Anyway, where do I start!! Of course when I wait so long, the pictures are plentiful!!
The weekend before Christmas both grandkids were here with their mothers....we decorated gingerbread cookies on Saturday and Jude did a house on Sunday.....Lyla was at emergency with huge tonsils! (strep throat)
The next week was CRAZY at work with excited kindergarten kids and the Christmas concert but I was all done Wednesday night and did some last minute stuff Thursday and relaxed Friday. Hubby was home Friday night and Son2 arrived Saturday morning. The girls (Daughters 1&2 and Lyla) arrived Monday. Son1, Jenna and Jude weren't able to come for Christmas this year.....Son1 was oncall. 😞
So here I am with my feet up enjoying the quiet on Friday....calm before the storm...with Christmas music playing on tv! We had a real tree this year from our back woods......it was nice...not full like an artificial tree but nice for a change.
Here's the gang Christmas 2018:
Hubby got a "playoff beard" in his stocking although I think I will be wearing it when my Calgary Flames play (as opposed to his Montreal Canadians! LOLOLOL😂)
After Christmas Daughter1, Lyla and I headed off to the great white north for a few days! Oh did we surprise my Dad!!!!!!! He kind of knew I might come but never thought in a million years I would bring those other two!!!! (tears were shed)
On Friday we went out to a new winery. It was amazing and we had Dad be DD and brought home some wine.....I'm not a big fan of most wine but I do love theirs!
Saturday we went to visit Pam and her granddaughter and then to see Aunt Katy who is in the nursing home:
Lyla kept everyone entertained!
Friday night my brothers and their families came out to my Dads for supper. It was great to get together!!!! My brother Craig was great at entertaining the little ones!
Before Christmas I had asked my very talented father if he could make me two new bird feeders, if/when he had time. The ones we had here were falling apart and the seeds would get stuck....more ended up on the ground through the cracks.....anyway, he gifted me these two. They are amazing and also very special....they will not stay here if we ever move! The cans used are old honey cans which belonged to my grandfather!! I absolutely LOVE them and will cherish them for a long long time!
While I was there I asked Dad if I could look for a recipe my Mom used for pickles....well, I came home with several cookbooks. These ones replaced some I had lost in the flood (that Yummies to Warm the Heart is one I had my dear friend Erica copy a couple of recipes out of for me that I had used all the time and really missed after losing the book in the flood....so I think of her when I see this one)
But then there was this ratty old binder...falling apart but FULL of recipes in my Mom's handwriting...........I will preserve these and my friend Pam gave me the idea of making a book/binder for the kids with my handwritten recipes....I think I will include some of these from my mom. I wish I had some from my grandmother, even just copies.....my cousin has them and I've asked a few times but haven't received any. 😩
Before Christmas Hubby and I went to High River to pick this up from my friend Sue. It had been gifted to her but her Mother had bought her a much fancier system with machine so she gave this old one to me. I had it set up to only 5 feet long but found I wasn't able to use it.....I do smaller projects just on my regular sewing machine.....I made a lap quilt and it wouldn't fit on the smaller frame so Hubby and I made it 10 feet long....haven't used it yet but plan to in the new year. It takes up a ton of room so IF I find I don't use it at all, I will forward this gift on to someone else.
Work has been going okay. My wrist is starting to bother me so I will have to make an appointment with a Dr then get a requisition to have another shot. It worked well for 6 months. I need my wrist when working with the student I work with so I need to get that taken care of soon. All of the EAs loved the mug mats I gifted them for Christmas. 😁 We all received some wonderful things from each other and the kids as well.
But Christmas is over and the new year will be rung in tomorrow (or tonight at midnight...but who stays up for that?? LOL!!) and here's hoping for an amazing 2019....for all!
