Christmas Recap

We had a quiet Christmas Eve spaghetti dinner and really thought that we would get to sleep in since the kids are older! Ha! 8:00 we got the first phone call- Did Santa come? Things were fast and furious and the pictures were slim, dogs were running in circles!

After the Youngest opened his ipod he went into a parallel universe for the rest of the day....

Christmas cuteness from Santa to me!

Later in the afternoon we packed up and headed north to the home of my SIL and enjoyed a big feast! Again pictures were slim -but I did take a few! Love all her vintage Christmas!

Friday my friend E and I hit the after-Christmas sales but didn't buy too much! We have gotten used to getting such good bargains that we want the stores to pay us to shop!!!

Countdown to Christmas -Day 1

This is as close to snow as we are going to get for Christmas! But, that is fine with me. I like to see a little snow - one day - each year is fine! I can't even imagine what everyone is going through up North! Tomorrow we travel 1 hour north for dinner with DH's family. Of course Santa comes and the kids come here in the morning to open gifts first. Tonight we are just hanging out -spaghetti dinner- "It's A Wonderful Life" and some candlelight!

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE SWAMP!

Countdown to Christmas -Day 2

Rub-a-dub-dub! Two Pugs in a tub! Lulu supervises from a safe distance. Since we have company -it was time to de-stink the Pugs! Daughter and her DH made it safely from Alaska. They have been up since 9:00 Monday morning and have gone to bed!
And the mailman brought another round of surprises today- 2 boxes from NC-one from my brother and one from Girlville! More treats for the pugs and me!

The cute little button tree ornament has already gone to my kitchen tree-Love that idea! CHOCOLATE and dog treats from Tr@der Joes! Note cards with pets! And I love that tissue paper! This proves I recycle - I already have a paper-mache idea for that tissue paper!!!! Thanks XXOO!

Countdown to Christmas -Day 3

I'm really cutting things close this year. Finished all sewing projects that are Christmas gifts and they got picked up today. Then ran out twice to do last minute stuff - I think we have finally finished Christmas shopping. Washed the sheets in the guest bedroom and decorated a small tree up there. Now I need to think about cooking!

The daughter of a "bestest" friend came up with a project this fall. She is 12 - she designed a bag to put her clarinet case in. My goal was to create her vision for Christmas- I made it just under the line! I machine quilted the fabric to give it some body. It has a zipper on the sides and across the top to easily fit the case in. It also has a matching change purse to slip inside.
This will be a one-of-a-kind item!!!!Got the guest bedroom fluffed up for the daughter and her husband. They were planning to fly out of Alaska at 12:30 tonight. The Seattle airport was snowed in so the plans are up in the air since that would be their first stop........

The feather tree with vintage ornaments and her bride ornaments from last year! I'm sure her husband will appreciate the pink tree!

Countdown to Christmas - Day 4

They say things happen in 3s! Earlier this month the wash machine bit the dust. The repairman said that it would cost more to fix it than to buy a new one.....

Next went my car battery.... and this week...my glasses. Note the very classy packing tape that I am now sporting! Eli chewed the plastic ear thing when he was a puppy. One of his rare destructive acts. It finally fell off last year. Then the whole arm fell off this week.... Merry Christmas to me!!!!

I have felt a little more crafty this weekend. Girlville sent me an elf in need of surgery and I already had one on my table. So I had an Extreme Elf makeover today. The checked one got a new hat and collar. Girlville's Elf got feet and arms plus some old chenille for trim. They are both good for another 30 years of Christmas!

And then I broke my rule and put some glass balls on this tree. It is in my sewing room which is the forbidden zone for a certain Evil Kitten!

Countdown to Christmas - Day 5

I always save the last two spaghetti noodles for the Pugs!

Countdown to Christmas - Day 6

Eli has been pretty good and he has been patiently waiting for Santa. Lulu and Bitsey are another story. Seven just doesn't care!

Each day they check the mail. Nothing for a cat today......

This is a big box, but not for us......

This one however has the smell of pet goodness! And it came from Canada!!! It didn't take long to figure out that my Secret Santa was Miko and MeiMei's Mom!

Lulu took what she wanted - a Cat Mitten toy!

Eli sniffed out some delicious Cranberry-Applesauce treats. They smelled good enough for humans!
Bitsey grabbed the squeaky reindeer and carried it off to her lair. She always tries to eat the eyeballs off her toys as soon as she gets a new one!

I gathered everything back up for a picture. You can see Eli is guarding the treats! And the centers of the eyeballs have been chewed off!! Thank you so much for our gifts, Amanda! I will enjoy the candle burning in the kitchen to cover the scent of pugs and cats!

Eli has decided to mail himself to Canada to visit the land of yummy treats and pretty girl Pugs!

Countdown to Chistmas - Day 7

Party favors....

I just have not been very crafty this Christmas! I usually make some gifts, do some paper mache and sew a lot! This year.....not so much. I did make these party favors for the Moms of playgroup and I liked how they turned out. They are made from unfinished wood curtain rod finials (Lowes) and unfinished wood candle cups or flower pots (Hobby Lobby). I screwed them together, painted and varnished them. The tassel part is made of 2 kinds of yarn and several different ribbons. Hot glue inside of cups. Add a screw eye and ribbon to hang. They were pretty easy to mass produce, I made 10, and may make more. They don't take much time other than paint drying time!

Countdown to Christmas -Day 8

Wordless Wednesday!!!

Countdown to Christmas - Day 9

Yesterday we packed up all the figures for another year. Sandy asked me how we keep thugs from damaging the figures. First of all the figures not on porches are secured with heavy chains and locks. That is one of my jobs-I am keeper of the keys. We have been lucky over the years and have had few problems. We do find trash on them that we clean up daily. When we were packing up Micky we found a male birth control item on his shoe! ICK!! What we did not notice until I was posting this picture was that someone had attached 2 pine cones and a stick to the front of his pants! I sure hope I don't forget to make sure that comes off before next year!

The next figure is "Amazing Grace"! A few years ago she was kidnapped after she had been packed up and unchained. She was waiting for the truck to pick her up when she was nabbed. There was much publicity and she was spotted in a trailer park in a nearby town. Some of the ladies launched a rescue mission-aided by law enforcement- and she was recovered. She once was lost but now is found, so she got her name!
This is Mother Nature- she is high maintenance!

This is my friend's house. It was being painted and due to the weather they could not get it done in time. So he added an elf painting company to his display.

This house has Rhett, Scarlett and Bonnie Blue- I know they are Civil War not Victorian - but those are just nicknames! Many of the figures have clothing made of old drapes and Scarlett had green drapes so the name fit!

Mrs. Claus....

Millie and the tea party!

I have one more day to work with the violin program and then I am free to enjoy Christmas!!!

Countdown to Christmas - Day 10

It was the last night for the Porch Tour on Sunday so I took one last walk around. I took about 200 pictures so we would have them for next year as reference. Don't worry I won't show them all!

This is a bed and breakfast, The Heritage House, owned by some friends. It is for sale, won't you be my neighbor? It is a beautiful home!