That Crazy Edgar....

I went to church this morning to watch Alexis in A Super Christmas at Richardson Cove Baptist Church. Alexis and Colby came home with me and we are going to go back tonight to watch Garret in his program, A Main Street Christmas. We stopped at McDonald's to have lunch.

Colby fell asleep and took a good nap. 

Alexis thought it would be fun to play with Edgar to see what he got into and then she decided to write the rest of this blog. So Alexis, take it away.

Hi this is Alexis. Writing on Mamaw's blog. 

Edgar, what are you watching? Oh, I see, an elf cartoon. You would be able to see it better if you sat right....and in a chair!

I gasped when I saw Edgar and Frosty playing. 

Edgar loves the Mrs. Bear. 

Edgar is with Santa and Rudolph. My brother Garret made the tree for Mamaw one year. 

That is the end of the blog for today. This is Alexis signing off. 

Christmas Music

Here are several videos for your Christmas pleasure. These are some of my favorite ones. 

A great start to a great weekend

The family all gathered last night to celebrate the three birthdays we had this past week. I don't know what I was thinking, but I failed to get any pictures of the kids and grandkids. We were so busy having a great time that I just forgot. That is so not like me at all. They will be back at Christmas so I'll be sure and get some the. But we did have an awesome time. We exchanged gifts and I was beyond excited with my presents. 

My son's family had gotten me a candle that smells so much like vanilla ice cream it made me want to go grab a bowl and chow down. 

I was ecstatic about the new cookbook they got me as well. It is a cushioned type cover and I fell in love with it. There are a lot of really good recipes that I can't wait to try. They know how much I love cookbooks and this one will go in a place of honor on the shelf. 

Every once in awhile my daughter really surprises me. When I opened the gift from her family, I was speechless. I think she thought I wasn't excited, but the truth was that I was so stunned that I couldn't get past just staring at it with my mouth open. 

She is not into vintage collectibles and sometimes I wonder if I bore her with my talk of Pyrex and Cinderella bowls. Unbeknownst to me, she does pay attention to her mother. She called around the local antique stores to ask about Cinderella bowls and when one lady said she had the 441 in Colonial Mist, my daughter realized she had scored. 

This was the set I had gotten when I got married and over the years, I didn't had sold it....never dreaming I would become a Pyrex collector some day. I have bemoaned the fact that I wish I still had it and was despairing of ever finding the pieces. I got one on trade online the other day and now this one from her. You could have blown me away I was in that much shock. Just a few days ago, I couldn't find any of these anywhere and now I'm halfway there on my collection. I guess she knows I'll be dragging her around to more shops after Christmas until I can complete the set. 

I immediately started scouring through my new recipe book to find recipes to make using my new bowls. I kept finding perfect ones. I cannot wait to try it out. My daughter and my daughter-in-law both know me so well that I always get presents that are absolutely perfect for me. This year was no exception. I love everything I got. I am really blessed. I was really amazed that Edgar sat quietly through the gift giving. He didn't ask for any birthday cake. He didn't snoop in any of the presents. He just stayed quiet in his little corner of the house. 

But after my bath, I went looking for my new book to see what I could make new for Christmas. I finally found it in my office chair with Edgar's nose stuck in it. He was about to drool over the peanut biscuits. I agreed with him that this one is going to be a MUST to try. 

Of course, he is a normal person so the Chocolate Cake held his attention for several minutes. I didn't think he was ever going to turn the page. This looks so good with the glaze/icing dripping down the sides. 

But the one that made his jaw drop with desire was the raspberry cheesecake. 

I have a busy day planned today. Hope everybody is enjoying their weekend as much as I am so far. 

Been busy again

It's been a non-stop week again. You will recall I have been to two school programs - 1 Monday and 1 Tuesday. Then on Wednesday I had a busy day at work and knocked off just in time to get some snack mix put together and grab my gifts to head out to our Secret Sister Reveal. We had some delicious foods thanks to Ms. Janet. She spoils us. 

Then it was time to exchange gifts and reveal our Secret Sister. I had at times felt like it was my Pastor's wife, Ms. Christy. Sure enough it was. I have been so blessed by her kind words and cards and have really appreciated the fun Secret Sister she was. Wednesday, she had me this precious little devotional. I can't wait till January 1st to start using it. 

Each of my gifts from my Secret Sister were such a good fit for me...tea sets, fuzzy socks, lots of goodies. So I figured the person either knew me really well or had been to my house. Ms. Christy fit both of those categories. She had me one final gift in this gorgeous box. 

This exquisite tea set. I fell in love. I have an entire room dedicated to beach theme.

Check out the minute details. It is gorgeous.

I really didn't want to put it in the kids room because I am not in there that much and then I remembered my beach shelf in my office that contains beach items that hold special memories. So I put it front and center with pics of beach trips, the ship my son's family brought me back from the beach, memories of trips past. It is a perfect place for this final thoughtful gift of the 2012 Secret Sister Exchange. 

Yesterday, I finally finished decorating my office for Christmas. I didn't do much. Just a little tree on the craft table. 

