Holidays Are A Coming

If I was wearing a Mood Ring right now, it would be the most beautiful blue color....remember Mood Rings...they were as popular as cell phones a few years ago and everyone had one.  A few years ago, mine would have usually shown  up as black (signifying stress).  I am constantly on a life mission to lessen the stress and worry in my life.  It is a constant struggle to stay centered and something that I have to work at every day, but the goal is there and is definetly attainable and I'm much happier as a result...which means that my family is much happier.....you know that when Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy.

I manage and control (that's right, control) what I can and I learn to deal with everything else.  I cannot control everything, like the many renovations or home improvements I want to make, but I can realize that I always need something on my plate and that it keeps me happy and fulfilled to try and have a beautiful and welcoming home.  I cannot control the lives of my family, although I still want to...for a Mother, who loves her children this one is very hard because sometime, I think I know best and will always give my advice because I am centered in their lives and they are a part of me...but my Daughters have grown up to make a Mother proud...they are smart and sassy and love their family to a fault.....I don't have to worry about them (but of course I still do...but I can let go of some of those worries).

You might remember that I had a list of things that needed to be done before Christmas and I was 'stressing' over how to get them finished.  I took a step back and realized that I always have a list of things that I want to do - and that want does not always equal need.  For the holidays, I wanted to have my kitchen finished but - I can still cook and serve my Holiday meal and various goodies just fine irregardless of the fact that my cabinets are two differant colors right now.   I can almost guarantee that if I took a poll with my family of whether they wanted a good meal or a beautiful finished kitchen, they would choose a good meal.  We have to realize that when we live our lives allowing things to lead us, we are going to be stressed and unhappy...once we realize what is truly important, it is much easier to  let the rest go.  This does not mean that I'm never stressed.  I still stress over things and some of them are small and really not important things upon reflection.  I just want to give you the gift of knowing that living every day is hard, living a good life every day is harder but with time and effort it is something we can all achieve .... with one simple rule of not letting your environment control you.  Be strong, be reflective and let things go.

I have already finished my decorating, my Christmas shopping and have almost all my presents wrapped.  I have done zero baking, but I am okay with that because I have never really made things ahead and froze them but I am going to give that a try this week. 

One of the joys this year is that I have a new Grandbabe on the way, and Tiffany is scheduled to be induced on Monday 12/21 which means we will have a beautiful little family member addition for Christmas this year.  He has already whispered to me that he doesn't mind that the kitchen is a mess, so there you have it...total confirmation. 

All the best,

Christmas Tour of Homes and Met Monday - Holiday Decorations 2009

I'm joining the Christmas Tour of Homes and Met Monday parties today.  I'm sharing some additional pictures on my Holiday decorations. 

Christmas Tour of Homes

Metamorphis Monday

Come in and let's visit for awhile.

Family Room

Breakfast Nook

A gentle reminder...which are you?

To see more of my decorations, click here and here.

All the best,

Christmas Decorations - Holiday Home Tour

I am joining the Hooked on Houses Holiday Tour today with more of my Christmas decorations.  You can join the party and see other posts with lots of Chrismas decor goodness by clicking here. 

Our Christmas Tree in the Family Room is very whimsical and full of snowmen and all things snow related.  With the addition of the Grandbabes, the main tree was switched over to shatter resistant ornaments.

More of my Dept 56 North Pole collection

North Pole post office....notice that they are hiring.  If you are a flying deer, please apply as we do not want Santa to be short handed at Christmas. 

The Records Office...you know what they keep in there - The Naughty or Nice list.  Security is tight, so don't even think about breaking in to change any records.

Don't all Snowmen canoe?

Santakin and Mrs. Santakin...I have had these two guys for about 20 years.  They are aging well, don't you think.

You can see more of my decorations by clicking here.  I'm still decorating, so there may be a round three group of pictures coming soon.  Happy Holidays.

All the best,

Christmas Parade - Outdoor Wednesday

Joining for Susan at Southern Daydreamer for Outdoor Wednesday. 

Downtown Christmas Parade on Saturday.  It was a bit frosty but we had a great parking space, right on the parade route and were able to warm up in the Burber (Suburban).  Here is Tiffany and Lexi getting ready.

