My Quiet Christmas

Yes, it was gloriously quiet. Just the four of us. My oldest didn't make it home. Christmas Eve we just piddled around made a few desserts and went to Mass. I love the transformation from the purple of Advent to the deep reds, greens and golds of Christmas. It was just beautiful.

Christmas morning and I was up before five am. Really? Five am? Yep. I just can't help it. I'm usually up somewhere between four and five every day. I take after my Dad that way. It was very nice sitting in front of the lit tree in a quiet house before everyone else was up. I had time to make sure Santa had delivered everything and that he had his milk and cookies.

The girls were up at six. But according to tradition they couldn't go into the living room until the coffee was made the the pigs n' blanket were in the oven. The wham, bam thank you mam it was over. Paper everywhere. Unfortunately I have been having trouble with my camera so I didn't get any good pictures. Just bunny in snuggled in my lap while the girls opened their presents.

 

Baby Jesus made it safely to the manger

We didn't do much for the rest of the day. The girls, being teens, wandered off to their rooms. I did some crocheting. 

For most of the day I was being constantly reminded of my paternal Grandmother. I don't know why. I just kept being reminded of past Christmas' at her home. It was almost like a nagging. It seemed like she was just trying to get my attention. Being the Catholic that I am I said multiple Hail Mary's for her while I was making the customary Crispix snowflakes. After thinking of her for most of the day I decided to go visit her and my Grandfather's and other family member's graves before moving on to see my Dad's. It brought back many memories. She lived across the street from the cemetery so we would always pick flowers for my Grandfather and the Great's when we were kids. The girls love family history and loved seeing all the old names and dates on the gravestones. There were some even written all in Czech.

I think this was some great uncle that came to visit one of my great grandfather and died while he was over here. I would need to ask my sister, she is the genealogist of the family.

Now we are all set to go spend time with the extended family. We'll be meeting up with my husbands family for a day in Galveston then heading out the next day to spend time with my family in Louisiana. I'm getting kind of excited for the road trip. I have my crochet all planned out for the long trip. Keeping my fingers crossed that my camera works well. I'm getting kind of tired using my phone all the time.

That pretty much ends my little narrative on my nice, quiet Christmas. A very uneventful Christmas. I think the most exciting thing that happened was getting to watch the Dr. Who Christmas special. It was ok. Loved Nick Frost as Santa. Still not a big fan of Clara though. I am liking Peter Capaldi's Dr.  BUT I am still loyal to 10. David Tennant will always be my favorite Dr.

Valentine's...REALLY

Ok, so I wasn't planning on writing today but I couldn't help it. I'm shocked. I'm appalled. I'm flabbergasted. I'm. I'm. I'm. Oh, there are no more words. Why, you ask? I was at Wal-mart yesterday getting some milk. I really hated going AGAIN to the store but it had to be done. And what do I see where the Christmas candies etc should be? Yep. Valentine's candy etc. VALENTINE'S stuff. Really? Come on. At least have the common decency to wait till after Christmas. I thought it was bad enough that Christmas was out in October but this...this takes the cake. When will this end? Do we boycott and not buy until the correct month the holiday is in? I've tried that. Everything is gone by that time. At least my girls are in High School and I don't have to do the whole Valentine goody bag hullabaloo. Boy am I glad that part of parenting is over :)

So here's to all the joy THIS holiday brings. And yes, I'm saying "holiday". Because it is a "holy-day" (Middle English, from Old English hāligdæg, from hālig holy + dæg day). May the peace of Christ fill your hearts and the coming year. Merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from me, Texas and George!

Just a Bit of Christmas

 My new Disney ornament..got a whole set at the World in August :)

 Every year I get my girls a new ornament. H's are usually reindeer. This one was from a few years ago. I love how it sparkles.

 S always gets redbirds. Don't know how it started but it fits. They were my Dad's favorite bird.

 

R took most of hers with her when she moved out. Her grandmother started her on Barbie then she went to Santas. But this....this is my favorite. What a wonderful time it was!

 I know you are scratching your head at this one. About 14-15 yrs ago we were celebrating with my sister when she said--in her most sweet voice ever--here I made something for you. And this was it. I absolutely have to put it on my tree every year!!! Usually in a place of prominence :) And yes, I made her one the next year. Have you seen the coke bottles that are round? I covered one in tinfoil.

 One of my favorite decorations. My sister again. She bought this off of Etsy for me last year. She can be a stinker one year and an dear another.

 My mantle. Not very festive...I'm working on it. I made the candle sticks this year. One of these days it will look fabulous.

