The Tree

The first Christmas she could walk, we told The Girl she could pick out the family Christmas tree at the tree farm.  She chose a tree that was shorter than her and had no needles.  We said, "um, no..."  Eventually we found a good tree.  This year she asked if she could choose, that she had been "eyeing" a tree at the Boy Scout Lot for WEEKS every morning when they drove by on the way to school and that it would be PERFECT!...with some trepidation we said, "um, ok?"

 There aren't any photos from the tree lot, but this look about sums up our reaction to the tree...But it was actually the best one on the lot...I guess that's what I get for my "rule" about the tree and The Boy's birthday, right?

This is decorated with about 2 levels from only 2 of the ornament boxes...we need a much taller tree to get them all on, but this way it will take less time to put them all away, right?

So far the pets haven't messed with the tree, not even our visiting friend (cousin? Aunt?), Maggie the Dog.  Maybe that is because Liberty thinks it is her personal duty to guard the tree....

The other nativity

There is one more nativity that was mentioned in the last post, but not pictured...because it is only fair that it get it's own post--because it is so cool...no really.

The centerpiece, and original set, is Veggie Tales--complete with a singing Laura the Carrot angel, Baby Carrot Baby Jesus, Squash Mary and Joseph, Wise Men (Larry, Mr Lunt, and Pa Grape), Cow (Jerry and his bother Gourd...what is his name?), two hay bales, a palm tree, and Junior Asparagus and his sheep (The French Peas).  Ok, you can't see all of them, but they are there.  Added to them is the Little Drummer Boy (Junior again), with his sheep, camel and donkey.  Finally (in this picture), are three Little People Camels (the Wise Men need camels, duh), a Little People cow and chicken, and a Little People lion (lying down with the sheep...very Biblical).  Mr Ranch doesn't even (usually) object to this portion of this nativity. It is child proof (mostly, there was an incident with the legs to Baby Jee's manager a few years ago, but it was easily repaired with some superglue) and must taste good--there are lots of pictures (somewhere) of The Boy tasting each piece when he was about two.  We even have a picture book that tells the story of the Veggies performing the pageant.

Now this would be the portion that gets interesting...the other half of the nativity...we have the rest of the Little People animals, left from various sets (zoo, farm, other things).  I think we have three horses, an elephant, three kangaroos, a leopard (my favorite), a seal, three zebras, a parrot, a polar bear....Then there are some little gifts that used to be ornaments, but don't hang well on the tree, a Veggie Tales action figure from a set we don't even own (Sumo of the Opera?), a wooden nutcracker (from Saint Nicholas this year)...and here is possibly my favorite, a Christmas/Santa train that I bought at Goodwill years ago.  It is missing Santa (stop laughing) but has an elf, a Christmas tree, a puppy (with a box you can put over it, so it is like the cat in Christmas Vacation), and a fireman and his fire dog.  I'm looking forward to next Christmas, when it looks like the Pirates Who Don't Do Anything might be able to join the group (this year they are still living in The Boy's toy box). Maybe they will bring their tv and ping pong table. Very Christmas-y, right?  Some day I'll get a Santa...they show up at Goodwill once in awhile, right?

A little home decorating chaos

When I was a kid we always thought it was somewhat ironic that my dad knocked a wall out between the kitchen and the living room and because of "life" it stayed that way for weeks (months?).

Mr. Ranch and I have been discussing buying a new tv for months, but I keep procrastinating because it will require new furniture in the living room and, well, not only do I like my furniture, I don't want to move it.  It is really heavy.

So last Saturday, with Life Group scheduled for Sunday afternoon and a college roommate and her family scheduled to arrive later in the week...we decided to start this project.  I took The Girl to a babysitting class at 8:00, and when I got home, this was the scene in the living room.  Hmm...guess we're really doing this.

With my inept "help", Mr. Ranch was able to get the old entertainment center upstairs to the bonus room, where The Boy and I filled it with games and other stuff (leaving room for the "old" tv and the components).  We also hauled up the side cabinets and were able to do some sorting and cleaning--this room even looks bigger!

After all that hauling, we went to IKEA...an event worthy of it's own blog post...but not happening today....and picked up the new furniture.  And had lunch.  Mmmm...meatballs.  Meanwhile, downstairs...all 10,000 DVD's were on the dining room table

and Alice the Cat enjoyed rummaging through the boxes.

