Blogger Amnesty Day...

1)  Today is "Leap Year Day".   
2)  It was recently brought to my attention that I had never done a post about this past Christmas.  

How do those two things go together, you ask???

Well...since I consider 2/29 kind of a "non-day" since it only occurs every four years I've decided to call it "Blogger Amnesty Day"...a day for bloggers to write posts that are technically WAAAAYYY out of date, because as the meme above states...I am unproductive with my time! 

So here goes...CHRISTMAS 2015 in review...

Our son, Paul, our daughter-in-law, Trinity, and their two sons, Andrew and Alex were in for the holiday!  They were here for a whole week, but didn't actually arrive till Christmas afternoon.  Since I had to work from 7-11 AM Christmas morning, it all worked out well.  I was able to get home by noon, and with Andy's help we had Christmas dinner on the table about 5 PM.  Our neighbors, Wes and Kathy also joined us for the meal, so we had nice group joining us around the table!

Here are some pictures taken from that week's visit...

Paul, Andrew and Alex watching something on the TV quite intently!!!

Andrew...

Alex...at the base of the stairs that he fell down last year...what a 

difference a year makes!  No need for a baby gate this year!  :)

Alex appears to have a 9-car pile up on his hands at the moment...

Andrew LOVED this stuff!!!  It's called "Kinetic Sand" and if you haven't tried it for your little ones I highly suggest that you do!!  It is unique and fun!

Alex LOVES his Mickey Mouse coloring book!!!

Trinity and me...

Hope you have enjoyed this very late Christmas post!  And if you are a blogger who has delinquent posts, today is your amnesty day to post them...per "Queen Loretta"!  LOL

Loretta

Getting Ready For Christmas...

Quote For the Day:

"Never worry about the size of your Christmas tree.

In the eyes of children, they are all 30 feet tall." 

~ Larry Wilde

I really miss my kids at Christmas...mainly because as soon as they were old enough, I had them put up the tree and do the decorating!  Now that Andy & I are empty-nesters, the Christmas decorating is left up to me and therefore doesn't usually get done till the last weekend before Christmas.  In fact, if neither of the kids are coming home for Christmas (like last year) I don't even bother putting up a tree or decorating...other than throwing a wreath on the front door and calling it good!

But this year, Paul and Trinity and their boys are coming for Christmas, so the tree is up!

And lo and behold...Andy offered to put up outside lights!!!  It's been probably 13 years since we've had outside Christmas lights on the house!!! I have to say that it really looks lovely all lit up!

I even added a festive bow to the vintage concrete Boston Terrier statue that sits on our front porch!!!  :)

Loretta

Recap of Christmas...

Okay, okay...I know I'm very late with this post...but the family came FIRST last week...then I had to work so far this week, so I haven't had time to get my Christmas post done before now.  And that's my story and I'm sticking with it!  LOL

Paul, Trinity, Andrew and Alex were the only ones who came in for Christmas this year, but our neighbors, Wes and Kathy joined us for Christmas dinner!  

So, without further ado, here are the pictures from Paul & Trinity's visit and Christmas...

We actually opened presents on Christmas eve so that the kids could take their time and because with babies, you don't always know what their sleep/eat schedule is going to be.  LOL

Andrew stopped and played with each toy as he opened it!  He LOVES books, so when he got the set of four Thomas the Train books from Andy and me, he stopped and looked through each book page by page!  :)

Erin and Dale sent me a RED cover for my new KitchenAid mixer, but Andy thought it would look better as a "hat" on me!  

Alex and Andy both got knit hats to keep their bald heads warm!!! 

Alex got a sleeper to go with his hat!!!  

Don't you just LOVE LOVE LOVE his big eyes!!!

Paul and Trinity...

"Now...let's check inside those ears, Ginger."

Hope your Christmas was filled with lots of love, happiness, and family, too!

Loretta

Witness Protection Program...

Sorry I've been "missing in action" for so long.  Between picking up extra shifts at work, stressing over getting ready for Christmas, and otherwise just sheer exhaustion, I just haven't been up to writing any blog posts.  I've taken pictures...they just never made it to the blog.  I'm feeling really overwhelmed right now.  

In addition to my continuing chiropractic visits, Andy finally started his own chiropractic journey last week after suffering with low back pain for the last 6 weeks or so.  Luckily, he has no underlying chronic disease processes going on like I do, so he should have a little easier path to recovery than I've had.  I could tell this morning that he was finally beginning to feel better because his attitude was lighter and he seemed more like his old self.  

I just got our Christmas tree put up tonight...FINALLY!  

And here's what it looks like with the room lights turned off...

The tree skirt is a vintage round table cloth that I slit up the back!  It works perfectly!  

We have boxes and boxes of decorations that we've accumulated over the years...many that the kids made when they were school-age, but I only put a few ornaments on the tree instead of loading it down.  Near the top of the tree I did include one that Paul made in Cub Scouts using a picture of himself, and one that Erin made in school one year using one of her school pictures.  Looking at all the old decorations brings back such sweet memories.  I wish I had the time, energy, and where-with-all to load the tree down with ornaments, but I just don't.  My neighbor offered her help the other day, and I probably should have taken her up on it...but the house is such a mess that I was embarrassed to think of her coming over and seeing it like this. :(

Paul and his family are coming in this weekend, so I've GOT to get my ass in gear and get the house cleaned and ready!!!!

Ginger is ready for Christmas!  She has a brand spanking new BLING collar in RED to show off her Christmas spirit!  

I'll leave you with this picture of my grandsons, Andrew and Alex...

Loretta

Merry Christmas...

Merry Christmas 
from our house to yours.

May your hearts be blessed with the love of family and friends at this time of year when we celebrate 
the birth of Jesus.

When I was growing up, one of my older sisters (Sharon) sang with a community choir and every year they performed "Handel's Messiah".  We would go, as a family, to see the performance.  After I grew up and moved away, I still tried to find a performance of it somewhere.  It's been a few years since I've had the opportunity to see it performed live, but Christmas doesn't seem complete now without, at the very least, a great rendition of the "Hallelujah Chorus"!  Enjoy!!

Loretta

Christmas pictures...

Quote for the Day:

Christmas is not an external event at all, 

but a piece of one's home that one carries in one's heart.
Freya Stark

If you've been wondering where I've been...well...between having computer issues, getting ready for Christmas, and frantically finishing up the Sunflower quilt to make room for Holiday guests, I've been busy!  :)  I didn't forget my readers, though, and I hope you haven't forgotten me, either!  :)

Erin, Dale and Sera came home from Tennessee to celebrate Christmas with us and we had a great visit!  :)  Since I got such a late start on Christmas decorating because kitchen construction items have been strewn about the house for month, now, I only put up the Christmas tree, and a couple of items on the porch... 

 

On Christmas Eve, Sera went outside and put "reindeer food" on the lawn!  Reindeer food consists of oats and red glitter.  The reindeer see the red glitter from the sky and know to stop at that house, and the oats for them to nibble on when they land!  :)

She was also sure to leave cookies and milk out for Santa!  It all must have worked, because there were plenty of gifts to open the next morning!  :)

This is Daisy...their dog...who kept on eye on all the activities!  :)

 

She was particularly interested in what Andy was opening...

 

All in all, it was a very nice Christmas and visit even if Erin & I did come down with colds on Christmas day.  

Erin, Dale and Sera left today to return their home.  The house is again quiet.   And I'm going to miss them all very much until the next time we get to see them!

Loretta