Yes Kimberly there is a Santa Claus!

  I made a wish for Christmas and it came true, one day late.

I have always said that if we have to suffer through cold weather we should be rewarded with snow. Well, sometime after midnight last night we were rewarded with beautiful, fluffy snow. I was so excited, I couldn't wait to go out by the lake behind our house and take pictures. Around 9 a.m. Chris and I took Baby and Harley out to play in the snow. Baby wasn't quite sure what to think of it, she took very careful steps and kept sticking her nose in it. Harley on the other hand was petrified. The snow was about as deep as he is tall, so once we put him in the snow he didn't dare move. We snapped a couple pictures of them and let them back inside to snuggle under the warm blankets.

The large picture in the collage is  the view from our bedroom window.

After coming inside to warm up a bit we decided to drive down to the Food Lion a couple miles from our house to return a couple red box movies and to let Ashton get some peanut butter cookies and Hershey kisses so she could make cookies. Can you believe FL doesn't sell peanut butter cookies in the refrigerated section? I mean really? They have every possible type of premade cookies but no peanut butter! Ahhh, well after pulling the recipe up on her phone and seeing that the ingredient list seemed as long as her arm she decided she'd "settle" for the premade cookies with peanut butter cups in them.

On the way home from FL Chris pulled over to the side of the road so I take a picture of this big tree.

The snowman was made by some of the neighborhood kids, I love his hat.

Chris and I took a walk after the Chicago bears game { yay bears} so I could take more pictures of the snow. I know it seem like I've never seen snow before but you see, we don't get very much snow here in Fayetteville so this one is definately a treat. I think we go about 6 inches. I know most of you get much more than that and 6 inches seems like nothing, but this is probably the only snow we'll get this winter.

I can definately say I got my Christmas wish, I hope you got yours too.

Till next time,

Kimberly: )

Merry Christmas!

A little more of our Christmas decor.

We have had a very blessed Christmas this year and I hope each of you have too.

Where did the time go???

 Where did the time go? I can't believe tomorrow is Christmas day! I've been away from blogging much longer than I planned to be. I tried to do most of my shopping a little each day on my lunch break which was much better, less crowds.
 In the evenings I was busy stitching Christmas ornaments for the receptionists, managers and doctors at the animal hospital and wouldn't you know it, I forgot to take pics to show you.

 On December the 11th we had our staff Christmas party at Dr. K's house.

This is the CFAH gang minus two who were out of town.

This past Wednesday Ashton got her drivers license. She was so nervous, but the driving instructor she had kept her busy with chit chat and she completely forgot about her jitters and passed with flying colors.

I thought I would show you a few more pictures of the decorations around the house.

This is a little shelf  that sits on top of a bench in my dining room, I change it out depending on the season.

I guess by now you can tell I love Santa's. The first one I found last year at TJ Maxx for $4.99, the Santa holding the bell I also found last year at Marshall's for $5.99 and the Santa holding the wreath I got at couple of months ago at Prim & Proper.

These are the tallowberries that my friend Sherrie gave me a couple of months ago. I added some pine stems that I found on sale at  Hobby Lobby.

This is my Snowman grouping in my bedroom hallway.

And I guess you could say that I also love snowmen. I found these prim guys at CCTT last year after Christmas for 50% off.

A sampler girl freebie that hangs by my front door. I found the frame at Hope Harbour for .39 cents.

The timer for my green bean casserole just dinged, so I'm off for now to finish cooking a few things and I have a few more gifts to wrap.

 I hope everyone is having a great and safe holiday.

