How can so much expression and feeling be depicted on figures that don't have faces? They are simple, and beautiful and tell the story of what all this preparation is about. And they are a reminder to me to slow down, to enjoy, and that simple is best.
The best gift we can give is our love. How simple is that. What a beautiful season this is.
It was a brand new strand, all rolled up on a reel. I plugged them in, it looked like they all were working....so I put them on the bush. I plugged them in again and the last 1/3 of the strand wasn't working. Errr. I decided it wasn't worth the hassle to take them down. Short, squatty looking bush, but they are still pretty. And the snow was beautiful!
It snowed through the night. I woke to the peaceful quiet that new snow brings. The world looks and sounds a little different after it snows. It was a good day to get some cleaning and decorating done.
I had the extra motivation of family coming over to celebrate Eric and Dawn's birthdays. Celebrated early because Eric was heading out of town.
Sunday morning Eric was busy packing, checking his list, and packing some more. He was preparing for a two week business trip to France. I'm glad that the boys are here to keep my company, and especially glad that Eric doesn't travel as much as he used to.
I took a few pictures after I returned from the airport. Reindeer candle holder in front of the Christmas tree. I am really loving having the decorating done and looking at the sparkling lights.
I was taking some pictures of my Christmas village on Monday when Billy walked in the door. I liked the quick snapshot that I took of him better than anything in the Christmas village...so here he is, my photo of the day. Hi Billy!
Eric called from France on Monday morning. He had made it safe and sound, took a 3 hour taxi ride to get to the work place, worked all day and was calling before supper time. It was a long day for him. He was using a co-workers company cell phone that works over seas....the connection was crystal clear...it sounded like he was right next door. It makes it seem like he's not quite so far from home.
It's getting cold around these parts. I should have gone to the grocery store, but didn't want to go out since I really didn't need to. Trouble is it's supposed to be colder tomorrow and I'll have to go then. I love the snow, the cold, not so much. The Christmas lights make it feel a little warmer somehow. This picture is of the garland on my staircase. I like glitter.
I video talked with Eric over Skype today. It was fun to see his smiling face and to hear that all is well there. I don't like watching myself talk, but other than that, what a cool way to stay connected. 
Technology is changing our world every day....and some of it is even good!
...and it was! We lucked out, the tree is wonderful.
I put on the lights, and decided we needed more...off to Target we went. The extra lights did the trick. Then I added the angel to the top, my old crystal beads, and stuck in some ribbon and called it done! No, not really....I'm still working on the rest. But look, two pictures of me on my own blog...what do you think of that!
The angel did tell me that the lights and ribbon were enough for the first day though. Isn't she pretty? It seems a little odd to me that as the shortest person in this house I was the one to put the angel all the way up on the top of that tree!
Today I have been adding ornaments. I have a big collection of rocking horse/ toy horse ornaments. Here is just one of the boxes of boxes. They aren't all rocking horses, but a lot of them are!
I've been collecting them here and there for the last 30 years. This is one of the older ones...hello there pretty pony.
I think that it all started with the Hallmark Rocking horse series. I am proud to say that I have them all.
But it's not just the Hallmark collection, I have all kinds of horses. Here's little boy blue blowing his horn on a horse. Or something like that. Toot.
Another Hallmark pony. I'll show more in the weeks to come. I remember where or who most of them came from. Such good memories when each one comes out of it's box.
It's December, the ponies are on the tree....Christmas is in the air. It really is the most wonderful time of the year!
It had been a busy and cold and mixed up day...the Lion's Tap burgers that Eric brought home for supper were more appreciated than ever! Yum!
I tried to take my photo of the day earlier on the 22nd. November is full of cloudy, dark, and short days. I took this picture of the beads on my kitchen curtains. When I made the curtains I added the beads to catch the light. I'm glad that I did....especially on the days when there isn't a lot of light!
Buying groceries for Thanksgiving...overwhelming......made so much easier with Eric's help.
We were able to get almost all of our Thanksgiving groceries in one trip...except for the turkey...and the flowers. Both are important! We found them the next day at Byerly's. Instead of arranging my own center piece I bought a pre-done cornucopia...I love it!
I wasn't thrilled with my photo of the day...so I played with it in photoshop a little bit. This is the same picture using the colored pencils filter...I like it!
My cleaning time on Tuesday was taken over by working time....an unexpected job had come in. I'd rather be designing than cleaning anyway! I'll admit...it was a little stressful thinking about what needed to be done.
November 24th...my birthday. What a wonderful day. The boys had the day off from school, Eric took the day off from work, they cleaned, I cooked and cleaned. It was nice to all be home together. My day started off with a candle in a doughnut. It snowed big fluffy flakes all day and my bird feeder was filled with Cardinals! 5 males and 3 females at one time. So fun to see. My day was also filled with birthday greetings on Facebook. I felt so blessed that so many people took the time to say "Happy Birthday". Very cool.
Thanksgiving day. Brian's 18th birthday...oh my...how did that happen? We had a small group of 8, lots of food and time with family....so much to be grateful for. And I am. Here are my little boys with their grandma Barb. Love the smiles.
On Friday, after sleeping in...and not shopping!.... Eric and I drove to Taylors Falls for the lighting festival. It was a cold, but clear night. Santa arrived, Christmas is here. Are you ready? Me neither.
We came home Friday evening so we could prepare for Brian's birthday party the next day. On Saturday night Brian had 7 of his friends over to watch movies, eat pizza and mostly just be boys. Hmmm...it looks like these two are up to no good.....
...awww....they were just messing with me. How much trouble can you get into when you're eating pizza and drinking root beer?
My photo of the day was one of the roses from my birthday bouquet. Yummy yellow roses.
One of the little bouquets that I had on my table for Thanksgiving...to help balance the cornucopia...and I couldn't not do my own flowers to some extent! This was with my 50mm lens. I'm still learning about what it does...but I like it!
Oh...and the Vikings won! Amazing what a new coach can do. :-)
The long Thanksgiving weekend was followed by a dreary, rainy Monday. A perfect day to be inside, do some cleaning and have some homemade Turkey soup. Yum.
And finally today, now that November is winding down, I'm ready to start thinking about decorating for Christmas. Eric hung the lights outside on Sunday...they look so nice...and today I think we'll get our tree. My new ornament is waiting to have a place to hang for the next month.
So there's the recap....goodbye November, December is knocking on the door!
