THE FIRST SNOWFLAKE & A New Computer

You will have to bear with me-

I have a 

NEW LAPTOP!

It is wonderful but I am still trying 

to figure it out.

It is kind of like being on a 

BLIND DATE---

It feels a little awkward and uncomfortable.

(don't ask me how I know that)

I am still trying to find my pictures

because they transferred over by

DATE & IMAGE #.

Lord help me- 

 I had spent weeks putting them into

named file folders.

That being said...

THIS IS WHAT YOU ARE GETTING TODAY

because, basically, it is all I can find.

What are the chances of a mom

snapping a picture just at the moment

A SNOWFLAKE

landed  on

THE BRIGHT EYES TONGUE?
Can you see the snowflake on her tongue?
They don't get much snow where they live
so this was an exciting day for her.

Can you see she's a bit banged up?
We won't talk about that here....
I see I have switched font size
without any help from myself.
I am SO lucky like that!
I am assured that even a blond
can master this thing without
a license to operate.
I am going to try to prove
them right...
for a change
So......

CHRISTMAS IN THE DINING ROOM

OKAY- Which one of YOU BRATS

asked me to post more pictures

of my 

Christmas Decorating?!

Like I don't have 

ENOUGH TO DO!!!???

Well, you know me---I am a sucker

for all my followers.

AND because I LOVE YOU

I am going to show you the 

DINING ROOM

even though the 

Table. Is. Not. Set.

Now- 

IF I REALLY LIKED YOU

I would hustle right to the dining room

and do a nice little tablescape

and then take pictures of it--

Ain't happening, honey.

What you see is what you get.

Ready?

Pieces of the Centerpiece!

Oh! Dear Deer!  

My Woodland Santa-

He's a cookie jar--shhhh-He doesn't know that!

If you look real close you can see me

reflected in the gazing ball--

now-there's a dumb blond for you!

You need some roses and greenery 

for a centerpiece, right?

Step back--step way back....

The sun was shining bright this morning

and it just caught my eye---

In the corner is a French themed tin

filled with rosemary and fairy lights.

Tie backs for the drapes which are shot through

with silver-

From the kitchen-

I sure do miss my beautiful

crystal chandelier which is now

in storage waiting for my 

next home.

I did gussy this one up with a 

few baubles---

Yep- I should have ironed those 

slip covers before I slipped them on..

I'll get right on that-

Thanks for noticing!

From the entry hall-

The left side--with built in hutches--

From entry hall-looking towards 

side porch-

Yeah- not sure what happened there-

Whole picture is a bit wonky...

Oh- well--that's what you get for 

rushing me!

A night time shot-

Another daytime view-

I'll get right on ironing those creases out...

and maybe I'll even set the table for you

on those cute, glitzy snowflake place mats.

WHAT? WHO SAYS

you shouldn't use place mats on top of 

A TABLECLOTH?

Ask me if I care!!!

I think I am getting more like 

MAXINE by the day.....

Now- if you are 

REALLY NICE TO ME

I just might do a few more shots of 

CHRISTMAS at the CRAZY HOUSE

in a couple of days!

FINISH IT UP FRIDAY-Really Random!

I WAS going to do a 

CHRISTMAS POST TODAY

but decided to clean up 

my picture files a bit.

LUCKY YOU!

You get to look at all this 

RANDOM CRAP STUFF

Some fall pictures of my daughter's kids-

BigBoyE, CharlesInCharge& BrightEyes

Can you tell who the 

GOOFBALL in that family is?

Hint- It's the oldest one!  lol

Looking for a cute little 

CHRISTMAS GIFT 

for a grandparent, godparent, mom or dad?

I stole borrowed them from the internet

but the TREE I spotted on 

AnnMarie-Musings of a Vintage Junkie's blog

Can I get a HAND for those ideas?
....nevermind....

Wouldn't those make cute memories?

My son was traveling for the week and my

daughter-in-love walked into the bedroom

and found our little CJK holding 

A NEWSPAPER CLIPPING

of him and his daddy 

taken a couple of years ago.

