Making Merry

Rick gets to put toys together again!

 We had three wonderful days of celebrating. On Christmas, the kids came over in the afternoon to open presents and have dinner. It was so much fun watching Tad open his gifts and play with his new trike. He does this little happy dance that just cracks me up! He is so darn cute!

We got these HexBots that are little robotic insects. They are so creepy, like something from a scifi movie. Tad enjoyed having Eric scare him with them, calling them "monstrous nightmares" (I think he got that from some movie:) I did end up having a spider nightmare that night!

On Friday we went over to friends' house for dinner and Trivial Pursuit. Good food and lots of laughs! Then on Saturday we had Christmas with my niece and her family. Again we ate and ate, but the weather was so nice we took a hike at a nearby nature center. It was great to be out in the fresh air, talking and looking at the trees and pond.

Except for missing Justin, we had a really nice Christmas. Since I'm working at a school now I get two weeks off. Another week to go! I hope to get a lot of crafting done. And I suppose I should take down the tree and decorations. Don't much like that job, do you?

Anyway, I wanted to show this one gift I made for our son Andrew. He is such a nature lover like I am, so when I saw this pattern on Pinterest, I knew I would have to make it for him.

I don't do much of this type of embroidery, but I should because I really enjoy it. I just have too many hobbies and there is not time to do everything I want to do!

Because this year hasn't been the easiest for our family, I am looking forward to the new year and all the hope that it brings. I'm wishing the best for all of my readers too. Happy New year!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve - I love it! The gifts are wrapped and the pies baked. I'm taking a break before straightening up the kitchen, then getting into my jammies and settling down for some movie watching. Tomorrow we will have Andrew, Alison, and Tad, along with Eric, for presents and dinner. No Justin this year. He and his wife are going to Italy for two weeks. Poor things:)

Rick made this log cabin a few years ago.

Tad like the Rudolf nose on Grandpa better.

This was taken last week.

I took this today.

We had all that beautiful snow last week and then it got warm and rained. It was gone in a day. They are predicting a possibility of snow showers tomorrow, but that may be wishful thinking!

Have a wonderful Christmas, everyone!

Some Christmas Decorating

I have finished up the decorating. Yeah! These pictures are of the kitchen. I'll show some more next time and you can also look at previous years pictures. The years seem to go by so quickly and I sometimes think I won't be in the mood to decorate. ("Didn't we just take this stuff down?")  But then I get the boxes out and start going through all these ornaments that we have collected or made in the 33 years we have been together and I'm back in the spirit. I reminisce about when the boys were little and it all comes back. So here I am, excited about making cashew brittle with Eric, shopping with Rick, and watching our grandson open his presents. Life is pretty good, isn't it?

I finally got over the mono and bronchitis I had this fall. Boy, it sure is good to have my energy back! Not soon enough to get the gardens completely cleaned up, but that's OK. I've continued to work on the quilt from the last post, as well as a Christmas gift that I want to show you, but I can't! I also made cards and that little quilted mat in the first picture above. So I guess I'm doing pretty well. Are any of you making gifts or ornaments this year? I'd love to hear about it.