Christmas Memories

A look back at our Christmas holiday.  On your mark. Get set. Go!

Five K jingle run with my girl friend Jen! The run starts at dusk and you run under and pass all the Christmas lights of Lake Lanier Islands.

A visit with Santa. The REAL Santa as Miss Priss told me!

Dinner and "Its a Wonderful Life" play with my MIL and two Sister-in-laws.

My SIL Alesha and I.

My nephew playing in the playroom, which served as a bedroom for one of our many family members that came to visit us.

Miss Priss and her cousin giving some loving.

The sheer excitement of four generations opening presents.

My handsome nephew as Rudolph.

A giant pot of wedding soup for all the arriving family members.

My SIL and I cooking. Well, I'm cooking and she is playing the part. Her husband is the chef in their family.

Miss Priss loving on her big cousin Allison! She adores her! Allison use to be the "baby" in the family until Miss Priss was born, thus starting a new generation.

Beds all over the place, including the classroom. Listen, we live in a beautiful home but dang, we had to shove folks in every corner!

Miss Priss and her Great Granddaddy Shaw.

Look who showed up at our door as a surprise for the adults and the kids.

The Shaw Family, four generations all making fish faces!

The endless dining room table, seating for 14, yes please. Kids were booted to a children's table.

Nights of Lights at Lake Lanier Islands. Seven miles of light displays.

Fun gifts from friends that know me so well.

Christmas Eve dinner with our friends. Traditional Italian Christmas Eve dinner.

Menu:

Fried Smelts

Baked Mussels

Scallops

Stuffed Calamari

Anti pasta Salad

Caprese Salad

Clam Sauce

Alfredo Sauce

Lemon Sauce

Traditional Red Sauce

Home made pasta

And gobs of dessert

Lots of crafts, all for another post.

Big Daddy and I waiting for up for Santa and at midnight Miss Priss was still playing opossum. We are laying on the floor in front of the fire watching Its a Wonderful Life. 

What a look back! And dang, there were about a thousand more things that went on this past month and half! I hope all of you had a fantastic Christmas. 

Happy New Years!

ginger

 

The 25 Days of Elf on the Shelf

So, I'm sure most of you about Elf on the Shelf. If not, it is a sweet little story created by a mother-daughter duo here in Atlanta. Go check it out. But long and short of it is that each child has an elf that shows up between Thanksgiving and Christmas, reporting back to Santa each night. Well the elves are known to do all sort of things and hide in different places each morning upon their return from the North Pole. Here are our adventures with our elf, Patchy, this past year.

Note: all pics taken with an iPhone.

1. Marshmallow Fight with Dinosaurs, Lions and a feminine looking Prince

2. Riding on a tank, taking down an army of Green Men.

3. In a sea of peanuts making snow angels. Pissed off cat optional.

4. Ornament making kit. Kit was to make a Sacagawea and Little Pomp Ornament. Note Patchy is wearing his own headdress.

5. Mark height on wall.

6. Silly string, don't worry it cleans up easy peasy.

7. Shower complete with shower cap. Used a throw away left over cover, sold in grocery stores.  

8. Go get your Elf hair done with a Christmas bow.

9. A little dry erase marker makes any photo into a art piece.

10. Hand made gift tags. Make sure to leave some blank for the little one to decorate.

10. Arts and Crafts with your Elf, snowman made from cotton pads. Flash light helped our Elf create during the night

11. A reading with Santa, The Night Before Christmas.

12. Patchy had to read the bible to make sure he didn't forget the true story of Christmas.

13. Sitting on the cookie table enjoying some of the baked goods.

13. Took a ride in the mystery machine. He was trying to find where the gifts were hidden.

14. Double date for a viewing of Elf on The Shelf.

15. Chilling with the Calico Critters, enjoying a picnic.

16. Kicked back watching a movie on the flat screen. Thank you Barbie furniture.

16. A gift for Miss Priss, was a paint your own nativity set.

17. Hanging out by the mistletoe. Guess elves need loving too.

18. Wanted to be part of the family photo montage.

19. These late nights are wearing him out. OK, he didn't stay here but this is where Mommy wanted to be.

20. And if you are really lucky, your kid will loose a tooth during this time. I mean how much can one mom be expected to remember. Oh, and we had a visiting "elf" show up.

21. Riding a rocket ship. Pre-assembly required.

22. Following night, parachuting from previous rocket ship but caught in the chandelier.

23. Chilling by the fire to warm his toes.

24. Sitting atop the Christmas presents from Santa in the morning. Note from Patchy said that Santa said he could stay an extra day to watch Miss Priss open her presents. (Typically they leave on Christmas Eve, not to return again until next Thanksgiving). Miss Priss said this was her favorite present this year!

And the following which were not pictured:

25. Dyed the milk pink.

26. Sleeping in the bed with Mommy and Daddy.

27. Riding in the sleigh (a Christmas decoration)

28. Hanging out in the freezer, cause he was hot.

29. Laying in a pile of wrapping paper after a night of wrapping presents.

I think that is all of them but I sure wouldn't swear to it. It sure is a lot of work but is really a ton of fun. Miss Priss looks forward to it every year. She says Thanksgiving is her favorite holiday "'cause that's when Patchy shows up!"

Here's to hoping you had some fun this Christmas!

Enjoy,

ginger

Christmas Goodies

Merry Christmas Y'all! So I don't know if you know this or not, but I am not a baker. Alas, the baking of sweets for the neighbors isn't really an option. I don't enjoy it. I have a theory about baking. If you are a rule follower, you like to bake. If you are fly by the seat of your pants kinda person, you like to cook. In baking you have to follow the rules; there is no improvising, skipping or tossing the recipe out the window. With cooking, you can pretty much do whatever the heck you want. Now, this post really doesn't have a dang thing to do with cooking other than it is a gift that doesn't involve it. So, here's a handmade gift I made for my neighbors. It's a Christmas Survival Kit.  All of the goodies were found objects here in my house! So it cost me nada! Unlike baking, which cost an arm and a leg!

 Here's what we started with, recycled jars, smarties, tea bags, gum, candle, staples, paperclips, note cards, confetti, candy cane, travel toothpaste, and a bible verse.

Here is just one of many bible verses you can use:

Isaiah 9:6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Also a scrap of fabric to cover the lid and some twine. I hot glued the fabric to the lid so that it wouldn't fall off when the lid was removed. You can see in the above pics that I also used a punch and a stamp to make a label topper.

 Add one each of the above list into the jar. Print out a Christmas Survival Kit List. Sorry Y'all, I don't know how attach a printable. But feel free copy this one and use it. I printed mine on heavy card stock.

 Christmas Survival Kit
Notepad: for last minute gift ideas
Smarties: to remind you to spend wisely
Paper clips: to help you hold  it together waiting in line
Candle: to remind you there is a light at the end  of the tunnel
Stick of Gum: to remind you to stick to your list
Green Tea: to help keep your immune system strong
Candy Cane: to settle your stomach after over indulging
Staples: to keep your family together
Toothpaste: To freshen your breath before your New Years kiss
Confetti: to remind you to have fun
Bible Verse: To remember the reason for the season

So there you have a super quick, easy and cheap little gift for your neighbors. Although mine said it should include a mini bottle to help get them through it. But then again, most of my neighbors have a pretty well stocked liquor cabinet so I'm pretty confident they will survive!

Hope you have been enjoying your holidays.

ginger

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