Just so you'll know....

It's December. It time to go a little crazy. So I thought I'd share some of my quirks about the season. I am not one of these who dreads the constant activity. I am not one who hates the whirlwind. I am one of those who lives for every single moment of the season and I squeeze every bit of joy out of it.



I still leave CHRIST in Christmas. Christmas is love and hope and peace and joy. But that doesn't mean we can't enjoy the madness and the craziness as long as we never lose site of the real meaning of Christmas.

Here are some of the things I love that makes people think I'm a little nuts...



.....I like to attend as many Christmas functions possible. All of the functions I like to attend are with family or church functions. I like my calendar to be full. I already have 15 things on my appointment calendar ranging from children's school programs to parades to Christmas dinners with church friends.

.....I love to wrap Christmas presents and very rarely use gift bags unless it is a bulky present.

.....I NEVER use gift bags for the grandbabies...even if it is bulky. I just figure out a way to wrap it.  Watching them unwrap is one of my highlights of the season.

.....When Daddy was alive, I helped him do his Christmas shopping for Mommy every year. When I moved to Tennessee, he would send me money and tell me what to get and have me wrap it and ship it to him. He's been gone since '99 and I still go overboard for Mommy and send it to her so she will have extra presents to unwrap on Christmas. I always tell her that in my heart, some of them are from Daddy.

.....I love to bake and I will bake like crazy...only to give most of it away because we would never be able to eat everything I bake this month.

.....Every year, I have to watch Rudolph, Frosty, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, Christmas Story, Home Alone, National Lampoon Christmas Vacation, Miracle on 34th Street (old version), Emmett Otter's Jug Band Christmas, Christmas Comes to Willow Creek, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Smoky Mountain Christmas and my favorite, A Charlie Brown Christmas.

.....My favorite Christmas songs are Tender Tennessee Christmas and Mary Did You Know.

.....I cry every time I hear Alabama sing Christmas Memories http://youtu.be/fS-7EfnS4tQ especially when it says "there's that old easy chair, me and Daddy sat there waitin' for Santa's sleigh. Now Daddy's gone but we carry on..."

.....I love sending out Christmas cards. I love getting them too. I read everyone of them and sometimes get them out at night and go through them again.



.....I love shopping and being right in the middle of the crowds at Christmas time. I even intentionally leave some last minute stocking stuffers for hubby until the 22nd or 23rd so I can have a reason to be out in the craziness.



.....I love Christmas eve when the family gets together and enjoys a feast and the kids get to open presents the adults get them. I still like to buy for my kids as well. My son has always been one of those that gets impatient and loves to have something to open on Christmas eve. That hasn't changed as he's gotten older.



.....I love Christmas morning. Getting up with hubby and exchanging our gifts for each other and then spending the day lounging around in sweats all day. He'll make a big Christmas dinner for us and I'll spend most of the day reading whatever new book he gets me for Christmas.

I guess I just love everything about Christmas.

The wonders of grandchildren

Thanksgiving was a special day with my family gathered at the house. My daughter had a new camera so she was "Kodak" moment happy all day. As I looked at the pictures she had taken, I realized how blessed I am to have such beautiful grandchildren. They each have developed their own little personalities. They have much in common but at the same time are very different from each other. I thought I'd share some of my favorite photos of the day of some of my favorite little people.

Top 10 Tuesday

I'm riding the Tuesday Train

My favorite top 10 Christmas things.

1. Putting icicles on the Christmas tree - If you saw my post last week, I am one of a dying breed...a lover of icicles. My tree is not complete unless I have icicles. They evoke such strong childhood memories. Not to mention they can cover a lot of flaws and gaps on the tree.

2. Setting out my little basket of poinsettias that Mamaw Eden bought me when I was five. This little basket is 50 years old this Christmas and it is still one of my most cherished keepsake items. It was special because Mamaw got it for me, but even more special because she had taken me shopping and we were together when she bought it at McCroys.

3. Letting the grandchildren help decorate a little tree for my home office. Shelby was a little too gung ho and hung everything on the bottom limbs. Colby was more interested in taking them off instead of putting them on. Alexis and Garret did a very good job, but Caleb wasn't feeling well so he didn't feel like helping.

