Always Busy at the Fulwiler's

When we bought our house the walls and steps to the basement had never been finished. A few months ago we painted the walls but never did anything with the steps. I know, I know everyone says "they are steps that go to your basement, why does it matter"?  Well I'm sorry, but they just looked nasty and I couldn't stand it.  We had several buckets of leftover paint so I mixed a couple colors together and came up with a color close to a wood tone. We had leftover stain to update the handrails which looked so much better once we finished them. I bought an inexpensive stencil, candle holder and hung a wreath -wah lah, a cute, clean staircase.  I have thought about putting a glaze on the stairs to bring out the wood grain a little more, but that will have to wait. We are now in the process of changing out our fireplace mantle.

I liked this stencil because I believe you should never give up on your dreams!

I also bought a large box of apples from a lady at work who was selling them for her childs school. I have been wanting to try my cooking skills at homemade apple butter. I found a recipe on cooks.com that seemed easy enough. OMGoodness it turned out amazing and other than peeling a ton of apples it is really easy to make. We will definitely be making this again next year or when we run out of our favorite treat on toast or biscuits.

As you can see we've already been enjoying the sweet, cinnamonie treat!

Dinner with Friends

I have known Leslie since I was 18 years old and every time we get together it is like time stood still. I had them over for dinner and of course there were tons of laughs and stories! I fixed one of my favorite "can't mess up" pasta dinners and apple dumplings with vanilla ice cream for dessert. The following weekend they invited us over for dinner - it was awesome!  Jim hung a couple of lights for them so you know I was excited about anything to do with decorating! ;-)
Long-time friends are the best and these two are such sweet, dear friends!

Christmas at Malisha and Eric's

I had to borrow these photos from Malisha! They are just too cute! Elizabeth was excited and came running down the hall.

She loves her Elmo and calls him "mo".

This little sweetie brings me so much joy and I love her to the moon, around the world and back!

Christmas Day 2014

Christmas was extra special this year!  All of us were together on Christmas day as a family - the first time in several years! (Big smile on my face)  As you can see from the pictures below - Elizabeth was the "Star" of the day!  She is 20 months old, curious about everything, sweet, funny and has stolen everyones heart!  Mamaw and Papaw may have gone a little overboard with the toys and clothes for her, but that is what grandparents are for! Note: there seems to be some fur babies in almost every photo. Not to worry - they received Christmas gifts also!

Notice how high Maddie is jumping! I'm getting the stockings Santa left for them full of treats and squeaky toys.

Elizabeth loves her new ride!

Yes, we got her two riding toys. Hey, this plays music and has Minnie Mouse on it - she had to have it!  :-)

 

Daddy had a lot of help opening gifts.

Papaw got a new vice for Christmas but Elizabeth thought it was a new "seat" for her.

 

Sean is still a little boy at heart. He loved his R2D2 card from Elizabeth.

I love all the monogrammed things Malisha makes!

The snowballs were a hit with Elizabeth.

 

Snuggle time!

 

Mommy, the roads in this house are too cluttered.

Cheesie!!!

They are so happy and make such a sweet couple!

Christmas was so much fun. After opening gifts we had a wonderful meal and enjoyed the rest of the evening relaxing! God is great!