He was missing his Daddy and 

those wet spots are where his tears were

dropping onto the paper.

Doesn't that make you want to weep?

Look what a little CHUNKER he was! LOL

To comfort himself he sleeps with

HIS DADDY'S TEDDY BEAR

from when he was a little boy.

Not so chunky any more!

Speaking of CHUNKY!

Chunky peanut butter anyone?

This "little girl" is 14 now.

Look close-

That is not a SUNTAN on her legs!

She is going to kill me...

but she will probably wait until 

AFTER I buy her Christmas present.

She slathered herself with
PEANUT BUTTER
but refuses to eat at the
WAFFLE HOUSE
when we travel.
Her sisters make up for her.
We stop for waffles-

What do you want girls?
STEAK & EGGS...
Seriously---do I look like an
idiot-$15 for a 
WAFFLE HOUSE steak and eggs?
Milk is extra--
$50 later and we are on our way!
Maybe I won't get them a
Christmas present this year~

Speaking of Christmas presents

I will finish with this.

Yeah- You go right ahead and do that.

As for me---

I would be afraid of finding 

POISON in my COFFEE

if I did that!

I don't put

ANYTHING

past 

ANYONE

ANYMORE!

Have a wonderful weekend.

I will be back later with

some more

CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS

so -quit your whining!

IT'S A BLUE CHRISTMAS AROUND HERE THIS YEAR

As most of you know I de-cluttered to 

downsize and get ready to move

this past summer.

That means that about 2/3 of my 

CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS

are stored in a warehouse a few miles from here.

At least I grabbed a few boxes and 

I was NOT BLUE to find 

THE BLUE BOX!

This was a gift from my friend, Donna R.

several years ago.

I just added a blue & white glass ball

to 'theme him up' a bit.

I split most of my Santa collection up

between my kids-but I couldn't bear

to part with him.

I have a blue, white & silver tree.

Lots of baubles on that baby!

Just a sweet bow topper-

uh-oh- I see a couple of green wires!

A gifted angel-

Icicles-

A bowl of ornaments with a strand of lights in it...

After I left Kris's party here

I drove down to see my daughter, Mimi, 

in Indiana.

Watching THIS would chase away the 

BLUES in ANY HOUSE!

Our little BrightEyes loves

decorating the 

CHILDREN'S TREE!

Where the kids can move ornaments at will...

and she often does!

And- like any good little

WISCONSIN BORN CHILD

she is wearing her 

GREEN BAY PACKER OUTFIT

to 'work' in.

Now- if you MISSED my Instagram post

this is what she looked like at the mall!

OH! LOOK!  I SEE SANTA!!!

She is wearing the coat her mama wore

as a toddler!

I have lots more 

CHRISTMAS 

to show you in the next few days.

Huh? What?

Okay then- Quit whining-

I will get right on that!

Hope YOU ALL have a great day!

A BIG SURPRISE FOR THE HOSTESS WITH THE MOSTEST

See if you can GUESS where I was on

SATURDAY NIGHT!

Here's a hint!

I have to tell you a bit of the back story.

Grab a cuppa coffee or your vodka drink of choice,

sit back and read.

Kris & I "met" online blogging and we 

"connected" on many levels,

love of home, love of family,

love of her handy-dandy husband, Terry,

love of all things pretty.

One day out of the clear blue 

A MAN CALLED ME.

I didn't recognize the number and debated

on whether to answer.

A voice that I didn't recognize said-

How would you like to come down here?

WEAR A NIGHTGOWN!

BRING SOME $1 BILLS!

BRING 5 LOTTERY TICKETS

and

I WILL PICK YOU UP AT THE MOTEL 

OF YOUR CHOICE!

What went through my mind---

Hmmm...Axe murderer looking for a mark?

MANY other things went through my mind.

(Actually he offered to let me stay with them

but I didn't want to put that on Kris)

He wanted to surprise Kris with ME

for her 

GIRLFRIEND PARTY.

