Merry Christmas

I'm going to take a few days off and enjoy the Holidays. 

 

Merry Christmas to you and your family.

Holiday Baking with Help

 

 

This week I have done a good bit of baking, and I have a two of the best helpers.  I love that Bo showed Boo how to chop pecans.  Boo was so interested he wanted to help.  His little hands couldn't turn many pecans at a time and it took a little longer, but when he was done he started clapping at the accomplishment of his task.  It made it all worth it.  I have a few more things to bake. 

 

 How about you have you finished your holiday baking?

Santa Came Early

Nothing makes you feel more like an adult than asking for a washer and dryer for Christmas.  I have done a few loads and it is wonderful.  I didn't think I would ever say that about laundry.  Now if they would only invent a machine to fold the clothes.

When ever you get anything new it leads to other projects.  Well, after the new year I would like to redo our laundry closet.  Our goal is redo the shelving and make the washer and dryer stack able, paint, finally finish the quarter round and change out the doors.  A couple weekends worth of projects, but until that time I will enjoy doing my laundry.

Thanks again Santa!  Merry Christmas!

Walt Disney

What would a look at my Christmas ornaments be without a little vitist from Mickey and Friends.  This is one of my new favorites because this is the year that Boo got to visit the Magic Kingdom for the first time.  I think it will be one of many trips.  He is giving us hints that he wants to go back.  One day he pushed a small suitcase out of the closet handed me his toy Disney bus and said, "I Go Go!"  I guess that means we will need to save up for another trip.

Prince Charming

Look not a travel ornament.  This one is the frog prince.  Either before or right when I started to date Bo a friend of mine at the time gave me this ornament right off her tree.  I commented about it and she gave it to me.  At the time I wore a frog ring to remind me that one day my prince will come and she thought it was fitting that I have this ornament.  I think she got it in New Orleans.  I love to look at because it reminds me of our friendship, and that Bo came along with I least expected it.
So did you find your spouse when you least expected it?

Going Fishing

The Georgia Aquarium is an amazing place to go.  And I would love to take Boo there sometime.  I got this ornament several years ago.  When my dad was first diagnosed with ALS we didn't know how much time he had to stay healthy enough to travel.  So we would go where ever he wanted to go.

One of the first things that he wanted to do was go to the Georgia Aquarium and a Braves game.  The Braves lost, but we all enjoyed the aquarium and our weekend together.

Birthday Celebration

Over the weekend we celebrated my mom's and Bo's birthdays.  December birthdays seem to get shorted by the excitement of Christmas.  Bo and my mom are really agreeable about celebrating together. 

 

 I only have one rule - Their presents can't be wrapped in Christmas paper. Ever since I was able to buy my mom a gift out of my own money I have wrapped it in birthday paper.  They need to know there birthday is just as special as someone in May/June.  Do you have any rules about Birthdays?

 

That brings me to this toy soldier.  On my mom's 50th birthday she requested that we go to Calloway Gardens to see the Christmas lights.  My brother and sister-in-law couldn't make and Bo and I had just started dating so he didn't go.  It ended up just being my mom, dad and I.  We had lots of fun just spending the day together.  Like any time I have ever gone to Calloway it was cold and rainy, but well worth the drive.  The memories a little Christmas ornament can bring.

 

 

Happy Bithday Mom and Bo!

What Happens in Vegas

I thought a great count down to Christmas would be a sharing of some of my favorite Christmas ornaments.

 

 



Day 1:  

Who could pass up a Santa & a Showgirl ornament?  And you always need a little bit of fun on a Christmas tree.  This ornament makes me smile.  Las Vegas is an interesting place to visit.

Weekend B-days

Our niece turned 2 this weekend and we all celebrated with an Elmo party. She loves Elmo.

 There was bouncy house.  Boo had to study it before deciding that jumping on it would be a good idea.  His dad actually got on it with him before he was totally comfortable with it.  We are finally realizing that Boo is very shy and hesitant when it comes to new things, but warms up to them. We think this may help him in the long run.

Bo also had a b-day this weekend, but he didn't turn two, but you may think so in the paper I wrapped his gift in. 