And here we are at Edgar. How did a skeleton with a Santa hat make it to our decorations you ask? Well, as H and I were looking at Halloween decorations this year he was all by himself in the Christmas decorations. H said we couldn't leave him there. That we had to bring him home. Right then and there we both looked at each other and came up with a children's story. I found the little hats and stuck it on. H came up with the name Edgar. After Edgar Allen Poe. He will now come out every year from Halloween through New Years. I think he is quite happy in his new home :)

I can't have any Christmas fun without my cats. Bella has always loved to chew on fake trees. Luckily she only does it when I'm sitting with her. Wouldn't want her to bite into a light!!

And my BunnyFur has really learned to fit in. She has just come in and taken over. I am so happy that we decided to bring her home when my Mom moved!

 

And lastly my Nativity.My sweet, simple Nativity. You'll notice that baby Jesus isn't there. That is part of our Advent tradition. When I put the presents under the tree on Christmas Eve, I'll move baby Jesus to the Manger. When the girls were younger they would love to come running out and see if He was there. Now they are starting to want to be the one to put baby Jesus out on Christmas morning.  Hmmm. I just remembered. My sister gave me this too. She really can be a sweetie sometimes.

This is about it. I really don't have a lot. I've been trying to switch from kiddy decorations to more grown up decorations over the last several years. It's a process. One day it will be as I like it. 

Merry Christmas.

Wrapping Up the Week

Things are finally put up and away....well, there is one box left of the Big Christmas Mess. The girls need to finish putting up ornaments. If it's not done by tomorrow...box goes away!

Last week S had her Christmas play at school A Suessical Christmas. She was fabulous. If I do say so myself, she was the best. Not at all saying that because she is my daughter..nope, not one bit. (seriously, she was better :) ). There was also my school's Christmas play. I love to see the little kids sing and dance their little hearts out. You can see their little personalities shine!!

H is all finished with school. Apparently Jr. College finals aren't that difficult. She said she didn't have a problem with them at all. Fingers crossed that the grades are good!

I've still been working on some ornaments to exchange with both sides of the family. I still need a couple of more to do though. Here is one I made for my sister. When my Mom was moving out of her home in May she and my sister came cross this little dress that we wore when we were little. We even used it on our baby dolls.

I really wasn't sure what I was going to do with it so I searched around on pinterest and came up with a rosette idea. Now, I am not very good with fabric. I've tried in the past. I guess I just need more practice. I cut up some strips and wound them together. Simple. But I still don't think I did it right...like I said....more practice.

It was really hard first cutting into it. I am a self confessed sentimental hoarder. I don't want to be but I am. If it has any kind of emotional memory connected to it I want to save it. But I was a big girl and did it. As you can see, I'm not really all that good at making rosettes. But I really enjoyed it. I think I am going to hit the craft store for some fabric scraps after the holidays and play around :)

This it it. The finished project. Well, I may yet add some lace somewhere. It just isn't looking polished enough. Kind of like a 6 year old made it. What ever I do, I know my sister will appreciate it.

So today is Friday and we have the teacher party at school. Since I'm not at the school that much anymore I wasn't sure if I was going to go. But I love those ladies so I'll be heading off at lunch time. S will be finished at 9:30 this morning. Don't even get me started on them going to school for only one final today...they have been getting out early all week and could have tacked it on the end of an earlier day...wait...Ahhh, I'm getting started...shutting it down now before the post gets hijacked :).
Anyway, once the party is over....2 glorious weeks of no school. I love the first week of no schedules. By the end of the 2nd week, I'm ready to get back into the swing of things.

Here's to you all having a great week ahead...Yay, Christmas is coming!!

All Done, Boxed and at the Church

 

I finished on Monday evening. Phew!!! I'm still a bit worried that it isn't big enough. As the Frozen song says I just need to "Let it Go" :) 

Does anyone else have that fidgity feeling when you finish a project? You know, what do I do with my hands? I've got free time what do I do now? The drive to finish it in time occupied so much of my mind that now I find myself flustered. And it's not like I don't have projects to do. I have loads. It's just focusing the brain on one of them. Or maybe something that's a fluff piece that's not real important to get finished anytime soon? I'm sure I can rustle up something!!

