Grandkids!

My husband has come to the conclusion that I need grandchildren.  While he was working yesterday, I spent the entire day from 7:15 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. putting this little village together.

Okay, okay...maybe a few years ago it was a little village.  Somehow it seems to have grown.  I swear to myself every year I'm not going to buy anything to add to it.   When it comes time to put the village up again, there are boxes of new goodies I didn't own the previous year.  It's Elves...I tell ya!  

To spill my guts here, you can't see the box sitting on the floor that has more village goodies in it.  D doesn't even know that's what's in the box.  Guess he'll know if he reads this blog.  Oye!

You can't see it but there are three ponds to skate on.  Alright, they're broken mirrors with snow sprayed on them then wiped off but don't tell the kiddies that.

My villagers are very eco friendly.  If you'll note, there are no cars.  Nope, they take horses or walk where they want to go.  The cars are in the boxes and I think they'll stay there this Christmas.  Yep...it'll be a green year.

For those of you who are curious, yes the street lights go on.  It's a pain because they have to be turned on individually.  So do the bridges, archways, horse & carriage, snowman, etc.  That's another thing I think I'll do each year then don't get to it.  Wire everything to a master switch. That way I won't be hiding boxes under houses and the snow and I could touch one button and have instant lighting.  Just another thing on the 'to do' list.

Oh...what's the best part of the village?  It's right by the front door so when someone comes in the breeze blows snow all over the place.  It's a mess but because it makes me smile, I put up with it.

Now it's time to head out and put some boxes away and do some cleaning up.  It's been a laid back day today so I've done absolutely nothing constructive.  Maybe tomorrow I'll clean house and that'll leave Wednesday for wrapping presents.  Another mess I enjoy making.  Luckily S's present is on the back of the pick-up and will stay there until we celebrate Christmas on Sunday.  I love gifts to big to take off the truck.  LOL!

Happy Christmas everyone!

Love

My husband says he loves me more times than I can count.  I think at times I take for granted he'll say it, which isn't a good habit to get into. He's always been a touchy, feely, sweet talkin' guy but the other night he really proved his love.  

Sometimes it's not the big things that say I love you...it's the small thoughtful things.  It's been very cold here lately by California standards and D proved his thoughtfulness.  I'm used to hopping into bed on ice cold sheets.  You see I just can't remember to turn on the electric blanket.  (That's where I miss having the waterbed.)  

Anyway, the other night as usual D is already asleep so I quietly pull back the blankets prepared to hit the ice and get surprised with warmth.  WOW!  It was great.  My thoughtful husband turned on my electric blanket before going to sleep.  Now that's what I call love and thoughtfulness.

Sometimes it's the simple pleasures that make life worth living. 

Outsmarted myself again!

Well, I did the, 'outsmart myself' thing again.  I figured since I had to go out today I might as well get my coupons and go buy a couple of converter boxes for the TVs.  I remember saying to myself, "I'm going to put these right here so when I need them, I'll know where they are".  I'm guessing you're getting where this is going.

I can't find the darn things in any of the desks, pending files, coupon files or gift certificate files.  I just don't have a clue where I put the darn things. What's worse is I can see those orange cards in my minds eye.  (&(^$#@!

What I did find (E you've seen this before) is an old picture of Doug, Patti and Jim.  I even remember that Volkswagon!  Check out that garage.  See how tight it is getting the VW to fit?  Imagine mom and dad parking the 62 Galaxie 500 (which is the size of an aircraft carrier) in one.  Talk about fit like a glove.  I was going to say, you really had to know how to drive back then.  Then I remembered dad ran over the dog once getting the car out of the garage.

Oh, he was okay even though a 5,000 pound car completely ran over him. Because he was a fat obese wiener dog, his layers of blubber saved him from getting hurt.  Go figure!

Okay...okay...back to the search.  I got sidetracked with the old picture but just felt it needed to be posted.  Check out how Shannon resembles Patti.  She wouldn't in person but the camera really makes it look that way. Weird....spooky....oooooooo....

Birthday Party

So mom's party turned out to be a success.  It was nice seeing everyone.  I just wish H had arrived earlier so she could hang out with her cousins.  She did have a nice one on one visit with mom after everyone left.

