a new car....a blessing

Back before Christmas, our van which is almost ten years old, starting acting up. When Bruce took it to the shop, the verdict was not good. The cost of repairs was more than the value of the van. So, we knew that we needed to purchase another vehicle. Bruce wanted to get something that was better on gas and after much research, we settled on a toyota camry. Trying to be careful with our spending, we looked into several options. God miraculously provided the finances we needed to make this work into our budget, and with his help and careful spending, we hope to have it paid off in a short amount of time.

..Abigail in the trunk...one reason we chose this car is because it had a very ample amount of trunk space..a MUST with my scrapbooking retreats and such....
...me in the driver's seat.....
..and behind the car....
..and in the front....

..and the trunk...yes...even an ADULT will fit in there!!! LOL!!!

Christmas Eve.....

Iknow Christmas is LONG past, but I never really posted photos of what we did on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day...so I'll do it now :) On Christmas Eve, we go to Grandma's house (Bruce's mom) around lunch time. She prepares a big Italian meal...then after eating we open gifts and visit for a while. Usually we head home in the late afternoon so that most of his family can go to Mass and we can return home to unload our stuff, open stockings and prepare to head out of town sometime the next day....part of the wonderful Italian feast Grandma prepared :)...
...Abigail and Maddie, her cousin..after opening gifts....

..Grammy showing off a game that she got from Ben and Maddie.....

..Ben with his Bama pillow.....

A room makeover.......

As part of Abigail's Christmas....she got stuff to 're-make' her room. She is currently into "Tinkerbelle" along with many other 3-6th grade girls in our area. Go figure!?! SO....I decided to repaint the whole room...three walls in "angel ivory" which is a beige/off white with yellow undertones...and one accent wall which is an official disney color from the Tinkerbelle line at Home Depot.

She was THRILLED...and I told her that she owes me like 100 back massages!!!! because I worked ALL day...moving furniture, cleaning/prepping, painting, cleaning up, rearranging and then reorganizing (with her help). We removed a small book shelf and added the small entertainment center which gave her TONS more shelf/storage space. We also relocated a lot of stuffed animals that she still loves but no longer plays with..they are still here, but in the attic in secure containers.

I am tickled that she loves her 'new' room....and so glad that it is DONE!! If I have done my job right....you can see the room as you enter it..the move around in a counterclockwise fashion.
This is the view you get from the hallway...as you enter the room. You can see the side of the entertainment center in front of you.
As you enter the room and close the door, just behind the door is a little area to hang purses and things..then her closet.
This is the straight on view of the entertainment center. I was thrilled to find this for only $20 at a local thrift store.....did I mention that already?!?!? Abigail spent a great deal of time organizing these books (which are only a SMALL fraction of the books we have) by topic and then by size. She IS her mother's child-LOL!!!

You can see the bed in greater detail here...we went with a plain spread..and accented with a couple of tink throws and sheets as well.

As we turn the corner, you can see the a few more of the decals....and the curtains too. She likes these a lot.
As we turn this corner, you can see her very neat :) bin area, her clean clothes basket and a bit of the south wall of her room.

I love this old dresser. I used this growing up....and now Abigail gets to use it. It's pretty old. I am thinking I may get a little stool or small chair so she can use it as a vanity or even a writing desk of sorts.
..Just another photo of the same wall...but moving down a bit more. By the way, this cat is FAKE!!

As we turn the last corner to the east wall, you see the toy chest my mom built and a very old chest of drawers (again, I had this growing up)....the room is filled with stuff, but in spite of its size, it seems to have a good amount of room.

Midnight...enjoying the new room too....he likes the rug and also enjoys climbing on the entertainment center....