today was a fun day!! it felt so good to get out in the sunshine even tho it was a bit chilly. vic,www.vickichrisman.blogspot.com and i went here to check out the goodies. we each found some treasures that we couldn't live without of course! aren't these pink star glasses cute? i also found this sweet little divided dish and the brown polka dot bowl. love it all!

i also got this pretty tablecloth with six napkins and a blue quilted dresser box, just like the one my mom has had in her dresser drawer for years! also found a wire pool basket and this cute little red and white "hanky."

such fun time spent with such a good friend! who could ask for more right?

have a nice evening!

what a weekend!! christmas at my mom's in iowa was this weekend and the whole family was there which was wonderful in itself but, then i spied my sweet girl's hand shortly after she and jim arrived and i know my mouth fell open and my eyes got huge and i looked at jill and she said"yes, it's what you think it is"!!!!!!!!!! so happy, to see my girl sooo happy and her life going in a wonderful direction in many ways! words cannot express all i feel in my heart right now, the holiday season is here,my family, all of them are healthy and happy, and so much to look forward to in the new year! life is good and i feel so blessed to have wonderful family and friends in my life. my sweet sissy and her wonderful family....

my dear brother and his precious kids....

and my sweet carter after a big day at great grandma's......

have a nice day!

i have to admit that i have a huge "weakness" for books of all kinds!! i just got this book in the mail. i have another of mary carol garrity's books and i love it. i think this is a winner too!!
just re-did the dinning room table a bit and put the snowflake that i had in the window on the chandelier. i kept knocking it out of the window when i opened the curtains so thought this would be better.

have a nice day!

looky what finally came in the mail.....this a beautiful book, by the very talented, catherine matthews-scanlon. it is full of wonderful projects and very informative. i love it! it is so worth the long wait i had to endure! ;) you should check it out for sure!http://www.cmscanlon.blogspot.com

pretty pretty projects!! just full of eye candy!!!

this is my beautiful and simple "fontanini" nativity set that i got while we were in rome,italy. the lovely lady at the store wrapped it so well, for me but, i still carried it onto the plane with me. i was worried it would get broken on the long trip home. we all know how our luggage can be handled, so i didn't want to risk it. i had wanted a true fontanini nativity set for years but,they were very expensive here in the states. this one was half the price in rome, as opposed to here at home. needless to say i was thrilled. our mantle this year was some what inspired by http://www.paigeknudsen.blogspot.com/ and one of the several holiday magazines that i have and i can't remember which one. very simple....

snow,snow, snow today maybe 3-4 inches on the ground now. looks so pretty and white.

a little christmas blingy flower hanging by my kitchen window.

have a nice evening!

just thought i would share some holiday decorating photos from around the house...this wooden bowl has ornaments in it that came from my mom and various other places.this is on the dinning room table......." mr.klaus" came from the huge craft show in omaha eight years ago. he was made in duluth,mn. by a gal named mona rae. the buttons on his coat came from germany, the fabric of his coat is from texas, his beard from iowa,the tree in his hand california and the base he is on is from wisconsin. i thought it was kinda cool that she included all this info with him.

this egg nog set reminds me of christmas at the farm with my grandpa and grandma quinn. i guess it was tradition to make homemade tom & jerry batter and i think eggnog too. i was to young to have t&j's but, i love eggnog!

sweet little wooden snowflake in the window,sounds like a few of the real ones will be on the ground tomorrow! 3-5 inches of them according to my hubby the weather man! ;)

have a nice day!

i went christmas shopping today and as i was browsing the wonderful aisles of target i came across this cute little woolrich kerchief for my cully! hope, uncle bobby v. likes it! just a little inside joke there,sorry.;) cully doesn't mind it at all. his tags make his fur black, i hate that since his fur is so white so, we will leave this on him while he's in the house at least. i saw this tree and just "had" to have it. i think it's so cool. i love it. i'll put some greenery along side of it.

i have all of my shopping done!!!! i can't believe it! this is good, in fact very good for me!! i'm usually scrambling a bit later in the month than this!!! what a relief!!

