Holiday is over time to get this house back in order.

 Oh my goodness, I feel like I am shoveling in a snowstorm....... My house is a mess point blank! Maybe I am sitting here writing this blog because I need to form a plan of attack, or just maybe  I am procrastinating. ME? Naw I would never do that hehehe. The washer and dryer are both going so I am doing something right. While on the other hand the dishes are over flowing the sink and my bath room well I am not even going to go there. I need to call my friend because I have not in awhile and well I think I am procrastinating on that too. I think I am having one of those sit on my butt and do nothing days but there is al ittle problem with that,  I am a germ a phobe  and that bathroom has got to be cleaned today lol I don't think that was the right spelling but ya get the point, right?  I need to get motivated here.  Ugh.


     Anyways I am off to get lost in the piles of crap I have to do today but I will leave you with  pictures of the holiday.

 Hurry everybody wake up Santa came!!!!!!

My daughters new baby doll. She LOVED it!

Sean was shocked at the BIG gift that mam-maw gave him.

Jessie's stocking was the only thing she opened herself.

I got my wish this year for a white Christmas. I loved it!

                Christmas Ham it was so so good.

Last Hodgepodge of 2010

            This is the last Hodepodge of 2010 .Thank  you Joyce for picking up right where the Random Dozen left off. If you would like to join in hop on over and see Joyce  at From This Side of the Pond, be sure to stop back to tomorrow and link up too.

1. Share your Christmas Eve traditions. 

 My kids are little so I don't really have all my traditions worked out yet but the game plan this year will be to have a big dinner of ham and mashed potatoes, then open our Christmas pj's and sit down and watch a Christmas movie with the kids. This year when they go to bed I have quiet a bit of assembly to do but I am so excited for them to wake up Christmas morning I doubt I will really get any sleep on Christmas eve which I think is becoming a tradition because I have done that since the Christmas my little boy was two I might get an hour or two of sleep but I a, usually way to wound up to sleep.

                 

2. What was the best book you read in 2010? (we're not going to include The Bible here)

                              The Bride of Peace by Cindy Woodsmall is the only book I read in 2010. I have just been to busy this year.

3. Do you have pets and if so do you allow them on the furniture?

                           No but my mom's dog come and sits on it does that count? I hope so because it drives me crazy lol.

4. What event from 2010 are you most thankful for?

                         That we all walked away from the car accident we were in, One person was injured and required a couple of surgeries but we all walked away with our lives and that is something to be very thankful for.

5. What did you do in 2010 that you'd never done before.

              

                  Put up my own Christmas tree. Every year circumstances have left us living with other people and all i really wanted for Christmas was to have my kids wake up to their own tree in their own living room!

                       

6. Brussel sprouts...friend or foe?

                                 Ick! I would rather not.

7. Who would you nominate for man/woman of the year?

                          I would nominate my best friend who in his life has overcame so many obstacles and somehow no matter what it takes pushes on and finds a way to keep going even when it seems like everything in the world is against him, sometimes it seems like he can't even take a breath before something slaps him in the face again but he shakes it off and keeps going. To meet this man he can put a smile on anyones face, he is truly amazing.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

                     Always smile and be nice to people you never know who's life you might change.

                                    

Macro Monday

This is my first time  doing Macro shots I had alot of fun playing around with it

 Hope ya'll enjoyed! You can do your own and link up to Lisa's Chaos.

Photo Hunt Sunday

This weeks list

-Winter

-B&W with selective coloring

-The wind

-Framed

-Remember when

Winter

     A little bit different but this  is what I do doing the winter. It is a nice warm place to be.

Black and White with Selective coloring     

My daughter and I in the kitchen back in October.First time playing with the Color in a Black and White.

The Wind

Freezes me to death but this is constantly going in our house.

Framed

My baby boy at age three. Not my picture they were taken at Walmart.

Remember When

The day my baby girl was born.

