Merry Christmas

And may the joy in your journey be more than you'd hoped for while being followed by a ray of sunshine and a ladybug...

The Glorious Impossible

Hark the herald angels say:

Please indulge me... and pay special attention to my DGD (the 2nd little girl) as she says the most important line in the Nativity Story...

"Today in the town of David, a savior has been born to you...He is Christ the Lord"

(She sounds like Linus! Too cute too cute.)

Christmas Eve day dawned icy and snowy.

Glad we didn't have to go to work.

This is my mom making MY most favorite Christmas cookies. I indulged in three of them today. It was hard to stop!

We are having a nice dinner tonight, prime rib ( not Madl's, but it will have to do), baked potatoes and spinach souffle. We already had Hot Hot Hot HOT Chocolate! I think I may have exceeded my sugar limit for today.

And don't forget why we celebrate this day...its not the food, or the gifts, its not even the wonderful family we have been given...and on an ordinary day such as this

The Glorious Impossible came into being...

Come and see what's happening in the barn!

You must listen, I had not heard this before...it is a fun song and seems to go very well with the nativity that my oldest granddaughter set up when she was 2...even at that age she seemed to know that all eyes were on the Baby Jesus!

Have you ever seen such ...

Cheeks and lips?sprinkles?
adorableness?

Snow and Cookies

So our special day dawned snowy, slushy and wet. I got to shovel and I live to see another day. That was some heavy snow. Would have made a great snow family, but I was mostly dead. Handsome has some bad bronchitis and I know he would have shoveled if I hadn't gotten there first. (Yes our deck is a pinkish, wine ish color, it makes me happy, but boy does it need a staining).

These are his special Fannie's (his grandma) Christmas cookies. That is what I gave him for our special day.Do you think he liked them?

Meatosauruses

Yes, we love our red meat. The thicker, the fatter, or should I say well marbled, on the grill and from our special butcher Bob Madl. We were so sad to find out that he has had to close his business due to the economy. We wish him well and we will miss him and his slogan,

"You can't beat Madl's meat!"

And that's the truth!

Once Upon a Time

there was a boy

and a girl



They fell in love.


"to you my dear...

If I could have just one wish,

I would wish to wake up everyday

to the sound of your breath on my neck,

the warmth of your lips on my cheek,

the touch of your fingers on my skin,

and the feel of your heart beating with mine...

Knowing that I could never find that feeling

with anyone other than you." Unknown




They got married and


"when he held out his arms,

the world itself wrapped around me

and held me tight."

(quote from storypeople.com)



and had a family.



"A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person." Unknown




"When the last speck of fairy dust is gone, and you are married to exactly the person you married and not any fantasy of your own, you find out whether you have what it takes to make it through a few more decades of togetherness. It takes commitment, it takes forgiveness, it takes resignation and compromise, but with all of this, you still have to feel tenderness. The person you see in those eyes that meet yours across the pillow, or the kitchen table or over the head of the child whose hands you hold...

If that person still touches something wordless in you, you can imagine that there are still good parts left, still surprises in the story." Unknown

Happy 37th anniversary my Handsome!

December 7th Pearl Harbor

I know I am a day late, but I didn't want to miss this chance to post. I did remember all the men and women who died on that terrible day. We must never forget and we must teach it to our children.

We have visited the actual site of the bombing. It is very quiet as you take the boat there. It is eerie and there is still oil bubbling up from one of the sunken ships.

We also visited Washington D.C. I would go back there in a heartbeat. So much to see and be proud of.

There are no words to say Thank You to all of the military who lost their lives.

God bless America and our troops!

A Cradle in Bethlehem

Sing sweet and low your lullaby

'til angels say amen.

A mother tonight is rocking,

a cradle in Bethlehem.

This song is so beautiful and Nat King Cole sings it so tenderly. I get all teary eyed listening and thinking about Mama Mary and Papa Joseph worrying about their precious one. If you listen to it and I hope you will,

please enjoy the following photos...

My Snow White

Please pray for my Snow White...she is not a good eater and is sick now. She has succumbed to the "sick" that the rest of the family has. Daddy had it for at least 3 weeks. Mama is in her 3rd week. Ray of Sunshine's nose is running and has a hoarse voice. Now Snow White has it...she cannot afford to not eat.

I love her so!

Grandma's Heart

Well, this Whensday was my first day watching my three grandchildren...and I must say I was tired. Not because anyone was difficult...its just the way things are when you get older.

However my grandma's heart was overflowing on this day. Especially from the very good behavior of my oldest granddaughter and some of the things she said and did.

But FIRST...

I must tell you a Fall Fairy story. I was yelling(can you believe it) at the tiny Fall Fairy (many years ago) to pick up her doll clothes and she said what is now a very famous line in our family.

"But mama, my dolly only has one clo!"

Well, fast forward to now and the Fall Fairy's oldest. She and I were playing store and she said, "I have to go shopping because Jasmine only has one clo!" I almost fell off of the chair. I said "What did you say?" And she said "Jasmine only has one clo, I mean clothes!". I told her the mama story and she looked very pleased with herself.

Then we were coloring on a tray on the floor. She was working very hard. She said it hurt her elbow sometimes when she colors and her knees get sore from sitting on the hard ground. Anyway she wanted to sit on the couch and finish her big cookie that I had brought her and her brother (who took a 3+ hour nap).She sat close to me and put her arm around me. I said which elbow hurts you...she said the one that's around you Grandma but it doesn't hurt now. Then she kissed me and left sugar crumbs on my cheek. "I wish my tongue was longer and I could lick off the the crumbs", I told her. Then she gave me the sweetest kiss on the lips and I melted into a puddle on the floor.

We have the best conversations.

She told me she had been at the neighbor's house playing with her little friend. She got a small boo boo while she was there. I inquired if anyone kissed it for her. She said no, she kissed it herself cause she could reach it!

Later, she wanted to play with her baby doll. "I can't play with any of my toys, not even the pretend baby, cause my brudder is taking a nap!" Next time I promised her we would get all of the toys she wanted to play with out of their room before the nap. I told her I was sorry she couldn't get dressed cause all of her clothes were up there too, but she looked beautiful in her "nigh nigh" dressie.

She decided she had to go potty. "Grandma! Come here, I want to show you something". I got off the floor rather stiffly by this time. "See Grandma, its Charlotte, but she's dead now!". I told her I like Charlotte but only when she is outside. "Grandma, I like Charlotte best when she is squashed!"

I am looking forward to many more conversations with all of my grandchildren! My Grandma's heart is overflowing.

Goodnight Kiss

Well, I was mostly asleep last night, when Handsome came to bed. He did his nightly routine and laid down. Just as I was thinking, "he forgot to kiss me"...

he brought his hand to his mouth, kissed it and touched my hair... All is right with the world...