And a Merry Christmas to all...

Bonjour Mes Amies!

I hope your days and hours are filled with joy as we approach Christmas.

Our house was hit with the flu...first me, then my hubby, then Tyler and lastly Hunter.

Hunter fainted in the bathroom  while she was ill and took 10 years off my life.

But all is well now.

I thought I would share some of things that I have been working on.

Our December Daily Album...

I kept the design very simple and clean-lined this year...it helps to make the project less overwhelming in trying to keep up.

Pages for Day 1:

Page for Day 2:

Page for Day 3:

Page for Day 4:

I made up a hot chocolate basket for a family who is spending part of their Christmas in the mountains.

This family has had a hard year...they lost Dad in the summer.

December 21 would have been my Grandmother Ada's 95th birthday. {She passed away in 2002}.

I miss her still.

When I lived in Nova Scotia, my mom and aunts would go out for lunch in memory on her birthday.

But I don't have anyone to do that with here.

The day left me feeling just a little blue.

So I celebrated her memory by making one of her recipes...sugar cookies.

We finally decorated our tree yesterday.

I don't think we have ever decorated it so late...but we had to wait until everyone was healthy and home.

It's tough when either one child or the other has skating or hockey every night, and then mix in the flu.

I contented myself with some hours of baking

 And then made up some cookie platters for friends.

I think this was one of my fav projects...I love homemade.

Hunter and I had fun fussing over the tree yesterday.

We took things on and off until we were finally satisfied.

We decided we loved icicles and snowflakes best.....with the blue and turqouise.

Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas!!!

xo

Christmas Merry-Making at our house.....

I took a little break from blogging this week to focus on my family and Christmas projects.

My Christmas cards and packages to Nova Scotia & New Brunswick went to the care of Canada Post this week.

Hunter took some time to work on little gifts for the girls on her skating team:

{We will share more details later.}

My little guy has a bad cold and cough and I made sure he got to bed early this week.

Tomorrow we are having friends over for dinner, so tonight I have prepared the menu plan before I visit the grocery store in the morning.

Did I mention how very grateful I am for you wonderful ladies who read my blog and leave me comments that are very truly heart-warming?

I am very grateful!

Thank you so very much!

And if you have left a comment or email this week for me, please accept my apologies for my not responding. I promise I will get back to you this week.

I was "off-line" for much of the week as I was concentrating on some projects and taking care of my family.

One project I have been working on is my December Daily Album.

I am so excited to share this album with you next week as a guest poster at Passionately Artistic.

  I hope your weekend is wonderful!

10 Things I Hope My 9 Year Old Son Will LOVE Come Christmas Morning....

I hope my 9 yr. old doesn't take a look at this post between now and Christmas!

I am trusting he will be too busy!

Santa shopping is all done here.

Here is what he chose for Mr. Tyler.

He chose things he hopes he will enjoy...to play with, read and have fun.

Simple & basic.

No fancy schmancy clothes for him...clothes are not his thing.

{Clothes are bought for him when he needs them.}

No expensive electronics.

No thousands of dollars spent on Christmas.

These are his stocking stuffers and gifts.

What does not fit into the large knitted sock will rest under the sock.

1. Whimpy Kid Stuff.

Tyler loves Whimpy Kid. He saw the movie and he has already read the 4th and latest book in the series. Santa thought Tyler might like the Wimpy Kid T-shirt...where you can add your own words in the bubble. Tyler loves bookmarks. And a pencil case for his desk.

2. Boys Love Facts Books....Guinness World Book of Records 2011 & Ripley's Believe It or Not.

Fascinating boy stuff. These will keep Tyler busy for hours.

3. Blokus. A fun strategy game. Lots of people we know have this game and love it.

4. Professor Noggins Games.

We love Professor Noggins games at our house. Fun trivia that can be played without having to read a whole bunch of rules.

5. A Sound Machine.
Every 9 yr. old boy needs a sound machine. This one farts, burps and screams. What more can I say? {Chapters $9.99}.

6. A Good Book.

Tyler pointed this book out to me while we were browsing in Chapters as the next book he wanted to read.

7. Peanuts Stuff.
Tyler loves Peanuts. Especially Linus & Snoopy. {Hallmark Store}.

8. Silly & Fun Stuff.

Slinkys are a Tyler approved toy. {Until the dog gets it and then it doesn't work so great.}

9. A Doodle Pad.

My kids love to doodle. Especially in restaurants...if mom can remember to put some of these sheets in her purse to take along.

10. Some Good Canadian Red Mittens & Candy.

These red mittens were made popular during the 2010 Winter Olympics. The 2011 version is just as nice in Tyler's opinion. {Is anyone else reminded of a Laura Ingalls Christmas with red mittens and a peppermint candy?}

And Santa's workshop has the gifts all wrapped up and hidden away.

I am sure that Santa' assistant {A.K.A. Dad} will want to tuck a video game in there somewhere.

There is the temptation to go out and buy something really big for Christmas.

But we remind our children that they are very blessed with everything that they have.

And Christmas is really not about the stuff.

Christmas Dreaming in Blue & Green...

The decorating is done at our house.

And I have promised myself not to 'tweak' anymore.

It's time to just enjoy and move on to other things of the season.

Our dining table has this simple basket of ornaments~

I started off with this look....but it wasn't working for me~

So I removed everything and started again.

This works much better with the rest of the house~

 And here is the side table in the corner of the living room~

This nativity set is a precious keepsake.

It belonged to my grandparents and I remember it in the living room at Christmas time.

Besides it's sentimental value, I love it for it's small size and it's very humble simplicity.

And the next few pics are the whole house together.

This year's look was sparkly white, silver, with accents of blue & green.

I bought only a few new extra small silver balls...

and a few candles to add to this tray~

The branches came from a tree in our yard~

Overall, a simple look.

I left many, many decorations in the storage closet this year.

It just felt great to have a more streamlined plan.

It  is amazing what can be done with ordinary things from around the house like glass dishes, trays, candles and a few books. If you take the ordinary things and add in branches, pine cones, and shiny ormaments...you can have a great look for not a lot of money.

And I love that.

This post is linked to:

My name is Angie. I am a 'tweak' freak.

I just finished tweaking this.

Yesterday it looked like this:

I can't decide which I like better.

Maybe it's not even tweaking....more like a total re-do.

But I will probably leave it this way until after Christmas.

Then I will put away the silver & blue & green, and go back to the white wintery look.

How many times have you tweaked decor around your house?

Are you a 'tweak freak' like me?

Welcome to the 'Tweak Freak" club!

I am linking this post to: