I came up the stairs...

....and this is what I saw....my two boys settled in all nice and cozy reading one of Cubby's favorite christmas books!!......I can't tell you how many times we have read that book or watched the dvd....sometimes three times in one day!! .....whoops!...I know...what a bad mommy! :(...but if it makes him happy and I have stuff to do??....oh well!...we have the ornament from Hallmark....the silver bell that Santa gives out as the first gift of Christmas.....I just wish I could freeze them....keep them believing.

more than just ornaments

I hang almost anything on my tree....and I love it!!...an empty mini trial size bottle of Chambord from my SIL for my birthday cause she knows I love it in champagne...and it just screamed "hang me on your tree"....a little blue box from Tiffanys that my dear friends gave me a few summers ago.....but when all of those christmas cards kept coming from year to year with adorable pictures of families and friends I'd just put them in my ornament box....then several years ago I strung them all on ribbons...each family has there own and every year I slide the new picture on.......we all love to look through them.

then there's the mittens I knit for my daughter for her first December....the kind with no thumbs and a string....


Oh.....and here are her first pair of Keds!.....I couldn't resist!!....what was I going to do put them in the Goodwill bag???.....so then I made sure the boys had cute little slippers when they were newborns....not just to keep their piggy wiggys warm....but you guessed it!!!...to hang on the tree...


I think it was the first year we were married my husband and I had a huge Christmas party and these little guys were tied around a bottle of champagne from his brother and my friend Lease....I'm sure she never would have guessed they would have ended up on my tree for the past 16 years!!!


These are actually a new addtion this year...I got the idea from the December Better Homes & Garden magazine (I missed the angel wings that inspired Jennifer Juniper!)....but a woman hung her childrens baby rattles on her tree.....how could I have not thought of that???! My sister made sure she gave one to all of the kiddos.....so, of course I dug them out...the year my tree fell over onto my hard wood floors I will NEVER forget.....some precious antique ornaments that were my Grams and several other ones were lost......but I love to sit with the tree all aglow at night when everyone else is in bed and soak in the memories....so, you never know what I may add from year to year......anything that can dangle is an ornament in my book!

gingerbread house

We've taken a break from making gingerbread houses over here....I always went in to school with the big kids and made them in the cafeteria with milk cartons and graham crackers...but it started up again when a little girl brought one into Cub's preschool for her share day....he wanted to make one too!!!....and didn't stop yammering about it until I brought a kit home.... well, yesterday was the day!.....he couldn't wait, as you can see from the condtion of the box.....


....so we got started......things were going pretty good.....


...until it collaped :(....3x!!!....I was sooo ready to call it quits...but the little guy insisted to keep going....it went kinda like this:
Mommy: I think we're done, it's falling apart again...it doesn't look like the picture.
Cub:It's looking good now....
Mommy: Okay.....it's done....it looks pretty good....
Cub: No!! it's not done until ALL the candy is on!!


.....so we made some more "gardens" in the front yard.....I can't believe it bothered me that it was crooked and there was a huge hole in the roof....but to him it was beautiful.....I was ready to throw it out and I'm sooo glad we didn't.....then he couldn't wait to eat it!!..yikes!!!..his sister was picking at it a bit and he barked, "Don't touch the baby!!".....I said it was just a decoration and that it had probably been in the box on it's way from China for 2 years....but again, I was wrong......apparently it was delicious!!!......and remember the big 3/4" gap along the roof???.....well, apparently that's where you put extra treats for the inside! ....after you eat the house then you get the extra candy in there!!!....an added woo-hoo!

advent calendar

I love my advent cabinet!!...this one is actually my second one that I got last season....my mom gave me my first one the kiddos were babies....it was really big and didn't really fit anywhere in my home, so I sent it out to my sister in Vail and she is starting the tradition in her office.....this one has a much bigger compartment for the 25th to be able to put a few bigger treats, gift cards etc. for christmas morning....my grandma always gave us those cardboard calendars with chocolates hidden behind the flaps....so I have always put a chocolates in mine.....but friends that have these cabinets get very creative with different treats and coupons for every day.....a little treat for every day of the christmas season!

almond crescents

These are one of my favorite cookies of all time....as many of you know...I am not a baker.....I try and try and more often than not my stuff doesn't turn out...I have a lot of talents, but sadly baking isn't one of them.....I even buy my cookies at the bakery for cookie exchanges!!....but these little numbers are scrumptious!....I can remember eating tons of them when I was a kid and the tradition carries on! ...my kiddos love them too.....who cares if I didn't bake them.......only thing is I have the same problem as with the pumpkin shakes I crave from McDonald's.....they are only available for a limited time.....so, I overdose on them for the Christmas season and then I'm good for another year...treat yourself to a box!

Tony!!

....there are a lot of Tonys, but only one Tony Bennett!!....and he came out with his first Christmas album in 40 years.....It's called A Swingin' Christmas...featuring the Count Basie Big Band....he was on the Today show a few weeks ago featuring songs from this CD and I had to have it...I can go weeks without turning on any music while I'm driving...and I hardly ever do a home...but I do love Christmas music....and this CD is awesome!...I got one for my Mom in Florida because we were celebrating Christmas the day after Thanksgiving and we played it all weekend......it's perfect to set the holiday mood!!......go ahead treat yourself :)

Happy Thanksgiving from Florida!

We're spending Thanksgiving away from the snow and the cold.....a week with Gigi in Delray sounds perfect!!!.....my sister came in from Dubai and her boyfriend made it from Vail....we were all excited to meet him....the first day we made it down to the beach to enjoy the waves and the sun.....


....then Monday we headed for Disney....Gigi treated us to our first visit!!.....it was wonderfull!!!!!....the first night we headed to downtown Disney to wander around and have dinner...we dined at Wolfgang Puck's cafe...scrumptious......and then browsed through the shops...I just can't get over EVERYTHING Mickey!!....Tuesday morning we arrived at the Magic Kingdom........just as I remembered it from the seventh grade.....it's like stepping back in time...I was even wearing the earrings I got during that trip...I saved them all these years :)...the whole place was decorated for Christmas.....and we all got goosebumps as they lite the castle for the holiday season....


Wednesday was just the perfect day to visit Epcot......we ran in and got our fast passes for the Soarin' ride and then visited the Nemo ride...a few texts from my friend Lease while were were wandering around put us in the right direction so we didn't miss anything....who says you need a tour book???..we've gone high tech!.... we all loved visiting the different countries and sampling food and drinks...

....and before too long the day was coming to a close.....we will visit again in May for a week and I think going back to Epcot may be at the top of our list....we headed back to Delray to celebrate Thanksgiving.....my favorite dinner of the year!!....Blessings to all!