Family Christmas - Sunday, December 26

Delia is ten this Christmas and Grandma tried to find something she could use to make an experiment. Those pickle jars will come in handy now... Ho,ho,ho!

 Every ten year old should get soap for Christmas, right? They made me stop buying socks...

 Fiesta makes its annual appearance at our festivities. I got a cinnabar mug, too. Thank you, Tracy.

 Just try to slow down a two-year-old when she sees something interesting. She will really work up a sweat.

 More of our decorating strategies: cards, photos and don't forget the Christmas lights around the walls.

 Dad is slightly suspicious of the peanut pillow or is it the photographer?

 Tracy explains all: the peanut pillow will help with the neck ache. Pillow is washable and hand made. Good job, Tracy.

 One of our favorite photos of 2010. I can still feel the love.

The Kids.

 The Parents.

 A gift certificate for yarn at The Nest. I know what makes these girls happy.

We had a GOOD time.

Strother Elves Christmas 2010 Update-Preparation for Christmas

It's cold, but there is no snow. Can Christmas be so far away?

 the Strother Elves contemplate the work to be done. Oh yeah. Delia and Tracy decorated the tree before they went outside to scout the deer location.

 Make that KEITH and Delia went outside; it appears that Tracy had some catching up to do. She donated the jacket Delia wore outside.

 This picture of Stan was taken by Linda or Sandy during the week before Christmas when I had to be in school. He is sitting in the recliner enjoying USA network programs -see the wvu snuggie on his left?

 Traditions. And photos. We got lots of them!

 The Christmas Tree at Sun Valley 2010 - complete with vintage tree skirt and stockings to be hung by the "chimney" with care...

Just the facts, Ma'am. And, of course, the pictures!

The Blessings - Alabama

I stand here lookin' up at the stars tonight,

how can one man have so much in life

As I look around me, what a picture it paints,

I'm much more than lucky, I oughta give my thanks

There's food on the table, a log on the fire,

and in my woman's eyes there's love and desire

The blessings, sent from above, oh, the blessings, a life full of love

When I look around I can see, all that's been given me,

so lift my eyes up to the sky

I wanna give my thanks for the blessings

Sometimes I fall asleep at the end of the day

and I forget to thank you, I'm ashamed to say

But as I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep

I know you can hear me here on Earth,

thank you for giving me more than I deserve

The blessings,

sent from above, oh, the blessings,

a life full of love

When I look around I can see, all that's been given me,

so lift my eyes up to the sky

'Cause I wanna give my thanks for the blessings

Blessings,

when I look around, I can see, all that's been given me

So, I lift my eyes up to the sky,

'cause I wanna give my thanks for the blessings

The blessings, oh, the blessings...

Merry Christmas 2010, Family!

I love ya all!

Solstice

Gentle readers.
Today is the official beginning of Winter here in the northern hemishpere.
Also, the last day for students at my school (until next year - about two weeks).
I'm going to post some photos from my school computer, since the computer at home is acting up.

Saturday - The last reeealy good shopping day before Christmas.

Yo.

We are watching Sorcerer's Apprentice, instead of another endless Johnny Depp - Pirates of the Caribbean.

I tried to get the cork out of the Merlot. No luck. Drinking Kahlua instead. So, if this is slightly disjointed or out of focus, I won't be able to tell until I read it tomorrow.

Best belly laugh of the day: The Miller's Christmas Card - you kept the best photo. I want to pass it along. Please, send it to me either on the blog or by email. You have inspired me to make the obligatory Christmas letter. I have some Christmas stationary... I also have Maxine's "It won't matter in 100 years, and it barely matters now!" stationary. Guess which one I pick for this year's letter to friends and relatives...

On the national scene: DADT has passed the Senate by 65 to 31 with Manchin not there to vote and Rockefeller voting yes.

On the homefront: Kim will come tomorrow.
We are cocooning. Did the chores: garbage, laundry, obligatory TV and facebook, dishes, ignored the bills, the letters to answer, the cleaning...

