Happy New Year !!

We had a small New Year's Eve Party. Well actually there were four of us.

I 'm sure you recognize Sam, that is me in the middle and Gabi on the other side of me. I seem to have misplaced my head...Did I mention I was going on a diet...and you were thinking, she looks pretty svelte for so soon after the holidays... No that is not Dave holding the flag.. Someone had to take the picture..

Just wanted to wish you a happy 2008!!

Christmas Afterglow..

The middle snowman is actually a picture of how I feel, kind of stuffed, melted down to my neck, but still sporting a silly grin... Is that a bird perched on my head?






It is hard to believe that Christmas was yesterday and now I don't really have anything I must do. I can fiddle with this and mess with that and it's okay!! I love a party, a holiday, an event, anything you can get people together to and eat, laugh, dress up or decorate for... I think old age is creeping up on me because I'm ready to just hang out at home and revive after all the Christmas fun times.

I must say, this year I did everything I wanted to do, and a few things I didn't.. I was a beat or two behind most of the time, but.. Oh wait, I forgot, my most favorite Christmas treat is Christmas Cards! I love getting them, I absolutely love cards with pictures and letters. I keep them all, I have a file for them and some of them get in the file, others are... who knows where but I never throw them away. Sometimes I try and organize them by family, and it is sooooo fun to see how much the babies grow over the years.

It is always one of my biggies when I get the picture of our group chosen, and made into a card and then sent. Well sadly I must confess, I failed miserably this year. I got a program to make a cool card on the computer, I took some specific pictures, made the card, even made a computer list of addresses. The adorable card is still in the computer... the addresses were never printed out.. and I know I could send them as New Years Cards, however I have lost my enthusiam for the project so, I think I will admit defeat and move on. If I get a card from you, I want to say a big THANK YOU, please don't cut me from your list as an inactive... I will try harder next year! I think I will just...

this is a tag on a sweet container, actually a little tin of fudge that I got at my friend Pam's cookie party last week. I will truthfully be more merry when I eat the the fudge. Do you believe I like Christmas Cards better than Christmas Cookies? It's because they last longer, have you ever enjoyed a 20 year old Christmas Cookie??




I got a shot (obviously I wasn't the first) of these guys at the party. I bet Santa thinks twice, before landing on these people's roof again.

These are a few shots from my friend Diane's Christmas party. The woman on the left is Diane's friend Tracey, and the one on the right is our friend Martha http://www.blogger.com/www.vintagetrifles.blogspot.com I took lots of pictures at Diane's but I thought I should show you the one that included things Martha had made. She made the long stockings hanging on the mantle.

She made the sign above the lighted wreath.

She also made the scene in the jar and the vintage picture on the shelf above.

No doubt you have figured out I enjoy the decorating and entertaining that the holidays bring. However it is my opinion that babies make Christmas, starting with the very first Christmas...

This is my original baby Ty, my baby for 15 years having a little Christmas tea with Miss Addie our sweet little grandniece.

It was so special having all my babies home for Christmas this year. Last year our oldest baby Dusty, was on deployment with the Navy. It leaves a hole in my heart when one is missing. We all spent time on the computer emailing back and forth, but its just not the same.

<

I'm sorry if you were missing your love ones this year. No matter how many Christmas Cookies you eat, it doesn't fill the void...

Santa needs help!!

Not much time this morning for a long post, but I did want to wish you
I hope you are further long on your holiday preparations than I am!!! Here is what I want for Christmas!!

Have a great day!!

Who would have known??

Here is picture of my very computer savvy friend Lisa and I earlier this fall. I hope you noticed as you clicked on to my blog today that you can see the whole picture across the top (banner). If you think I finally figured that one out... nope that would be Lisa, she emailed it to me this morning!! She also taught me the trick about how to hyperlink to another site. Which if you didn't know how pathetic I was on the computer before I guess it's obvious since it was suppose to highlight Lisa not she...

No time for a full length post this morning I just wanted to say, THANK YOU!! LISA (I did it that time) Maybe I can learn!!

One More Time

If you think I haven't been trying to post, you are so very mistaken. I would like to list all the obstacles I have run into but if I did I wouldn't have time to try one more time. It seems a little redundant to write about what I have for the past week, so I guess I will move on, since I'm bored with it and you most likely would be too.

Thursday I hosted a tea for my friend Jori's Bible Study Group. It was fun to met 10 ladies from my community that I hadn't known before. The first person through the door however was a sweet customer that I have known for quite some time but hadn't seen her for awhile, that was a pleasant surprise. It was a varied age group, when was it that I became on the older side of the average?? That is a little shocking sometimes, you are just living your life the way you always have, watching your babies grow up, having birthdays year after year, doing the dishes, taking care of business and then boom when did I all of a sudden become the old wise one... Actually the truth is, just old not wise...

