Christmas 2010 {in pictures...and a few words}

Tyler has been taking a pottery class the last 6 weeks and he made this just for me. It is gorgeous and I love it.



Tennessee "White Christmas"



Dinner with my mom and little sister.



Guess who did not want her own camera for Christmas?

Nope, she had rather use mom's SLR.

And I am ok with that.

She is pretty stinkin good at it.



Grandma Pat and Aunt Ashley made salt dough ornaments with the kiddos while we went to dinner...



With the S.M.U.T.S. and their spouses.



My new cutting board from Crate and Barrel.

Hubby got major points for this.

Mentioned I loved it months ago and he remembered.



My mom gave me these vintage candy dishes she found here while shopping downtown.



I love everything about them.

Still trying to think of creative things to keep in them though.

Any ideas?



Maggie's Lisa Leonard necklace engraved with her favorite scripture.

So dainty and precious.



Lots of baking went down here.

I have a whole new jiggle in my thighs to prove it.



Lemons.



For the cheesecake my mom made.

Did I mention I also have a new roll that now hangs over my pants?

Maybe it is a good thing that she lives in Florida.



I believe I single handedly ate at least 4 bags of these little jewels.

You think I'm pulling your leg don't you?

Nope.

It is a skilled craft people.

So is wearing yoga pants.



And finally I would like to introduce you to my new addiction.

I scoffed at any talk of these things for so long.

I prefer to stay in my cave with my flip phone and my walkman.

But the world and all it's technology keeps rolling and growing into a snowball of techno chaos that I cannot seem to get out of the path of and at some point I am forced to jump on.

By "forced to jump on" I mean my husband pushing me into it's path.

He is the reason my flip phone and I parted ways.

He is the reason I have the iPad.

He is like my electronics dealer.

And I am now an iPad junkie.

Maybe you can relate?

Maybe I will see you in iPad Anonymous?

Maybe there is an App for that? :-)



Seriously this thing is amazing.

I have read more the past week than I have in the last 6 months.

Books.

Bible Study.

You name it.

Even has an App for my Weight Watchers!

And I am feeling a tad more organized.

Which is always a good thing in my world.



How about you?

How was your Christmas?

Were you snowed in?

What was your favorite gift?


"My every mortal breath, is Grace and nothing less"

Happy Twenty Ten!!!!

We had big plans this New Years...to invite a few friends over, fondue, and make complete fools of ourselves playing Guesstures. But my immune system had other plans. Wednesday morning I woke up with a raging sore throat and head cold. And I have whined like a 2 year old since. I planned to press on but when I received a text from one of our guests that her son was vomiting with fever, we decided to cancel. Dang. Next time.

My super spectacular, Culinary Institute of America graduate husband, decided the show would go on here at our house...so he set out shopping and returned to transform (dimmed lighting and all) our house into The Melting Pot.


Complete with Coq Au Vin and Yin Yang Fondue and all!

My waitsline will never be the same. We had a wonderful time here as McManus Party of Five, but we did miss the fellowship with our friends. Next Year. For sure.

I'm not sure if I plan to work on resolutions this year...it all seems sort of pompous in light of the fact that tomorrow I will sit with a friend as she mourns the loss of her mom...just diagnosed with cancer in early November....released into the hands of Jesus New Years Eve morning...that Sunday I will sing the funeral of a woman so many thought would be in their Holiday photos many years to come...after all, we are not promised our next breath.

Perhaps I need to be more focused on and live better in the moment I'm given...learn better to treat it as the last moment I'm afforded with the ones I love. Perhaps I need to be less distracted on the fluff of life and more focused on things that will matter eternally...perhaps we all do. Perhaps.
Besides my yearly resolutions always have something to do with a gym membership and losing 15 pounds.
Why? See photo above. :-)

1 Corinthians 2:2 "For I decided that while I was with you I would forget everything except Jesus Christ, the one who was crucified."

HAPPY TWENTY-TEN friends!!!! May your moments be rich with life and love!

"The object of a New Year is not that we should have a New Year....but that we should have a new soul" -G. K. Chesterton

Christmas Memories 09'

With the help of three of the cutest elves I could find, I managed to get my bake on this Christmas...and by doing so I'm sure I've managed to get my weight on as well. I'm gonna be honest here folks ...I have NO IDEA why I bake the things I do at Christmas time! Half the things I bake, no one in my house even likes...just traditions that have been passed down I suppose.

So this year I decided to lighten my baking load by ditching the pain in the you know what to make and never eaten peanut butter balls and coconut bon-bons and instead asking the family to pick one thing they would like mom to make for Christmas.

Tyler? Peanut Butter Fudge- Hands down every time
Maggie? Sugar Cookies with frosting
Aidan? Peanut Butter Crackers dipped in White Chocolate
Adam? Peanut Butter Blossoms

I was afraid I had eaten the entire pan of these all by my lonesome...but my sister reassured me that she had eaten one...phew!

___________________________________________________________________

Christmas Morning was wonderful here...the man with the bag certainly delivered.

The kiddos requested Mario Kart as a group gift.

It was an iPhone Christmas for Tyler ...and Adam

Aidan requested a digital camera...and he has since been torturing us with the video function.

Maggie requested Art supplies...she received an Easel, multiple sized and shaped canvases, brushes, and paints.

I was actually able to surprise Adam this year (he knew about the iTouch)...usually I'm not so hot at it...he on the other hand rocks at surprises...this used to be a lot easier to do when I worked and he didn't know where every penny was going. But this year I was able to get him a Keurig coffee machine (we affectionately refer to her as "Kay") without our checkbook ever skipping a beat. And he we can't stop using it! It is so snazzy that I dare say it would make even a non-coffee drinker wanna brew their own cup o' joe.

I received the Prime Lens I had longed for since last Christmas...and it's a tradition in our house that Adam gets Maggie and I gift cards to the mall so that we can have a "Mother/Daughter After Christmas Day of Shopping" together. We started that last year and Maggie lives for it! I also got a Clarisonic Facial Cleanser thingy...love it. I just knew that as cold natured as I am, this would for sure be the year of the Snuggie...But this year for me could easily be referred to as "The year of the scarf"....I think I got 8...or 9...no joke. Where do I keep them? Hang? Drawer? Paid storage unit? Seriously, where do you keep yours? Any ideas would be appreciated greatly.

One of those spectacular gifts Adam gave was 8 tickets to see The Rockettes Christmas Spectacular at The Grand Ole Opry downtown. Adams mom, my mom, and her fiance were able to join us as one big happy family! We first toured the beautiful Opryland Hotel (yes, you Blissdom '10 attenders are in for a real treat!)...check out that tree! Then moved over to the Grand Ole Opry house for the show. The show was phenomenal...the Rockettes themselves were beyond impressive...the Nativity emotional (yes, I cried)...the memories wonderful!

Hope ya'll had a wonderful Christmas too! :-)

"And whatever I do, may it always bring Glory to You"