Sarah's Room

I have been working upstairs a little today. We had taken the bookshelf off Sarah's desk and moved it over to the back window awhile back but all the stacked books, etc. were still on it. So, today I went up to figure out what to do with them. I thought I would end up stacking them in the playroom but i forgot about this random bookshelf at the top of the stairs. I ended up piling as many books as possible in it and then stacked Sarah's yearbooks in the playroom.

I was going to stack the yearbooks under the one spot under her bed they would fit but Gabby found that one spot for herself.

"Chocolate" got a new home on the window seat.

The desk with my sewing machine that I NEVER use. Hopefully sometime........

I also moved her nightstand over to the other side so when you walk into the room it looks better. I'll have to find some other piece for the other side.

And the dreaded playroom. All I have done in the past few months is pile it high. I am not looking forward to cleaning it out.

By nature I am a pretty organized person so it really drives me crazy that the playroom and then the attic beyond that are in such disarray but I guess even organized people have their "trouble" spots.

The View From Here

This afternoon I went out on my front porch to read. My house was still chilly since the temperature got down in the forties last night so the warm sun felt heavenly. I can't imagine a nicer day. Nearly perfect.

Green leaves on the trees.

Fabulous blue sky.

I spied a little spider web between porch posts.

If I looked closely I could see gabby at the door looking out at me.

Oh, and then there was Pokey. Meowing as usual. See, I said it was nearly perfect.....not perfect. 

The Cincinnati Reds Room

Last week my first cousin's wife emailed me to ask if my uncle and her family could stay at my house when my cousin's grandmother on the other side of the family passed away. She had cancer and the time was near. So, of course I didn't mind if they stayed here since all of their family would be in and every bed would be taken on that side of the family. I emailed her back and planned to clean upstairs to prepare the rooms.

Well, the time was the next day. So, I had a couple of days to whip Seth's (the Cincinnati Reds) room into shape. I washed linens and made beds. I moved some of Seth's furniture around and brought the recliner from the playroom into his room. I had been planning to do this anyway so I would have somewhere to sit if I went upstairs when Tim worked in his home office which happens to be in the Cincinnati Reds room.

My uncle ended up not coming so I just had my first cousin, his wife and their three year old little boy. They came Saturday and left Tuesday. They stayed in Sarah's room. They weren't here most of the time since they were spending it with the other side of the family but it was very handy since it's just a few minutes drive to his Papaw's house, especially with a little one. Melanie was able to come back to the house with Jadon when need be. I enjoyed having them here.

When Tim and I went to the visitation we learned that Kit's other two first cousins had gotten a motel room so we offered they could stay at our house. Now, these cousins were born and raised in San Fransisco, California. How shall I put this...they were a little "different." :) So, my aunt told them we had extra room if they wanted to stay with us and I chimed in, "you can stay in the Cincinnati Reds room." They looked a little bewildered. I mean, they had just met me that evening so technically we were strangers. It ended up they had already checked into their motel but one of them did ask if the Cincinnati Reds was a football team. He really had no idea!

Guess that is why he wasn't impressed when I offered my Cincinnati Reds room.

Now, who wouldn't want to stay in here surrounded by photos of current and past Reds?

Plenty of memorabilia.

And a little Virginia stuff thrown in for good measure. ;)

I guess it doesn't have quite the appeal to others as it does us. Anyway, the Cincinnati Reds room is ready next time someone needs a place to stay. Hope it's Seth and he comes to spend the night. ;)

Our Easter Gathering

As usual we had our Easter family gathering on Saturday.

After the meal the kids went outside and hunted eggs. I missed most of the egg hunting because I was still inside eating my meal which was delicious. We had the usual, ham, broccoli casserole, mac and cheese (new this year), Peggy's famous corn, green beans, seven layer salad, potato salad, deviled eggs, and rolls. I was able to take a few pictures of the egg hunting.

Once Kacie got the hang of it, she loved it.

Kelsie

We took lots of pictures of the little ones but no one ever did manage to get all of them together for a group picture.

Andrew, Bailee and Ean

Kelsie, Kacie and Cayden

Even though all eight of the siblings were here also we didn't manage to get a group picture of them either. Donnie left before the meal and Joni arrived late. It was nice that everyone was able visit though. This was the first time Gary Dee and Colma had come in for Easter. Teresa, Zach and Natalie came also so we had thirty five in all for our gathering.

Bailee taking pictures...hmmm, wonder where she learned this?

Kelsie crashed on the couch and this is what I did after everyone left and I cleaned up.

Andrew loved the sugar cookies and I asked him if he knew what the cookie was and he said, "a cross, Jesus died on the cross." How sweet, he already knew Jesus died on the cross.

Another sweet thing I want to remember is that Andrew came and asked me twice when they were going to hunt eggs. I told him I wasn't in charge of that and added the second time, that I probably wouldn't hide eggs until I had grandchildren. He said, "you have me." How sweet. Having great nieces and nephews around at holidays and family events makes them so much more fun.

I know these Easter posts have been a bit hap hazard but I think that is the way my mind has been working the past couple of days. =P

Fresh Coffee

I ran across a blog recently with a "coffee station" and pinned one on Pinterest so decided to set one up. I had a little black sign that said "Kindness Matters" so I spray painted over it and printed out fresh coffee to trace onto it.

I sketched out a little coffee mug from a picture on the Internet also.

When I traced the words and cup I thought it would make an indention to go by but I could barely see where I traced. It turned out okay. Seriously, I didn't have a very steady hand. Maybe I should have eaten lunch first.

I sanded it a bit. I don't think the paint was completely dry but I was okay with the way it came out.

I used this ironstone platter in my dining room hutch to corral everything. I bought this platter at an antique store in Manassas after buying Sarah's wedding dress. Coffee, coffee mate, and splenda in glass containers and spoons in a little pitcher.

I think it turned out cute. It does make it handier for everything to be in one place. I have a shelf on the wall above this and I hope to get a wider one and store my coffee cups there.

Gotta love the inspiration from blogs and Pinterest. Even for small little changes like this. :)

New Years

Sunday didn't feel like New Years Day since it was a Sunday and we went to church. There weren't any bowl games on either, just the NFL. Luckily Tim had yesterday off and there were bowl games on all day and January 2nd felt like New Years Day. We just had a lazy day of hanging around the house. Drinking hot chocolate and curled up under a warm blanket since it was so cold out. Only in the high 20's.

I even got some cross stitch stuff out.Of course now I have to use Tim's reading glasses.

It snowed on and off all day. It would get dark and the snow would fly. Tim even took his vehicle out to Jen's to park for in the morning. Good thing he did because he said it was slick this morning.

The skies cleared and the snow melted yesterday afternoon but it clouded right back up and covered everything again.

I am hoping this is the only snow we'll see this year. I know that is unrealistic but one can hope.

We had yummy homemade soup with corn bread last night for dinner.

It was a good New Years, even though technically it wasn't New Years Day. Oh yeah, Virginia lost to Auburn in the bowl game but they didn't embarrass us so that is a victory right there. ;)