Christmas Update!

As usual, I am feeling a bit behind -- that was my MO for the whole

Christmas season,

so guess I will continue it a while longer!

We had a fabulous birthday celebration for Miss M and Christmas! 

But first, just a couple days before Christmas, our wonderful

neighbors held their annual Santa party!

Last year, their house was being rebuilt due to a fire and

we missed them so much --

it took 9 months to rebuild the inside of their house!!

The main damage was not really due to the fire, but due to the

copious amounts of water used to put out the attic fire.  

I think that was the only year in the past 15 that they

haven't hosted a Santa party

at their home just before Christmas!

Even though, she may be getting a bit too old

for Santa, he talked her into a quick photo!

Please excuse my iPhone photo -- I think I need a new phone

to get better photos, of course!

Mr. Krier (choir director-back right) is amazing and so are all these freshman girls!

More holiday fun -- Maddy's choir group sang at a holiday celebration

at a local hospital.

They did such a great job and were all pretty amazing considering

it was an early Saturday morning choir event!

I think the girls LOVED being able to wear Santa sweaters and jeans!

Do you believe it -- there are 72 freshman girls in choir

(they weren't all at this event,

but that's pretty amazing, isn't it)!

By the way, they sound like angels singing!

Great singing voices!

We hosted Christmas at our house with my sons, daughter-in-law

and four littles!  I even cooked!!!

I made beef stew and biscuits --  it was delish, but

not a fave with the kiddos.

However, I have never professed or sought to be a great cook anyway!

We had so much fun with everyone together --

it was really special!

Somehow we missed out on getting many photos

because we were busy chatting and opening gifts. 

I'm checking with the other

in-house photographer (Maddy) to see if she has any photos,

so may update this later.

But, if I don't get a chance to chat with you all again . . .

Happy New Year friends!

Happy Happy Birthday!

Today is Miss M's 15th birthday!

On my word -- I can hardly believe she is 15 already!

I have so many things to say about Maddy --

that she is a blessing beyond belief; 

that she is sweet and sensitive

and thoughtful and caring; 

that she has the biggest and most tender heart; 

that she is a loyal friend;

that she is silly and funny;

that she sets goals and is determined to meet

each and every one; 

that she is a diligent and hard working student; 

that she is a taskmaster when it comes to 

doggie training and photography and sewing!;

that she has a big faith;
that she is brave and strong;

that she loves snow on her birthday 

and  a white Christmas; Disney World, bbq chips and french fries;

that we are the luckiest people in

the world to have her in our family.

Happy Happy Birthday Sweet Maddy!

Ringing Some Bells!

Maddy and I have often said that we

should volunteer and ring the bells for the Salvation Army.

So, I contacted the volunteer coordinator through

my good friend Jodee and

signed us up!

Our red kettle duty was last Saturday

when the temp was around 20, the wind was blowing at least at 30 mph, the

wind chill temp was 10 or below

and our location was not one that was not protected by 

buildings!

What I'm trying to say is  . . . 

Baby, it was cold outside!

We rang loudly whenever people were 

going in or out of the store and even

louder if someone put some money in the kettle!

Maddy made me sing along some Christmas 

carols with her -- I may have frightened 

off donors when they heard my voice!

Even though we were cold, we both deemed it a worthwhile

endeavor.  Next year, we will try to get the cheerleaders to 

ring bells too -- hmmm- somehow I think high school

cheerleaders could generate a few more cash donations!

Merry Merry Christmas!

A Little Bit of Ice is Nice!

Last weekend when the weather took a 

sudden and definite dip into the low temps,

Maddy and a friend went ice skating!

BRRRR -- it was freezing!

Railyard Ice Rink (from their website)

The girls did fairly well for their first visit of the

year to the outdoor skating rink.  They even

moved away from the sides after a few

trips around the rink.

No one fell!  I'd call that a success!

The great Christmas movie Elf was

showing on the outdoor screen!

If the temp wasn't 10 degrees, I would

have sat outside by this lovely fire and watched the movie

and the girls skating.

I think I made the best choice when I went inside for 

hot chocolate with whipping cream! 

Yum!!!

Doggie Bandanas, Craft Fairs and Holiday Napkins!

