandma Ray-Ray.
Below is Devry opening Harper, a seal we got for her to sleep with. Pierscen still sleeps with Snuggles, the black and white dog Rayola got for him years ago. There was no rhyme or reason for the seal except that it was cute. She loves stuffed animals and she sleeps with Harper every night. (She definitely isn't as white any more though). And she adores this baby from Grandma Ray-Ray.
Both kids received some great gifts and Santa got Pierscen exactly what he asked for. ;)
I was also happy to have Ryan's parents with us because then they were able to experience Aebleskivers with us. I love these little things. Someday I should try one of the many other recipes I have for non breakfast ones, but they are a lot of work.
Opa and Pierscen building log cabins together:
Playing at the park. (We met a sweet girl and her dad at the park during this visit and later ran into her, her mom and her brother at the other park. We invited them to dinner and have since gotten together a few times.) It was a little chilly, but the fact that we could go to the park was pretty fun.
Ry's parents also got to try the rainbow jello salad I make. Since trying this I have been put in charge of making it at Thanksgiving time too.
The day after Christmas it snowed. Just enough to make it really feel like Christmas after all. Pretty awesome!
Oma and Opa went home the day after Christmas, so unfortunately they missed Pierscen's real birthday the following day. We had no idea where our candles were, but hey! We had matches, so that was our red neck solution. He didn't mind. :) Happy 4th buddy!
I got Pierscen this amazing Usborn book that has these hidden pictures that appear when you shine a light under the page. P thought it was cool, but he was way more excited about the flashlight. I mean, look at that smile!
Oma and Opa got him an awesome set of ocean animals for the tub. Ryan got him a real live goldfish whom he named Nemo, naturally. He was really excited about it.
He picked out the play food as his gift from Rayola. And that united states puzzle has been a huge hit. It was a fantastic find at Ross. He now knows the Fifty Nifty United States song - including all 50 states. It's pretty impressive. I'd say he had a great birthday.
He got to play outside in the snow while Devry begged to go out. I didn't know where any of her real winter stuff was, so we just watched.
And he set out helping to clear snow. Got to teach them early!
Later that day Pierscen became really concerned about Nemo and told me he wasn't moving. I initially brushed it off and told him he was probably sleeping. Oh, he was sleeping alright. He didn't even last 12 hours. And no, Pierscen didn't do anything to him. We really should have taken him back for a refund/exchange, but we sent him to fishy heaven. It was sad, and a tiny bit traumatic for him to lose his first fish so quickly, but he didn't linger on it too long.
Santa brought Devry some hair elastics so mom could finally play with her hair. It's been long enough for a very long time, but I've never done anything with it. She looks so much more grown up when it's done! Add some tennis shoes and she's not a baby any more!
I came downstairs one day to find Dodger curled up in the sun on the table. He loves the sun and can be found trying to sunbathe anywhere he can manage it.
Little miss finished the month/year by really starting to climb on everything. I was tempted to remind her in the picture below that standing on a bucket like that is exactly what got her brother sent to the ER for stitches, but I didn't. ;)
We didn't do much of anything for New Year's. I remember feeling a little guilty for not telling Pierscen about the holiday and giving him a chance to ring in the new year, but let's be honest. No 4-year-old really needs to know, and they definitely don't need to be staying up til midnight. Haha. I didn't even make it to midnight! Which is exactly how I would prefer it.
December was an incredible roller coaster of events and emotions. But we made it into our house and everything finally settled into place. We did it!
No comments:
Post a Comment