SweetCheeks Favorite Door

Is this her favorite door?

Is THIS the door to her heart?

Kind of -This is the front 

door to her house.  

BUT-it is NOT her favorite door.

I took the picture yesterday 

in the snow.

And look at the maple tree 

just in front of her house.

It looks magical, doesn't it?

Is THIS the door to her heart?

Nope that is the door to the playhouse.

She does love it- 'specially because

it is a pink door.

And, as some of you know, 

we have a little bitty door

built above our family room.

It is crawl access to the old

roof-we built out over part of

the old one and code demanded access.

They were going to stick it in a closet.

I said- Let's make this fun.

They thought I was funny alright

funny-nutso

THIS is SweetCheeks 

FAVORITE DOOR.

There are gnomes that live behind

the door.  

One of my very first posts

was all about the gnomes

and SweetCheeks 

first interactions with them. 

You can read it here

But come Christmas 

Santa takes over....

This is several feet off the ground and is

built back and over top of the dining room...

hard to explain.

As you can see, Santa has his list

and is checking it twice....

gonna find out who's naughty

and nice...

which means....

I am probably not gonna get anything

AGAIN this year!

Isn't that a great, magical

little door?

Have a wonderful Saturday!

ps.  I am SO glad the world

didn't end yesterday.  

I still have laundry to do!

PLEASE POKE THE CAKE

IF you are reading this I am
assuming that the world did
NOT go spinning out of control
as was predicted by many
"experts".
If it DID and TOOK ME
you will have this recipe
to remember me by!

SO...POKE THE CAKE?

That's Right!

Poke the Cake.

Better than a cake in the pokey*,

right?
Or at least I think so...
Can't say as
I have never BEEN in the pokey*,
have you?
Never mind- some things are
best kept to oneself.
*Pokey= jail 

This is an OLD OLD recipe.

I have been making it 

since my kids were little.

I am a creature of habit

so I am

STILL MAKING this cake.

It presents so sweetly!

If you click on the photo above

it will take you right to the recipe.

You start with this:

Bake the cake as normal
in 8" or 9"round pans.
While it is still hot
poke holes into it.
Like this...

Wondering what the green is there,
are you?
Well, it's NOT mold.
No, indeedy...it is 
GREEN JELLO.

And guess what?
You do the same thing with the
other layer with RED JELLO.

Then stick them in the fridge so 
the Jello sets up.
In a couple of hours, set the pan
in a bit of hot water for a minute
and then pop them out of the pan.
Frost them with one of 
God's not-really-cream
creations.

Like this!

Layer them and then 
"frost" all over with 
Cool Whip.
Then, put a few little berries
on top of that baby to dress it up.

Watch your grandkids eyes
light up when you cut into it.
If you did it right~
At some point it will look 
like THIS!

Every family needs a 
TEST TASTER.
As Martha Stewart would say.
That's a good thing.

I Love Santa! Yes I Do!

I do know that 

Jesus is the Reason

for the Season...so

don't be hate mailing me

that I also love Santa.

I believed in Santa until

I was 12.  Actually, I 

STILL  BELIEVE  IN SANTA.

I have collected them

for about 40 years.

This year I gave a large 

portion of my Santa collection

to my kids.

However, I kept a few of

my favorites.

This is one of my

VERY FAVORITES.

A sugared Santa..

that hangs at the bottom

of my plate display piece

by my kitchen sink.

Yeah- Yeah-Yeah-

I know- poor lighting...sorry...

Is he cute, or what?

Then, I have this Santa..

a Fitz & Floyd set

with reindeer candle holder.

You can see the children's 

The Christmas story propped up

waiting for little CJK.

I got one for each family.

My daughter, Mimi, cross-stitched

this for me when she was in college.

When my kids were little

screaming monsters

I used to do some folk art painting

to "escape".  

I sold a ton of these at craft fairs

over the years.

These were done on SLATES!

I take my big chalk board down

and replace it with these

on one of our kitchen walls.

I have actually been thinking

about taking up painting again....

I think I would like to use

a live model this time.

Oh-Sorry- Must go-

My doorbell is 

ringing and my Santa model

is here.

Hope YOU have a happy day, too!

Soft And White Pure And Bright

My hubby's Grandmother Clara

had a beautiful white and gold

porcelain Nativity that someone

handpainted for her.

