Family Fun

It has been a wonderful week of family fun. It has been absolutely the best thing to have all my kids home at the same time. We've done a lot of eating, playing games, doing jigsaw puzzles, and talking. It's been pretty much my idea of perfection! The only thing that could have made it better was if someone had come in to do all the cooking and cleaning up, but there is something rewarding about preparing meals and feeding my family, so I can't complain too much.

Last Saturday we all journeyed up to visit my Mother-in-law at her assisted-living facility and enjoy a pizza lunch with her. Hubby's two brothers and their families came too and so all the cousins got to visit with each other which is always so much fun. Grandma is very generous to us and her grandchildren with Christmas money, but she likes to also have a gift for us to open. During the year, Grandma "shops" at the consignment store at her residence. Residents can leave their unwanted items at the store and other residents can buy them. This year she had a whole laundry basket full of things she'd put away for us to open and we all participated in a Yankee Swap. There were some interesting items: some jam, a few pairs of salt and pepper shakers, wooden bowls, and for some unknown reason, a pair of little girl's (brand new) pink cotton panties. Now what Grandma was thinking when she purchased these is beyond knowing, but they were the item to not get stuck with!! Much to everyone's laughter, our youngest son was the lucky last recipient of this item.

On Christmas Eve, we had a great lasagna dinner, oldest son's favorite, then headed off to church. When we returned, we got into our pajamas, opened one gift each, and watched "Muppet's Christmas". This has been our family tradition since 1987, the Christmas just before youngest son turned two. Muppet's Christmas was a television program just before Christmas which we had taped for the kids to watch, and for almost every day the following year, he asked to watch it again and again. Everyone learned every line of the show: "look out for the icy patch", "Hobla gobla, goofy woofy", and Miss Piggy's line about her Christmas gift to her beloved Kermy: "green, fuzzy flipper slippers". Four years ago, while visiting my sister in Missouri, she took me to a gift shop where I found a tiny pair of baby green fuzzy flipper slippers. I bought one pair with blue embroidery and another with pink and set them aside for my first grandchild. Well, the time had come.....when Miss Piggy spoke her famous line, I announced that we had to pause the tape and open this little gift. Having neglected to take a photo of my first expected grandson's slippers, here are the pink embroidered pair of green fuzzy flipper slippers (which are still safely tucked away for our first granddaughter). Needless to say, the little slippers were a big hit, and I secretly prided myself at actually remembering where I had hid them away four years ago!

Christmas morning we enjoyed opening gifts together while eating cinnamon rolls, had a wonderful "big" breakfast complete with our once-a-year bacon, played games all afternoon, and then ate our turkey dinner in the evening. What a great day!! Hubby got a Wii for Christmas (good thing because the kids received games!). We played some Guitar Hero III, Tiger Woods Golf, and Mario Party. Here are some photos of the competitive game playing and jigsaw puzzling:




It has really been a fun week here at our house. Oldest son, our daughter-in-law, their soon expected son, and their dog, all left on Wednesday evening. Tomorrow youngest son will leave to go back to school in California. So today is our last day of family fun. DD and her hubby will arrive soon to watch UConn play in the Meineke Car Care Bowl this afternoon and then we'll watch the Patriots go 16-0 tonight. Somewhere in between the two games we'll have dinner and maybe play a little more Wii. What are Hubby and I going to do when all this entertainment is over??

I Am the Lucky Recipient......

.....of wonderful gifts commemorating Mrs. Goodneedle's 300th blog post! The gifts arrived yesterday and were such a great treat. They came with a lovely snowman notecard congratulating me on being the lucky winner. One of the gifts is a pair of Life is Good snuggle socks which will certainly be put to good use this cold winter. I can never see anything "Life is Good" without thinking of her! The other item is the book, Firstlight, by Sue Monk Kidd. She is one of my favorite authors, yet I haven't read this book. From the back cover: "These collected stories and essays are organized around thirteen spiritual motifs. They trace Monk Kidd's development as a writer and spiritual seeker; explore her roles as mother, daughter, wife, nurse, and artist; and reflect on what she has learned in settings as far-flung as Africa and as familiar as her own home." I'm so eager to start this book, which of course is made additionally special because I know it is one of Mrs. G.'s favorites and so meaningful to her. Until the craziness of the holidays subsides, it will rest on my bedside table in anticipation and as a visual reminder of a long and wonderful friendship. (But, truth be known, I never need a reminder of something so precious and important!) Thank you so much, Mrs. G. Here's to many more wonderful posts from you, which always brighten my day and help me feel closer to you even though we're far apart.

