Basement Update

Here is the new mirror over the fireplace. I would like it to be a little lower but the hole we are hiding is that high. The G cleft looking thing is a sculpture I bought in Ecuador and the checker board behind that is a chess set from Ecuador as well. The board is kept shut so the cats don't run off with the pieces, but we thought this would work for the display. On the right, there is a bowl that we picked up in Roantan (I think - eek!) and a vase from a local store (made in China - so can I say it is from China?). I want to get some sort of sprigs of something to put in the vase.

Here is the cut-out area. All fine artifacts from China.

Close up.

We have decided to get a new TV and TV stand as well. Eventually we will get new furniture too.

We are almost there...

Painting

Since we bought our house we have done little to decorate. A lot of the problem is we just can't decide what to do. Well, we finally took the plunge and had our basement painted. Thanks Marla and Tim!!!


The basement serves as our family/tv room and Ella's play area. There is an electric fireplace down there (thank heavens because it is the only source of heat) and above the fireplace there is a massive hole in the wall so that we have access to our water shut-offs. The first day we moved in the cats were sticking their heads in the hole so we knew it had to be covered before one of them fell in so we put up the only picture that wasn't in a box. It is still there. I think it is way too big for the spot and want to put something else there....any ideas? A fancy mirror?


Another decorating dilemna we have is on one of the walls there is a little built in cut-out shelf thing. I don't know what you call it. You can see it in the pictures...what should we put in there? I was thinking of maybe a pretty vase with some simple flowers? Any other ideas? I worry that the cats will chew on any flowers we put there. the little troublemakers!


We have also been debating about what to do with the giant tv cabinet. I go back and forth between leaving it the way it is and tossing that and hanging a nice flat panel on the wall. But what do you do with the components and the videos? Decisions, decisions. What would you do? I think the cabinet takes up a ton of space so hanging the tv on the wall would give us another 2 feet to the room in a way.


The most annoying thing right now is that we have a dvd player, a vcr and a wii and the way it is set up right now is you can only have 1 plugged in to the tv at a time. And the plug-ins are on the back. So really, I would be happy with any set up that didn't involve messing with the electronics depending on what I want to do.


Of course, money is something to consider. We decided to only work on one room at a time so if we go all out with a new tv then it will slow down projects for the rest of the house. I would LOVE to get new furniture but we have decided to hold off on that for awhile longer. Sigh. See what I mean about making decisions?



Ok...here are the pictures. You look and comment with ideas...we need ideas...or better yet, come on over and decorate it for us. :)


Oh, and we are painting the stairwell to the basement the same color as the TV part of the basement....if we have leftover paint from that, we will paint the ladder to the 'clubhouse'.


ok, for real, here are the pictures.



Looking into the play area part. We need some lights in the clubhouse area...I was thinking rope lighting, any other ideas?


The tv area...see the white part...what should we put in there? guess you can't see the fireplace too well, it is on an angle and the picture is pretty much the width of the wall.

Another shot of the playroom looking the other way.

And the clubhouse...see how dark it is.

Fun in the Sun, er Snow

We have had a tremendous amount of snow this year. I think it snowed for 2 weeks straight right after Christmas and we have had some big snowfall amounts (for this area). Last weekend we got about a foot of snow. There is even a new dusting of snow on the ground this morning. Have I mentioned that we have a lot of snow?

We finally dragged Ella out. Generally, she is not a big fan of the cold but we played for awhile and she actually wasn't ready to come inside when it was time.

Rosy cheeks


Helping shovel


more shoveling. The piles of snow are at least waist high.


making snow angels

giving the car a snow bath

Remember the swingset we built last year...

After we warmed up we decided to make pinecone bird feeders...

Hopefully the birds find their little treat.

Princess Toes

The other day I got a pedicure. When Ella saw my painted toes she exclaimed "Oh, Mommy what beautiful princess toes!"

The next day we painted her toes so she could have princess toes too.

And then the next day she declared that Daddy needed princess toes too.

And now he does.

Ella's Birthday

Ella's birthday party was a wild animal theme. We had it in the play area of a local church. You can rent the facility which was perfect because it was just our group there. Our biggest complaint was the sun blaring in on us (made for difficulty taking pictures along with just being able to see what we were doing). We survived, just pointing it out so you aren't wondering why the pictures are the way they are.



The food...

We had animal shaped cheese and salami...elephant and moose


Animal shaped sandwiches...elephant, giraffe and crocodile

and of course, animal shaped cupcakes...monkeys, lions, zebras and tigers


a close up...

The kids were all invited to make their own plate. We did this when I was a kid and still use the plates at my mom's house.

Opening gifts...

Ella got several wonderful gifts...thanks again everybody!!

I love how the girls (who were all sitting so very nicely while Ella opened gifts) were excited and very carefully pointing out something on the box ...it just seems so sweet.



I need to take a picture of the invite, so will post that when I do it. I was quite proud of how the invites and cupcakes turned out. :)

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

This is our first Christmas in our new house! woohoo!

One of the criteria for our new house was a place to put the 9 foot Christmas tree that I bought in 2001. It had never even been out of the box. I know, I'm silly to buy the tree in the first place but it was so big and beautiful in the store. And it was on clearance.

So this past weekend we had the task of putting up the trees.

We assembled the 9 foot tree, which is our fancy tree. I had no idea how it would go together but it was a breeze...just snap these 3 pieces together and fluff the branches! Next step...lights. We apparently got rid of most of our lights 2 years ago (we just put up a tiny tree with no decor last year in the apartment). The fancy tree is on hold while we wait for lights.

We decided to put the smaller tree in the family room. We put it together and decorated it. Ella was a great help with ornaments. I would hand them too her and keep sorting through the box and when I finally looked up I found she had put about 8 ornaments on one branch.

We finish the tree and stand back to admire and Ella declares that it "needs something". We ask her what it needs and she proudly grabbed a barbie and put her in the tree. The tree still wasn't done. She found another barbie and put her in the tree. And declared "there, that's better".


The next day we spent the day searching for lights for the fancy tree. We went to 5 different stores and finally found a couple of boxes. As I was confirming with Darren that these would do (he stayed in the car while I checked for lights) people were snatching them up right and left. I grabbed the last 5 boxes, display box and all and ran (well, not literally but I walked quickly and hoped I didn't get pounced on). What's with the light shortage this year?


This is the only spot in our house that can accomodate the tree and the star is touching the ceiling! Love it!!

Happy Birthday Ella

Today is Ella's 3rd birthday!!!

Where has the time gone??

It seems like just yesterday we were nervously driving to the hospital, but it was 3 years ago!

A lot has happened it these 3 years...we have sold our condo and moved into the apartment and then bought our new house. We've travelled to Wisconsin and Gatlinburg. Ella has learned to sit up, crawl, walk and talk! She amazes me with how smart she is!

Happy Birthday my sweet baby girl!!