Merry Christmas

This Christmas has been a little different than most.

No cards sent out this year, no holiday parties or holiday baking..... just a few precious moments shared.

One of my favorite traditions is sleeping under the tree with Aidan. It is a tradition we enjoy ever year..... sometimes for one or two nights, sometimes for a month.

We listen to Christmas music, watch a Christmas movie (or two) tell secrets and speculate about the coming year.

The next year is certain to be full of changes, and some real life, tough grown up decisions. Not the kind you envision making when you dream of our future.

However, I do have much to be thankful for. Especially that little boy who is sleeping under the tree. I think i need to go now and give him a squeeze.

Merry Christmas.

According to our calendar its Christmas!

I know I already posted this picture but I should have saved it for today. So guess what - I am posting it again. It makes me smile, I hope it makes you smile too. (there's nothing wrong with recycled cards, right Liv?)

Merry Christmas.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.

Well kind of.

This year we had a bumper crop of sour cherries, so while there may not be a Santa Claus, there is plenty of cherry liqueur to go around. I actually filled 30 bottles this week and I have about 15 bottles worth left. (and no bottles, so to all my kind relatives who read this blog I would love to get my bottles back this year.) I splurged on some imported Italian bottles that come with a rubber gasket......... they are pretty neat. And if you want to keep your bottle and use it to infuse some oil or vinegar I won't hold it against you.

Speaking of Santa Claus, I brought Aidan in to work with me this week and my co-workers were all asking him about Santa. When we got in the car he said, "Seriously mom, why is everyone asking me about Santa Claus? Do they really believe reindeer can fly all over the world?????"

Christmas Tour ~ Final Chapter

I started showing you "Christmas around my house" a few weeks ago. I think I better wrap up the tour considering it is almost Christmas!

If you were a guest at my house this holiday season I think you would feel right at home in our little guest bedroom.

There is a vintage tinsel garland hanging on the mirror and a little golden bird nestled in the laurel topiary.

There is even a crazy quilt stocking in the room..... although you would probably find it to be empty.

My mom made it years ago and she made the matching pillow on the bed too. I am thinking someday it will be a family heirloom, right mom?

You would probably gather downstairs in our family room too. I usually decorate it quite heavily with lots of garland but this year I just used a few tinsel trees. I like it much better this way. And the clean-up will be much easier too.

Usually guests don't hang out in my room, but I will let you take a peek.......... I like to fill hurricane vases with white, gold and silver balls throughout the room.

Sometimes less is more, don't you think?

Merry Christmas!

Hopefully these will be in the mailbox soon. I tried Picnik for the first time. (Thanks Bethany for the good tip!) I am in love with the font. I also ordered my photos through them- the quality was decent- and I chose them because they weren't going to crop the photo the way a lot of photo labs do. (they actually added a white border that I thought I would lop off, but I think laziness will prevail here.)

writing itself

this post practically wrote itself.

quite a few people mentioned they liked the Paris gift tags and wondered where I bought them. so rather than keep the beauty to myself I will share.

A few weeks ago I blogged about Cavellini gift tags. I fell in love with some holiday bird ones they sold at Anthropologie the last few years, but this year they aren't carrying them. Bummer. I love them.

So, guess where I looked. Amazon.com. Sometimes I feel like my blog is a commercial for Amazon.com. Because almost everything I buy comes in the mail from Amazon. Seriously. You don't believe me?

The gift bags I used for the hot cocoa were from Amazon, as was the bakers twine I used to tie the bags, as were the tags i used to embellish the bags, as were the garbage bags that all my scraps went into, as was the Christmas music I listened to while making the hot cocoa, as was the coffee press that made the coffee I drank, as was the book I finished reading after I made the hot cocoa............. I could go on and on but I will spare you.

You see a while back I received an offer to upgrade my account to Amazon Prime which means fast, cheap shipping. So I can order it and have it to my home faster than I can get to the store.

