Christmas Treasures Bring Fond Memories

My MomMom and PaPa loved the Christmas season. This Christmas was the first one without either of my grandparents. It was tough at times and yet filled with bittersweet memories. These are some of the ornaments and Christmas decor that we brought home from my grandparents to decorate for the Christmas season. Enjoy.

This is our version of Elf on the Shelf. He's been
with our family a long time.

PaPa's star. It was one of the originals from the
gift shop, Switzer's Holiday House.

Santa in his sled.

Golden bell.

Crystal Angel

Crystal Tree

Crystal Nativity

Glass Teardrop

One of our favorite places to visit when we vacationed
in Myrtle Beach, Pawley's Island.

PaPa made these Christmas Caroling mice in his wood shop.

Mr. and Mrs. Clause with their little helper. PaPa made these
cutouts as well.

MomMom's goose, who I've named Penelope, wears her
caroling ensemble while sitting in the snow
by the back porch.

Rudolph, another of PaPa's creations,
 lights the way to our front door.

Mr. Snowman stands guard in the middle
of the garage doors.
PaPa made him from a telephone pole.

Hugs,

HopeAnn

Monday's Musings

Here are my Monday Musings for the week. Enjoy.

What I'm thinking: That I'm missing my MomMom and PaPa. This Memorial Day is the first one that PaPa hasn't been here to celebrate. He was a WWII veteran with the 99th Infantry at the Battle of the Bulge. I miss him and my grandma too. 

What I'm reading: Reading from some of my favorite blogs: attic 24, e,myself, and I, A Life in Ordinary, ...

What I'm listening to: A whole week's worth of GH is in the background as I write this.

What we're learning: I'm learning I need a routine in my life in order to get everything accomplished. I think I'll do some research on how to get myself organized so I can keep up with my house.

What I'm watching: Since I'm listening to GH I must be watching GH as well. I have a whole week's worth of GH to catch up on. I love taping my show, or do I say DVRing, and watching all of them in one afternoon. I can zip, zip, zip through the commercials. Do you know there's about 35 minutes of show and the rest are commercials.

What's cooking: We're cooking out this afternoon when Matt gets home from work, hotdogs, potato salad, macaroni salad, chips and salsa, . . . YUM!

What I'm buying:  We went to Wildbird's Unlimited yesterday and bought bird seed because our birds are eating us out of house and home. We also bought a new hummingbird feeder, and I made hummingbird juice before hanging the new feeder in the backyard. We also went grocery shopping. YIPPEE! Groceries.

What I'm thankful for: I'm thankful for all those people who gave their life so that our country can remain free. Thank you to all of you who serve in the military. I'm also thankful for my church family. Thank you for making the spaghetti dinner possible.

What I'm creating: I finished painting my grandma's goose. She has new white feathers, yellow bill, and yellow feet. It's been awhile since she's had a facial. I've named her Penelope. I still need to paint the base green.

What I'm planning: I'm planning on going to Fostoria this weekend to help my aunt with my grandfather's house before the auction takes place on June 8. That will be a sad day. Watching all of my grandparents worldly possessions go to other people. 

What we did this last weekend: Matt and I went for a bike ride. We rode to the beach and around town. We've NEVER been bike riding together before. We went again today when we went to the Memorial Day Parade. Michael marched in the junior high band. He plays the drum. We also finished putting my grandmother's fountain together and placed it in the back flowerbed. I love it!

What I'm looking forward to: I'm looking forward to this Friday to celebrate the beginning of summer with colleagues and friends.

A picture to share: 

Matt and Michael riding home from the Memorial Day Parade.

What are your musings this Monday?

Christmas Traditions

I began decorating for Christmas during the Thanksgiving holiday. I had three days of uninterrupted decorating bliss, and Matt helped by carrying the decoration filled tubs up from the basement. Matt and I began with the outside lights and our inflatable snowmen family. This year posed a problem for the lights since both of our awnings were removed when the new siding was placed on the house.  We just had to be more creative. Sadly, I don't have photos of our outside lights since the camera chokes every time I try to take pictures after dark. You'll have to use your imagination. 

I waited to put up the tree and place the ornaments on it until Michael came home from his first hunting trip with Grandpa Gary. We dropped him off the day after Thanksgiving, and we picked him up on Sunday. Michael had a great time hunting with grandpa, but he was ready to come home to his Pittsburgh Steeler family since he was Cleveland Browned to death for three days.

A Little Catching Up

I can't believe it's been since October that I've written on my blog. For those of you who actually read my blog let me just say I'm truly sorry for my lapse in writing. I have no excuse really, other than the ordinary busy, busy, busy. But that excuse sounds lame. Everyone is busy in their lives, especially during the holidays. The extent of the holidays that have passed since last I wrote includes Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. So let's do a little catching up, shall we?