Tinsel free!

We started the week like this...

...and ended it like this!

Finally! After nearly 2 full years of wearing braces, Miss Emma got them off on Wednesday. It was less painful than she had been led to believe ( a good thing!) It's a shame that she has to immediately cover them up with a retainer, but we'd like them to stay nice and straight. Her retainer is completely invisible, so except for a little bit of a lisp and extra shininess, you'd never know she has it on!

We are happy to see her beautiful smile back in action.

Best Christmas gift ever, for her!

Deck the halls, Treiber style

Hello, and welcome to our home!

This year I decided to participate in the Holiday Homes tour, sponsored by Jen the magnificent.

It seemed like a good idea at the time, but now that the day to take and post pictures is here, I am second guessing myself. Will the decorations measure up? Did I really need one more damn thing to do in a crazy busy week?What if I just took pictures of someone else's' stuff?

Let's start at the foyer!

I have this awesome bunch of curly twigs that I got at the farmer's market. We threw in some teal colored glitter twigs, and I had some various silver ornaments that didn't fit on the tree. An entryway decor is born! The only piece of real evergreen is on the table, and it's already shedding it's needles like nuts. Between the pine needles and the glitter, maybe this whole scenario should have been moved somewhere where every person who comes through the door doesn't track it in. Lesson learned!

The truth of the matter is that we have so many decorations. Literally 30 totes worth of stuff. Not all of it gets put out. This year we didn't put out our Christmas village, or the Nativity, or the snow globes, or 2 of our trees. This is just a smattering of the stuff that did get chosen this year.

This is my family room. I didn't finish decorating the mantel (because I am lazy and it involved dusting). I made the quilt before we were married.

My husband has collected the Hallmark car & truck of the year ornaments since they very first began. About 5 years ago, we decided they needed their own tree. And they outgrew that tree, and got a new even larger tree, This year, he chose to display them on a garland over the fireplace. I didn't count, but they barely fit onto the 12 foot garland.

Our anniversary is one week before Christmas. One year, I bought him this palm tree. Many of our favorite beach/sea/nautical themed ornaments are on this tree.

In our living room is our main tree. We don't have a theme. It's decorated with ornaments that we have collected over the years. Some the kids have made. (My kids are 12 & 14, and begged for many of their handmade ornaments to not be displayed. Buttheads.)

This is the tree during the day...

...and at night.

This is my snowflake & icicle window. It's been an evolving project over the last few years. It's also the very last thing to come down; usually in February. This year I added the snowy trees at the bottom, and the lights. It's my favorite place to sit in in the house. I love that the tree reflects in the windowpanes, and it's warm and cozy.

Last, but not least, is our new kitten Dexter. We got him a week ago. He loves the tree. He loves the packages. He loves the string. He loves everything about it.

We decorated outdoors as well, but I tried many times to get a good photo or two and was unsuccessful. You'll have to trust me when I say my hubs did a great job with our blue, green & white lights. Very classy. Would look lovely with snow.

I hope you enjoyed this little peek into our home!

Tomorrow we celebrate!

Tomorrow we celebrate Christmas with my dad & stepmom. Today has been a flurry of activity: baking 4 kinds of cookies, cards, wrapping, blogging (be sure to come back tomorrow for the Holiday Homes tour). I'm exhausted and everything hurts.

Tomorrow is also a huge day because Emma gets her braces off! She is over the moon happy right now. Counting down the hours.

And just because,

something cute.

Today is going to be Wicked awesome!

Happy Anniversary to my awesome hubs who got us tickets to see Wicked today at the Opera House! When the tickets first arrived 3 months ago, it seemed like a lifetime away. I'm so excited.

It's our 18th anniversary. All year I had been thinking it was our 19th, and next year would be the big two oh. Wrong. 2013 will be 20 years. Basic math skills, I has them.

18 years and two great kids is nothing to sneeze at though! I may complain and whine from time to time, but my life is pretty blessed :)

NHS Christmas concert

This week Emma performed for three nights at her school's annual Christmas concert. We went on the middle night, the night she performed with both her regular choir and her Freshman select choir. The whole family went to support her and hear her sing.

The show was amazing. Northville High is #1 in the state in choir for a reason! It was two hours of beautiful holiday music. And because Emma likes surprises, she didn't tell us that she was going to have 4 solos. We were more than surprised!

(I apologize for the picture quality. Terrible!)

At the end of the concert all of the bands went onstage to sing the Hallelujah chorus, and everyone in the audience stood and sang along. It was very moving.

