Mantel Decor

Before I jump into my long-overdue Christmas post, I want to share these fun projects we cranked out during the busiest time of the year.  How we managed to get them done, I have no idea.  Definitely couldn't have finished them without my Dad and his willingness to, once again, help me out with my shop projects.  I miss getting to work out there with him!  

Anyway, I actually dreamed up a Christmas tree forest, if you will, for the mantel a year ago and never got around to doing it.  I started thinking about it again in the fall and thought if I could make a tree forest, I could also make a pumpkin patch!

My dad always acts annoyed with my wood-cutting requests, but I secretly think he likes them.  I usually draw out what I'm thinking to help him visualize.  Here was my rough sketch of our fire place, mantel, and the pumpkin patch.  I drew my vase and large candle stick on opposite sides than they are in real life, and Matt gets extra points for actually noticing!

With a roll of his eyes, Dad said, "You'll have to draw the pumpkins however you want them."

So I did.

Then I went out of town overnight and came home to wooden pumpkins!  We had some leftover barnwood that I had pulled out to use.  I knew some of it wouldn't be wide enough so I had instructed Dad to plank them together.  I love that he did some of them on the diagonal.  Aren't they so awesome in their rustic-ness?

Before I could turn them their proper shade of orange, I had to touch up the raw side edges.  We used two different batches of barnwood and one set had a red tone and the other had a green tone.  I gave the sides a quick rub down with one of my favorite stains, Rustoleum's Sunbleached, so they would be more uniform in color.

After that dried, I did a little dry-brushing with some Texas orange paint.  I didn't want a full cover coat of paint, just enough to add some color.

This was done bright and early on a Saturday morning (gotta DIY when you can) and my pajama-clad helper busied herself by making ramps for her trains and asking repeatedly if she could touch the orange paint - cause orange is her favorite color, you know.

I brushed brown paint on the stems and then, as a final coat, rubbed them all down with some brown glaze wax.  Some were just a little too orange in spots and I liked that the brown glaze kinda put the barnwood rustic-ness back on them.  :)

In between coats of paint, I also cut a long 2x6 board to mount them on.  I waffled on what color to paint it but ultimately went with the same color as our mantel so that it would blend in and be nondescript.  I'm glad I did; I love that it doesn't take away from the pumpkins.

Once they were finally dry, I took them home to our house for assembly.  I'm pretty sure assembly happened the weekend before Thanksgiving - that's how behind I was on this fall decorating project!

Originally I thought I would use long screws to attach them from the bottom of the 2x6.  When we thought that threw, it was not going to be very easy.  So I grabbed some L brackets from our local Ace Hardware and used them to attach the pumpkins to the base.

Attaching the L brackets went pretty quickly since I had a little helper handing me my screws.  (Actually, it probably took twice as long since I had a little helper, but at least he's cute!)

Special shout-out to both Matt and Anna who helped hold the pumpkins up while I moved them around into an arrangement I liked.  Then, it was as simple as screwing them into place.

And then up on the mantel they went!  They needed a little something so I gave them all a little neck wear.  I'm not dead set on that part but it was a quick fix that worked perfectly for the last week of pumpkin season.  Now that it's done, how awesome is it going to be next October when all we have to do is grab this one (extremely heavy) thing from the attic and just pop it into place?!

Looks just like the picture I drew, doesn't it?

Ok!  Moving on to Christmas!

Approximately 5 days after finishing the pumpkins, the Christmas tree and decor came out and took over the house.  The pumpkins stayed put because A) I had JUST finished them! and B) I didn't have the trees finished yet.  Mostly because I hadn't started them yet.

Again, super thanks to my Dad for cutting them out for me since I didn't have time.  I left instructions to cut five each of three different sized trees.  (We have made tons of these twinkle trees in the past, so we have templates for them now.)  He delivered and had them all cut out in no time.  I really didn't think I was going to get them done before the end of the year (when the heck did I have time to go paint?!) but I made a firm decision that they would be up on our mantel in time for the Christmas party we were hosting...in a week.

No step-by-step pictures this time, but imagine me using four different shades of green paint to paint 15 different trees - front and back.  I wasn't picky about my shades of green; I used all paint we had on hand.  And just like with the pumpkins, I painted my long base board the same color as the mantel.

I assembled the forest of twinkle trees by myself one night during Thomas's awful sleep regression (read about that here).  I listened to him cry through the monitor (while Matt tried to comfort and quiet him) and took my frustration out with my drill and screws.  