See that chair? Well, that was my Dad's chair. It sat on the front porch and we called it The King's Chair. I was lucky enough to be the person to bring it home. My Mom took their porch swing with her to my sister's. It looks just like it, of course, only bigger :)

Birthday Weekend

I have had the best birthday weekend ever! I went to spend it with two of my best friends ever in my home town. It was so good to spend time with them. They even surprised me with having my oldest daughter come stay for the weekend too!! I was helping my friend get her boys out of the car seat when I saw her running up the driveway. Now, it was about 9 'o'clock at night soI couldn't really see who it was. It really was a surprise when I finally could see who that crazy person was running up to the van.
One friend treated me to a fantastic lunch. Oh. My. Goodness. The salad I had was fabulous. It was a spinach salad with a hot bacon dressing. WOW! Very good. She also treated me to a manicure. It has been at about 31 yrs. since I have had a manicure. She made fun of me for only getting clear polish. I'm just not a colored nail kind of gal :)
The best part...and I went on and on about it... was the cake. You have to understand. I am a VERY picky person when it comes to my cake. I am a vanilla cake/ buttercream only person. Other cakes are good. But if its for my birthday it has to be vanilla/buttercream. AND it has to have a Christmas theme to it. I think that started when my Mom got tired of making cakes for me and just started getting them from the grocery store. I cab remember when she came home with the first one and being thrilled and enthralled with the little Santa on the cake.
Since my friend said she was going to get my cake I jokingly gave her my demands....not expecting much. MY SWEET AUNT NELL!!! It was FABULOUS!! It was perfect. Not just visually either. Best cake I have ever had. I'm still raving over it! It's me in cake form :)
My friends are the best!

Baby Blanket Update

Well hello there. I'm in an odd mood today. Happy and sad all at once. Happy because the temperature is lovely--I've got my doors open. It's really quite nice. I'm also crocheting...always makes me happy. Sad a bit because I went and put some flowers on my Dad's grave today. I miss him terribly!! But it was cool and sunny...one of his favorite types of day. Ok...onward and upwards :)

Ahhh, the Angel Tree baby blanket. It is coming along. Almost done. I have a few ends to tidy up and a last row to attach and then the border(though I may have to make another row if it isn't quite big enough.) It will be 5 rowsby 5 rows...7 rounds to the granny. Not sure how big I will  do the border yet though. I may just do several rounds of the light blue then just a couple of brown with some kind of scallopy edge. I guess I'll just wing it. I really am a bit paranoid I'm going to be finishing it as I'm wrapping it. I have so much to do other than crochet. I will be going out of town this weekend so I don't have those two days to really get busy. I will be celebrating my birthday with my two best friends from high school. We all live with in a several hour radius from each other so we try to get together at least once a year. Nothing fancy this time, just getting together and hanging out. Oh, and if you were wondering what # the birthday is, it is # 49. Wow. I never pictured myself that age. I don't feel it...well, maybe in the aches and pains of my body, but not mentally. Oh, not mentally--to the embarrassment of my girls.

 

As you can see I have lots of help with my crocheting. Bunny is a true lap cat. She will get in your lap where ever and how ever it is situated :) She must have stayed at least 30 minutes crammed under the table like that. And then there is my sweet Bella who just likes to walk back and forth in front of me meowing.

 I really am a bit further along then these photos show. Here's to hoping I have a completed blanket by Monday to show you!

I worked a bit on it this morning out by the bay again. This time I took a couple of pictures. My little town isn't all that beautiful but sheesh, the bay sure is :)

Sometimes I wish I lived in a more wooded area but then on mornings like this I am truly grateful for the bay. Love, love, love it :)

Double Disappointment

There were two things that were going to get done yesterday and both of them ended up being canceled.
First we had planned on going to Varner-Hogg  Plantation's Candlelight Christmas but early on my oldest daughter needed a day to go wedding dress shopping. Needless to say...wedding dress shopping trumps a Victorian Santa. So the day was all planned--appointment made at a David's Bridal, a bit of shoe shopping first--all ready to go. But alas, she had a mandatory work day. Disappointment #1.
Ah, ok, wedding dress canceled, that means Candlelight Christmas is a go. Wrong. It was not a go. H and I both had a bit of a stomach bug. Disappointment #2.
We just stayed home and did a lot of nothing. Unless you count laundry and crochet as nothing. That was my day. H slept most of the day and S was put to a bit of work helping with laundry and doing dishes and even wanting to help H feel better.
Today will probably be spent in much the same way. Laundry and crochet...maybe work on getting the Big Christmas Mess tidied up and bring down the Tree. Ahhh, the tree. This has been the longest it has waited to go up in quite a few years :)

My Advent Angel project coming along. I've been doing my grannies a bit different this time around. Normally I wait til it is finished before I weave in all my ends. This time, as soon as I'm finished with a round, I weave them end. It makes it so much tidier. Not sure about if it is quicker or not but right now I like doing it that way. I may or may not do it on my next project.