These pictures are from the Open House but I added another table and used the same place settings for the tea.

I am having another dinner party this Friday there will be 15 of us, so I will have to find some plates that will work with the clock faces and more silver trays....hmmm I guess I will have to check out some 2nd hand stores .... What I need to be buying is Christmas gifts, haven't thought too much about that yet. It gets a little old buying boy things year after year..did I mention I have 4 boys and a husband to buy for??? Wonder if any of them would be interested in getting table place settings this year???

These are the pictures taken of the guest room. I was inspired to redo it for the Open House.

I love the little glass lamps on the dresser, I got these at my friend Diane's Christmas sale a few weeks ago. I had been in love with them for along time. I am always so happy when I finally get something that I have admired for what seems like forever...I didn't notice I am in the mirror, I was going to say, "I won't be wearing this dress for Christmas," but I bet you could figure that out... Maybe the cowboyhat would work with the moo-moo..

The little pink chick above was made by Martha. I got it last spring but she fits right in for Christmas!!

The big boys made these in an art class a few years ago.. well actually...

18 years ago

I'm pretty sure the date on the back, etched in the plaster has to be wrong...

Ta- Da!!

With much and I mean much, help from my friends and family I finished my Open House. I could have used a few more days to get ready, there is always more I would like to do. I love the details the little extras that look like they should take a few minutes to accomplish, but actually take a few hours.... Now that is the the story of my life!!

I am always so happy to have the house decorated and now I can get on with the other and no doubt more important parts of Christmas. I think I might take a day or two off to regroup and have that little breakdown I have been promising myself...Actually maybe just a quick power nap and I will be ready to go!!
My husband who often thinks I have lost my mind, is willing to undertake any project I ask him to do. This time I think I may have sealed my fate, I am crazy... I had him wrap all the wire on this tree with strips off a white sheet. I'm pretty sure it took at least 100 hours.. I love it though, it probably looks better than the picture shows. A friend of mine , Jori was telling me about wrapping white twinkle lights with white fabric strips for a window display and immediately I thought how cool this would be for one of those wire trees that people put in their yards. I thought 4 or 5 hours maybe... Good thing we don't know some things before we start, or quite possibly we wouldn't... This is the feather tree I have had for several years. I really love to decorate it. The fact that it is mounted in its own little stand, a cinch to pull down the branches and on with the fun. I usually put my favorite ornaments on this tree since it seems to show case them so well. If you have read this blog for long you remember my friend Lisa she asked if I knew when I started decorating a tree that I was only going to use certain color ornaments... Well of course I have a plan... I agonize over it for hours! That is one of those things that looks like it should have taken a few minutes but.... I like to change everything around mix it up every year, but still have it be what I like, using mostly the same decorations. You mean everyone doesn't do that?? Dave is right I am crazy.
This is the first artificial tree I bought. I got it one summer when my sister Terri and I were shopping for something and ran into a superduper sale and honestly we paid $7 for these trees. I wish I had bought a dozen. I love how narrow it is at the bottom, it takes up very little room.
One might even think it was real?
Did you notice the pink petticoat for a treeskirt
This is a new pink tree this year, nestled in the closet of my office. Did you notice the vintage wallpaper that I used for a valance? And of course that is not the dress I wore for the Open House..
This little pink tree on top of the cupboard is a Barbie tree, how cute is that. I like that it is soft pink. I was so excited when I got the nativity showed here. I knew it was chipped but there were lots of pieces and I had the great idea that I would mica it, so I did a few pieces and started running out of time so I though I better do the key figures. There was no Mary... What may I ask, kind of nativity would not have a Mary!! I left the Baby Jesus with the Wise Men, I assumed they could figure it out!!

Once again I just want to thank all of my wonderful friends that helped me this past week, if you read the previous post you know that I have been proccupied with way more important things...
I wish I had some wonderful quote about the meaning of friends and family or the measure of a friend. But I don't, so I hope it is adequate to say " I love you"

Be Thankful for the Time You Have

I have been working at getting the house and shop ready for the Open House, it is coming fast and there are too few hours to get it all done.. Sometimes I feel like "Rabbit" on Winnie the Pooh. Running around having a fit, making much ado about nothing...
I took an evening off to have dinner with some girlfriends one night this week. I didn't have time with all I had to do, but ...
We were to bring a list of 10 things for which we were thankful. I have a lot that I am thankful for. I seem to focus on what I don't have instead of what I do, especially when I am trying to get things done and feeling pressured. I felt kind of silly with my list, it seemed as if I hadn't given it much thought just went for the obvious, but I considered carefully for what I was thankful so I was going to list it..
I went first but it didn't really matter we all had pretty close to the same list. What it came down to was we were all thankful for friends and family, for those we love, and for those who love us.