As you may recall, Maddy and I took on
special little project recently -- sewing and embroidering.
I almost felt like Ma Ingalls from Little House on the Prairie -
but I admit, I did have electricity and sewing and embroidery  machines!

After a couple weeks of nearly non-stop sewing in the evenings-- well, we did
take bathroom and school/work breaks, the craft fair took place last

Saturday!

Mads and I were so excited and had quite a bit of inventory including

doggie bandanas, a few dog collar scrunchies and holiday embroidered napkins.

Yes, the napkins would go into the category of 

"what one thing doesn't belong with the others?"

but

we wanted to include them, as we loved them.

Yes, we are  those people who think whatever we

make (especially homemade) is fabulous!  :)

You probably can't tell, but these bandanas are really well made, have soft

coordinating-color flannel on the back for doggies and do not tie.

 Instead, we sewed a channel for the 

dog's collar to go through.  So, you slide the collar through and then clip

 the collar shut around your pup's neck, voila - the bandana cannot fall off!  

Doggies - beware -- there is no sneaking out of this bandana!

Back to the craft fair report - guess when the weather decided to change and snow 

decided to fall???  Last Saturday!

Soooooo, I'm attributing poor turnout to the weather 

and the people who did visit either didn't have dogs, had never

seen anything but paper napkins before and had no intention

of purchasing anything at the craft fair.

We sold maybe 5 bandanas and 1 scrunchie in 6 hours!
Big disappointment!  :(

While we were bummed, we decided we would try again some other time,
but NOT at that craft fair!

Dog collar scrunchie!

It really was not a waste of effort or time as Maddy told me

her favorite part was the time we spent on the production

line with her cutting and me sewing!

Some evenings she had me sewing up to 10 PM!

Maddy designed her own logo and
had a business card printed
We have an entrepreneur on our hands!
Shark Tank here we come!

A Cooking Post!

As most of you know, I am not the best cook or meal planner!
I seriously lack in the that department.
But, I actually made a dinner on Sunday

that everyone loved.
I spent the evening patting myself on the back about it!

It was a copy-cat from The Pioneer Woman.
I watch her show whenever I'm on the treadmill
and always think --  "I could make that!"
And I finally did!

This photo and recipe is from her website and is known as
Chicken and Dressing One Pan supper!
It was delish!
And only one pan -- gotta like that!
Mr. Tennis could not stop raving about it,
so am sure I will put it on the menu again.
Even Maddy liked it --
well, she liked the chicken --
 the veggies not so much!
Here's the link to the recipe.
Thank you PW for this one!

Hello December - Hello Craft Fair!

For the past month, Maddy and I have been

getting ready for a craft fair that will be held  tomorrow (EEK)
on

Saturday, December 3rd!

Maddy and I will be selling homemade doggie bandanas (sizes mini and standard) and
dog collar scrunchies!
We have been sewing like crazy and spent over 3 hours
of Black Friday shopping at JoAnn's fabrics waiting in line
for holiday fabrics!

Some of our inventory!

We are also selling embroidered holiday napkins!
If you have a chance, please stop in.
Our napkins are similar to the one below - however, that one
was silk screened and ours are embroidered.
We've been so busy sewing, embroidering and ironing along with
all the usual school and work stuff that we failed to get
photos of any of our napkins!
No worries, we'll get some later!

Since we've never done anything like this before, we have no
idea how it will go, but Maddy is fairly certain we will
be super successful.  So much so, that
she designed a business card
for her Happy Hound Collection!
That girl!  She's such a little entrepreneur!
Sorry for the bad photo of her card -- believe me, it is super cute!

Wish us luck! 

ThrowBack Thursday - Christmas Card Edition

Maddy and I have been out at least 2-3 times

attempting to get photos for the Christmas card

this year!
Here's a Throwback Thursday Christmas card attempt from
a couple years ago!

Loved that hat and wanted to do a similar

look this year.  I even bought a new hat . . .but she declined!

Yesterday Maddy was delighted to 

see a few itty bitty snow flurries!!

I was happy when they disappeared into thin air!

She would be most delighted to have a repeat

of the early December snowstorm of

2009 -- throwback Thursday edition!

I'm in no hurry to put on the snowboots and get out
the shovel!
But . . . the weatherman is predicting some for
next week!
Yikes!