Introducing My Snowman Collection

I have finally taken a picture of my snowmen today. Mom is taking down the tree tomorrow so I thought I would take a picture of them along with their friend, Teddy Bear, under the tree. I offically stand at 14 snowmen.
Hey if I can't have the snow I can still have the snowmen. I also have several snowflakes, but they aren't in the picture. Most of them are in my room and one is on the tree, but you can't see it in the picture.
I have Three of them that light up. One of them is not on because it was blocking the look of the snowman. 7 are Tree ornaments. One is a tea candle holder. Two are Salt and pepper shakers. Two are shelf sitters and one is of course a stuffed snowman. My teddy bear also lights up.

Dashing through the . . .Mud?

I'm dreaming of white Christmas, but when I step outside I see only mud. I am sure if Denver could, they would share. Of course they are saying the storm is headed our way and will be here by day after Christmas.
In a way I am glad it is not going to snow on Christmas day. The last time we had a bad Christmas storm my family got stuck at my Grandparents house with the clothes on our backs and whatever we were given for Christmas. Lesson: if you hear that it might snow and you are on your way to your Grandparents house, remember to take deodorant, a toothbrush and toothpaste. And if you can fit in an extra pair of undies that would make your life a whole lot better.
Did something different last night. My church went Christmas Caroling in the rain with umbrellas rather than with scarves, mittens and hats. Wet, but fun. We sang for the older people in our church as well as a few extras and they really appreciated it.
I am looking forward to tomorrow in some ways. On Sunday morning I will be singing in the choir, then in the afternoon we will be going to the nursing home for a service. Then on to our annual Christmas Eve Candle Light Service. It's always unique with a splash of tradition. AKA singing Silent Night while lighting candles all around the church. I love that part, it always give me cold chills.
Well Merry Christmas Eve, Eve, my Friends.

One Week to go!

Are you ready for Christmas?
I hope so because it is one week away. :)
I feel like a child when it comes to Christmas. I love everything about Christmas except maybe wraping my dad's presents for him. (I ask him every year what he is going to do when I am gone and he is going to have to wrap his own presents to my mom. He always tells me that he is going to get me to come home just before Christmas and wrap then all or take them to me. HAa!)
Happily I have finished my Christmas shopping for the year. That is very rare for me.
Now to get them wrapped.
I must confess that I had added to my snowman collection. I now have 13. Now for a White Christmas.
The pictures that you see on the last post were taken a week ago and as you can see there is snow on the ground. Now if you look outside all you will see is brown and green. It may end up being a warm Christmas rather then a snowy one. But if this summer tells us anything as to how it is going to be this winter we may be in for more snow than we really want. I guess if you live in the North you are going to be hit with snow. It's just a fact of life.

Creative Fingers

I have had a really strange thing happen to me this week. I have been overly creative. I have always been able to do Crafty things when someone show me how to do it, but this week I have had one of those cravings to Create and decorate.
I started out by decorating my front porch. I put Garland and Red bows around the rails like I did last year, but I wanted something a little more so I bought flowers and took some old ribbons from flower arrangements and made my own arrangements and put them on the rails too.
Then I took Purple and Silver Pointsetta's and put them with a big Purple bow and ceder branches from out back on the door.
Then to top it off I today I decorated the inside stairs with more green garland, flowers, bows and Lights. And you want to know the amazing part? It all looks really good. I think I shocked myself.
I spent the afternoon at the big mall today.
There were people EVERYWhere
There were some places that I wanted to go, but the stores were so small and there were so many people that it was crazy.
I Felt like Cattle being herded along. It almost felt like being back at school. It was fun because I spent it with the family.
If I can ever figure out how to get these pictures off my card I'll share them on here. That is if I can figure that one out too.
Until then You will just have to imagine what I decorated. I am kind of excited about that as you can tell. Maybe there is a little hope of an artist in me yet.