I also order my groceries online and then drive-thru to pick them up......... as I mentioned last week I have even been having fresh fruit shipped to my home. This means I have more time to spend with my cute kid, and the time I do have for shopping I can go to fun places like this one or this one.

How do you save time? Any tricks you can share?

(and before you comment about my expensive garbage bags, let me tell you that they are worth every penny. I used to hold my breath and cringe every time we took out the garbage as we always managed to stuff our bags so full they would burst or drip through the house....... but not these bags. I have yet to see one leak. Really. And you can ask my mom, I have a horrible habit of over-stuffing garbage bags. Not to mention I would always run out, or I ended up double bagging. Problems solved, I just order them and they don't ever need double-bagging.) Maybe you should add a simple human trash can and bags to your Christmas list this year. )

Today

Blizzarding.

We have received a foot of snow thus far, with more expected to fall throughout the night.

I braved the roads this am because I had a hair appointment that I did.not.want.to.miss.

Maybe wasn't a good plan..... while the roads were

somewhat safe at 7:00 am, three hours later I could barely make it home. The visibility was so bad I seriously debated just getting a hotel in Maple Grove. (12 miles from my home.) But I had a sick little boy at home who needed me............ and he also needed some "Jewish Penicillin." (Little does he know I made the "authentic kind," complete with parsnips, turnips, leeks, lots of onion and garlic.)

I kind of played hookie one day this week and betwen naps I caught the show "The Doctors." They were giving lots of tips on how to avoid colds or feel better when you have one and Chicken Soup and Gargling Salt Water were both on the list. I have a hard time admitting this, but those are both things my Dad always recommended.............. he also gave us blackberry brandy but can you believe the Dr.'s didn't condone that one?

So James shoveled twice, while I worked on Christmas gifts, made soup and watched Christmas movies with Aidan.

You know, I think I wouldn't mind having a blizzard once a week!

Photo here.

christmas part II

i snatched up that old feather tree at Hunt and Gather. They had two, i have been kicking myself ever since for only grabbing one. (and yes, I did check back but the other was already sold.)


While it may look like everything I have is coordinated, let me assure you that I am not. Many of the ornaments on the tree are ones I had when I was a child, and Aidan also has amassed a rather large collection in his 6 years of life and they are on the tree as well. The rest were all bought the first year we were married. (remember the sample sale Jess and Stace?)

Again, I just can't get enough of the old jello molds!

My tree might not be coordinated but my gifts are. I like plain white and brown paper and pretty ribbons. I usually go to Anthro and ask for extras when I am Christmas shopping but this year they are not offering gift wrapping adornments, just plain white boxes. They do, however, sell amazing velvet ribbon on wooden spools........... I may have stocked up.

You can find the ribbon here. It is so pretty and worth the splurge. My wrapping paper is a $9.00 roll of children's paper from IKEA, so I think it balances out. I also have been known to scrounge through the wrapping paper piles to save my trim from the garbage so I can re-use it as much as possible. Some of the gray ribbon I have is from our wedding!

I also splurge on the gift tags, and yes, I may have grabbed some from the garbage piles last year..... I mean we give gifts to the same people every year so why not reuse a pretty tag? Isn't it cool to be green these days????



I ordered a few gifts from this etsy shop. Her packaging and wrapping is amazing. She layers photos, old hymnals, newspaper, twine........... I don't even want anyone to open them they are so beautifully adorned, the wrapping itself is a gift of art!

So now that I have filled you in on what's under my tree, what's under yours?

A Quiet Weekend

Braved the No-Coast in a snowstorm. It was a brilliant plan as there weren't as many shoppers to contend with. We even had a table to eat at! And the best part is that I finished up the rest of my Christmas shopping.