The tricky part was whether or not the white lights that I had ordered would come in in time.  I was going to be SO MAD if I had busted my butt to get this thing finished for the party and then the dang lights didn't arrive in time!  They arrived the day before the party - thank goodness - and Matt helped me power through poking them into all the tiny drilled holes (not as easy a task as you would think).  

The kids stayed up past their bedtimes while we finished but it was fun letting them see it all lit up for the first time.  It is slightly blinding.  But in a totally awesome way.  

"Take our pitch-uh with the trees, Mama!" 

I took a panorama pic of the room so you could see all of the lights.  Maybe I went overboard?  We have our fully lit 12 foot Christmas trees on the far left, the blinding twinkle tree forest in center, a new Christmas tree addition this year sitting at the top of the stairs, and two more twinkle trees over on the right.  And from most places in the room, you could also see the Christmas tree in the kitchen.  Basically, it was my favorite room in the house during the season.  All the lights!  All the magical Christmas goodness!

And, just like with the pumpkin patch, the best part is that they're done now so next year we just have to carry them down from the attic.  Boom.  I am all about that.

Christmas pics coming!

26.2 Miles

Matt's resolution for 2015 was to run 365 miles - one mile per day - over the course of the year.  He started out strong thanks to some mild weather in January and some business trips that allowed him some time on treadmills.  By the end of February he was already several miles ahead of the number of days in we were, but then March came and he got hit with an awful migraine that lasted for days and days.  Without any daily running, he quickly went through his surplus miles and got pretty behind which meant he was heading into the hot months having to play catch up.  Then in April, he thought "Why not run a full marathon this year if I'm going to be running anyway?"

I'll be honest, I was against it from the get-go.  Did you know the first person to ever run a marathon died at the end of it?  Yeah, that's pretty much all I could think about.  Not really worth it, ya know?  But his argument was that if he was ever going to do it, then now was the time - before he got any older and while he was still in good physical shape.  Bucket list and all that nonsense.

So that's how he found himself training for a full marathon mid-year.  He signed up for the St. Jude marathon in December - one that he'd run the half marathon three times already.  I tried not to remind him that every time he ran the half, the first words out of his mouth were, "I'm never doing that again."  I just smiled and let him go about his running business, especially when he offered to push a kid or two in the stroller with him!

Matt was strong in his training (even running every day in Jamaica!) until the last couple of weeks.  His longest training run was supposed to be 20 miles, but he only made it through 17 before running out of energy (literally).  Of course this only made me more nervous.  I tried to talk him into just doing the half again but he felt confident that the day-of adrenaline would carry him the additional miles.

The day we had all been waiting for (dreading!) finally arrived.  Matt laced up his running shoes and was out the door super early in the morning.  We sat at the dinner table the night before mapping out our plan of when I would try to see him with the kids.  His parents were in for the big event as well so we'd be in multiple cars.

Our first spotting of our favorite runner was around mile 6.  We found a great stretch of road that didn't have anyone standing on it so we could have a front row view.  Turns out no one was standing there because it was just past a drink station where the runners through their cups down.  We had to dodge some water and gatorade being thrown at our feet!  

We had our signs and were ready for him!

We hopped in our cars and drove to our next location - the 11 mile mark where the course splits between those doing the half marathon and those doing the full.  I wanted to see him at this point so that I could encourage him to go the half route if he wasn't feeling well.  I was tracking him on my phone but still didn't see him sneak up on me until he was right in front of us!  He looked great and was still going strong so we waved him off in the full marathon direction.

At this point in the day, my mom took the kids home for lunch and naps so it was down to just me and Matt's parents.  We did some wonky navigating through the city and were able to see him two more times before Pat, his mom, had to leave to go pick up the big kids.  Then it was down to just me and his dad.

Our next sighting was at mile 20 and he gave us the typical Matt sign of "I got this."

When we had talked the night before, he had admitted that he thought the stretch from mile 20 to the end would be the hardest part.  We knew he'd need some encouragement so we drove to mile 23 to see him again.  I was sitting down while we waited for him but quickly jumped up when I could make out his figure.  I didn't dare complain about being tired while he was doing all the running!

Bill and I drove downtown and parked to head to Autozone park where the race ended.  I parked way too far away and was scared we were going to miss his finish.  Just as we reached the park, Matt called to let me know he was walking.  His left knee was killing him and he said it felt like it might explode.  He only had a mile and half left to go!  I told him to take his time and go slow and we would be there waiting.

The runners enter the stadium from the outfield so they have big screens projecting them crossing the finish line.  Here are both his dad and my dad glued to the screen watching for him.

HE MADE IT!!