Now the really good news is that I was able to move all the games from the downstairs hall closet to either the "Goodwill box" or to the cabinets upstairs... so our hall closet is now company worthy. 

And the really good news, according to Mr. Ranch, is that the furniture assembled really easily...here it is half done....

And finished!  According to Mr. Ranch's dad, it really opens up the room...I'm warming up to it...there is a lot of glass and a dog with a crazy tail..so far, so good though.  The old tv looks tiny..the new one allegedly will be here sometime in the next week or so.

In other news, the upstairs now has a "reading nook" as the children call it--with that adorable chair from the Halloween post.  You know, that chair that The Boy still wedges himself into, despite it being made for infants..Yep, that chair..

The good news is that everything was put together and put away before Life Group, although our group members said, "We wouldn't have minded" (My answer?  "We'd have to meet on the front porch...")

Stay tuned for our next project..The Christmas tree (but not until after The Boy's birthday!)

Fall decorating

Those of you who know us know that I love holiday decorations and that I have a lot...starting in early October the top of my dining room buffet is the showcase, but any flat surface is fair game...

 Pictured...let's see..far left, fall colored vase thrown by a former co-worker's husband, some fake pumpkins (purchased at a post-Thanksgiving sale several years ago), a vase with fall (dollar tree) flowers, a cornucopia filled with gourds dried by my parents, orange vases and pumpkin man from Mr. Ranch's grandparents's house, some ghosts...one painted by my grandmother, and a bunch of corncobs and fake leaves...

The Boy decorated this corner for us--lots of faces in this corner.











A nice side benefit of the garden corn project was that I have corn stalks for the front porch--stay tuned and I'll post a picture of the "pumpkin man" who is sitting on the bench these days.

And here are the children helping...looks like a fall decoration/Halloween costume store exploded.

 More work by the children

 A nice view of the drying rack

And some more, um, "decor" :)  Wait until you see my Christmas decorations!

Home decorating gone astray

I have never claimed to be a good decorator...my decorating tends to run more towards function than "pretty".  At the moment our couch is mostly made of duct tape with a throw cover. Most of our walls are still white, even though we've lived in this house since 2007.  Despite my general lack of decorating enthusiasm, I did get excited when we moved into this house--you know, more room than we'll ever need, room to DECORATE! And organize!  Right? So even before we moved in I started collecting "decorating" ideas...some of which make Mr. Ranch roll his eyes...today's post falls in that category.

Elizabethtown is one of my favorite movies of all time a number of strange reasons.  One of them is that I love, really, really love, that the main character's aunt has covered every inch of her bedroom walls with family pictures. 

Yes, that's Paula Deen.  And Orlando Bloom.  And a snapshot of the movie on my tv.  Don't judge.
I covered  one wall in my bedroom with family pictures--

 and then realized that the rest of the room is always such a disaster area that no one outside my immediate family is ever going to get to see them.  Looking at this picture I can also see that one seems to be missing and several are really lopsided.  Oh, well...I tried.

Also in the bedroom I created a little area of what appears to be random stuff and a big layer of dust...

 On the left wall is a basket with silk flower bouquets from 4 weddings (including mine).  The paintings on the wall were done by my Grandma, most of the crosses were gifts from Sunday School students.  There appear to be two trophies--one for "Most improved swimmer 1986" and the other other for 2nd place (3rd?) in a state History Club display competition.  A bird cage music box from my great-grandma is next to an empty vase (shaped like a little girl) that held flowers for me when my brother was born.  A couple jewelry boxes--one from my husband, one from my grandfather round out the left side. There is the unity candle from our wedding, a photo of my grandfather from the late 1920's or early 1930's, a Camp Tecumseh wooden block, a cat soap dish (that I am sure I gave to Goodwill years ago and my mom found at her house not too long ago) An Annalee duck doll, my pledge paddle from college, a couple of decorative dolls (one from my hometown and one was a bridal shower gift--a bride), a framed sketch of my childhood church, a Pooh Bear Snow Globe...and finally, a Hunger Games Movie poster that I apparently threw there at some point...and left. And again, a lot of dust.  Clearly no one has moved or admired my treasures recently.

Another corner of the bedroom that I had high hopes for is this one--see the cute bookshelves filled with my all time favorite books?  And the comfy chair?  The throw pillows?  And the basket of mismatched socks?  Yeah...this corner is more the property of the dog than of me...but at least she has a cute place to sleep, right?  Somehow my free time to sit here and read has never materialized..but maybe next summer!