It's All About Family

I'm starting this post as I wait for grand daughter #5 and grandson #2 to arrive for some cookie baking and fun. I was expecting my grand daughter but then got a lovely surprise when my daughter said my grandson would like to join. He has always loved baking and cooking but now that he is 15 years old, he spends a lot of his time out on a ranch owned by the grand parents of one of his good friends. They do some work out there but have even more fun with 3-wheelers, swimming, hunting...you name it. All of the things that teenage boys enjoy doing out-of-doors. And so, I figured baking may have taken a slip down his list of favorite things to do. I'm excited to have them both...we shall see how it goes.

I'm back albeit a few days later. What a wonderful time I had with my grand children...even got to see the oldest grandson for a bit. The kids ended up staying til quite late at night so that Mom and Dad could get in one more shopping trip. Since I had no clue that would happen and was in no way prepared for a grand child dinner, my daughter surprised us by ordering and having delivered a fabulous Chinese feast. I probably shouldn't say that she forgot to change the "deliver to" address so we did have to make a quick run to their house to grab it off of the porch-luckily they don't live that far away-but it was all still hot and delicious. And we got all of the cookies made plus worked on the dreaded puzzle and played some games. We were having so much fun that I didn't want to intrude with a camera...sometimes the little unplanned things are the best!

I had an appointment yesterday and had to pick up a few last minute things so, except for buying the fresh veggies for my Christmas tree crudite' platter, I am ready to go. I will be spending Christmas Eve at daughter #3's house. We will do church, a "fancy" dinner and play games. Then on Christmas Day, everyone will start back at Jen's house for appetizers and then here for presents and Christmas dinner-which will be anything but fancy this year as we leave the next morning for Charleston, SC. And, also because we will be a pretty large group and I don't want anyone in the kitchen missing any of the fun. We decided to go with Stouffer's meat and veggie lasagnas, pre-made garlic bread, a pretty Christmas colored salad from Becky and any other sides anyone might want to add. And of course, there will be cookies for dessert.

In the "old" days, I had to do a large ham dinner with all sorts of homemade sides...and it took days to prepare and hours to pull off on the big day. Somehow, I don't need that any more. I would so rather spend the time with family. Besides, we seem to always eat so many appetizers that no one is really ever hungry for a big meal later any way. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Lol

So all of that leads me up to a quick visit to to family room and then I think I'll finish up tomorrow and that will be the official end of the decor for this 2022.

This year I added the rusty trees to the mix. They are kind of hard to see but I like them.

I finally got some presents under the tree. No where near as many as usual because this year we decided to stop giving the adults gifts...just my grand children. Then we are going to do a White Elephant-one for the grown-ups and one for just the kids. It should be fun. I'm sure the kids will come up with some crazy things as each one is supposed to do their own shopping-no help from moms! Lol

I'm off to get a few more little things off of the list but I will be back to finish up soon. Stay safe and stay tuned...and enjoy every minute of this beautiful season.

 

All the "Feels"!

 It's beginning to "feel" a lot like Christmas! With one week left, I can actually believe that Christmas is on its way! The house is decorated, the tree is beautiful, I'm feeling great and starting cookie baking today, there are actually some gifts under the tree...and they're wrapped...and, it feels like Christmas. Our high today is supposed to be 67! The windows are open, Christmas music is playing and, if I get everything that is on my list done by this afternoon, I will light a fire, pour a glass of wine and watch Christmas movies!

 

But first, let's go into the sunroom.

This Christmas cactus is right on schedule...it's ready to burst into bloom any day now. It's hard to believe that this plant started life as just the tiniest little thing...actually in a very small pot and brought to my mom by a Girl Scout troop to brighten her nursing home room. Since there is never enough surface area in those rooms, I took it home after the holiday and never dreamed it would one day grow into this beauty. Plants must like this room as I also have a palm that was sent to my husband after his knee replacement surgery as part of a dish garden and it is now taller than I am! But, I disgress-lol

