I can still remember the excitement of filling out Valentine cards and making our "mail box" at school. My mom kept them for years and I used to go through them over and over and over again. I would pick out my favorites and place them in piles.
We are in the process of cleaning out our attic and other storage areas in our house. We are having a Community Giveaway at our church on Saturday and this is a great excuse to do some purging and reorganizing.
Hard to believe that it has been one year since our trip to Savannah, for Brittany and Justin's destination wedding. I still haven't gotten prints from Ashley's wedding printed and framed. Brittany did make me photo books of both weddings for my Christmas present this year. Before the end of March, it is my goal to have pictures printed, framed and hung throughout the house.....they have to find their space on the wall before my baby comes in August....after that, I'm sure it will be all about her...or him.
Happy Anniversay!
I love these old vintage Valentine's Day cards. My mom used to save my "mailboxes" that we made in school that was full of valentines. She had them in a drawer in her bedroom. For years, I remember sitting in the floor looking at them over and over and over. I guess she threw them out when they moved to Southern Illinois. I do have some old post cards from the early 1900's that belonged to my Great Grandmother. I keep them displayed in a book and there are some cute Valentine cards in there...I wish I would have scanned one for today.
To celebrate, I took Ashley out for dinner! I snapped this picture at the table, I can't help but see her as my "little" girl here.
Ashley made a beautiful bridesmaid for Jose's sister's wedding this past Saturday. 
The wedding took place at the same plantation that Ashley and Jose had their reception at. Since their wedding, the plantation owners have built an outdoor cathedral. It is just beautiful. The weather was perfect...just a little cool.
Ashley and Jose during the recessional.
The cute couple - Monica and Jonathan Guzeman. They are enjoying the warm weather in Florida this week for their honeymoon.
There is Cooper! He is such a sweet boy - he absolutely loved helping us host our family and our grand-doggers. He was so sad when everyone left.
Penelope loved all of her gifts, but she is rather territorial. At her house, she literally sat by her stocking, every waking moment, guarding it from the other dogs....and none of the other dogs wanted her stuff. Ashley had to finally take it down and put it away, to give her peace of mind. Here she is on Christmas morning at our house, as her gifts were opened, she would lay on them to guard them. The blanket was from me, the toy from Ashley and the outfit from Brittany and Justin.
Bella is not as territorial, but she did like her new blanket.
Cooper was checking out one of his gifts and Penelope was making sure her name wasn't on the tag! Benny loved gifts too and we have cute video footage of him opening his gifts. He was so cute, he would tear off all the paper.
No more gifts Cooper....you opened them all!
After opening gifts, we started making dinner. It was a casual dinner, as far as our place settings, but it was a really good dinner. I mean if you are going to be eating in your pajamas at 5:00 p.m., I wasn't too worried about making the table all fancy!
We had spiral ham, a boneless shrimp stuffed turkey, scalloped sweet potatoes, garlic mashed potatoes, corn souffle, baked beans, broccoli salad, stuffed artichoke, deviled eggs and rolls. It was really good and we had leftovers for a couple of days.....love leftovers!
These pictures were taken the day after Christmas, when we finally decided to get dressed. We were on our way to church.
Christmas found me back in the kitchen. I made us a quick breakfast and we waited for the kids to come over. The great thing about grown children, you don't have to get up super early on Christmas morning. Brittany and Justin stayed with Ashley and Jose, next door. When they got up, they sat around Ashley's tree and opened their stockings to one another (the spouses). While I was next door at our house preparing a breakfast. 
I made canned cinnamon rolls in the shape of a tree and tinted the frosting green....I think I would have rather kept it white and put green sprinkles on it. 
I made a casserole. This one was different than the sausage/egg casserole I usually make. This was called Breakfast Bacon Pizza. It was a layer of Crescent rolls, some hash browns, bacon, eggs and cheese. Everyone liked it...but I like the old one better.
Brittany, Justin and Benny
Ashley, Jose, Bella and Penelope
Mom and Dad....so cute!
Me and Terry......where is Cooper?? 
Happy New Year! Last night we celebrated very low key! First time we have been home in years. We stayed in with Mom and Dad....watched some T.V., played a little Wii and waited for midnight! Dad went to bed around 11:00 and told mom to wake him up at 11:45. She did and surprisingly, he got up. Terry poured some sparkling cider and small glasses and we listened as Dick Clark counted down the New Year on an hour delay. We toasted, kissed, stepped outside to watch the fireworks and went to bed. I also spent a little time talking with the girls on the phone and texting with a friend.