One of my Favorite things

I love Dog Shows.
Okay so that is an understatement. Whenever I find out that there is a dog show coming I let my family know that We Are going to watch the dog show and no we are not going to watch anything else. If I am at the house when the dog show comes on we are going to watch it.
I have been watching dogs shows now for about 6 years, give or take. In that time I have seen dogs that I can't stand (no offense to anyone, but I can't stand Pekinese and I can't stand poodles) and dogs that bring tears to my eyes and dogs that I just fall in love with.
This year was no different then any other. No matter what we watched the dog shows.
I am pretty good at pick out the ones that I like to see win and usually, but not always I am right. Usually I like the Terrier group (unless its the Kerry Blue. There is just something about them that make them so arrogant.)
This year I have been watching a specific dog that just thrills me every time I see him. His name just fits him to a tee. He is regal and down right beautiful. Everytime we watched a show there he was and he always seemed to get best in group. And he got best in show once too. That made me happy.
This weekend was the Eukanuba National Championship and guess who was there. That's right my favorite dog. Of course it was really hard tonight because there were some down right gorgious dogs struting their stuff.
It all came down to 7 dogs: The Mini Poodle (why in the world would anyone call those rats beautiful), The Sealyum Terrier (One of my picks of course), The PBGB (Don't ask me to give you the full name, I can hardly right in english), The Portegese Water dog (Looks too much like a poodle for me to like them), The Non sporting group dog that I can't remember (He didn't win), The German Shephard (Stung female that took my breath away), and The English Springer Spaniel (Another one of my favorites to win).
Okay So have been very careful with which one won Except for the one I couldn't remember (sorry)
Well anyway. Now that I have spent so much time talking about it I guess I should tell you that my favorite won tonight. James the English Springer Spaniel won tonight and I am a very happy person.
Now that I have told you all about it I just realized How tired I was and so now I am going to bed. Goodnight.

The Five Senses of the Seasons Part II

AH December!
I love December. For obvious reasons. Christmas, New Years, Gift Giving, family events such as birthdays, Anniversaries, my brithday. It's a good month. I think I will always cherish my birthday just simply because it was my gradparents anniversary. They would have been married 62 years this year.
I was just thinking the about winter. I know winter isn't offically until the 21st, but it came yesterday in a loud thunderous wind. IT shook the house and it sounded like it's teeth were rattling. That is if a house were to have teeth.
It's time for the 5 senses of winter.
I have been trying to figure out some of the senses and it has been hard finding something in particular for everyone, but I think I have them all.
Winter has to be a combination between sight and touch.
Touch: The feeling of the cold wind on your face. The warmth of a big thick blanket wrapped around you early in the morning or while you sit on the couch. The snow bouncing off your nose and sometimes snowballs going down your neck. :) Smoke in your eyes causing them to burn.
Sight: The Sparkling newly lain snowflakes that glitter like dimonds. The white world that seems to be endless. Bare trees, fat little birds at the bird feeder trying to stay warm right in the middle of the bird feeder. Smoke curling lazily out of the chimnies. Grey clouds, and the wind bending the bare trees head over heals. Ice glazing over the rivers, ponds and lakes and the occational mud puddle. The short days and long nights.
Hearing: Late geese flying south, the wind in the trees, the quiet sound of early morning as the snow melts leaving little pitter patters of sounds. The crunching of the snow under your feet. Crackling of a cozy fire.
Smell: The cold crisp air as it blows in a noreastern. Smoke, Evergreen trees, the wet smell of snow. Cookies in the oven that your Mom said she was baking to "warm up the house."
Taste: Snow on your tongue, the tangy taste of wood smoke. Ice cold water from the faucet. The cookies that "Warmed up the house". The sharpness of the wind as you suck in your breath.
It's amazing the way all the senses are used in winter. And maybe it is the glumist time of the year, but here is an interesting thought about it and a parallel with Christmas.
The world was in it's darkest days. Sin was everywhere. It seemed that there was no end to the hopeless dispare of the human race. Then Christmas came. At it's darkest hour a Messiah shown through it all and gave the world the brightness it needed to get out of the gloom. Although some people don't believe that Christ was born in December (and I am not so sure he was either), I think it is a very fitting time for us to be celebrating the Light of the World.