Holy Hannah Catch-Up

 I have a pretty darn good excuse...again...for falling so far behind on the blogging thing; pretty sure our desktop has a virus and won't let us on the internet anymore, and our laptop battery completely died and wouldn't turn on.  So, we just replaced the laptop battery and we are back in business!

Jemma turns 7!

December 15, 2012

We had a simple celebration with just our family this year.  She requested Hawaiian Haystacks for her birthday dinner with a chocolate cake and chocolate ice cream for dessert.  Her big gift was a new 20 in. bike.  This baby is big enough for me to ride around!  We played boola-boola (aka "hot and cold") for her to find it...we originally had it in the attic, but ended up re-placing it in the guest bathroom.  :)

Seven Facts About Jemma:  

She loves all things girly; accessories, make-up, sparkles/glitter and pink.

Her favorite movie is pretty much ANY movie, but she says she likes the Barbie movies most.

She loves to play games with her family and has recently learned Skippo.

Her favorite thing about school is recess.

She is a good little singer and likes to get her groove on.  ;)

She tells me one of her favorite places to visit is the Library because it is quiet and peaceful there.  (We might be lacking in those two things at home because we have a couple of rowdy boys!)

Her favorite dessert is chocolate ice cream.

We LOVE you Jemma!!!

Brandon turns 30!

December 24, 2012

 Look at all those CANDLES!  Just kidding.  Thirty really isn't that old...Brandon just thinks so (and I will too in a few more months :/ ). 

Brandon requested Bow Tie Pasta with rolls, steamed green beans and strawberries for his birthday dinner and a chocolate cream pie...and chocolate ice cream (of course) for dessert.  

We celebrated a day early so it could be ALL about him.  :)

Just a few things we love about this man:

He is a hard worker.

He knows how to goof off and have FUN.

He is unselfish.

He is an outstanding example.

He makes a killer smoothie.  :)

He makes us laugh and keeps things from getting dull at the Reed residence.

He is a good listener.

He is unashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and lives it.

He makes us want to be better.

And...

we have NO DOUBT that he loves us back!

Happy 30th Birthday Brandon!

Christmas Eve
We spent Christmas Eve at home...for the first time EVER since Brandon and I were married.  We read the Christmas story from the scriptures, the kids acted out the Nativity, then we opened new pj's, took quick baths and built our forts/hiding places to watch Santa from the next morning.  I don't know why I didn't photograph the kids in their hiding spots!

I did get the kids to pose for me in their new jammies...

...and when I say pose, I mean they really "posed".

Silly kids.  :)

Christmas
This was also our first Christmas at home.  The morning was quite nice...to wake up in our own beds and then stay in our pajamas playing with new toys and snacking on stocking goods was pretty awesome.  I really was fine, until we face timed with family...then I lost it.  Things felt entirely too quiet and I wanted in on the game playing, carol singing, chit-chatting, baking, cooking, NOISY Christmas we've become accustomed to.  Sigh.
It's a good thing we had the Bair family to help keep us busy that afternoon.  We went and saw a movie at the $2 theater...practically had the whole place to ourselves...then had Christmas dinner at our place and topped it off with games.

But before I get too far ahead of myself...

Santa brought Jemma a doll house for her little dolls, Carter a new bike,

and Gavin a race track.

A few more present opening pics:

 New Years Eve

Our former next-door-neighbors and some of our dearest family friends live just 6 hours from us!!!  So, lucky us, we got to spend all of New Years Eve with them!!!  We met in Charleston, South Carolina and spent the day exploring Charles Town Landing.

This place was awesome and the company was even better, so it made for a perfect day!

Here are an array of photos for the day.  The kids played great all day long, Brandon and Shawn got to chat about optometry for hours and Kristina and I talked about everything else under the sun...man I miss sharing a wall with you guys!  

In the stalks...

On the ship...

I want to live here!!!

...minus the gators in the backyard...

There were so many things to see and do there.  It was AWESOME, but the best thing I saw all day was this gal!

Spending the day with Kristina and her family made it feel like we still shared a wall and I could peek through her kitchen window to see what magnificent sewing project she was working on, or peek over the back fence to be inspired by her thrift re-makes.  The good ol' days!  Meeting up with them was the best way to finish out 2012!

So, there are some of the highlights from the end of LAST YEAR.  Still can't believe 2012 is OVER and we're already a month into the new year.  Time moves too fast.

Projects

It's been a while since I posted any projects on the blog.  (Actually, it's been a while since I posted anything at all!)

Moving into a larger home has left me thrifting more than my dear husband would like, but once the projects are finished, he's much less apt to object to my slight addiction.  :)

There are several things I forgot to take photos of; Jemma's new darling vanity/dresser and a cute little chair I intended to use in my sewing room, but seems to have made it's home in the family room, but other than that, I think these are it so far.

I gave this little nightstand a new look for our guest room.  It's painted a pale aqua and I added the applique on the top drawer and replaced the knobs. 

 This next project was a big one.  

That's a complete understatement.  

It took me MONTHS to complete.  