I really expected us to hang out there for a little while.  We had him a change of clothes and thought he'd want to dry off and rest and get something to eat.  But as soon as he found us and I took the picture above he said, "I'm ready to go home."  Oh, and also "I'm never doing that again."

That evening, Thomas rewarded him with a back massage.  I'm pretty sure he earned it.  

After he tallied up the total number of miles he'd run after the marathon, he was at 493 for the year.  With three weeks left, he figured he might as well make it 500.  And he did!  He met his new goal the last week of the year and said those last 7 miles were the hardest ones to do.  I think he may hang up his running shoes for a while.

I wish I could say this was the end of our marathoning days but guess who's got this crazy idea to give it a try this year?  Yep, this girl!  Now, before you start thinking I'm nuts, I'm considering doing the HALF not the full and I will be WALKING, not running.  And, you know, it's January while I'm typing this which is when everyone is gungho about resolutions, so ask me again around July to see how I'm feeling about this.  I've got a couple friends who I'm trying to talk into doing it with me and Matt's sister, Jill, says she's on board, so hopefully that will keep me accountable.  Time will only tell...

November Phone Pics

I almost had a perfect record of getting each month's phone pics posted in the following month, but leave it to the last month of the year to mess that up!  The sad thing is is that I've had the November pictures uploaded and ready to go for a while now, I just couldn't find any time to write the post.

Let's start with this string of photos of my blonde-haired boy.  Nothing special about them except that he was so proud of himself for climbing up on the bleachers (we were in our church gym) and just gave me the biggest grins!  (You can click over on the right for more pictures to scroll through.)

You know you live in a small town when you get ridiculously excited about a new Ace Hardware opening up.  This is HUGE for us!  Man, projects will be so much easier without a 30 minute drive (minimum) to get supplies.  Of course we had to go check out the new place after dinner one night.  You know how they say that as parents you have to pick your battles?  Well, Katie Wynn wanted to wear a strainer as a hat to go to the store.  I decided it wasn't worth battling over, but I did tell her if she took it with her I would not carry it for her.  Well, I didn't have to because she kept it on her head the whole dang time.

Speaking of head wear, she also made an Indian headdress at school that had to be worn a lot.

Let's see, what other random things did we do?  Katie Wynn and I snuck out after dinner to watch my nephew Jett's last football game of the season.  She had her pj's on underneath her coat and rain boots and thought it was hilarious.

She and her brother got to throw pennies into a fountain while I did some quick shopping.

If you say, "Thomas, where's your belly?" you'll get this:

We actually had a couple brief moments this month where both kids sat still on the couch and watched tv.  Photo worthy for sure since it doesn't happen often! 

Thomas looked dapper in his bow ties and way too grown up in his big boy clothes.

We had such mild weather during November that my mom's hydrangea bush had gorgeous blooms on it!  I really couldn't believe it when I saw them.

We created a "sleep train" as Katie Wynn called it one night.  I had all three of my favorite people laying in my lap!  The picture on the right is how I found her in her bed later that night.  I can't believe she didn't slide right out!  And she slept right through me taking her picture and putting her back up on the bed and under the covers.

Turns out I didn't take any pictures on Thanksgiving except for this one of Matt and the work table he built in our garage!  Actually, I think that was the day before Thanksgiving.  He built it completely by himself and had it finished before 11am! 

The day after Thanksgiving, Katie Wynn and I went on a fun little road trip to visit my friend Sarah and her son, Gus.  We let the kids help decorate a small tree for Christmas.  These of Katie Wynn are two of my favorites from this Christmas.

So proud of their work!

While there, we also made and decorated Christmas cookies.  Sprinkles were everywhere!

And Katie Wynn and I had brought some Christmas window clings with us so she and Gus decorated the windows.

When we got home from our quick trip, Matt and I put up all of our Christmas decorations.  We added a train under our tree this year for the kids.  I was equal parts excited to see them watch it for the first time and nervous for whether or not they would try to tear it up.  They were awesome about just sitting and watching and not trying to touch it too much.  Thomas, especially.  Turning on the train was a great way to get him to sit still and wind down!

When the kids went to bed I got busy wrapping books.  We continued our tradition of having a new Christmas book to open every night after bath.  It's actually good motivation to get the kids to act right during dinner and bath!

I couldn't hold off any longer so on the last day of November, I broke out the first set of matching Christmas outfits.  Couldn't ask for cuter models!

To wrap up this post, I'll leave you with this little tip:  If you're working out in Poppy's wood shop and have an injury that requires an ice pack, you'll just have to use whatever's cold and available.

