Ship Shops & Pop Pops: the post that's too long to name

Those closest to me know exactly what happens when I get overwhelmed...

I shut down!

It's crazy, really. You'd think I could attack an overwhelming situation with a Rubbermaid box and a loaded label maker, but it just doesn't work that way for me. Actually, a Jekyll & Hyde sort of scenario plays out and I enter into a frozen state of mind.

For example, every time we have moved (and Lord knows we've done our fair share of that!), I shut down at the thought of packing or unpacking our entire house. Each time, I find myself walking around in circles, picking up and setting down the same plate 10 times. Thankfully, my sweet Mom and hubby know me well enough to jump in when they find me that way. Once they "assign" me a room to work in, I go into attack mode and the organized beast inside of me jumps into action! I can whip a room into shape like nobody's business from that point. But until then, the overwheling task of the entire house makes me want to sit on the floor in the fetal position. Surely I'm not the only one like that...

So why am I telling you this?!?

Well, that's the explanation for my hiatus from blogging.

We closed on our new house at the end of October and started a TOTAL renovation the very same day. We literally gutted the house and "loved" on every single square inch of it. Nothing was left untouched. Then came Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years. Throw 4 birthdays and a move into that mix and you're left with a super crazy season of life! To say that blogging took a backseat would be a major understatement.

So when I finally sat down to blog again, I was totally overwhelmed with all the updating that needed to be done.

Enter shut down mode.

Here's the truth about this amateur little blog...

It's really more for my sake than for anyone else. Yes, it is a way to keep all of our family and friends updated on our life, and yes, I'm thankful for those that read it. But it's more of a way for me to keep our families' moments and memories in one place.

See, I jumped off the scrap booking bandwagon several years ago but I still wanted something tangible for all of us to have that captured the important {and some not so important} moments of our life. I actually use a website that prints my blog posts and I make a book out of them. So that's why I feel the burden to update the blog.

So here we go...one long post that covers the past few months!!

************************** First, let me share some pictures from the renovation. And I must say this - it could not have been done without my Dad and Mom. They literally moved in with us for the entire month of November and we worked from morning till night, day in and day out. Thankfully, we were still in a condo, so we weren't dealing with living in the mess! Truth is - we really had a wonderful time together! I'm also thankful for the many friends that came to lend a hand to get the house completed...

Here are some "before and after" pictures...

:: the front foyer ::

{before}

{after}
:: the hallway ::

{before}

{after}
:: the guest bath ::

{before}

{after}
:: the dining room ::

{before}

{after}

Halloween...

I ended up with pink and purple cotton candy and a "farmer" that was more concerned with his candy than anything else!

We did take a short break one weekend to celebrate Addie's 9th birthday and enjoy a visit from friends and family. What a breath of fresh air they were...

{a birthday donut}

My crazy girls found time to dress their baby brother up! I keep waiting for the day when he can fight back...

We've enjoyed sunshine...

and snow...

We took time one evening to soak in some of the sights and sounds of Christmas...

Speaking of Christmas...

:: at the Browns ::

:: at the Raiths ::

:: New Year's Day ::

If you recall from this post, one of our "house rules" is that the girls are not allowed to get their ears pierced until they turn 7. Even though it's so hard to believe, my Ellee girl hit that milestone in December. We waited a few months for the big event, but she had her "ears broke" {that's what she calls it!} last weekend while some sweet friends were here to enjoy it with us. I'll let the pictures tell the story...