If you would like to play along with us hop on over to Ramblings and Photos.

This little light of mine

 I should have save this for Macro Monday but it came out so beautiful I want to share it now, by the way one of my first four Macro shots. I think I did pretty well for a newbie at this :)

Ok so now I am going admit yesterday morning I heard the words macro and had no idea what  in the heck that was so I looked it up and let me tell you if you have never done this in your random photo taking you have to try it is so fun to play with. Macro is close up photography. It is getting a close clear picture of your subject showing every detail of it.

 Ok and now I guess I will tell you how far behind in this game I am! I never heard of Bokeh before either. If you are like me this is what Bokeh if. Burn it in your brain. Learn to use it because it will be everywhere, and is a little more challenging then Macro.

 Taken from wikipedia

                        In photography, bokeh (pronounced /boʊˈkeɪ/) is the blur,^[1][2] or the aesthetic quality of the blur,^[3][4][5] in out-of-focus areas of an image, or "the way the lens renders out-of-focus points of light."^[6] Differences in lens aberrations and aperture shape cause somelens designs to blur the image in a way that is pleasing to the eye, while others produce blurring that is unpleasant or distracting—"good" and "bad" bokeh, respectively.^[1] Bokeh occurs for parts of the scene that lie outside the depth of field. Photographers sometimes deliberately use a shallow focus technique to create images with prominent out-of-focus regions.

      

Friday's Fave Five

#1 Coffee in the dark. 

                 I love it when I can sneak around the morning and be the only soul up in the house. I sit and watch Good Morning America, drink a couple pots  cups of coffee, maybe turn the computer. Or I might leave all distraction off and sit in silence for awhile, sometimes you just need time to here your own thoughts.

#2 Christmas Lights

            There is nothing to give ou Christmas spirit like your house being done up for Christmas everywhere you look. It doesn't matter if you have money or not this year. Put your tree up and if you have a couple extra strands of light string them over the doorway you will be surprised what cheer it can add.

#3 Baking 

             On the coldest day it can warm you up, and there is nothing like the smell of your house while doing it. Baking for many winters has been my hobby, I love it and there is nothing you can come up with in that area that I can't throw together.

#4 Christmas Music.

                               My radio in the kitchen has been set to it driving some people crazy. I don't just wait for Christmas to come I surround myself with it all of December.

#5 Daughter laying on my chest.

                 She is almost two and I know that time will soon run out on her wanting to cuddle with mommy. She got sick the other day and for hours wanted to lay on me and I was flooded with memories. I wanted to cry thinking about her being a newborn and how I could never get that time back. New babies are alot  to care for but you are never closer to your child than during that time. I love watching them learn and grow, develop there own personalities  but the greatest comfort in life is when they don't feel good and only want mommy, nothing else will do and I will gladly he the one they want and hold them all I can while they are still little.

Want to post your five? Click Here. Thanks for reading, feel free to leave a comment.

Friday fill ins

1. What in the world _is wrong with the world____.

2. __I am ___ well fed. unfortunately for my expanding belly.

3. Go _lol oh you don't want to know what I am thinking lmao____.

4. ____I _ sent _buckeyes to friends this week____.

5. I keep __on truckin___.

6. __to be ___ or not.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to _sleep____, tomorrow my plans include __a nap___ and Sunday, I want to __sleep___! Hey I'm a mom can you blame me.


 Ok I sat here laughing at the computer like a crazy person lmao!