We are so proud of our songstress. She practiced every free minute and is so brave to sing on the stage in front of hundreds of people. Love you!!

On the 14th of December, my true love gave to me...

...an unexpected furry gift!

He's 8 weeks old and completely adorable. We are still trying to figure out what to name him. Lola is very funny with him; equal parts of wanting to play with him and bite him. By MOnday I'm sure they will be the best of friends.

It's all about the presents

The acquisition of gifts for family and friends has begun in earnest.

This year, as well as every other year in recent memory, the people who are easy to shop for are very easy to shop for; the people who are hard to shop for are very hard to shop for.

Add in 2 December birthdays and an anniversary (ours), and gift giving can become downright stressful.

I'm about 75% finished with my shopping. It's just those tricky, hard to buy for people that are throwing me for a loop.

Online shopping has been my friend this year, and many of my gifts have come delivered by the happy brown truck. Last week, I averaged 2 packages a day. I've placed several more orders, so I'm expecting next week will be busy as well.

I was very surprised an happy to receive a chocolatey package from my friend Jen yesterday. She was extolling the virtues of Vosges bars, and I may have said that I would cut a bitch for one of their bars. She sent three:)

Next up: Christmas cards. I am falling behind this year!

Hello, December

Two of Lola's favorite (non-people) things:

warm laundry and sunbeams.

When I'm carrying the laundry basket

she will race me to the bedroom and jump on the bed in anticipation

of freshly laundered, warm clothes to snuggle in.

I always pretend to be irritated,

but who doesn't love warm clothes from the dryer?

And the only sunbeams that come into our house in the afternoon

happen to fall right across our bed. Conveniently.

Spoiled rotten.

Novemblur

I have posted one time in November. That is an all time low for me!

I have taken even fewer photographs. I don't know why I don't think to take more. I have to get better at that again! I used to love to take pictures.

Anywho, here's a run down of what we've been doing this month:

• November is a big birthday month. Evan, my Mom, my Stepmom, and my Mother-in-law all have birthdays in November. We ate lots of cake.
• We hosted Thanksgiving. I cleaned house for 2 days and Bart did 99% of the cooking. It was a nice day. Food was delicious and everyone was happy.
• Evan played futsál every weekend.
• I continue to go to the chiropractor several times a week. My back is feeling pretty good...now if I can just get my neck to co-operate then I will be great!
• Leaves. Lots and lots of leaves. At our house. My dad's house. My mom's house.
• My etsy store has been busy! I have been knitting pretty constantly to have items in stock.

Add in all the other everyday stuff a mom does, and it's been busy around here, but not too crazy. I like November for it's pared down schedule.

Less than a month to Christmas. Holy Cow!

five good things: October 2011

Ack! Once again November has snuck up on me. A whole week flew by and I'm staring at the second week of November. Seriously? STOP MOVING SO FAST!

And I haven't felt like posting anything in forever, so now I have tons of things circling thru my mind that I will never get around to saying.

So here is my list of 5 good things from October!

1. The end of the soccer season. This is not actually true. Practices started right back up this week. However, I no longer am driving to Canton a few times a week, nor are there any regular games scheduled for either kid. Evan's team is playing futsal, while Emma's team is not doing anything as of this moment. She will be training and conditioning for high school tryouts over the winter. I suddenly have free time again!

2. My Chiropractor. 2 weeks ago, Sunday morning, I woke up fine. An hour later, after vegging on the couch reading, I was unable to move my legs. Monday morning was no better, so I called a local chiropractor to see if I could get an adjustment. They took tons of X-rays, which showed all sorts of painful things going on in my body.

Luckily I am able to reverse many of them and eliminate my pain. I love this doctor. I should have gone years ago, with all the headaches and neck pain I have. I am a believer!

3. Lunch with friends! I was lucky enough to find time to meet up with three friends this month...Lisa, Judy & Kirsty. I want to try to meet up with someone every week this month, if I can.

4. Emma made the Freshman Select Choir. She was very nervous and didn't think she stood a chance, but was chosen over many girls with vocal training and who perform other places. We couldn't be prouder of her, and can't wait to attend her first concert!

5. October TV. It's no secret that I love TV. It's a big part of our lives. Two of my very favorite shows returned this month, Dexter and The Walking Dead. And just in case you weren't clear that we like freaky tv shows, we've added in American Horror Story, which is the weirdest of them all! Sooooo good it's scary. Disturbing. I love it.

