~~A Wonderful Christmas~~

Hey guys! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! We sure did...it was a great day spent with family. Chase had a great time! He was so excited to get up (too early) on Christmas morning and open presents. Although he is getting too old for Santa to visit, it was still fun to see him so happy!

There he is by his uncle Daniel waiting patiently to open another present.

Mom with her butterfly note cards and cross watch I bought her for Christmas.


Dad only gets golf stuff for Christmas! lol...you can usually find him out golfing in sunshine or snow! Oh, and that's our new Keurig coffee maker on the coffee table...we love it! I have drank WAY to much coffee the last few days.


Kevin and I by the tree trying out the coffee!

Sassy got a squeaky chicken for Christmas! She carried it around in her mouth all day! lol...

Here is our Christmas lunch...poppy seed chicken casserole (YUM), sweet potatoes, broccoli cheese casserole, cranberry sauce, rolls and my famous fruit salad! lol...Oh, and we ended up eating on paper plates so we wouldn't have to wash dishes. My dishwasher is not working very well right now and we are going to get a new one.

Here are the ingredients for my (simple) fruit salad:

grapes
blueberries (frozen or fresh)
sliced strawberries (prefer fresh)
jar of maraschino cherries (yummo!)
can of Mandarin oranges
colored or regular marshmallows

small bag of chopped pecans
tub of cool whip

a cup or so of coconut
(I use about two to three cups of grapes, a bag of blueberries a carton of strawberries and about a half of a bag of marshmallows)

Mix everything together and that's it! You can add other fruits if you want to...I just add what I like and everyone seems to like it. (unless they are just trying to be nice)

Chase got a Kinect for Christmas and Kevin and Daniel enjoyed playing it after lunch. It looks like fun! I haven't played it yet, but they say it's like the Wii but you use your full body. It's great exersize! Technology is crazy these days!

Well, now we move on to New Years...we have family coming in from Kentucky and will be having another Christmas over here on Saturday. Do you have plans for New Years Eve? We might get together with a few friends, but no real partying for us. Have a great week!!

~~Christmas Day Tablescapes~~

Merry Christmas everyone!! I hope you are all having a wonderful Christmas eve! You are probably busy getting ready for the big day tomorrow. Can you believe it's already here?? I sure can't... I was hoping to join Between Naps on The Porch for Tablescape Thursday, but could not get everything ready in time. (Edited to add...I decided to join Tablescape Thursday this week Dec. 29. Please visit Between Naps on the Porch for more) Better late than never I guess! lol...We will be having a late Christmas lunch at our house tomorrow. My mom is doing most of the cooking and my only dish is a fruit salad! I usually get off easy around the holidays. Everyone knows I am not much of a cook...lol

My tablescape last year was similar to this, however, I redid the centerpiece with new garland, glittered berries, ribbon and gold balls. I also added new gold napkins and napkin rings along with the beaded napkin rings I used last year. I bought the napkin rings at Dillard's last night. I literally stood there for 15 minutes trying to talk myself out of them...lol. But they were just soooo pretty!!

I went in my ribbon stash and found some beautiful ribbons that complimented the napkins and place mats.
A view looking into the living room...everything looks so warm at night!

Here is a closeup of those pretty napkin rings...they are mirrored. I mentioned last year that I bought the holly dishes at the Dollar Store! They look pretty when they're all dressed up.

I took a few pics this morning. I wrapped all of the presents and did the tablescape last night or should I say this morning...lol. I was up until 3:00! I was determined to get everything done so I can rest tonight after the Christmas Eve service.

Lots of presents! Chase thinks he knows what most of them are...hmmm...

I posted this tablescape a few weeks ago...it is ready for Christmas morning breakfast! We will be having monkey bread, fruit, and my Mam maw's sausage balls. Yum!

Sassy wishes you a Merry Christmas too!!

I know we all get caught up in decorating and shopping, at least I do...but now I am reflecting on the real meaning of Christmas... JESUS.

Wishing you a wonderful Christmas filled with joy and peace!!!

Our Trip To Dallas And More Frames!

Hey guys! Thank you for all of the sweet (no pun intended...lol) comments on on my gingerbread kitchen! I appreciate each one!

I told you we went to Dallas last weekend and had a blast! I want to show you my friend Sherry's house and some pics I took of ICE at the Gaylord Hotel...it was amazing! Some of you might remember Sherry's house from earlier posts...she really outdid herself decorating it for Christmas! It really has that WOW factor! Not that I would have expected anything less from her. She is an awesome decorator!!

This lighted manger scene is gorgeous!!

That mantle is one of the prettiest I've seen! I made the arrangement on the coffee table and the wreaths you will see posted when you scroll down. Sherry really doesn't need my help though...she does well on her own!

LOVE.

Perfectly accessorized bookcases.

This piece in the mirrored vase just sparkles! I wish I had a better picture of it.

Oh My! That tree is amazing!!

Gorgeous ornaments!

Love the painted wine glasses

What an elegant dining room!

Her kitchen is done in a gingerbread theme too...I spy a gingerbread tassel

Look at that hand painted cake dish...cute!

I thought this was a great way to decorate your canisters for Christmas!

So cute!

This is the T.V. room. Love the way she decorated the mantle! I showed the wreath a while back...she ended up putting in on the mantle with lights. This tree is beautiful! I hope you enjoyed the Christmas tour! One of the reasons we came to Dallas was to go to ICE at the Gaylord Texan. This hotel is just beautiful!!

ICE is a tour of amazing sculptures carved from blocks of ice. You just can't believe that almost everything is really ice! They are huge sculptures! The theme this year was Peanuts.

Kevin and Chase.

It was freezing in there...literally! I think they said they keep the temps anywhere from 9 to 12 degrees. They give you those big blue coats to help keep you warm. I don't think you could stand it without them! Brrrrr

This angel was beautiful and huge!

The manger scene was beautiful too...

After the tour we got some hot chocolate to warm us up!

I had to show you my friend Lisa's adorable twins! ( Sherry's grand babies) This is Ally...look at that outfit!! Love it!

This is Lake...he is going to be a heart breaker! lol...so cute!

After ICE we went to the Galleria to eat and do a little shopping. Love the big tree in the middle of the ice rink...it is just beautiful! I found some cute sweaters on sale at Macy's! Wish we had a Macy's here...

I also wanted to tell you that I listed some frames in my Etsy store and will continue to list more. I finally got the frames in that I've been waiting on for 3 weeks! Yay! Sorry it has taken me so long to get more listed...The frame below is a one of a kind.

Thank you for your visit! It's 2:00 in the morning...whew! I'm headed to bed.