The mascot for the University of Chattanooga Mocs.

The UTC Marching band.

The Colonial bread slice man. 

Watch out for the Grinch. 

Giant candy cane balloons.

Antique Tractor club.

This one was really cute...red on one side and pink on the other. 

Antique firetruck

The force was strong in Chattanooga

All Christmas Parades close with Santa.

All the best,

Christmas Decorating 2009

Some of my Christmas decorating.

All the best,

A Tiny Cloche for Little Treasures

My contribution to Met Monday is a tiny cloche made from items that I had laying around.  As always, nods to Susan at BNOTP for hosting this event each week.  You can see all the Met Monday posts by clicking here. 

I'm also linking to Make It Monday hosted by Cindy at Cottage Instincts. 

To make my tiny cloche - A .50 cent glass candleholder from the Dollar Store, a glass votive candle from Home Interior, a glass coaster, a clear lucite diamond shape baubble, my trusty E6000.

Make sure all surfaces are clean and dry.  Apply E6000 to each surface that will be glued together and let sit for about 5 minutes before placing the pieces together....glue the baubble to the bottom of the votive candle which will be the top of the cloche, glue the coaster to the top of the candleholder....let dry for 24 hours. 

From useless items laying around and taking up space, I now have a cute little cloche that makes a perfect home for Santa. 

All the best,

What's That Falling From The Sky??

We woke up Saturday morning to a beautiful white wonderland...well, white for our neck of the woods anyway.  Alden and Connor spent the night, so we were up early and I hopped into some warm clothes and ran out to take pictures as I knew the snow would melt away as the day progressed. 

My River Birch tree all decked out in winter's finery. 

For those of you jaded by the frequent sight of snow, shame on you.  Step back and think of the beauty you are seeing and not of the aggravation, delays ect. and if you can't do that, go South and watch how we deal with snow.  It's like experiencing Christmas through the eyes of a child. 

Snow is a true event for a Southerner and especially this time of year.  We get excited when the weatherman whispers of snow, we run to the grocery store at the sight of the first flake and stock up on canned goods, batteries, milk and bread.  We cannot for our lives drive in the stuff but man that does not stop us from running out and getting in our vehicles for an urgent errand that cannot wait....we slide into ditches and bang into each other or have near misses and swear that we will never get out and drive in the snow again...but  then the next time we see snow, we do it again.  It's like childbirth, some things you just forget...as time passes, so do the memories and you only remember the warm fuzzy feelings and not the fact that you want to rip the throat from the father of your child and watch him crawl on the floor begging for mercy. 

If you really want to see how ill prepared Southerners are to deal with snow, this next picture of my Mike says it all. 

All the best,

I'm Late, I'm Late, For A Very Important Date - A Holiday Cloche Party

I'm joining Marty for her holiday Cloche Party - I'm a bit late, although it is still Friday!!  Thanks so much to Marty for hosting such a fun event.  You can see all the great cloche creations by clicking here. 

First of all, join me in a cupcake and a spot of tea or cup of coffee...what is your choice?

A little Christmas scene with candleholders doing double duty as cloches. 

How about a little old fashioned ribbon candy?

Shiny baubles at Christmas - always a winner.

Sweet little bird houses.

Santa's Reindeer barn.

Pinecones lightly dusted with snow...kept in a refrigerated cloche.  No, really......

More snow with pinecones and shiny ornaments.  We love snow here in the South.

All the best,

Tablescape Thursday - Season's Greetings

Joining Susan at Between Naps On The Porch for Tablescape Thursday.  To see all the great tablescapes posted this week please visit Susan by clicking here.

This weeks holiday tablescape is done in red and white with black accents. 

Chargers are from Home Goods, dinner plates from Target and salad plates are Town and Country by Fitz and Floyd. 

Seed glasses are from Home Goods and have cute little peppermint swirls molded into the glass.

Silver Santa salad fork and spoon I have had for years and purchased at Waccamaw.

Centerpiece is a twig and holly wreath topped with a white cake plate and cloche stuffed with pinecones and snow.  Two little Angels join us, bringing a sense of calm and peace. 

