Falling down

I know I haven't written for a while and its not for lack of things to talk about. Its just that whenever I think about it I am either home and frustrated with a falling down house or just starting to fall asleep. When I am frustrated I don't want to blog because I hate complaining and when I'm tired its because well, I'm tired.

Silver Antiqued Ornaments

Years ago I saw directions for silvering glass ornaments in Martha Stewart Living and since I love mercury glass our tree has since been decorated with silvered ornaments. Three moves, four kids later we need more ornament (they reflect the light beautifully.) I went to the Martha Stewart website and could not find the directions anywhere; luckily I remember how I did it last time (I think.)

You need a box of glass, not shatterproof, ornaments, ammonia, water, a glass measuring cup, and a small funnel (if you have it.) Carefully remove the ornaments from the divider and take out the clip in the top. Place the ornaments back in the divider facing top up. (Ammonia is a chemical and the instructions on the back should be read and followed.)
Fill half of your glass measuring cup with ammonia and half with water, you need a 50/50 mixture.
Fill the ornaments with the ammonia/water mix and leave overnight.
The next day pour out the chemical and rinse carefully under cool water. you may want to place a paper towel in the sink to catch any paint that comes off the outside of the ornament. You should have a nice cloudy effect that resembles an antique ornament. Not all ornaments work and each ornament has a different effect.
This year I used Walmart brand silver ornaments, I realized they are already silver, but I wanted antiqued. I used the silver ornaments because the clip was silver and not gold. Thrift store ornaments work great because it doesn't matter if they are scratched. See the cloudy, not overly shiny, uneven silver color? That is what I love.
Every ornament reacts differently, this is a try at your own risk project, but for around $2 a dozen I'm okay with that. And sometimes the ones that don't work out have a nice effect.

Do not swerve

The other day I was instructed as to what to do if I hit an animal. I remember when I was a kid my dad would tell a joke about a man who hit a cat. You know, "No what did the cat look like before you hit him?" I have forever been afraid of hitting anything, bird, cat, dog, and especially deer.

Apparently in rural Texas it is not if, but when. (And judging by the number of stray dogs, cats, and chickens, I am not surprised.

So here is what I was told to do when I hit an animal:

1. Once you know you are going to hit it take your foot off the gas, but do not put it on the brake.

2. Make sure your hands are at ten and two and do not swerve. The hit is inevitable at this point, so don't make it worse by rolling your car.

3. Hold tight to the wheel and try to maintain control. Obviously the size of the animal will affect your ability to maintain control.

So now I am officially terrified of hitting anything. Did I mention I have to drive for everything? The girl's school is 15-20 minutes away and we see deer almost everyday.

Gift Wrap Party Planning

During the holidays it is always difficult to get together with friends. My favorite way is to have a gift wrapping party. The party starts after bedtime, so we aren't taking time away from families and we are wrapping presents, a chore that should never be done alone.

The secret is to keep it simple. I send out an invitation by email (its all about easy), supply tape and scissors and set up stations. We have a supplies station...

and a hot chocolate station.
I move the furniture back so we can wrap on the floor, put in some Christmas music, and that's it. Everyone brings a bag of treats to keep us going and we wrap presents into the wee hours. The conversation is great, the preparation is minimal, and at the end of the party I've even accomplished something. It doesn't get much better.

Over at A Little Great today.

Our New Home

The last couple of weeks have been a blur. We arrived at our new house late after two long days of driving. Evan had gone ahead with the truck, so we had beds set up when we arrived, but the house wasn't quite what we had hoped. We learned the hard way that it had been vacant for three years and the owner had been unable to check on it.

The heater/air conditioning didn't work, the oven didn't work, the dishwasher, refrigerator, some of the electricity (which isn't grounded), the hot water in the master bathroom, all didn't work. Some things are getting fixed, some we are learning to deal with. Evan rewired the cable so we could have TV and internet, however the first internet box the cable company gave us was broken so our internet was patchy. (The kids put on a concert to make me smile.)

So with that, I thought I would share the best, worst, and funniest things about our new home.

The best is definitely the tree in front. All the trees on the property are beautiful, but this tree is amazing. Every time I tell someone where we live they say, "Oh, the house with the tree." It is a city landmark and hundreds of years old. The kids asked why there are trees in the middle of the road, to which I say, "The trees were here first, the roads were built around them."

Oh, and the chandelier is pretty amazing too. However cleaning it is not.

The worst thing was the carpet, but it got cleaned, so it is a little better. It is still disintegrating though and that clogs my vacuum. Now the worst I think is the oven, at best it cooks inconsistently, at worst it burns. Thanksgiving was a treat. We ended up cooking our turkey on the grill.

The funniest is the bidet. And that's saying a lot once you see

all

the
wallpaper.

We have had some of the funniest moments concerning the bidet. When we were getting our carpets cleaned we moved a lot of things into the bathroom (which is bigger than Maisy's old bedroom.) Jack came running in, "Mom, dad put a box on the bidet and that is gross!"