Happy New Year

One of my Christmas gifts from loving hubby

was two books of famous quotations.

As 2011 is ticking away,

I would like to share some simple wonderful  ideas by unknown author:

Please click to enlarge for a beautiful full photo

Good friends are like stars....You don't always see them, but you

know they are always there.

Don't frown. You never know who is falling in love with your smile.

Good friends are hard to find, harder to leave, and impossible to forget.

Most people walk in and out of your life, but only friends

leave footprints in your heart.

Each of you who have been a part of my blog this year

have left footprints on my heart.

Thank you.

Happy Safe New Years Eve.

May you be blessed abundantly in 2012.

Happy Birthday Jesus

"Glory to God in the Highest", Luke 2:14

These are my precious Nativity sets and ornaments.

Bottom right is the Nativity ornament we used on top of a cake on Christmas night when

my children would sing Happy Birthday to Jesus.

Mom made the needlework ornament, JESUS, long ago.

Bottom left, my childhood Nativity.

Nativity top right was the last gift my beloved Grandmother gave me on Christmas.

Second ornament top left is a frame made from toothpicks.

Merry Christmas.

Peace on Earth

Cookies, lights and Christmas Tea

Are you having a busy week?

Or are you finished with shopping/baking and just enjoying Christmas?

Just this once I am posting a lot of pictures at once.

I am keeping them small, you can enlarge by clicking on each one.

Sunday was cookies with my daughter Heather and her 3 boys

Monday night Terry and I walked around our beautiful park all decorated with lights.

Tuesday we took our beautiful granddaughter to her first Christmas tea with us.

Today, we are going out of town again to visit a very special friend.



My next post will be Monday the 26th.

From my home to yours

Merry Christmas.

God Bless us, everyone!

Sending blessings

Looking in from our driveway to our tree.

We have snowflake lights around our side porch which is the reflection you

see to the right.

Wish I had thought to open the louver blinds!

Just wanted to send a special BIG hug to all my precious blogger friends

and family.

I know this is such a busy time for all of us.

Please check back late evening on Wednesday, I will have lots of pictures,

of how our time has been spent these past few days.

You will LOVE them!

As you go about your day today, please know I am thinking of each of you,

planning to stop by once more before Christmas day and sending a prayer

that each of you have safe travels, happy times and most of all are

blessed by His Love this Christmas.

Love,

Lynn

We turn not older

with years,

but NEWER

every day.

.....Emily Dickinson

In this season of MIRACLES

let us reach for the stars in both our dreams and our prayers.

What do you dream of?

What do you pray for?

Gingerbread time.

Grampa and I will cherish the time we spent with our two grandsons

yesterday making/decorating a gingerbread house with them.



Did I ever tell you that loving hubby/loving Grampa is a

"perfectionist"? hehe

So Grampa was the structural engineer of the project.

One gingerbread house going up!

Grammie was the photographer, the frosting mixer, the

frosting in the bag fixer and  "assuring"  the structural engineer

that the "designers" knew what they were doing and would

take good care of his "building", hehe

Jacob is busy getting the roof just right for the "lights".

Kevin is also "frosting taster".

Jacob is 9, Kevin will be 6 in January. 

 

The roof with the lights looks very good.

Sometimes it hard to wait your turn to put the trees in place, isn't it Kevin?

The finished result was impressive, but toward the end, I put the

camera away and was making a door frame and window

and totally forgot to get a picture of the finished result.

Special memories were made yesterday.

On the way home Grampa kept saying he had such a good day!

We love you Jacob and Kevin!

Do you make/decorate gingerbread houses?

Is this a tradition in your family?

Would you believe neither Terry nor I had ever done this before?



Joy

Joy is not a precious concept reserved for holidays

and special occasions.

Rejoice in simple things.

Make joy at home in your heart today.

Pink snowflakes

Are you having fun during this wonderful month of December?

Jesus is the reason for the season in our home

and

as we celebrate with family and friends we incorporate the spirit of whimsy

in my love of all things "winter", "snow", "snowflakes"

while still centering on the birth of our saviour.

