yes virginia,

i really wish there were a santa claus. if the stores are starting to play christmas music and put up festive displays, its is totally legit to start a christmas list right? the target christmas magazine came in the mail last week and rileigh got out her marker and started circling her wish list. she still believes in santa claus and i am oh-so-glad, because i love all the excitement it brings on christmas morning. i know that it is totally inappropriate and non-PC and i should go forth and shout all season long how much better it is to give than to recieve (which, don't get me wrong....i love the giving part of the season too!) BUT i wish the jolly fat man did exist because i have some things on my list this year i would like filled:

1. A deer head (yes, you read that right)

But not the hairy, bloody dear heads that my brother-in-law is so enamored with. A faux-deer head. I absolutely adore this. I want to hang this over my fireplace. I found it on etsy--- the coolest site ever. Etsy is forbidden after 10pm because if I start looking the next time I look up, it will be 1 am. She has many heads to choose from-- check out rubyslounge.

2. an animal rug

I can't decide between the cow and the zebra. The cow says "Yes, I live in western Kansas and I am going to go ahead and embrace it." The zebra says "I am exotic and hip." Not sure which I want to be.

3. curly girl canvas

This is one of my favorites, but i love most of the curly girl canvases. The canvases cost a pretty penny ($300 for a 20x20) so I have been making modified curly girl art by matting and framing the greeting cards....which run for about $3. Its time for the real thing. Check out some of the other curly girl art here. (BTW, I just figured out how to hyperlink...so I have been using the heck out of it.)

4. A fancy living room couch:

I want it to look like this one ^
but be the color of this one.....)but I cant seem to figure out how to make a down arrow....so use your imagination):

I am obsessed with having a purple couch. I just love it. It is a rich and lush color. I think it is a color that just screams elegance. Makes sense that purple is the color of royalty. Add a pop of yellow with some throw pillow like this one and its absolute perfection. Elves make couches, right?

5. Dark Harwoods

Our house is like a carpet nightmare. I think I have expressed my disgust with this in previous posts. I can handle a lot of things, but carpet in a kitchen and bathroom are just beyond me. We had the most gorgeous floors in our old house and I miss them like crazy. Santa, I promise I have been a good, good girl.

Oh, and if you have room in your sleigh, you

might consider these as stocking stuffers:

So santa, I know you will be swinging by out place on your midnight ride. If you could find a way to stuff some "big kid toys" in next to your barbies and legos, you would make me the happiest girl on the planet. Oh, and Santa.....I can still hear that bell!

the misadventures of miss addie

Addison took charge of saying grace at tonights dinner:

"i pledge legions

to the flag

of the unis taste of 'merica

and to the public

for witches stand

one nation

unner God

invisible

with liberdies and just for all.

Okay, now you can eat."

Think Miss Addie and Ol' Aunt Bethany have a few things in common:

"Since its Aunt Bethany's 80th Christmas, I think she should lead us in saying Grace."

"What, dear?"

"Grace"

"Grace? She passed away 30 years ago."

"They want you to say Grace."

"THE BLESSING"

when i grow up

fake careers are so much cooler than real careers. Part of that probably stems from the fact that a fake career exists only in your imagination...which means you imagine yourself as totally successful, knowledgeable and without any stress what-so-ever. My real career....not so much.

My dad likes to frequently remind me about one of my IEP meetings in middle school where the school psychologist asked me about my career plans. I replied that I thought I would like to be a doctor simply because that was a career in which I could make a lot of money. I think my dad's poor hippie heart shattered. I don't remember this occasion, nor do I remember ever wanting to be a doctor. I choose to pretend like this didn't really happen. That’s one thing of the best things I have learned in my current career....no proof.....didn't happen.

But I digress.

Lately, my dad has been living out his "alternative" career. (No, despite how it sounds, that does not mean he is gay.) Earlier in the summer, he went to New York to record a CD. He had some professional editing done....and I think it sounds pretty darn good. (Take a listen here: www.myspace.com/mikedollmusic) This weekend we are having an open house at our office. Really the open house is just an excuse for my dad to play rockstar and put on a concert. What started as a small idea has really snowballed into a big production.....which I am actually thrilled about. I mean really, if you are going to live out a fantasy, why not go all out. He is flying out the professional musicians who helped produce his CD. We are getting kegs so that we can hand out free beer. I hired a professional photographer to capture the occasion. Serious. All out.

