New Year's Resolutions...No Thank You!

I don’t do New Year’s Resolutions.  Why should I when I am fairly certain I wouldn’t make it even one month with most of them.  The pressure is just too muchJ    I do hope for a better year though…..2010 has not been one of my best, especially health wise!  I want to make 2011 better though so instead of Resolutions I’m going to make PLANS.

I plan to….

*drink my tea and coffee from my china cups and juice in crystal glasses…

why just look at them sitting on the shelf?

*read some good books…I used to be an avid reader but haven’t taken the time lately

*wear my good pajamas and expensive perfumes whenever I take the notion…my grandmother died with a drawer full of brand new underwear she was saving for the hospital!

*go exploring…I like a little adventure now and then!

*”try” to get my mojo going and finish some scrapbooking projects I’ve been putting off for too long

*learn more about my camera and try some creative photography

*get back to work on our families’ genealogies…it’s been a favorite hobby for several years but I’ve been stuck at a brick wall for awhile

*spend more time with the Lord and less time doing things that don’t amount to much

*work on some home improvement projects that we’ve been putting on the back burner…they need to be done, so why keep waiting?

Well, that looks like enough to at least get me started!  I think I have my work cut out for meJ  Even if I get only some of these accomplished it should help 2011 be a good, if not great, year! 

HAPPY NEW YEAR to all….hope it’s your best yet!

W H E W !!!

*2nd attempt...this time with photos:)

You mean it's over???  No way!  You mean all that planning, decorating, shopping, cooking, shopping, wrapping, shopping, visiting, cleaning, and unwrapping that took me weeks to accomplish ended in one day????  Doesn't seem possible.

For the 40 years that my husband and I have been married we've spent our Christmas on the road.  We always pack up on Christmas Eve and drive about an hour and a half to my mother's to celebrate with my large family.  We return home that night, get up early Christmas morning to prepare for my son's family coming over for breakfast.  Then we open gifts (in a flurry of paper & ribbons & squeals of delight).  We quickly clean up the trash, get dressed, and head back to our previous day's destination, driving another hour and a half to have Christmas with hubby's family.  Then we drive back home to collapse on the sofa until we have to force ourselves up and off to bed!   Whew!!!  I'm exhausted!

But all the planning, all the spending, all the everything is worth it to see this....

and this....

My cute DIL with a new addition for her nutcracker collection

Papa & Grandson R checking out the new Spy Watch

Son T with the grands and their stockings

and this...

His first "real" gun...yes, we are a hunting family!

Miss Pink-alicious

Hope everyone had a wonderful day.  I plan to spend the next 24 hours doing absolutely NOTHING.

CHRISTMAS WISHES

Wishing all my friends and their families a very

MERRY  CHRISTMAS

&

may your NEW YEAR be filled with God's richest blessings.


For a chance to win this cute Christmas book for your kids or grandkids

go here
While your there, please VOTE for her.  I love her blog and get some good ideas for the the grands and also for sharing with teachers that I mentor.

Bakin' Up Some Christmas Goodies

Mr. Chatter made his annual Christmas request today...........

                                 PECAN KISSES

These are his favorites and I’ve been making them for quite a few Christmases now.  The recipe is an old one which I got from a cookbook put together by the many wonderful cooks in the small community where he grew up….you know, the kind of community which you miss if you sneeze while you’re driving through, and where everyone knows each other, and church dinners-on-the-ground bring out the best food you could possibly want to taste. 

These little bites of deliciousness are so easy to make it’s shameful…and they go faster than it takes to bake themJ  To make them, you’re going to need this:

Here’s the recipe which was shared by a long-time friend of my husband’s parents:

 Once they're in the oven, be sure to set your timer, then turn off the oven for the last 30 minutes. 

These are usually inexpensive to make but this year these little jewels…

are about $7 per pound (shelled) here in our parts.  We have three trees in our yard and you would know that this year we had about 10 pecans total! 

The "kisses" get a little messy, as you have to dip each pecan piece into the batter with your fingers…

but they really are so simple to make…and to think they’re ready in only one hour. 

Another of my favorite Christmas goodies to make are…..

                                    GOODNIGHT  KISSES. 

                             (Seems like I like KISSES a lot!)

For these you will need…..

These also are extremely easy to make…and the recipe makes many!

Be sure to follow the directions carefully and ….

turn off the oven once the cookies are placed inside.  They will be ready in two hours but I usually leave mine in longer than that, often leaving them overnight if I make them in the evening. 

These are now all wrapped up and ready to give to some of the wonderful teachers that I mentor…sure hope they enjoy them ‘cause I think they are DELICIOUS!

And what was Mr. Chatter doing while I was slaving away over all this yumminess?

              ….why,  “visions of sugarplums danced in his head.”

                      MERRY  CHRISTMAS,  HONEY!

THE CHRISTMAS PICKLE

Every Christmas my grandchildren and I enjoy a special holiday tradition that is based on the following legend:

According to his great-great granddaughter, John Lower was born in Bavaria in 1842.  He left Germany with his family and emigrated to the U.S.  While fighting in the American Civil War, John Lower was captured and was sent to a prison in Andersonville, GA.  He soon fell to poor health given the poor conditions of the prison.  Starving he begged a  guard for just one pickle before resigning to his death.  The guard, taking pity on him, found and gave John Lower a pickle.  Lower family tradition says that by the grace of God the pickle gave John the mental and physical strength to live on.  After being united with his family he began the tradition of hiding a pickle on the Christmas tree.  Hence, the first person who found the pickle on Christmas morning would be blessed with a year of good fortune…and a special gift, just as John Lower had experienced.    (www.pomnitz.net)

This  is  our  pickle

The grands spent the night with us yesterday and so the GREAT  PICKLE  HUNT took place.  They looked high...

They looked low...

until...

Look  who  found  the  PICKLE!

This, of course, did not go over well with little sister...but not to worry.  The pickle was hidden once again and the hunt went on...

with a little help...

and the pickle was found once again...

and special gifts for everyone:)...

P.S.  Brother & Sister spent quite awhile hiding the pickle for each other and finding it over and over.  So much fun from one little pickle!

Hope you and your family enjoy your own Christmas traditions and make sweet memories like this year after year.