My Merry Christmas To All Of YOU!

It is almost here only three more days! When you really think about it, it is actually two more days until Christmas eve!! 

So much anticipation, and expectations evolve around this wonderful time of year. In fact so many, that we sometimes forget why we are celebrating.

I am very blessed to be able to spend time with my family all year long, but during the Holidays there is so much emphasis on on being together. Sometimes is not always possible for us all to be together.

I know there are many that won’t have there families around for the Holidays. I think it helps to not lose sight of what we are celebrating. The birth of Jesus Christ, and the precious gift of LOVE that God gave us on this very special day.

So whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, or just the Holidays in general I think we all  have one thing in common, the celebration of LOVE of family and friends.

I thought I would show you where my family will be celebrating our time together on Christmas eve.

My 2011 Christmas Family Room

Before we take a look I need you to use your imagination.  Hear the soft Christmas music in the background? Smell the ham cooking, and the sweet smell of cookies, cider and hot chocolate? Okay! Now we are ready………

This is the place where we all hang out, watch TV, take naps on the sofa and just visit. It is a very cozy room for my family. Would you believe that mantel is 17 ft. long?! Whew! I am reminded of its length every time I decorate it!

See the green chair in the corner? This is everyone’s favorite place to cozy in. It is the type of chair that you start out sitting UP,  then you slowly find yourself descending downward into a comfortable almost reclining position!!

Also notice the little drummer boy pillow? I had to get him. Here is a close-up of his little profile….

I love silhouettes, but the main reason I purchased him is that his little profile looks almost identical to my middle son’s profile when he was a little boy. It had to be in my home this Christmas!!

Our tree is full of sweet memories…….

My youngest son’s very first pair of glasses. A sweet satin ball with his picture placed front and center adorned with beads and sequins that were placed by his little hands.

My youngest son’s first pair of shoes,  first ornament(dated 1977), and  his very first pair of glasses. 

My oldest son’s soccer buttons, and an ornament that was made out of a juice can top with red painted macaroni and glitter. It is crumbling, but it is still placed proudly on my tree.

A family picture of years gone by.

A sterling soldier that was my oldest son’s. When I gave him and his new wife his box of ornaments for their first tree, he handed the soldier back to me, and said, “ No, Mama this one belongs on the family tree!”

Yes, I cried because this was always his favorite ornament while he was growing up. The sweet face in the silver snow flake is his daughter. Believe me she is sweet beyond words.

In the far right is a picture of her Mommy and Daddy giving me the thumbs up for the gift I gave them that year.

A Styrofoam sequin gilded ornament made by my middle son. The other side shows a fish representing the symbol for Christianity. He knew even as a little boy how important Christ was in our home. 

There are pictures of him his very first year of Little League, a soccer button, and the little cherub with the kissable cheeks his youngest son. I think God gave him such kissable cheeks because he is a total love-bug, he gives the best hugs! The beautiful couple is his Mommy and Daddy!

My middle son gets rocking horses for his ornaments so I have this one on the tree representing his ornament. The cutie in the star is his oldest, and he is definitely a star in his Grammy’s heart……








Packages under the tree just waiting to be opened!







 

The packages will have been opened,

our tummies will be satisfied and our

hearts will be full.

I am wishing your :

Merry Christmas To YOU and yours!

Kathysue

A Little Christmas PEEK!

It is almost here!!! I am so excited!! I thought I would give you a look at what I have been up too. How about a peek at my Christmas words and wrapping!!

I love letters, words, numbers so when I was inspired  last year by Emily’s Christmas words I just knew I had to have them on my mantel.

I chose the words LOVE, WISH, and what is most important to me, FAMILY!!!

I also have smaller words, Joy, Peace, Believe, and Hope on my tree and scattered throughout the mantel garland.

I purchased this vintage trophy at the Alameda Antique Flea Market this fall. I have really enjoyed having it on my mantel this year. The touches of black just work well in my home, plus it adds just a touch more sparkle.