Predictions:
Forecast for tomorrow: Sunday -December 19 - regular winter day, nothing special. Shop, if ya can...
Monday - regular school day - awwww shucks...
Tuesday - maybe some snow - school again...
Wednesday - I gotta go no matter how high the snow gets...
Thursday - Freedom

Friday - Christmas Eve

Hope to hear from all of you before too long. Marietta, Mo-town, NYC, Phoenix and of course D.C. and any other place you lurkers are lurking... North Pole, etc.
See ya.

Snow Day - yippee!

Lake Effect Snow... what other kind is there? The weatherman should have called it "heart attack" snow - heavy, wet, good for snowmen and snow ball fights. 6 inches on the deck accumulated from the weekend... about 3 inches on the driveay at 9a.m. today. I swept and it was slush underneath. Too heavy to brush away. Still falling in big wet flakes.
Linda and Sandy may come, if they can get out of their respective roads - this morning the word was "icy" - not coming until roads get better... I don't blame them. This old 50 has been scraped. The plow flew by @ 9a.m.
I'm going to take a nap (or I wish I could take a nap) Depends [how punny I am.]

Later.

Snowy Sunday in West Virginia

Dad's Christmas Tree with Dad in the mirror December 5, 2010

Our front door with the porch lights on. Thanks Strother Elves for figuring out how to hang the lights AND open the door.



Our Deer welcoming the neighbor's deer - they are far away, over the hill in the next lawn...




Our front door w/o the porch lights on.




The deck before the snow started falling again, tonight.



  ..  ..  .. Hours and hours of Harry Potter today on ABC family. Augh! (For those of us who have memory and can remember the details with out seeing it over and over and over. But I digress.)

Delia: putting the tree together after Thanksgiving.

 .. .. .. This weekend has been very nice: Trisha and Zoey came "over" from their home "on the River" and had a nice long visit. We enjoyed Zoey's discoveries - or rather re-discoveries: the "Wheel", the purple letters on the refrigerator, the toys, in the cabinet, the Christmas truck and the Christmas Radio-Flyer wagon, Grandpa Stan's church, trinkets in the dish on Grandma's dresser... you get the picture. Who can keep up with a two year old? Her Mom did very nicely. Me? I just enjoyed them.

 ... .. ..Trisha gave me a precious hour and a half - that stretched into two, to get some shopping done: Rx and mail pick-up, groceries - by then I was worn out. She stayed with Dad and did some Elf stuff to cheer up his room and make my decorating easier. We'll continue that later on this month ;-)
  ..  .. .. It's snowing again. The sun set about an hour and a half ago, then I took some photos with out the flash so I could post them. Now I'm waiting for the battery on the camera to charge.
.. .. .. .. The little tree from Grandma Freda's Christmas looks pretty good on those lamp tables. Our caregivers thought we needed a topper, so they put the angel on top. But we'll change that when Delia finds the appropriate star. The Dickens Village is partially appearing - the rest is still in the closet. I haven't decided on the best venue for their display. No drilling in the bookcases! Therefore, no lights in the village. Poor lamplighter, can't even set fire to the thatched roofs; I haven't found him. (I wonder if I gave him away??? He was always the last to leave the shelf in its old home.)
 . . . . . Zoey really enjoyed the "three little people" - she put them on the "mountain" under the tree. That old VCR ate the VCR tape that Trisha was going to use to entertain the Z-miester. I will have to get my minions together- then we can create a"fireplace with fake fire" and entertainment center [a.k.a DVD/VCR music and place to show sideshows] under the living room Sharp aqueous. We can hang stockings from the old TV there too...    Ah - world enough and time...elves and money...duck tape and ingenuity...
 . . . . Doesn't appear, at this time, to be enough wintery weather to keep us home for a snow day. Although we can always hope ;)
 . .  . .  I'm looking forward to the posting from Edgehill House to see the Strother's Christmas Tree. Perhaps the rest of you will take the hint?
I'm going to get the battery from the wall and hope I can load a picture or two now. Wish me luck.