 

I am still just loving these colors. The yarn I chose is unfortunately not  all that wonderful though. I really didn't have time to run to Hobby Lobby for the really good stuff and Walmart has limited choices :( It is nice and thick but still a bit stiff. So I may give it a good washing before I pack it up so it will be soft and cuddly for the little boy. 

edit: I just wanted to acknowledge and pray for the souls of the victims of the Pearl Harbor attack in 1941. It has been 73 years. I was lucky enough to meet a man who was there.  From what I remember ...and I'm sure I'm messing this up somehow....he said that when he knew what was going on he hopped on his motorcycle and headed towards the bombing and he pulled his pistol out from his pants leg and started shooting up at the planes. He said they were so low he could see some of their faces. I think he said he knew it was useless shooting at a plane with a pistol but he had to do all that he could do. He also told me that his daughter tried to get him to go see the movie Pearl Harbor but he couldn't do it. And that's about all he said on the matter.

Adoration

I went to Adoration at church today. What a beautiful experience that is. To sit before our Lord and Savior--Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity. It is truly a humbling experience. It was hard though. I have been working( trying to work) on being still during prayer....to be quiet and still. To not let outside noise etc bother me. I fail miserable at it. I am a fidgity person. A few minutes into my 30 minutes my silly ole brain started to wander. I was constantly trying to get my brain back on track. I did take my Pieta Prayer Book and it did get me focused for about 15 minutes. I did my best to sit and listen....feel the the presence of our Lord. Next time I'm sure I will do better. Maybe I'll say a rosary.

On the way out of Mass this morning(before Adoration) I took one of the angels off of the angel tree. My angel is for a blanket for a 1 yr old boy. I love blankets...love, love, love blankets. And I never get to buy little boy things. As I was heading into the store to look at them the--fidgity- brain said "crochet!!!!!". So I quickly got some yarn and started working on it. Ok, you are going to think I'm a bit goofy BUT...I had time between Mass and Adoration(that is when I went to the store) but not enough to go home. So I bought another--yes another crochet hook--- and drove down to the foggy bay and sat in my van and started my little boy's blanket. I felt kind of silly sitting there in the fog by the playground by the bay. But it killed the right amount of time before Adoration. I got a little hooky time in before sitting with Jesus. Not a bad start to the day.

 

I just love these colors!!

I'm going to be keeping it simple so I can finish it in time. I have to have it back by noon on the 18th. I should have it done in time. As my Mom would say "Good Lord willing and the creeks don't rise " . ( I really should do  a whole post of things my Mom says. Ohhh, it would be a good one :) )

Clouche Hat and the Beginning of a Big Christmas Mess

The temperature dropped a bit yesterday. As my S got in the car from school she was chilly. She is my little chilly bug. She stays bundled up ALL THE TIME. Poor baby has been asking for a crochet hat for the longest time and I keep putting it off because I have other projects to get to. Well, Big Mama came through last night. I sat down and made a hat for her. Of course I didn't have the exact color she wanted but black will do for now :)


All in all it took me a little less than 2 hrs with some interruptions.  Here is the hat---Clouche--that I chose. She has been wanting a vintage-y hat for awhile now. SO glad that I was able to find a pattern. Very easy too.

 

Wish I had a picture of it on her. But I didn't get one taken....and I'm not so sure she would  have let me take one anyway. The little toot.

 She was a happy camper this morning. Especially since she got her hair trimmed yesterday...its quite short and her little ears get cold. I'm calling her little, and baby...she isn't little or a baby anymore. She is a beautiful 16 yr old. But she is my baby. My youngest. And to be fair she is a bit tiny. She is borderline petite. The cutest thing. With the most unique personality of my three girls. I love her to bits!

This is currently my living room. The beginning of the Big Christmas Mess as I like to call it. It will stay a Big Christmas Mess until I get off my fanny and start decorating. Oh, and this isn't even all the boxes. I have way more in the attic. This is just a few of the stuff I have. It's already been like this two days. Hey, I've been busy....I have had to do some Christmas shopping and my grocery shopping and...and...and... Maybe this evening :)(if you look real close you can see my clean laundry under the wreath in the back....see--a big mess.) Though you cant see her...my sweet cat Bella is behind the  Frosty box. She'll cuddle up anywhere.

This my my kitchen table. A Big Christmas Craft Mess. Ok so it isn't as big of a mess as it was. I've tidied a bit. Got to get those ornaments made for the family! Any day now. At least the girls will be helping me. I'm even going to get Big Bad Dad to help. Well, maybe. At least one. Fingers crossed.