Holiday House Tour

The house tour has come and gone and what a great day it was! The weather was perfect, the visitors were happy and we had a wonderful time! On Friday night we got to go around and do the tour with the other homeowners and also the artists that were featured. We had such a nice time and the homes were all beautiful.

My only wish is that I had a better camera or knew a photographer that worked for cookies and hugs because the pictures didn't come out as I had hoped. The morning of the tour went very fast and I was so nervous that I had trouble keeping the camera steady to take pictures. I managed to take quite a few though and I hope that you enjoy them! We are very blessed to have family and friends that helped out for the tour....watched the kids and dogs, baked for us and came from far away to go on the tour. Their support means everything to us and we couldn't have asked for a better day!

As you look through the pictures you can see the collages on our dining table. All the homes had art and/or music on display for the tour.

I also wanted to share with you a picture from last night. My daughter had her very first band concert, she plays the french horn and we are so, so proud of her. She looked beautiful last night and I'm amazed at how quickly she is learning to play.

And with that I am going to take a break until the new year. Being on the home tour was a blast but I am seriously behind on Christmas! I want to wish you and your families a beautiful holiday filled with laughter and warmth.

It means so much to me that you read my little blog and I'm excited to see what the new year brings!!

I'm linking up to Hooked on Houses! Head over for more holiday fun!!

Holiday House Tour Ready

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Or ready as I'll ever be. **Phew** It's been a lot of prepwork but I think I am officially DONE. Done decorating, done cleaning, done washing and done stressing. It is what it is at this point and I hope the people who paid to come through like it......or at least half of them.




Some key points to remember if you will be touring my home on Saturday:

1. I realize my style isn't for everyone but if you don't like it, please lie to my face. If you don't, I might cry.



2. I'm really exhausted so ignore the dark circles under my eyes.



3. I'll make every attempt to have a coherent conversation with you but if I sound like a bumbling idiot, refer to number 2 above.



4. We have 3 kids and 2 dogs. One of them sheds like crazy and I doubt I could possibly get all the hair up. If you see some, kindly ignore it. You know how you had a real Christmas tree last year and then you moved furniture and found needles on the floor in June? Yeah, it's kind of like that. Same goes for Silly Bandz, Legos and assorted tiny superhero figures.



5. Yes my house is always this clean.



6. Do not, I repeat, do not open my closets. You may get injured from things falling on you and I'd be super embarrassed and really, who needs that?



7. Ditto for the basement.



8. I may have lied about number 5.



9. This is how we really live. I didn't really change much except do a whole lot of cleaning and put some excess toys away. I started ironing pillowcases and such and then thought, nah...that's not really us. We are casual, no iron, toss shoes in a basket, it doesn't have to be perfect kind of folks and I wanted to show you the real us.

10. MOST importantly, I am so happy that you are taking time out of your weekend this busy holiday season to tour my home. I'm thrilled to be on the tour this year, so excited to meet everyone and no matter how much work it was getting ready....I would do it again in a heartbeat. I love decorating my home for the season and the fact that I get to show it to you is just icing.



I'll be back soon with lots and lots of pictures! Have a beautiful weekend everyone!

Wish me luck!!

Oh Christmas Tree

On Sunday we went for our Christmas tree, something we look forward to all year long. It was freezing so we didn't get many pictures and the ones we got came out a bit like this.....

I sometimes wonder if we'll ever get a family photo where all five of us look normal. I may need to do like that commercial where the mom switches heads on their holiday photo. Do you know what I'm talking about? It's a computer commercial. Anywho.....

My son was "helping" Daddy cut down the tree. Don't worry, we moved him out of the way before the saw was really in there. A tree falling on one of the kids would have put a bit of a damper on the day.

We finished the day off with dinner and then hot chocolate. Mmmmmm....

So what is it in your house, real or fake?

Saturday

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We are fully in the holiday spirit over here. I'm even wishing for snow, how crazy is that?? There is something amazing about a White Christmas.....we'll just have to wait and see.


I wanted to show you what my talented friend Renee did in her kitchen. She found this old colander at a flea market.....



And turned it into a pendant for above her kitchen sink! Doesn't it look adorable? I love using found objects in a creative way and this is a win!

Have a wonderful weekend fellow bloggers! We'll be getting our tree tomorrow, the kids are SO excited. I'm not sure if they are more excited about the tree or the hot chocolate and donuts we always have after we get it. Hmmmm.....

Now I'm off to get dressed and drag all 3 kids to Target. Can you guess why?

"If I had found you, there isn’t a doubt in my mind how I would have proceeded. I was that boy, who would have — as soon as I discovered that you were what I was looking for — gotten down on one knee and endeavored to secure your hand. I would have wanted you for eternity, even when the word didn’t have quite the same connotations."
~Edward Cullen

Yup, I'm one of those crazy Twilight fans, don't judge, it's one of my only guilty pleasures.....this and Jersey Shore. Okay, that sounds nutty just typing it out so judge away!

If I only had 10 houses....

I find that I love so many different styles, it's hard to stick to just one. If I had a bunch of homes, I would decorate them each in a special way. Tell me I'm not the only one with this problem of style commitment....

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Oh and the holiday music has arrived on my blog. I had a couple readers ask about my playlist and it's up! Love this time of year.

P.S. ~ I have linked all the websites on which I found these pictures. If one of these belongs to you and you would prefer it removed, please email me.