Time has a way of marching on. It surprises me constantly how fast it slips by. It never ceases to amaze me when I look at the clock and it is an hour or sometimes two later than I thought. The day is over before I know it. I get up earlier and stay up later to get more time...

The week is gone, a month, a year, a lifetime???

My intention was to post early yesterday morning when everyone was sleeping. I wanted to wish you all a happy Thanksgiving and then get the food in the oven. There would be plenty of time. ..

The alarm was set for 4am and when the phone rang a few minutes before that, I had that feeling it was horrible the way you always do when the phone wakes you. My friend Gail was calling to say her son Alex had a car accident and didn't make it.. Those were her words, and yet... A beautiful 18 year old boy's life slipped by, his time is gone, how can it be?

It is the first time I think I have known a truly mind numbing experience. It is surreal, you are there, making phone calls, seeing the sheriff at the door, listening to the facts of the accident, but your mind won't believe what it is hearing, it is numb. You know your not dreaming, you know it is true, but it can't be real.. It can't be happening to those you love. You know the numbness will wear off that reality will come, their pain will be beyond measure.

The first time I remember meeting Alex he was about 9, when he came to my store with his dad to buy his mom a gift. He was so earnest he wanted the gift his mom would like best. Alex adored his mom, as she does him...

His brother Seth and sister Gabi love him as intense as any sibling has ever loved, and he them. Kisses and hugs, games, movies, precious time spent with each other... They had gone with their dad to bring him home from college that evening, looking forward to some time with the brother they had been missing. Bob and Gail had moved from Pennsylvania when Alex was a preschooler. It was to be just the five of them together for their Thanksgiving dinner.

Gail had stayed home to get the house ready, the groceries were bought, the sheets on his bed changed, his room tidied, looking forward to her family celebrating Thanksgiving together... It is so hard when they grow up and things are different, they leave the nest, but still when they come home it is so special. We want it to be perfect, everyone to be happy...

And time just keeps marching on... Your life is changed in a heartbeat, it is your worst nightmare. Your baby gone and the two you have left broken hearted, their world never to be the same...


Please keep this family in your thoughts and prayers.


These pictures are a couple of years old.

Here is a picture of Alex with his mom and brother Seth


Here is Alex dancing with Gabi


">

Getting Started on Decorating

Here is a kiss for my friends and family for all the birthday wishes and prizes. I had a really nice birthday. I have been working on getting the house decorated for Christmas since Sunday. I spent an hour or longer organizing and separating the many, many ornaments that I have acquired. I have many as you can see. I have decided to keep only pastel and gold and silver. Okay, I still have some from when the boys were babies but that was red, white, and blue Christmas years and they don't match so I look at them "remember when" and but the lid pack on the box...I guess maybe it's bigger than a box of ornaments but its always a time to remember ...

Today Lisa came over and we did a fun Advent Calender. I would show you a picture but mine isn't finished and don't look for a picture on her blog tonight because she left her camera here...

This is a picture of one that I made last year. I had to make one after I borrowed my friend Diane's for last year's Open House, it was perfect for that special wall in the kitchen... She made it with help from our very talented friend Martha which if you go to her blog you will get information about their upcoming sale. Lisa brought me the sweetest treasure for my birthday. I had two and she found a third that is in the set.
They are in front of a mirror, so it is hard to tell that there are only 3 figures and 2 trees..The magic of mirrors!

It is the one in the middle that doesn't have the tree yet. I really don't know how she could remember which ones I had and which ones I didn't. I'm certain I wouldn't have known. I buy them whenever I find them, of course at a "good" price...

Here are some of the other ones I have. I am only collecting the aqua, pink and white ones.

I love the little pink girl with the umbrella, she came to me from Cousin Kay. I think the bird is pretty sweet too.

Here is a snowlady that I made several years ago, I love the old quilt that I used for her dress. It is always fun to be able to use something that would otherwise be thrown away.

And this snowlady that is set for a night of fun at the Bingo Hall. I bought from a shop I have gone to for many years, in Springfield, Ruthie B's.

But my very, very, most special decoration is this sweet little angel that my oldest angel made me when he was in kindergarten. Is this the sweetest??

Thankfully pastel so it can come out of the box...

Tag I'm It???

My friend Lisa, www.AThingForRoses.Blogspot.com tagged me. So I'm suppose to tell you six interesting things about me... Sure if I wanted you to know I probably would have already told you.. Here is one, I have been told to use my inside voice more than once, as and adult...When I took my dad to get his hearing aide the doctor told me I didn't need to talk so loud since he had his hearing aide in.. Little did he know that was my normal voice. Then of course when I get excited, the volume goes UP!!

