Family

Here is a photo from my brother and sister in laws house taken yesterday. This is my mother in law and father in law (they are the grown ups in the back :)
They are standing with all the grand kids but one. My niece Erin could not be with us at this get together. She was a lucky girl and got to take a little holiday get away with her other set of grandparents to Branson Missouri this weekend. We rarely get together to have a picture of everyone taken on this side of the family. Everyone is busy and it is so hard. But, here is a rare picture with my girls and their oldest cousins Kayli (she lives in Pennsylvania) and Amber (she goes to school in southern Indiana and we only see her usually once a year! Poo Poo!) Both of these girls are amazing people. Hard for me to say adults because I can remember not too long ago playing baby dolls with each of them. Kayli is going to be a nurse. She is getting married this coming October 9th. We are all looking forward to going to Pennsylvania to see that wonderful day. Amber is going to college and has plans to move to Africa after she finishes and help people in villages become self sufficient so that they can take care of themselves. How amazing is that!!! Both girls obviously have hearts for helping others. Can you think of a better thing to do with your life?
The handsome grandson in the picture is the only grandson my in laws have. When my brother in law married Carrie, we got Zack as our new nephew. He is a really neat kid. He loves to play games and build things. Wonder what he will do when he grows up? Architect maybe? Who knows! But, this group of people are very special to me. And, I am thankful that I have this picture to remind me of a really fun day that I was blessed to have with them.

Christmas threw up!

Christmas thew up in my kitchen! HA! Down, down, down came the decorations. I am one of those that like to put things up the day after Thanksgiving and take them down the day after Christmas. I have friends that like to leave their tree and things up until after the New Years....but I just can not do it. There is something so lovely about having all that clutter down and a fresh, clean, simple house back again. I am sure they make a pill for whatever this is called....ha! Anyway, my sweet 13 year old daughter helped her mama take things down and she even swept the living room when the tree came down! What a sweetie pie!!! Do you see my sweet fuzzy kitty on the kitchen chair in the middle picture. Of course he had to get in on the action. Nosey kitty!

So long Christmas 2008. You were wonderful but I am happy to see you go. I wonder what 2009 will bring for me and those I love? I guess I will throw that question out into the universe and time will tell what answers I get. (Hope good ones!)

Mama

This is my mama. Isn't she sweet? :) My sister and I had my nephew take our picture with her on Christmas night. We don't have many pictures of us together. Just us girls. I am very thankful that my dashing nephew took this for us. Turned out pretty good, if I do say so myself. :)

Grasshopper

No...this is not the kind of grasshopper I was referring too......this is!

Another one of our family traditions at Christmas time is making Grasshoppers. They are a ice-cream drink that has Creme De Menthe and Cream De Cacao in them. My Grandma Mac used to drink them every Christmas. Since she passed away, we carried on the tradition. I don't think we have missed many Christmases without them. We just make one blender full and share a tad with everyone (except kiddos.) They are extremely sweet too. A little goes a long way with these babies.

And, here is the bartender himself mixing up our batch. He looks like he has done this a time or two or fifty or so. ;) This is my daddy. It was his mama's tradition.

By the way...how do you like my new blender? My hubby bought it for me as a surprise for Christmas. I have been making home-made salad dressings and needed a blender for them. No salad dressing here tonight....but it did work fabulously for Grasshoppers!

My Loot!

Oh my....what a wonderful day we had! It was a lovely Christmas, indeed! It started VERY early for me. My youngest darling daughter woke up at 4:25 am and wanted to know if she could get up. Um....NO!!!! So, she went back into her room to go back to sleep. Yah right! She came back out at 5:00 to see if she could "get up." Um....NO!!! So back she went into her room again. She came back out again at 5:55 to see if she could get up now. Um....YES!!! My coffee had already started perking so I changed into happy mommy with the sounds and smells of that happening. :) She got her daddy up and waited at the kitchen table until we got the house ready. Things like turning on the Christmas tree, putting holly jolly music on to open gifts to, get the camcorder and camera's ready, let the dog outside to potty and get that hot, steamy, brown cup of loveliness in my hand so my morning could officially begin. I went in to the big sisters room to get her up at 6:00. She woke up better than I thought she would. Not the Grinch that I thought she was going to be. So, with that said.....we opened the socks and the kids opened their gifts from us. We went to my parents house around 10:00 to begin opening our gifts and more gifts for the kids. We meet my sissy and her son there at my folks house as well.

