Merry Christmas!

Well, another Christmas Day has come and gone! It was a lovely day, opening presents and stockings in the morning. Then Rob and I were fortunate to have a house full of family in the afternoon! Its nice to finally have some people over to "break in" our new home!

Look at all the presents!!

Nick and Elaine got me a GREAT Christmas present! A Gate! That's right- a Gate for the new (not yet put in) fence! Thanks guys!! Check it out:

Sunny got a special pair of slippers that mop the floor while you walk from my Mom. He wasn't too happy when I made him put them on:


He got back at us by plucking his new toy out of his stocking without asking permission: (You'll have to turn your head to watch this)

He's so sneaky!! Merry Christmas everyone! Hope you had a great day!

So thoughtful.

Last week Aunt Lorri and cousin Tammi stopped by. I wasn't here, but Rob was. The house was an absolute disaster!! Boxes and stuff everywhere! Rob gave them a quick tour of our new digs. Aunt Lorri left a lovely housewarming gift. I was so touched when we opened it. Look at what an awesome quilter she is!
She made us a beautiful Christmas table runner:

An adorable fall colored quilt:

And these awesome place mats, with apron and hot pads to match!! So Cute!!

We will treasure these for years to come!! Thanks Aunt Lorri and Uncle Rich!

Bye Bye Oleanders! and the Christmas Stocking Saga

Sorry its been so long since my last post. I've been running around getting ready for the holidays and settling in to my new job at work.The house has significantly less boxes these days. I'm trying to find a home for all of our things. A few pictures have made it on to the walls and its looking more like home everyday!

Our latest project was getting rid of the oleander stumps. If you remember, Nick took a chainsaw to all of the oleanders in our backyard, but in order to put in a new fence, we needed the stumps out, too. Sooooo, we rented a backhoe!! Nick happens to own a backhoe and he is really great with that thing! Check out how large those darn stumps were:

Look how much fun he's having!

Dan (Sr.) came over to give us a hand, and he lent us his dump trailer. Thanks Dan!!! I went to the dump with Rob, and all you have to do is push a button and the stumps slid right off!

This is the dump. Looks like a dump, huh? Some guy looked at me a little funny when I was taking pictures. Doesn't everyone take pictures at the dump?

So now our backyard has a lovely temporary fence and it looks so much bigger without those oleanders!!

side yard

Now, the Christmas Stocking Saga: I really love to decorate the house for Christmas. This year, I was especially excited to hang our Christmas stockings on our fireplace! I was able to put out a few decorations and as I went through my tubs of Christmas decorations I kept an eye out for those stockings. After going through ALL of the Christmas bins, NO stockings. I found the stocking holders, the ornaments, the lights, etc. I tore through all the bins again and NO stockings. Finally, this morning I was cleaning and wrapping presents. I went back to the storage area and I noticed that one of Rob's bins on the top shelf had red tissue paper in it. Hmmm. Sure enough, that wasn't one of Rob's bins- it was a Christmas bin!! Stockings have been located and hung!! We are ready for Santa!!!

I think I need to add some greenery or something, but I'm just so happy to have located our stockings!! Merry Christmas!

Very funny video!

If you have ever worked in an ER for any length of time, you've seen this patient at least once a day!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCn70UYombc

"Kinda like a skateboard!"

So we are all moved in, but not totally unpacked. It feels so good to finally be living here. I feel a little exposed because the block fence is not up yet, but all of the oleanders are cut down. And adding to that is the fact that we haven't purchased window coverings yet! A few well placed sheets are serving as cover for now. Here's Rob on one of our first nights in in our new bathroom!

A large portion of our furniture had been in storage for almost a year. One piece I was really looking forward to having out again was my round pedestal table. I was really excited when Nick and Rob brought in the large pedestal and then placed the top on. And then..... I wasn't so excited. It seems that the table top has lost its moisture, which resulted in the sides curling up. In others words, the top of the table is curved like a friggin taco shell! Ok- its not that bad, its more like a skateboard, but it is noticeable, especially when you are sitting at the table.

In an effort to flatten out the table top we placed the top on the floor and the pedestal on top of it. Nick placed some heavy boxes on the edges, but its not working. A friend suggested a tarp and a humidifier, since the wood needs moisture. So we're going to try that. I'll let you know how it goes!

Its not very functional right now!! We are eating on the card table.