Mish Mash of the last couple of weeks-part two

We got up bright and early this past Saturday morning to head south to see our other granddaughters. We were just about to pull out of the neighborhood and granddaughter #1 texted about "brother and sister" aka Barbie and Ken. I turned around and pulled up in front of the house and Mark ran in to get them. They rode in the window all the way . . .

Our daughter, son-in-law, and two daughters are living with the in-laws right now. Our daughter's home sold and they have purchased a fixer upper and won't be able to move until the summer. I hope they didn't mind that we crashed in on them on Saturday. It was this granddaughter's Holly Jolly winter recital. Her mom was making a fancy bun for her.

Pops was holding this chunky baby. She is so long and she is only 9 months old! She is a smiley baby.

She had to be at the venue (a large local church) at 1:15 so I went with our daughter to take her. She had on sparkles galore!

I wanted you to see the cute back of the costume!!

She was ready to go!

We had forgotten to bring our little gift so I bought a small bouquet from the moms of the competition team . . .it was a fund raiser . . . $25 for a tiny bouquet.

This one "sang along" -- she is making those Pterodactyl noises. She likes hearing herself! It was really cute!

She is third from the right!

We grabbed a couple of photos afterwards.

They had some cute photo opps.

You can see how long that sweet baby really is in this photo. I do not have a single photo of me with all three granddaughters. Maybe I can get one after Christmas when we are together.

On the way home, we hopped off the interstate a few exits early and went to our son's house and we had "brother and sister" with us. Mark had borrowed a couple of things from our son and we needed to drop them off.

Our son asked us to stay for dinner. It was so yummy. He made shrimp and conecuh sausage over grits. He is such a good cook.

I'm still trying to tackle my office. Access to the attic is through my office so all of the holiday tubs have to go through. My back has been so messed up that I'm cleaning and packing one tub at a time. The things that were in our attic when the house burned STAYED in the attic. For some reason, those things were not packed away and put in storage like everything else. Our house was somewhat open to the elements from July 2022 until February 2023 so the tubs are FILTHY. Thanksgiving was so late that my Thanksgiving decorations aren't packed away yet either. I'm trying to sort through and make a box for the Salvation Army of Fall and Christmas decor . . .and I'm filling a bag of trash.

Brother and sister are catching a ride on the reindeer. These three reindeer were behind the Christmas tree and the Roomba pushed them and all three were in different places on our first floor. I put brother and sister on them and sent a photo to our granddaughter. She thought it was funny!

I think I'm caught up with photos. I'll have more to post soon.

 

Merry Christmas Hodgepodge

 

1. What's one thing you want to get done before the calendar flips to a new year? I pulled my back “out of whack” about ten days ago and I’ve started PT. I would love to get my back in working order. It is slowing me down!! I know that is a weird answer . . .

2. What's something that brought a smile to your face this year? Our granddaughters!!

3. What do you like on a cracker? Do you have a favorite cracker variety? I love crackers. I really enjoy cheese and crackers. Mark and I both love Cheez its. I also love mini saltines. I really love the Fig & Black Sesame Artisanal Crisps from Aldi. They may be my all-time favorite. I love to put them on a charcuterie board, but I don’t actually put cheese ON those crackers. They are good all by themselves!!

4. Do you have plans for ringing in the new year in a fun or special way? Are you typically awake at midnight on the last day of the year? At this point, we do not have any plans. I guess we should be thinking about it!! We rarely make it until midnight.

5. What are three words that describe your 2024? Joy, grief, and hard . . .even when life is hard and we are grieving, there is still joy.

6. Insert your own random thought here. Here is our Christmas card – Merry Christmas from our home to yours!!

Mish Mash of the last couple of weeks-part one

Hey friends! Life is still crazy at the Elliott household. Mark's brother and his wife are still battling some serious health concerns BUT there have been some moments of JOY. I'm all about finding those moments of JOY!! Of course, I loaded these photos in a certain order and NONE OF THEM loaded in the correct order. Here goes  . . . all out of order!