 

The birthday girl finding her life size Elmo balloon.

This weekend was filled with Christmas parties and Birthday parties, and it was so much fun but busy.

Holiday Baking

Who wants to bake when it is 70 outside and the AC would have to be turned on if I baked to much. So I ended up making 4 pumpkin rolls the other day.  The Pumpkin Rolls were good accept I doubled the icing amount which made to much and what the recipe called for made to little.  All and all they were pretty good. 
I hope it cools off this week or next so I feel like making cookies.

Waiting on the Train

Boo was excited about getting his first ride on the Christmas train.  Last year he fell asleep in line.  This year he is all into trains so it made it even better.

 Boo got to ride with his cousin and Grandmother.

If you ask Boo what does a train say?  His response will be "I go go." It is just to funny.

Remembering a Teacher

Last night I went home to say goodbye to my high school English teacher.  (If you read this blog much you may have noticed that English wasn't my best subject.)  I went to a small school at its peak about 800 kids k-12th grade. It was more like a large family rather than a school.  And Mrs. R was the heartbeat of the high school.  She will truly be missed. 
What I noticed most of all last night at visitation was the impact she made on the world.  There were so many of her former students, former students' parents, former co-workers, friends and family all of us were there to tell her family how much she meant to each one of us. 
Funny, how funerals make you re-evaluate your own life, and I left wondering about the impact I'm making on the world.
I hope that as I move forward that I remember Mrs. R impact on my life and each time I'm teaching someone that I am at that moment having an impact on this individuals life. 
Thank you Mrs. R for all you have done.

Countdown to Christmas

The Internet is a place to find may ideas, but sometimes you see the same ideas over and over again.  That is why I have a love hate relationship with Pinterest.  (But I'll save that for another post.)

I have no desire to wrap all of my son's Christmas books and let him open them one at a time.  The little environmentalist inside of me says that is a waste of paper.  And the tired mom in me says it is a waste of time. We only bring out Boo's Christmas themed books from Thanksgiving until New Years.  So to make sure that they all get read.  I made 24 different envelopes.  Each envelope is different and may or may not relate to the book inside.  I used a bunch of left over scrapbook stickers for this project.  Then inside of each envelope is a Title of a book, and that is the featured book that night.

It took me several times to figure out how I was going to get this to stay on the wall.  I ended up using some covered pipe cleaners, clothes pins and push pins.  (If my dad were alive and reading this post - I would get a call right now about how I shouldn't put that many push pins in my wall and they were going to leave holes.)  But in the name of craftiness I  move on past all of my dad's rules on push pins and I make a good count down to Christmas that we all enjoy.  Also I hope to redo my hallway in the spring so the wholes will be patched up and I'll have to think of something else next year. 

How do you Countdown to Christmas?

 Countdown to Christmas all 24 envelopes

 Close up of an envelope

Simple Note Card with a book Title on it.

Our collection of Christmas Books.  I know that these will change over the years as Boo gets older, but right now I'm happy with what we have.

NO Sew Monday

Christmas clothes are great except, I live in Alabama and it is in the 70s today.  So long sleeve Christmas clothes don't get much wear out of them.  So my sister-in-law gave me this idea.  I just cut the fake sleeves out of the shirt.  Boo can always wear a jacket or a long sleeve shirt under it if he needs to.  I know that he was way more comfortable today in short sleeves.  Have you ever modified ready to wear clothes?

Before

 

 

After

Nice Weather Weekend

Enjoy the weather, and take a nice walk.

JCP Buttons

 

I use to be a really big fan of JC Penney's then they took away their coupons and changed their pricing and like many other shoppers I just stopped going.  Over the holiday weekend my mom wanted to look for something in there and I wanted a few buttons.

 

I became a winner the first button I entered and now I'm hooked.  I have won 40% off  the time I entered.  You don't have to purchase anything to get a button.  Not only do I love the prizes I also love the little buttons and can't wait to make a craft out of them after the Christmas.

 

JCP thank you for helping me save on Bo's Christmas presents this year.

