And A Merry Christmas To All

Here we are in the happiest time of the year, and as usual, I'm finding myself saying "how did Christmas get here so fast?".  Do you do that too?  Well, today is the day that I can finally relax and enjoy the day.  I plan to bake cookies and make a couple of dishes to take to our family Christmas celebration tomorrow.  But I thought I'd start by posting a short blog.

Do you have a favorite Christmas memory?  Or a gift that you remember so well that you received as a child?  I have one in particular.  It's a sewing basket.  I realized early on - maybe at about 8 years old - that I loved to sew.  I started with tiny patterns to make clothes for my Barbies.  My mom knew that my interest in sewing was not going away, so for Christmas when I was 10 she bought a sewing basket for me.

Christmas, 1968

I loved this gift.  I could have my own supplies and keep them in a special place.  And I used it.  And used it and used it.  Now, many years later, I still have this sewing basket.

There it is, displayed in the craft room.  It's missing a foot, the lining is a bit torn, and the rattan is coming apart in a couple of places, but it's still cute and usable.  Now, that's a special gift.

Looks good for 47 years old!

Here's one more cute, nostalgic picture taken many, many years ago. It looks like it's Christmas in 1964.  Pictured are my brothers, John and Jim, and my sister, Sheila and me.  Love this picture.

So I hope that you have a very Merry Christmas and a happy and blessed New Year.  And I hope that some beautiful memories are made for you.  I'll leave you with a photo of our Christmas tree in all its splendor.

Wrapping Up The Year

I'm still here!  Thank you for sticking with me at the amazingly busiest time of the year.  And I don't even have school-age kids! 

A lot has happened since I last posted.  We went to Virginia for Thanksgiving and had a lovely time with our son's future in-laws.  It was a very good trip all around and I'm glad we got to do it.  Also, our little Ozzy cat has been sick. Luckily, we boarded him at the vet's over Thanksgiving and they figured out just what to do for him and he's getting back to his normal self!

Last Saturday was the Sisters In Stitches annual Christmas extravaganza.  We bring food to share, do our gift exchange (yes, we do that part every month), bring little gifts to hand out, and enjoy the day as we usually do.

Some of the little gifts I received.

Our gift table, extra special.

Lunch is served.

Whoopie pies made by Peggy.

I made some little gifts for everyone.  They're the quilted look ornaments that I made for my October Pinterest project.  These are fun and quick to make and they turn out so cute.  I even made a few extra for some special people, but they're not pictured here.

We had a wonderful stitching day.  It was so good to catch up with everyone.  And I actually got some stitching in, which reminded me how much I like this hobby.  Now I'm itching to get through all of the Christmas preparations so that I can sit for a while and stitch. 

A little more progress on Kaleidoscope.

 Last Sunday, our neighborhood had its annual Night Of Lights.  Luminary kits are sold and most of the homes glow with lights and other decorations.  Hot chocolate and cider stands are spaced throughout the neighborhood.  All proceeds go to a special cause.  We had so many visitors drive through that traffic was messed up on some of the roads around the subdivision.  Maybe it was because of the addition of a camel in the live Nativity.

The camel thinks he's the star, but there were also lambs and goats.  And maybe a donkey?

And that same night there were a bunch of car break-ins in our neighborhoods.  If the car was locked, they broke windows. We lock our cars every night, but on this particular day we didn't.  The hooligans must have thought they hit the jackpot when they found our car unlocked. Hah, nothing in our car but an outdated GPS, some power cords for...something, an ice scraper, and a road atlas from 2003.  So nothing was stolen, but creepy nonetheless.

I'm almost done with everything I've had to do for Christmas.  Almost.  I'm just going to enjoy the season, especially when our son, Matt, and his fiance, Stephanie, arrive tonight!  I hope that you also can enjoy this special time of year.  

Like these guys, with peace, love, and harmony.