Just one more...

O.k. just one more picture of Christmas, then I promise I'm done...Look at those beautiful eyes on little Josh! sometimes he has a hard time seeing, his eyelashes are so long! everyone says what a waste, on a boy! I disagree...those eyes are going to melt a lot of hearts. His cousin Addi thinks he is the best! I can't believe it is New year's eve...What are your plans for tonight? We are going to my brother and sister in law's for a family party....Have a safe and Happy New year!

Ahhh...it's over.

It is so nice to sit back and relax! My nieces and nephew gave me a basket full of movies, a book and best of all a subscription to ROMANTIC HOMES! well,maybe not the best of all there was chocolate in the basket too! So guess what I am doing today? yup. I am so excited. I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and now you are able to sit back and recuperate! Happy Happy New year blog buddies! Here a few pictures to share of my Christmas...

my godson after opening his favorite thing COSMIC BROWNIES! Ya think he likes them? we keep telling him some day those front teeth will come in!

Two of my favorite guys...my husband and my little godson Joshie.......


I don't think I will ever get a picture of these two little nuggets looking at the camera at the same time. It's just not happening...aren't they sweet in their frilly dresses and patent leather shoes? Addi did well for having strep throat and a ear infection...poor babe. Her sister on the other hand was feeling very healthy and full of the dickens!

Another Christmas has passed... so once again,up the creaky wooden stairs I go to my attic. All my decor is tucked away for another year. It is a good feeling to have that yearly ritual accomplished! It was a good Christmas. My husband had the flu on Christmas eve, so I made dinner with my Mom, while he stayed home and rested. Christmas Day was at my sister's house and I don't think there was a inch of space to spare!It was a full house... for some reason I didn't get around to taking many pictures this year, to busy talking I guess. I am so glad I have this chore done. I just have the urge this time of year to buy totes, to organize...do I need more totes?

Happy Dance!

I have been doing the happy dance ever since I received my email from Kim over at Today's Creative Blog! Have you been there?I love her blog!Everyday she features a blog that she finds interesting, well yesterday was my lucky day...she featured me. I feel so honored, she picked me? I mainly starting writing this blog with the intention of documenting my daily care of my little great niece, with a little bit of my home decor thrown in. Now it is coming up on a year of blogging and it has been so much fun. I learn something new every day reading all of these fascinating blogs. I really feel the pressure to have something amazing on this post today, but as you can see I am in the middle of the Christmas crunch...wrapping my heart out! thanks so much Kim! Merry Christmas everyone!

Home Tour...

Welcome! Theresa at Notes from a Cottage Industry is hosting a home tour today...I have joined the tour so please go on over and check out all the wonderful homes she has listed! I have a problem, I have been trying to post a few pictures and for some reason it is not working today! So, I will have to ask you to scroll down to some of the many posts I have done this month on my home. Sorry about that. Enjoy!!!!

a good friend...

Thru the years I have sold so many of these little red rocking chairs...But, of course when I am looking for one, there were none to be found! Last week I got a call from my good friend Lynn saying she had been to Jane Hall's sale (Mustard Moon) and she was going to stop over...Well, she came thru the door with this sweeeeeet little red rocker for Addi. She loves it! It is just perfect for Addi to sit and read and rock her baby. Good friends are the best! Thanks Lynn....you made Ms. Addi very happy! and her auntie too!

problem solved...

My Mom gave me a box of her beautiful old hankies and I wanted to share them with my sisters but I didn't know how to do it in a creative way....So I went to Hobby Lobby and bought the clear ornaments and decided to put a hankie inside and add each of my sister's initials on the front. The one pictured is for my sister Kate...I hope they like them!

These are a few of my favorite things...part 2

Welcome back to" these are a few of my favorite things"...part 2. These three items are very special to me because of their age and the story behind them. Several years ago an elderly lady named Della passed away. Della lived down the street from us in a little white house that she was born in. She lived there all her life. The house was built in the 1800's. Della never left her little house much, she wrote poem's for our local paper and walked there once a week to deliver it. When she passed, a antique dealer bought the property and all the contents in the house. The dealer was kind enough to let me go inside and pick a few things out that I wanted to purchase. The house was stuffed! I purchased these old cream colored wool stockings that have hung on my mantle every Christmas since. I love the old wooden box that reads Merry Christmas on the cover! and my all time favorite is this old Christmas book. I love the illustrations! I was so happy to be able to purchase these things! A few months later they tore her house down. Still standing on her property was an old potting shed. I told my husband I had to save it! It needed to be preserved... He of course thought I was nuts! but I got the building inspector to o.k. it, (he was thinking the same thing my husband was) he gave me the go ahead and I had my cousin haul it up the block on a huge bobcat! It looks like it has always been in my yard.I love it!thanks Della! I will always treasure these things from your past....

