~December So Far~

 Yes, indeed- this is exactly how December is making me feel!!

The advent garland was hung and filled December 1st . . .

And then ever so slowly the house was festooned . . .
in the livingroom, with a boxwood wreath, paper whites, wonky advent garland and sleeping kitty . . .

and in the kitchen, with more paper whites, and my brand new (early) birthday gift: this awesome shelf from World Market! Thank you, Grammie! :)

I bought this wooden village five or so years ago and bleached the bottle brush trees turning them from a bright emerald green to a more subdued green and golden-white. One of my favorite things!

The decorating continued off the kitchen to the basement entry. . .

Getting to go by this little house all lit up just gives me oodles of joy :) And I go up and down those basement stairs A LOT.

Also in the nook, hanging from my bird hook is one of my most treasured Christmas items- this stocking was my grandfather's from when he was a little boy . . . and then it was mine all the way through my childhood. It's grown so thin and threadbare that I chose not to use it for either of my boys, but instead I display it every year. It has little nursery rhyme scenes all stitched up with blue thread, tied with a red ribbon and some very old jingle bells. <LOVE> 
The snowflake was a gift from our Belgian friend. He knows I have a weakness for blue and white Wedgwood. ;)

And in the diningroom more Christmas abounds . . .

The picture below is the one and only I had time to take on the evening of our annual Caroling Party . . . we worked frantically non-stop all day long to get everything ready- but we think it turned out well despite the crazy. Lots of hot buttered rum does that. ;) 

Our tree was put in a corner by the hall . . .

I was really happy with how it turned out this year . . . we used 1,000 brand new white lights and only the white, silver, clear or gold ornaments in our collection. I say was happy because two days later and those lights suddenly stopped working. Yep- nothing but real life here.

Speaking of real life- there is way more than Christmas in our December . . . I've been kept on my toes with bad cats. . .

school concerts and events, lots of ebay orders (yay!) and lots of birthdays . . . so far my grandfather's- this feltie squirrel is for him...

and the Husband's- the Oldest made him breakfast and I baked him a cake . . .

and then next up is my own birthday and finally my brother-in-law's. So December so far is like every December . . . very, very full. :)
And it won't be too much longer until I can do this . . . !

Happy Holiday everyone!

~He's Fifteen and I'm Still Playing Mom~

It's been a REALLY long day. 
It started early this morning: get up and have a family birthday breakfast to celebrate The Oldest turning 15. Let him open a few cards and gifts. Send him and his brother off to school. 
Drink Coffee. 
Get showered, dressed and do some light picking up. 
Drink More Coffee. 
Prepare Ebay packages to be shipped out, as well as a birthday package for a far away friend, and a package for my mother (which happened to be 3lbs of coffee). Eat lunch. 
Somewhere in there, The Husband comes home from work unexpectedly because the internet connection at the office isn't working and he needs to work from home. 
We have a cuppa coffee. 
The kids get home from school (two hour early release) and I take The Oldest to his birthday gift: a 2:30 pm. ear piercing appointment. So we fill out lots of paper work and a young gal plunges a needle into each lobe and off we go. 
We stop at the drug store for the recommended cleaning solution. They don't have it even though the paperwork we have says you can find it just about anywhere. But we don't have time to go anywhere else because we have a picture appointment to get to. 
So we go to our 4:00 pm scheduled picture appointment, walking in at exactly 3:50. Early for once!! But they are 'having technical difficulties' and we don't start our photo session for another 45 min. So when it's finally done and they say we can wait about ten minutes until they should have our photos ready for viewing, I'm pretty much like, 'Yeah, right'! And can you guess what I need at this point? 
Yup- More Coffee. 
And something to eat because I'm starving! Thirty mins and some coffee talk later,  Oldest and I go back and sure enough, our pictures are "almost done". I call The Husband (who is suppose to make dinner) and tell him he's got plenty of time. And when everything is bought and paid for we walk out of there at 6:30 pm- 2 1/2 hours after our scheduled appointment.
Oh! But we still have to find that dang cleaning solution for his ears. We stop at a nearby Target. No such luck. I grab the least recommended thing they have and we go. 
Home at 7pm. Dinner nearly done! 
We dine on Baked Ravioli, Garlic Toast and Salad with Ranch Dressing- all at the specific request of the birthday boy. It tastes amazing because I didn't have to make it!! 
But I DO still have to make a birthday cake for his party tomorrow. And it's 7:30 pm, but no problem, right? 
Oh- but I'm making an icecream cake that requires layers to be frozen one at a time, starting with the crust. The crust is made, popped in the freezer and we spend the next hour looking over old photos of The Oldest as a baby. 
The Husband and I ooh and awhh, The Youngest does a remarkable job of allowing all the attention to be on big brother and The Oldest looks bored and rolls his eyes impatiently. 
Layer One is done!! 
Layer two is vanilla icecream. Cool- literally. Ha! This layer takes a quick 20 mins. to freeze and we are half way. 
Then comes the hot fudge layer. No problem, right? 
Thirty mins. go by- not even close to frozen. 
An hour goes by- nope, still runny. 
An hour and a half . . . ? 
I give up and go blog.  
And now at 12:29 am, here I am- still waiting. And we are SO. NEARLY. THERE! And then? One Last Layer to go . . . and then it's suppose to freeze overnight- though at this rate I'm not sure we'll get the full 'overnight' in. 
So everyone's been long ago to bed and sound asleep, but me. Because I'm waiting for hot fudge to freeze. 
And no- this time I do not want any coffee.