This past Friday afternoon, I finished labeling our Christmas cards and got the majority of them in the mail!! Since I've been having back problems, I stood at the counter to work on them. I wanted them IN THE MAILBOX.

Friday morning, we had our "girls from the office" party at Peggy's house. Peggy has more Christmas decorations than anyone I've ever known. She takes down all of her regular paintings from the walls and replaces them with paintings of Santa! She has 100's of stuffed/standing Santas. She removes all of her books and knick knacks from her bookshelves and replaces them with Christmas items. Her tree rotates and every branch has at least one ornament on it and LOTS of the ornaments are Hallmark ornaments. It is a sight to behold and she is so gracious to host every year. Look at her dishwasher! Those are magnets. I think that snowman is so cute! That is THE ONLY picture I took.

At home, we were doing all of the things you do before you have company. We hosted our supper club on Friday night. Our nativity didn't make it home last year (after the fire) but Mark brought it home from his mother's basement this year. It looks like our piece of furniture was made just for our nativity.

I've received two of these waxed amaryllis and I'm fascinated at how quickly they are growing.

I had left over greenery after decorating the mantle and mailbox, so I made an arrangement in a big metal bucket for the dining room.

The dining room table centerpiece has real antlers in it.

Mark's mother made kitchen Christmas trees many years ago. Mine dry rotted or something - it was old. I removed all of the ornaments she made and bought a tiny tree for $14.99 at Walgreen's. Viola! I have my two baking Santas beside it.

I have a wreath with a star and a tree over the stove.

I found these cute Santa hat chair covers AT THE DOLLAR TREE . . .or Dollar General. I think it was Dollar Tree. I think they were $1.25 or $3.00 each.

I've had these wire angels for many years. I haven't used them in a while so I'm enjoying looking at them on the hearth.

I have four metal reindeer on the mantle along with battery operated lights and greenery from the farm.

I think it looks pretty good this year!

I've had several yearly doctor's appointments lately. My internest had this in his waiting room. The receptionist said patients had been taking selfies with this hahaha!

This is my messy office and I am so glad that I have an adjustable desk. It has been invaluable since I have been having back problems!!

Here is our mailbox. I love decorating the mailbox!!

I told y'all that my sister, Glenine, died Thanksgiving week. She made this angel for me years ago and the angel had been "lost" since 2021. I found her this year and I love that she is on top of my tree.

This was at 9:30 one night when Mark was out of town. The upstairs porch rail lights had already gone off (timer) but this is what our house looks like for Christmas.

Our front steps had rotted through. We moved into this house in 2014. Mark and our brother-in-law, Bob, rebuilt them. They worked soooo hard!

I love a Christmas wreath on the front door.

I didn't want to drag the wreaths all through the house and drop pine needles so Mark was working on those steps and I went up to the top porch and dropped a rope down. Mark tied the wreaths on and I hoisted them up and over!!

On the day after Thanksgiving, I went with our son and his family to the Christmas tree farm. We don't grow Fraser Firs in Alabama but they always have some for those who love them. We do! It was sooo cold that day!

When we got back to their house, we watched a drawing video and drew these cute dogs together.

This is Wynn, our friend. He dressed up to go to the tree lot! He looked like Cousin Eddie.

We rode the little train -- I was in the car with our daughter-in-law and granddaughter.

Wynn and our granddaughter -- so cute!

Our son is on the left and Wynn and his fancy silly suit is on the right.

She is a beauty. We are blessed with beautiful granddaughters - inside and out!

We hosted our supper club on Friday night. I thought our dining room looked lovely. I don't have any pictures of our friends. They don't like to appear very often on the blog.

Mark had our outside areas looking beautiful and the fire pit was a nice addition to the evening . . . until it ran out of gas. Oh well!

Mark fried bream from the lake at the farm. It was delicious. The guys hung out with him on the porch while he fried. These people are our chosen family.