Merry Christmas and Peace on Earth

Christmas Eve

Greeting to all family and friends who happen by today. I hope everyone is settled in for a nice Christmas Eve in front of their cozy fireplace, or in their favorite chair having a spot of tea and some Christmas cookies! My blogging lately has been minimal non-existent and I apologize!

The last few days we have made Christmas cookies, cleaned the house from top to bottom and done the usual last minute shopping. Eric and I put a moratorium on buying Christmas "stuff" several weeks ago. Ho Ho Ho! We added a wreath for the front door the weekend his mom was here, and this past week, window swags on the three front dining room windows. My first attempt there was a bit anemic, so I even went out and got more to add to it. Sigh. Well, the prices were too good to be true and it seems the stores here are determined to have Christmas well sold out by this time of the year. After Christmas sales will be dregs only. So, we added greenery here and there, and a few more figurines to our houses.

The kids have really enjoyed the Christmas houses. We have them set up in three main locations. The buffet in the dining room, on the mantle, and a seaside village on the bar between the kitchen and dining room. The seaport has been the most visited and admired. Seems Zack thinks the boats need to sail around some each time he visits. Silly also sits in the lagoon, how she manages to not knock over boats is a mystery. Maddie prefers the "baby" in the baby carriage and likes to move things around. They both come in the door wanting to turn on the lights, day or night, the lights must go on. Eric did a wonderful job wiring up all the bits and linking them together, so this year some locations only have one switch! How nice.

We made three kinds of cookies, Chocolate Chips, Pecan Sandies, and Candy Canes. All are yummy, and way more cookies than we need. I made two batches of trash, and Becky took some of that home.

Maddie is Two

Nine days till Christmas

Well I best post or be chastized for being a bah-humbug blogger! And I wouldn't want that. So, I'll give a try to come up with something new to talk about, since I have emailed or talked on the phone to all the people that count and they know all my news!


This morning was Zack's Christmas Party at preschool. Becky was in charge of the party, and she had a clever craft for the kids, they made raindeer food. Recipe for Raindeer food. My favorite part was the poem that goes with each jar of food.


Sprinkle on the lawn at night
The moon will make it sparkle bright
As Santa's reindeer fly and roam
This will guide them to your home.

Maddie came to stay with Eric and I during the party - we played play dough and Santa and train. She would drive the train around the table, stop at Santa's house and pick up food and gifts. Each time he loaded her train she would say, "Thank you"! We had a good time.

This afternoon after her nap I went over to their house and we all drove to the park. It was the first day in a week that the weather was warm enough to be ourside, so we took advantage of the nice afternoon to give them some fresh air. We went to the park/farm that is about 2 miles from here and visited the animals: cats, turkeys, chickens, pigs and cows. Sorry to say, the horses were not out, Maddie was disappointed. By 4 pm it was getting cooler, so we all headed back home. End of afternoon. Soon I may have pictures from this high adventure, but not sure what has turned out yet.

Eric and I will go back to Baltimore tomorrow to finish up clearing the apartment of the things we are taking. The other will finish at their own speed but we want to get done and get back home.

Day after snow

Eric spent the better half of the morning being a good neighbor. After clearing our driveway and walk, he and another neighbor went across the street and cleared the drive for a third neighbor Paul, as he has had heart trouble and can't shovel. Paul had tried to get his car out (he managed that) and the car couldn't get traction to get back up on their steep drive, so they helped him with getting everything clear so he could pull back into his drive. Then Eric moved up the street to another neighbor on the same side of the street as Paul. We found another good reason for a lot on the south side of the street, aside from being level, we also get morning sun. Our drive was dry and clear before the sun even hit across the street. Although the snow was pretty, almost eveyone wanted the snow out of their drive. It wasn't considered deep enough for the community snow removal guys, though they did do the streets with a sweeper. Eric did get to test drive a variety of shovels, so when we go buy one tomorrow, assuming we can find one, he has a pretty good idea of what to get. Of course, if Mike wants to mail us one - I'm sure he isn't using his! We are due snow again later this week!

I started the day in the sewing room, determined to unpack books and get things arranged. Around 11 my old AF neighbor from Panama, Pam called and said she would be through on her way back to DC. She came to lunch, and we had a great visit. She also got to see Becky and her two little ones, which was Deja Vu for Pam, as she remembers Becky as a baby. Pam thinks Maddie and Becky strongly favor each other. It was good to see Pam again, it's been a few months, so we had a great time visiting and making plans for another shopping adventure.

Guess what happened today!

Snow started falling mid-morning, big wet soggy flakes. By noon it was really coming down hard, and it lasted until nearly 5 tonight. Hopefully we won't get too much more tonight, but it sure is nice to look at! We went out early this morning to Wal-mart, and for groceries at a few other places, so we are all set. We made chili this afternoon for tomorrow night. Becky reported Z and M went out for awhile, but were "over it" pretty soon. Nothing like getting wet and soaked to make you want to come inside and be warm. Silly is sleeping it off under a heat vent. Cool - very cool!

White tailed visitors

Guess who we saw in the back area behind our house! Yes, two white tailed deer were hot footing it East right down the middle of the enviromental area behind our house. We were not sure who they were trying to get away from, but their pace was brisk. Eric was sitting in the Florida room, (in one of the new chairs) when he glanced out the window and saw them and hollered for me to come look. I said, you're kidding me right? But no, there they were and sure enough, their little white tails were clearly waving! How exciting to think we might see big wildlife from time to time - that is as long as they don't start eating the shurbs!