6. Michigan State besting U of M. Again. Enough said :)

7. Fall splendor. October was a gorgeous month, with lots of warm days and cool nights. Fall is my favorite season...I just wish it would last a little longer. This October has probably been the best weather wise in many years. Almost makes the onslaught of winter tolerable. Almost.

Dem Bones

Last week my bones revolted and overthrew my body.

I didn't do one thing in particular to cause the revolution; it was more of a progressive slide into total unhealthiness that did me in. When I woke up on Sunday, I was fine. An hour later, I couldn't move my legs without great pain.

I have been wanting to check out a local chiropractor for a few months now. I sleep poorly, and am always throwing my neck out of whack. And with all the knitting I do, I have been having a lot of pain in my elbow and shoulder, to the point of hardly knitting for weeks on end. I wanted to see if I could get an adjustment and help prevent further occurrences like these.

Obviously, the need became urgent on Monday when I could still hardly move.

I called the doctor in the local phone book, and they were able to get me in right away. He did x -rays, moist heat, traction, and finally an adjustment. Pure relief.

The x-rays showed that I had several lumbar vertebra out of alignment, and that my pelvis was torqued to the left. I have some degeneration in my neck, and bone spurs that are aggravating the nerve.

The good news is, that most of this can be reversed. I am continuing to go in for 14 adjustments, and in the meantime working on strengthening my core. So, crunches. Lovely.

The other thing I have to do is try to sleep on my back, which is a lot harder than you would think. I flip flop all over, 30 times a night. Laying flat on my back is unnatural to me. I'm hoping a new core pillow will help.

So friends, treat you back nicely and strengthen your core!

The Reveal...Emma's room

Sorry to keep you waiting for the 'money shot' as my husband so lovingly called it. Between cloudy, rainy days,and teen messiness, the room was not suitable for photographing.

Here is the finished room!

The blinds will be replaced soon, hopefully. Emma keeps looking at curtains. She likes the expensive ones, naturally.

The rug took over a month to arrive, because Pottery Barn kept sending the wrong color. Like 3 times. Every time they messed up, Bart would call and they'd offer another discount. Hey, we like discounts!

The floor photographs very dark, but there is a lot of tonal variation throughout. I really like the dark wood...the main problem being dog hair. I vacuumed the room to take this photo and already I can see white hairs all over.

Lola thinks the rug is cozy! It's perfectly placed in a late day sunbeam :)

Thanks for all the kind words about our DIY project!

This is Halloween

My friend Sharyn posted this today, and I have to steal it because it's the coolest thing I have ever seen. I wish I was cool enough to do this to my house. Enjoy!

Emma's room redeux part 2

Here's the stripped down bare floor

Bart and my dad laying down the underlayment

Working across the room

Working in the closet

The finished floor

Evan & I went to his soccer game in the morning and by the time we came home, Bart & Emma had ripped up the carpet, pad and staples. Time to do the hard work!

The underlayment was tricky to work with. It is basically a moisture barrier, and only has one sticky edge on it. The trick is to lay it down and not overlap it, or to have any wrinkles, which was nearly impossible considering we had to walk on it.

Bart, Greg & my Dad started in front of the closet, alternating long & short boards, marking what needed to be cut. Emma was the runner, running pieces out to Bart's Dad who was manning the circular saw. I watched for awhile, and then Bart let me do the majority of the room. For anyone who knows my husband, this is a big deal. He never relinquishes control, and I usually just stand around. Not on this project! Of course he came back and finished it off and did the closet, but I was happy that I got to do some of the work too!

Emma's room redeux part 1

Sometime in the last 2 years, my 14 year old daughter has been bitten by the decorating bug. She watches all the shows on HGTV with her dad, and has very specific opinions about how things should look.

As if 14 year olds didn't have enough opinions.

She started nagging us for hardwood flooring in her room last year. We pretty much ignored her for as long as we could. Hardwood flooring is expensive. Time to install the floor was nonexistent. She kept on us though. Her Dad caved.

Here are some before pix of her room, with (according to her) the world's nastiest carpet. Girl, you sadly were too young to remember the really nasty stuff that was in this house when we moved here!

Tomorrow I will post pictures of the new and improved bedroom!

Homecoming

This past weekend was homecoming, Emma's first big event of High school.

Dress shopping was fun and painless...she found something she loved in three hours or less. She found some friends to go with and a place to dine, and was all set until the big day.

I may be a little biased, but I think she was the most beautiful girl in town.

Maxie came over to help with makeup and jewelry :)