So this is what the sunroom looked like when I took my pictures for this blog...truth be told, it now looks like this. I am expecting grand daughter #5 over next week to do some baking with me and have some holiday fun. Usually we play lots of games-and we probably still will-but, when I saw the Christmas puzzles on sale at HL, I thought she might like that too. I'm not sure what I was thinking buying a 1000 piece puzzle! The pieces are SO small...and my eyes are not what they once were. I sat down for a bit yesterday and turned over all 1000 pieces and pulled out most of the edges...now, we shall see. And, the reality is that it will have to be removed by Christmas Eve as I start to set tables for our holiday dinners as we will need every flat surface we can find! I'm thinking this may get packed away to bring out earlier in the season next year. Lol

And, while I was out shopping yesterday, I also bought myself a little Christmas present. I LOVE beautiful cast iron Dutch ovens on a stove-I keep my pumpkin shaped one out from September until Christmas comes out and always miss having something in that spot the rest of the year. I spied this green beauty at Home Goods and, since I love green so much, I realized that it had to come home with me. It will only be missing in the Valentine's and 4th of July decor. The rest of the year, it will fit in and I love it!

I'm off to see if my butter is soft enough yet. I am going to make one of my cookies without Presley because, as I was reminded last week, I seem to be the only one who likes them. They are cranberry pistachio shortbread cookies and I love them. I am not a fan of sweets-or sweet cookies-so I tend to make mostly shortbread type cookies. Apparently, everyone likes all of my others...just not these. The recipe makes 60 so I have decided to cut it in half as I don't need to single handedly eat that many cookies but I just love the red/green color that they add to a cookie plate. I'll let you know how things turn out. Stay safe and stay tuned.

Time Is Marching On!

 It's a dreary, rainy day today. I'm not complaining because we need it but, it has changed my plans. Since I am home and still just doing some catch up, I thought we could head into the dining room today.

Sometimes it is the littlest things that make me the most happy! I just love the candy canes I made last year. I have them nestled around the house in a lot of places and then the extras are in a pewter chalice in the family room. I saw them on a craft blog and they were not only easy but fun to make!

So that is the dining room. It is done except for adding a huge arrangement of fresh greenery into the large red urn on the sideboard and perhaps some more behind the nativity.

I'm off to change all of the guest room sheets and put up their decorations. I thought I might skip it this year but as soon as I do, I know I will have a disappointed grandchild. They seem to thrive off of the traditions even more than I do. They have spent so much of their lives in this house, that it is like their second home and they don't like change either. And so, even though not one of the girls has played with a Barbie in many years, the pink Barbie tree will be there in the "dormitory" to remind them of all of those special times we have shared. And my girls' rooms will be decorated with their pictures with Santa from when they were young. Stay safe and stay well!

Back on Course!

 So I have been MIA again. Wish I could say that it was because I was off on some fun adventure, but, alas, this time I can not. After doing everything possible the last few years to avoid Covid, somehow it "got" me. I'm guessing because of the precautions I took, my symptoms were really very minimal...except for the fatigue. I really didn't expect to feel it so badly but I did. And, I am playing catch up but still recognizing that I might not get all of "the things" done this year-but that is OK. Our family has had a number of health issues to deal with of late so just the fact that at this moment, everyone looks like they will be able to be here will be is more than I can ask for!

Luckily, most of the decorating was done before I got sick. There were a number of tweaks I wanted to do but, since I'm still housebound, those things are probably not going to happen so I figured we might as well forge forward with our tour.

Let's head into the kitchen.

It's funny the little things that can make me so happy. The day before I got sick, I ran a few errands and found the wooden tree tray in the Target Bull's Eye section. It was only $5 but I love it so much...wish I had grabbed more because I have thought of some things I could have done with them.

So that is it for the kitchen this year. Most of it I have shared before and the rest is pretty self explanatory.

One of the days that I was down, I had a little surge of energy and got some ornaments made. They are not at all what I would have done if my body and mind had been working but, they are something. Spoiler alert if you are on my gift list. One of these cuties may be coming your way. Lol I had actually planned to blog about the process but never thought about that again until I was finished.

Fingers crossed I can leave the house soon and get some things back near schedule. But, either way, I'll be back soon. Stay safe and stay tuned.