And to all a good night...

Hard to believe Christmas is already over! It was so nice to actually be with our family on Christmas- not the week before or after, but the actual holiday. Olivia was really into it this year, which makes it more fun for us! Christmas is just more fun with a child around.
Santa came a little early to our house. He must have known we were leaving for east TN on the 22nd, because that's when he stopped by! Olivia had a light load from Mommy, Daddy, and Santa (which turned out to be a good thing, considering the amount of gifts she received from other family!). Santa brought one gift (a keyboard, or "piano" as Olivia calls it) and stuffed her stocking. Her big gift was a "car" (my best find on Black Friday!). She was not thrilled with it at first, but she warmed up to it.






Santa left a battery powered Dora toothbrush in her stocking and she loves it! She brushed her teeth for quite awhile:



We finished our packing and headed to see family! We stopped by Uncle Brett and Aunt Rachel's house for a special visit:









You might notice that Aiden is not in a picture with Santa. Here's Aubrey trying to convince him that it's OK:



He wasn't convinced, but did get close enough for a high five and a chocolate Santa!

We started Christmas Eve at Pappy and Nana's. We had a great dinner, then moved on to every one's favorite part- presents!



This video cracks me up. We made such a big deal about her bicycle! She loves it (although we finally had to make her stop riding it on our hardwood floors. She was not convinced that bicycles are just for outside! Lucky for us, the weather has been mild enough to ride it.):



How sweet is this picture:



We also got to stop at Pal's and visit with Uncle Pat and Aunt Janet, who were in from Louisville. Time went by quickly and we were on to our next stop- Papaw's!
The kids spent some time swinging in the hammock:



We ate some yummy snacky food, then on to more presents!



Olivia thinks she is such a big girl when she is with these 2:



I was trying to get a picture with Mom, Lilo, Papaw, Mary Lee and the kids. This was the best one:



Brett and I jumped in one, too:



It was a crazy, busy, wonderful day!

Olivia woke up on Christmas day in Greeneville to another stocking from Santa. Then we got ready and headed to Granny Still's for lunch. Granny Still's has several great grandchildren. The youngest range in age from 1-10. There are 5 boys and 1 girl (Olivia). She was a little apprehensive around them at first, but she soon joined right in!





After another great meal (shew, the diet is now back on!), we headed to Mamaw and Papaw's for one more gift opening:







Mamaw and Papaw got Olivia the Leapfrog tablet and it has been a life-saver for car rides! Her favorite part about it is the camera. Her pictures are very interesting! Daddy and I have gotten used to the camera in our face (hmmm, payback?):



We had such a great Christmas! Thank you to all!

House Tour Part 2

The rest of the before and after photos! This is the stairway leading down to the basement- the only carpet in the entire house.

Before (this color was called "Green Tea"):



We painted it "Spice," and yes, there are a few pictures on the wall:



The downstairs is pretty open, with a living/dining/kitchen combo. Here it is before:







The previous owners REALLY liked purple. Here it is now:







Much more our style, although it was incredibly difficult to paint behind the cabinets:



This is one of the bedrooms downstairs. It belonged to a teenager- this paint was named "Fuchsia Flock."



We had a difficult time painting over the brown stripe and we later learned it was magnetic. We are using this room as an office and it's still a work in progress (obviously!):



That was all the painting we did before we moved in. Still a few rooms to go! Here is the other bedroom downstairs (which is also a work in progress!):



And the hallway/vanity area. There is a bathroom, a large closet (which is storage right now) and the door on the right leads to the downstairs garage (Michael's "workshop"):



And that's the house! Now to finish decorating, ha!
We always have deer in our yard. It is not an uncommon sight, but one day this week, our neighbors filled up their deer feeder. This is what happened:







NINE deer in our yard! It was pretty neat to watch them. They definitely weren't afraid of us!

Olivia was a little under the weather last week (Michael had to pick her up from Miss Angie's house Tuesday with a 102.6 fever. I work ONE day a week and she naturally gets a fever on that day!). Her fever broke, but she still didn't feel very well and I didn't want to send her to school Thursday. So, we dropped off the cupcakes for her party and her gift for Miss Angie:



We have been very fortunate to find Miss Angie! She watches Olivia after school on the day I work. Olivia LOVES her (and her 2 daughters!). It's so nice to find someone you trust with your child.

With some school friends:



We are gearing up for Santa to visit tonight. We are heading to the Tri-Cities tomorrow, so Santa is making a special trip to our house tonight. Merry Christmas! :)

The New House

The furniture we ordered arrived last week! The living/dining/kitchen area:



The only thing we did here is add furniture. We like the color on the walls (although it was kind of difficult to pick out furniture to match brown walls!). Some area rugs I ordered arrived today, but they are still a little wrinkled. We also hung 2 mirrors yesterday and ordered a wall mount for the tv. It's coming along!

This picture is looking in from the front door:



And the kitchen. New counter tops are on our list at some point:



Master Bedroom- the only thing we did in here was add the ceiling fan:





Did you notice Elfis in that last picture? Olivia is really into Elf on a Shelf this year! I'm not crazy about the faux finish on the walls, but the color went with our furniture. This room was originally on the list to paint, but after all the other painting we did, we decided to wait.

I forgot to take a picture of the master bath before we painted it, but you can see the color around the electric socket in this picture:



Very bright green. Here are the cabinets before:





And after:





They took some time, but I love how they turned out!

Now on to my favorite room to decorate! Olivia's before:





And after:



That chandelier was in the master bedroom. When we took it down to put up the fan, I spray painted it white for her room. I also hung it by myself (I'm a little proud! I did have to turn off the power to the entire house, but it's working!). My favorite part of her room:



NOT the cable running along the wall! We are doing whatever it takes for her to sleep in her room at night, so if a tv helps, so be it. The tree was actually really fun to put up, plus you can take it down whenever you want without hurting the paint. She loves it!

This is the 3rd bedroom upstairs, which is currently being used as a playroom:



The paint color in this bathroom is on the chopping block soon:



And that's the first floor! I will post pictures of the basement soon!

Olivia is really into the holidays this year. She loved Thanksgiving (and we did some damage on Black Friday! Best time of the year to buy for your house!) and is really excited for Christmas. Mamaw met us at Dollywood last Friday and lo and behold:



She isn't afraid of Santa this year!
This is a huge whiteboard with lots of markers. Heaven for a 3 year old:



Shooting Star is still her favorite ride:



We watched a show and stayed until the lights came on:





Last weekend, we made ornaments out of applesauce and cinnamon, just like when I was a kid!







We made 25, but only 14 made it to the tree. It took awhile for her to realize how easily they break! She has been picking out her clothes by herself lately:



Nice, right? Hope you're having a good week! Sorry the pictures are smaller, I found out I can upload them without having to resize each one, but the size is predetermined. It saves a TON of time, but I'm working on how to make them bigger again!