Here are a few pictures of what I got today. I got so many wonderful things! I just love them all. I have been admiring these wreaths for quite some time. My sister made this one for me! She did such an excellent job on this!! I could not believe my eyes when I opened the box and saw that pretty pink satin ribbon. I knew, even before I tore the tissue paper back, that it was going to be something good! And, I was right!!! Wasn't' I? :) Can it be any more of a perfect color for me? Be still my heart........

This next picture is a gift from my husband. I love the t-shirts that say "Life is Good." Even when I feel like mine is in the tubes, my life is still good because of what Jesus has done for me. So, I try (even when it is difficult) to remember that always. So, back to my shirt. He got this cute light blue t-shirt for me with this fun gal sitting in her tub soaking. That is sooo me! I take a bath almost every night. I take a shower in the morning....but I love to relax and soak in a hot bath at night. Ahhhhh!

This next picture is a book that I saw one day at Borders and thought it would be such a fun book to read. It is called Dewey and it is a true story about a kitten that was dropped into a return book slot at a library and the library kept him and raised him for the next 19 years! He became very special to that town and the people in it. I like stories like that! Stories that make you feel good. Those are good!!! So, I will be curled up in my chair sometime very soon, I hope, to read this little baby.

This last picture is me with a sweet print my sister got for me off of Etsy. I think it is just so cute! I can not remember who she said the artist was that drew this, but I think is is just so darling! Someday, when I have that little studio I am dreaming of, I will hang it in there for a little bit of sweetness for me to look at while I create. Until then, I believe it will hang in my bedroom for me to enjoy. Did you notice that it had some pink in it? Boy, does my sister know me or what?!?!?! Hee hee!

So there you have it....some of my Christmas goodies that people that I love dearly gave to me. I hope that you had a wonderful Christmas with those that you love and I do hope that you got a little something special under the tree this Christmas that made you smile too. Merry Christmas!! :)

A few more pictures to share....

I wanted to share a couple more pictures from our home this Christmas Eve. This one is our couch with the stockings all filled and ready for the morning. Looks like everyone has been good this year since they are filled to the brim! We all got new socks this year. Guess which one is mine? Yup! The pink one with the fuzzy cuff. Isn't it lovely? :)

This one is our Santa plate for cookies. As you can see, Santa enjoyed the snack we left him. There are only a couple crumbs left on the plate. Even the carrot for the reindeer is gone. (Wink!)

And this last one is the mug that holds the eggnog. (yuck!) It is empty as well. It says "For Cookie Dunking" on the inside. See why I had to put it out this year in this house of non-believers? It is just simply to cute to leave in the attic. :)

Our message tonight at our church service was about silence. It was about being still and quiet so we can hear God and His message to us in this noisy busy world in which we live. It was about God's gift of a baby. God's perfect gift. We sang some wonderful songs. I saw some of my most favorite people. I sat in a long pew with people I love. I remembered tonight what this season is all about. It was an awesome night.

Merry Christmas!!

Luke 2:11

Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.

Welcome baby Jesus.......

Santa's footprints

It is tradition in our family to have Santa leave his footprints in the house on Christmas Eve when he leaves the presents for good girls and boys. Tonight, on my way to bed, this is what I found! Santa's boot prints! It is "magic snow" from the North Pole because it never melts! :) We have done this as part of our Christmas Eve ritual for the past 13 years. Tonight it was no different. Although this year, no one in our house believes in Santa but me. I still set the plate out with cookies on it. Still filled the Santa mug with eggnog because that is what Mr. Clause likes to drink. Mrs. Clause DOES NOT by the way. Hee Hee! I still set out one carrot for the reindeer too. Just in case they needed a little snack too. It was hard to think about not doing all these little things for my girls this year. So, I did them. And, I feel pretty happy about it to. And, I bet my ten year old will appreciate it in the early morning when she gets up and I even bet my moody 13 year old will appreciate it too. Even though she would not dare to admit it. :)

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

My children

Here is our Christmas picture of our girls and our two furry babies too! My youngest daughter is holding our 11 year old Shih Tzu, Sophie. She is really starting to show her age. Bless her heart! She is sleeping a lot and she does not hear very well and she can not see very well. She is my husbands baby. He gets sad every time he thinks about losing her. She is a very sweet and lovable doggie.