Sadly, during the months

before her death it

"disappeared".

She had always told me that

it would be mine someday

because I loved it so.

When she passed

it was nowhere to be found.

Fast forward

15 years.

I was in Sam's Club,

of all places,

and spotted one that was

"almost identical"

to it.

I hesitated in buying it

and walked away.

When I went back they were

all gone.

Regret overwhelmed me.

As I was leaving I saw one

behind the counter

(you know the one where you

go to sign in if you forgot 

your card).

I walked to the counter.

Ummmm....Ma'am?

Is that Nativity taken?

No-It was returned.

Ummmm...Can I buy it?

Certainly!

Ah.....I knew then I was

supposed to have it.

Here it is-

It sits inside my front hall door.

On top of a case that is filled 

with family photos.

These were taken at night.

The only light is that coming

from the white lights 

under the "snow".

I love this-I was born and 

raised on a farm...we had 

cows but never any with gold horns.

The 3 wise men pay homage.

As does the shepherd here.

This sits below a picture

that my father had when he set

up housekeeping.

It is an old lithograph dated 1897.

My son did some research

and found that hardly 

any of them survived.  

It is in its original frame.

It was actually the only thing

I wanted that belonged to my dad.

It's quiet here now.

SweetCheeks has gone home.

It is pre-dawn and I am

cozied up with my coffee.....

with my lights turned on

in the pre-dawn darkness.

And...you WILL notice that there are

NO DUCKS

in my Nativity....

The duck stays here!

Have a ducky day!

Tomorrow if you are good

(and promise not to  stick

your half-eaten candy bar

under the sofa when your

hubby walks into the room)

I will give you my latest

 laugh.

They Are Home- Safely Home~

I got this from

Tete @ Beyond The Garden Gate

T'WAS 11 days before Christmas, around 9:38,

When 20 beautiful children, 

Stormed through Heaven's gate.

Their smiles were contagious, 

Their laughter filled the air,

They could hardly believe 

All the beauty they saw there.

They were filled with such joy, 

They didn't know  what to say.

They remembered nothing of what 

had happened  earlier that day.

"Where are we?" asked a little girl, 

As quiet as a mouse.

"This is heaven." declared a small boy.

"We're spending Christmas at God's house."

Then what to their wondering eyes did appear,

But Jesus, their Saviour, 

The children gathered  near.

He looked at them and smiled, 

And they smiled  just the same,

Then He opened His arms and 

He called them by name.

And in that moment was joy, 

That only Heaven can bring,

Those children all flew into

The arms of their King.

And as they lingered, 

In the warmth of His embrace,

One small girl turned 

and looked at Jesus' face.

And as if He could read 

all the questions she had

He gently whispered to her, 

"I'll take care of mom and dad."

Then He looked down on earth, 

The world far  below

He saw all of the hurt, 

The sorrow, and woe.

Then He closed His eyes and 

He outstretched His hand,

"Let My power and presence 

re-enter this land!"

"May this country be delivered 

from the hands of fools"

"I'm taking back my nation. 

I'm taking back my schools!"

Then He and the children 

stood up without a sound.

"Come now my children, 

Let me show you around."

Excitement filled the space, 

Some skipped and some ran,

all displaying enthusiasm 

that only a small child can.

And I heard Him proclaim 

as He walked out of  sight,

"In the midst of this darkness, 

I AM STILL THE LIGHT."

God Bless The People Of Sandy Hook

A Day Of Remembrance

I got the above late yesterday.

Feel free to copy it and use it

TODAY-Monday 12-17-12.

There is also a day of 

Silence & Support tomorrow.

Here is the graphic for that.

and here is the link....

http://newtownyouthandfamilyservices.org/

Please feel free to copy

and post this on your blog

TOMORROW

Tuesday 12/18/12

~Comments are off for today~

Anita Far Above Rubies Sings For The Lord

Anyone else out there

having a hard time

"getting on with Christmas"?

What happened in a 

schoolyard in Connecticut has

taken its toll on all of us.

A friend of mine, Suzan,

Simply Vintageous

 posted this

on her blog.

I was 

SO VERY MOVED BY IT

that

I went to Anita's Blog

Far Above Rubies

to ask her permission to post this.

Yes!  She is one of US!

