Just some stuff....

I have apparently inherited a racoon family. Every evening around 5:10, this one little guy comes into the driveway right outside my home office window. He sits and looks around, sniffs the ground a little and saunters (yes, nonchallantly saunters like he has no care about being seen) across the street to a little tree on the corner. As soon as he safely crosses, he stops and looks back this way then 3 more little guys cross over to meet him. None of them scurry or hurry. They just act like they are on a field trip. They climb up this tree and sit for about an hour or so then leave the way they came as soon as it is completely dark. Adorable, but strange. Does anybody know what kind of tree this is with all the little "ball" fruit on it?

My hubby is not one to do any decorating for the holidays. He loves the decorations. He just likes to let me get the joy of decorating. But the other day, he found my candy canes in the cabinet that I use for hot chocolate. He stuck them in this white bowl (which is his absolute favorite bowl we have) and sat it on the counter so I could get to my canes easier. I thought it looked really cute since it is a plain white bowl and the red and white canes look festive in it. Simple, yet elegant. I may have to hire him when I decorate next year.

Speaking of peppermint....I took my peppermint candy Kisses I got from my secret sister and put them in this Ball jar. I added a white lid that I get in a pack at Walmart for these jars and tied on a little silver string and wah-lah...a new candy dish. Wouldn't this make a cute idea for a quick "thinking of you" gift for any occassion. Just pick their favorite candy and tie a string or ribbon to coordinate the candy wrapper and you have a cute little gift to stick down in a gift bag. By the way, the jar lids are plastic and reusable and only cost around $2.50 at walmart for 12. I also keep one in the fridge filled with either water, chocolate milk or juice. Everybody knows it's my glass and if I want a sip of something cold, I just open it, drink a sip or two and put it back in the fridge. Saves me from dirtying a glass every time I want a drink.

Our poor little tree. It has been barren of gifts. But yesterday, I got started on my wrapping. I got one done. Don't worry, I'm wrapping tonight while I watch Christmas movies and munch on some goodies. This one has to go with hubby to work for their Christmas party next week and he wanted me to wrap it for him. I am not a gift bag person so almost everybody gets wrapped gifts from us. Except if I give any of the little candy jars above as gifts, they will be in a bag. 

With all the Christmas stuff going on, I haven't had a chance to visit my favorite website, Thirty One Gifts for a month or more. I saw a post at Jeremiah 29:11 about her favorite Christian establishments to shop at and it reminded me I hadn't been to Thirty-One in awhile. I went and clicked on the specials and OH WOW! They actually are having a sale on a new product that will be in the Spring 2012 catalog. I have got to have this new Cinch-It-Up Thermal Tote. I love the one in Aqua. How adorable is this?

They have their other thermal lunch tote on sale as well and it showed just a touch of one of the new patterns for spring called Flutter. Very appropriate name since it is butterflies. I have loved butterflies for years and years and have a lot of decor with butterflies. I am sure when the new spring catalog comes out, I'll be buying something in this pattern. Time to plan my spring party I guess. (Blurry because of the low res, but you can see the pattern).

We had our monthly meeting for WMU at church last night and Ms. Janet had us a little goodie bag with this neat desktop notepad and holder. Isn't it precious. There were some miniature candy bar goodies in their as well, but hubby and I went on a snacking binge before bedtime so....no more goodies.

This reminded me that 2012 is just around the corner. I'm already accumulating new things to kick off the New Year when it gets here. I posted my new planners the other day that I got a Dollar Tree. Well, I went back with my daughter Saturday and found this pretty pink calendar for my wall.

I have had this notebook for several years....bought it just because I liked it and in case I ever needed it. Well, I think I finally have found a use for it. As I surf the internet, I find things I want to purchase in the future or things I want to do later on. I also get blog ideas that I want to work on at a later date. But I'm not very organized with a follow up system. Saving to favorites doesn't work because I forget to go back. So what I am going to do is when I see something I want to buy, have a thought, or want to print a craft pattern for later use, I'm going to print it out and put it in my little 3 ring binder. That way, I can flip through it when I want and remember what I wanted to get or do.



How are things are going on in your world?

Christmas comes to WV

Every year, I can't wait for my sister to decorate her house for Christmas. She always sends me tons of pics. She has some of the cutest little decorations and I love seeing what she has added or rearranged from year to year. So I asked her to visit today and share some of her Christmas decor. Hope you enjoy.



The process of a picture

I had an absolutely wonderful time at dinner with the family last night. As usual, I had my trusty camera and whipped it out to take some shots. My granddaughters were beside me so I aimed at them first to capture those two precious faces. I would see beautiful smiles and sweet little faces...until I clicked the button. Once the little light goes to flash, Alexis kicks into her "wide eyed" mode. Shelby, of course, had to turn around and see it.

So I tried again only to get wider eyes and a head that ducked out of the picture.

Tried again, but the faces just get funnier.

Not to be beaten, I tried once again. Bound to get a great photo of the girls. Only to get that lovely funny face and one who turned away....again.

So I begged for them to give Mamaw a good smile ... with no wide eyes and I got a bunch of giggles and this shot.

Finally, I got one of Alexis's million dollar smiles with the pretty eyes and Shelby ended up turning away.

So one more time and Alexis turned away and Shelby gives me a crooked grin. I gave up on the girls and just took what I could get. They are still precious even if they like silly photo faces.



I decided to just capture the two older boys while they were not looking. A lot easier to avoid the funny faces if nobody knows you are clicking.

I figure the key to photographing grandchildren is to just point and shoot and hope for the best. 

You can always count on Colby for a great picture because the camera fascinates him. The only problem is, he usually smiles AFTER the flash goes off.

The key is to snap quickly between the flashes.

This one turned out good except my angle was picking up a glare from the water glass. But like I said before, I'll take what I can get.

By this time, he was over it and ready for his drink

Oh, well, I'll just hope for better at Christmas. I want a really good one of all 5 of them together, smiling angelically. Well, a grandmother can dream can't she?

Another Holiday....

....at least it is a holiday for me.

It's my 55th birthday. I don't know when a person officially becomes "a senior citizen" but back when I was 18, the magical number was 55. In our area, you get food discounts once you hit 55 and a lot of the stores give senior discounts to those 55 and over.

Recently, I was at Pizza Hut with my granddaughter. I had

not colored my hair for awhile so the gray was showing through. The waitress handed me my ticket and said "When you go pay, just tell them you want the gray haired lady discount." I wasn't happy with the insinuation that I was "old", but hey it was 10% and a discount is a discount. So I took it.

Age is an interesting fact of life. I may be 55, but some days I act like I'm 25 and some days I feel like I'm 95. Of course, if I'm in one of my "pouty" moods, I probably act more like I'm 5. If you average those out, I'm only really like 45??? Sounds like a good theory to me.

I go at high speed all the time. I have got to learn to slow down some or I'll never make it to 65.

Some women dread hitting 30. Some dread turning 40. I have never had a particular age that I was upset when I got there. Each year is a celebration of one more year on this earth.



But last night, as I was watching TV, it hit me. I don't want to be 55. I want to stay 54. Or better yet, I want to do the the time change thing and set my clock back about 15 years. My daughter voted yes for that idea since it would make her 21 again.



But alas, I am 55 and there is nothing I can do about it. And as I rolled out of bed this morning with an aching back and arthritis in my knuckles, I once again am mad at 55. I guess it's going to be a love/hate relationship all year.

I'm riding the Tuesday train. Hop over to The House on the Corner and get on board.

National Poinsettia Day

Did you know the poinsettia has its own holiday? Today is National Poinsettia Day. The plant itself was was introduced into the U.S. from its native Mexico in the 1820's by Joel Robert Poinsett, a US Ambassador to Mexico. The true flower on the poinsettia is the actual yellow center. The red we associate with the flower is actually part of the leaf system on a poinsettia. The star-shaped leaf pattern is said to symbolize the Star of Bethlehem and the red color of the leaves represents the blood sacrifice through the Crucifixion of Jesus.

December 12th marks the anniversary of the death of Mr. Poinsett, therefore the House of Representatives picked this date when creating Poinsettia Day. 

The above picture is in the foyer of my church. I just think it is gorgeous. Here are some poinsettias I have seen on Etsy that I just adore.

Cookin Cute

Sursy Shop

Fast Crawl

Lily and Oak

Southern Belle OOAK

Candy Bead

Original Rose

The Pendant Emporium