We found this table and chairs on craigslist and paid $150 for the table and 6 chairs.  Booya!  I know!  Smokin' deal.  Two of the legs were a little lot mauled from the previous owner's dogs, so I had to patch those up, sand and paint six chairs, reupholster them (which, by the way, I only finished the day before Thanksgiving because I had the help of my amazing father-in-law.  THANKS BEN!) And after sanding down half of the table top, I decided I wanted to just build a new top and only keep the legs.  So, after a couple of trips to Home Depot and disassembling the original table, Brandon and I built a new top, stained it, painted the legs, built a new apron and painted it, assembled it all and got it in the house the week before Thanksgiving.

phew.  

I am so glad that is all done and that I don't have a garage full of furniture anymore or an empty dining room for that matter!  

 Before and After

I cannot tell you how pleased I am with how it all turned out.  The table is 8 feet long now and can easily seat 8-10 people.  Bring on the guests!!!  (Hint, hint.)

I definitely think I need to sew a larger Christmas runner for this baby.  That runner looks so teeny on there!

My most recent project was a pair of nightstands for me and Brandon's room.  I found these matching nightstands at our local goodwill for $19 a piece and just used the leftover paint and stain from the table, so it was a grand total of $38 for the pair.  AWESOME.  They have a funky smell still...I need to spray them down with lysol or something.  For now, they have dryer sheets inside...any ideas???

 I swear one of them was burned or something...one whole side was almost completely black.  Maybe that's where the weird smell is from...

 Anyway,  here are the after shots.

 I actually did have to buy some black spray paint for the drawer pulls, so I guess that tacks on a couple dollars...still pretty inexpensive for large nightstands.

 It is SO nice to have our lamps off the floor and somewhere to set our alarm clocks!

  

And, I built this car.  lol!  Just kidding, duh.

We just FINALLY got a second vehicle.  JOY to the WORLD!  It's a 2011 Toyota Corolla and we love it.

So there you are...the last 5 months worth of projecting.  

I have to admit that while I'm working on a project, I can be a little cranky.  

It really is not all that fun.

It's mostly really hard work and going to bed with super sore muscles from sanding and lifting more than you should have in one day!

But, it's also giving new life to something possibly abused and neglected that's fun.

It's the satisfaction that comes when the project is complete that's awesome.  

So, I'm sure there will be many more projects in the future...sorry Brandon!  ;)

Let the happy times roll!

Thanksgiving

We were fortunate enough to have FAMILY come visit for the Thanksgiving holiday.  Brandon's parents and Grandma Ruth came and spent 4 days with us and we had a blast!

Their first full day with us we trecked over to the historical city of Savannah.  I say "trecked" because we had to take a semi-long detour due to traffic and then Jemma had to stop like 3 times to go potty.  Next time, she  cannot keep her thermos with her.  Sheesh!

When we arrived, we had a picnic lunch at a sketchy park (we had NO idea where we were going or where to start...the city was MUCH bigger than we had anticipated and, frankly, Brandon and I had not done enough research/planning before going.  We then decided it might be best to take a guided tour.  Best idea ever.  We rode a trolley and the driver was a wealth of information.  Next time we go we know exactly what we want to do, thanks to his knowledge.

On the trolley.  :)

Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving Day primarily at home.  We had a full-fledged-feast with tons of leftovers.  I guess three additional adults do not eat as much as I anticipated ;)

The weather was gorgeous, so we spent a good amount of time outside riding bikes and drawing with sidewalk chalk.  :)

...And taking pictures...

which, believe it or not, I did not take enough of!  (Our SLR was and still is in the shop...it got dropped and now we get to fork over $*** big ones to get it repaired.  Merry Christmas to us!)

We were SO grateful to have family here for our first major holiday.  

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU

Ben, Tina and Ruth for flying across the country to spend it with us!

Halloween

The kids decided on a Harry Potter theme this year.  Carter was Harry, Gavin was Ron and Jemma was Hermione.  Cute little Hogwarts students, huh.  :)

Here they are before the ward Trunk-or-Treat

And here they are at the Trunk-or-Treat.  Gavin kept putting his bag on his head...I kinda looks like Frankenstein. ;)

We carved pumpkins for Family Home Evening the Monday before Halloween.  Brandon informed me that no one looks very good in this photo, and he's right, but this is the ONLY picture I have been in since we moved to Georgia.  I just wanted you all to know that I am still a member of this family.  

We had a spiderweb dip with chips for dinner before Trick-or-Treating on Halloween.  I know it doesn't sound like much of a dinner, but my kids LOVE 7 layer dip and I wanted them FULL before they went off to collect MORE candy.

Ready to Trick-or-Treat.  

(Gavin would not cooperate with me, so I didn't get a picture of him alone.)  Another side note, we are quite aware that Harry's glasses were not taped together on the side, nor did they use duck tape.  Those glasses really were broken...five minutes after we got them they were broken and I was not going to try to find another pair.  

Some friends from church came over and joined Brandon and the kids trick-or-treating in our neighborhood.  They were gone for a little over an hour and I sat in utter silence at home (aside from the occasional trick-or-treater) and it was complete bliss.  I think we could make that a Halloween tradition.  :)

Left to right, back to front: Brad and Brandon in their awesome bird hats, Aubrey, Jemma, Courtney, Carter and Gavin.

When they got back, I met everyone at the door, but quickly noticed Gavin was missing.  After a brief look around, we found him in the dining room, sitting on the floor surrounded by his loot.  He wasted NO time digging into his treats.

These kids got more candy than we will probably EVER eat.  They're wittlin' away at it...(And I am not opposed to sneaking a piece of chocolate or two from their bags daily.)  :)