Around Here, Lately

Pepper and Me

1. Well, we feel like we're living at the North Pole with temps below zero (Fahrenheit).  The guys have had extended Christmas break and we're spoiled with some sleeping late and excuses to flop on the couch and stay in pajamas way too many days!
2. We had a white Christmas!
3. The Mister and I decided to have California Closets come and redo the master bedroom closet as our Christmas gift to each other this year.  They come Wednesday, so today we emptied our closet, took out the old plastic coated wire system, painted the ceiling, patched holes and painted walls.  Don't worry.  I even remembered to take 'before' pictures so we can have a proper before and after reveal. haha.
4. The 1988 bathrooms of the house are also getting a total reno this month and not a moment too soon for this lady of the house!  We've been busy picking out tile, tubs, sinks, fixtures and all that fun stuff!  Demo starts soon!  Construction dust of the kitchen reno is a faint memory but still a memory...haha...so I'm mentally prepared.  Dust isn't so much an issue as the five of us sharing a bathroom.  Oh my.
5. I've been trying to get my health under control.  Seems like this poor girl is falling apart!  Finally got a prescription that helps with the migraines.  And I got a prescription that helps with the acid reflux after having an endoscopy and seeing some damage.  And I got one to help with the arthritis after the endoscopy revealed I'm taking way too much Advil for my stomach's good.  Xrays revealed arthritis in my back and neck now.  No wonder I was in so much pain.  But I'm feeling pretty good now with all this pill popping. haha.
6. I ate dinner with a penguin, screech owl and a few other animals last night.  If you're confused.  Check out my Instagram account.  Oh, and the guy on the label of my latest wine bottle started talking to me!  You'll see about that there, too.  
7. By now you're probably sure that I've gone crazy. :)  Yes, yes I have!

Merry, Merry!

I snapped these photos today from my kitchen desk

and they were just too cute not to share!

I immediately thought of the Henry David Thoreau quote,

"I once had a sparrow alight upon my shoulder for a 

moment, while I was hoeing in a village garden,

and I felt that I was more distinguished by that 

circumstance than I should have been by any

epaulet I could have worn."

I hope you are enjoying the Christmas season 

and the last few days of 2017!  Sending love 

and good wishes to all my blog friends!  

♥

You Rang?

I got a fun Christmas gift!

It was a Ring Door Bell.  I kept seeing the

commercials for them and thought it would be

a great way to keep an eye on my etsy packages that

I put out on my porch every day to be picked up.

So, I asked Santa and he actually put one under the tree. :)

I'm alerted on my cell phone whenever there is any

movement on the front porch, whether they ring the

door bell or simply leave a package.  I can swipe my phone

and see live what is happening whether I'm at home or not!

And I can talk to anyone there, if I want to.

Here you can see my UPS man making a delivery while

my boxes to go out are waiting for the USPS man.  The camera

 has a wide span...you can even see his truck out on the street! 

Kinda fun, but nice for security reasons, too!

♥ 

Merry Christmas!

♥

Christmas Cookies

I did a lot of tree trimming today!

♥

Little Moments To Keep Your Sanity This Christmas

This month is "the most wonderful time of the year"

and also the craziest time of the year!  Running two

businesses, hosting and attending parties and making

sure our family Christmas is wonderful all happen 

simultaneously!  To keep my sanity, I plan ahead,

shop early, and try to keep things simple.

Quality over quantity, less is more, and not waiting

until the last minute help a lot.

It's ok to scale back, say no when you want,

and it helps if I get to bed early.

I also make sure there is time to relax, even if it's

stolen moments here and there.  I still have my first 

cup of coffee in bed before getting up each morning,

but lately, that second cup after I get all the men 

out the door, is on the couch where I

can enjoy the lights on the tree!

Here was my view this morning.....lovely!

I remember one incredibly busy December a few years

ago that I didn't once sit down and enjoy the tree.

Not once!  That is just not right! haha.

Are you keeping your sanity or are you loosing your mind?

My advise is to be realistic.  Let things go that don't

really need to be done.  Don't overspend.  Wrap gifts early

(that one is advise to myself!).  And make sure there

are some empty days on the calendar! 

♥

Vintage Bottle Brush Trees

A little forest for my skiing snowman.

He was first put on the tree the year I was born.

Yeah, that means he's vintage!

♥

And Just Like That, It's The Christmas Season!

We ended our Thanksgiving weekend with getting the tree

up!  It was easier this year with this tree!  It came with

a storage bag and stays assembled in the garage during

the off season!  So putting up the tree was a matter of 

pulling it inside and unzipping the bag!  Yay! I tried to get

a boy or two to help with the decorations but nobody

was interested.  haha. 

 I'm always slow getting into 

the Christmas spirit....I mean, it's still fall outside!

