A Few Things

The trees in Nashville are gorgeous! Too bad we have all those electrical wires to detract from the view! I plan to scrapbook this for just that reason. 50 or 100 years from now, the trees might still be gorgeous, but I think people will be amazed that this was how we got our power.

I passed this beautiful old building on my way from downtown. I had never noticed it before---it's not on my usual route. Then I noticed this on the front:
 Who knew? I thought this was just some far out religious group that only celebrities belonged to! On second thought, we do have a lot of celebrities in Music City.

 These are the Halloween eggs I made this year. I remember seeing them on some blog, but didn't keep it. I never really thought I would make them. Then I needed a project for my day group. I started with plastic Easter eggs---any color. Then we paper mached strips of book print. After they dried, we painted them with watered down acrylic paint so the print would show through. I put a little too much water n the purple ones. Add ribbon and a stick on Halloween icon. Pile them up in a little bowl.

 When we were in Charlotte a couple of weeks ago, Stephanie sent this gift of chocolates for Mitchell.

 This is what he found when he opened it up. Perfect for a "sweet" 16 birthday. Clever, Steph!

 And here is that 16 year old boy. He is well over 6ft. He's so sweet---his gift from Steph was perfect.

 Another family member converted!! Actually, Macs are what Mitchell's new school uses. He likes it.

Mindy texted this to us last week after sending us a picture of the fire engine red camaro she rented for the week. She's living "high."

Just me out running errands.

Tomorrow a few pictures from our trip to D.C. I'd planned to blog from there, but forgot my camera cord. Later...

It's all in the details...

There are so many little things that I love in Sandy's house. They are the kinds of things, that I would never have thought about.

 I think the gingerbread trim on the stair risers is so darn cute.

 Unfortunately, this window seat looks over the neighbors driveway and garage. Still, it's a bright and sunny spot.

 I don't think I've ever seen wainscoting on the upper hallway walls before. It's a nice touch to break up all that wall space.

 These tiny little ceramic tiles are all the rage these days. I like that some of them are clear. It's a cool look.

 And here is the restaurant size refrigerator. Each side is equal to a regular size refrigerator.

 Basically, it's a gigantic side-by-side. She doesn't have the freezer side filled yet. The refrigerator side allows them to keep ALL of their cases of drinks inside. The only drawback I see is that Sandy is going to have to allow an entire day to clean it out!!

 Even the mailboxes are cute.

And this is really cool. I've never seen this before. Basically, you sweep your crumbs up to it, flip the switch and it's a vacuum. It's part of the central vac system.

They have a million light switches and haven't even begun to figure them all out yet. Of course, it's only been three weeks. I think they've done a fabulous job getting so much done.

We're all going to Charlotte for Thanksgiving. It'll be wild and crazy, but so much fun. I can't wait! I'm sure this little vacuum "thingy" will get a lot of use then.

I Did IT!

This morning, as I was brushing my teeth, I made a monumental decision. After two years of taking off my shoes, I've decided to go ahead and walk on the white carpet in my bedroom. Here's the story:

If you recall, when I replaced my carpeting a couple of years ago, we went with white again---even though it drove me nuts the first time around (15 years). Any other color just didn't look right. Plus, you think in the bedroom it just wouldn't get so much wear. That's wrong.

Right away, I started out requesting that everyone take off their shoes when they walk in there. Pretty much everyone ignored me. Then I demanded that everyone take off their shoes. Well, except for Margarita (my cleaning lady)----we have that communication problem. So, everyone else was supposed to take off their shoes. I took mine off 100% of the time. I'd say Butch took his off, maybe, 50% of the time. Then it happened. A couple of months ago, I lit in to him about 2 small spots on the carpet. I got them out, but you know how that goes. Spots just don't stay gone. After a little while, they "come up" again. It bothers me really bad. I know I'm over the top about some things. It's just my OCD tendencies. But I made the decision to NOT let this get to me anymore. If the carpet looks like crap, we'll just replace it. Done. So, I did it. I walked on the carpet twice today. The first time was easy because my shoes were new. This evening was a little harder. I went back to the door mat and wiped them off really good. Then I walked on it. It didn't feel good. I guess I don't really have it under control yet. I'm trying.

