My mantle

I love finally having a fireplace mantle!
Being able to dress it up for the holidays!!!
But of course modern technology- I have wires to my flat screen all around.
I need to get a larger HDMI wire to stuff it under the cover and thats about the best I can do.
I really don't want to put the surround and cable box on top of the mantle so I need to fix that.
I really wish the Romantic Homes and Romantic Country magazine showed how people LIVE in thier homes!! Let's see thier tvs and family rooms!!!
I love to see pics of peoples homes- maybe why I love reading blogs so much!
So here is a pic of the mantle and some fall decor that goes more with my color scheme. I think some small white lights might look real pretty too.
What do you think?

New path

The joys of owning a home!
Always something that breaks, needs to be painted, repaired- you name it!
For years I have been tackling our front walkway and porch. Hated the paint!!
But after a while I just got tired of trying to remove the paint, so we decided why not paint!!
And what a difference!!!
I love it-only wish we had done it sooner!!


Outside I have some scarecrows, some fall colors, but inside it is very difficult to decorate for halloween as it just doesn't match my stuff!!
So I had a few pink pumpkins I did last year and so this year I am expanding upon that!
I have a pink display in the works on the mantle. When it is finished I will post the pics!
I have a small setup of some fall colors in the foyer, but that has grown some.

Our new addition

This is Bentley! He is our new Maltese. Isn't he sweet? He loves to be held and dresses pretty sharp! He is definately a lap dog. When not being held he is on the couch waiting for me!
He is about a year and half old so we don't have to worry about housetraining!! Yeah!!
He has a sweet little face and loves lots of attention! He is getting adjusted to the girls too.
We just adore him!!

Before and after

This is the before pic. Doesn't look too great-

huge TV, ugly sliding glass doors and just a mixture of stuff.

After...2009

Some finished projects!!
New floors, french doors replaced the sliding glass doors that were falling apart. Big TV- gone!
Yes there is still alot more work that needs to be done, but what a difference!!
All this work and I now really love my house!
I have two pieces of wood furniture under the white shelves that we refinished and my grandma gave me the beautiful curio.
I still would like to get a nice sectional in here, but my sofa and love seat are only 5yrs old!! They just need a good cleaning and some slipcovers!! I do think a sectional would free up even more space!
It is now so much brighter in here and we love it!!

It is done!

Ohh...my floors are finished!! I am so excited- I feel like I am in a different house!

There are still a few small projects in the living room we need to fix-putting the surround speakers in the walls and just the small things that show.

I am seriously thinking about moving on to the kitchen now- we have the wood floors and although we still need a new fridge only- I am thinking we might paint our labinate cabinets and countertop. I have seen a few pics on the internet and I like the results. I am looking for new ideas without breaking the bank!!

I will post our journey on the kitchen if we do decide to paint!

Until then I am going around the house looking for more work for my poor tired hubby!

I have new floors!!!

I am so happy!!!

We finally got to put some hardwood floors down!!

Last weekend we finished the kitchen, dining room (Goodbye nasty dining room carpet)

and half the living room!!! This weekend we plan on finishing the rest of the living room.

I wanted the floor to continue in the foyer but hubby said no- leave the tile!! Ok!!!

So it was truelly amazing how much dirt was under the carpets! uhh.....

It makes the house look bigger and even cleaner. We must now decide what to do with the dark stained baseboards. They look nice, but need alot of work!! Either strip and restain or replace and stain or replace and paint. Not sure what to do yet!!

I'll be sure to post a pic when the living room is done- hopefully by Monday morning!!

It's been a busy summer with all 4 kids home and they go back to school in less than three weeks! I am so excited!! Back to computer time and crafting once again! Look out Michaels- here I come!!!!!

ummm...yummy!!

These have to be the easiest peanut butter cookies ever!!

I found the recipe online and decided to try it!

Wow!!

Super easy and delicious too.

1 cup peanut butter

1 cup sugar

1 egg

Bake at 350 for 8 minutes on a ungreased cookie

sheet.

Enjoy!!