Frou Frou Gypsy in Combat Boots

well It's back... maybe i will be more successful this year. I had a scrapbook nightmare last week. i do so want to do this again this year. go check out the journal your Christmas post and i know you will want to join in on the fun!

We had a great Christmas, i hope you and yours did too! The kids got up at 5 a.m. Christmas morning...but it was worth it, they were so excited. We had three days of celebrations and now we are taking a breath before all the New Year's hoopla begins. I thought i would pause and share with you some of the things i like to allow myself to indulge in during the holidays..... Wearing Pajamas all day...and maybe even getting a new pair! Having several Christmas trees! all in one cozy house! apple cider, my mom always has it! New Calendars! yeah, i am a bit OCD and i love them!!! a whole new year to plan! watching Christmas movies!!! eating cookies for Breakfast!...or lunch...or snack...or anytime! baking pies and cookies and all sorts of yummy goodies! being lazy! SHOPPING! even better AFTER Christmas shopping!

Everyone in my family has a stocking. Me, DH, and both kids. Even my parents have stockings...they hang at their house, but we fill them up! I don't think you ever out grow stocking! Stockings are fun!!! We put a big combination of things in our stockings: food, silly things, fun things, anything that will fit, and sometimes things that don't! Growing up when i had pets, even they had stockings! Also i had a "special stocking" that would be on my door. When Santa came, he would slip a candy cane filled with M&Ms into it...so if i woke up during the night, i would know if he had been there or not yet! i had a BAD habit of getting up at 3 a.m. on Christmas morning! I know my parents loved that! My kids thankfully, don't get up so early! i usually beat them up in fact!

Things i have LEFT to do: 1. make pecan pie 2. make cheese ball 3. make final batch of cookies 4. bake ham 5. clean kids' bathroom ...AGAIN 6. Clean off island in kitchen 7. vacuum one last time 8. wait for guests!

Dear Santa, All i want for Christmas this year is for my kids to enjoy the day and not get too wrapped up in all the presents. Help me, as well as them, to remember that we are celebrating Christ's birth even though we are the ones getting the presents. If there is room in your sleigh, i'd like a bone folder, and new blades for my paper trimmer. thanks cyndi These little goodies are what i sent to school with my kids for their classmates. I got the suckers at the Dollar Tree, 8 per package! I made the tags with SU! punches, ink and stamps. Added some glitter and ribbon! ta -dah! These are the gingerbread people i made for the playgroup kids. Here's a close up of the tags...SU! again as well as some stuff that's just been hanging around! hope you all are almost ready for the big day!

Oh the joys of Christmas Dinner! The food lovingly and perfectly prepared. All the family gathered around one big table dressed up in their best Holiday clothes. The crystal and China is sparkling and there is a smile on everyone's face. That's what Christmas Dinner looks like, right? I suppose so in a Norman Rockwell or Currier and Ives painting. Certainly not in my house! We use to have a more traditional Christmas dinner, with Turkey and dressing and all the fab sides. It was certainly never all of us at one table, none of us lives in a castle! the kids were usually at the "kids' table" and the adults if they were lucky, all sat together in an adjacent room. As the years went by and we got larger and larger....the more and more tables we needed! so now we may be in any number of rooms at any number of tables. There were years when some china was used because we needed that many plates. I think one of the best stories is that one year my Aunt who was hosting Chr...

The perfect gift. How elusive? Have you ever given it? Received it? Do you even look for it, or do you stick with what's on the list and a sure bet? Honestly i have such a bad memory, i can't remember what i got..except for one year i got THE Barbie Dream House and it was totally amazing! I remember being so happy that Santa had brought me that! I would LOVE to find the perfect gift, but i don't think it is something you can stalk. I think it just happens when you least expect it. Like today, hub was showing me something online, and i found the perfect gift for the Duchess. Since we don't "do" Christmas gifts, it will have to wait until her B'day or until i just can't stand it and have to buy it for her. I'd tell you what it is, but she might read this!

Coke Zero Heavenly Chocolate Chunk cookies My Parents the Disney Channel My two sweet children My amazing husband and almost 10 years of Marriage The REAL meaning of Christmas Christmas Carols Good Friends My home and all the family that visits it Sinus medicine a dish washer and washing machine Microwave Popcorn! Starbucks! Scrapbooking and stampin’ supplies Glitter and rhinestones Hub’s job and his recent promotion! Gooooooooooooo team!

It seems to be the new tradition; us hosting Christmas Eve. My Dad's family, what's left of it, comes over around 10 a.m. and spends the whole day. We have a lot of fun, visiting and playing games, etc. I love having things at my house, i don't have to go anywhere or worry about my kids being bored or messing up someone else's house. Plus, and i know this is a strange one, it gives me REAL incentive to clean my house really well! Also, since the kids, my parents have spent the night with us on Christmas Eve as well. I wish i had an actual spare bedroom for them, since they won't take our bed..but we make do. We have a Christmas morning breakfast before they leave and we all begin to get on with our Christmas Day celebrations!