AND/OR

19. IDOAWCJLTOIUTK: I'm dreaming of a White Christmas
20. CROAOFJFNAYN: Cheatmuts roasting on an open fire Jack frost nipping at your nose
21. IBTLALLC its beginning to look alot like Christmas: 
22. OLTOBHSWSTL: oh little town of Bethlehem how soon we see the light
23. SBRAYLITLSIG: no clue :(
24. IBHFC: I'll be home for Christmas
25. WWYAMCWWYAMC: we wish you a merry christmas we wish you a merry christmas
26. IHTBOCD: I heard the bells on Christmas day
27. FTSIAJHS frosty the snowman is a jolly happy soul

You Capture.....Outside

I just found this today. It is a new weekly challenge over at I should be folding laundry.  This looked so fun I had to do it.  The challenge this week is to strap on your winter gear ( if you are in the north like me) and go out and simply snap some pictures no matter what your skill level. I would just like to add because I am a wuss that it is like 10 degrees outside very cold for Ohio this time of the year.

  We threw these apples that had gotten too old out so the animals can have them. I really thought the red looked cool against the snow.

 True sign winter is here ice hanging from the roof.

 Front of the house after our first "big" snow of the year. This is our first winter here.

View from the back yard you can see the neighbors frozen pond through the trees.

  Hope everyone enjoyed the photos look forward to receiving comments.

          

It that time again....... Hodgepodge!

Happy Holidays everyone if you would like to join the Hodgepodge Click here


1. What does it mean to have the 'holiday spirit'?


                Holiday Spirit is never letting go of that child like  excitement of the holidays. I don't let the shopping and everything else stress me. 

         

2. What sits atop your tree (s)? Why?

                        Right now there is a star on two trees and a sent hat on one. No reason really.

3. When was the last time you gave yourself a pat on the back?

           LAST NIGHT!!!!!  I cleaned out and reorganized the whole dang kitchen and it took allllllll day but    I               got  it done and it looks great and I even did a little baking while I was in there. I made white chocolate chip macadamia nut cookies and buckeye. But alas I am not super woman the buckeyes have been in the fridge all night and need to be dipped still.

4. Which of your senses is most sensitive this time of year?

                              Ummm, I guess I would say eyesight taking in all the beauty of the season. I love going out driving and looking at the Christmas lights. I also love the inside of my house this year. There is Christmas no matter where you look here. I may do a tour of the house later this week.

                               

5. What do you have too much of in your kitchen?

         

                         Well you can definitely never have too much coffee but I have a brand new thing of coffee and that makes me very happy.  I have THREE sets of salad tongs unless I plan on having a salad party sometime soon I think that I may have too many.

6. What do you do for meals on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day? Big meal? Breakfast tradition? Open the cookie tins and have at it?

            Christmas eve. we usually have a big meal and then cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning, I think this year I may do homemade rolls. Then the rest of Christmas day it is just whatever.

7. What is the best thing about winter?

                   Big ol' snowstorms, when I am at home and don't have to go anywhere I LOVE THEM! It's both cozy and exciting at the same time.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

                              It is so cold outside the trash cans are like 2 ft. from my back door and i don't even want to go that far outside.

Shutter Love Tuesday....

 

While I am not great at photography I am entering this  I am entering this week because I do have two very cute kids :)

 Here my baby girl was about six months old and learned to smile when you say cheese.

Sunday Scavenger Hunt

This week I am going to be joining ramblings and photo's scavenger hunt.

  The list for the hunt is as follows:

               1. Winter Colors

               2. Holiday/ Winter Icon

               3. A tree

               4.Quiet

               5. Your Favorite Color 

Winter Colors

       My pretty lamp.

Holiday/ Winter Icon

     A little bit of Texas Christmas in Ohio.

A Tree

  My pretty little Christmas tree.

Quiet

   Everything is always so peaceful outside after a big snow.


                                              Color

  If I had to pick one color it would be burgundy although I don't think I really have a favorite, No idea why it's sideways.

Hodgepodge!

1. Have you ever been on a real sleigh ride? How about the warm weather version - a carriage ride? 

              I think that when I was little I have been on a carriage ride but I am really not sure. I know I haven't                   been on a sleigh ride although I would love to.