All the best,

North Pole Limited aka The Polar Express

For the past five years, since the birth of my first grandbabe, we take a train ride on the North Pole Limited at the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum.  This year, we purchased our tickets and waited patiently in the train station for the 7:30pm train.

Once on board, the engine toots and the steam rolls and we are off. 

During the ride, before we get close to the North Pole, the storyteller reads from The Polar Express and leads the passengers in several Christmas Carols

.....then the Waiter/Chef enters and serves Hot Chocolate (aka Yahoo) and Gingerbread cookies. 

Here is my new Grandbabe, by the way...he is currently nestled all safe and sound with Mommy, and will be our little Christmas present this year. 

The train winds through the hills and dells and enters a tunnel in Missionary Ridge (aka 'the clouds') on our trip to the North Pole.  As we near the tunnel, which cannot be seen in the dark, the engine picks up speed and the whistle blows loudly...suddenly, we are in the dark tunnel and the storyteller lets the passengers know that we have entered the clouds and will be arriving at the North Pole shortly.  Once we break through the cloud cover (aka leave the tunnel) there are Christmas lights and scenes on both sides of the train and then we move into the station at the North Pole where we see Santa standing outside the car, waving at everyone. 

We wait patiently as the steam engine moves from the front of the train (which is now the back of the train) and chugs back past the passenger cars to the front of the train (which was once the back of the train).  Confused yet....hey, go with it, we are at the North Pole where magic happens every minute.  Once the train is in place, we are ready to begin our journey back to the land bound train station.....but what is that sound, a door opening and an elf handing out bells....and who is that behind the elf.....OMG, it's Santa Claus.

Santa walks through the passenger cars on the ride back and speaks to each boy and girl.  Santa takes his time and winds through 4-5 train cars on this ride and he always takes his time and he always makes it to the end before the ride....Santa has time management down to an art. 

As Santa leaves each car, the storyteller fills the time with engaging everyone in singing carols and soon we are nearing our destination.

As we near the station, Santa magically departs the train and Mr Conducter makes a walk through the cars with his railroad lantern and talks to the children who are curious enough to engage him.

We disembark into the chilly night air and head toward home, safe with the knowledge that we personally told Santa exactly what we want for Christmas and don't have to worry that it will be under the tree on Christmas morning. 

I'm joining Susan at A Southern Daydreamer for Outdoor Wednesday.  Please be sure and visit her to see other great OW pics.


All the best,

Our Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving 2009, but it whizzed by.  I set up food stations around the kitchen to make it easier on the traffic flow and get everyone seated and down to business quicker. 

Ham and Turkey

Side dishes

Desserts

All the ones that I love and am thankful for every day.  I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

All the best,

Christmas Wreath

Slowly easing into my Christmas decorating so that I don't have so much to do this weekend, after Thanksgiving.  I made a Christmas wreath this week for my entryway.  This is a large 30 inch wreath, so it has lots of presence. 

I started with a green wreath and two differant ribbons. 

I needed a large bow, so I made my loops about 6 inches each.

I made 10 loops and left streamers of about 22 inches.  Once I had my loops, I fastened the center with a twist of floral wire....pipecleaners are easier to handle but I did not have any handy.  Be sure that you twist the wire tightly and then fluff the bow by pulling and twisting the loops in place.

I cut a 1 1/4 yard piece of each ribbon to use for an additional streamer across the top of my wreath.

Pinch the center of the ribbon and wrap one of the green wired stems around it to hold it in place...the finished bow will fit right on top of this center ribbon and twist the wire around the wire form of the wreath, tucking the ends out of sight. 

Each streamer is seperated and attached to the wreath about midway of each streamer by twisting one of the green stems around the ribbon...don't pull tightly, leave some room for the ribbon to puff up. 

Once finished the wreath looks like this with all the streamers tucked, also trim the ends on each streamer to give a finished look.

Time to add the greenry...I use many differant types of greenry and not just Christmas related...this will give the wreath dimension and the differant shades and textures will add interest.  Simply cut the stems and run a bead of hot glue on the front and back at the bottom of each stem..place where you want by tucking the stem deep into the wreath and the glue will take hold. 

Fill in greenry until you are satisfied with the look and shape of your wreath.

Hang your wreath and enjoy.

All the best,