This is mom opening her....er I mean...E's kindle.  I got a recorded call from UPS today telling me the Kindle will be delivered between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. tomorrow and someone has to be home to sign for it.  Luckily D will be home because I have a doctors appointment at 2:00.  The recording didn't give the option to go to UPS and pick up the package.  Sometimes I just find automated recordings irksome.

S never posts pictures of herself.  I guess she's like me and is always behind the camera.  She looks so relaxed here.  She was listening to S and W come up with more harebrained ideas of painting the kitchen appliances with various patterns like flames.  I think racing stripes for the fridge was also a topic of conversation.

The good news is, with everyone being young and pretty new homeowners they don't have the cash for such crazy ideas.  It's when they actually have money they can dip into to act on some of these notions that men get dangerous.  LOL!

I'm gonna get shot for this one.  S hates his picture taken so I thought not only would I prove I have a picture of him but I'd post it for the world to see.  If he knew, he'd try and find a way to hack into my blog and remove it.  Yahahahar! I love being a mom!  What you miss in this picture was the glare he gave me after the flash of the camera.  Of course I gave him the innocent...whaaaaa??? look.

The good news is today I got two rooms completely decorated with Christmas goodies.  The bad news is....they're the laundry room and the bathroom off  the laundry room where nobody goes.  Oh well, at least they're spotless.  Yep, I cleaned cabinets out, washed the outside of the appliances, scrubbed the floors and so on.  At least I have two beautiful  rooms in the house.

Tomorrow.....the living room!

It hailed here twice today.  We had a beautiful rainbow but it disappeared by the time I went from the family room to the sewing room to get the camera then to the front door.  It might have lasted at least 4 nano seconds.  Oh well, better luck next time.

Crazy Zoobie

Check out this crazy Zoobie.  I've had two people ask about the monkey so I finally ordered some.  It's absolutely hilarious.  The arms and legs are so skinny and weird.  It's not my favorite Zoobie by animal species because it's so gangly, but I absolutely love the red color and how soft it is.

This guy just makes me shake my head and laugh.

The Real Story

I am such a horrible daughter.  Look at this poor woman, she's exhausted.  She spent the morning taking the Christmas decorations out of the boxes and putting them on the coffee table.  A taxing job to be sure, considering the amount of boxes I have.  We barely touched the surface of getting the stuff out and put around the living and family rooms.

We had to take a break in the afternoon and watch Disney movies.  See how quickly she got in her 'spoil the wiener dog' mode?  She only has two for the moment.  The little bump under her right hand is A.  As you can see, N is headed for the chair so she could take her place in mom's lap. Nope she's not letting the other two hog all the grandmother heat.

So here's the night version of mom's visit here.  As you can tell, she's really resisting the dogs. Yep, she wanted to go run around the circle for a bit of exercise but those darn doxies held her down.  I know it's hard to tell but there are three in her lap.  See G's red and white Christmas coller?  If you look real close you can see the brown and white spots of N (she's hiding under mom's left arm).

My dogs are very loving and the only reason they decided to grace mom's lap was to keep her from venturing far.  Since they aren't allowed past the backyard, they wouldn't be able to rescue her if she and her walker rolled down the driveway.

Do I have thoughtful guard dogs or what?

As you can see Gran is having a tough time adjusting here.  Yesterday she was a Mac whiz, today she's taking the Dell for a test spin.  I think the Mac is better for her eyesight because it's a 24" monitor.  I'm hoping it will lessen the eyestrain a little so she can enjoy what's she doing longer.

She's missing one important thing....oops...three important things.  The dogs.  When I'm in that chair, I'm covered in dashshund.  How is it she's able to enjoy the cushy chair without all that additional fur?  I need to find out what her secret is.

Now here's a dog that knows what's important.  While the little ones are hogging up the desk chair, G has firmly planted her carcass in front of the space heater.  Now you'd think since she carries that long hair fur coat around with her everywhere, she wouldn't need additional heat.  I guess the grayer you get the more heat you need.  LOL!
Believe it or not, I actually share this chair with these two little hogs.  Yep...they allow me to teeter on the edge of the seat and work on the computer.  Heaven help me if I'd like to actually use all the chair for my tookus.  It really is a dog's life around here.  N is out for the count but A is sneaking a peek.  You'll note her head is just too heavy to lift for the camera.