In preparation for the event, I convinced my dad to let me practice my pretend career and shoot some photos for his CD and for an article they are writing about him in the paper. I am not certain if he reads my blog, but I hope he doesn't because I think he might kill me for sharing some of these photos. Not that there is anything wrong with the photos....he just said it makes him feel like a "diva." Get over it dad. If you are going to be a rockstar, you have to be a diva. The words are synonymous. Besides that, I know he secretly liked the idea of having a photo shoot because he brought along a change of clothes without me even asking. Here are some of my favorites:

Its a little funny, but I noticed that my favorite shots are the one without a head....

the next design star

sure....why not. i think i could handle a television show....except the whole camera-adds-10-pounds thing. Is it possible to film a show with no cameras?

Well anywho...here at the heeke house we ALWAYS have a project going. When we moved into our new house this summer my husband called dibs on the basement. It is huge and comes complete with a wet bar. Only issue is that it was dark, dingy and full of yucky paneling. Actually that is pretty much the story of our whole house. Luckily, I can see past all of that. Our house has great bones. From day one, I was chomping at the bit to get rid of the things in the house that were bothering me so much they made my skin itch. Things like carpet in the kitchen. Or carpet in the bathroom. However, because I only have fantastic ideas and lack the ability to bring them into fruition, Justin got to start his man cave first. Awww man. I knew I should have paid more attention in shop class.

Because Justin is in charge of this project....he was in charge of taking the "before" photos....and he didn't. Fail. That is why I should be in charge of the projects. However, after that initial snafu, the project seems to be moving forward and its smooth sailing. The process started by pulling paneling off the wall and peeling--yes peeling-- paint off the walls. Someone before us thought it was a great idea to paint over wallpaper with latex paint and no primer. Not good folks, not good. After that, we textured the walls and ceilings and added recessed lighting. We slapped on a gorgeous shade of grey and were well on our way.

The hubs and I butted heads when it came to the fireplace in our basement. I had dreams of making it a real focal point in the room. When I saw how much the white shelving and baseboards popped against our gray walls, I had visions of decking our fireplace out with a chunky mantle and gorgeous molding. The hubs said no way. Then after sleeping on it and realizing that he should always trust in my brilliant ideas, he jumped on the fireplace bandwagon. We are only part way through the process, but use your imagination!

Here is the boring before picture. It doesn't even have a mantel. Boo to that:

Phase 1: Covered in plywood....and make sure there is cable and power for Justin's new tv:

OOOOH! The mantel is complete...its nice and chunky and simply delicious:

Final phase of the molding. Crown molding installed and looking mighty fine. My husband insisted that he hung the crown molding upside down the first time so he took it all down and put it all back up. I don't think crown molding has an upside down or right side up, but he lost sleep over it, so whatev:

All that is left on the fireplace is a coat of crisp white paint and the installation of the TV. I am actually really looking forward to that moment....because I can't wait to try out a movie marathon as I veg out on our new couch:

If you can believe it, Justin picked out this couch all on his own. He came home and told me he had found a 1/2 leather, 1/2 fabric couch. I immediately shut him down. I explained that I had more than two teeth and would not be interested in purchasing a whiskey-tango couch. However, he convinced me to go look at it....and I loved it! It is uber comfortable and was the most economical option we had looked at.

Although the basement is technically Justin's "man cave" I am a bit of a control freak. I am a little worried that he would hang boobie posters and such all over the walls if I didn't have some influence over the decor.

First, I hung some shelving. I purchased every form of the letter "H" that Hobby Lobby had to offer. I haven't put all the stuff where it belongs, but I just stuck it all on there for you to see. Yes, those are some sports figures on the shelves. That was my attempt to pay tribute to the manliness that Justin insists the basement must radiate.