Surprise!

Hey, look!  A new blog post!  Can you believe it?!

If you couldn't guess from the unplanned hiatus I took from here, we have been BUSY.  December was good, but almost more than we could handle this year.  Since I last wrote (on Thanksgiving day?), we have hosted friends and family overnight, thrown a family birthday party, hosted our Sunday school class's Christmas party, attended parties with friends, attended Snowy Nights at the Botanic Gardens, driven around to look at lights, spent a weekend in Indiana, delivered gifts to our adopted family, decorated and undecorated our house (and helped at the church for both), cried at the sight of Santa Claus (the kids, not us), celebrated the birth of Jesus at church and with family, rang in the new year, recovered from colds, and cranked out two projects in the wood shop.  As if our home life wasn't jam-packed enough, I have also been the busiest I've been at work since I switched to part time, to the point of taking home work on both the Christmas and New Year's weekends.  On my days "off" from my "real" job, I've sat for hours at a time at the embroidery machine making sure everyone got their orders in time for Christmas.  I think we made as much money in November and December as we did the whole rest of the year!  Oh, and Matt ran 26.2 miles - in one day.

On top of ALL of that, we are finally (hopefully? maybe? pretty please?) coming off of Thomas's worst sleep regression to date, where not only did he not sleep, but he also screamed at the top of his lungs nonstop.  Only when it was bedtime or during the wee hours of the morning, of course.  We were so sleep deprived and running on so few fumes that it all came to a head one day and I nearly lost it.  It was a Monday.  I drove myself to work but could not pull myself enough to get out of the car; all I could do was cry.  So I texted my boss that I was taking a sick day, made a quick trip to Walmart that was on my neverending to-do list, and went home to sleep the day away.  My parents graciously kept Thomas two nights for us that week so we could catch up on our sleep.  As I type right now, he is sound asleep in his bed and I'm crossing my fingers that he'll stay quite for at least a few hours.  He is still not an amazing sleeper, but we've turned a major corner so I'll try not to complain.

Now you see why I haven't blogged?  There just has not been any extra time at all.  But I'm vowing to make January my catch-up month.  And we're going all the way back to November's phone pics and starting there.  Then I've got Matt's marathon to tell you about, our Christmas festivities, December's phone pics, the aforementioned shop projects, and some house updates that I'm majorly behind on posting!  

Since I can't have a post without pictures, here's the one we ended up using for our Christmas card from our family photo shoot.  The big kids were such troopers while the little kids had their fits and didn't cooperate.  This isn't necessarily the best picture of either of them, but their faces are visible and there are no tears, so it's a winner!

Be expecting more posts soon!  And if not, feel free to send me a text to remind me (ahem, Jenny).  

Family Pictures 2015

For this year's full family picture, we hired a real photographer!  In years past, I've just set up a tripod, set a timer, and hoped for the best.  It was so nice to have someone else do it this year - and the photo quality is way better than anything I could do!  

When we finished our photo session, I was the maddest I have ever been at Katie Wynn.  She was 100% uncooperative for pictures and I was livid.  In hindsight, I should've expected that, but I really thought after we practiced the day before and really talked about it that morning that she was going to be a big girl and smile for Mrs. Kristen.  Boy was I wrong!  And Thomas followed her lead and got shy and clingy too.  So, knowing that, it is a complete miracle that Kristen managed to get a picture or two of all of us facing the camera!  They may not be smiling, but at least you can see their faces.  That's all I can hope for these days.  :)

I'm not going to show my favorite family picture because it will be going out in the mail next week on our Christmas cards.  But here are some other good ones.

I'll definitely have to frame these of Wyatt and Anna.  I'm glad to have some good updated pics of them!

This is the look you get from Thomas if he thinks you're going to try to take him away from his Daddy.

Glad to have a new picture of me and my honey.

This one is ok, I guess.  

Kristen took pictures of my brothers and their families too, but I don't have them.  I'm sure they got some good ones because their kids behave for the camera better!

What started as a family of five has grown to a family of seventeen!  And we're done now.  I think.

I like this full family shot best.  

But this one is my favorite shot from the whole day!  There were some pretty awesome dance moves going on behind the photographer to get all of these smiles and it was totally worth it.  Look at Thomas sitting by himself like a big boy!  This one will be on my parents' Christmas card so I apologize for ruining the surprise for the four-ish of you that read this blog and receive her card.  :)

The best part of having these pictures taken in October is that I've had my Christmas cards printed and in hand since early November!  Now if only they would address themselves...