Christmas Day 2010

Grandma's got a brand-new......

rubber ducky!!!! (Thanks to Becky!!)

A Very Blessed Christmas To Everyone

May the snowflakes
fall lightly on your brow
May the soft winds
freshen your spirit.


May the sunshine
brighten your heart
May the burdens of the day
rest lightly upon you.


And this Christmas and always,
may God enfold you
in the warmth of his love.

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. Photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, visit Soulemama to leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

Yarn Along...

From Ginny, the founder of "Yarn Along"~ Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading, and the evidence of this often shows up in my photographs. I love seeing what other people are knitting and reading as well. So, what are you knitting or crocheting right now? What are you reading? Take a single photo and share it either on your blog or on Flickr. Leave a link below to share your photo with the rest of us! ~

Busy, busy, busy....that's what's happening here around here. All the busyness leaves little time for knitting, but I did manage a bit of needlework this last week.

I finished two parts of a kitchen set (since I took this photo I have finished one more potholder leaving only the hanging dish towel to finish). The kitchen set is for a Christmas gift, but I am under no pressure to get it done....it will be given when it is done.

I started knitting up a scarf with a beautiful brown alpaca yarn. I am not happy with the pattern so this has since been taken apart and is now awaiting time for a search for a new pattern. This is by far the softest yarn I have ever knit with, so I can't wait to see what it becomes. It is also special because it came from a wonderful, inspirational friend that I have found "online".

I still don't have a book for myself....boo hoo....but I am enjoying the books I am reading aloud to the kids. In the past few days a couple of our favorites have been: The Nutcracker and the Mouse King and The Gift of the Magi. I make sure we don't miss these during the busy Advent and Christmas season.

Kimberly-Christmas circa 2010

This dress took a little more time than I expected, but it's done in time for Christmas Eve!!

I need to thank my teens, Amy and Laura, for their absolutely perfect choice of fabric!!

Wordless Wednesday: Take #2

Wordless Wednesday--an icicle for the Christmas tree

Peppermint Bark

I discovered a new Christmas treat....peppermint bark....and the best part....it was very easy to make.

I always melt our Wilton "melts" in hot water in our neat little "squirty" bottle.
After the light cocoa melts were ready, Gracie squirted the chocolate into a Christmas tree mold.

Now we needed to wait for the chocolate to harden.

While the chocolate layer was hardening, Luke helped us smash up some candycanes.

I sifted the smashed candycane pieces so that we could use the bigger pieces.

When the chocolate layer is hard, top it with white melts.

Top immediately with the candycane pieces.

So yummy, and so easy!!!!

Pomander Orange--2010

The house is smelling heavenly.

We are making the yearly pomander oranges.

I decorated oranges with a pretty Christmas ribbon with long pins.

I gave the kids big yarn needles to make "starter holes" for the whole cloves.

(Whole cloves at Wal-mart, in a teeny tiny container, cost $7.99. If you are lucky enough to live near an Amish store, check out the spice prices---I spent $1.51 for enough whole cloves to make 3 pomander oranges.)

I believe these two little folks put more than 3/4 of the cloves into the oranges....the big kids quit quite early in the process.

I found this tulle in the wedding section of Wal-mart.I used 4 strips of tulle to tie up the pomander.

This is definetely on of my favorite, all time smells.

Luke admiring his hard work!!

Macro Monday---Busy Hands.....

It's a wonderful thing to see busy hands all around me.