Frisco Christmas Light Shows

Every year there's a house near us that does a light show at Christmas. It's incredibly orchestrated and we love to drive by each year! This guy also does the light show for Frisco Square. If you haven't been by the Square, you should totally go (and eat at Josephine's)! We actually did this with the Pharrs Tuesday night! They said it's SO much cooler than anything they have in NYC. Okay they didn't say that at all. ;)

Anyway, I digress...this house is a ball to visit and I finally got a bit of it on video:


I don't recommend shooting video or pictures of a light show with your iPhone. :/ But here are my adorable boys!

Give me an "R"!......."R!"

No really, I need an R! In the meantime, I'll be so excited about these snazzy new coffee mugs that I scooped up at Anthropologie with Christmas money. And about being the Eynolds! ;) 

"R" back ordered until Jan 2012 :D

Sail away...

Joss & Main vendors are so speedy! Here it is in all it's glory...as pretty and detailed in person as it appeared online. It can be so scary ordering online sometimes. Especially when it's "final sale". Eek.

About 18" by 18" if I had to guess.

I guess there's no turning back now. Especially because I think an equestrian theme could be really fun! :/

"I'm on a boat!" - revisited

I fear that I'll look back on this blog in 20 years and not even understand any of my pop culture references ...[Mama, don't watch that...]


A couple of updates on Grayson's big boy room...I know it's boring but besides the Pinterest board I created, this is the best place to keep track of it all. Sooo....


Who is as freaking STOKED about this sailboat as I am?!

What?? No one? Not one of you?! Okay, but I got it for $15, originally $70 at Joss and Main, and I can't freaking wait to play with it! Not that it's a toy. Can't wait to tell Grayson that IT'S NOT A TOY!!  7,000 times. ;)


Rope tie-backs are my next big exciting thing. Ideally with horizontal navy striped curtains that Beau is threatening to make me make (got that?) but who knows. 

Okay so this is looking more Jesus-Moses-cloakish
but think more "I'm on a boat-ish"

This is so predictable and I have sworn since Spring that I wouldn't buy it...but it's officially on sale at the Land of Nod. And you know I'm a sucker for a deal. But what boy needs that many throw pillows?! Remember the 4 I threatened here?

A little cliche, yes?

Lastly, we have had a change of plans with moving directly to a twin bed (as opposed to transitioning to a toddler bed). Mainly because we were offered an alternative for free, which they had me at the word "free". So Grayson will be moving into a toddler bed first, which means that the Restoration Hardware bedding I have been seriously obsessing over since April can be mine all mine. At final sale price too! 

Yeah, yeah, yeah so this option isn't technically free if I have to buy this and the yellow isn't in our color scheme but this is the bedding I initially based the entire room around (besides that picture of Grayson in front of the lit up captains wheel) and I can't even believe they still have it and at almost 1/2 price. [breathe]

Smile!

Beau taught Grayson to smile on demand and it's the cutest, squintiest, toothiest, fakest smile I've ever seen. ;)

Christmas 2011 Recap

I just wish I could freeze time! Everything seems to be flying by and all I have is this blog to freeze-frame it all! :) I'm so appreciative of Beau for taking so many good pictures. If it weren't for him, I wouldn't even have pictures for memories. 


Christmas Eve
The 3 of us met my mom and grandmother at church for the 2pm children's service. I mentioned last year that this is an absolute HOOT. Organized chaos at its finest and I just love being a part of it! This was my first, last and thus only time to dress Grayson in a corduroy longall! He looked so stinkin' precious but any older and he couldn't have pulled it off. Here is the only picture we got of it :( The smocking was a Nativity scene - it so pretty in person...

Grayson fell asleep before we left the church parking lot and continued to sleep well into the afternoon. We arrived at my parents' house just in time to open gifts before their guests showed up. 

Grayson loved his custom nap mat! His name is on the inside and outside.
I know, I'm out of control.

Thanking Ma for the nap mat!

We had a lot of family and even some sweet friends show up for some wine and fun (shout out Anderson family!). I say this every holiday but I hope to be able to decorate/cook/bake like my mom someday....