As a kid, my Papaw always "played Santa" and handed out the gifts. He would always sit on the floor next to the tree and say a hearty "HO, HO, HO!" as he called out names and passed presents around. I guess i never really thought much about it; that is until now. Now he's gone and who passes out the gifts? who has the honor of filling his Santa boots? The answer really is, no one. Now it is more of a casual thing with most of the adults just passing out things from under the tree. We try and make the kids (no longer us...they're our kids now!) unwrap one by one so we can actually see what everyone gets! We typically go youngest to oldest..but they get antsy waiting on their turn. there are 9 of them! It's interesting to me how two people, my grandparents, got married, had three kids, who had 6 kids, who had 9 kids! so what use to be a family of 5, is now a family of 28, minus three who have passed, leaving us at 25 people! That in and of itself is a ...

Hark! how the bells, sweet silver bells All seem to say, throw cares away. Christmas is here, bringing good cheer To young and old, meek and the bold Ding, dong, ding, dong, that is their song, With joyful ring, all caroling One seems to hear words of good cheer From everywhere, filling the air O, how they pound, raising the sound Oer hill and dale, telling their tale Gaily they ring, while people sing Songs of good cheer, christmas is here! Merry, merry, merry, merry christmas! Merry, merry, merry, merry christmas! On, on they send, on without end Their joyful tone to every home Ding dong ding dong

When i was a kid, Christmas was somehow different. it wasn't that i was the one getting all the gifts instead of giving them...it was a feeling. It was the family. Way back then, there were obviously less of us. The 6 "grandchildren" were kids , so that takes out the extra husbands and wives as well as the "great-grand kids" so that's 14 people of our "little group" who didn't exist yet, at least in our world. Every year we would go to one of the 3 "kids" houses, my mom's or one of her brother's homes. We'd go and have a big Christmas lunch, turkey and dressing, ham and potato salad, green bean casserole, and all the other sides you can imagine. The Grandchildren were always keyed up wanting to see and hear what Santa had brought the others. Not so patiently waiting to open Christmas gifts after lunch. As the grandchildren grew older we began to realize that the aunts and uncles weren't getting gifts and we didn't...

This is MY Christmas tree. Not the family tree, but MINE! ALL MINE! (We have 5 trees in this house you know) I have always wanted a white tree, but not for the "main" one. A few years ago someone ran a sale and i got this little beauty for about $20. It is not a GREAT tree, but come on, its white, I am not fooling anyone that it's real! It is just the perfect size for me to have in my room. I was VERY specific about what can and can't go on this tree. It has to be blue, white, or purple..maybe a bit of pink, but that's it! It matches our bedroom. first i cleaned out our existing ornaments and took the ones that were color appropriate...then i got to go shopping! That was fun! I got to get some things too from IKEA (man i love that place) which is cool, and they always have funky (to me) Christmas things. I will take any excuse to drive the 2.5 hours to go to IKEA! So this is MY little tree. DH bought it for me several years ago and i lay in bed and look at...

I have realized that we have a lot of family Christmas traditions. Every year we go to Nashville to visit some college friends of ours...we may barely talk to them all year, but come December plans are being made to head north to see them. Going to the Symphony's Christmas concert at DH's work is also a tradition...the kids would be so upset if we didn't do this. We even now have to check DS out of school to go. But go we must! Several years ago we started decorating on the Friday after Thanksgiving. That has become a tradition now. My parents come over to help and the kids so look forward to putting up the big tree "that goes all the way to the sky!" We've started putting up the "other" trees the week of Thanksgiving because 5 trees in one day is just too much!!! We go to Zoo Light Safari at our Zoo every year, usually with my BFF and her kids. Christmas Eve is celebrated with my Dad's family at our house. My parents spend the night and we have ...

What does Christmas look like in your world?

The days are ticking by...too fast! Are you done shopping yet? have you run out of money yet? have you send out your Christmas Cards, shipped your packages and planned your travels for the big days coming up? you do realize Christmas is two and a half weeks away, right? I am alomost done. I have baking to do, but the shopping is almost finished. The cards are in the mail. The tree is trimmed. the halls are decked. Is it time for some cider and relaxation now?

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

how do you count the days until Christmas? We celebrate Advent. This year Advent started on November 30...but we didn't start our official celebration until December 1st. Advent starts on the 4th Sunday before Christmas, so the actual days are different each year, but to simplify things, we like most people celebrate our Advent December 1-25. My sweet Mother-in-law got my kids this lovely Advent Calendar this year and it is hanging on our fridge. Each day one of the kids opens a door... and the other Child opens the box of the day. These boxes are our usual Advent tradition. Each box has a Bible verse listed on the inside of the lid and then something inside the box. In years past there has been a mix of candy, gifts, and slips of paper telling of exciting trips (going to visit friends out of town, a zoo trip, a visit to see the Symphony, etc) in the boxes. This year we just did activities. Things we can do as a family. Reading a special Christmas book together, watching a holida...

Christmas perfection....don't we all have day dreams of that? Images of the 'perfect' Christmas floating in our heads...forget the sugarplums! Today i have ripped off some tips from this blog on things that i think would make the 'perfect' Christmas decor..because of course the perfect Christmas has to look good! ********************************** Christmas decorating in the Shabby Chic Cottage Style is defined as an elegant, comfortable, "lived in" feeling with a perfect mix of the old and the new. Here are a few simple steps for creating a shabby chic, cottage Christmas by turning your home or apartment into a place of warmth this holiday season! 1. Choosing a color palette - Whites and creams are the staple colors for Shabby Chic style and also Christmas decorating projects. They can be used to create both an elegant or casual theme. White can be used exclusively or you can warm it up with beautiful pastels such as pinks, blues, or lavenders. 2. Fabrics...