Gearing Up for Christmas

I always wait until the day after Thanksgiving (just like everyone else) to do the decorating, but this year it may just have to start earlier. One of my friends already has her tree up in order to enjoy it the normal length of time, since this year the season is shorter. She had to explain that one to me, I didn't get it.
The logic is: if Thanksgiving falls earlier in the month, such as on the 22 or 23, then there is roughly five weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas. But this year, since it falls on the 27th, there is only four weeks. Therefore, putting up the decorations now still gives you five weeks of Christmas-y viewing pleasure. Okay, now that makes sense!
I have made my lists, drawn my diagrams, and collected magazine snips of what I want to do. More than likely though, I will not get all of these things done when my unrealistic expectations meet my realistic time frame and budget. Oh well, a girl can dream, can't she? Christmas decorating is also a good excuse to get some of our other things done that just haven't been completed or in some cases started.

The Get the House Ready To-Do List for 12/08:

• repaint the living room with the paint that has been waiting in the garage for months
• hang living room curtain that came down -last year? yikes.
  
• hang remaining pictures in living room
• rearrange furniture to accommodate tree
• pack away all things fall
• clean house top to bottom, especially the baseboards & ceiling fans
• finish unpacking the two remaining boxes from the kitchen remodel
• install wallpaper in cabinets in kitchen
• clean remaining dust out of pantry & install light
• hang some sort of curtains in kitchen
• clean off porch, move excess stuff into garage
• DECORATE!!!!
  

Below are some pics of our house last year, then below that are some snips of inspiration.

Our house last year:

And the visions that dance about in my head (i.e. things I would love to do):

This post was written for Houseblogs.net as part of a sweepstakes sponsored by SC Johnson’s Right@Home. www.rightathome.com

Wasp Catcher

Usually, it's the man's job to extract or kill anything of the creepy crawly variety - except in our house. We've had wasps trying to invade our house this fall to make their home for the winter. At one point I was swatting 4 or so a DAY in our living room.
Chris would duck, jump and run when they came buzzing around - of all things! My big manly man afraid of a wasp? Lordy! At first I thought he was kidding.
We found they were coming down the chimney and into the living room, so Chris bought some spray that lasts 6 to 8 weeks and sprayed up inside the fireplace really well. Once in awhile one will make it past the sprayed area and drunkenly buzz around the living room only to fall to the floor in agony. Except for today.
Natalie was upstairs and I was sitting on the couch checking email when a drunken wasp buzzes my head and lands on the arm of the couch beside me. Then he bumbles around to land on the thick, velvet draperies. Aha - I gotcha - I think as I slap Natalie's empty bowl that she had been playing with earlier over the wasp on the draperies. OOps. Now what? Wasp under bowl, with fabric (albeit thick) behind him - not so smart afterall. I reach as far as I can for a magazine off the ottoman to slip under the bowl to trap the wasp- Pottery Barn will have to work - DOH - too flimsy. I manage to reach one of Chris's bow hunting books - told ya, a manly man - and trap the beast so that I can toss him outside to freeze to death.
But if I move the bowl, he's going to sting me. And if I leave the bowl out there, trapping the wasp - some curious someone might get stung. So I flung them all as hard as I could into the yard. So if you ever see random items in our front yard and can't feature why they would be there...

Baby Boy's Room

We still don't have a name picked out - I refuse to name our child HERBERT or any of the other off-the-wall names SOMEBODY keeps coming up with - but by golly, we've got a color scheme in mind!
We will keep the floor the pale yellow it is, paint the walls a light, happy green, and accent with blue and light brown. I'm not a big theme person (I change my mind too much), but I am leaning towards trees and birds. I'm thinking painted birdcages, whimsical birds and owls, and patterned tree leaves. Below are pictures of things that will give you an idea of how it will look. Some of the pictures of bedding are actually for girls, so just think of it more "boy-ed up" and less girlie. I'm so used to girl stuff - hardly any boys on my side of the family- that I have to think really hard not to let baby things become too girlie. I personally see nothing wrong with a little eyelet lace here and there for a baby, but the manly men in our family may think differently! We've decided to move Natalie to a big girl bed before the baby is born, so we will be using the baby bed shown, minus the canopy.

I LOVE the quilt below, but I'm afraid it may be too feminine. I love that look though. The birds are awfully sweet too, but again a little girlie.

I LOVE this room, especially the branch above the bed and the owl pillows. Again, it's pretty girlie though. So maybe something similar but more "boy-ed up".