4. Creme drops for a litte snack. These were one of our favorite Christmas candies growing up. I don't know why we only bought them at Christmas but we did. I do the same thing. The best ones are in the produce department with the nuts and dried fruit at Krogers. Not sure why they are there, but I need to go get some for this year.

5. My little mice from Home Interior. I have had these since the my children were little.

6. My nativity collection. I love nativity sets. My favorite one is the childlike Mary and Joseph on the donkey. I've had it for years.

7. My Santa collection. I have Santa's all over the living room and snowmen all over the kitchen.

8. Having something new for decor each year. This year it is my placemats and my bowl for the dining room table. Thanks to Kohl's and their great sales and to my daughter who bought me the matching bowl.

9. My reindeer and Christmas tree. My deer is very special because my mother painted it and gave it to me. The tree is very special because my oldest grandson, Garret, painted it for me when he was just a little thing.

10. Christmas Bears. I love teddy bears. These two guys normally sit on the trunk at the end of my bed. But every Christmas, they get to put on a Christmas sweater and ride in the little red wagon.

What is YOUR favorite Christmas item at your house?

Christmas Crafting



It's that time of year when everybody likes to get crafty and create something new for Christmas decor or Christmas gifts. I love doing crafts but just never seem to have the time and not even sure I have much talent. But it is fun. I used to think that making crafts meant spending hours cutting, sewing, gluing, trimming, etc. But now I realize that you can be crafty simply by picking up a few items and putting them together for home decor. That's what I did this weekend.

Hobby Lobby (one of my favorite places to go) had a 50% off sale on most of their Christmas decor. I got these two Santa's and the snowman for under $8.00 total. Not a bad deal if you ask me.

Then when we were at Walmart I bought this plate because I liked it and it was only .98 cents. But I had no idea what to do with it.

When I was showing them to hubby, I sat the figurines on the plate to carry them easier and liked the way it looked.

 

Then I remembered the plate my daughter had fixed with candles and Christmas picks and stuff so I dug in my old Christmas stuff and found this little bucket from years ago that was smooshed up and hadn't been used in a while.

 

 

So I disassembled it and used some of the picks on the new decorations and here is the finished product. I thought it turned out pretty good.

 

Officially in Christmas Mode

This weekend has really put me in the Christmas spirit. I love this time of year. It is a time of jubilation and celebration for the birth of our King.

No matter how much I love the giving of gifts, the thrill of shopping for that special item, the happiness in decorating for the holidays, I still have that awe and joy that at this time of year, all those centuries ago, Mary gave birth to her precious baby boy and called his name Jesus.

I love that story. It is one that touches my heart over and over again. Every December, I read the words recorded by Matthew and Luke and listen to Mary Did You Know.

God's plan is amazing when you think about it. Jesus could have just "shown up" on earth as a man. The stories could have just started about Him when He was fully grown. His existance could have been kept quiet until He began His miraculous works.

But God, in His infinite wisdom gave Him to us as a tiny baby boy. Someone we could ooo and ahhh over. A story that would humble us that this poor young lady would be with child when she wasn't much more than a child herself. And this wonderful, loving husband Joseph who married her anyway and watched over her and loved the child as his own.

God gave us this tiny baby because He knew we would fall in love with Him and watch Him grow. We would take pride in what He accomplished and all the miracles He would perform. We would accept Him, simply because we knew of Him from His birth. But most of all, we would grow to love Him. We would feel like He was ours and we were His. We would be horrified by the brutal crucifixion to this beloved Son we had watched grow up.

And then God delivered His final message. This was all done just for us. For you and for me.

So never, ever forget the Reason for the Season.



Repeat, Repeat



Did you go shopping yesterday? Did you score any good bargains. My daughter-in-law helped me snag a great deal on a new Christmas tree. I was going to go the real route this year. But as I was going through my decorations, I found the strings of lights I would need for a real tree. Lights that ,despite my packing safely away, had managned to get hopelessly tangled. Lights that would need untangled and checked. Lights that would need to be trimmed around a real tree. That's when it hit me. I got excited about the thought of a good deal on an artificial tree. And I found one I wanted at a great buy.