Christmas Eve day found all of us.....waiting for Christmas. We had a big breakfast, Dad helped make the homemade gravy....we had biscuits, sausage, bacon and eggs. Ashley and Brittany were next door making hash brown casserole and pancakes. Penelope and Cooper were dressed for the festivities and excited about what may be in their stockings the next morning.
Brittany made special pancakes, using cookie cutters to add to the holiday cheer!
Brittany didn't have time to decorate cookies at home, so I made her some cutout cookies and on Christmas Eve day she decorated them.
Grandma enjoyed a few games of wii bowling with her Grandson-in-laws....and she beat them both....she is good at bowling and was doing a little trash talk to get them motivated!
Ashley and Jose spend the evening at his family's house and the rest of us went out for a little last minute shopping. Most of the stores closed early, but Brittany was able to find a few things that I could buy for her. We took Grandma home to settle in for the evening and Grandpa went with us to see a movie. The first time back in a movie theater for him since the mid-nineties when we took him to see Father of the Bride 2. This time we went to see Little Fockers and none of us were very impressed. The first two were much funnier.
This is my neighbor Aaliyah. She wanted to do something special for Christmas this year, so her mother asked if I had any ideas or connections that she could get involved with. I told her about the need for blankets for the homeless on cold nights in New Orleans. Right away, she started collecting blankets. She passed out notices in the neighborhood, asked people in her church and where her mother works. Last night Ashley and I took Aaliyah and her bags and bags of blankets to the New Orleans Mission. We enjoyed a worship service and then passed some blankets out to those who were not able to secure a bed at the mission for the evening.
Some of the Mission clients helping Aaliyah unload the blankets.
See this window? I have to wipe it out often, as it seems to attract little bugs, spiders and their small webs. I guess they come in around the window. I started wiping it out the other day and noticed it was clean - no bugs! But when I lifted the white vase on the end.....a friend popped out!
He is the reason there are no bugs......he has been keeping it clean for me. I thanked him and then tried to catch him and put him outside, where he could enjoy more bugs and be reunited with his family. So, I was running around the kitchen with the dustpan, yelling at Cooper to get back and then the phone rang....it was my Dad. He said, awe, let him go...we will eat him for Christmas when I get there! And....we just might, he ran under my stove and I haven't seen him since!
I finished my Dog Treat project. I purchased these jars at different thrift stores. I painted them with chalkboard paint, added the ribbon with a piece of chalk and finally added the homemade dog treats.
I love them! I think they are so cute. Cooper saw them and he loves it too! I have them out in the garage on a table with my other baked goods and every time I open the door, he runs to the table, hoping for a treat. Brittany...don't show Benny this pictures, I want him to be surprised on Christmas morning!
This is one type of cookie I baked on Saturday. These cute Reindeer. Ashley made a tray and I made a tray. They are just a fun, easy, yummy treat that makes the cookie trays a give away a little more festive.
I also made spritz, pecan brittle, Mexican wedding cookies, a fudge wreath, peanut butter kisses, and whippersnappers. I still have to find time to make banana bread, pumpkin bread, pretzel treats, and cut out cookies.
The stockings are ready to be filled. Mom and Dad's stocking are hanging in their guest room...I need a bigger fireplace or smaller stockings!
I have bought all my ingredients for baking this season. I am making my usual Christmas treats that everyone will expect and I am trying a few new ones. Dog treats is one of my new ones! I have my dog and three grand-doggers, so I thought homemade treats would be fun to try.
I found these cute dog bone cutters at a kitchen store at Tanger Outlets. The recipe was easy, but I ran a little low on the whole wheat flour, so I had to stiffen the dough up a bit with regular flour, but not much.
They bake for 35 minutes, so I knew it would be a long night if I only baked one tray at a time. Cooper was excited and somehow knew that these where for him....well, maybe because I kept telling him and he sat and watched me the whole time.
Oh my goodness, he is so cute!
I made a double batch....I thought one would not be enough with 4 dogs. Boy, was I wrong! After three full trays of treats, I had more that half of the dough left. It was getting late, so I put the rest of the dough in the frig and will finish baking them tonight. I plan on putting them in treat jars that I am going to jazz up with chalkboard paint and ribbon. I will post the final presentation.
So, dog treats were the only thing that got baked last night.....about 11:15 I put Ruby to bed, tucked her all in with Christmas hot pads and a towel. I hope she rested well, I will be working her tonight!
Wanted to share this little treat that I put under the tree last night. I found these blocks at a thrift store that I go to about once a week. They are the really nice, bigger, heavier blocks. They were in great condition. I wiped them all down with a Clorox wipe and put them in the Christmas basket. Ashley saw them and asked if they would be going to her house.....I said, "no" these are toys that will stay at Grandma's house!
