New Years Eve

Still trying to play catch-up . . . so here is a little New Years Eve post . . .

Andy & Allyson had us over for New Years Eve [which is when I fell in love with the princess playroom].  Thanks guys for cooking the most amazing roast beef sandwiches EVER, for hanging with us and for letting us crash!!  =)  We had an awesome time . . . . even though we only made it until 10:00PM.  In our defense, the day started at 5:05AM . . . and we were WHOOPED!!

Here's how things went down for Biscuit on New Years Eve . . .

She played . . .

She made new friends . . .

She posed for pics with the family . . .  

And she enjoyed her stylin' outfit from Aunt Deez . . . (**focus on her outfit and not at how HORRIBLE the mommy looks in this pic**)

 Biscuit's New Years Resolutions:
1)  Get that kitty-cat's tail
2)  Stand up in my crib in the morning waiting on daddy to come get me  Done 1/12/12
3)  Master the fine art of walking
4)  Learn all about yardwork
5)  Figure out what the deal is with this sippy cup


 Happy 2012 to you!!!  =)

Biscuit's New Playroom

Ok . . . so I have a New Year's Resolution completed already . . . and this makes me happy.  =)

Biscuit now officially has a playroom.  I was inspired after visiting Andy & Allyson and seeing the adorable princess playroom they have set up for their "biscuits" so I decided that I needed to get on the ball, be a good mommy and get Biscuit a nice playroom in our house!  =)

We actually have an eat-in area in our kitchen that we are using as the playroom . . . we donated the kitchen table and chairs to Hannah Home and had a play area set up . . .

Here are the before pictures . . .

The playroom . . . and yes, I was using layers of comforters to make it "cushy"

. . . Another view . . .

And AFTER!!!

We got a shelf and baskets to store toys along with a rug to make crawling a little easier on the knees . . . 

 A close-up of her toy shelf . . . and Betty Lou chilling out on the top shelf  =)

Another shot of the toy area . . . and Big Al from Aunt Denise & Uncle Jason [which also works great as a pillow according to daddy . . . this has been used several early mornings]

And her very own TV . . . we actually use this TV for Alabama Football tailgating but figure that we can share during the off-season  =)  The shelf it is sitting on was previously a decorative piece in the guest room . . . and it was black.  I painted it white so that Biscuit would have a nice TV stand and a place to store things in the many drawers  =)



And a close-up of the TV stand . . . I was proud of my painting skills and my re-purposing of furniture switch-a-roo  =)  A girl has to have a place to watch Looney Tunes, right?!?!

And there you have it . . . Biscuit's playroom.  It's nice having all of her toys in one area and having a place that is dedicated just to her.  I like having my own space - I figure that she does too!  I also like having a way to organize the toys . . . it's an easy way to make things look nice and neat.  

I'm thinking about adding so artwork to the side of the shelf . . . thinking about coloring some pictures, framing them in simple document frames and hanging them . . . I'll follow-up with what I decide to add.

 

PITA Bookshelves . . . Following-Up

Remember those PITA Bookshelves???

Well, once the Christmas decorations were packed away until next time and we had vacuumed, I set out to copy-cat Pottery Barn as much as I could!

My Goal: To have beautifully arranged shelves by mixing up books, picture frames, candles and other knick-knacks . . . all already-owned . . . so that this would be a makeover on a low budget

End Result: I am so very proud of my bookshelves . . . and we already owned everything so no hit to the bank account!  Always a bonus when you can home improve using stuff you've already got . . .

What do you think??


The Before . . . . Right Side of the fireplace . . .

After . . . 

A close-up . . .

And the left side of the fireplace . . . . Before . . . 

And After . . .

A close up of Ada's first art project . . . (I framed it, of course!!)

Another close up . . . frames galore and books







Believe it or not, it took me 3 hours to do this.  Maybe I have too much time.  Maybe I screw around too much.  At any rate, I big-time HEART these bookshelves!!  =)

New Year's Resolutions

I am feeling ambitious this Year and wanted to make a lot of resolutions . . . so here is my list!  =)  Let's see how I do . . . I'll follow-up with a "How-these-resolutions-turned-out" post at 2012 Year End . . .