Our Christmas Vacation House

 

Bo & I decorated for Christmas early.  We usually wait to decorate the week after Thanksgiving, but we never really get to enjoy the decorations.  Not this year, we are going to enjoy our decorations.  I can't tell you what a relief it was to come home from visiting the Fam to have it all done.  Before we left for the farm, Bo's cousin came by our house to follow us to the farm. When he saw our house he started calling Bo -Clark.

Our version of a Griswold Christmas.

 

All of this talk of Clark Griswold made us want to watch Christmas Vacation, which we did.  This movie is a classic.  I have always said that I've never seen it and then when I watched it I started to remember it.  I think I've seen parts of it in passing, and I will watch it again.

 

By the way our doesn't look like the Griswold's house, YET.  Bo fell off the ladder and messed up his knee so the rest of our lights will have to wait until next year.

 

Happy Decorating!

Life of PI

I enjoyed my little break & I hope all of you did too.  We spent time with family, eat to much, and shopped a lot.  But what was most of the ordinary for a Thanksgiving weekend - Bo and I went to the movies.  Boo stayed an extra night with his grandmother & I had won some movie tickets so we took this opportunity for a date night.

Let me just tell you for a Thanksgiving weekend there wasn't a lot I was doing back flips over to see but Bo and I came to an agreement on the Life of PI.

This was an excellent choice.  We saw it in 3D which wasn't necessary but it was the time we wanted and it was free.  (As Dad used to say, "if it is free, it is for me.")

Bo and I didn't really know anything about the book, Life of PI, and the commercials for movie were rather confusing.  Actually, the commercials don't tell you anything about the movie. 
Now, I know why because I'm having the same problem trying to tell you about it.  I can say it is amazingly shot and Bo and I were so taken in by the movie that neither one of us even ate or drank during the movie.  We never even thought about checking our watches to see how long we had been in there. The theater was silent the entire time except when someone walked in the wrong theater talking really loudly and it woke us from our trace of this amazing movie.

I'm so glad that we choose this movie & it was the first time in along time that I left the movies satisfied. 

The Life of PI was an amazing move & I would go see it if I were you.

Have any of y'all seen any good movies lately?

Happy Thanksgiving - Early

I'm going to start my Thanksgiving Holiday early. I have baking, shopping and plenty of other fun things planned. Hope y'all have a great time with your family and friends. See you on Monday.

Operation Christmas Child

Operation Christmas Child is one of my favorite charities and it has been for years, but this year it was even more special because Boo helped.  I know he didn't get it all, but at least we are starting to lay a foundation giving. I think OCC will be the most relatable charity for him. 

 

How he has helped...

1. He has approved items for in the boxes when we went shopping.
2. He helped pack and unpack a few items in the boxes.
3. He was going to carry a box into church this morning, but when given the box he wanted to eat his cookie instead.  What can I say the cookie won out.

 

Sometimes it seems so overwhelming as a mother to teach your child everthing you want to, but sometimes the simplest things make the big difference in our child's life.

 

Remember this week is Operation Christmas Child drop off week.



Christmas Wreath

So I have some created juices going.  Here are two more wreaths that I made a couple of weeks ago. Hope to make a few more soon.

Wedding China

I know what your thinking - "Didn't she just show us her Christmas decorations?  Why is she showing us Valentine's Day Pictures?"

 

This post was inspired by a friend who let her Facebook friends know that her wedding china was for sale.  She thought it was time to sell because she hadn't removed it from the gift boxes in the almost decade she has been married. 

 So this got me thinking a few things:

1. The Guest -  How sad for the guest who took the time to go pick out a gift just for this couple.  In the end it seems like they wasted both their time and money
2. The Couple -  How sad for the couple for not enjoying something that was purchased for them for their special day and now they are getting rid of it. How could something so beautiful live in a box this long.   
3.  I'm thankful for all the people who thought of Bo and I on our wedding day.  We were overwhelmingly blessed with wedding gifts almost 7years ago. And every time I pull something out that was a gift I'm reminded of that special day in our life and the people who shared it with us.  But I am a Fool In Love.

