Elves... where are you?

This would have been a great week to have a few extra little helpers around. I think that I am officially ready to retire the paint brushes until 2009. I do love to paint and use my creativity, but I am SOOOO ready for a break. My daughter has been begging to decorate her gingerbread house....today is her lucky day!
Here are just a FEW of the items that I have been working on. I would have taken pictures of the rest, but it was way past my bedtime each night when I would finally put the paint away, and grabbing my camera was not my top priority.

Merry Christmas to you all, and I'll see you in the New Year! Here are a few pictures for the grandparents to see!

Kids at Santa brunch

Little Drummer Boy Reed

Campbell at Tea with Mrs. Claus

SANTA!!

Still need to post pictures from other things we have been into, but alonf with posting pictures comes journaling about them. Today, I don't have much time. So for now.... here are some pictures from a visit with Santa!

How about a little more Christmas?

I bet you are wondering why I said I would post pictures from our trip to SC but never did it, huh? Well, I have been having some trouble downloading my pictures on the computer, and I finally got my problem solved today. I don't have time to edit those photos and get them on here today, but promise to this weekend. So..... for now, here are some more pictures of Christmas around our house!

Painted sign for a friend

New pillow design

Fancy Tree

Candlestick napkins

Enjoy!
Amy

A little here... a little there...

I decided not to go overboard with Christmas at our house this year. Normally, every nook and cranny is decorated, glittered, or has a bow on it.
Well... I decided to simplify (a little). I have put Christmas in groups... categories if you will. Items are displayed by subject, color, or theme. Does it sound organized? IT IS SO NOT!!!
So, I decided that I would take you on a short journey of a few areas in our house that Christmas decided to just "show up".

Tomorrow I will post pictures from our wonderful trip to South Carolina.

Enjoy!
Amy

This is in my daughter's room above her window

In the living room

This is a close up of the silhouette. I have bought one two years in a row now from the talented Kijsa Housman. You can get one too by clicking here.



I just love my little dome. It is one of my favorite things to decorate. Here I have put some moss, a mercury ball, and a vintage gift tag all inside.

on the window sill

South Carolina... Here We Come!

We are headed south in the morning. The Richey four are piling in the car and won't stop until we reach South Carolina! Well... okay.... we may make a few pit stops along the way, we do have two little ones.

We are going to visit our sweet friends the Horns for a few days. My husband is going to run in a mini-marathon in Kiawah Island this Saturday, which is a bit past Charleston. We couldn't help but want to stop in Columbia and visit our friends and catch Coach Darrin Horn in action at a basketball game. We haven't seen them since they left Bowling Green this summer so we have a lot to catch up on! Then, after the race, we are going to stay in Charleston for a few days and take in a little Christmas in the south.

Here is a pillow that I made for my friend Carla to give to some ladies in Columbia. Notice the feathers... I was pretty confident that I could not paint a Gamecock, so I decided to add a little detail that would be representative of one... FEATHERS!

See ya in a couple days!
Amy

Holiday Fun

When you have kids as young as I do, your decorating style for the holidays tends to be a little more bright, fun, and exciting. Here are a couple of shots of the tree and mantle where we spend the most time as a family. The kiddos are much more enthusiastic about this tree than the one I will show you later in the week. How are you coming with your holiday decorating??

Enjoy!

Amy

The Princess Turns 5!

Tis true... our little princess turned 5 yesterday! Wow, where did that time go?? After all of the excitement, she turned to her dad and I and exclaimed that she had the BEST PARTY EVER!

Her theme?? Well.... let's just say that she tied lots of things together in one. She wanted it at The Paint'n Place, a local pottery painting store, she wanted all the little girls to wear their princess dresses, and she wanted a lady to paint their faces (like Disney World, not the local fair). She started off the morning with a dance from her prince, daddy, and ended it with eating her favorite "Chippy Dippy" (thanks Carla) at Pepper's.

Here are a few pictures of the special day. WE LOVE YOU CAMPBELL!!

Here she is!

By her sign

The cake

Painting Princesses

Brother painting

singing Happy Birthday

getting her face painted

finished product

putting her hand on the wall

showing us 5 fingers

painting the wands

prince daddy

tiger boy

most of the princesses