December. . . . . .catching up

I know that I have been a horrible blogger but there hasn't been much exciting going on around here.  We have been busy but it has been with boring stuff.  Here are some of the things that have been going on with us.

At the beginning of December we had our Annual Ladies Christmas party at the beautiful home of one of our ladies.  We had good food, good fellowship and got to spend the evening with good friends.  I ended up bringing home a set of three festive candles that I am using on my dining room table.  Here is a picture of the group.

Then I took some pictures of Santa so he could get his Christmas cards sent out.  The pictures turned out really neat and his cards were so cute.

Here comes Santa Claus!!

Then we had Christmas on the W side of our family.  It was nice to get to spend time with cousins, aunts, uncles, gmom, sisters, brother-in-law and my short people.  I got a vegetable slicer from my gmom and in the gift exchange I ended up with a Bath & Bodyworks air freshner for my truck.

The Thursday before school was over I headed over to my hubby's school for their Christmas lunch.  It was delicious and I enjoyed getting to see our friends.

Sunday night we had our annual Couples Christmas Party hosted by Mrs. H over at Heritage Schoolhouse.  We had a very nice time even though our group was much smaller this year we had some new attendees and we were able to talk and visit.  I ended up with a beautiful glass ornament with snowmen painted on it and a fabric candy cane.  The Mr. ended up with the best "white elephant" gift ever. . . . . which was a small fireproof safe.  We have talked about getting one forever and just haven't done it.  Now we don't have to!  We were able to keep up our tradition of being the first ones to arrive (this is the only time this ever happens) and the last to leave (gives us a little time to visit the Mr. & Mrs. H).

Christmas morning we had breakfast with my sister and Dad.  Dad cooked it all and it was good.  We have not had our Christmas with him yet because my sister and her family haven't gotten here yet.  Bec has been sick with a sinus infection, ear infection and pneumonia.  This morning her hubs went to the doc and he has the flu and possible strep.  Hoping the kiddos don't get it and that everyone gets better so they can come home so we can open presents!

Christmas afternoon and evening was spent with the in-laws.  We ate a mexican feast, watched a Big Bang Theory marathon, opened presents and then went for round two of food.  I got a giftcard from my sister & brother-in-law and a quilt from my in-laws.  The quilt was put to good use last night as the temps dipped down into the upper 20's.  The brother-in-law wasn't able to come because he is sick so hopefully he will be better by New Years and we will get to see him.

This morning we woke up to a very stopped up toilet so the hubs spent two hours getting that fixed. So far we haven't accomplished much else and it has been kind of nice to just vegetate for a while.  We spent the last days up until Christmas running around like crazy.  So crazy that I didn't finish the decorating I wanted to do until Monday evening.  I keep it simple this year because I didn't have a choice due to how far behind I was.  The only baking/crafting I have done was for my hubbies work friends.  I made Rae's Yum Yums and Christmas ornaments (which made a HUGE mess!).  Here are the decorations I ended up putting up.

The arrangement is one we received from my family on our baby's 5th birthday.  They had a matching one put on his grave.  The were both beautiful arrangements.

Well, that should have you caught up for now.  I will post more when we finish up celebrating!!  I hope that you have enjoyed your time with your family and friends.

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

From our house to yours. . . . . . .we hope that you enjoy the precious time spent with loved ones and that we keep in mind the gift we received from our Lord, the gift of a home in Heaven with him.

Have yourself a merry little Christmas!

5 Years. . . . Seems like yesterday and sometimes twice as long ago

‎5 years ago at 3:25 pm the most precious little boy silently made his way into this world. I think of this precious boy everyday, wondering what he would look like, sound like, what he would be doing, would he love spending time with his cousins and what would their favorite thing to do together be, what would he and Gran do together, would Aunt Rae take him fishing, how often would he stay at his grandparents house, would he love Napolean, would he be excited about going to school next year? We will never get to know because on that day he was already finding his way around heaven. Many days have passed, many tears have been shed, losts of questions have been ask and the hole in my heart is as gaping and painful today as it was on that afternoon. I look at his picture every night as I go to bed and I am happy to know that he will never now the pain and loss we feel here on earth but I selfishly wonder why we did not get to keep him with us and watch him grow up. Daddy and I (and many others) love you and miss you with all of our heart.

