Check This Out... A Real Christmas Surprise!

Leanne, of Intricate Art, filmed a great Christmas surprise for her mother and family. (While there, if you're not familar with her art, check it out too.)

Go here and take a look.

Holiday Blahs

 I'll be glad when its December 26. I can't seem to shake this blah feeling, no matter how often I watch Its a Wonderful Life. Sigh.

However, there is one Christmas that was the best-est ever and I don't think I got one thing. It was the first Christmas after I had been working for a year. It had been welfare prior to then. I had four kids ranging in age from about 4 to 9 or 10 yrs old. (Their father was gone and dare I say that was a real blessing too.) It was just us.

Just before Christmas I joined a credit union and applied for a $500 loan. And surprise, I got it. This was in the late 60s so $500 was a lot more then than it is now. And I spent every cent of it on the kids. Ohmygawd, can you say 'presents dripping out of her ass'... that would be me. I had so much fun getting the kids every possible thing I could. This was before electronic games so prices were cheap. Dolls, Easy-bake Ovens, play luggage, tea sets, trucks, tricycles, etc.

Christmas eve, after the kids finally went to sleep, I wrapped and I wrapped. Then I wrapped some more. I wrapped so much I finally said to hell with it and just put the rest of the gifts under the tree naked.

You should have seen the kids' faces when they walk into the room. They were overwhelmed and I just sat there with the biggest 'shit-eating' grin you ever saw. Man, that was such a charge to be able to do that. There were so many presents it was obscene. (And just to put it in perspective, previous holidays were Toy-&-Joy kinds. A teddy bear and a naked Barbi kind of gifts, not that I wasn't grateful.)

That was my best Christmas EVER!! It can still bring a grin to my face and a smile to my heart. (We won't mention the worse.) Is there one Christmas that comes to mind for you? Please share if you feel up to it.

Just A Few Pictures from Christmas

Just a few pictures from Christmas Eve. Each of the kids got three presents. The adults pulled White Elephant gifts again. I got one that is a perfect example of what constitutes a White Elephant gift... I'll take a picture of it later today and post it. A person from my son's company came, too. The receptionist. She brought her two daughters, a friend of theirs, and her mother. A "Southern Grandmother" according to my son... and he wants his kids to have a 'Southern Gramma' in their lives. (00) Okay. Now if you can just twist it a little..... Fortunately for me, I understand the comment and I have no qualms about it. But maybe he shouldn't have said it out loud while I'm sitting next to him. You know, just to be polite.

The Look of Christmas

"I don't care if you don't want to do it. Now, hug your brother and smile!!"

Three Cookies Left

Busy day yesterday, at least for this place. The three girls came over and the cookies were baked. Then everyone (except me) went to a high school basketball game. After the game, 'mom' took the girls home and went to visit one of her friends in the area. So... after the baking I had the place to myself. I caught up with my naps.
You know, because I could.

We started the day off with a pizza.


The kitchen was a bit crowded at times. The 14 yr old kept up with friends by texting. I heard her tell 'mom' that she could text without having to look at the screen.


The boys were demonstrating their belching skills. The wee one is the best at it.


There was Christmas music playing all the while..... LOUDLY.


Darius discovered his love for ipods. And he has his favorite music, too.


Cookies were packed away in an empty tin I had around. These would go with the girls back to their place after the game. Everyone had plenty to eat during the baking of them and we still have three left this morning. They are crunchy cookies. Dried cookies. Good for dunking, that's fer sure.