Have I mentioned how much I hate sinus infections?!

Ok, sorry if you are tuning in to read about my creative exploits, but I have to whine. Today was a "laying on the floor of the bathroom because it's so cool" kinda of day. A "may God have mercy on my soul" kind of day. A "I didn't know my body could produce so much snot in one day" kind of day. I hate being sick. I hate feeling like crap. I HATE sinus infections!

Now that that is out of my system, tomorrow is another day (to quote Scarlett) and I hope I'll be feeling better.

Ho, Ho, Ho....I've got to blow...

my nose, that is. Yes Virgina, Melissa has her annual sinus infection. But enough said about that...on to more fun things.

As promised here are a few shots of my Christmas decorations.....

The view from the kitchen/eating are into the family room....

A macrame Christmas tree that Mom commissioned probably 25 years ago. She was going to throw it out....

The mantel and new tv.....I think I'm going to make some stockings after Christmas this year.
My study is decorated in snowmen....here's the piano....
Paw's Paw's desk....
The snowman tree that lives in the front window....
Over the arches into the study and dining room I hang this garland and decorate it with red and silver balls, snowflakes, and icicles.
My Christmas village, it even has a quilt shop.
My pride and joy, my 14 foot Christmas tree.....I LOVE it! It needs a tree skirt...another after Christmas project.
And my stairs...lights, garland, snowflakes (5 types), icicles, and bows.
It has taken years of shopping the day after Christmas to accumulate all these decorations (at bargain prices)! And no, I'm not done, there's always room for more!

Then in the process of tweaking the PJ pant pattern, I whipped up a couple of test pairs with matching tshirts.

Rose mugging for the camera.
Lily, smiling. She was very pleased with her dino pjs.

And yesterday I was reading my blogs, and noticed that Spool Sewing had a post about this bird pattern. Well, Kate is obsessed with birds in a good way (not like squirrels). So I whipped this little guy up and took him over to her. It was a good break from making frogs, quilts, and pjs. BTW, Frog 2 is finished. She's not as demanding as Frog 1. In fact, she's quite shy....I wonder who Frog 3 will be?

And away we go.....

This week the accelerating downward spiral into Christmas and New Years began. Naturally, I've been working on the gifts for the girls and frantically decorating my house, but this week things really got kicked off.

Tuesday the company my husband and I work for rented a bus and a bunch of us and our families toured one of the local holiday lights displays. This is one of their annual traditions at this company. I'm not sure when it started, but they've been doing since I first started working there in 1994. It's fun and the Munchkins always enjoy it.

Wednesday started my other annual December tradition, getting sick the week before my Christmas party. Wednesday night me, Hubby, and the Munchkins all started with the sniffles and coughs. I, of course, was desperately trying to convince myself that it was all the dust coming off the artificial Christmas tree (I'm real good at deluding myself). I managed to get my house transformed into the annual Christmas wonderland (I promise pictures later).

Friday night I went to a traditional ornament exchange. Saturday night was a party I have had every year for the last 10 years!? It started when all my friends and I started having our babies. We dress the Petits up and take their picture in front of the Christmas tree. I have some great ones of screaming babies. I had a great time I hope everyone else did too.

Today started out as a day I was going to spend sewing, but after pressing through my pounding sinus headache and cough yesterday, Hubbie gave me a wonderful gift.....a day in bed resting. Tomorrow I'm "back on my head" and back to the grind.

Y'all take care.....and Happy Holidays!

It ain't easy being green....and pink....and purple

First off, Happy Belated Thanksgiving! We had a good one, all things considered. Hope you and yours had a happy holiday.

Now on to some fun stuff. I actually got some sewing in this weekend. Among scrubbing pans, eating leftovers, and putting up the Christmas decorations, I had to find time to work on the girls'(Lily, Rose, and Emma's) Christmas gifts. Well, I've completed my first frog! I love him. And thanks to Kate and Kathy insisting on me finding Poly Pellets to fill him with, he's perfect! I think the girls will love their frogs. My sister has already put her order in for one, and I think I'm going to make a frog for myself at some point.
Froggie wanted to see the snow flurries for himself.
He's quite a vain frog. He insisted that I get a full body shot from his good side.

Snoopy Thanksgiving and Christmas Eves

Last Friday, I hosted the third Snoopy Thanksgiving. For the third year in a row, my dear friends Kate and Christy brought their families and yummy food to celebrate a friends Thanksgiving. This started three years ago when we decided that Thanksgiving was not just for our families but also for us. All of us have large families in town that have their elaborate holiday traditions. We also decided that we would eat the things that we didn't get to have at the family gatherings (ham, mac & cheese, etc). It also would allow us to kick off our holiday seasons. It became Snoopy Thanksgiving last year. We haven't served toast, pretzels, jelly beans or popcorn, yet. Here's a picture of my dining room all dressed up.
And here's a reason not to leave your camera unattended....

And onto my sewing. I finished the third Sugar Plum Fairies top (Three Cousin's Quilts) today. Now to quilt. I still need to make quilted frogs and pjs for each of the girls. And my friend Barb told me I HAD to make pillowcases....we'll see.
Stay tuned....

A "funny" from my Nine Year Old

Just had to share.....my 4th grader is studying the 13 original colonies in Social Studies. Last night we had to study and memorize them. Here's her list,"Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, New Hamster, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Virginia, North and South Carolina, and Georgia." And I did not make a typo....bet you didn't know New Hamster is a state in the union!

"Fasten your seatbelts..."

Ok, I know technically I named "All About Eve" in my previous post about my favorite movies, but I just had to use that line. Thanks to everyone who left me their favorite movies. There were some I had seen and a few that I'll have to watch. And some of your posts reminded me of other oldie favorites, "The Philadelphia Story" and "Bells of St Mary"to name a couple. But I digress. I promised a post about more "modern" movie favorites. Alright I'll admit some of these are even before my time, but I count them in the "mostly" modern category.

• The Great Race - If you're a Jack Lemmon fan this is a must. My sister and I count this in one of our all time favorites. The bit on the iceberg with Peter Falk and Jack's mustache, CLASSIC!
• The Godfather Part 1 and Part 2 - I will admit I have a constant battle with myself over which movie I like best.
• Urban Cowboy - Bud and Sissy, a love story for the ages.
• Forrest Gump - I can watch this movie, laugh and get choked up every time.
• Steel Magnolias - Can't help it.
• Superman - Anyone who knows me, knows I'm a Superman freak. I truly believe that airlines should play that soundtrack as the plane takes off.
• Indiana Jones and the Lost Ark - This defines a summer blockbuster to me. Everytime I watch it I'm immediately taken back to seeing it the first time in the dark theater.
• Sense and Sensibility - Wonderful movie and a fine Kate Winslet performance.
• Titanic - Great storytelling.
• The Departed - Leo Di Caprio and Irish Mafia violence. Great performances from Leo, Matt Damon, Mark Wahlberg, Alec Baldwin, and Martin Sheen. Oh and Jack being Jack, not too shabby.

Well that's the "short" list. I know, I know, not really that short, but I could entertain myself for hours and hours listing movies I love to watch...again if anyone has any movies they'd like to add....