some christmas photos

Here are some pictures from this year's Christmas - Here is Kaytlyn waiting for the go ahead to rip into her presents...

this is the latest addition to the family, Sierra gifted Susan and Daniel with Levi Button a Mini dauschaund.
Here is Madison trying on her pink Uggs that Aunt Lisa got for her.

Here is Halle opening presents at Gramma Lauraine's house

and Lindsey ... the anticipation is killing her!!

and Ryan and the ever elusive NE patriots nerf football

And Kaytlyn ripping into her GeoTrax - can never have enough trax for the trains!

I really do love Christmas even if it's a pain to run from place to place... one year I will not have to go dashing from here to there and back again...and I will probably be upset!

my best gift...ever

This year I got the best present ever! My best friend got me a ceramic Christmas tree ~ now you may think "whoopee" but seriously, this gift means so much to me.
First of all we had one when I was growing up so it reminds me of my childhood, always a good thing. Secondly, my dad's mom, Gramma Marion made this for us in her ceramics class~every year she made us something ceramic and I always (usually) loved them. What I wouldn't give to have them now...our house burned January 11, 1982 and we lost everything... so when Karen and I were shopping at Target this year and I saw a decoration that was based on this type of tree, I made the comment that I really wanted to find one of these to replace the one that Gramma had made and that was lost in the fire and I thought nothing of it since then... until I opened my present from Karen. It brought tears to my eyes that she would have picked up on how much this tree meant to me from that one little comment. She truly is my best friend. This tree will hold a special place in my Christmas display every year. Thank you K.

Christmas at Karen's

Christmas Eve we go to my best friends house and celebrate Christmas with her family - this year her parents joined us as well as her mother in law. It was a wonderful dinner followed by the best part (at least according to the kids) opening the presents!!

Candy bouquets

I made these for my co- workers ~ they are full sized candy bars that are covered in scrap paper, ends crimped w/ a "belt" that was accented with ribbon.. and a long lollipop stick was incorporated in the wrapping... I sure did use a lot of red sticky tape but the end results were worth it - they loved them!

Christmas cards

Here is the card that I made this year...each one was different but the stamp was the same... used different color combos this year,,, some pinks, some apple greens, even purple and silver... not your typical Christmas colors, but I was pleased with them

Merry (belated) Christmas!!

Merry Christmas a day late !!

with the holidays being as rushed as stressful (for me at least) I have neglected updating this thing- I'm going to spend some time and show you my Christmas cards, the gifts I made for my co-workers and some of my favorite pix so far this year...

Hope everyone had a memorable holiday and the merriest of Christmases!!

Christmas time's a comin'

Well it's almost here... the presents are bought and wrapped and under the tree, the handmade gifts are done and the cookie recipes are sitting on the counter waiting for tomorrow when I wake up to be made... many hours and dollars have been spent trying to make a wonderful holiday and ZIP it will be over in a blink of the eye!

Sometimes I wish I would just sleep thru the day..... I hate the running from house to house... not letting Chuck spend equal time with his family so that we can run up to my family's gathering... we come the longest distance and usually end up being the last to leave... this year I have to work the next day so it will be an equally short visit for my side.

I hate the lack of Christmas spirit I am feeling.. the big day is only 3 days away and I don't care one bit... it's just something else I feel like I have to do to make others happy....

Yep, I'm thrilled......Bah humbug!

paper bag album

Im not done with this but it is what I've been working on this weekend...

Blessed

Today is the day before Thanksgiving and as I bake my pumpkin and blueberry pies with the little turkey that I cooked for the purpose of left overs sits on the stove making the house smell wonderful, I realize I am blessed. I have a nice warm house, 2 wonderful kitties, a good paying job, a man that has been in my life for the past twenty years and a very big, noisy and semi crazy family.

finally got it done!

I've had this layout floating around in my head since I saw the picture of my BFF's nephew - he usually hams it up for the camera so I was really pleased with this picture with NO mugging for the camera.

Hand made paper bows

Look at these - they are gorgeous and would you believe - really easy???

I found the directions on Splitcoaststampers.com - here is the link http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/dsp_bow/

have fun & make some to decorate your beautiful holiday packages!!

more CFS

I really love doing these - I get such a feeling of accomplishment and of doing something that matters and from the letters we get back from the soldiers they really appreciate our efforts.

CFS - Use your stash challenge

Here are the cards I've completed for the Cards for Soldiers Challenge for the month of Nov - Use your stash - I decided to finally use my cuttlebug folders and some flowers that were taking up space.