'tis the season to clean out and give away,my too big collection of holiday decorations!! i went thru all the boxes and bins and had the back of my car full plus a few things on the back seat! it feels soo good to have everything all cleaned out,at least the fall and christmas things and hopefully someones else or lots of someone else's will get some enjoyment from them! just a few of the things i did keep....

love this "snowangel" on the hearth....

the wings are real feathers! :)

have a nice evening!

well, this is what we woke up to this morning,ice,nasty terrible ice!! lots of it too! ahhh winter in the midwest! gotta love it! we must & do cause we stay here! lol! ;) i just hope we don't loose power. our lines aren't buried here like they were in our hometown so when we get this stuff it's always a sort of a concern.

have you ever shopped at http://www.sadieolive.com/ ? well, you should, sara has the coolest stuff! i just made a small order of this white tin measuring cup

and this cute little bag dispenser....it came pretty quickly and i'm sure i will order from sara again. she has some reallyunique/ cool stuff in her store. you should go and check it out right now! ;)

have a nice day! stay safe if you are in the wintry weather area mess!!

i've got the christmas music blasting in the stereo and i've managed to get out a few christmas decorations in hopes of getting in the "mood" to do lots of decorating! well, don't think that's gonna happen today....maybe with the impending forecast of a snow storm on saturday i'll be more of a mind to decorate then. who knows?? i got these christmas tree plates at the barn boutique last year and they match my kitchen perfectly. love 'em and they where so handy, in the cupboard, so i got them out! ;) that's the spirit huh?!

these little trees where in the same cupboard!!

my toile cone in the front entry..... i had to go to the basement for the greenery and berries!

the little "welcome friends" snowman jarrod(ds) just gave me and the "joy" from becky for my birthday was in the drawer so no problem! ;) i'm sure they will get moved when i really get going on the decorating but, they are at least out! i really sound lazy don't i? actually, i'm not, just not in the mood,yet.......

have a nice day!

just some random stuff today,not too much going on around here. i got this "s" fromwww.http://www.sayitwithletters.blogspot.com/. deb damboise has lots of different font styles in the letters and some fun ideas too. these are really high quality letters. not flimsy at all. anyway, i got this and painted it white and used rub-ons to decorate it along with a couple of vintage buttons and some black ribbon. i was inspired by rebecca sower's "s". she is one talented gal!
this sweet little santa dish was only $2.00 at the local walgreen's drugstore. isn't it cute?

my mom brought me a sample of her cranberry dream bars and the recipe when she was here Thursday! nice huh? they are really good and easy to make. here is the recipe:

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour,divided

3/4 cup confectioner's sugar 1 cup butter,softened

4 eggs

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1/4 tsp.salt

1 bag or 3 cups fresh cranberries,coarsely chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.In a large bowl,combine 2 cups flour,the confectioner's sugar &butter.Mix with a fork until mixture starts to hold together. Press into the bottom of a 15x10x1 jelly roll pan.Bake for 15 minutes then remove from oven.Meanwhile,in a large bowl,combine eggs,granulated sugar,salt& the remaining 1/2 cup flour;mix with wooden spoon until smooth.Fold in chopped cranberries.spread mixture over the hot crust&bake for 32-35minutes. Enjoy!!! :)

jill(dd) brought me some books to read. i love to have at least 2 or 3 at a time. this should hold me for a bit!

have a nice evening!

Hi: quick note on the above recipe, it is 2 1/2 cups of flour, divided. I changed the recipe's wording, so i hope that helps to clear things up. thanks to fran, for bringing this to my attention!

hope everyone had a wonderful thanksgiving!! we really did, lots of food, laughter and togetherness, with one exception,my sissy terri and her hubby bob and my sweet niece blayne couldn't be with us but, they were in our thoughts! we love you guys and missed being with you. just some shots of the group around the table,ruthie,j,brother dan & dh bud....

my mom,jim and jillian...

after dinner in front of the t.v. of course, to watch football. cully wanted to nap but, was way to nosey with all the company around!

mom and i talking it all over! ;)

cully, now has moved to be by my mom even tho she didn't have her pink slippers on! cully loves my mom!!

bud just couldn't take it,full stomach, his chair,covered with his blanket the fireplace going and the t.v. on! and "watching" football,of course! typical guy i guess!!!

have a nice day!!

after doing laundry,dishes,washing rugs, vacuuming,dusting and various other "fun" things, i decided to treat myself to a dozen roses. picked up while i was getting groceries. they were only $9.98 for a dozen and i love white roses soooo......aren't they gorgeous? i then went outside after putting everything away and enjoyed looking at the several christmas catalogs i got in the mail. i usually get some everyday!!

i also took my christmas magazines outside too. and the best part of all,was the 70 degree temperature!! i couldn't believe it! it's the 19th of November!! in nebraska no less, but,alas i hear the temp. is going to drop drastically tomorrow and worse on wed.,so i just had to get out and enjoy the last "hurrah"! ;)

cully loved it too!
have a nice evening!