Shocked. . . . . .

I have so many things I need to be doing right now but I just cannot get past the shock of the ending of 26 innocent lives this morning.  So many questions running through my head like "How in the world could someone think that this was ok?", "What has happened in your life to make you shoot and kill 18 young kids", "Why?", "How" and so many other things.  My heart just breaks for those who are having to deal with this tragedy and there are so many whose lives will be touched by this.  I pray for peace and comfort for these families who have lost their loved ones in such a tragedy.  Make sure to tell those who are important to you that you love them because you never know when they won't be there for you to tell them.

Christmas Traditions

Growing up there were certain traditions that we always followed and I have turned it into one of our traditions.  Every year we would get would get a christmas ornament to hang on our tree for the next year.  Even when extras were not something we could afford, my Mom would snazz it up by putting the date or our name on it.  Mr. Giggles and I have bought a new ornament each year since we got married and I always make sure it has the date on it.  We always, always had a real tree.  After I got married we would go pick out our trees at Lowe's on Friday nights after dinner.  My hubs, Dad, RAW and I still do that.  And on Christmas morning my Mom and Dad would cook breakfast together, making her yummy breakfast casserole along with biscuits, little smokies, oj and milk.  Now my Dad still makes us the yummy breakfast.
I hope that one day the hubs and I will have kids of our own to continue and to create some new traditions.  I love Christmas!

Christmas Spirit

I was so ready to spend this week getting into the holiday spirit but I got sick last week and. . . . .I haven't been able to do anything.  Last Friday we went to pick out our Christmas tree.  This is something we almost always do with my Dad and sister.  This year we got a Frazier fir.  It is a beautiful tree but is has no scent at all.  I love the smell of Christmas trees so I am a little disappointed that ours doesn't have any smell.  Anyway, Saturday and Sunday it was in the 80's in these parts.  I had planned on getting my decorations out of the storage building so I could get started when I started feeling better because the end of the week had me feeling like I was getting a cold.  Friday night I went to bed and slept until 12:45 pm Saturday so I ended up spending my extra time Saturday at urgent care in the hopes that I could get rid of my yuckiness and the cough that I have had for over two months.  I am still waiting for a full night of sleep with no coughing!  Sunday I was still feeling pretty crummy so I stayed in the house.  Well wouldn't you know it. . . .Sunday night after a huge rain storm in which we got 3.1 inches (and there were NO puddles the next morning. . .that is how dry it is here) the temps dropped and dropped.  Monday morning it cold (in the lower 40's) with the wind blowing about 400 miles per hour.  Well, maybe only 30 to 40 miles per hour.  And it was very cool today also.  So I have been a good girl and have stayed in the house out of the storage buildings so my tree is still naked (and without any smell).  Hopefully tomorrow it will be warm enough that I can get outside for a little bit and do some Christmas work on this house!  Hopefully I will be successful tomorrow and will have some pictures to post.  Now my hubby is not feeling well so he will be at home with me tomorrow!

I hope you are finding the holiday spirit and that your family is staying healthy!

Catching Up Again on Thankfulness

Finally caught up again!  I can't believe that today is December 1st.  Wow!!

Day 30. . . . . .today I am thankful that I have taken the time to really think about the things that I am thankful for. Even though I know there are a lot of things for me to be thankful for, I don't always take to the time really think about or appreciate them.


Day 29. . . . .today I am thankful for books I can get lost in.

Day 28. . . . . .today I am thankful for warm jackets and socks!

Day 27. . . . . . .today I am thankful for the cold, overcast day.

Day 26. . . . . . .today I am thankful for the warm, sunny day.

Day 25. . . . . .today I am thankful for the beautiful sun shiney day!! And for the nap I plan on taking.


Day 24. . . . .today I am thankful for my bed.

Days 22 and 23. . . . . .I am thankful for time spent with loved ones.


Day 21. . . . . .today I am thankful for entire days spent with my hubster. Not sure how he feels about it!!!!


Day 20. . . . .today I am thankful for sunny days.