We ate Trader Joe's Pumpkin waffles for breakfast (made in my Grandpop's old waffle maker!) And be sure and snatch some mandarin oranges if you are out grocery shopping. Sometimes called satsuma's they are so much better than clementines and I love them so much I ordered some online direct from a grower in California because the stores here are running low. That is one of the reasons I love the Internet...... If they work out you all may be getting them next year for Christmas.

And I am excited to meet Jessica at Crafternoon today. I am a little nervous, I have only read her blog and she seems a little too talented for the likes of me to hang with. (Her husband took the pictures for Darlene's party, will post those later, they turned out fabulous!)

I am trying these cookies for the swap. I have never made Christmas cookies with whole wheat but her recipes haven't failed me yet.

How's your weekend?

its beginning to look a lot like christmas in the .......

......kitchen.

a vintage tin my grandma j. passed on to me. it was always full of jelly belly's. (at my house it is sadly, empty.)

I love vintage ornaments....... and the little blond boy who made it into the photo.

speaking of little boys....... have you ever tried making a gingerbread house with one?

ours was falling apart faster than we could put it back together so we came up with a new plan.

it's called "bombed out gingerbread house."

you should try it next year because they are waaayyyyy easier.

today

making this

Christmas shopping here and here. (and I can now say I am almost done!)

listening to this

doing this

photos here, here, here, here.

Unitl next year...........

Gas Money

That's right, the Jordison/Kauffman men have a traditional poker game they play every year at the family Christmas. Sometimes James wins some gas money, sometimes not, but winning or losing they have a great time and it is also a great way to kill a few hours. This year we ended up staying at Leslie's until almost 1:00 am while Phil, Tim, Graham and James played another round. I was pretty bored so I took lots of pictures. They all seemed pretty brilliant to me at 1:00 am on Januray 2nd. They look a little less so today, but I will post them anyway.

All rolled into one.

That's right - the ultimate in lazy blogging. Not only are my pictures all grouped together, backwards and out of order, they are unedited and probably rather un-interesting. So keep reading.


I figure, the best way to start a new year is by keeping your expectations low. Last months' almost daily blog updates were just a little excessive, don't you think? Seriously- a girl just can't keep that up! So rather than making all sorts of resolutions and empty promises I am going to keep your expectations for me on the low side. And then every now and then you will have a big suprise and will appreciate my blogposts even more!

So take that, New Year.

We had a birthday and Christmas celebration for my Dad. Usually he is gypped on his birthday becuase it falls on January 2nd, so for most years a gift for him is more like an afterthought. However since we were celebrating on his birthday this year I had the brilliant idea to make him a cake -his favorite - German Chocolate. My Grandma thought I should just buy a box, but of course I insisted I had to make it from scratch.......... and I must say, it was delicious. However, the cakes all fell, then all three layers stuck to her pans and had to be put back together like a puzzle, (despite my overly generous coating of PAM) and when I broiled the top of the cake the heat shattered my Grandma's plate rendering the bottom layer was inedible because none of us wanted to end up in the ER.

I don't know why I attempt to cook at "Golf Grandma's" house, every time something goes awry. But the cake was good and if you need a recipe I found it here.

Aidan also was disturbed because he thought we needed more candles, but even at the tender age of 5 he was able to understand that 54 candles would be a fire hazard.

My Grandma had the coolest tree this year. It was the perfect Charlie Brown tree, I loved it.









Too much Christmas.





Iva??????




This is 4:00 in the afternoon.












My favorite kind of present.

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Here we are at my aunt Leslie's celebrating with my Dad's side of the family. Uncle Larry is writing down blood pressures and taking money for our annual "Blood Pressure Game." And of course, with all the family stress, food, wine people's blood pressures are always right on target.

These three sat here the majority of the night. I have a whole post dedicated to them.

Don't really know - but as it is one of the only pictures I took of the gathering I thought I had better post it.

Alright- so I have finished another one of my obligatory Christmas posts - I have one more up my sleeve and then who knows. Maybe a Valentine's day post?????