(counting down...)

Goodbye to 2007....

(happy wishes...)

...for a glad new year...
Blessings on you all.
xo

(packing it in)

I started yesterday.
Bit by bit, things are going back to their normal resting places. When we got up this morning, I found that Jessica had taken the ornaments off the tree for me, placed in specific piles...to make my job easier.
I had to take one....last....photo.
So away they go...'til next December.

*sigh*

(santa?)

Christmas ~ 1952
My first.
My mother must have had something to do with my father donning that suit!
...and that beard!?!
It's amazing what one will do for love.

(breather)

Oh, how I love this time in between Christmas and New Year's Day!
I enjoy sleeping in a little later, shuffling about in my new slippers, reading the new books I received for Christmas, putting things away little by little and eating leftover cookies with my cuppa....well, more like a few cuppas.

:^)

...later...

(noel)

(the night before...)

(wishing you...)

(ready...)

...even the Christmas cactus bloomed right on time...
!!!

(show & tell)

This little snowman sits in a wreath on my laundry room door.

Another Santa, painted for my dad years ago, peeks out a window.

My mom's favorite ornament hangs on the clock in the dining room.

Greens and berries brighten a shelf in the kitchen.

Finally, this happy snowman stands guard next to the tree on the hoosier cupboard in the kitchen.

These home holiday touches are for Kelli's Show & Tell Friday.

(completed gifts)

I love this dog-eared pattern. I bought it twenty years ago to make jumpers for my then 10yo daughter. Since then, I have made countless jumpers for daughters of family and friends. It is an easy pattern, flattering to all shapes and sizes. This year, it is Little E's turn for a ginger jumper. I think she will like the cherries.

I had leftover flannel from last year's projects. It was just enough to make 'jama bottoms and a pillow case. I bought a shirt to match.

Then there is this.
I can't remember where I saw it. If any of you know...mention it in the comments so that I can give credit to the clever girl who posted the tutorial for it.
It is just a piece of elastic cut to fit a little bit bigger than your little one's waist, the ends of the elastic stitched together...with strips of tulle tied to it. (I bought two smaller rolls of tulle-one white, one ivory) I used a one yard measure for each piece of tulle. I cut a bunch of 'em...tied 'em on, alternating colors and added some ribbons. The finished tutu is 18 inches in length.
Can't get any easier than that!!!

***
We are sooo enjoying our son being home. The look on his face was priceless...as he walked toward us in the airport.

***
The stack of Christmas CDs is playing, coffee is brewing, and we are sitting round the stove visiting this crisp winter morning.
Enjoy this day!

(dad's santa)

I made this Santa about 20 years ago for my dad. The body is a piece of vintage crazy quilt. The idea was "borrowed" from a Country Living magazine.
He loved it!
Dad is gone now, but happy memories of him are forever in my heart.

***
This mama is in Giddy City today. We are heading to the airport today to pick up our son, Zach. It's his first time back home since he returned from Iraq. The rest of the family has not seen him in over a year. It will be his first time to meet his nephew, Little Zeke (who celebrated his first b-day the 2nd of this month)... His grandma has been baking up a storm...making all his favorite cookies... The nephews are looking forward to playing some games with Uncle Zach... Jessica has "peanut buttah bawls" all made and in the freezer...
Hey, we are all very happy to have him home for Christmas.
w00t!

(last minute ornaments)

As the title suggests, these are last minute ornaments to go on some treats we are giving away for Christmas. I may make more of these. They were fun to do.
My thanks go to Dawn @ The Feathered Nest for her tutorial.

(a brief pause)

It's a beautiful, sunny morning out there.
Looks like glitter on the snow.

Take a moment away from the holiday preparations to enjoy the beauty that surrounds you.

(the joy of Christmas)

Somehow, not only for Christmas,
But all the long year through,
The joy that you give to others,
Is the joy that comes back to you.
And the more you spend in blessing,
The poor and lonely and sad,
The more of your heart's possessing,
Returns to you glad.
John Greenleaf Whittier

*****

From home to home,
and heart to heart,
from one place to another,
the warmth and joy of Christmas,
brings us closer to each other.
Emily Matthews

(snowed in)

There was no church today, due to the ice and snow and wind.
We are snuggled in, keeping as warm as we can.
Baking cookies sounds like a good idea to me.
...with a hot cuppa, of course...

ETA @ 2:10pm:
Mmmmmm...you should smell these!!!

(creche)

This bamboo set from Taiwan is the one I arranged and rearranged (and rearranged again!) as a child. It was gift from my Uncle Bill and Aunt Barrie, who served as missionaries there in the 50's and 60's.
It has always been a reminder to me...of the real Reason we celebrate.

(#701)

701?!?
Thatsalottaposts!
(I just noticed the count when I was logging in.)


My humble thanks to Barbara for this:

You're ALL amazing in my book.
xo

(mittens)

In addition to our children's first baby shoes, these little baby mittens hang on the Christmas tree each year.
They belonged to our daughter, Jessica.

Are there any special keepsakes on your tree?

~for show and tell Friday~

(lovin' the sparkle)

...of the tree lights...

...the glitter...

...and the freshly fallen snow!

Yes, it IS beginning to look a lot like Christmas!
Several inches of the white stuff are in the forecast for today.

How about a hot cuppa cocoa?
Sounds good to me.
...later...

(33?)

Just wondering how my little red haired girl got to be 33 years old so soon....
Happy Birthday, Rachel!

xox

One more thing...

...to the moon and back...

(carol)

Angels we have heard on high,
Sweetly singing o'er the plains,
And the mountains, in reply,
Echoing their joyous strains.

Gloria in excelsis Deo!

(to say thanks)

This fabric collage holds a thank you note...

...in the back lace pocket...
***
This week is all about finishing a quilt to be given as a Christmas gift.
The fabric collage was a temporary diversion.
Fifteen.
Days.
Left.
Gotta move...

(catching up...)

...on over and over work today...

(special order...)

...for this eyeglass case is completed...
!!!

...and since I must include something Christmas, here is my kitchen snowman...given to me by a dear friend years ago...

I'm filling my cuppa and going back to the machine.

Sooo...what are you up to this fine day?