Beautiful red leaves and cool but comfortable

temperatures!  We're finishing up pumpkin bars

and well, there are still pumpkins and gourds

on the front porch!

♥

Marbled ClayTrinket Bowls

Last year while we were gathered for Christmas Day, we made

Sharpie Mugs as a fun thing to do together.  You can see them here.

This year I saw these marbled clay bowls and thought they might

be fun to hold keys, change or jewelry.  Instructions are here.

I laugh at this photo every time I look at it.
Everyone took their bowl making very seriously, apparently! haha.

You choose your colors and roll out long snakes.

Then you squish the snakes together and roll 

into one long rope.

Then you twist it, overlap it and smoosh

it together, repeating a few times.

Then you roll to a 1/4" thickness

and cut into a circle.

Setting it in a bowl allows the center to sink a little,

creating a concave shape.  Then you bake them for 15 minutes.

The final touch is a little shimmery paint on the edge.

Not too bad, although I don't think any of us had

better quit our day jobs! lol...

♥

A Little Look Back

Before the afterglow from Christmas is gone, I thought

I'd post a few photos from last week.

There was a flurry of wrapping gifts, giving little thank-yous,

filling slippers instead of stockings and feasting.

Lots of fun memories.

I said last night that I'm going to miss the tree when we take

it down.  It's our prettiest tree ever.  The living room will seem

dark and plain without it's glow.  It won't come down until

New Years Day is over, so we have a few more days to enjoy it!

♥

In The Autism World, Lately

I found these winter jackets from daylightsales.com, a website full of

all things train related....and knew they would be loved

 by my three guys!  They made a fun Christmas gift!

♥ 

All Is Calm, All Is Bright

We're in recup mode here....

Eating, flopping on the couch and watching Christmas movies.

I'm planning on doing more of the same tomorrow, 

and the next day, and maybe a few more days after that! 

I hope you all have had a nice Christmas...

and have some recup time, too!

♥

Merry Christmas!

♥

Cincinnati Dinner Train

The Mister's boss took his staff and spouses out for our

annual Christmas dinner.  This year we went for a ride

on the Cincinnati Dinner Train!

These pictures are with my cell, so they aren't the

best quality, but you get the idea.

It was very cool....with menus, music and style

from the year 1949.  We ran along the Ohio River and

could see the skyline, water and twinkling lights

from our seats around the table.  Very fun! 

♥

Christmas Foyer Table

♥

So, We Had a Party....

We had a little group of people who work for The Mister

come with their spouses for some Christmas fun!

Fancy hors d'oeuvres, a little wine and white elephants gifts

all make for a good time, right?

I was busy and forgot to take photos of the food

so you'll have to trust me that it was yummy. haha.

We had steak and goat cheese sliders, shrimp cocktail,

a cheese ball, salad skewers, veggies & dip

 and sweet & sour meatballs.

Then for a little dessert ~ red velvet cake, lemon sugar

cookies, chocolate covered strawberries
 and chocolate peanut clusters.

The white elephant gifts are the best, though.

I had to show you what I got!  A Sculpt Your Own Boyfriend kit!

hahaha....little packs of clay, instructions and all!

I think The Mister felt threatened when I obviously 

loved it. lol.....

One thing I love about this group is how loving they are to our

boys!  They let them open their gifts, sit by them, etc. and I love 

 that.  Their kindness and acceptance does not go unnoticed!

We are up to our eyeballs in receptions and parties

over here!  The Mister has to attend many and host many

because of his job, so he is crazy busy and gone most 

evenings.  This week we have two more dinners to attend

together and our anniversary is this week.

Next week we have three gatherings to attend...oh,

and there are two auctions and a doctor appointment

in there, too! Whew!

♥

                                                                            

  

Party Prep

We're having a little party here tomorrow night!

A red velvet cake is in the oven.

I'm checking the crystal for spots

and searching the house for white elephants gifts!

♥

My First Gift of the Season

Getting a gift is always a fun thing...especially when

it is totally unexpected!  I was pleasantly surprised

when a box from the UK was left on my front porch this

afternoon!  The lovely Georgina had sent me a little package!

You may remember her sending me a variety of European

potato chips a while back, and recently I returned the

favor and sent her some American favorites.

This sweet package had a beautiful tin of little French

cakes called Nonnettes.  And since it was 4:00 PM here,

I figured it was the perfect tea time (although, much to my

constant disappointment, we don't do tea time here!).

So I pretended to be British and ate a French Nonnette. ha.

My tea was green, though....probably very American.

I've never had a Nonnette before!  This little spiced

cake had a sugar glaze on the top and orange flavored jelly in 

the center..... all very European and perfect with tea!

Thank you so much, Georgina...what a fun

surprise.  I actually got a little teary....

What a sweet friend you are!

♥