I took this picture of our girls today before my husbands side of the family came to celebrate Christmas with us. I have a book that my mother in law gave me our first Christmas we were married. It is a journal of our family Christmases that will hold 25 years worth of journaling. I will be writing in year number 19 this December. Wow! Has that gone quickly! Well, some days it goes reeeeeeeealy slow....hee hee......but others it has flown by. I will have to get another book after this one is filled up. Keep the tradition going. The kids and our families like to look at the little red Christmas book and remember Christmases in the past. I love looking at things from my past that my mama has saved for me. I appreciate it so very much. I hope that my girls can look back someday at my handwriting and read the words that I have written for them and remember all the joy of Christmas and the love of our wonderful family.

I better go...I still have wrapping to do!! :)

Christmas goodies!

Here is the only baking/candy making I am doing this year. It seems that Christmas kind of snuck up on me for some reason...even though I know it is the same day every year. Usually I have several things made like little baby loafs of bread and different candies. And cookies, of course, for Santa and his big night at our house. This year though, no one believes (except me) so I will still make some sort of cookie on Christmas Eve for the big fella when he comes to visit me. :)

I got this off some one's blog....but for the life of me I can not remember for sure who's. So, sorry that I can not give credit where credit is due. I made a double batch of it to give out to family and friends. It is pretty good, if I do say so myself. :) Here is the recipe if you would like to make some for yourself. Enjoy it! By the way...only four more days till you-know-what!!!!

Vanilla Snack Mix

2-12 oz packages of vanilla chocolate chips

5 cups Cheerios

5 cups Corn Chex cereal

2 cups peanuts (cashews work great too!)

10 oz bag of small pretzel (twists or mini sticks)

1 pound plain M & M's (I used the holiday colored ones)

Melt 2 packages of chocolate chips with 3 tsp of oil in a microwave safe bowl for 2 minutes. Stir frequently while melting. Stir chocolate until smooth.

Dump in a LARGE bowl all the dry ingredients.

Pour melted chocolate over the dry ingredients. Toss to coat. Spread on wax paper to cool. Break apart after cooling and store in a sealed container.

Enjoy!!

A New Baby in Town

Look at this handsome fellow! He is our worship minister and his wife's new baby! He was one week old today. Our church has a Caring Ministry. The ladies take turns making meals for people in our congregation who are sick or recently out of the hospital or have just had a new baby. Tonight was my turn to cook. My daughters and I took dinner to this sweet family tonight. My eldest daughter LOVES babies. Seriously. She would much rather be in the nursery on Sunday's at church holding wee ones than to listen to our minister talk. She says he is "boring." HA! But, I have learned that even when it appears that kids are not listening in church, they do catch some things. So, she sits with us against her will and I pray that she is learning something from God's word each week.

Anyway, this is sweet Eli. He is a very lucky and blessed boy. He has two parents who love Jesus very much and wanted him very much. He will be raised in a loving Christian home and be surrounded by people who love him very much. Welcome to our world Baby Eli!

When God gives you two snow days in a row....

When God gives you two snow days in a row...what can you do....but draw on the kitchen chalkboard! :)

What on earth is going on with this midwest weather? It is not officaily winter until December 21st but it certainly has been "winter-ish" around here a lot lately! Ice, Ice and more Ice. As a matter of fact, as I sit here typing this right now, there is freezing rain falling. UGH!

I had big plans without my kids this past Wednesday, Thursday and Friday that I have been off work. I was going to finish my Christmas shopping. Which, by the way, this is the LATEST I have ever been in getting my shopping done. Sigh... I was going to relax at the bookstore and drink a yummy cup of coffee to help me get into the holiday spirit. I was going to wrap and watch "It's A Wonderful Life" because that is tradition for me. I wrap and watch that movie and of course, cry my stinkin eyes out at the end every single time I watch the movie!!!! Yup, that was my plans for these past couple days of freedom before the kids are on their Christmas break for two weeks. But, it did not happen. Instead, the heavens opened up and dropped freezing rain on us and the kids stayed home. I also had my nephew here with us to. After I realized my plans had been foiled, my motto was, the more the merrier. So when my sister called to see if he could come to Aunties house so she could go to work, I said sure! :) He was a very good boy and my youngest daughter sure enjoyed having someone to play with.

