Grotto Falls

Tony's brother Rick and his wife Jen found a fun hike not far from the lodge. Pretty Tennessee!

It was rated "easy", but I think that rating was aimed at fit adults. Not so much for fat adults and little, tripping, wandering off of steep ledges children.

Check out them trippy roots.

And slippy mud and rocks.

Lucky for me, this was a family hike, so there were massive reinforcements to help out. James was permanently attached to his big cousin Ryan. (So sweet! He helped him/carried him the whole way!)

...and Cozy got a ride from her Uncle Rick! :)

We made it!

...and got to walk under a waterfall at the end (well...middle...we had to hike back down.)

Behold: blurry, victorious us.

Thanksgiving Reunion

Tony's family (Mom) organized a big get-together over Thanksgiving.  It was a-mazing that they found one place that was big enough for all of the families. There are lots of us, see....

Indoor pool.

Hot tubs.

Giant kitchen with 2 sinks and 2 ovens...and two tables, of course. (Sarah, if you look close, you'll see that it's YOUR table...times two.)

An arcade and movie theater downstairs.

....with lots of cousins to play with...

....and a dining hall/karaoke room/chapel.

I guess it isn't surprising that after a week of playing, James and Cozy said they didn't want to go home. ...and I quote, "I don't like little houses! I only like big houses!"

Well, as much fun as it was to visit with everyone in the giant house....I still like little houses.

"R"-n't you happy it's Christmas Time!

Oh, it is happy time! I spiffed up my wreath for the Christmas season.

The "R" got a new and different coat of paint, and I bought some new flowers and berries to stick in here and there. 

The only sad part is that it smells....the same. Not piney at all. Fake tree and a fake wreath...I might have to buy some fake "Christmas scent" to go with them.

15th

Happy Birthday, Anthony! 

We celebrated his 15th earlier this month. What a joy it's been to have him in our family! He paved the way, letting his Dad and I learn to be parents...through trial and error. 

He's such a cheerful, kind, and brave person. 

Watch him opening his birthday presents...it's so funny....I think he opened them in order from least to most favorite.

1st: Book that he's already read. (But I swear he's read it I don't know how many times. I thought he should own a copy!)

2nd: Fluffy, fluffy avengers blanket (from Grandma). I'm not sure, but I think he really loved how mad Sofia was. She's a bit of an Avengers fanatic.

3rd: The microscope I told him he wasn't getting. (They're sorta pricey.) Sometimes you just gotta cave and buy their dream gift. That's us - nurturing nerds since 1997. :)

Easy Peasy Valence

So....I had this beautiful vintage dishtowel that I may or may not have stolen from my sister-in-law. LOVE the colors! They were the basis for my kitchen color scheme...inasmuch that it has one.

I would try so hard to keep it hanging over my oven door handle, but my family just doesn't understand the concept of decorative towels. After catching my daughter using my treasured towel to clean up PAINT, I decided it needed to be taken out of harms way.

I folded over a few inches on top (conveniently covering up the green paint that is still on one corner) and used matching gray thread (this is key, folks!) to sew a pole pocket.

After trying and failing to make a cute gather here, I decided on a few pleats instead. I just made four slightly staggered folds in a row and then sewed up through the middle of them.

....and, in under ten minutes, I saved my vintage dishtowel from almost certain destuction. I think my family would have to be pretty desperate to take this down and use it to clean up their evil, evil spills.

 Now, do you think my husband will let me take the hardware  and hinges off of our back door and paint them "satin dark walnut"?

The Finished-ish Buffet

When we found our lovely home, a little over a year ago, we knew there were going to be some storage issues in the kitchen. To preempt the problem we bought this buffet to keep pots and other kitchen whatnot in. 

It was wood, so we knew it'd be relatively sturdy, but....you can't see it in this picture...the finish looks like someone speckled it with a little black paint and a toothbrush. Yuck. I wasn't crazy about the hardware either. As it turns out, it was easier for me to spray paint the hinges and drawer-pulls than to find new ones that fit! (...or spackle and drill new holes. bleh.)

I did get new door pulls...but I'm glad I kept the original drawer ones. They have character. And....which, now that I'm looking at this picture, I can see one of which is upside down. Oops. It's a good thing I blog or I never would have noticed!

Like my light gray? I know Kriste was expecting yellow, but I'm trying to keep things toned down a little.

Thank you, Allicia! Don't you think the yellow flowers on that doily go perfectly. You were so right - it belonged in my kitchen. ;)

I still don't feel like this is a totally finished project. Look at the sides of the drawers. That makes me slightly crazy every time I think about them.

...but after having the hardware off for a year and a house rule that "no one is allowed to shut the drawers all the way (no pulls), because then Mom has to pry them open with two butter knives!" , we just had to put it back together and call it good.

Slowly....slowly....

Dr. Who

Our neighborhood was the center of a big roadwork project this summer. Nice now that it's finished. Not so great when the streets were torn up for months at a time and we were having to park around the block.(No driveway. :( )

Every time we'd drive past one of the many port-o-potties the city had put out for the workers, Cozette would point and exclaim, "The Tardis! The Tardis!" (For you non-Whovians, the Doctor's time ship thingy that looks like a London police call box....and apparently a port-o-potty.) Sofi was thrilled that her genius 3-year-old sister thinks about Dr. Who enough to mistake anything for the Tardis. She was less thrilled when her Dad made this: