My busy, hectic life

These past few days have been filled with activity. At the rate I'm going I won't just need the week after Christmas off...I'm going to need the MONTH after Christmas off.

It started out Friday with my normal day where hubby and I go to the grocery store and do a little Christmas shopping. It feels good to know that I'm getting a few things here and there. But one day next week I am going to take the whole day off by myself and shop until I have everybody done on my list. Friday night was the Knoxville Christmas parade and I went with my daughter because Shelby was in the parade. 

Saturday we went back to Knoxville to visit Mast General Store. I saw these neat oil lamps. I really need to get a new oil lamp based on how many times the power went out last winter. This looks so vintage. 

It was a beautiful day so we decided to take a walk over to Market Square. They have a Farmer's Market on Saturdays and it was a gorgeous day to stroll through the square.

I stopped at one booth and bought Hubby a cinnamon sugar donut to take home. It smelled so good I ended up eating it and had to go back and get some more to take home.  

After I came home, I baked four dozen cookies to take to our Sunday School Christmas program for the grandparents the next day. I baked Snickerdoodles and Gingerbread. 

My daughter had a "date" with her hubby for her birthday so Shelby stayed with me and Caleb stayed at his other grandma's house. After her bath, Shelby tripped and fell and hit her head on the porcelain part of the commode. She got a pump knot and a little bruise. I hate when they get hurt under my watch. She had to have an ice pack and a blankie. This was the blankie I won in May 2011 from Ms. Becky at Rise Above Your Limit.

Sunday morning was our little grandparents program at Sunday School. We got this awesome Christmas card from our grandchildren.  

And a box of snack mix that they decorated for us.

We got a bag full of goodies. 

 And I got an awesome gift bag from my Secret Sister. We find out on Wednesday who our Secret Sister is. I can't wait to give mine a HUGE hug. 

My gift bag also had this precious teddy bear in it. You know how I love teddy bears. He will be going on the trunk at the end of my bed with my others. 

Our choir Christmas program for church went very well. Then after church I went to the Thirty-One spring premier. It was awesome, fabulous, fantastic, mind blowing, oh my gosh words cannot convey how neat it was. We left with our new spring catalogs and I drooled over it all night. 

We also received one of the new products as a thank you for attending. The front cover theme is getting organized which is appropriate since it launches in January. New starts for new projects. So I am thinking I might just paint my office and use some of these new products to finally get it organized like I have been planning on doing for a year now. Stay tuned to see what transpires. This was our amenity for the Spring premier. I love this color and it goes well with the new taupe/grays they are using.

I also finished all my Christmas cards for church this weekend. Then I forgot to take them. But I can take them Wednesday. 

I went to my grandson Garret's Christmas program at school yesterday. It was so cute. I never tire of seeing the Grinch or watching Grandma get run over by the reindeer. 

Edgar swears I just plumb wore him out. He swears that he is so exhausted that he can't move another step so he just dropped down on the carpet and laid there. 

But I know it wasn't the busy weekend --- he was comatose from sugar overload! While I was gone Sunday to my Thirty One Premier, he was at home sneaking into the leftover cookies from Sunday School. I came home to find this. The proof is in the picture. 

It's somebody's birthday today

Thirty five years ago today God blessed me with the best gift a mother could ever receive. Twins.

From the time I started playing with dolls, I would say I wanted to grow up, get married and have one boy and one girl. That was all I ever wanted.

Since God knew I would only give birth once in my lifetime, He decided to answer my prayers in one precious gift by giving me two baby bundles of joy. 

They are my world. I don't always show it and I don't always say it, but I hope they know how much I love them and how proud I am of them. It still tingles my heart when one of them says "Mom". Once you become a grandmother, you tend to forget to tell your "big kids" how special they are to you. But I feel sure they know. 

Being the mother of twins is an amazing ride. At times they were so much alike and at times they were as different as night and day.

I am very proud of them and what they have grown up to be. But that one tiny little part in my heart will always keep them as my precious little bundles of joy that were placed in my arms a few moments after they were born and I realized, I got one of each! I am so blessed.

(My son Chris with his sons and my daughter Diana with her daughter)

Happy birthday to the best children a Mother could ever have. 

The Angel and the Elf

One day and angel happened upon a little elf who had a tendency to cause mischief everywhere he went. The little elf was talking to the angel and he was so excited that Christmas was coming soon. He had been busy at work helping make the toys, but Santa soon realized that he was an excitable little fellow and had a reputation of hopping from job to job, wanting to work on everything and just getting a little too excitement about the upcoming "big night." 

So Santa let the little elf head into the real world. He was telling the angel about all the wonderful things that Santa had planned for the good girls and boys on Christmas eve. He went on and on about toys and candy canes and stocking filled with goodies. Finally, the angel asked him why he thought Christmas was so special. 

The little elf quickly replied because you get presents. The angel sadly shook her head and told the little elf that Christmas is so much more about getting presents.It's about mercy and grace and peace and joy. It's about a love so great that God sent His one and only Son to be born in a lowly manger. He sent that tiny little baby into this world of sin and hatred so that the tiny little baby could grow up and tell about the love and works of God. 

God did all this knowing that one day that baby would die a violent death to save the very people who mocked Him and hurt him. But that baby did it all with great gladness, because He knew the plans God had for our lives. 

See little elf. While you are busy planning your fun and thinking about the presents you will get, God sits on his throne and remembers the night that His precious heavenly son became earthly. He remembers with fondness the sweet mother and father that watched over that precious gift and guarded it and raised it and guided it through childhood until that little tiny baby was ready to return to the throne of God where He belonged.

So enjoy your presents little elf. Enjoy the hustle and the bustle, the lights and the tinsel. For their truly is a reason to be celebrating the Christmas season. Just don't let go of what that real reason is for the celebrations that abound. 

A continuation of prayer...

Our church family lost a very dear man this week. He always had a smile and a kind word. I remember many times seeing him out at the local grocery store and his face would light up with a hello when he saw anybody he knew. He was a quiet, gentle, kind man. The type that could create calm, but you know if you ever needed anything you could ask. He and his wife are very beloved at the church. He will be missed greatly.

I think back on all the prayers that have been prayed for him and his wife during his illness. I like to think that we will all continue to pray for his wife and the family as they struggle through the days ahead to make sense of a life without him. So please keep this dear family in your prayers. 

Yesterday on Facebook, a friend of mine wrote a post that I asked her if I could share it on my blog. She gladly agreed. She said if her words could help someone else then she would have done a good deed for the day. I will call her "Jane". Jane lost one of her twin sons in September, just a few weeks short of his 21st birthday. He had battled cancer for a couple of years. He would beat it against all odds only to have it come back again with a vengeance. His twin brother did a bone marrow transplant to help prolong the young man's life. But it was not to be. He suffered great pain many times through his ordeal, yet he never gave up hope. He trusted 100% that God's will would be done. 

But despite all the marvels of modern medicine, God soon called him home. Jane has been battling daily to come to terms with her grief at losing one of her sons at such a young age to such a horrible disease. She is struggling with her pain and trusting God daily. Please keep her in your prayers. Here is her post in her own words from Facebook yesterday:

"I go to the grave almost daily. The other day someone told me when I was upset that he'snot in that grave, its just an old shell and that his spirit is in Heaven. I politely said I know but deep down I was hurting bad. But what they'd  forgotten, in their desire to be helpful was that "shell" was precious to me . I had carried that "shell" in my body. I was there when that "shell" breathed his first breath. I taught that "shell" how to walk and talk and ride a bike. I bathed that "shell". I loved the way his red hair curled and his feet were shaped like his mommy's. I stood over that "shell" in an intensive care unit for weeks. And then I watched that "shell" take his last breath and then I kissed a cold "shell" forehead before they closed his casket. I know they were trying to help but maternally and emotionally, I wanted to scream. I did everything for that precious "shell" I knew to do and it stopped breathing and its now in a grave. That hurts so bad. I love you all. Pray for us."

Her words touched my heart so much. She has been a dear friend since we were about 3 or 4 years old. It is painful to see her going through so much hurt. Yet, her faith in God remains strong. But her post made me stop and think. God answers prayers, even when they aren't the answer we want. When a loved one passes on, we must as Christian brothers and sisters continue to pray for those left behind to carry on. There ordeal is not over, it is just beginning. We mustn't forget that their pain is still here. They still face daily struggles. So let us continue to pray for those who need our prayers. 

Saturday's Report

Oreo, how do I love these. Let me count the ways. Well, there's chocolate, and vanilla and as of yesterday my newest addiction...GINGERBREAD. You need to rush out to your local store and grab these up while they are available. I'm going to stock up on some. This has to be one of the best gingerbread desserts ever. I found mine at Walmart. I didn't see them at my grocery store yet.

Something else I found at Walmart yesterday was peppermint mini-marshmallows. Remember my peppermint hot chocolate? Well, I'm replacing plain marshmallows with these. Wow. Can't wait to try them.

When we got home from the store yesterday there was a delivery package on the porch. I opened it up and a very precious friend of mine had sent me a gift. 

I love the boxes. They were so elegant that I hated to open them. 

But was I glad I did. Check out these gorgeous chocolate covered strawberries.

The other box was cake pops. How cute are these. 

I hate to eat them they are so adorable. But I am breaking into them today. 

It wasn't Edgar that was being mischievous yesterday. It was hubby. He just had to sample the strawberry. 

Speaking of gifts, I couldn't remember if I posted my latest goodie from my secret sister. Aren't these too precious for words.  

I got up this morning and I kept hearing "Pssst. Over here." Sure enough, Edgar was up to no good. In all the decorating I did last weekend, I still haven't gotten around to decorating the little tree in my office. I can't decide how I want to decorate it so I just haven't done it. Okay, Edgar, you win. I promise I will get it done today. 

Tomorrow morning is our church choir musical Changed by a Baby Boy. I am really excited about it because there are some pretty neat songs in it. There's one with an island feel that we all love and singing Go Tell along with Brian in our choir is one of the fun moments of the program. It has some beautiful lyrics in all the songs and we are all looking forward to the program.

Then after church is a big moment for me. It is the spring premier of Thirty-One's new spring products. It's a really big deal. It is held at a local theater and there will be a lot of celebration with the unveiling. This is my first one I will be attending in the theater setting. I can't wait. 

I've got my pretty pink ticket and I am ready to see what they are going to have for spring.

Well, I'm off to do some Christmas shopping today. Have a great weekend.

It's Cookie Time

It's that time of year when cookies are almost always baking in my oven. It starts tomorrow when I bake some for It's a GRAND Christmas at Sunday School class. I love baking now that I have more mixing bowls in my vintage Pyrex collection. Growing up, Mom had the primary bowls and now I have found me some of them. Like her, I use the red for mixing my chocolate cake icing and the yellow is always used to mix the homemade peanut butter dough and let it chill in the refrigerator for a few hours. Best peanut butter cookie recipe in the world. 

All my other cookies will be mixed in my Hamilton Beach Pyrex mixing bowl that I waited so long to find. At least I will try to mix cookies in it this year if somebody will stay out of it. (Edgar, get out! I need the bowl tomorrow.)

Hubby and I had the great cookies discussion last night as to what I'm baking and who is getting what. If you have ever heard of the famous orange cookies, you will recall they are only made once a year and make about 6 - 7 dozen cookies that each have to be individually iced with the orange frosting. Well this year, hubby added so many people to the cookie gift list that WE (translated I since all hubby does is help move them from the cookie sheets to the frosting area. It's a process.) So I guess I will be making about 12 dozen orange cookies this year. 

I have a lot of recipes for family favorites. I need to narrow it down and see which ones I'm going to make. Plus I have a new cookie recipe book and some cute cookie cutters I want to use this year. I guess Edgar doesn't want Ginger to help with the cookies. (Edgar, let go. Get back in your bowl!)

Peppermint Hot Chocolate

We slept with the temp down a little lower last night so I woke up to a little chill. I cranked the heat up, put on my warm house shoes and decided it would be a good day to have my first cup of peppermint hot chocolate of the season. Edgar (I finally gave him a name since he seems to keep hanging around) decided to help me out. He got the candy canes for us....

While I grabbed two packs of instant hot cocoa. I like a lot of chocolate flavor in it. Plus I have a big cup. 

I got out the container of miniature marshmallows. What is hot chocolate without marshmallow? 

Of course I had to get out my favorite cup. I find it ironic that I choose Nestle Hot Cocoa Mix to drink in a Hershey's mug. 

I get my trusty Pampered Chef microplane zester. You would be amazed at the uses I find for these thing. In this case we are going to make peppermint dust.

Once you add your chocolate and boiling water, stir until mixed well and cover the top with mini marshmallows. Then take the zester and grade the candy cane over the top of the cup and you have peppermint dust. 

Garnish with a candy cane and you have the best, easiest peppermint hot chocolate in the world. I am so addicted to this stuff. It goes great with a couple of chocolate chip cookies fresh from the oven. But hey, it is 6:00 in the morning and I'm fresh out of chocolate chip cookies. 

 I do not like the way Edgar is eyeballing my chocolate. Back off buster. It's mine. Anybody with half a brain knows you never get between a woman and her chocolate!

Some other twists on hot chocolate are to take Hershey's kisses with caramel and add them to the hot chocolate mix when you are pouring the hot water in. Stir vigorously to melt the caramel and chocolate for a rich caramel treat. I like to top this one with whipped cream instead of marshmallows. 

I haven't tried this one yet, but I think my next cup will be with finely chopped or graded malted milk balls and top it with marshmallows. Sounds yummy to me. Who needs coffee when you can have so many flavors in your hot chocolate.  

Time to settle down with my treat and get a start on addressing the Christmas cards. 

Looks like Edgar is wanting me to share my chocolate with him. At least he brought his own cup.