I had some Rudolph & Clarice material that I just laid around the tree for a tree skirt. I just love this material.

My little Dollar Tree container for pencils. I need to go through and organize them. They are a shamble. I had just dumped them in from the other pencil holder and forgot to straighten them up.

My Thirty-One work area. Edgar is fascinated by my office and hangs out in there a lot. He's waiting to see how many parties and online catalog parties I book for January. Plus I think he was needing a rest after the cookies and Pyrex escapades this past week. 

Speaking of January. Do you like my new desk calendar? It was $1.00 at Target in there dollar section. I picked up four or five different types of organizing items in there to be used the first of the year. 

I have some unique ornaments that I have received over the years at ornament exchanges. They are a little heavy on the tree but I hated to keep them hidden. So I figured out a temporary way to display them.

I usually use the little wire holder for Christmas cards. It's about 30+ years old. This year I stuffed some leftover poinsettias in it. 

The top of my file cabinet holds my Kleenex box a friend made me a few years back as well as my Dollar Tree baskets for outgoing mail. 

My sister sent me a dishtowel she had made me. I fell in love with it but I had to laugh a little. We are so much alike. She hasn't seen my material I used for the tree skirt above, yet look what she picked out to make dishtowels from....Clarice. Great minds do think alike. 

This day in history...

December 13th, 1956

It was on a Thursday then and it is on a Thursday now. The December birthstone is turquoise or blue topaz. The flower is the Poinsettia and Holly. People born on this day are Sagittarius (if you follow astrology). The US president was Dwight D. Eisenhower. The Searchers with John Wayne and The Ten Commandments with Charlton Heston were released in December 1956. Which is funny because my least liked John Wayne movie was The Searchers and my most beloved Charlton Heston movie was The Ten Commandments. Singing the Blues - Guy Mitchell was the #1 song in the United States. Which is neat since I am such a Pollyanna that I rarely "sing" the blues. Why is all this important and what is so great about December 13, 1956? 

It was the day I was born. 

Is it cool to wish yourself a Happy Birthday? I don't care if it is or not. I love my birthdays and celebrate and enjoy each and everyone of them. I had a man tell me one time that "It's always a good day when you wake up on this side of the dirt."

Age is a matter of the mind. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter. You don't quit playing because you grow old. You grow old because you quit playing. 

My daughter tells me all the time that I'm younger than everybody else my age and I think that is true. I love life and I try to cram every minute of it full of joy and laughter. In my mind, I still feel 18 like I was in this picture. 

Now if I could just figure out a way to get my 18 year old body back I would be so happy.

So if I want to tell myself Happy Birthday, so be it.

 Happy birthday to me.

Mamaw is missing

"Good morning. This is Edgar. I am a little worried about Mamaw. She is always at her computer writing her blog when I get up. But I don't see her anywhere. Hmm. I have an idea."

"I'll write her blog today. She will be so happy that I am helping out and staying out of trouble."

"Well, I grabbed her camera and started hunting around the house to find something to blog about. What's this? A package? A present? Is it for me????"

"I climbed in to check and pulled all the paper out and I couldn't find anything. She must have ordered me a Christmas gift and is hiding it till she can wrap it. Let's keep exploring." 

"Hmm. In the kitchen there looks like something on top of the silverware box. I need to climb up and see what it is. She won't care." 

"Shiny. White interior. Looks pretty neat. Let's check it out."

"Yes! She bought me my very own bathtub! Bring on the bubbles!"

"Wait a minute. It can't be a bathtub because I don't see any plumbing. It's got a pretty look outside." 

"Oh my gosh it is a vintage piece of Pyrex in her Colonial Mist pattern. She has been looking everywhere for the set of Cinderella bowls. I overheard her on the phone telling her sister that a lady on Facebook traded her a spring daisy bowl for this Cinderella bowl. Piece one of the four piece set has arrived. I bet she is out looking at thrift stores for some of the other three pieces. This bowl is gorgeous. I know she must be so excited."

"I hope she doesn't find out I was going to use it as a bathtub."

"EDGAR!!! Get off my computer. What are you doing?" Oh, I see. You were trying to help with my blog. Well, I do appreciate it but keep your stinky little feet out of my new bowl in the future. If you had not been so impatient you would know why I didn't write my blog last night. I went to Alexis's Christmas program. On the way, I drove by the King's to see their light display. Here is just a small shot. I'll show some of the other pictures later."

There's Alexis heading to the bleachers at her program. 

There is her grade singing one of their songs. 

She had on the prettiest dress and looked so adorable I just had to get a picture. I may be prejudiced, but she was the cutest girl there. 

I'm sorry that Edgar was running rampant, but I am glad he shared my new Pyrex bowl. I am so excited. I had a set of the Cinderella bowls in this pattern years ago and we sold them at a yard sale way back before collecting Pyrex was popular and I've regretted it ever since. I am trying to accumulate the whole set and was very pleased that my first bowl was a trade so it didn't cost me anything. I love the Pyrex 4 Trade group on Facebook.