Fa-La-La Faux Mantle La-La La-La

Well it's been quite awhile since my last blog post, but I'm going to try and start up again. Cue the applause! Even if I don't have a ton (or even a handful) of followers, I think it will be nice to document some of our family activities as well as some of our home updates. By the way, I have BIG plans for our 1960's split-level home, so hopefully, I can use this blog to record our progress into making it all ours! Since Christmas is right around the corner, I thought it fitting to share some photos of my faux mantle, or fantle, I decorated for Christmas. It's actually a sofa table in our living room, but come December, it's our mantle...err, Fantle.

 

I couldn't decide whether I wanted to use fake or live garland. I love live greens in decorations, but I was worried about it ruining the wood on the table. I then searched the local stores for fake garland, but I couldn't find anything I liked that was reasonably priced. Then, after seeing a Pinterest post about making your own boxwood wreath, a light bulb went off...we have boxwood shrubs in our backyard! So I quickly took the girls outside with a pair of scissors, which I ended up having to replace with gardening shears, and gave our boxwood shrub a good pruning. The branches were fairly dry, so I didn't worry about moisture ruining the wood table. The only issue now is that they seem to be getting too dry. Maybe, I'll have to get some fresh clippings to replace the dried out ones mid-December.

 

I made the glitter trees last Christmas using craft styrofoam cones, glitter scrapbook paper and pushpins. I wish I could take credit for this idea, but alas, I found it online. This was before Pinterest, though, so I don't have a link to where I found it. For the hurricane candle holders, I wanted faux cranberries. After searching all over town and online to find out no one sells fake cranberries, I had to get creative. I thought about buying the twigs with berries intended for wreaths and floral arrangements and cutting the berries off one by one, but that seemed like too much work for not many berries (not to mention, those branches can be pricey when you need a large quantity). Anyway, I hit the jackpot when I found some red wood bead garland at Target. At $4 for one garland, I couldn't go wrong. I simply filled the base with faux snow that I also found at Target and cut the string on the garland to fill around the candle with beads.

 

 

Here are a few night shots. I apologize for the blurry photos. I'm still learning how to use my DSLR camera. Hopefully, working more diligently on this blog will help me improve my photography skills as well.

Happy Halloween!

With the arrival of Mia, things have been a bit busy around the Ackerman household, so my blog posts are slightly out of order. Last year, Olivia dressed up and went trick-or-treating (mostly in our arms), but she was still too young to fully enjoy Halloween. This year, however, Halloween was so much fun as Olivia was old enough to really enjoy and understand the concept of trick-or-treating. For the entire week leading up to the big day, Olivia "practiced" trick-or-treating around the house, carrying her bucket and knocking on imaginary doors or walls saying "trick-or-treat," "thank you" and "Happy Halloween" and placing imaginary candy into her bucket. She regularly recruited me and Peter and my parents when they visited to trick-or-treat with her. It was so cute!

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to go with her door-to-door as it would have been too cold to venture out with Mia, but Olivia had a blast with her Daddy! Peter said she was unstoppable, going house to house. "One more house," she would exclaim. Some other parents even commented on how good she was at keeping pace with their older kids for only being two years old. Together, Daddy and Olivia made quite the haul in candy!!

Boo...Whoo...Whoo...Here comes Olivia the Owl!

Watch out! Olivia is ready to get some candy!

Our final stop was my parent's house per Olivia's request. She liked the pumpkin decorations hanging from the tree along their front walkway.

Mia in Fruitport

After church last Sunday, the four of us drove out to Fruitport to introduce Mia to her Great Grandpa and Grandma Ackerman. We had a wonderful dinner together, and everyone enjoyed Olivia and Mia!

Our Newest Addition

On Sunday, October 17th at 11:49 am, we welcomed Mia Rose into our family. She weighed 6 lbs 15.4 oz and was 19 inches long. She is a beautiful and perfect addition to our family with her striking steel blue eyes, dark brown/black hair, olive complexion, and long skinny fingers and toes.

Peter and me in the labor room, awaiting the delivery of our little girl.

6 lbs 15.4 oz

Mia's first picture with her Mom & Dad, courtesy of Dr. Menapace.

Big Sister Olivia was so excited about meeting Mia!

Our new family of four!

Mia's first bath. Olivia enjoyed watching Mia get her first bath and requested a bath for herself too.

Olivia made a special card for her baby sister while she was at my parent's house. Peter and Olivia came back to the hospital to visit Mia and me before going home for the night.

Olivia stickered Mia with some of the stickers from her card.

My two girls!!

House Guest

This evening Maggie came to over to our house. We are watching her for the weekend while Aunt Julie and Uncle Jay visit Mom and Dad. Olivia was so excited to see her four-legged friend.

Oohh! Maggie kissed Olivia!

Saying goodbye to Aunt Julie.

Playground Playdate

Yesterday afternoon, we met Lindsay and Jenna at Wealthy Park Elementary's playground for a quick playdate. We had tried to schedule a playground playdate last week, but it ended up raining on our planned day. Yesterday, though, the weather was perfect...sunny with the temperature in the low 80's. Olivia had a fun time playing with Jenna. She was a pro at swinging on the swings, going down the big windy slides, and even climbing up the ladders, which the spaces between the rungs were almost as wide as her little body. Jenna was great at playing with Olivia on the playground; although, when we were leaving in our cars, Jenna said, "Olivia wears me out." She also went on to say, "Olivia has lots of energy...too much energy."

Olivia swung on the regular swings for a long time. Jenna put her on the swing and gave her some big pushes, and Olivia did great at balancing and hanging on tight to the chains. She even let go with one hand once to wave to Aunt Lindsay.

While swinging, Olivia chanted, "La la la" and "weeeeee."

This was the ladder that really scared me, but Olivia climbed up it like a pro!

I wanted a cute picture of Jenna and Olivia sitting or standing together under the tree, and since Olivia is hard to direct for any photo shots, I asked her to hug the tree simply to entice her to head toward the tree. Jenna and Olivia both took my request literally. This isn't what I had in mind...oh well.

This shot is a little better.

Jumping on the bridge.

Happy First Day of Autumn!

Our fall leaf cookies in celebration of the first day of Autumn.