The Nutcracker - 2011

Laci & Braedon were in the Nutcracker this year.
The Canterella School of Dance & Albany Berkshire Ballet put it on every year.
Their performance was this past Sunday.
This was Laci's second time & Braedon's first.
Laci was a clown & Braedon was a reindeer.

Here they are before the performance....

Because Albany Berkshire Ballet is a professional company, we are not allowed to take pictures during the performance.
So, I only have some of them backstage.
Here's Braedon all decked out in his reindeer costume.

And Laci in her clown costume.

LuLu w/2 of her clown friends.

And together, right before they are about to go on stage.

They both did so good!
I'm one proud mama!!


Allison

Our Front Porch Christmas Decor!

I didn't do a whole lot w/the front porch, just didn't have the extra money to.

This cute little santa hangs out on the front door.

These little trees I got on Black Friday for $20 bucks for both!
I know the extension cords look a little tacky but I couldn't figure out a way to hide them.

Then I hung lights all along the porch.
Here's the porch at night.
I actually really like how it came out!
It looks even better in person!

I then decided to take the kids pic for our Christmas card out front w/all the lights.
Braedon wasn't in such a good mood that night as you can see.

And this is how our Christmas card came out!

I thought it would be something different to add in a pic of the house.
I was happy w/how it came out!
What do you think?


Allison

Dining Room/Kitchen Christmas Decor!

Today's tour is through my dining room/kitchen area which is one big room.
It's actually changed a little from last year.
You can see what this area looked like last year here.

What's different:
Last year my tree was purple & silver but it didn't go very well w/the new decor so this year I changed it to a red & gold tree.
Last year we had a pellet stove in the room but we sold it & patched up the wall so we could have more room. I'm so glad it's gone, we have so much more room now!
Last year the table was turned the opposite way because of the pellet stove.

The view of the Dining Room....

The table....

The centerpiece I bought at one of our local craft fairs last year.
The glitter tree's I made this year.

My tree...
I love it! I think it came out great!

This shelf is on the Kitchen side.

The cute printable I found on the computer.
The basket I had from last year & just filled it w/cinnamon scented pinecones & gold ribbon.

Had some extra space on my counter top so I made a little vignette.
The pic I got off the computer, the snowman, snowwoman & angel cookie jar I've had for a few years now.

And one last look again of the whole room...

Hope you enjoyed my little tour!

Have a great day!

Allison

Living Room/Downstairs Bathroom Christmas Decor!

I can't believe Christmas is in 11 days!!

I know I haven't posted in a while, it's just been busy around here & I'm getting so big now it's getting harder to sit at the computer for very long. I guess you could say a little laziness plays a small part in it too! But I have been still checking out all the wonderful blogs out there, so much wonderful Christmas decor/craft inspiration you all have given me! I'm going to try to get back on track w/my posts!

Today I'm going to show you what I've done for our Christmas decor in our living room & bathroom(which is right off the living room).

We started decorating the day after Thanksgiving.
Probably took me about a week to finish the whole downstairs.
So here we go.....


Decorating the kids tree.

Hanging the stockings....
I love our house but the one thing I do wish we had was a fireplace to hang our stockings from!
But we don't so this is where I hang them until Santa fills them up, then he just places them afterwards in front of the tree.

Decorating my Shelves....

Another reason I wish we had a fireplace was so I could decorate the mantle.
Instead I use these shelves above the T.V. as my "mantel shelves".
P.S. don't mind the toy box on the left!

Our banister....
Nothing to fancy, just simple.

This shelf is usually in the corner where the tree is.

A few decorations on the top of our built-in wall unit...

As you can see our Elf, "Chippy" had a snack last night!

Full view of the family tree....

A larger view of the living room w/Rylan dancing around.

I even decorated a little bit in our bathroom which is right off the living room.
Just a couple things...

And lastly, LuLu & Braedon posing in front of their tree.

What do you think?

Tomorrow I'll give you a tour of the Dining Room/Kitchen area!

Have a great Wednesday!!

Allison