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.