Oh yeah, this is great lets seeeee, six interesting things about me..... Oh this reminds me of a game we use to play, two truths and a lie... You decide

1. I am a wonderful dancer. I assume this sweet ballerina is actually a statue of me, smaller of course.. Yeah, that was easy a lie, however I dance better than I sing...

2. I have been to Mecca. You know the one in Saudi Arabia.. True.. After college I was a flight attendant and flew to just about everywhere you can imagine. I thought that would be the most wonderful job ever, too bad I always get airsick...Definitely awkward...

3. I love, love, love, pink roses, here is an ornament that makes me soo happy.

4. I'm a professional photographer... Yes, I'm very poor no one has ever bought a picture that I have taken...I keep trying but somehow I keep missing the boat..Maybe I'm at the airport?? :)

5. I have four children, I actually like to say three adults and one child four seems a little excessive, I had my first when I was twenty-six and the first three are two years apart, seems pretty normal. Even though I wanted a girl so bad, enough is enough ... If you have three little boys I'm sure you know what I'm saying... So I had my tubes tied after the third. And at forty-five when I was so glad to see I was going through the "change" I was actually PREGNANT... Now that is what I call a change!! Here is the prince of a miracle child, Rocky the Red Power Ranger/Prince.. Need I say more... Who could make up a lie like this??
If you are starting to panic.. Don't worry it will only happen one in a hundred times..

6. Today is my birthday, here is my cake to prove it. Actually my birthday is the thirteenth I'm assuming you won't read this before then.
Now is where I am suppose to tag six more people and keep the game going... I hate to ask people to do things so I will just say, the blogs that I have in "Places I Like to Go" are the ones I read all the time and I hope you will visit them too!!

A Great Start to the Holidays!!

It was so fun to see everyone that I hadn't seen in far too long. This past year I had decided to only have my shop open for sales and events. I have enjoyed using it for a 'studio' or 'storage unit' which is open to interpretation. I will show you a few picture of what I started with.

Then I open the door and oh my gosh... What a disaster.. Somehow I manage to make a mess where ever I go. Thankfully I have lots of books on organization. I'll have to look for them, I know I put them somewhere...

I bet that darn book is under one of these piles???

I did manage to get things in their proper places, dust, price, do a few displays, make coffee and muffins, put out the signs and balloons and I was ready, it was nothing.... I still haven't found the book...

I had a fun Thursday night with Cindy she came to my rescue. Which if you read her blog you will see she has a full schedule without fitting me in...She was here until the wee hours of the morning. We kept making bigger messes, lots of great ideas make lots of great big messes.. We did get it all in tidied up and ready for morning.






I forgot to take pictures before the sale, so I tried to 'fluff' it up a bit and took these after I closed.

Did you notice the hanging 'Christmas Tree' made of lampshades?

Bright and early my good friend Marcia showed up to save the day. She and I have been making messes together for over 20 years, she can read my mind after all these years. She just does whatever needs to be done and I can get on with spinning in circles...

One particularly stressful year she completely decorated my house for Christmas, while I was gone.. She came back after Christmas and put them away too... That is a very special friend indeed!!

I would have loved to have visited the rest of the shops in Silverton that evening, but I was was too tired by the time I closed at 5pm.

Saturday was fun, l always enjoy catching up with my customers, who have become my friends over the years. Because my shop is off the beaten path, I have always had time to get to know my customers since they might be the only one in the store for quite sometime.. I like to think it's because I am off the beaten path.. So unless I saw them at a sale somewhere during the past year, many of my customers I hadn't 'caught up with' in a year. Here is a link to a friend of mine Laurie who visited Saturday. Check out her really cute treasures.

http://lauriescharmingdesigns.blogspot.com/

Then there were new friends to make during the course of the day...I miss the interaction that I had when my store was open regularly, but I do enjoy the flexibility of being closed. This schedule is working for us now, I have been in business for 9 years, so its important to change things around once in awhile.

I met my friend Lisa Sunday morning for a quick trip to the Flea Market.

Then a little more shopping for treasures around town and a lunch with my 'Six Pack' friends. We had a great lunch in a new little restaurant in Silverton. It's called Trio's, very yummy and reasonably priced too. We took a walk through town and had a rest in my sweet friend Gail's store 'Panache, by Yours Truly'. Her store is all decked out for Christmas, she is open year round with treasures for your home. The focus is mostly bed and bath. My favorite is ... well I have lots of favorites in there but I love La Vie jewelry and she has lots, displayed in an antique showcase. I will do a highlight on her soon so you can see more. But I will leave you today with a shot of the Six Pack having a little rest on one of Gail's beautifully made beds!!