~Garden Party~

Today my 'Thoughtful Spot' was turned into 'the Birthday Spot'! 
One of my dearest friends had a birthday this past Monday so we celebrated with a thai food picnic in the garden . . .

 Even the birdbath was dressed up for the occasion. :)

One of my favorite things to do is set a table . . . I had fun setting this one with a vintage tablecloth, Haviland china, homemade 'button' napkins and the last of my roses.

And for an extra special touch I added these great vintage place cards that my wonderful Mom bought me years ago  . . . since a table for two can be very confusing as to where one sits, right? ;)

The gift was wrapped in tissue with a vintage postcard to make it fun.

The food was excellent (since it was takeout . . . ;) )

And the guest of honor looked so lovely . . .

 But the best part of all was just getting to chat away with a kindred spirit . . . there's nothing like another soul's understanding to brighten the shadows we live in. What a gift friends are!

~Surprise!~

This guy turned 12 exactly one month ago. . .

We decided to throw him a surprise party and nearly our whole family drove down to celebrate. I took him shopping and while we were gone they all hid in the basement.

He was VERY surprised!

Litter box cake was the order of the day. Per his request months earlier . . . the recipe can be found in this book.

Appetizing, eh?

Gifts were given . . . with fanfare . . .

And the birthday boy was THRILLED with his cake!

Nothing like a litter scoop to make cake serving easy!

It was a fun weekend and a great way to celebrate my 'baby'.

Pictures courtesy of my sister.- thanks Nina!

~Marching Along~

Goodness- March already upon us! 

Today is my mother's birthday (Happy Birthday, Mom!)- the first of six March birthdays for our family. Yes, March is a busy month around here.

This is her present and I was so pleased with how the wrapping turned out that I thought I'd share it with you. :) 
(oops! There's the timer for the oven- let me dash off a moment! Okay, I'm back- had some baking to take care of- more on that in a bit) 
Isn't the little clip-on birdy cute? I think he makes the gift!

And so, March is here and where did February go? Well . . .

part of it was spent with both boys sick and me fighting off their germs. The Younger missed three days of school in a row . . . and after three days I was missing a bit of my sanity if you know what I mean.

Yup- cute, but oh-so cranky. Though, aren't we all when we're not feeling well?

Below is what is left of another of February's events: a friend's bridal shower. That lovely bouquet is one of the five we had festooning the party. I was lucky enough to get to take this one home with me. Everything turned out so beautifully- from the food and drinks to the decorations and games- if only there had been time to take pictures!

I also got a little crafting in last month- the kind that's just for me (funny how infrequently that happens). Below is the little entry way to our basement right off the kitchen. I set up a little wintry vignette at the beginning of the month . . .

and I made these simple wall hangings from materials I had lying around.

The borders are chalkboard paint which allows me to change the quotes bordering the images . . . though, I haven't changed a thing yet. It was especially fun to find fitting quotes that would fit the parameters of the hanging. The two I settled on are:

"In seed-time learn; in harvest teach; in winter enjoy" 
- William Blake

and . . .

In a way Winter is the real Spring, the time when the inner things happen, the resurgence of nature.
- O'Brian

And speaking of Spring . . . I actually got out in the garden last week! We had a gorgeous sunny day and I took advantage for some cutting back and clearing. You can see one tiny spot of the garden is all ready for Spring . . . and the rest will have to wait as we've had lots of rain and cold cold temperatures since. 'In like a lion' you know.

The most exciting part of visiting the garden had to be the tulips pushing their way through the mud. I planted these last Fall and it looks like they actually made it! I found only one dug up and fallen pray to some pesky squirrel. The rest are getting ready for their April display!

So- you may remember I had to run off to the kitchen at the beginning of this post . . . 

And here is the reason why . . . Lemon Squares!
These particular bits of yumminess come from my childhood days . . . my mother used to have Tupperware and Avon parties and these are what she would make. Lucy Lemon Squares. (the 'Lucy' part comes from them being a part of a 'Peanuts' cookbook) I don't think she could've ever made these often enough.

In my mind these are the cream of the crop when it comes to lemon bars . . . incredible shortbread-like crust, zesty lemon filling that isn't too over-powering and a dusting of powder sugar to make it that much better.

So if you are so inclined as to welcome March with some lemon-y goodness, here is the recipe:

~Lucy Lemon Squares~

1 cup flour

1/2 cup butter

1/4 cup powder sugar

Sift flour and sugar into bowl. With fingers mix in butter (I am lazy and just use the mixer and add the butter in little bits until it all comes together)

Spread and flatten dough into greased 8x8 inch pan. 

Bake at 350 for 30 min.

Meanwhile . . . beat together:

2 eggs

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 tsp. baking powder

2 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice (about 1 lemon)

dash of salt

Pour over baked crust and bake at 350 another 20 mins or so.

Sift powder sugar over top and let it cool- slice into squares and enjoy!

Cheers!

~All the Autumn's Joys~ THAT Number

 Yesterday the table was set . . .

the gifts were opened . . .

and a milestone was celebrated.

For better or for worse. . . 

 the Oldest turned 13.

See this guy here?

Hands down, this boy has been the greatest Autumn gift and joy I've ever been given.

(of course I say that now- ask me in three years when he wants my car keys!)

I love you Mr. Teen-

and while you enjoy being a source of angst for this mama

I'll enjoy being a source of embarrassment for you! ;)

Happy Thirteenth!

Cheers!