Sigh..... Christmas is over...

When did the kids grow up and where does time go? Even though they aren't little and "cute" anymore, they are still a joy to watch as they anticipate opening their gifts. This year it was also a lot of fun to watch them as they gave to others. To see the looks on their faces, as they eagerly gave away their gifts that they had personally picked out and bought for others, was priceless. I'm so proud of the children and what they have become. The family gatherings were wonderful and there was a feeling of love all around. It's kind of sad when things go back to normal and we don't concentrate as much on pleasing others, as we do during Christmas time. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could truly keep Christmas in our hearts year round?

When the dogs are quiet....

When the dogs are extremely quiet..... BEWARE! As I opened my shower door to get out, this is what I saw! I heard absolutely nothing... silence in the house!
Mommy, it's been a LONG time since you let us have toilet paper! Thank you, thank you, thank you.... this is FUN!
Sweet Pea! You bad girl! But Mommy, you left the toilet paper on the edge of the tub for me. Since it wasn't on the holder where it was supposed to be, we figured you left it for us!
Butterbean! You bad boy! But all Sweet Pea let me have was this cardboard roll. Am I in trouble? Do you still love me? Yes, I love you both!

Merry Christmas from Sweet Pea

Merry Christmas from Sweet Pea, my sweet little puppy! We had our Christmas celebration with our family last night. We all had a wonderful time, but we are all exhausted this morning! The kids have to visit their other families today and tomorrow, so it's a nice feeling to have ours done for this year. Husband and I are following Sweet Pea's lead and resting today. I will be working the next three days, but we will head "home" to see our parents this weekend. Here's wishing you a very blessed Merry Christmas and hope you get lots of sweet rest!

New Addition to our Family

My daughter got married today! She and my new son-in-law decided to elope during their winter break from school. They made all their own plans for this, rather than waiting for a big wedding in the spring. They went to a chapel in the mountains today and will be staying in that area to honeymoon until Sunday. Am I sad that they didn't have a big wedding? Yes and no.... I would have liked to have seen my little princess walking down the aisle with her daddy to meet her groom.... and I would have cried and it would have been beautiful. All the money would have been spent and they would be on their merry way. Both kids are still in college and decided they would rather have a simple private wedding and keep the money. This way they can continue in school without too many financial struggles to stress them. They are both quiet people and didn't really want a big hooplah centered around them. I think they made a wise decision and I pray they will live happily ever after.

It's almost here...

Okay, guys, it's a week away.... Christmas! Are you ready? I'm not quite ready, but should be by the end of the day. I got up at 5:00 am and went in to work, only to find that we were over staffed today!!!! Yay! I quickly volunteered to go home and ran to the time clock to clock out, before anyone else could beat me to it! *grin* My son and I went to breakfast at Cracker Barrel, then to several more places to help him finish up his shopping. I've just come in to drop him off, let the dogs run for a few minutes, and then it's back to town for me! Wish me luck.... I really really really want to finish my shopping today! I hope everyone is in the Christmas spirit!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Okay, so it's not a big Christmas tree , but it's better than nothing! It really looks pretty in here at night when it's dark outside. The lights on the little trees give the room a nice glow. Now, where to put all the presents? Right now, they are being stored in my bedroom. What a mess in there! The mantel is a work in progress, as I hope to find more red pieces to use on it. I saw some beautiful stemmed glass votive holders today in red, but they were $15 each. I wanted six of them, so decided to pass. Maybe I'll find something like that on sale after Christmas? Note: new fireplace screen! Yay! ( a long story!)
This is my very favorite Christmas decoration. This is a nativity set that my mother in law gave to us the first year we were married. The kids always enjoyed helping me put out the display and I am so thankful it has survived all these years. (I did have to glue Joseph's lantern back on a couple of times) Since we've lived in our current home (three years) I've never really had a place to display our nativity. This is the first year I have the new cabinet in the dining area and am very happy with how the nativity is displayed on top. The star is new this year.... Hobby Lobby! (1/2 price, of course) I hope you guys are getting along well with your decorations and preparations. My husband and I shopped today and got a LOT of our shopping done. I think I can finish up by myself in one day, if all goes well. I love the feeling of being almost ready... but I love the feeling of being completely ready a whole lot more!

I'm not a scrooge after all!

Okay, guys! I'm not going to be a scrooge after all. On my way in from church today, I snatched the scarecrow arrangement off the front door. I'm making progress! ha ! Actually, I bought two pre-lit trees that I will use on my fireplace hearth. I got these yesterday while on our three hour trip for my daughter's wedding shower. I hope to get these put up tonight and maybe I'll have pictures to share by later in the week. The wedding shower was wonderful. Daughter and her fiancee' received some great gifts. I think we all need to throw ourselves a shower every 10 years or so. Wouldn't it be fun to have all that new stuff again.... everything new at once? Of course, I have a lot of very well loved things that I could never replace. They may not be as pretty as hers are right now, but I wouldn't trade some of my worn cooking things for the world. The gifts were great, but better than that, was seeing family and friends that we have not seen in a very long time. It was almost like a big family reunion. My sis in law did a great job and was able to create another wonderful memory for us all!