♥ Merry Christmas!! (A Christmas Letter, and a Video of Jordan) ♥

To parents of Young Children, on the subject of Christmas, (and to my friends and family everywhere),

As the mom of many, I've been where you are. It can be frantic in the days leading up to Christmas. Gifts to buy, programs to attend, meals to prepare. I learned a long time ago that I can't do everything, and my family is better off if I don't try! Don't feel guilty about what you don't do. You don't have to bake cookies for your kiddos to decorate. You don't have to go to every Christmas party. You don't have to decorate to the hilt, and keep everything clean in case someone drops by. You don't need to spend money on professional family photos to send to everyone...snapshots show your family as they truly are, blur and all :)

♥ Just enjoy your time together.♥

Drive around and look at Christmas lights in your pj's, they'll remember that more anyway. Stop for soup or hot chocolate on the way home...you'll have the money for it, because you didn't spend it on a photo session :)

We quit going anywhere on Christmas day, many years ago. My children wanted to play with their new toys, and dragging them somewhere else just didn't seem fair. Also, I don't cook a big Christmas meal. I know we're less formal than many families, but believe me, my children don't go hungry on Christmas day, (although they are most definitely under the influence of a more-than-average sugar rush) and again, there is more time to just relax and enjoy the day. 

This will be the first Christmas I spend without one of my children with me. He and his wife will be spending their first Christmas as a married couple, half a world away, establishing their own traditions for another generation. It happened in a flash. It really did. It was just yesterday that he was a little boy, joyfully tearing open his gifts. 

As I reflect on this, I believe that the memories we will all cherish won't be the gifts, the programs, the parties, or the food, but the time spent together, enjoying each other, arguing with each other (there were 6 kids in our house, so there was/is always an argument or two going on)...and in our family, it was almost always a new movie to watch. Nothing special in itself, but Oh So Special in the time spent together. 

Don't sweat the small stuff young parents, just enjoy the moments :) 

To Randy and Sarah, we will miss you dearly, but are so happy for the Christmas traditions you will be forever establishing for your family, and so thankful that Christ is the center of your celebrations! We love you both so much and are so proud of you!!

Btw, I'm now married to a very handsome "senior" citizen!! 

Senior meals, here we come!!

And for those of you who are still reading, waiting to hear about my nephew Jordan, 

I have something special to share with you! 

Watch this short video and get to know a little bit 

about Jordan and Jenn, their sacrifice, and the blessing of a new home; a gift from

Homes For Our Troops!! Feel free to share it, and spread the news

about this wonderful organization!

Merry Christmas to everyone! 

(Btw, this will serve as my Christmas card...because I didn't get any out this year) 

Lol :)

Blessings,

Marcia 

* Hark *

Glory to the newborn King :)

Don't you just love Christmas Angels? 

I found a few of these about 10 years ago. I wish I'd picked up a few more.

They're only about 1. 5 inches tall, but oh so sweet. 

I hope she makes you smile too :)

Blessings,

Marcia  

Snowflakes and Starfish

My little homemade hutch (really a dresser with bookshelf on top)

got a Christmas makeover :)

I'm continuing with the blue and white theme but I was determined to 

*Not* spend any money for any decorations this year. 

Along with a few blue bits and pieces;

snowflakes, starfish and twinkly lights add a touch of white. 

This little tree fit in with the color scheme, and a snowflake 

seemed to be all it needed. It sits on top of a candle holder.

This shelf didn't change much, just added a few painted pine cones 

and some older blue bulbs.

I've used this little tray for decorations before,

only changing the scrapbook paper to go with the theme.

This time I used some I had leftover from my school cabinet.

It's in the same room, and is where my kids keep their books and supplies.

The inside is always a mess, so hiding it with pretty paper 

helps keep things looking neat and tidy,

(if they remember to close the doors!)

I also added some of my snowflakes to the insides of this lantern. 

It's been fun going with a different color combo this year.

My kitchen is still red and green though. 

My family said they needed to see those colors somewhere in our house :)

It was 25 degrees at our house this morning.
It's sure feeling like Winter here in Southern California.
I hope you're all keeping *warm* :)

Blessings,

Marcia

Linking up with:
Faded Charm's White Wednesday
A Beach Cottage's Good Life Wednesday

All Hearts....

Come home for Christmas....

so it's time to prepare,

I need to remember to make room.... 

for the most important part :)

 ♥ The true Heart of Christmas ♥

Have a Joyous day my friends :)

Blessings,

Marcia 

Singing the "SO MUCH" blues :)

Sometimes you have "those kind of " days. You know the ones. Where

you take the kids to the dentist and while you're waiting you casually mention

that there might be "something wrong" with one of your own teeth,

so they decide to take an x-ray...and it's NOT good news. It's the "You'll be

coming back for at least two more visits" kind of news. 

And of course you have an abnormal fear of sitting in the dental chair yourself

because you've spent "SO MUCH TIME" in that chair already in your life,

so now it's a "wondering if the time will come when they'll want to rip 

all the teeth out of your head, because you feel like you've been 

chewing on borrowed time already".... kind of day.

So you go home and decide to take some photos of the decorating

you've been doing to take your mind off of your fears, 

but for some reason your camera doesn't want to cooperate with you,

(maybe because it's been dropped a zillion times by the twins 

while making silly videos) 

so you borrow your daughter's camera, and you realize

that her's is "SO MUCH CLEARER" than yours, but you still can't seem 

to get the photos right, because you can't find your glasses and you

need them to see the photos. So now it's an "Oh no, does this mean cataract surgery

is in your future too?" kind of day. 

But then something unexpected happens! 

You realize that the jeans you put on belong to your teenage daughter, 

and now you feel "SO MUCH BETTER".

Suddenly it's an "all is right in your world" kind of day!!

(and your motivation to keep those extra pounds off just became crystal clear)

Yep, I have those kind of days too....

Aren't they wonderful? :)

Blessings,

Marcia

Linking up with :
A Beach Cottage
Funky Junk Interiors
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia

Treat time :)

Breads and cakes, cookies and sweets,

time to start baking those Christmas treats :)

I've lost 15 pounds over the past 4 months,

(exercise and eating right really does work)

now the trick will be to keep it off during the coming month.

Wish me luck ;)

 ♥ I'm so glad I have lots of others around here to help gobble up the goodies ♥

Have a wonderful weekend dear friends.

Blessings,

Marcia 

A Blue and White Christmas

This is the inspiration for Christmas this year...

 *via Pinterest

the colors I love :)

It reminds me of this...

Last year I decorated in mostly red and white,

But this year, I'm thinking a little blue and white (and silver) might be nice,

* 

They even have gift wrap with a nautical theme,

with a little silver ornament it looks so Christmas-like :)

* 

Isn't this lovely?

*

Of course, I want to make some of these :)

*

And this simple homemade wreath is just beautiful,

*

I'm loving this color scheme for Christmas :)

*

What colors are you going to decorate with this year?

*

I wish you all a Wonderful Thanksgiving,

enjoying it with those you love ♥

Our family has so much to be thankful for :)

Blessings,

Marcia 

* asterisk photos via Pinterest *

A Little Here...A Little There...

 The tree is already put away...the temptation to our new kitty was just a bit  too much :-)

Well, that...and the fact that the new Wii game system requires *moving about* space.

I played the bowling game yesterday with my family, and today....it seriously hurts to walk!

I definitely need to figure out the "Wii Fit" part of this system, and get "Me Fit" :-)

 Although the flowers outside are still blooming and cilantro is cropping up everywhere, 

This photo was taken today :-)

traces of wintertime and Christmas remain around my little kitchen...

 Once in awhile it does look neat and tidy,

 But more often than not we have a dose of reality :-) 

 And you're not seeing the floor, or the windows, etc. etc.  Also, the answer is  *yes*

to those who might be wondering...I do keep a clear plastic cover over my tablecloth.

 A family of eight creates a fair amount of chaos...and quite a bit of laundry. 

We call our laundry pile *Mt. Never Rest*.

This little added bit of protection keeps me from having to wash my tablecloth every day :-)

Remember, I am a *Simple* gal.

Thank you so much for all of your sweet comments over the past year. 

Getting to know you has been such a blessing in my life, 

Your kindness always touches my heart!

I'm joining Kathleen for White Wednesday over at Faded Charm. 

If I don't catch you before, I'll see you in the New Year!

Blessings,

Marcia

Christmas Through the Years

 I know that you are all so very busy at this time of year so I'm just doing a little

picture post to share a few of our Christmas photos through the years. 

Were we really this young?

I love this one, but here Baby Jesus is actually a girl :-)

Jill, from Bailiwick Studio made these matching dresses

I know this wasn't grammatically correct, but we wanted everyone to be singing that song :-)

2010 :-)

I want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas!

Thank you so much for your sweet friendship. 

Enjoy your day with those you love :-)

Blessings,

Marcia

Isaiah 9:6  For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government

shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor,

The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

Winter Woodland Ideas {from Torie Jayne}

 I really love the Winter Woodland series of posts taking place over

at the beautiful blog, Torie Jayne. 

I asked if I could share a few of the beautiful items she's created and she 

graciously said yes. If you click on each photo, you will be taken to the 

post that tells you how to make these *sweet* items yourself :-)

A last minute tasty treat can be wrapped in either of these beautiful bags. 

She shares all of the instructions and printables with you.

She also creates sweet items from her kitchen and 

the Winter Woodland Christmas Cake and

Winter Woodland Gingerbread House are no exception.

Isn't this a beautiful cake?

The recipe and how-to's are on the posts. 

There are so many wonderful *Winter Woodland* ideas. I hope you go by and see them all,

and say *hi* when you're there :-)

 Thank you so much Torie Jayne,

for allowing me to share your *sweet* creations, gifts and ideas!

Blessings,

Marcia 

(the link below will take you directly to her blog) :-)