In my own delightful way,  incorporated "pink" snowflake frames

around pictures I took a few years ago between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Enjoy and as always, Blessings!

Both of these beautifully decorated lanterns were taken

in the charming downtown area of Fairhope, AL.

So loved this HUGE Christmas ball  in Sandestin, FL

In Seaside, FL I went with pure white snowflakes.

As you can see, hopefully, the post office exterior is salmon/pink shade well known in FL.

I hope my pink snowflakes and buildings gave you a smile on this beautiful

December weekend.

It is indeed gorgeous here in on the Gulf Coast of FL.

No snow is predicted, but we had a lovely cooler night on Wednesday.

So much so, we had a lovely fire in our fireplace, tree lights twinkling as

well of the lights from the homes in our Christmas villages we have collected over the years.

Inside our home was pure Christmas filled with love.

That is my prayer for all the precious bloggers I have met this year.

May your homes be filled with Christmas love no matter where you reside.

Travel mercies for all of you who travel "home" or on trips this Christmas.

I linked with our gracious hostess Beverly for Pink Saturday

http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/my_weblog/2011/12/pink-saturday-december-10-2011.html

I just check Beverly's site and you won't want to miss all the wonderful posts that have already listed and many, many more to come!

A Delightful Christmas Treat

How I wish each of my precious friends could stop by and enjoy

this yummy pumpkin bread with scuppernong preserves

and hot cranberry herbal tea with me.

 

 

It has been a precious day with the love of my life.

May tomorrow shine blessings on your all.

 

Precious Moments in Time

In this the Season of Miracles, I am sharing three "miracles" I received in

1974     1976    1981

Way back in 1973 when I found I was pregnant with my first child, I sent my mother

a surprise floral bouquet. 

On the card I wrote: "Thank you mom for giving me life so that I can be a mother now".

Enjoy!

 Christmas card 1977

Kellie 20 months, Heather a month shy of turning 4

Bobby is my Floridian, born in Fort Lauderdale, FL.

A quick trip to NY state in December.

"A mother holds her child's hand for a short time, their hearts forever".

Have a beautiful day!

 

Snow Globes

Ah snow globes.
Who doesn't enjoy the charm of a snow globe?

I have always had child-like "wonder" about the world around me.

Yes, I still smile like a little girl when I shake my snow globe

and then turn it over and watch it snow.

My snow globe that is sitting on my white wicker desk as I compose posts.

Yup, I played around with Picnik a bit to "ice" up the picture.

Do you like the icy effect?

Pardon the blurred "imagine" word on the dome.

Trying to shake the globe,  put it down quickly, then get the shot before the snow stopped

was interesting to say the least.

I will keep practicing!

Since some of you are getting snow as you read this, I so wanted to share

a "wintry" picture, hehe

Some interesting facts you may or may not know:

First snow globe related patent in US was 1927 in Pittsburgh, PA.

Originally the snow or "flitter" could be bone chips, pieces of porcelain, sand or

sawdust.

Later gold foil or non soluble soap flakes were used.

Today most globes use small plastic pieces.

2005 huge snow globes started to appear on the lawns across the America during

the Christmas season.

The snow in these comes  from Styrofoam pellets.

Do you love snow globes?

What kind do you have?

Keep Your Heart Open

"Sense the pulse and song of the day as it unfolds and creates

the music in your heart".

....rp

Cherish life's simple pleasures.

Jesus is the reason for the season.

My special guests have arrived

Loving both hats and whimsical snow people,

I am always excited when it is time for my Plum Pudding snow people

to visit our home again for the month of December.

Sometimes, truth be told, they stick around a lot longer, hehe.

The smiles they give me each day make it very difficult to put them away for another year.

These were designed by Heather Hykes for Artisan Flair.

I first saw them in 1993.

My hubby gifted me with one each year until they were retired.

Do you have a special collection that you bring out during December?

I am linking with Beverly for Pink Saturday

http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com

I know you will LOVE all the beautiful decorations everyone is showing this month.

Be blessed.