I have heard this sung

a thousand times but

this rendition touched
me and gave me chills.
It is perfectly executed.

If you have a moment

listen to this with an open heart.

God bless every person in
Sandy Hook
as they go through the 
upcoming hours, days & weeks.

My Heart Is Broken

Our SweetCheeks is in

Kindergarten.

She is spending the weekend

with me...while Mom and Dad

are away.

I picked her up at noon 

from school yesterday.

I wanted to keep her close.

Her parents send her to 

a small, protected school.

A school where visitors

have to be buzzed in 

and have to be buzzed out.

A school much like the

one where the tragedy

that will haunt all of us

happened yesterday.

I cannot begin to imagine

losing this precious

child of the Lord.

How?

How can these parents

survive this travesty?

How?

How can this happen at

Christmas time when

their presents are 

surely purchased and

waiting for them?

How?

Which begs me to ask

WHY?

WHY is such a senseless

act of violence

aimed at those,

the most innocent 

among us.

I will never understand.

But I will pray.

Please pray!

God bless us each

and every one.

Jesus, Mary and Jo------WHAT the?

We have a Fisher Price nativity

that we keep specifically for

the kids to play with~

They can move the figures

around and the can kiss the

baby Jesus. 

No one tells them to
"Be careful"...or..."Don't touch"

It is my  GO TO GIFT for

new babies born to

Christian families.

NO ONE else gets 

a nativity for a new baby.

Well...except me....and now maybe

a few of you.

Anyway......

I am walking by the manger.

I see the sweet little

BABY JESUS.

Then I see sweet

BABY JESUS AND MARY

So far, so good, right?

Oh-Look-

There is Jesus, Mary and......

and.....and.....

PEDRO?

SOMEONE who shall remain nameless

LOST Joseph.

So...what do you do when you 

LOSE SOMEONE?

Well, if you are THREE

you simply replace them.

So...

We now have 

Jesus, Mary & Pedro.

It works for me.

And because the angel

looked a tad lonely on the

thatched roof of the stable

she is now keeping company with

her new friend.

I guess Heaven if full of wondrous

things.

The three wise men seem okay.

They came bringing gifts.

Oh....wait...

That is not the ONLY visitor

to see the baby.

No, indeedy...

Here is another new friend.

Look at Jesus smiling.

He likes all sorts of 

creatures-big and small.

There are a few lowly animals

And One 

VERY SPECIAL FRIEND.

I think he is here to sing...

AL-VIIIIINNNNNN!

Come back tomorrow and 

I will show you 

MY Nativity!

No duck allowed!

Spode Spit Polished And Shined

One time a long, long time ago..

in a house far-far away,

I set the table when we were

having company for dinner.

After it was set I noticed that

there were some smudges 

on the knives.

Child, I said,

and I won't tell you which one

lest I embarrass them to death

and they will do something hateful

to get even with me.

Child...Could you please take a cloth,

go around the table,

and polish all the silver

to get rid of the smudges?

A bit later I said...

The silver looks really good,

did you use a bit of water

on the cloth?

Nooooo....said the child.

I just spit on them

and wiped it off.

Ummmmmm....yuck!

Double yuck!

Did I rewash the silver?

Did I have time?

What's your best guess?

Anyway,

Here's the table today.

These silver chargers belonged to
Grandmother Clara.
They are very very heavy silver.

Spode takes center place here.

The centerpiece consists of a
Fitz & Floyd Santa and Reindeer.
Gifts from my kids several years ago.

 The reindeer is about 18" tall.

Santa is about 24" tall.

This table makes my

heart happy.

This  is a wider shot of the 

dining room.

This chandelier has a long

story behind it-but we

love it.

And here's a peek at the 

dining room mantle.

I found these sweet birds 
a few years ago and they
hang off large candlesticks
on the mantle.
One Little Birdie

Two Little Birdies

Three Little Bir......

What the Heck?

Ohhhh..There is another

one of Mark Roberts

Danged Santa Fairies

keeping his eyes on me.

And after I promised to 

be good and all.....

pffffttt....

My Gosh-
I just checked my email/blog
this morning and I am over-whelmed
with all the well-wishes from
yesterday-Thank you ALL
so much-Now I think I
might have to have a little cry,
or something-
Love to ALL of you!