After brainstorming about how to fill up a blank wall at my office, my aunt sent me a picture of multiple clocks hanging all together. I loved it so much that I decided I wanted that at our house....sorry office! Here are the clocks. To make it more "sporty" another aunt suggested that I pitch it to Justin by saying we can set each clock to the time zone of his favorite teams. And...that actually worked!

Finally, because I am obsessed with pictures, I have claimed the walls going down the stairs to display my obsession. These are the framed photos I have selected so far:

I will figure out a hanging arrangement and get them on the wall as soon as I repaint the walls they will be hanging on. We picked a blue accent color just for some interest. I decided to paint the walls that surround the staircase. The blue was a bad choice. It looks like a toddler took the blue crayon out of the box and smeared it all over our walls. It is.....blue. And it is bad.

Soooooo we are trucking along. I am so ready for it to be complete. Mostly because it means I get to have a big reveal party. And if there is anything I like better than home decorating.....its party-throwing.

If our life was an episode of "Best Week Ever" today would certainly be a highlight.

This week I have been a real live grown-up...going into work early, staying late...attending meetings...actually working while at work. Well except today. You can't expect me to hold up that charade all week, now can you? Actually I have a mega headache that is kind of making me want to toss my cookies into my desk drawer....well it would probably be more like bagels but you get the point. This morning when my husband called and I told him about it in my best whiny, sickly, give-me-some-sympathy voice, he told me that is what I get for staying up so late watching trashy reality television shows on my computer. Oh yeah husband, well I am going to tell Teresa you called her trashy....she will be all up in your face and there will be no Andy Cohen there to save you. So there. Besides, how can I get a headache from watching reality television. Doesn't he know that nothing actually operates inside my head when I tune into those shows. That's the whole point. Its like a temporary coma. A poofy-haired, leopard-print coma.

OH oh oh! Hold the phone. That reminds me. I have BIG news. I mean BIG. Today. At noon. The Heekes are getting......wait for it.........wait for it.......CABLE! Not only cable, but cable with DVR. That means I can record hours of my favorite coma-inducing shows. Holy crap. Do you have any idea how huge that is? When I was ordering the service, the woman on the phone asked me if I would be interested in DVR. Um, is that even a question. Afterwards I believe I told her that I felt like my quality of life and productivity were going to improve exponentially due to that purpose. I am sure she thought I was nuts. But its totally true. The installation guy might be in for an even bigger surprise. I think when he rings our doorbell this afternoon, my husband might actually shed tears. Frick. Grown man tears are totally uncomfortable. This installer has no idea what he is in for.

another misadventure of miss addie

So nothing to report on the daycare front. She stayed. If she knocked a kid out, they didn't let us know. She was none-to-pleased that we had left her in that place. Apparently it was her understanding that her new school was home to kids and parents alike. We didn't hold up our end of that bargain. When Justin came to pick her up, she wanted to show him around the place but was sure to tell him "Now, don't leave me here this time, okay."

Since today is a dreary day, I thought I could add a bit of sunshine with an old clip of Addison from the beginning of the summer. My daughter is such a lady.

oh, baby.

Remember when I said that if I could have any profession in the world outside of my real job, I would like to be a baby/kid photographer. Well its true. I would need to learn a lot...you know, lighting, angles....what the hell the letters mean on my camera. Just stuff. But I love it. I adore looking at photo blogs. I could spend hours looking at photos of baby toes. My babys are growing up and refuse to let me take their pictures anymore. So when I was asked to take some new photos of my nephew, I was so excited. And scared. I can take a million photos of my kids, no problem. I know what I am looking for and what I want to capture. I keep going til I get what I want. For someone else, its hard to know what the "it" photo will be for them. I want to make everything so perfect, but my knowledge on how to do so is pretty limited. But I decided to wing it.

Meet Keldan.

He is just over a month old. Keldan holds a very special place in my heart. His momma and dad were both high school seniors when they found out he was going to arrive. I remember the variety of emotions that came with that realization when I was a senior. Even more so, I remember just how hard life was after my daughter arrived...and just how much she needed extra loving. I always did the best I could, but there is only so much an 18-year-old parent can do. Eight years later, I think her dad and I just might have it down.

Anyway, he is adorable. He didn't pee on me. And he cooperated....most of the time.