Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Little Christmas

Today, January 6th, is Little Christmas, so I thought it wasn't too late to post my Christmas pics, after all. I have been experiencing some rapid heart rate problems the past several days, so that is why I am late in doing my Christmas post.


First of all, Stosh, Tammy and I started our holidays off by visiting my Mom's place of rest and honoring her with a Christmas wreath the weekend before Christmas. The banner across the middle reads 'Mom.' She always visited friends' and family members' graves each year and saw that they all had flowers. Now it is her turn to receive flowers. Below is the new name plate I had made for her, having the first letters of her name in larger letters than the rest and also had 'Beloved Mother and Grandma' added across the bottom.






My daughter's birthday was on December 15th, but she was in Montreal on a business trip that week, so we celebrated her special day on December 19th with this birthday cake. Somehow, we managed to mess up the 'B' in the word 'Birthday' while getting it out of the box, but, believe me, it didn't affect the cake's taste one bit. (It was chocolate!)



Below is the new centerpiece I bought the day my daughter and I went to Greenville shopping. I put it on my kitchen table and think I'll leave it there for awhile! I love snowmen! Unfortunately for the snowmen, so do my cats! I found one of the little carrot noses pulled out one day, and so now it has little teeth marks on it!



I don't put up a tree as the cats would just tear it down, so I decorate outdoors to share with my neighbors. One year my tree was knocked down 3 times, so no more big trees until some of these cats grow out of the devilish kitten stage. I have the little tabletop tree that I purchased for my dad when he was at Duke Hospital days before he died, but I forgot to take a picture of it. I placed it on my mantle and then took it down each night and put in a closet.
Below are pics of my outdoor decorations...
My gingerbread train...and deer in the background...


Mr. and Mrs. Gingerbread to greet guests...


Below is a pic of my daughter's outdoor "Winter Wonderland" decorations...


This is a picture of her 9-foot Christmas tree. It has 3,000 lights on it!


Gee, I wonder what this gift could be????



Tammy loves her Aunt Jemima frozen waffles plus she loves to cook and bake, so I made her this apron as her gag gift this year. She loved it! I am going to make myself one next.


She had Christmas Eve dinner, and this was her display of goodies afterwards...


This is her Nativity scene. Looks like I blurred the picture when I took it...


This is her village....one year she displayed it even larger on a 4x8-foot sheet of plywood, but this year she cut back and didn't display all the pieces...


And, of course, Buster had to get his picture taken! As you can see, he is doing very well after his invasive surgery and chemo...


And, of course, he had to engage in his favorite sport of the season...removing the bows!


And we can't forget Sweet Pea! She was enjoying the big squirrel I gave her and Buster. She tore right into it! So you can see that she is doing quite well since her 2 cancer surgeries and 19 radiation treatments. She and Buster both are such sweet cats!


This is Sweet Pea with the squirrel. I am posting this pic so you can see where her hair came back all white at the radiation site. You can see the white streak on her back. But so far, both she and Buster have had good reports with their ultrasounds and chest x-rays!

This is a pic of my ex's home all decked out for the holidays! I took this as I was leaving there on Christmas night. You can see the city lights in the sky 8 miles away behind his home! (You can see him standing on his front porch. No, we didn't leave him there...he just posed for the picture. He soon followed to Tammy's for more gift opening.)

This is his Christmas tree and gifts for the kids. They open their packages at his home. We later went to Tammy's to open up gifts there. We have to bend our holidays a little as Tim has to drive in from Orlando on Christmas Eve and never gets in til quite late. (The dates are wrong on the pics....seems when I put new batteries in, it messed up the date thing in the camera!)


This is a pic of Stosh, Tammy and me at his home.


He also loves his village display and plans to do it even bigger next year. He and Tammy share their love of Christmas villages.


I loved the centerpiece of his village....a waterfall!


This is an electric animated ski slope...


A car stuck in the snow with people pushing it up the hill....


I loved the scene below of an old-fashioned sleigh ride....


And I thought this was kind of a cute scene, too...decorating the arbor in the middle of town....



And last, but not least, his nativity scene. We remember the Reason for the Season!


Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! We always enjoy our family times together! Wishing you all a great 2009 with good health, lots of fun times and many blessings! I am so grateful for all the new friends I have made through blogging this past year!
I just now received an email from Michelle about Taylor! It is good news! Please visit Michelle's blog and read the latest update on Taylor!

17 comments:

Mrs. Mom said...

Miss Nancy, we will be sure to keep you in our prayers here for a speedy recovery!! Please, please, wonderful lady, remember to take good care of yourself, too! I know how much you work, and how much time you devote to the care of your lovely kitties, but they need YOU to take care and take time too.

It looks like you had a wonderful Christmas!! I loved the pictures- those villages are beautiful. Your lights look fantastic too!!! One of these years, we want to really do up the outside decorations, and have lights all over. I love that! Even without snow to cover them and make them really magical, there is something special about Christmas lights that help bring home the message of the season!!

Take good care there Miss Nancy, and know that we will be thinking of you over here!!

Much love to you!

Renie Burghardt said...

Hi Nancy!

It looks like you and yours had a wonderful Christmas. The outdoor decorations, the villages, your daughter's tree, etc. are all beautiful1! And the wreath for your dear Mom was beautiful as well. Loved all the pictures, and am so glad that Buster and Sweet Pea are doing well!

Thank you for your sweet comment on my blog. Felix has a tooth infection. He is such a sweet cat, and takes the medicine (liquid) without any fighting. I am not familiar with the Pen you mentioned and will inquire about it.

Felix's tooth may have to come out. We'll see next week when the vet is back. But he is eating and seems well otherwise. But I'm sure he has pain, as it's abscessed.
Anyway, I hope the year 2009 will bring many blessings your way. Happy New Year, Nancy. Please take care of yourself, and be well and happy.
Love and hugs,

Renie

Mary said...

Nancy,

Keeping you in my prayers. I do hope the palpitations stop soon.

I certainly enjoyed your Christmas photos. What lovely villages. I have one too and each year the grandsons have the fun of setting it up. It's been a tradition now for a few years. They'd rather do that than decorate the tree, but often do both.

Take care of yourself. I'm off now to check on Taylor.

Blessings,
Mary

Diane@Diane's Place said...

I visited Michele and commented. :o)

Hope you're doing better with your heart. Mine has been racing on me every so often, but I haven't been to the dr. with it. I have to go soon anyway, just need to make an appointment. It's not really bothering me, I just notice it occasionally.

Love the Christmas decorations, and I'm glad the kitties are doing so well.

Have a good week, Nancy, and don't forget to take some time for yourself.

Love and hugs,

Diane

hippo chick said...

Hi Nancy,

These are wonderful pictures. Tammy's decorations are lovely, as are Stosh's. Do you miss having a tree?

Sounds like you had a wonderful Christmas.

~hippo hugs~

Lib said...

Hi Nancy,
Hope you feel better soon!
Love the pics. you shared!
I too dec. Family graves, seems its becoming a thing of the past around here.Mom did it every yr. after me not sure anyone will keep it going.:o(
I look forward to another yr. of Friendship, I wish you and yours the Best in 2009!
Blessins',Lib

Monogram Queen said...

Oh wow I needed that little dose of Christmas! Love your decor Nancy (and the kitty pics).

Love Love Love that apron. You should sell them. I'd buy one!

Midlife Mom said...

Oh Nancy I hope you are feeling well now and the ole' ticker is behaving! I think you work too hard, you need to take care of yourself!!!!

Just wonderful Christmas pictures of all your decorations plus your daughters and Stosh's. Beautiful! Your daughters tree is amazing! Now I wish I had put up my villages after seeing Stosh's and Tammy's! It's just so much work and I didn't have the energy this year but next year for sure.

Glad to see that the kitties are doing so well. That's interesting that the hair came in white from the radiation. I wonder if it will stay that way or go back to the original color????

Congratulations on all the awards! You are so loved out here in Bloggityville!

The plaque for your Mom is lovely and the wreath looks so nice on it. Very thoughtful for you to continue that tradition.

So glad for the good news about Taylor!

Take care my friend, slow down and get more rest! This is right from Dr. Midlife Mom! heehee! xoxo

Patty said...

