Wake up and get to it...

Yes I am in the middle of a dinning room make over.  In fact, every free moment I had this week was spent in my dining room tearing down the wallpaper... 

It took me a week of tearing and scraping and with three hours to myself on Friday, the last part came down.  I estimate that it took about seven hours of work to get the paper down.  I was so hoping to get started painting on Friday; but I was scheduled to volunteer at my son's library...  Duty called and then Friday night came.  I decided to take care of a 4 week cold turned to sinus infection and found myself at the doctors getting antibiotics.  All home improvement stopped till today.  Off to Home Depot and we now have three colors of paint, a new Chandelier, and new fixtures for the outlets.  So have I started painting? NO.  

What have I been doing???  Got the kids to bed and found myself online Christmas Shopping and then I started thinking about cookies I will make for Christmas this year.  I mapped out the cookie baking and my dinning room remains colorless...  However, I have my cookie designs mapped out.   Red Stockings, Green Christmas Trees, and White Snowflake Cut-outs.  I ordered some fancy sugar for toppings, got my stars ordered for my cookie trees, and some sugar crystals for my snowflakes.  The dining room is still all white.  The furniture all pushed into the middle of the room.  A few scraps of wallpaper backing lines the carpet.  I am wondering if my hubby could be bribed to do the painting...  hmmm... what would be a good bribe? 

Maybe if all goes well, in a few weeks I can post a picture of my hard work...  A picture of the dinning room that is! 

Hey, love this book if you need sugar cookie ideas:

10 Faves at My House

One of my favorite blogs, Tip Junkie is running a 10 favorite things in your house challenge... I thought I would participate since I already have most of my fave things on my computer. So here goes in random order...

#1. My Southern Living Two Tier Tray!!! I LOVE THIS and use it all the time. It cost a lot for my standards, but I get so much use out of it. Here you see it all dolled up for a cookie exchange a few years ago. I keep it out in my kitchen on the island all the time. It has held many a cupcake, appetizer, and cookie.

#2. My Sons Big Boy Room. I did the stenciling myself and my husband and I painted it and painted on the mock border. It has sports quotes all around it. Red Sox Nation, It's a Great Day for Hockey, Go Navy Beat Army, How about some football! When we bought this house, the room was HOT pink.

#3. The Baby Room. I always wanted a storybook theme since I love Children's Literature and I came up with the idea of having various scenes from my favorite children's books throughout the room with the famous Dr. Seuss quote above the crib reading; "The more that you read,the more you will know,The more you learn,the more places you'll go." If you want to see more of the room, I have the pictures here.

#4. The painting of Mt. Rainer

The only REAL art we own.

This just reminds me of a time in my life when life was simple and times were all fun & almost carefree. My husband and I spent our first few years of marriage in beautiful Washington State while he was stationed on a Submarine out of Bangor. We spent many weekends hiking this grand mountain. I also could see Rainier clearly from the school I worked at. When we left the west coast we knew we wanted something special to remind us of our life in Seattle. This is the gift we got at a going away present from the other Officers on the boat. I will often get lost looking at it a remembering where we started our marriage and how far we have come. Someday we both hope to share beautiful Seattle with our children. It was good to us and a wonderful place to start our life together.

#5. My favorite chair and MY Laptop with one of my children (Teaching Heart) displayed on the laptop.

#6. The Old Irish Pub Sign I bought my hubby. Funny, we hardly ever use the bar for what it is for. I think we have had like three parties down there in the six years we have lived here. Still the sign is so cute & IRISH like us!!!

#7. My Tassimo - It's like my own Starbucks in my house!!!! If you don't have one... you are missing out!

#8. My shelves in the playroom. All neat and clearly marked. I love seeing organized things and just looking at how every toy has a place makes my heart happy.

#9. My Linen Closet - Sometimes I keep the door open just so I can see how neat it is. I love containers and how they make a closet look clean and keep it organized. It's just makes life easier. Sorry, I am a bit of a dork, I know!!!

#10. My entrance way. I love walking into my home and getting that feeling of this is mine and this is where I belong. This is the first thing I see when I walk into my house. There is no place like MY home!!!

If you made it this far.... thanks! I would love to see your favorite 10 things in your home. Hop over to Tip Junkie and post your blog!