And, the moral of this story is.....if the kids would not of had a snow day, they would not of used the chalkboard in my kitchen to draw me this little piece of loveliness! I thought I would share with you what they did.

That's right kiddos....He IS what this holiday season is all about. Thank you for reminding me of that my wee ones!

Jolly Old St. Nick

This is one of the few Christmas decorations I bought this year. I found this little jolly fellow at Walmart....on clearance too! He was $15.00 and I don't think it could of been better spent! He is so precious all lit up. I seem to be reverting back to my childhood for some reason. Does that happen when you are 41 and a half? :) I find myself liking all the things from my childhood and even before. My friends tell me I was born in the wrong decade. Hee hee! I would of loved to of been a woman in the 1940's or 1950's. Simpler times, closer families, better morals, not as much filth on the television, children were better behaved, modesty with women still existed, the honor system was still in effect, God still mattered and women still wore aprons! :) Some of my friends make fun of me because I wear aprons. I can't help it....I love them. I feel more feminine in them, if that makes any sense.

Anyway, this is my little vintage looking Santa. And, I think he looks quite nice standing on my porch greeting my guests with his friendly wave. By the way...Christmas is only seven days away. ;)

Utter Sillyness

Here are some more pictures from our Christmas trip to Chicago. This one is of myself in the middle and my wonderful boss and his lovely wife.

These pictures are of us in a van taxi. There were eight of us piled into one taxi. Talk about a hoot! On the top picture you can see one of my co-workers sitting on the others lap! We were all laughing so hard! My bosses wife was sitting on his lap too! The bottom one is of me and another co worker. Did you notice the playbill she was holding from the show? Ahhhh....

Yet another co worker was sitting in front with the driver taking the pictures of all of us. She had the most dangerous seat of all. Those cabbies can really get moving! I am thankful that all the taxi's that we rode in had good breaks! :)

Anyway, I just wanted to share some of the fun I had this past weekend. It was so fun to just get away and be treated to something so out of the ordinary for me. I am a very simple person who lives in a small rural town. Chicago is not a simple person kind of town! But, for a day....it was so very fun!

Did I mention that there are only eight more days until Christmas! Tomorrow I will hopefully finish all my shopping. I just have a little wrapping to do and then I can make some goodies I have been wanting to make up for our families. And, most importantly, reflect on what this season is really all about. A little baby in a manger who left His throne to come to this cold dark world for me and for you. :)

Chicago Chicago

We made it back from the Windy City. And, it was windy and cold cold cold too! WOW! It did not take long to realize that it is much colder up there than down state where I live. I thought I would share a few pictures from our weekend. I will post some more later.

This is the tree outside Water Tower Place. Also right outside the Cheesecake Factory where we ate dinner. And a piece of cheesecake, of course. ;) This picture can not really show you how huge this tree really was. It was filled with colored lights and a ton of them too. I mean a ton. It actually caught my breath when I first saw it.

This is on our way to the Oriental Theatre to see ...................................................

And oh my was it good! The singing was amazing! The orchestra was also amazing. So was the set and the costumes and the theatre itself was so ornate and beautiful. Basically the whole thing was amazing! :)

One bonus from our weekend was while we were traveling through a small town on the train on the way home, we ran into The Santa Train. We slowed down as we passed by it and I could see Santa and a beautiful tree all lit up and other lights as well inside the train. There were several people inside probably meeting Santa. For a minute, I wished I was there, a small girl again....sitting on Santa's lap telling him what I would like to have for Christmas. And then drinking a warm cup of creamy chocholate-ty hot cocoa with extra marshmallow on top! And maybe even a candy cane sticking out the top for more loveliness. YUM!

Anyway, I am back home and my weekend with my co-workers was fantastic! I know that I am extremely blessed to have a boss that would do something so special for his staff. I am very thankful to be able to work for him!