Christmas is Coming!

Christmas preparations are almost complete. I'm working on one more batch of cookies and then, I think, everything will be ready. The tree is up, the gifts are wrapped, the house is clean and tidy, and the beds have fresh sheets. My kids come home tonight!! Here is our tree in the family room, decorated by Hubby and me, with all the ornaments collected over our years together. Many of the ornaments are adorned with the children's names, reminders of when they were little and eager to hang them on the tree all by themselves. The tree would always be decorated on the bottom two thirds only. Hubby would make sure to hang some of "our" ornaments way up high.




One of the most special times for me in my Christmas preparations is putting out my Santas, all lovingly made some years ago by Mrs. Goodneedle. They never fail to make me smile and bring me happiness remembering how long our friendship has brought me joy.


Here is our fireplace with the stockings ready for filling. I needlepointed the four of us stockings in 1982, and added another for our youngest son for his first Christmas in 1986. This year, there are two more stockings for our daughter-in-law and our son-in-law, although this time, I let Land's End do the needlepointing. I hung them on the same little hook with their spouse. Seeing these stockings makes me happy too. My carolers look very dedicated, singing away for all time. Most of them have been given to me by my Hubby and now I continue the tradition by giving my DD and my DDIL carolers for their homes too.


Today I baked a batch of Chocolate Crinkle Cookies from a recipe given to me by my Mother-in-law. They are oldest son's favorite and he requested them. It makes me happy to make them knowing my MIL made them long before I did. Here they are, before and after. Hubby had to "test" them to make sure they were perfect before serving.

This last photo is "my" little tree in the dining room. Not only does it bring a wonderful light to the meals we share, it also holds some of my most precious ornaments. Crocheted snowflakes and a peach colored wreath my mother made for me which never fail to make me cry when I hang them, crismons I made with Mrs. Goodneedle in 1999 when she and I lived closer together than we had in 28 years, crystal stars and angels which were gifts to my friends at my Christmas Luncheons over the last 12 years, and beautiful handmade ornaments given to me by my very dear friends.

May your Christmas preparations bring you joy and fill your heart with love. I wish you a very Merry Christmas and hope you share it with all the ones who mean the most to you.

More White for our Christmas!

I promised a Christmas preparation post but I had to put up another photo of our snow accumulations, another 9 inches today. Compare it to the last post! We're really getting a good head start on winter. Maybe spring will come early? Today I had to drive an hour north to take my mother-in-law to her doctor appointment and since she's been having some troubles lately, I had to go. The driving wasn't great, very slow and messy, but I made it there and back in once piece and I'm glad I went. At least with all this snow it seems like Christmas and it came a day earlier than predicted. My kids come home tomorrow!

It's Going to be a White Christmas!

We have been experiencing winter here in the northeast and winter doesn't officially start until Saturday. One thing for sure is that we will have a white Christmas. Last year, we didn't have any winter weather until late in January. Even golf courses were open until then. I've sent my kids in California and North Carolina this photo which I took yesterday and wished them good flights home at the end of the week. I hope they make it since more snow is predicted for Friday. If weather gets between me and my children for Christmas I'm going to be one very grumpy lady.

A special thanks to Mrs. Goodneedle for my special gift to commemorate her 300th post on her blog. She, and little Hannas, recently drew my name to receive this honor. I will be waiting patiently for it to arrive (well, alright, rather impatiently....I can't wait!!).

Next post: Christmas preparations.