Merry Christmas Home Tour 2012

I realize it's been months since I've blogged. I just don't have enough hours in my days to accomplish all that I want...I also realize that's every mama's dilemma...but...I did take the time to get all of our Christmas decorations up!! I love the season of Thanksgiving and Christmas, they really just go together. Thanksgiving is a great start to get in the "thankful" spirit and have a heart of celebration for our Savior! 

Welcome to our home...I just want to add that I love, love, love being in the south again :))) Alabama is  as close to Georgia as we can be. We have settled in here quite nicely: We have a wonderful church family, the kids are happy in their school, and we live in a great neighborhood. Not to mention, we get to see our family very, very often!!

As you come in the front door, my girly tree greets you! These are my favorite colors and it's so pretty at night. 

Isn't she a cute decoration around the tree?!

The kids love the village as much as I do, they all helped arrange it. As a matter of fact, I did nothing...it was all them!

This tree is in the dining room. Last Christmas, I found myself interested in old, vintage ornaments. So interested, that I made many trips to antique stores, just *hoping* I would find some. I did find some and mama found some for me, too. We were looking for Shiny Brites, and Colby. Both of those have the words, "made in America" on the top...I just love that! My favorite ones were some that I didn't find or buy, they were given to me by Greg's mama. She gave some to me that were her mother's!!! I just love this tree and I love the vintage feel that it adds to our house, along with the treasures that are on it! I want to find an old silver tree one day...I'm on the prowl!

Mrs. Bonnie gave this tree to me last year; it also belonged to her mother! I am so happy to have this in my home!

This is our family tree, full of ornaments that we have given to each other, or from grandparents. This is my favorite and my kids love to get their ornaments out every year...How about that big B??? Daddy saved it for me; it was part of a sign he took down. I love it!!! I want to leave it there all the time.

This is a new addition, Daddy made this for our yard, thank you, Daddy! I just love the outdoor decorations this year...classic and beautiful!

Merry Christmas from our home to yours!!!

These are the days...

Some fun parts of a day...

We have a little night wanderer on our hands...his name is Jamison. When he goes to bed, he's in his room. When he wakes up, he's not! Not sure when he heads to his sister's bed, but for the last couple of months, this is where we find him!

Do y'all see this mess?!?!? I am posting this for all you folks that say my house is always tidy...it's NOT!!! This was the kids' fort; it's always fun to build, but it's a MONSTER to pick up!!

It's a good thing he's so darn cute. Or else, I might scream at the messes he makes in a matter of seconds or minutes! I am not sure what this concoction was!

What's in Collinsville, IL???

We woke up this morning to MORE snow on the ground. I'm kinda ready for warm weather and flip-flops, but I'm not going to complain! I want to tell you about our adventurous day. The day started with yours truly (me) shoveling the 4 or so inches of snow off the driveway. After that, we headed to Jordan's basketball game. I promise to have pictures of that soon;Greg is the coach and they are both having so much fun! We came home after the game, with plans to do nothing. That soon changed; we have been in the house so much this past week, I decided we had to get outta there! So, after some quick planning, we headed out to see a few things and do some really good eating :)

Do you see what I see?

It's a big ole' catsup bottle! They claim it's the world's largest one! It's in Collinsville, a small town that's only a few minutes away from O'Fallon. We told the kids that's what we were going to see; Jannah wasn't too thrilled. On the other hand, Jordan was super thrilled when he was the first one to spot it! It marks the spot where this brand of catsup used to be manufactured, but it's no longer an operating plant. Nonetheless, it was something to look at from inside our warm car!

We headed on through Maryville, then to Glen Carbon; that's where I took this picture~I just love the snow-covered evergreens!

We saw a historical sign for a covered bridge, we figured we should go take a look, why not? We were in no big hurry and we were hoping to show the kids a bit of an adventurous day! I had something else in mind (like the covered bridges you see in pictures), but it was something to look at and talk about...

We wound up in Edwardsville. There were two places we wanted to try. And neither one disappointed!

We had a Jerk Chicken Pizza at the Peel...check it out Peel Pizza

We then headed over to The Cup Oh my...I just love this place! The cupcakes are delicious and there's such a selection! My Italian Cream cupcake was to die for!!!

After our tummies were full, we came home and played in the snow, until dark! It was a fun-filled day!

Friday Fun

I've created a fun little spot, for me...this is in the stairwell, looking out into the backyard. It's my new "quiet-time" space. It's nice looking out at the snow covered ground and just reflecting upon all that God has done for me or doing my bible study; I light that candle (that smells like coffee) and I am carried off to another place...but only for a little while, because there's always something or someone that beckons me away; but that's okay...I keep coming back!

I'm just wondering...does anyone else, besides Jamison, find it necessary to put balls on your plate when eating? That silly boy ALWAYS has a ball in his hand, except when he's eating!

