Sorry for my vacation from posting!

The season has made life full to the brim! Christmas was so wonderful this year, filled with lots and lots of family, fun, hugs and kisses and food!! Oh, and then there is the small thing of gift buying, which I put off to the bitter end this year. That will be the last time that happens!! However, as my husband and I went out on a very, very snowy Christmas Eve day to purchase our last minute gifts (which not all were) we had the sweetest time together. Playing in the snow with the little loves or our lives, talking, eating (hmmmm, seems to be a theme here!) and just spending time together outside of our overly busy work schedules...it was simply wonderful!
Now, today, a normal Tuesday, I am readying myself for a trip to New Orleans. Yes, I am heading to the Big Easy.
It will only be a week long trip, flying back the 4th, but I am going to enjoy every moment of it. You see, our son has started a new job and has no earned vacation time....boooooo! I do not know when the Lord will allow us to see his sweet face again, so I am going to soak up every moment of this trip.
Oh! And there is the added bonus of snuggling a 7, 3 & 2 year old, and helping out our dear Daughter in law. God is so very good!
So, I may be able to post from there, but I am hoping that my days will be so full of hugs, that there will be no time for posting!!!
So, I will "see" you all next year.....have a wonderful, safe, God filled New Years celebration!!!!

Chalk Boards!!!

I love taking something old and making something I love from it!!
This is one example....a cute chalk board for my dining room!!!
First, you need to find and old framed picture that is inexpensive (mine was $4) AND a shape that you love....the shape or type of frame is the most important....if you don't love it when it is an awful color, then you won't love it even when it is the perfect color!!
My Mother, Aunt and Daughter were all with me when I purchased said picture (which was hideous by the way, but I loved the shape of the frame, just sayin!) and the comments from all 3 were less than favorable....also known as "think she has finally lost it!"

Well, after a light sanding, two coats of white paint and one coat of a light stain, to give it an aged look, the frame was as I wanted it! Then, I cleaned the glass, and sprayed it with 3 coats of black chalkboard paint...let it dry and voila! LOVE IT!!

This is an easy and very inexpensive gift to make for Christmas. Frames can be found in second hand stores, antique malls, consignment shops, etc.....remember, it is NOT the picture you are buying, it is the frame!
Have a wonderful weekend!!!!

Life, Blessings and Dogs

I always think that I have to have some really cool, crafty thing to put on this blog or else there is no reason to blog! Well, today, I will just fill you in on life. My life.
My husband LOVES his job! Praise the Lord from Whom ALL blessings flow!! We are blessed in this area to have this opportunity for him and Give God all the Glory for His amazing gift.
Our children are all serving the Lord in really different areas of the country and ministries. From music, to teaching, to teen work, to going into correctional centers to work with incarcerated teens....we are so very proud of the work that our children do. We are blessed by all 6 of them and are so amazed at what the Lord has done in our family. (If you are wondering at that number...our family includes in-law children as our own...as God has given them to us, just not in the same way as our children, but just as wanted and loved!)
Have I shared with you that we have 2 crazy dogs? We do. I tend to call them "freaks of nature". The female (sister from same litter) has a superiority complex and refuses to lower herself to the level of chasing a silly little ball. She sits on the back of the couch as a cat would and looks down on the male dog. The male dog, on the other hand, is feisty, plays, catches balls in mid air and can be completely annoying. They were gifts to our children. Our children got married, moved, left the dogs behind....how silly my husband is to gift our children with living things!!!
I have included a picture of our "holiday" dogs....can you see the excitement in their eyes??? No??? Hmmm. (ok, we really feel sorry for their having to endure this humiliation...a bit anyway)
Well, have a superb Thursday, and I shall continue on my quest for the perfect, or best, or sufficient Christmas gifts!

Whittle While You Work!!