Okay, I'm off my Soapbox and back to Valentine's Day. 



 

 Breakfast for dinner.  Doesn't milk look so much better out of fancy glasses.

 Cupcakes on our dessert plates.

I made this heart decorations for a little added touch.

 

So if you have some china sitting in a cabinet collecting dust, dust it off and make a regular Tuesday night dinner something special.  It is what I plan to do this evening.

All Wrapped Up!

Before - I painted these pictures several years ago.  This week I got an email from Better Homes and Gardens and it had Christmas decorating ideas.  The following is one of them:

 

 After -  I wrapped my pictures in Christmas paper and added  a bit of Christmas to this area of the living room that usually doesn't have any decoration.

It has kind of taken Boo a little bit of time to get used to them.  Because he loves my paintings. 

Alabama Wreath!

It is football Saturday, so I guess I won't get much crafting done today.  We were suppose to go to the game today, but as lucky would have it Bo & Boo came down with a terrible cold/sinus infections.

Roll Tide!

Thanksgiving Wreaths

Okay, I have joined the mesh wreath making club.  Our church had a ladies craft night one night and I learned to make these wreath.  I made the one that night and hadn't done it again, until this past weekend.  You see may aunt had a stove that I wanted and she was willing to trade it for some wreaths. Once I made hers, my mom had to have one too.  All I have to say is that making these are fun accept they dry out the skin on your hands.  I would love to sell some, but it seems that this market my be over saturated. 

Vote

Go vote, and then take a nap to rest up for result coverage.

Trunk or Treat - Chef Mickey

Boo was so happy that he found a winning sucker.

 

 This year for Halloween Bo and Boo went as Chef Mickey.  They wore these costumes when we went to Disney World's Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party and to our church's trunk or treat. 

 I made the pants from a Big 4 pajama pattern and the apron is also from a Big 4 pattern just cut down to size for Boo.  The applique is from the esty. 

The best picture I have of them together.  It was cold this night so they have on jackets.  The costumes look much better with red shirts. This was a fun, easy costume to make.  I have to thank my mom for helping me come up with the idea.  She is great at helping me make my ideas a reality.  I would still be sewing the costumes I had in mind. Thanks Mom!

Simple Delicious Chili

It is really really hard to take a picture of chili and make it look good.  It taste better than it looks.

For a cold day this chili is a great easy dinner item to make. 

It is as easy as 1, 2, 4...
1 lb. hamburger meat -browned ( you could add an onion if you like)
2 bottle of Heinz Chili Sauce
4 cans of Bush Pinto Chili Beans in Mild Chili Sauce
Place items in a crock pot and eat when it is hot.

I got this recipe from my mom, but she could have gotten it from one of her sisters or one her friends so I'm not taking credit for it.  Just passing it along.

Which One? Which One?

My birthday was a while ago and I got some money as a gift. Now, I can't decide what I want to purchase with my birthday money. As a kid this wasn't so hard, I actually had the money spent before I got it. Now, I have to mull over my decisions. But I have narrowed my choices to two:

 

 

Either a:  Rowenta Steam Station, which I had one of these for about 6 years before it finally died.  It was well loved and used hard.  I really miss it, but I have been getting by with a cheap iron.  It just isn't the same.  OR

 



A Cricut - This would just be for fun and I have really really wanted one for a while.

I'm not really in any hurry. I'll keep you posted when I make a decision.

Cleaning

So Bo and I have been working on cleaning our house.  Today Boo started to sweep the kitchen with his broom, but when I went and got my camera he stopped.  I love this Melissa and Doug's broom.  It is the perfect size for Boo, and he is so cute when he uses it.  Here is hoping my house cleans itself, but since it won't I got to get back to work.

Fleischmann's Bread

This is Simply Homemade Bread.  This is the first loaf that we made.  It is Italian Herb, and very very good.  It was so good that we had to make it again.  This time we made the Country White.  Actually, I didn't make it this time Bo did and he did a great job. He said if he can make homemade bread, any one can. If you have a chance to try this bread it is easy and taste like homemade.