Had an awesome lunch with my daughter-in-law at Applebees. Thanks, Jamie for all your help yesterday.

This morning, I'm heading out with my daughter to repeat the process and see what I might find today.

Black Friday Bravery

 

It's here. It's official. The top sales day of the year. I must admit that the onset of more and more stores opening at midnight or even 10:00 p.m. on Thanksgiving takes some of the charm away from the day. Now you are not one of the brave who get up at 3:00 to be in line by 4:00 for a store that opens at 5:00. You are now the person in line who is behind the person bragging about all the great bargains they snagged at midnight.

But you know what, I don't really care. I just love being in the crowd. Jostling along, looking for treasures. I usually have a list of things I kinda might maybe want to get while the price is right. But I normally am not there for the big ticket items that everybody is pushing to get. The items I am after are usually the ones they hold back until 5:00 Friday anyway so it works out good.

Living in a tourist town, our Walmart is insane on Black Friday so obviously that is where I choose to start my trek. I have found that it is best to be patient as you go from area to area. If you are by yourself, you can stay under the radar and snake through the sea of humanity and capture some great buys if you are diligent and don't get impatient.

I have several items on my list this year that are going to be great deals, but I can't share them for fear of who may be on my list that reads my blog.

However, there are a few items I need or want for myself that I won't hesitate to pick up if I can find the right one. My birthday rolls around mid-December so I always get a little birthday cash in advance in case a Black Friday sale hits my fancy. Here are the things on my wish list:

I love watches. I love them with assorted types of bands, different styles, anything. I just love to change them out based on my outfit. I fell in love with this bangle one and for $5.00, what watch fanatic could resist. That is if it fits. I have such skinny wrists that I can't wear most bangle type jewelry.

I wear a lot of hoodies in the winter when I'm going to the store or shopping. I am not a heavy coat person, though I keep one in the car. I prefer warm sweaters, sweatshirts or fleece with a hoodie over it. I also love Mickey Mouse and my favorite color is red and "under $10" is one of my favorite phrases so I can't pass this up.

I keep checking out the memory foam bath mats every time I see them. They range anywhere from $12.97 to $19.97. I just can't seem to pay that much for a rug that is designed to get wet. But I keep dreaming of having one for my master bath. It's all part of my "pamper yourself" personality. Well, at this price, if I can find the right color, I'll be snatching one up for myself.

I looked all last year for warm fuzzy comfy boots for everyday wear. I wanted something with fur or sweater like material so they would be good and warm. I hate cold feet. These are hideous, but I have fallen in love with them. They are by Crocs. I didn't see them on sale anywhere, but I'm going to keep my eyesopen for a pair of these or some knock off that resembles them. Just fell in love with the fur/sweater/shoe look.

I have a long list of things to check out for the family and three things on my list for hubby are on sale today. One of the items I have been eyeballing for $29.99 for him at Kohl's for the past three weeks. Kohl's has it on sale for $19.99 Friday. But then I found a similar item that I liked even better that will be on sale at Kmart for $7.99 Friday. So I'm very excited about that. That will be my main goal on Friday is to get that one item for hubby at a reasonable price. If I do, my day will be a success.

I have quite a few items I want to look at for the kids and grandkids after listening to everyones comments last night when they looked over the Black Friday ads.

One of my favorite parts of the early morning rush is standing in the checkout line and socializing with those around me. I love learning where they are from, what brought them to our neck of the woods. I have been doing Black Friday for 7 years. And one thing that amazes me every year is that we don't seem to have the hateful, grabbing, "I gotta have that" type people around here. Everybody seems to be having a great time. Stopping complete strangers and asking if you no where an item is.

But the absolute most amazing thing that I adore when standing in those long lines is that at some point, at some moment, someone starts talking about God and blessings. So even amidst the hubbub and rush, even the craziest most insane Black Friday addicts still realize that this is a time for giving Thanks. It's so cool.

So if you head out today be cautious, stay safe and snag some great bargains!

 

 

 

 

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