Alright...here is my version of a "S'more" gift package. I have seen this 2 other times, once from where I cannot remember (and it looks little like mine) and the other was on HGTV, in which they went the route of a "hobo" style look, and in which I wanted a much more pleasant gift to give, so I got my creative juices flowing and made my own.
I found these perfect boxes while shopping at Wal-mart, the cost was $3 for 5 boxes, which I found to be reasonable.
First, I braved the cold (really cold!) winds yesterday, and went out to my favorite bush, which happens to be 10 feet tall! It is a snow ball bush that my Father planted for my Mother some 40 years ago, and I insisted must stay put when we got the land and built our home there....not sure the deliver drivers were as thrilled with my bush during the building process! But I digress.
Back to the S'mores! I whittled the "sticks" to a point on one end to allow for the roasting of the marshmallows. That of course is the reason that the 2 votive candles are included in the gift...for the roasting process!
Next, I put the marshmallows in a cute clear plastic bag found in any craft department of many stores, and closed it with a cutie pie snow flake seal. I put the chocolate bars in fun glassine bags, which I made myself, as I do not live at all close to a store that sells glassine bags, and did not want to order over the Internet and pay the outrageous shipping charges....soooooooooooooo, again I put my creative juices to work and made my own. I will post another blog about that process at another date.
Finally, graham crackers packaged in cello bags and loaded into the box! I am in love with the dark brown tissue paper that I used which I found through Oriental Trading and bought when they had a no shipping charge day.
The label is simply one that I found as a free printable on the Internet and really liked.
The "string" is a hemp that I tied the roasting sticks together with and also used to tie the box closed with a simple bow.
I hope that this helps you with an idea for a homemade gift to give, anytime of the year, not just for Christmas.
Any questions, just leave a comment and I will try to get the answer to you as quickly as possible!!

Christmas.....is coming......fast!!!

I am in the throws of getting ready for the big day. Tree is up and decorated. Mantle is beautifully endowed with many, many stockings and lights. And two small trees wait patiently for many small hands to embellish it with love, ornaments and strings of clutter.
I am making a few of my gifts this year. Doggie treats for the canine in the family, some super cool S'more kits, and herb garden boxes. I will try to get the pictures and instructions up yet this week for those who would like to try them also.
Each year since the passing of my Father, we have my Maa come to our Christmas Morning festivities.....which include a huge breakfast, consisting of freshly made biscuit's and sausage gravy, cinnamon rolls, fresh fruit, coffee and juice. I am not sure why this is our traditional breakfast, other than our Son loves biscuits and gravy and our daughter loves cinnamon rolls, and it seems logical to make what they love because I love them so.
The table this year will be a copy of a picture I found from Real Simple Magazine. The picture above is the one I found and will be the inspiration for our Christmas table this year.....how cute is that!!!!!!
Our most important "tradition" is that before we begin anything on Christmas Morning, we open our Bibles, someone reads the Christmas Story (last year was Aiden's first time!) and my wonderful, Godly husband prays over our family, the day and gives glory to our Savior. This is the tradition that I love the most....the reason for life. The reason for love. The hope of nations.

Photography

I LOVE photography! I love taking pictures, being creative (seems to be my nature) and looking over all the lovely subjects that I have captured.
I use my family as my main focus....after all, they ARE the best looking subjects ever!!! I am showing you a photo of our Daughter and her Husband, our Son and his Wife. I sadly do not get to use our Son or Daughter-in-law as often as I would like, as they live 1,ooo mile from us. And I would love to pepper this page with our next generation, but for safty's sake, I will restrain myself....but know, they are the cutest of God's creations!!!! ;o)
My husband, also, has the photo bug and does a wonderful job! I keep him in stitches over some of my "creative" photo's, as I love to take pictures of things like doors, sidewalks, flip flops and feet!
I will never make a living at photography, unless the Lord wills it, and I am ok with that....life, in still life or jumping up and down, is still a blast, and I am documenting it all!!!
Have a blessed and amazing Thanksgiving!!!

Ducks In A Row......

Sorry for the time off....I have be smitten with a bit of a cold and feeling yucky. (that is the proper wording for it....hehehe)
Well, it is less than a week away from our annual Thanksgiving Dinner!! I have my book (recipes and menu) ready, well, that has been ready for a few weeks, as I make out my menu and it is in stone, no changes...ahem...well, one small one this year.
The table extensions are up, and I am ready to roll!!! It will be small this year, only 12. However, we did have a Thanksgiving dinner last week with out of town family.
How about you? Are you looking forward to your time with family and friends?? I sure am.....I put up a picture of our daughter and son-in-law to depict the looking forward that I am feeling about Thanksgiving this year. I am not sure I am "longing" as seems to be shown in the picture, but wait, maybe I am! Longing to show Christ to our family. Longing to spoil them. Longing to show love, be loved and laugh, as we do so much at family gatherings.
I am grateful, loved, content and fullfilled. God is so good. this has been a rough year, this year of 2010, but it has grown us, strengthened us and made us even more grateful. Life really is GOOD with God!!