Till next time,

Kimberly: )

I love Sunday's and lots and lots of Christmas pictures

 Good afternoon folks. I hope everyone is having a great day. I must say that Sunday's are my favorite. I was fortunate enough to be off yesterday so I took advantage of that time and went to Hope Harbour to look for a small square frame for a Sampler Girl freebie {to be posted later} I just finished stitching. I can always count on my favorite thrift store to come through for great frames for less than $1.00. After leaving HH I stopped by Prim & Proper to see how the Christmas open house was going. Tony and Tandra were busy helping customers and setting out tasty refreshments. It was a cold rainy day mixed with sleet but that couldn't keep those of us who love P&P away. I saw so many things there that I love but exercised discipline and stayed within the $20.00 budget I set for myself. I found exactly what I went there for, grungy tapers, a tiny candle ring/wreath and a dishtowel. After leaving P&P Ashton and I headed into town to do a bit of Christmas gift shopping at Woof Boutique and Barkery for my granddogs Sasha & Lucy. I luv, luv this store! Kim has everything you could ever want for your fur baby, and her staff are wonderful.

 So, today is kinda, sorta my be lazy day. You know, laundry, a bit of housework, bathe the dogs, a bit of stitching and net surfing. Lazy.

 Ok, I went on and on long enough about my weekend so I'll  let you get back to yours, but please do continue scrolling down to see a bit more of my Christmas decorations.

I got this box from Country Comes to Town to add to my stack of old boxes/trunks that are in my den but decided to put hangers on the back and hang it on the wall instead. I hung the dish towel and tiny wreath that I got at P&P yesterday on the door.

Closeup of the top of  the box/cabinet.

I got this Santa last year from Jenny at Just Country, he's one of my favorites.

He sits on top of the bookshelf in our den next to one of my small Christmas trees .

This is the small tree on the nightstand in our bedroom.

I call it the family tree because it has the ornaments on it that I stitched with all our names.

Santa & Elmer {another one of my favorites} sit on the nightstand next to my tree.

I hope you enjoyed my Christmas photos. I'll be back soon with more.

Till next time,

Kimberly : )

Goodies in the mail and a few more Christmas pics

                         Look what the mail lady brought me on Friday!!!

Last week I ordered these from Kath at The Olde Weeping Cedar. I was surprised to get them so fast. I luv, luv them! It's a combination of a bundt cake, three antique mold pantry cakes and a dozen of her prim cini mini's. I love them so much that I emailed her with another order. Be sure to check out her blog to see more prim items for sale.

Can you believe these are the same bowls that the pantry cakes are in? The bottom one I got some months ago at Hope Harbour for $2.00 and I bought the one with ivy painted on it for $1.00 yesterday from a vendor that was set up outside CWF.

I started sanding and painting them as soon as I got home.

Here they are on my dining table. Not sure if this grouping will stay but it works for now.

The quilt shelf in the den decorated for Christmas.

I think these Santa's are my favorites so far. I bought them last year at Prim and Proper after Christmas for 50% off.

I almost forgot to fill you in on my turkey cooking experience. As I mentioned on Thanksgiving I was cooking my first ever turkey. I know that seems hard to believe but I'm kinda weird because I don't like to touch raw meat. It completely grosses me out. But, since Chris had to work for a few hours that day the job was mine. I did ok getting it out the plastic wrap but I had to call Chris and put him on speaker for the rest. I mean really, what purpose does putting the neck and giblet things INSIDE the turkey. Really? That was the single most disgusting thing I have ever done. I know some of you are rolling your eyes and thinking pa-lees! But, put yourself in my shoes. There's just something about the way it FEELS! YUK! YUK! And double YUK!

But any who, Ashton woke up and came to my rescue. She injected the sauce into the turkey for me and I finished the rest. And after spending much time on pins and needles the house began to fill up with the aroma of turkey cooking in the oven. And, surprise! Surprise! It turned out juicy and tender and everyone loved it. I was so proud of myself, but boy-o-boy, do I ever hope and pray that Chris is off the next time we cook a holiday meal : ).

Thanks for stopping by,

Till next time,

Kimberly: )

Happy Thanksgiving!!

A quick post today while my green bean casserole cooks to say that I hope everyone has a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving.

Chris is working today so Ashton and I will attempt to cook the turkey. Not sure how that will turn out as it will be our first attempt. I know, all these years and I have never had to be the one to do the deed. Someone else has always cooked the turkey and I've always did the trimmings and desserts, so wish us luck.