As I walked into the house

~which, let me tell you, her pictures

do NOT do justice to her house-

you have to see it in person to

really appreciate it~

I came in through the back door

as Terry pretended he forgot his wallet

so he could drop me off...

I held a gift bag high up so it covered my face.

Kris was watching me-

and it took her just a few seconds

to realize that it was 

Nana Diana-a real person in real life time!

You can read her 'take' on it here.

We were like BFF's from the first moment on.

Okay- first off- my hair---

I had tried to neaten it up 

by pulling part of it

up and back...

yeah---well- you can see how well that worked out.

Terry said he recognized me in the parking lot by

ALL THAT WHITE HAIR!  lol

Kris is even prettier in person than the picture shows!

WHAT A PARTY!

Okay-

First of all - the FOOD!

And did I mention her friends 

MIGHT BE CRAZY?

This one seemed to ZONE OUT 

right in the middle of

THE PARTY!

I won't name her because 

I don't want her family 

to put her in

THE HOME (yet).

The lady next to her (Sandy)

was wearing a blinking necklace all night.

Luckily, I am not seizure prone because

I sat next to her---

We partied in Terry's 

FIREMAN  CAVE

(much to his distress)

I won't mention that someone,

who shall remain nameless, thus, blameless,

might have broken one of his shelves off the wall.

Not that the party got wild, or anything,

you understand!

Kris had gifts & drawings-  

the gifts that were exchanged 

went to benefit a 

CHARITY OF THE GIVER'S CHOICE!

It was a wonderful night!

I am SO glad that I showed up in

PAJAMAS

with 

DOLLARS

and

LOTTERY TICKETS.

All that was missing was the

POLE DANCING FIREMAN!

Although Kris assures me that he 

does that at home when they are alone...

which sets THIS BOY a'howlin'....

And that's all I'm gonna say about THAT!

Thank you, Kris, for a wonderful,

wonderful party!

Guess what!

I am coming next year and bringing

ALL MY GIRLS

with me!

You can blame Terry for this WHOLE MESS!~

Happy Happy Birthday, Sweet Cheeks!

I CANNOT BELIEVE

you are

TEN YEARS OLD!

Because if YOU are TEN

then I am.....

thirty, forty,fifty, sixty, 

OLD!

Your birthday was yesterday

but you were out of town..

so, today, this is for you, 

Sweet Cheeks!

My Little Girl is Growing Up!

Look how cute you were at age 3!

Let me take you on a short journey

that started TEN YEARS ago..

The angels sang the day you were born.

You were so small when you were born-

You came early and 

spent 15 days in the NICU.

Nana visited you everyday 

and held you close to her heart.

Then-

When you got home your sisters loved on you

and you grew strong and healthy.

You were a cute toddler-

even when your mom 

thought you were a chicken.

You were such a happy little girl...

Sometimes though you were just 

ONE HOT MESS!

And one time at the 

Christmas Tree Farm

a bush jumped out and grabbed you.

Instead of rushing to rescue you 

your mom had the 

presence of mind to take a  picture 

so that we could all laugh!

One day you ran away from your 

pretty princess outfits

and showed up

dressed for a magazine cover

for downtown Green Bay.

We were so proud of you!

You love the Packers!

You love to dance!

And you love school!

For the first time ever you did not 

have to wear a uniform on the

first day of school.

You ultimately decided you 

LIKED wearing a uniform better!

You love your family, too!

And 

WE LOVE YOU!

Happy Birthday, Honey!

I hope I live long enough to see you 

wearing something like this someday!

Even though you told me I can't 

SIT UP FRONT IN THE CHURCH

because I might

ACT UP!

Seriously?  Me?!!!!

Okay- Okay-you have me pegged 

but just remember

THE NUT DOESN'T FALL

 

TOO FAR FROM THE

 

NANA TREE!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Sweet Cheeks!

Love you to the moon and back!