Looks like everyone was having a good time, including the cats and everything looked very decorated and ready for Christmas.

We don't decorate outside, never have. I think in part because my Father always hung lights all around the house and I can remember what the family went through while he did that chore. It was not a happy time. LOL Plus I don't see any reason to freeze my butt off trying to do more then red bows. I hate seeing yard and house decorations still up in Feb. In fact there is one family that hangs the icicle lights and they leave them up all year, now that is tacky.

Hope all is ok with you health wise.

Jess said...

Beautiful decorations..and I'm glad that you had a nice holday! Hope that your heart rate slows down and that everythng is okay!

Lots of love to you and have a good end of the week.

Love, Jess

BClark said...

No boo boos allowed for Nancy!!

Loved all your Christmas pictures, one thing I am looking forward to is being able to set up all my Dept 56 pieces. This year I did the Ford Dealership, Garage Sale, Nativity and a couple other small things. I also have It's a Wonderful Life village.

Thank you for sharing.

Carole Burant said...

I don't remember getting invited for a piece of that birthday cake!!!! hehe Anything chocolate, I love! lol

I do hope that you're no longer getting the rapid heart rate? Please take care of yourself, my friend. Praying that everything is ok!!

Such a beautiful wreath you put at your mom's grave and I love the new name plate.

I don't blame you for wanting to keep that snowman centerpiece out a bit longer...it's delightful:-) It's winter so the snowmen can stay out for a couple of months yet! lol

Oh Nancy, I so enjoyed seeing all the pictures of the Christmas displays. Such beautiful trees, outside displays and those villages! I wish I could have been there in person, I would have sat there for hours admiring every little detail!! lol

So glad to hear that Sweet Pea and Buster are doing so well, they sure looked happy with their Christmas presents:-)

I'll now go over to read the latest update on Taylor. Take care of YOU!! xoxo

Sam said...

Hi Nancy,

That Christmas/birthday cake looks incredible. So much frosting, which I think is the best part of the cake.

Your outdoor decorations are beautiful, as are your daughter's. And her enormous Christmas tree is spectacular!

The wrapped shovel cracked me up! :-) Hilarious!

So glad to see Buster and Sweet Pea are doing so well! Both look as if they enjoyed their holidays!

I love all the little villages! I collect miniatures and I adore dollhouses. All the details in the little villages are incredible. I could examine them for hours! :-)

I really hope you're feeling okay, Nancy, and that your heart issues are minor.

HUGS,
Sammy

Edie Marie's Attic said...

Hi Nancy!

Gosh girl I'm sooo sorry to hear you've been under the weather!! I will add you to my prayer list for God to keep your heart steady and normal! Heart problems are so serious and you have to listen to your body. I know you were working like a "ka-razy" girl and so glad to hear you have slowed down some. As for the pizzelles you can always make them for Easter. We make them then some years and I hope to this year. We needed to make twice as many as we did! We didn't even have any for our Christmas gathering!

The plaque you put on for your Mom is beautiful! Very nice Nancy. You're Mom would be so happy that you are now honoring her.

And those villages! Beautiful! Thank goodness I've never started one because it would be an addiction for me, I love them!

I had to take a rest after the wild retail season and re-group but I'll be back soon. Probably this week! Take real good care of yourself sweetie!! I want to know how good your pizzelle maker works!

Big hugs, Sherry

Train Wreck said...

You take care of that big heart of yours. You work too hard I tell ya! You finished your daughters Apron!! It is adorable! And all your decor! So festive. Great post, I felt like I was there with you. I laughed at your carrot with teeth marks! hhaha Your kitties are trying to eat healthy!! he he!

Merle said...

Dear Nancy ~~ Great post which gave us time to see all the decorations and fun away from the usual posts.
I loved all your photos and glad your kittens are doing well. Please do take care of YOU. Have you seen a Dr. about the heart rate? I hope you are well again very soon. Take care of yourself, so many of us love you and your posts. Thanks for your visit and glad you enjoyed it,
Love, Merle.

Merle said...

Hi again Dear Nancy ~~ Just a quick note to let you know that I have left an award for you on my blog.
I hope you enjoy it. Take great care, my friend. Love, Merle.