Christmas, 2008

I hope everyone enjoyed a wonderful holiday with family and friends. Our family did. :)
We had an ice storm on my birthday, so we had to change our plans for that day, but it was fine. My husband gave me an organizer for my scrapbooking supplies, my daughter gave me a large bottle of my favorite bubble bath, amazing grace by Philosophy, my mom gave me money and my MIL sent me a devotional/journal. Instead of the usual chocolate cake, we had gingerbread. Here's a peek at my presents. :)

I did a little redecorating after my "Deck the Halls" post. I just couldn't stand it that the buffet in the entryway was lightless. So I added some lighted garland, but they only put 35 measly lights in the garland, so I had to add another 50 -- which helped.

Then DH came along to lend a hand and he added this.

I left it there for a couple of days before I tossed it.
I finally found a round tablecloth for my kitchen table in a shade of red that was a "cool" red instead of a "warm" red. Yay, for Target! I added the coffee cups DH bought me for Christmas a few years ago. I keep intending to make fancy coasters to sit them on -- maybe next year.

Here's the wreath on our front door. I forgot to take a picture of it the first time around.

The ice melted during the day on Christmas eve clearing the way for my mom to come over on Christmas. We ate too much, exchanged gifts, played board games, and listened to a CD of James Earl Jones reading The Christmas Story from the book of Luke.

My husband surprised me with something I've wanted for a long time, my very own American Girl doll. I'm young at heart (see Dec. 23 post) and the company is retiring Samantha, which makes me sad. Samantha was the first AG doll my daughter received.

And if that wasn't enough, he gave me a Magna-Hoop, a roller foot for my sewing machine, and he shopped at Archiver's, picking out scrapbook paper, stickers, a layout book, albums, a storage container and a $50 gift card! I just think it's so sweet that he actually shopped the scrapbook store on his own. My daughter wasn't with him, and I hadn't asked for anything specific. He said the woman working in the store was very patient in helping him. :)
You're a good and thoughtful man, Brad; and I'd have said it even if you hadn't given me all the great presents. :) xoxo
My daughter replenished my favorite Fiskars scissors, as I was sorely in need of new ones.
DH, DD, and DM enjoyed their gifts, too. :)
My daughter was pleased with a purse I made for her using Amy Butler's Frenchy Bag pattern. I finished at 3:00 a.m. on Christmas. I'm planning on doing a separate blog post about the purse and pattern, but here's a photo of DD holding it up for the camera.

And to all a good night.

God bless us, every one

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. ~Isaiah 9:6

8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.
10 But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.
12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." 13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
14 "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."
~Luke 2:8-14

Growing old may be mandatory; but growing up is optional

Happy Birthday to me!  I'm 46 years young.  :)

"Years are only garments and you either wear them with style all your life, or you go dowdy to the grave."  ~Dorothy Parker

Congratulations to My Daughter

I just wanted to write a quick note to publicly congratulate my daughter on the successful completion of the writing fellowship she was awarded in the last semester of her freshman year.

She is now officially qualified as a writing tutor and is employed at her university's writing center. 

Successfully completing this course was no small feat.  It is a graduate-level course and it required hours of writing, study and evaluation.  She worked conscientiously and was rewarded for her work.  As an extra bonus, the fellowship allowed her to fulfill her senior year internship.  Not bad -- polishing off your senior internship as a first-semester sophomore.

Great work, my sweet girl.  I am, as always, very proud of you. I am blessed.

Happy Birthday, Jane Austen

Though it's a bit late in the day, I want to acknowledge the birthday of Jane Austen, one of my favorite authors.  :)

Jane was born December 16, 1775,  in Steventon, Hampshire, England.

Love and Freindship (yes, that's her spelling of friendship) is one of the juvenilia writings authored by Jane when she was 14 years old.   Below is a favorite passage of mine from Love and Freindship -- a series of letters.  All misspellings are the young Miss Austen's.

"Beware of fainting-fits… Though at the time they may be refreshing and agreeable, yet beleive me they will in the end, if too often repeated and at improper seasons, prove destructive to your Constitution… My fate will teach you this… I die a Martyr to my greif for the loss of Augustus… One fatal swoon has cost me my Life… Beware of swoons, Dear Laura… A frenzy fit is not one quarter so pernicious; it is an exercise to the Body and if not too violent, is, I dare say, conducive to Health in its consequences — Run mad as often as you chuse; but do not faint –”  Letter 14, Laura to Marianne

I will endeavor to do my best to "run mad" and "not faint".  ;)

Deck the Halls 2008

I participated in the last craft show for this year on the 6th, and became ill on the 8th. I'm finally beginning to feel better, thankfully, so I will share a bit of my Christmas decorating.

I'm missing three trees this year -- my sewing area, entryway tree and the basement family room, but here's what I did manage to get done.

The tree in the living room.  I can't seem to get a picture that shows the tree lights in all their glory.   :)   I like lights -- lots of lights; there's 1000 lights on this 6 1/2 ft. tree.  Actually, it does fluctuate between 950 and 1000, as half of the second strand keeps going on/off, on/off.  The Lionel train underneath is a Santa Fe diesel from the 1950s, I think.  My husband is the train guy.

A few of my favorite ornaments:

This little pair of socks is my favorite.  They're the Christmas socks I purchased on the day I went into labor with my daughter. She wore them on her first Christmas. I have a sweet, sweet picture of her wearing her Christmas socks, but she's also wearing her birthday suit, so I won't post the picture -- but it's cute...really cute.  :)

My daughter purchased this ornament for me at the second craft show I did this year.  I *love* snowmen.  The woman in the booth next to mine made several of these and sold them all.  No surprise to me, I think it's adorable.

This little ornament set has hung at the top of every Christmas tree for 25 years.  I wonder if they still sell those little cheap, plastic nativities?

Unfortunately, we don't have a fireplace and as such, our stockings are not hung by the chimney with care.  They're on the TV stand.  This is not an endorsement for Olive Garden, that's just what happened to be on, but I am impressed with the quality of the picture on the television.

Moving to the kitchen table:

The candle looks wonky because my husband has a thing about playing with shaping candle wax while the candle is burning.  I have no idea why.  I'll admit I have roasted marshmallows over candle flames, but not very often.

Normally, I have a tree on the buffet that sits in our entryway.  Here's this year's decoration.  I like it, but I miss the tree because the tree has LIGHTS (usually 200 on a 2 ft. tree -- all white lights -- with the ornaments I used in the bowl). 

In the master bedroom, my Shabby Chic-ish tree:

This tree appears to have a large bare spot, but it doesn't.  There are tiny little angels and rosebuds in that area.  Here's the nativity that's under the tree.  You can see one of the little angels right above the star.

Here's a few more pictures from the living room:

My husband was in the high school band and played the bass drum. My MIL buys him a drummer boy nearly every Christmas.

There's a pretty wreath on the front door, but I forgot to take a picture.

I realize my decorating is not magazine spread worthy, but we like it.  :)