In the meantime, I thought I posted this recipe a while ago. Somehow I typed it up, but didn't publish the post. My favorite cake of all time---hands down:

Oatmeal Cake
Pour 1 1/4 cups boiling water over 1 cup oatmeal and 1/2 cup butter or margarine. Let stand 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add:
1 cup white sugar and 1 cup of brown
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/3 cups flour
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
Mix and bake in an oblong pan at 350 for 35 minutes.

Topping:
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 egg yolk (beaten)
3/4 cup cream
Stirring constantly, cook on medium until mixture comes to a boil. Continue to cook for 5 minutes.
Remove from heat and add 1 cup coconut and 1/2 cup chopped pecans. Let cool and spread on cooled cake.

More Photos of Sandy's House

 I forgot to include Victoria and Elizabeth's bathroom. It's really cute---this picture does not do it justice.

 Sandy and Greg's bedroom is huge. There's plenty of room for a lounge chair and table.

 The master bath.

 The rec room. Sandy didn't really want the pool table, but the boys won out. There's a wet bar with a refrigerator and microwave.

 This is actually a large walk-in closet in the rec room. They turned it in to a playroom for the girls.

 This is the downstairs bathroom.

This is the old dining room furniture. It's on the way out as it is dwarfed in their big dining room.

 The family room.

 The screened porch.The floor is really pretty. I think it's a stained teak.

 Looking out in to the yard from the porch.

 The backyard is nice and big, but there is hardly any grass. We think the previous owners were gardeners since there are so many plant beds.

Last, but not least, is the living room. I have a rug in the attic that just might be perfect in here.

That's it for all the rooms. Tomorrow, I'll show you some of the awesome details.

Jordan Excels!

Before continuing on with the Lapps home tour, I want to go back to last Tuesday. We met Stephanie, Jordan, her friend, Alex, her boyfriend, Spencer and Morgan for dinner to celebrate Jordan's straight A report card. We went to Applebees---one of her favortie places. The food is always good. Plus, it doesn't break the bank. Gotta love that! Their 2 for $20 dinners can't be beat!

 Alex on the left---who goes to MTSU (Middle Tennessee State University) came in for the "party."

All of us, except for me who was behind the camera.

It's a little hard to read the comments, but one of her teachers commented that  Jordan is an "articulate communicator." What? Jordan? She's usually pretty quiet and can be downright grumpy if she's not in the mood to talk! Just like I've always said---as long as they know how to act when you let them out of their cages....

More on the Lapps report tomorrow.

The Lapps House

I've taken a bunch of pictures, so I'll just post a few at a time.

They live on a quite cul-de-sac.

This is Elizabeth's room. On here dresser were a couple of cute notes she got from her little friends. I took a picture of them, but she would not give me permission to post them.  Notes are such a girl thing---and they do start early. E is in the 2nd grade.

 Elizabeth is really in to peace signs. She's going as a "groovy girl" for Halloween.

The thing I love the most about moving is that you start with everything in perfect order again. I have to say, Sandy keeps her closets pretty much like this all the time.

She has lost her front tooth. I can't believe how big she's getting. 7 years old. You can see her baby afghan in the background that her great-grandmother made for her.

 Victoria went for purple and yellow this time. She's over all the little girlie stuff. She's 12 now, so I guess it's time.

 Victoria went shopping with us today. It's so much fun to get her opinion about things. She helped me pick out a couple of birthday presents.

 Mitchell's room. He did all the decorating himself. Sandy said she had to air it out and wash everything. Apparently, his teenage, athletic shoes, boy odor, and sweaty sports clothing tend to permeate the room. She did a good job, because we did not smell a thing that was "off."

 He decorated his bathroom too. Notice anything out of place?

I guess it's a boy "thing."

More to come...