Is it Christmastime?

How do I know that it's Christmastime at our house?

Well, the Holy Family has made an appearance.

Decorations are out.

The tree is up and already missing several ornaments.

Gifts are wrapped.

The stockings are hung.

 Merry Christmas Mr. Owl!

Christmas books are strewn everywhere!

 

As are Christmas crafts.

Christmas music and movies are playing continuously. 

Our Christmas Countdown Chain/Advent Calendar is getting shorter!

Homemade goodies are being boxed up and are awaiting neighbors and friends.

How do I know it's Christmastime at our house? 

.........

I'm out of butter for the second time this week.

It's all in the details

 So somewhere in between raising two boys, finishing this house, running errands, yard work and ...well....life, I found spare time to do a couple of the little projects I've been wanting to finish for a while now. Here's a  quick look at some of them.

 I painted this rooster. Now he looks like ....

 ...this!

 I hung some art work.

 We painted our fireplace and it looks soooooo much better!

I don't have an "after" shot yet.

Also, I got a lampshade for my $1.00 garage sale find. 

 That cute little red table is from a friend of mine who dotes on us with free gifts like this. Love you, Becca!

Kitchen Table

While we were demolishing our house back in the summer we happened upon a garage sale and scored quite a few goodies. One was this table. Solid wood, I got it for $5!

It's the biggest table we've ever had and it even has a leaf, so..ya know....it gets even bigger!!

It was a little rough, a little wobbly and missing a few details...

I thought it was cute and I wanted to paint it.

So that's just what I did.

 After a light sanding and some primer of course.

It's yellow on the bottom and gray on top. Something different...

So now it's painted wobbly, and still missing a few details, but it looks much better!

I love it! 

Chairs are next!!

New Old House

Well, here it is. The good the bad and the ugly. Let's start with the ugly, shall we?

 Welcome to our home. Here's a wall. A great, big, white, light blocking wall. That's gotta go.

 For a house this size it's unusual that there would be a fire place. What is NOT unusual, however, is the paneling.

 

The big windows are nice and once the gigantic bushes are gone we will get even more light in the living room. The "vaulted" ceilings make the space feel much bigger than it actually is.

 Turn the corner to the hallway. I'm sure hallways aren't really anything to get excited about, but we are because we've never lived in a space big enough for a hallway. See the doorway on the left? That's the very awkward door way into the very awkward kitchen. we're going to change it, we're going to change it...

 STORAGE!! Be still my beating heart, there are even laundry hampers. The plastic knobs are a no-no.

Far right is the doorway I was talking about. The stove is the only new thing in the house. Like our goldenrod counter tops?

 Don't worry, that's not just carpet in the kitchen. It's carpet over 40 year old golden rod linoleum. The tiny window will eventually become a gigantic picture window. Someday...

 Oh hey! Look! Some of the linoleum! I was worried that I wouldn't remember it and the nightmares would stop.  Can you spot the termite damage??

 The boys future bedroom. Too bad I don't have a girl...

  I married that. ;)

 Funny story... we closed in the doorway to the kitchen (which you can see in this picture) so when it came time to move this gigantic, solid wood dresser out there was no pivoting room. That was fun.

 Safety first.

 Front bathroom. 

 Fortunately these were not permanent.

 "not permanent, not permanent"

 ..."not permanent"

 Here's the "master bedroom". It came with swan art. and goldenrod curtains.

 Oh, and a pillow.

 "Master bath". There is no shortage of safety bars...

...or seashell sinks.

Third bedroom.

Lots of work, lots of work. It's not our dream home, it's an investment that will help us get to our dream home. As easy as it is to focus on the ugly and the bad, Daniel and I feel so blessed to have a home and we are looking forward to transforming it. Fingers crossed!

House

Tuesday we bought our first home!

::screeching and squeals of excitement::

It's a fixer upper.

::horrified gasps and moans of certain doom::

Do you know how many years we've been looking for a house? Do you know how many realtors I've talked to? Did you know that the word "realtors" is apparently incorrect according to spell check?

God's timing is perfect.

After we had Wallace, with Daniel having a steady, paying job, we decided that now was the time. I guess God did too. On a whim we walked into a Century21 office. It was empty, except for Keith.

Keith. The realtor. Enemy No. 1.

I had my mind made up. I knew what I wanted, we knew what we could afford, and this "Keith" wasn't going to mess me around. Keith was going to work for US. If Keith asked how much we were looking to spend right off the bat we were walking.

Turns out Keith is a good listener. Keith is extremely patient. Keith wanted to sell us what we needed, not what we wanted. Keith wasn't going to tell us that yet.

Keith doesn't have a house or car payment.

We both love Keith.

When we were much younger, we wanted to buy a fixer upper. Daniel always clicked on the "homes $50,000 and under" links on real estate websites. I, longed for land. Not a hundred acres, not a first anyway. Just a few. Daniel's picks were always dilapidated and unlivable. The land I always chose was out of state. Stale mate.

Then we had kiddos and after six years of "making it work" in a barn, I didn't want a "fixer upper". I wanted a pantry. I wanted my washer and dryer to be in the same room. I wanted a garage. I didn't want to fix anything with a toddler at my knees and a baby on my hip. Daniel, working 50 hours a week, wasn't excited about taking on difficult household projects. He didn't want to come home and carry down laundry, or trip over the vacuum because there was no place to put it. Also, BOTH of us knew Coen was getting too big to take baths in the kitchen sink. We didn't want a cookie cutter so we were left with older homes that had already been renovated. We just couldn't swallow the fact that someone had done what we could do. Someone else was making the money. WE were the ones paying for a fix and flip. Not cool. Our best hope was for an investor so desperate to sell he would lower his price enough to fit our budget. We would end up with a 3/2 in a neighborhood. Good enough.

"Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called children of God; and'such we are." 1 John 3:1

Turns out Keith had a card up his sleeve. An estate. 3/2 on TWO ACRES. Needing some TLC and updating, but not a tear down. Just enough to handle, just what Daniel wanted, just what I wanted, just what we needed, right on the upper end of what we could afford. We made an offer, low balled them. Got a call back the next day.


He knows what we need. He knows what we want. He knows how to give above and beyond anything we could have ever hoped or imagined. He knows!

It doesn't bother me that there isn't a pantry, that there are a LOT of things needing some updating and elbow grease and paint. When you know that God is for you, when you are the recipient of a gift so perfectly suited for you it must have been made for you, little things like that don't matter. I mean, they can start to bother you when you lose sight of the blessing. Right now, though, I would have to look around the BIG blessing to see all of the little imperfections. That would just be stupid. :)

Did I mention that there is a bathtub?

Giddy.