Christmas morning
The first 20 minutes were interesting. Grayson woke up in the worst mood I've probably ever seen him in. He was in an absolute fit to the point that we thought he was sick or his stomach was hurting. We sound like novice parents but he hasn't been sick since he was like 9 months old (yes, we have been VERY lucky) so we didn't know WHAT was going on. Still don't because he warmed up to the gifts around the tree after about 5 or so minutes of crankiness. Anyway, we had a good time with the new gifts. They were welcomed since he hasn't had anything new in a while and this house was getting old to him. :(


We were proud of ourselves for keeping the # of gifts under control. It's just so much fun for the parents so I see now how people go overboard.

The kitchen and work bench came from Craigslist, which means
no assembly required - score! The baseball tee, soccer goal and basketball
hoop all have mouths that move and talk - creepy! But fun. Oh, and some
coloring books under the tree. 

Black & Decker work bench 

Oh good that jigsaw makes sawing noises.

Taking a break to eat chocolate

Aww, the only pic I have of Beau and he's blinking. Or 1/2 asleep.

Playing with his food that he later tried to use the tools on.

Shelby wanted to eat too :)

Y'ALL. By the end of the day, he could take a screw, put it in a hole,
grab the screwdriver and screw it in. That took me like 15 years to figure out.

Mimi and Pop came over later!

Reindeer stuffed animal from another Mimi (Aunt Gayle's mom)!

Pop liked the work bench just as much :)

Christmas Day
We headed to Beau's grandparents' home in Boyd, near Beau's hometown. Nothing could have prepared us for the Christmas experience there! Beau's mom and sister and brother went above and beyond to give us all an incredible experience. Just when we thought everything had been opened, they would wheel or carry out more! I had tears. It was really cool to see Grayson and his cousin Payton with so much joy and Christmas spirit surrounding them. We all had so much fun!

I looooove this outfit :)

Grayson and his cousin Payton

Grand Finale gifts - they are so cool!

Christmas Evening
We headed back to Dallas for dinner at Uncle Jimmy and Aunt Gayle's house. They had about 25-30 of us over and it's always so special! I wish we had some pictures! Grayson has so much fun exploring their home. Different stairs, hallways and rooms to explore. There are also many doors he can sneak out of as he gets older so we'll really have to keep an eye on this mischievous boy as he grows up! 


Beau and I talked a lot about how richly blessed we are. We also talked about the vast extremes of personal experiences our friends are going through these days. While some are getting married and welcoming babies into the world, others are dealing with great loss and heartache. It doesn't seem fair really (although I know it's not right to think that way). I pray that 2012 brings new beginnings and blessings for everyone! We love you all! 

2011 Goals Update

I thought it would be fun to circle back to our 11 Goals for 2011 to see what exactly we accomplished and what will be pushed to our 2012 Goals. I really enjoyed setting these with Beau and it was a great feeling of accomplishment when we actually hit one (when I actually remembered that it was a goal on this blog, of course). We haven't lived by this list (sadly) so who knows what will be checked off. Here goes...

1. Go to church most Sundays out of the year - Complete. I don't even like to see this as a goal because, for the first time in both of our lives, we WANT to go to church and ENJOY it. It's a no brainer. 
2. Continue to build our savings to a predetermined goal - Meh. We had some setbacks (ahem, emergency appendectomy that insurance isn't covering) but we aren't too bad off. I guess it could always be worse. We won't be retiring next year though. Bummer. :)
3. Strive to be a fun, active family - We could do so much better here. But this will ALWAYS be a goal, especially as Grayson gets older. 
4. Save for and purchase the much-desired Nikon D700 with lens/flash/battery/bag - Complete. Fortunately (or unfortunately?) we did this before the aforementioned appendectomy.
5. Replace the fence - COMPLETE! Amazing Husband Award goes to Beau. Hot, hot, hot hubby rebuilding 125 feet of fence with his bare hands, and a part of it in the rain. Think Sweet Home Alabama but with a hammer in my backyard in Frisco and less lightning hitting sand on the beach.
6. Beau - work predetermined hours of contract work - Complete. Thus we own a ridiculous camera.
7. Stacey - get ACA up and running and have it bringing in a preetermined amount by the end of the year - Nope, but what a blessing in disguise because it brought me to my current opportunity, which would be AMAZING if it pans out. Pray for me, folks! And if it happens, of course you'll hear more!
8. Get in shape  - Why is this on here? Who put this here?
9. Get the house organized/maximize space - Complete! So much progress! Our master closet had a major makeover and is a dream to walk into now. Guest closet is functioning better and the play room solved the toy problem. I mean blessing. Toy blessing.
10. Give back to the community - Complete-ish. We now have a set annual pledge to the church; I work as an assistant teacher at Sunday school and because of Beau's ludicrous schedule, he hasn't given a second thought to this. Just being honest. We also have a regular annual gift to St. Jude's but that's been kind of a thing for me anyway; I wish it could be more.
11. Stick to the budget - We're about 80/20 with this. Doing well for the most part but could be doing so much better on some weeks. We especially get wacky around the holidays. Why didn't someone tell me that presents for your child are A) SO MUCH FUN! and B) more about the parents than the kids (see point A). 

