Our Loves

Cookies! Cookies!

It's cookie baking day!  Over the river and through the snow to the Grand loves house we go ...  and our sleigh will be loaded down with lots of gifts and baked goods.  So today is cookie baking day at our house.  And gift wrapping time this evening.  We are heading out a week early to spend extra time with our little loves so they can get some 'baking with Grandma' done.  I feel like Mrs. Claus with all my little elves as helpers.  It's so cute, they all grab their little aprons and take their spots on the kitchen stools as they wait for their kitchen assignments.  They love baking and I love teaching them. They take close note of the little secrets of cooking and every year I see the advances in their techniques.  They look like a little assembly line when it comes to decorating the cookies etc. Today I'm baking cut out sugar cookies in several shapes and gingerbread boys and girls.  It's a time saver having them pre-baked and ready for decorating. That enables us time for baking other cookies and candies. I foresee a lot of smiles and sticky fingers in my near future!

Pictures are of some of the sweets I baked last Christmas. 

   

Our Special Guest

We have an overnight guest with us.  His name is Dave Wickerham, world renown organist.  We had the honor of meeting Dave about 5 years ago when he performed on the pipe organ in our small town in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  He is a good friend of our former neighbor and when we heard he would be stopping on his way through town we offered our guest room for the night.  Much to our surprise and great pleasure, he accepted.  We've had a wonderful time visiting with Dave.  He had just done a couple of performances in the Chicago area and he said it was nice to just relax.  I wish he were staying longer as the time flew by too fast.  It was our pleasure welcoming him into our home.

                  Yup, that's Dave beside me in our dining room!

  If you ever have the opportunity to hear this man play, do it!  You will not believe your ears!                           

Snowman

 ... now tell me, isn't this the cutest snowman?  I think this is the neatest idea. I hope we have some 'packy' snow while we are visiting our Grand loves over Christmas.  I think they would get a kick out of watching Grandma making a snowman ~ let alone an upside down one!  And snow angels, can't wait!  Pictures to follow, weather permitting!

A to Z's of Christmas

Mel over at Up North with Mel did an A to Z Christmas list on her blog and ended with "So what's your A to Z;s of Christmas?" Well now, being that she is my sister - that sounds like a challenge - so here goes:

A to Z's of Christmas 

a - adoration 

b - birth

c - Christ

d - decorations

e - eggnog

f - family

g - gingerbread

h - holly

i - icicles

j - Jesus

k - Kris Kringle

l - love

m - mistletoe

n - noel

o - ornaments 

p - poinsettia 

q - quilt 

r - reindeer

s - Santa 

t - tinsel 

u - unwrapping 

v - visitors

w - wreaths

x - xmas 

y - yule log

z - zzzz - a long winter's nap

footnote: x is a Greek symbol for Christ - but please note that I personally prefer to use the word CHRIST in Christmas

Nov 11, 2011 – Explanation of the origin and use of the abbreviation xmas. ... an unknown (since the Greek letter chi, [C,c] which looks like the English letter x, is the symbol ... 1) Using an "X" to replace Christ's name in Christmas - i.e. Xmas

So tell me, what is does your A to Z Christmas list look like? 

~ It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas ~

To Tickle your Funny-bone!

I found this while surfing the net and got a chuckle and thought others might find it humorous as well.

I'm assuming by the title of this story the assignment was to put a 'sticker' on the page and then to write a story about it.

UPDATE on Bling! Bling!

I've had a few inquiries as to the 

meaning of 'bling bling' 

I hope this helps:

World English Dictionary

bling-bling or bling
— adj
1.	slang  flashy; ostentatious; glitzy
— n
2.	ostentatious jewellery