Busy time of year.....

It's always such a busy time of year but I've tried so hard this year to not get so overwhelmed with the shopping and decorating and enjoy those things that make the holidays so special.  First and foremost, it should be about the birth of Jesus and last night was my grand-daughters program at church.  They began the program reading the story of His birth and hearing Phoebe and Stella reading the scripture and singing a song was so beautiful...

 

 

It's hard to believe that this is their last year to be in the choir.  I've watched them every year since they were 3.  It will also be the last year for them to be in the Christmas program at their little neighborhood grade school......on to junior high.

 

Went to Judy's house for a get-together with friends and as always, her house looked wonderful (she's also a great cook).

 

 

Judy had several smaller trees decorated with her vintage ornaments and had used a tall skinny tree that she had purchased at Leola's instead of her big tree and had used very few decorations on it.  I loved it.....

 



 

So I decided to do the same and I've been really happy with it.  The big tree took up so much room.

 

 





Today is a cold, gloomy day and perfect for staying in and getting some gifts wrapped and doing a little baking.....it feels like winter and I miss setting out here.....

 

At least it's decorated and I have plenty of wood stacked back there in case it snows.  I do love a fire in the fireplace.

 

In case I don't have time to post again, I hope all of you have a wonderful Christmas and I'll be talking to you in the new year!

Christmas week......

It was a wonderful Christmas at my house.  It was perfect weather (cold but no wet stuff), food turned out delicious, and kiddoes were all happy and contented.  We went to Christmas Eve services with lots of family and it was wonderful.  That's always my favorite thing.  The only way I can describe it is it "fills me up"!  I know that when my g'kids are my age and I'm long gone, they will remember all of us being in church on Christmas Eve.

After the kids open presents at their house, they come to mine (in their p.j.'s) and we have the same egg dish, cinnamon rolls and fruit that I've fixed for years.  The g'kids search for the pickle that hangs somewhere on my tree and the one who sees it first gets a little gift, then the others get one, too (of course).

This is the wonderful painting that Phoebe made for me. 

.....and here is the scarf that Stella made for me and the bread board and wood tool that Allison made with her new wood-burning set.  I love the things they make for me.

The girls with all their new doll equipment....

Sage with his Legos......

I'm so thankful for this little family of mine and for my big extended one.  It's harder now for all of us to be together like we used to do.  We're just all so blessed to have this family and are so grateful that we are today all healthy and doing well.....thank you, God.

Worked for awhile yesterday at Leola's and couldn't help myself, had to have these.....

I seem to have collected quite a few vintage glass bells so my plan next year is to do a small bell tree.

Hope all of you had a wonderful holiday season and that our new year will be one of much peace and happiness.

Wintry weather......

We've had a really wintry week.  Lots of snow and frigid temps.  It's beautiful but a real pain.  Schools have been out for several days and still are today.  May I add that we added 5" last night.  It's been a real hassle in so many ways because with kids there are so many concerts and festivities between school and church and they've all had to be cancelled.  It's really difficult if you're a small business owner.  December is such an important month for us and if we can't open Leola's for 4 days, it really hurts all of us.  And that goes for everyone who has a small business .  Just say a prayer that when it melts, people will really be in the mood to shop.

 My tree is finished and looks so pretty at night....

These are some of the first pictures I took with my new camera.   It's a Canon Rebel T3i and so far, I love it.  There's always so much to learn when getting a new camera.  By sticking with a Canon, lots of things are similar to my previous camera.  So much to learn but I've found the only way to learn is to use it and keep the instruction book close.

I tend to want to bake when I'm stuck inside (& not get out of my p.j.'s)....

Well, the sun is out and maybe we'll have a little melting.  The high temp today is only supposed to be 25 so probably not much melting will occur.  Anyway, I'm getting caught up with those things that have been stressing me so it's not all bad, and there's something so nice about reading in the afternoon with no guilt.

Happy Tuesday (or whatever day this is)!!!!

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

It's been a very busy couple of weeks in my life and it seems all I had managed to do was make a big mess with all the storage boxes.  After working most of the weekend and not accomplishing much, sister Judy came over today and got things moving.  Sometimes that's all I need.....a boost.

It's freezing cold here which makes it feel a little more Christmasy.  Even put a fire in the fireplace.  Tonight I've turned the overhead lights out and turned on the battery candles.  Feels like Christmas.  If you've never used the battery candles, they're wonderful.  Sometimes I leave them on all night.  It's so nice not to have to worry about forgetting a burning candle.  My grands use them for nightlights at Grandma's.

Things are coming together.  Now I need to get my schedule set.  Lots of programs with the grandkids and I'm wanting to have the girls from Leola's over for our annual Christmas party.  I'd also like to have some good friends over for lunch or dinner.  Always seems such a shame that we work so hard decorating and don't take the time to enjoy it with family and friends.  I've had reasons the last couple of weeks to think about how quickly time flies by.  We work and work at all the things we have to do and forget to enjoy those things that bring us the most joy.  I intend to bring more joy into my life and quit worrying about all those things I "should" be doing.

Anyway, enjoy the tour....

Have a good week!

My house at Christmas......

We had our first snow this morning.  It's not much to brag about but it doesn't take much for me to feel a little more in the Christmas spirit.  Thanks to the baby shower I had on Saturday, the house is decorated.  I've even done a little baking-- unfortunately, I've also done a little eating.  There are very few edibles that I have no control over.  One is my mom's wedding cake cookies and the other is white chocolate covered star pretzels.  Would you believe I have both in the house......but, I'm afraid, not for long.  I had white chocolate covered pretzels for breakfast.

Here's what it looked like in front of my house this morning.

It's so nice to have a day when I have nothing on the calendar so thought it would be a good day to post some pictures. 

This is my tree I do in the front window with all vintage ornaments.  The Santa is made by Debbie Bridges who made Santa's for us at our previous store in Galloway Village called Eli McGee Mercantile.  I have several of her Santa's and ornaments that I treasure.

Hope you've enjoyed the tour.  Perhaps now that it's decorated I can concentrate on making some gifts.  There are lots of ideas floating around in my head so we'll see if I get anything accomplished.  Stay tuned!