1.  Learn how to upload videos to the blog

2.  Continue to update the blog -- shooting for about 10-15 posts/month to keep everyone updated on the chaos that is my house  =)

3.  Lose 12 pounds . . . preferably by Amy's Wedding  =)

4.  Make Ada's 1st year scrapbook

5.  Finish my Ohio scrapbook (from our visit to Ohio in 2009 . . . I'm so behind . . . )

6.  Spruce up my deck -- plant flowers in flower boxes, get a shelf and have potted plants on the deck, keep all of these future plants alive and revitalize my bistro set on the defck with a new paint job and some pretty chair cusions

7.  Take golf lessons with Harley

8.  Convert our kitchen eat-in area into a playroom for Ada:
     -Paint a current piece of furniture white as a tv stand for Ada
     -Hook up our "tailgate tv" (small flat screen) and DVD player so Ada can watch Looney Toons and   
      other kiddie movies  =)
     -Get a rug for the playroom so crawling/toddling isn't so rough on the knees/booty 
     -Get a shelf unit for Biscuit's toys
   
9. Paint kitchen and get new kitchen floor 

10.  Organize my closet (I do this EVERY year and it looks awesome for about 3 months . . . then slowly goes back to total chaos . . . but let me add it to the list again) / Closet makeover - hang up full length mirror, paint inside of closet and put some contact paper or something over the super ugly clothes bars

11.  Take a vacation to the beach with Harley - ALONE (no offense Biscuit, but Mommy and Daddy need time to hang out)    =)

12.  Print out pictures and update the photo albums

13.  Get all Christmas shopping done and gifts wrapped before Thanksgiving

14.  Install a vent/fan in the master bath . . . for some reason we don't have one and the shower makes things STEAMY in there!

15.  Take lots of pictures and videos of Biscuit.  =)

16.  Clean out the attic and re-arrange the guest room furniture.

17.  Ponder baby Campbell #2





. . . I'm sure there may be a couple more that I'm forgetting . . . I can always add to the list . . .

I told you 2012 was going to be an ambitious year . . .   =)

Anybody else have an ambitious year lined up??

Christmas Evening in Cullman

Last Christmas stop for 2011 . . . Cullman for Christmas Evening.

We spent time with the extended Campbell family . . . spent the night . . . and enjoyed a yummy, country breakfast the next morning before heading home to play with our toys!!  =) 

Here are a few of my favorites from Christmas afternoon . . .

Biscuit on her Pink Pony from Nanny & Pa . . . I pretty much have the "Pony Song" in my head 24-7 now

Opening presents and enjoying watching what everyone else is up to . . .

Three rounds of presents and family . . . what a great Christmas!!  This was one for the record books.  We may need to move since Ada has so many toys now . . .   =)

Christmas Morning @ Home

I love Christmas!  Always have . . . always will. 

This year was on a whole new level . . . honestly . . . I felt like I was 5 again!  I was SO EXCITED for Christmas morning  that I could hardly contain my excitement!  This is excitement is due entirely to Biscuit.  Although we knew that she wouldn't get Santa or the happenings, we got it and LOVED it!!!

Harley and I got the house all cleaned . . . breakfast set-up . . . living room re-arranged (for maximum-present-space-opening-area, of course), got the presents all arranged prettily [yea, its a word . . . :) ] and the fireplace all set-up for the Christmas morning fire.

Here is our living room . . . the before  =)

Christmas morning was a sucess.  This time, we hosted my parents for Christmas morning . . . we opened presents, had tons of Keurig coffee [thanks Mom and Dad for my AWESOME birthday present], ate yummy Christmas breakfast and enjoyed each other.

Here are a few of my Christmas morning favorites . . . .

Merry Christmas!!

Taking a break from presents to get some Daddy love . . .

Yay for Grandma and Grandpa

Admist the Aftermath . . .

 Family pic . . . excuse the tired parents!  =)  Biscuit got up at 4:50AM . . .

Biscuit's Christmas afternoon outfit . . .

Next stop . . . . Cullman for Christmas Evening

Christmas Eve

Finally getting caught up on blogging . . . sorry for long delay . . . so without further ado . . .

Harley, Biscuit and I spent Christmas Eve at my parents' house.  Basically, it was Christmas Morning . . . Take 1.  =)  We opened presents, ate yummy eggs benedict (a family tradition) for breakfast, cooed at the baby and enjoyed each other.  We spent most the day in jammmies . . . minus getting out for a bit to enjoy the beautiful Christmas decorations @ The Preserve.

Here are some of my favorites from Christmas Eve. . .

Getting onto her alaphabet train for the first time . . . it's a hit!!

Climbing on Mommy in between opening presents

Investigating her presents . . .

Thanks Mom and Dad for hosting us . . . =)

Next stop . . . Christmas Morning @ home