I’ve always had a live tree.  It’s only in the past several years that we’ve gone to an artificial tree.  It’s against all my principles, but it’s necessary.  It’s an artificial tree or no tree, it’s that simple.  The month gets shorter every year, and there’s never time now to get “Christmas” pulled together.  So I fill my tree with so many ornaments you can hardly see the branches. Ahhh, but I miss the smell of pine!   My tree is a happy one this year.  Must be because of these little red heads… This little angel is perched in the branches, watching over the tree.  She’s new and she’s…

  “I heard the bells, on Christmas Day, Their old, familiar carols play, and wild and sweet the words repeat of peace on earth, goodwill to men.” …Henry Wadsworth Longfellow       Merry Christmas Everyone!   French… Joyeux Noel German… Froehliche Weihnachten Italian… Buone Feste Natalizie Japanese… Shinnen omedeto. Kurisumasu Omedeto Norwegian… God Jul or Gledelig Jul Portuguese… Feliz Natal Russian… Pozdrevlyayu s prazdnikom Rozhdestva is Novim Godom Spanish… Feliz Navidad and from Chelsea and Bitsy… Bow Wow, ruff, ruff!     “I wish we could put up some of the Christmas spirit in jars and open a jar of it every month.” Harlan Miller       Wishing…

I feel like the sleigh Santa uses turned into a locomotive! Since when did Christmas come so fast? Yesterday my grand-daughter announced the imminent arrival of Christmas and I couldn’t believe it. No! I need more time! Santa’s coming in a locomotive! I’ve been busy trying to fitting in all those holiday traditions. We all have them, the things we remember forever, and look forward to every year. Here’s my list… Cookie Baking: Saturday was cookie baking with my grand-daughters Alyssa and Michaela. We made 4 kinds of cookies. What was I thinking? After hours of waiting for the sugar cookie dough to chill, rolling out dough, cleaning up the…

And the lion shall lay down with the lamb… But at my house the lamb is glittered pink, and who knows what color the lion will be. I haven’t found a lion I love yet. Humm…wonder if they come in pink? I started counting the days with this beautiful advent calendar my friend Nancy made for me. (It has pockets and little treats in each pocket!). Well, I got to day 10 and it hit me! 10 plus 15 is 25! No, no, no we can’t have Christmas this fast! I’m not ready at all! It seems for every step I take forward I take two steps back. No presents…

The Christmas decorating started this weekend and of course, it involved a bunny. This little bunny sits among many other ornaments on my Christmas tree. He’s a bit like Peter Rabbit…a little different than all the rest but loved none the less. Mooch took right to the tree skirt fabric and made herself at home! Chelsea was busy burying bones under the ornaments waiting to be put on the tree. Who knows, maybe Santa will find it and bring her something special when he finds it! I love an old-fashioned tree with a mixture of ornaments. Anything goes as long as it’s loved! Little houses… Tiny vintage mercury glass… a…