I used black letters on my white mantel, they showed up better than white words. I was surprised by that!! I added some glitter for my Christmas sparkle, and a little bling around the base of the words.

Here is a glimpse of one of the smaller words that I used.

I am like the rest of you and I am still busy baking, and wrapping gifts. 

This year I stored my wrapping paper in a French Market basket that I purchased the same day I bought the trophy in Alameda. 

I like to use my wrapping paper as part of the decorations by the tree. It is also handy to grab a roll to wrap a gift. Sometimes I have my rolls of ribbon in a pretty basket, but I ran out of room to display it  this year.

I love to mix patterns and textures in my wrapping paper. My colors are black and white with pops of red and lime green. My favorite paper is the iridescent snowflake pattern. I love the way it captures the lights.

This year I used a touch of the curly ribbon in a lime green with sparkles!! It is so fun!!! I also like the texture it adds to the packages.

This is my favorite wrapping paper and ribbon. I bought the ribbon from William Sonoma a few years ago. I had it personalized. I like the personal note for the recipient.

I still have a few packages to wrap and I am going to bake the apple cider caramel cookies today.

A very special friend is coming by for our annual Christmas cup of tea. I better scurry around here and get things wrapped up!!

I hope you are all having a wonderful Falala Day!!!

In my next post I will show the whole room and the tree so I hope you can come back!!!

Merry Christmas,

Kathysue

This is Not A Test!

This is not a test, no time for trials and errors!! (well maybe for a few errors) It is now time to get all the final details wrapped up.(literally)

How are you all doing? If you are like me you are now down to finishing  the baking, wrapping and making plans menu for your Christmas breakfast, lunch, dinner, or all of the above.

This is a fun week for me because I am feeling the full blown Christmas spirit!! My mind is spinning with ideas all wrapped around, food, gifts, and most importantly my family being here to celebrate and spend time with us.

During this busy time of year I like to set up a card table in my living room. I buy a Christmas puzzle and have it set up and we work on it through the week clear to New Years.

It is amazing how a puzzle will draw you in before you know it, you are sitting down and putting pieces together. Or in my case, trying to put pieces together.

I am definitely a color coded gal. Even in putting a puzzle together I do it by colors, not shapes. I also shop by colors!!

I am baking four types of cookies this year

 The good old standby, chocolate chip, everyone's favorite.

If you want the recipes just click on the link printed below each image.

Chocolate Crinkles

Source: cannellevanille.com via Kathy Sue on Pinterest

Lemon Crinkles

Source: sixsistersstuff.blogspot.com via Kathy Sue on Pinterest

I made these last night and they are definitely keepers. They are so easy(they are made with a cake mix). Soft, light and fluffy, really tasty! Three ingredients are needed, lemon cake mix, cool whip and eggs, that’s it! 

If you are running out of time these would be easy to whip up!! I found it really helpful to put the dough in the freezer to firm up for a short period of time. The dough is really sticky, but by dropping it and rolling it around in the powdered sugar, it is easy peasy, lemon squeezy!

Caramel stuffed Apple Cider Cookie

Source: scrambledhenfruit.blogspot.com via Kathy Sue on Pinterest

I am going to make these today or tomorrow. I think these sound like they would be a fun addition to the mix. I love apple cider flavor and add caramel, how bad can that be?!!!

As you all know, my table was rearranged ,by Abigail “The Elf!” so I will be doing something simple, but festive for our Holiday table. It is fine, because I had plans on changing it so I can add some leaves.

Time to get off of the computer and make my menu and grocery list!!!

I am ♪♫ Falalaing♪♫ right along!!

I hope you are ………..

“Enjoying the Process!” Of:

Making your Christmas plans!!

Kathysue

BTW: It has been brought to my attention, from a few of my readers that you might not be getting my post via Feedburner. I think the only way to continue getting my post via email is to sign up, again! Sorry for the inconvenience. I had to do this a couple of times on certain blogs. I am not sure why certain subscribers get dropped, but apparently it does happen.