How many? Only one.

Follow the star to a place unexpected

Would you believe after all we’ve projected

A child in a manger

Lowly and small, the weakest of all

Unlikeliest hero, wrapped in his mothers shawl

Just a child

Is this who we’ve waited for?

 Cause how many kings, stepped down from their thrones?

How many lords have abandoned their homes?

How many greats have become the least for me?

How many Gods have poured out their hearts

To romance a world that has torn all apart?

How many fathers gave up their sons for me?

How Many Kings is probably one of my most favorite contemporary Christmas songs.  If you have never heard it, i urge you to listen here:

It was all good until the Christmas Ninjas showed up.

Little boys.  They amuse me so.  This is what i found yesterday morning on the way through the living room.

Do you see it?  No?  Here...go in a little further...

Is that not hilarious?  Those poor villagers have no idea what's about to happen.  Those carolers up there? Totally clueless.

Hiding in the church...no santa in this chimney!

 Hmmm....  that's one way to raid a toy store.  After visiting ToysRUs yesterday - i kind of get that approach.

A Coastal Christmas

I

    Coastal Living

I was born here. 

A sunshine state baby, while my parents and all of the rest of my family hail from Virginia. 

The love the Blue Ridge mountains, while i love the blue water.  They can keep their mountains (it's a nice place to visit as the saying goes) but i will keep my beach.  And i can think of nothing prettier than a low country town decorated up for the holidays.

    Coastal Living

 I will take Savannah, Tybee, St. Simons, or Charleston.  I will use shells and sand coral while they decorate with snow and icicles.

       Completely Coastal

Thinking about a couple of different ideas.  Using my black PB lanterns from Homegoods on the front      porch, with my starfish and some evergreen.

Maybe move the pre-lit dining room tree to the lanai and put a live evergreen in a galvanized pot in it's place and decorate with some burlap and starfish and shells and i'm thinking feathers.  Is that crazy? Is burlap overdone? I'm thinking pheasant feathers - natural colors like creams, browns, sages.....not sure yet. 

Anyway, off to bed.  We're still in Tallahassee for the holiday. Heading home in the morning.  Enjoy the rest of your weekend girls :)




      

I survived - without Starbucks!

We survived :)  Back from an all boy adventure (plus a few moms) in the woods, with tents, and knives and some really big sandhill cranes. One of which wanted to fight me for a pancake.  I won. (But there was a moment when i almost let him have the darn thing).

I wanted to thank everyone that emailed me since my last post - that post really did come out of the clear blue when i was cleaning the kitchen the other day and i felt i had to write it down. Get it out.  And reading your words of encouragement in the emails i received was amazing and i thank each of you, from the bottom of my heart.  

We got home before 11am and we were still pretty wired so we started the process of christmas decorating.  The tree is up but it took awhile to get it fluffed out right from being packed away, and i can't decide what i want to do yet throughout the house - so i'm working up some inspiration....what do all of you have planned?

 Southern Living

 Southern Living

 

There's enough time. I think.

                                                 Simplify 101

I can't be the only one that does this - spring cleans in the fall?  

Our spring is usually spent outside the home - pressure - washing the house, cleaning the windows, screens.  Tearing out the bits of yard that didn't survive the winter and planting the garden.

The fall is when deep cleaning happens inside.  I usually plan out what needs to be done as a countdown to the Christmas holiday - something i got from Fly Lady.  I know everyone knows her - but it's true - without her game plan, i would be sunk before the malls ever put up the first Christmas tree of the season! Do you follow her?

http://www.flylady.net/pages/FlightPlan.asp

What I love the most is the plan never changes so you're never behind.  Your house is broken down into zones - and it's just repeated each month  - so if you start mid-month, no worries, you just cycle your way back through until the deep cleaning is complete!


I'm starting this week - and this week is the master bedroom.  But before i can get to this....

    from pottery barn

....I have to clean my little heart out!  (actually as cozy as that PB bedroom looks, i think flylady would be ALL over that stack of books and the clutter on the nightstands!)

Thankfully, i'm not left alone to my own devices - there is a playbook that tells me exactly what to do and the order to do it in.  Here is the master bedroom playbook for detailed cleaning you can find on her site:

MASTER BEDROOM - DETAILED CLEANING

1. POLISH FURNITURE
2. CLEAN OFF THE DESKS
3. CLEAN COBWEBS
4. WASH MATTRESS PAD/DUST RUFFLE
5. FLIP MATTRESS
6. EMPTY TRASH
7. WASH WINDOWS
8. CULL SOME BOOKS FROM BOOKCASE
9. STRAIGHTEN DRAWERS
10. CLEAN UNDER THE BED
CLOSET - DETAILED CLEANING
1. STRAIGHTEN THE TOP SHELVES
2. ARRANGE THE SHOES
3. TAKE SUITCASES TO BASEMENT
4. DUST SHOE BOOKCASE

If you want to start along with me - here is the schedule and i have already given you the link above - i'm ready for the most wonderful time of the year to be here! almost.

These are the zones for October - mark your calendars:

Zone 1: The Entrance, Front Porch and Dining Room (October 1)

Zone 2: The Kitchen (October 4 - 8)

Zone 3: The Bathroom and One Extra Room (October 12 - 15)

Zone 4: The Master Bedroom (October 18 - 22)

Zone 5: The Living Room (October 26 - 30)

Maybe i'll document in pics to make you all feel better about where I'm starting from! Misery loves company :)