2. What's your policy on 'chain mail'...you know, the emails you receive that are often some sort of poem/blessing/good wish that ask you to send it on to 10 or 12 friends? Do you delete without opening, read and trash, read and trash and then worry you won't be blessed/lucky/protected? Do you delete the sender from your contacts or just go ahead and send the love onward?

                 If it is funny I will usually pass it on, I do usually read them all though.

3. Who is your favorite character in any of the Christmas movies and why?

              The Grinch he symbolizes the start of Christmas for me I have watched him every year since I was a child.

4. Share a favorite quote.

             I took the road less traveled and that made all the difference.

                     

5. What's your favorite holiday scent?

               Things baking in the over all the way! If I had to pick one of the candle sencts it would have to be apple cin.

6. Does the Christmas season stress you out? In what way?

          Not at all to me every moment of it is exciting of course I also don't go to the store when there are ten billion people there.

                 

7. What's the best thing about your life right now?

                  My son being another year older for Christmas with a grasp of  how things work, I love being Santa so much it keeps me up all night on Christmas eve. 

8. Insert your own random thought here.

                             That wood floors suck! They are cold and I have to wear my slippers all dang day.

My first Christmas tree..........

 I am 26 years old and have two children and because of living situations over the past 4 years I have never gotten to have my own tree! Now I do!!!! It is a little tree but to me it might as well be 50 feet tall because I know that on Christmas morning my kids are going to wake up in their own beds and come out and see all the goodies santa has left them right in their living room.  I put up the tree tonight and tomorrow morning my son is going to get to hang ornaments on the tree for the first time in his life. This year I am so very very blessed, it is all around me. I sleep on the couch  so that I am not to far from my kids and right at my feet is the Christmas tree. I get to wake up each and every morning  and see my tree first thing what a blessing that truly is. I am so into Christmas this year. I feel like I have found Christmas for the first time in many years and it is better than any present to just have the feelings of the season with me!!!!!!! On top of that people, IT IS SNOWING! This year has been so rocky in so many ways but I know now that the new year that will be coming soon and with it so many possibilities and new blessings. 2011 will be a good year I just have a feeling..............

Daybook Dec. 7th

FOR TODAY
Outside my window... Even more snowing so many people are complaining about. I think it is a welcome sight although the temp could be a tiny bit warmer.

I am thinking... About what I getting my kids for Christmas seeing as i have not done my shopping yet:)

I am thankful for... Hot Coffee and cold Iced tea


From the learning rooms... Revisited the letter H today and righting my son's name. He did really well.


From the kitchen...mac and cheese and fish sticks


I am wearing... fleece shirt with a cowboy snowman on it that says " Let it snow, y'all"


I am going... Out to bring the trash cans up to the house.

I am hoping...That is stays warm in the house tonight, it is so cold outside and the electric baseboard heat just does not seem to be keeping up.

I am hearing... Children playing in their room that should be sleeping.


Around the house... I am doing some cleaning to get ready to put up the tree.

A few plans for the rest of the week: Put up the Christmas tree and get some deep cleaning done.

Here is picture for thought I am sharing...(add your picture here) Sorry no pic today.

Daybook for December day 1

FOR TODAY
Outside my window... There is beautiful snow falling and more on the way.


I am thinking... About eating the chocolate cake I just baked.


I am thankful for... My Children and their sweet smiles.


From the learning rooms... My son and I are going to be working on the letter I and reviewing letters he has already done.


From the kitchen...Chocolate cake,YUM can't wait!!!!


I am wearing... Pj's yes I have not gotten out of them today.


I am going... I am staying in today it is way to cold to go to the store.

I am hoping...That it keeps on snowing.

I am hearing... Elf playing in the backround and the dryer running in the other room.


Around the house... Things are so beautiful with all the Christmas light up.

One of my favorite things... Coffee, this I believe needs no more explanation.


A few plans for the rest of the week: Put up the Christmas tree and get some deep cleaning done.

Here is picture for thought I am sharing...(add your picture here)