Words To Live By

Another lovely artist that I adore is Becky Kelly. She draws the sweetest pictures. Every year on my Christmas list is one of her little calendars for the upcoming year. I sit mine on my kitchen counter so I can look at it each day. It seems that my kitchen is the room that I spend the majority of my time in. I actually look forward to tearing off the old day each morning to see what today's date looks like. Silly, I know, but fun for me.

I thought this one was to good not to share it with anyone who stumbles upon my blog. I think there is a lot of truth in this little day, don't cha think? ;)

Happy Birthday to you!

Yesterday was my husbands 42nd birthday. He loves coconut cream pie. LOVES IT! So, my mama indulges her son in law with one every year. A tradition in our family is that the birthday person gets to pick the menu for their birthday dinner. He usually picks fried chicken, mashed potatoes and white gravy, corn and his pie. Yum Yum! This year, we decided to do something a little simpler since my mama is not feeling well. We ordered pizza, had a big nice salad and his pie. We stuck two candles in the middle and sang the birthday song to him. My sister and nephew were not able to celebrate with us this year. My sweet nephew has a nasty flu bug that has stayed around to long, if you ask me! It is time to kick that bugs bootie! :) We all missed them very much at our little celebration. We are praying that he gets better very soon.

So, happy birthday hubby! Hope your 42nd year on earth is a good one for you.

Christmas Spirit

This week the dental office where I work is going to get into the Christmas spirit. We are bringing goodies the whole week to munch on through out the day. Two of my buddies at work seem to think that my Aunt Doris' recipe for Bacon Cheddar Pinwheels will put them into the holiday happies. Who wouldn't get jolly eating something wrapped in bacon! HA! I have them all ready to be baked in the morning before work. I am really hoping that they will stay nicely in my crock pot on warm for the day. There is a tad of work involved with these jewels and I would hate for them to flop in the morning. The person I am paired up with is bringing homemade iced sugar cookies. YUM! I got the savory and she got the sweet I was told. :)



My boss and his wife are taking us girls from the office to Chicago this weekend to have our Christmas party. We are leaving REALLY early on the Am track train on Friday for Chicago. It will take us about three hours to get there. We are going to be given our Christmas gifts which is money and we are to shop for things on Michigan Avenue for ourselves. Those are the orders from our bosses wife. Sounds good to me! :) After our day of shopping, we are going to dinner at The Cheesecake Factory. After dinner, are you ready for this, they are taking us to see the Broadway play Wicked! Oh yes they are! Do I not have the most wonderful boss ever?!?!?!?! After the show, we will go back to our hotel and die, I mean sleep. Then the next morning we are having brunch at a cafe (but I can not remember the name of it!) and then shop a tad more (just in case we are kicking ourselves for not getting something the day before and have to live with that awful regret for the rest of our lives) and taking the 6:00 train back home to reality. Sigh.....can you imagine the fun we will have together? Even though we work in an office with six women, we all get along very well. My poor boss though....he will have to put up with all of us girls, including his wife, for something like 36 hours. Maybe I will pack an extra candy cane for him. :)

Silly Kitty

As I have mentioned in the past...this is my first kitty. He cracks me up sometimes. For instance, this picture here. He is obsessed with shadows at the moment. He sits and stares at the walls watching them. When he can not take it anymore, he gets down and pats at the shadows that are moving. Any ideas why he does this? He will sit and stare for quite sometime at them. It looks really funny when he does it in the corner. Looks like he is in time out or something. HA! Silly kitty makes me so happy with his quirky ways. I guess the answer to my question is there is no answer except that he is a cat and he can do whatever he wishes. ;)

(Like sit on my kitchen table when he should not be!)

Christmas Parade

Friday night our little town had a Christmas parade. Santa Clause came to town Friday! Downtown, next to our library, is a little house. Santa's house! He sits in there in the evenings and little ones can stop by for a visit and a little candy cane. Seems like a long time ago that we took the girls there to visit with Santa. :(

My daughter got to march for the very first time in uniform Friday night. She looked like a little toy soldier I told her. So dapper in her attire! She was sooo proud, as were we. These are the high school colors. My sister said that the uniforms are "much cooler" than they were back in her days of wearing them. HA! It was about 20 degrees Friday night. BURR!! There was a few floats and our beauty queen and the fire trucks and the band. The band director said that the band ALWAYS goes in front of the horses. HA! Since horses sometimes leave "gifts" in the street....not a good thing to march through. Yuckie! ;(

Here she is (in the middle) with a couple of her friends. Aren't friends such a good thing? The band teacher had a little snack bar set up for them after the parade. They brought things to eat and they all had a good time!

