Well, all of the ornaments have made it onto the tree… twenty-four days of adding ornaments to my Christmas Advent Calendar.

A beautiful heirloom created by my Grandma Kitty… stitched together one sequin at a time! Always full of fond family memories as Christmas draws closer through the month of December! And it’s finally here…

Sure, we had pumpkin pie & my cheesecake for dessert yesterday… but who doesn’t want some chocolate brownies too?! My niece Taylor made a batch of brownies to add to the celebration yesterday… just one more yummy platter on the table!

After years… literally YEARS… of trying to get Don to give up his jumbo Pyrex measuring cup for his tea cup… yes, he drank his tea out of a measuring cup!!!… my cousin Kim bought her boyfriend a large mug of mine today! And it looks like he might just be willing to “convert” to pottery! Sure, it was supposed to be a surprise Christmas gift for Don… but I guess Kim couldn’t keep her own secret?!!!

Looks my cousin David’s anthurium is enjoying its new home in a pretty stamped & purple flower pot! David surprised me at ART IN THE GARDEN by coming to the show with his Mom & Sister… my Aunt Marilyn & cousin Kim… even though he lives in Ohio!!! SURPRISE!!!

Celebrating all the Moms out there…
cherish your time with them, and the memories without them.

Looks like “shared-birthdate-buddy” Allyn is enjoying her mornings a bit more with her new handmade mugs!!! A perfect way to celebrate another Mugshot Monday!

#mugshotmonday

Hoping you all made some wonderful Christmas memories with your family & friends yesterday. We had a great time with lots of presents, food, games, desserts & laughter! And since many of you know my Dad… he’s doing great, embracing this new chapter of his life… with his newly-found “pandemic beard” looking like he’s ready to play the part of Santa!

And yes, my sister Jen was there too… but I didn’t get a good picture of her! Just this one… that I was pretty sure she wouldn’t want me to pull her “head-shot” from!!! HA!!!

Festive fun with the family update! So the cling wrap game was great fun. Over 800-feet of cling wrap with a hundred gifts, trinkets, coins, candies, OREOs, money, gift cards & more wrapped inside! So each person has a chance to unwrap the ball and whatever falls out is theirs. The person next to them is rolling a pair of dice and if they get doubles, the person unwrapping is done! Next person, next turn… moving around the room until everything is unwrapped. And to make it even more fun… the unwrapper had to wear a pair of thick woolen mittens!!!

Okay, so this was all my niece Taylor’s idea…
but I’ve made a bundle of fun for our Christmas gathering. Over a hundred pieces packed inside, some good, some not… all wrapped up in 800-feet of cling wrap! My family will pass around the ball unwrapping & discovering some gifts along the way! Might not be the best gift ever… but it promises to deliver tons of entertainment for ME!!!

When tasked with bringing a dessert for Christmas… there are certain expectations. I mean, who wants a store-bought dessert when I can make this for my family??? Yummy vanilla cheesecake with chocolate & cherry accents. Oh yes, and some hot fudge to put over it all just in case you want even more!!!

As you know… MORE IS MORE… especially at Christmas!