Christmas Decorations

We have had our tree up for over a week, but I finally took pictures of it last night! :)

Here is the tree!!

Mark and I both had our own set of ornaments when we got married. His parents and mine both gave us an ornament every year. When we got married, we already had plenty of ornaments for our tree! :) I think it is a great tradition to do for your kids.

I enjoy putting together different table arrangements. Here is the arrangement on my coffee table.

Pillows were half off at Hobby Lobby this week (Love that store!!) so I got matching Christmas pillows for our couch. Behind the pillow is the afgan my Grandmother made a few years ago. She made sure each of her grandkids had one of her blankets, it was one of her last Christmas gifts to us!



I haven't even started my Christmas baking yet! Hopefully I will get some fudge made tonight! Tomorrow is my dad's family Christmas dinner, so I will be taking some fudge along with some other stuff. YUM! :)

@ Home for the Holidays

Happy December, everyone! I can't believe that it is already the last month of the year! Christmas is quickly on it's way!
With that in mind, I thought I would review a Christmas fiction book. I bought this book at the book sale a few weeks ago. The book is @ Home for the Holidays by Meredith Efken. It is quite different from most fiction books. There are no chapters, it is entirely made up of emails from one character to another and to those in the Stay-At-Home-Mom (or SAHMs) email loop. The format took a little getting used to for me, as well as the fact that it is a sequel and I wasn't familiar with the characters, but I adjusted and really enjoyed the book.
Speaking of characters, Meredith does an excellent job with hers. At first they seem a little far out, but they are actually representative of different personality types and different personality extremes. Probably, a reader will find a little of herself in each character. The polarity of the characters adds to the humor.
And the book is quite humorous! I found it to be very enjoyable. The format is more lighthearted, and is a rather quick read, despite the book's almost 400 pages. However, Meredith does deal with some serious topics, such as marriage problems, adoption, and over commitment.
One of the points that the author is making through this book, is her opinion of the War on Christmas. I'm sure you have heard of different aspects on this topic. Such as, how some stores no longer use the word Christmas in their holiday advertising.

I am too tired tonight to wax eloquent, but I did want to pose a question... What do you think about the War on Christmas? For the perspective of Meredith Efken click here. I had heard more of the opposing view to hers, but what she has to say did make me think. It is important to keep all things in balance. As for me, I want to wish someone a "Merry Christmas" and to put "Merry Christmas" on my Christmas cards, because that is the day that I am celebrating. I will probably be more likely to shop stores that support the celebration of Christ's birth. But is this "war" something to get so bent out of shape about? What do you think?



Faithie says that it is a great book to read before going to bed... just cuddle up in some nice warm jammies and grab a sippy cup of milk! :)

Our Trip

Yeah!! The harddrive for our desktop finally came on Monday and Mark has been getting the computer put together bit by bit. (Bad pun!) :) Anyway, now I can post pictures! So therefore, here is our trip. I am putting a lot of pictures in the albums, so beware! :) (That way family members can get what they want.)

Wednesday was Dustin's thirteenth birthday! Happy Birthday, Dustin!!!! We celebrated with him at their towns new Chick-fil-a. :) So the following are the picture of his party and playing games back at Mark's parent's house.

Dustin's Birthday

Then of course, the next day was Thanksgiving! My father-in-law's brother and family from Idaho (Uncle John and Aunt Shauna) and sister and family (Aunt Teresa and Uncle Buddy) from Tennessee were there. We had a great time seeing everyone!

Thanksgiving Day!

Friday, we went to the Homestead Craft and Children's Fair. This has been a tradition for my family for about ten years, whenever we are in Texas for Thanksgiving. We really enjoy going, seeing the crafts, buying yummy foods and other things, and visiting with the people there. It is so refreshing to be there and enjoy a time of Thanksgiving. Most of Mark's family went on Friday, so we were able to enjoy some more time with them.

Homestead Heritage Craft and Children's Fair

Saturday morning, we visited the Texas Ranger Museum before returning to the fair to finish shopping and see more of their demonstrations.

Texas Ranger Museum

Snowflakes!!!

I found this on Better Homes and Garden's website! It's so much fun and a great stress reliever!! :) Make your own snowflake!!

PS~ When you finish your snowflake, leave the number in the comments so we can see it. Warning: these get addictive! :)

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving! Tomorrow, we are headed up to visit Mark's family, his dad's brother and sister are headed in with their families, one group from Idaho and another from Tennessee! I know we will have a great visit. Then Friday we are headed to Homestead Heritage for their Thanksgiving Fair. We go there almost every year, and enjoy it so much! Wish y'all could come! :)