Today is also a day for us to give thanks for all the blessings in our lives. Though there are far to many to list them all, I know I am blessed to have the love of my family, a roof over my head, food to eat and a job that I love. I know that God blesses me each and every day that I live and I am thankful.

And, can you believe it? We finally started decorating for Christmas.

Yesterday was a busy day of Dr. Appointments, stops at Harris Teeter, Aldi, Food Lion and Wal Mart to get all the things we need to cook for Thanksgiving dinner. And after a quick bite for lunch we headed to storage to get all the Christmas decorations {it took both cars}. Unpacking everything created a mess but it was an organized mess {there is a method to my madness}. So in between cooking and crossing my fingers and praying the turkey is edible I will be working on the mess I left last night.

I'm off for now to do a bit more cooking and cleaning before Erik, Amber and Ben's girlfriend arrive.

Till next time,

Blessings,

Kimberly : )

P.S. I guess that wasn't such a quick post after all : )

Where do the Years go??

 Wednesday my son Erik turned 21. It seems like only yesterday he was a little boy and now he is all grown up and married. Chris, Ashton and me met him, Amber and a group of their friends at Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner.

This is Erik proudly wearing his wing master crown.

Erik and Ashton.

And Ash after she took his crown.

Erik and Amber {to his left} and their closest friends. We all had a really nice time, lots of good food, lots of laughs. That's it for the birthdays this year, NOW, I can finally give Christmas gift making/shopping my full attention. I always say I have to get past the birthdays first, one in September, two in November. Then I begin the countdown for Christmas.

Is it just me or does it seem that the older your children get the more difficult they are to buy for?

Well folks, I'm off for now to relax {stitch} a bit before heading off to bed.

Till next time,

Kimberly : )

My thrift store treasures

 Last Wednesday I stopped by Hope Harbour Thrift Store to look for goodies. I found a couple of things that I plan to paint but the best find was a pair of pewter candle holders for only two bucks!

For now they are on the dresser in my bedroom but I'm not sure if they will stay there. I love pewter so I am always on the hunt for it when I go to my favorite thrift shops and primitive stores.

This is a close up of the runner that  Karen from KM Primitives made for me earlier this year. The space on my dresser is narrow because of the mirror that sits on top and she was able to make one that fits perfectly from the measurements I emailed her. She also sent me some sample colors of the felt so I could choose something to coordinate with the quilt in my room. I love, love it and eventually hope to order small runners for my night stands to match.

This is what I'm working on this week, it's another Jenny Hoffman design. I'm stitching the design on each end of a 14 count aida cloth runner for my coffee table.

Here is a close up of the design. I know it's a bit stark white right now but not for long. Once finished I'll tea stain it and bake it a bit for that aged look. I can't wait to finish it!

Till next time,

Kimberly : )

A few more finishes

 Good evening blog friends. I thought I'd post a few more finished projects while waiting for our pizza. I know, healthy dinner, right? What can I say? Sometimes it just works when you've had a busy day at work.

 Thankfully tomorrow is my day off so I should be able to work on a few more projects. Tomorrow is also my son Erik's 21st birthday. The years seem to go by faster as I get older. Funny how it works like that.

I think this is my favorite pattern from Simple Goodes Stitched by Jennifer so far. My friend Christina has a birthday this month and I think I'll stitch one up for her along with a couple of ornies. I love hand made gifts, they're more personal.

My  BFF Melissa has a birthday tomorrow so these are for her. These are freebies from Sampler Girl and Primitive Bettys. Last year she really like the paper mache ornaments I painted for our tree so I thought I'd paint a couple for as well.

Working on all these Christmas ornaments really has me fired up to decorate the house {not that I needed any help in that department}. I think I go prowl around in storage tomorrow and slowly bring things in and get an early start .

Well Chris is home from a long day at work and I think it's pizza time.

Till next time,

Kimberly : )