There you have it. Hopefully 2012 Goals coming soon! 

Plans for Grayson's (someday) big boy room

I started thinking about Grayson's big boy room almost as early as we planned the nursery. For fear of sounding completely annoying, it was more from an efficiency perspective than anything. I mean decorating is fun and all but when you have a small space and dreams of gaggles of children, you can't help but think through the logistics a bit. Since we only have 2 guest bedrooms, one will hopefully remain a nursery for a while (no I'm not pregnant but it's no secret that I hope to be again someday) and the other bedroom is now a playroom. That play room will, by default, need to be converted to an older kid's room. It just makes sense to move Grayson in there someday since the nursery is painted/set up for a baby.


Okay, got all that? Now for the fun stuff! Not to be Debbie Downer but Boy decor is BORING. I mean someday he will choose his own theme and if he goes with dinosaurs, astronauts or baseball stuff then so be it but while I have control, the ONLY thing that has interested me all this time is a nautical theme! This picture at my sister's Maine wedding back in April sealed that deal...how could I not NEED this picture framed in my house somewhere?!

LOVE that the photog captured Beau holding up Grayson!

I should also mention that Grayson won't be moving into his new room anytime soon since he's not a "big boy" yet but I'm digging that I can decorate that room slowly since it IS just a bare play room thus not sending Beau into sticker shock in one big month of buying/decorating. Brilliant?! I know.


I definitely wanted seersucker bedding and found this cover and pillowcase for THIRTY DOLLARS at Ikea. That's hitting the bedding jackpot. I can't wait to have the sham monogrammed with his name in red. 

We found some simple solid red sheets at Target for next to nothing. Now to determine if they remain soft. Cheap sheets scare me. I also have another site lined up for these who will monogram the end of the pillow case. Can you ever have too much monogramming? Probably. But not in my house!


So here are some items I've had marked as favorites on Etsy for far too long - time to make them public so I can see it all together...


Wall art, again all on Etsy...

Or this...

Or this...

Okay, so I really have no idea on walls.

Some throw pillows courtesy of Etsy that I'm thinking about...

I like this wall art to add more red in but who knows...

I'm mad at myself because I came across this bed frame (pay no mind to all the STUFF in this picture - it's too much!) for pennies on the dollar when Lone Star Baby closed their Dallas location. I stared at it forever but didn't pull the trigger because Grayson was still a baby and buying a big kid bed was just too premature. But of course now that I want it, it's 3 or 4x that price...

Never mind that I want white bedroom furniture for this room but Beau is adamant that white furniture is not for boys (sigh). But it makes so much SENSE for this look. But I guess he's right, when Grayson wants a football themed room at 8 or 10 y.o., he won't want white furniutre. I get it, I guess.


Maybe it's all meant to be though because I came across a guy in Frisco who builds headboards out of old doors - all the rage these days on Pinterest it seems...but how cool would this be? It's not technically white...but it doesn't scream 10 year old coolness either...

I'm already frustrated/bored with bed frames so moving on...to drapes. OF COURSE Beau and I threw away 4 sets of navy blue drapes that came with our house. We hung onto them for 2 years just in case we would need them so OF COURSE we did this 1 month before I decided that we could use a set in this room. Of course!


That's all I have so far. Send any ideas/pins my way! :)