Now, I am ashamed to say that before we could make formal introductions to Shocky, our beta fish...he died...it was my fault. BUT, we just got a new fish, and I will soon introduce her. Here's a little story about Shocky: We went into Petsmart a few weeks ago, to "look". Well, you know, the kids were begging for a pet. They would have taken a cat, dog, fish...whatever we would agree to. Jannah was pleading for a goldfish, because, "it's only 12 cents." Now, I am really NOT a pet person, of any kind. And, with all of the moving and traveling we do, I've just not wanted to have a pet to worry about. One day, when we are more settled, we'll get a dog/cat...at least that's what we say! But, we made our kids' day and got them a male beta fish, they named him Shocky. The day I took this picture, I set the aquarium on the window ledge...OOPS! I think the fish got too cold, due to the cold temps outside. I felt horrible and the kiddos were sad to say good-bye to their first pet after only a week. So, what did G and I do about it? We got another one, a female this time; and I promise NOT to sit it on the window ledge for a few days. I will post pics soon, and we will give her a name...say tuned!

Jordan is working on his project for the 100th day of kindergarten; he had to make something out of 100 items. There was no question that he would choose logos (that's one of his favorite things to do); turns out he built the titanic. Jordan has finally decided that he likes school and that it's not so bad...that's good for a kiddo who really struggled to think that it was necessary!

Jannah really didn't like that I took this picture of her, she told me it embarrassed her. I just loved it, though. She likes to have curly hair, and this is our latest way of obtaining it! I just thought she was too irresistibly cute, as she was reading her book :)

Bailey Christmas 2010 Tour

Well, it's that time of the year: CHRISTmas! I do love to celebrate and decorate and make memories that my children will always be able to look back on. This year, I started decorating mid November and it took me almost 3 weeks to finish; I just couldn't get into gear! It was fun and the kiddos helped me a little bit, they wanted me to do it! They each have small trees in their rooms, and then we have three trees downstairs.

This is our living room; it's on the first floor. I put our family tree in here this year. This tree is full of love and memories. I have some childhood ornaments, ornaments the kids have made and the ornaments that they get every year are on this tree. We always have fun decorating the family tree because they love to see their ornaments and talk about each one...making memories!

This is my tree! It's in the front room, which we now call the piano room. As I have said before, this room holds a lot of treasures from Korea. The painting (which was painted by an artist in Korea) was my color inspiration for the tree. I got the tree at Wal Mart after Christmas last year, I couldn't wait to see these ornaments on a white tree, I knew they would pop!

My sweet friend, Michele gave this village set to me 10 years ago. I haven't used it in several years, so the kids didn't remember it. When I pulled this out, they were beyond thrilled to set it up. If fact, they really did most of it and they did a fine job!

This is our red and white tree, it's in the stairwell and I just love seeing it as we go up and down the stairs! It has a mix of ornaments that are red and white, new and old.

That's all for now! Merry Christmas from the Bailey home to your home!

Snow much FUN!

Yes, sir-ree! We've had our first snow; and, as Jannah pointed out, it's not even Winter, yet!!! After 30 minutes of preparation, we braved the cold wind that nearly knocked us all down and played for as long as we could stand it. With the wind chill, it felt like -6...that's what the weather channel said...and I believe it :)

We did have fun, even if it takes a lifetime to gear up! After our snow play, we warmed up with hot cocoa and then worked on a couple of puzzles that Jannah and Jordan have been working on. A perfect day for puzzles, hot cocoa and movies...it's nice to be snowed in for a day, or maybe two :)

Rams Game, Flip Flops and a Mess!

Seems like I come to a point when I have pictures and random things to blog about...so, I group them and blog about them and they have absolutely nothing to do with each other. But, I am the author and maintainer of this blog, so I guess that's ok! We went to a St. Louis Rams game a few weeks ago. We had FREE tickets! Thanks to my sweetie's boss! We rode the metro down to the game, saved money and time and worry of where to park. It was a great idea, but it totally reminded us of being on the train in Korea (it was so packed because everyone else had the same good idea we did and we were up close and personal with the other folks, that's the part that reminded me of Korea). Anyways, we got to the game and climbed all the way to the tip-top; that's why the players look like ants on the field :) Ha! We could barely keep our eyes on the ball. Jamison did the best, he likes to go to ball games. The other two were ready to go after they had eaten all of the cotton candy and pretzels we shared; that was before the second quarter! We did leave at halftime...we decided it was just time to go, we had gotten the goody out of that deal! Always better to leave before everyone just falls apart :)

Being from the south, south Georgia, that is! I really, REALLY like flip flops! I live in them until my toes can't stand the cold anymore, which is going to be really soon. I saw these flops in FL while we were there on vacation back in the summer. I wanted them, but refrained. I saw them on someone recently and realized I needed some. Ha! I do like bling and I do like to accessorize...these flops are good for that! You can get a variety of colors and then the snaps are interchangeable. The possibilities are endless, and I do mean ENDLESS!!! I can't wait for next summer, so that I can stock up on the snaps. I won't be needing too many right now, because fall is here and wintry days are around the corner. PS, do NOT laugh at my toes! They do look a little scary!

Okay, now. This is how my island counter in the kitchen looks like at it's best. I like it like this, but it just doesn't stay like this for long. I am thinking about hiring a secretary to help me with ALL of the papers that come in on a daily basis. It makes me crazy sometimes...I did not stage the messy picture, it is what it is!