Santa....

Guess who we visited today? yes, we finally convinced Addi and her big sissy Karissa to sit on the big guys lap! they were so good... even though they had to wait in line for an hour! Santa was such a mild mannered quiet man..None of the loud ho! Ho! HO's that I remember as a child.He really made them feel at ease. They looked so sweet in their matching taffeta and velvet dresses. My favorite holiday tradition.. I am so lucky to be in these two sweethearts lives! I hope all of you had a great weekend!

Images of our home....

It's begining to look a lot like Christmas...

Hi! I thought I would share some pictures of my house, now that I am finished decorating for Christmas...nothing fancy. kinda simple. that's me. This is a close up of my mantle, just some greens and pine cones, a few white stars and this fun Merry Christmas garland that I bought last year. That about wraps it up for the living room. I will post more of the rest of the house later.

These are a few of my favorite things...part 1

I have a few cherished Christmas things....mostly from my past. I will be posting them every now and then. Of course my most cherished is Addi. See the Santa she is holding? I received him when I was five years old from my brother Dave. My brother was the oldest of six siblings. All the rest girls. I am the youngest, my brother was a senior in high school when I was born. He gave the best presents to his sisters...I loved this Santa! I hung on to him all these years. My brother has now passed, but I will always have this little guy to remind me of my brother's Christmas spirit! And now we have a new generation to hold and love this Santa. Addi is hugging on him all day long...What are a few of your favorite things? p.s. I am so excited we got five inches of snow yesterday! now that feels more like it!

Thankful tonight......

What started out to be a happy welcome home Grandma! occasion turned into a bad dream....Addi and I and my two sisters were so excited to welcome my Mom back home from the hospital yesterday. We were busy unpacking Grandma and as quick as I turned my back, Addi grabbed a steaming cup of hot coffee off the table and poured it over herself...she screamed so hard. We quickly took her little sweater and onesie off and she was bright red. Thankfully my Mom lives in a assisted living and we called the nurse, she said take her to ER. Another blessing is that the hospital is connected to the assisted living. My sister and I ran Addi to the emergency room...she had second degree burns on her little arm! She had to be taken to the burn unit and seen by a specialist this morning and she is bandaged up and doing well. I can't explain how badly I feel. I am thankful tonight that she is home and playing with her big sister. I am thankful that I am blessed with two very quick thinking sisters who are there for me always. And I am so thankful I have a very understanding niece (Addi's Mom)......

Welcome to my house....

Welcome to my house! Merry Christmas! I think I am finally done decorating the house inside and out Here are a couple pictures of the outside of my house. I find that less is best with my colonial house, just a few greens and berries and a candle lit in every window.There is something missing in this picture, especially here in Minnesota! this four letter word??? yes, SNOw! It looks kind of funny without it. I am so excited...Addi and I are going to my Mom's this afternoon to welcome her home from the hospital...yeah! I will be posting the rest of my indoor pictures soon!

The Attic.

This is where I spent most of my weekend! I climbed up these very steep wooden steps and threw open the big creaky wooden door to find a winter wonderland of Christmas decor...wrong. My attic was a disaster! For many years now, I have tossed my left over inventory from the shop that didn't sell at 50% off...well, after many years of doing this and never trying to resell it, it was a mess. But I did find my hiking boots from 1982! So, my husband and I tossed. and tossed. a truck load! it was so liberating! It is so clean! Now on to the important stuff.....decorating for Christmas....more photos to come!

Happy Thanksgiving...

May you hold your dear ones close to you this Thanksgiving day! and I would like to say:Thank you! to my blogging friends who have visited me this past year! your the best!

Big Martha

I heard the sad news today of Martha Stewart's Mom passing away last Friday at the age of 93...she was affectionately known as Big Martha. I remember seeing her on Martha's old show and always thinking how much she reminded me of my Mom...so sweet. I want thank everyone for their kind words and prayers during my Mom's illness. Mom is still in the hospital. Their is a little improvement but not as much as we would like. She wants so badly to go back home to her apartment in assisted living. She is a survivor. She hopefully will be home soon! Bless all of our mothers....

A couple more pictures..

Another beautiful picture created by Suzanne at the Mustard Moon sale...and pictured below is tinsel that was displayed in a big old bin...it is made out of paper with Christmas sayings typed on them...cute.

I lied...

O.k. I lied...I promised I wouldn't even think of Christmas until Thanksgiving was past...well, that was until I went to my favorite once a month sale...Mustard Moon, in Carver, Mn! It was beautiful! I hung my newly purchased candy cane sign in my kitchen window as soon as I got home.. It is hand painted by a local artist (Suzanne, you are so talented!). You can't see it in the picture but she added red glitter to the red stripes in the candy cane. So sit back and relax and enjoy the sights!