And, here is my little toy soldier! Isn't she beautiful?!??!! I love that she is using her gift God gave her of music. She loves it and I love her!

Peek a Boo

This is my "studio." I reeeeeeeeeeeeeelly want a room/studio of my very own, but we have a small home (that I am very thankful for) and there is no room to do that now. So, here is where I have my "stuff." It is an antique armoire that I bought a couple years ago. The talented friend that I have put shelves in it for me so I could load her up. :) It is sitting in my living room now. At first my intentions when I bought it was to keep my linens in it and my bigger pieces of china like serving platters and such. Well, I decided that my growing love of sewing and crafts was much more important than silly serving platters. So, here is what it looks like with the doors open.

Can you see the goodies inside? There is little buckets with scissors and paint brushes so I know where to find things. There is also one with all the different size crochet hooks in them. I have the little baskets with my linen napkins and other assorted linens in them. If you look on the next to the bottom shelf, you will see my fabric stash and my table cloths. Not much of a stash. I simply must do something about that! Hee hee!

Here is a closer look at the "stash." Do you see a color scheme going on here? Say pink? All I can say is "ahhhhh." :)

Here is my little basket of ribbon. So neat and tidy. Makes me want to make something! What shall I make? Isn't it so nice when your things are organized and just waiting on you to come play with them? :)

Here is my corner of books. There are some great ones in here that I have not had a chance to use yet. A couple are because I don't know how to sew well enough yet. The Amy Butler book has a pattern in it to make jammie pants. I bought it with the intention of making some for my friends but sad to say, I don't know how to do jammie pants. Maybe someday.

Well, that is my craft studio. Not much as of yet...but you should see the area I have designed in my head for someday!! Lets see now...only five more years and my oldest will be in college.....that gives me time to start saving before I can take over her room. HA! I know, I know....it will be here before I know it. Then I will be crying and worrying because she is not living here any more......Sniff Sniff. Well, a girl can dream, can't she? :)

My Faves

Here are a few of my favorite magazines. I can sit and look at these for hours upon hours. And then a few days later, I can look at them again! HA! Country Home Magazine is one of my most favorites. I have gotten it for years. I also get Home Companion for some more Mary loveliness...but as of now....I believe, they don't have a publisher for next year. That makes me very unhappy! I hope she finds a new one before January. I am quite sure that I am not the only Mary fan out there....just her biggest. Hee hee! ;)



Hallmark magazine is one of my newest favorites. I love the stories in there and the recipes are great too!



Anyway...it's time for a cup of coffee (in my cute Mary Christmas cup), curl up in my comfy spot on the couch with a soft blankie and read some of these. Wish you were here to join me.

First snow of the season

It happened. The first snow of the season. Just a light dusting but none the less, it came. Is it just me or does it seem like it came early this year? It seems here in the midwest that the seasons are all different than they were when I was a child. I remember building snow forts and snow men and making snow angels and eating "snow cones" with the freshly fallen snow. Now I am not so sure if I would let my kids do that or not. All the stuff you hear on t.v. about the ozone layer and pollution...is it safe to eat the stuff that falls from the sky? Who knows.

So, welcome winter and snow. You are welcome to stay until January 2nd...then scoot on out of here! :)

Santa's workshop...

Santa's workshop is officially open! Last night I made these little pretties for some people on the nice list. :) The family one is for my sister in law since I have her name in our drawing. She has a lot of pictures sitting around her house so I think she will like this to put a picture of her hubby and her son in it.
The grandkids one is for my co-worker. She ADORES her grandbabies more than anyone I know. I think she is going to love it.
The third one that says cousins is for moi'. I bought the frame this summer with intentions of putting a picture of my girls and my nephew from Disney in it. Obviously I never got that done. So, after I fancied it all up...I am ready to put the kids picture in it. Of course my frame is pink. Of course. :)