Shameless Project Showoff

Here is a before and after picture of my dining room. I have been thinking about this room and what to do with it, I asked some online friends and got a lot of ideas.



It was a blank canvas and pretty boring too! I met a carpenter who needed work (it's extremely slow right now with the economic troubles) and he put in a chair rail. I picked out a rich cocoa brown color for the bottom half and painted it. The rail was painted white to match the trim. It took several coats of both to get it the way I wanted it. I added a piece of art and some corner decorations so it wouldn't be so bare plus I changed the chair pads to coordinate with the darker color. I still have some things I want to do with it in the future, but it has been dressed up enough to not feel so empty. Eventually, I would like to replace the chandelier and add drapes. But I'm so picky that it takes me months to find just the right things so it will be awhile.

AFTER:

Oh Christmas Tree

We put our Christmas tree up a week earlier than we usually do, mostly because we knew it would be a bit hectic around Thanksgiving and Larry was bored last weekend. We got this tree on sale last year after the holidays - which is seriously the best time to buy! It was a $400 tree and I paid $100 at Lowes. We were a bit worried that it wouldn't fit in this living room even with the vaulted ceiling, but it just barely does. The angel is sitting on a lower branch because the top is 2 inches from the ceiling. It is a 9 foot, pre-lit tree and we love it! No more hassle with lights or dropping pine needles. Although, I do miss the smell of a freshly cut tree. They have candles for that right?

New Tricks

I love learning new things, it's one of the reasons I love photography and photoshop. I get to create something fun and different out of something average. I took my all time favorite photo of the boys used layers to add a texture. Here is the end result....

The boy who cried wolf

Shortly after Halloween, Jared got sick. Big surprise (said with thick sarcasm). He had enough candy to feed a small country and it weakened his immune system enough for him to catch whatever was floating around. So I kept him home on Monday and Tuesday. He thought he was well enough to go to school on Wednesday, but I got a call from the school because he just wasn't able to finish the day. So Thursday was his lucky day, he was mostly better and went back to school.

Well this whole week, David has been jealous of the attention Jared was getting. He would come up to me and tell me that he's sick too and wants some "special juice" (i.e. gatoraid) and I'd give it to him because he amused me with his imitation of a sick child. Friday comes around and David puts out his regular act of fake coughs, scratchy throat talking and asks for special juice because he thinks he's sick. I treated it like any other day and sent him to school. About an hour into school, the nurse called me and told me he had a temperature of 103 degrees - yikes! So I picked him up and gave him the sick treatment ..... you know, blankets on the couch, gatoraid, a movie and lots of cuddles. If he didn't feel miserable (for real this time), I think he would have enjoyed it. His temperature came down on it's own with lots of liquid. He does officially have a cough and his voice is hoarse. I guess the old saying of "fake it till you make it" is particularly true in this case. Although most people use it to gain success.....


Isn't this pathetic? And he wasn't really sick in this picture, it's his imitation of a child who is.

Larry should know better than to fall asleep on the couch with Jared when I'm armed with a camera. Silly boy. :)