We got a Nikon D5000 camera from my parents for Christmas. I couldn't wait to try it out, so I went out to take some pictures of the dogs.

The first is our German Shepherd, Jake. You would think that since he is the biggest, that he would be top dog....

Nooo....the littlest one is in charge. She rules the roost. This is our red miniature pinscher, Lucy.
Rocky, is a min pin/ rat terrier mix.


Penny is a Jack Russell / rat terrier mix. A Jack Rat.

And who knows what breeds Lady is made of. She was found behind my husband's business with a litter of puppies during an ice storm. Of course we couldn't leave them out there to freeze, so she became #5. We did find good homes for her 4 puppies.

Since moving my parents in with us, we now have #6, Keely. She is their dog from the shelter. She is a sweetie, and very spoiled.

They all have their pecking order, and they get along pretty well. I constantly battle hair and paw prints on the floor and nose prints on the front door. No wonder I'm so tired.
I hope the weather warms up soon, so I can get out and about to take some pictures with my new camera. I'm like a child with a new toy.

The day after Christmas we went to Joey's brother's home for his family dinner. Here I am with my hubby. I don't know if you can see my necklace. I ordered it from Joy at Cupid's charm
http://cupidscharm.blogspot.com/ I have three of her items, and she does great work.

Our food spread...Maccaroni and cheese, ravioli, lasagna, hash brown casserole, meatballs, green bean casserole, and all kinds of sweets.
This is Joey's dad, better known as Pop and his friend Miss Anne.

Getting all 7 grandkids to pose is not easy.

Opening presents was a big hit.

All the preparation and it is over in a flash.

Christmas Eve

I'm a bit late posting about our Christmas get togethers. Our first was my family on Christmas Eve. This is our 4 generation picture: My parents, me, daughter, and my grandson.
Shannon and her family
Shawn, holding Hudson, and her fiancee.

Look what my parents gave us. I'm so excited. We had to unscramble the letters, and at one time it spelled "dream cars". I can't wait to pick it out and start taking pictures with it.

Jackson got a guitar. Maybe one day he will be famous, and you can say you saw it here first.

We ate ham, maccaroni and cheese, sweet potato casserole, corn pudding, rolls,brownies, and rum cake. We ate way too much!
I hope everyone had a great Christmas.

Christmas Eve Tablescape

I will join in Susan's Tablescape Thursday today http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/2009/12/welcome-to-70th-tablescape-thursday.html.

We are getting ready for our family Christmas dinner tonight. We added 2 leaves to the table so we can all sit together. Luckily I bought a long tablecloth on clearance last year at Marshall's. It fit perfectly.

The candles and candlesticks came from Hobby Lobby.

The plates are from Old Time Pottery. Glasses from Williams-Sonoma. Salt and pepper shakers from Wal-Mart.

I rolled the flatware in red napkins and placed them in little stockings at each place.

I picked up these pretty greens and flowers yesterday at Wal-Mart and arranged them in a festive pitcher also from Wal-Mart... Very budget friendly.

Yes, that's better. I forgot to light the candles for my photos.

I enjoyed sharing my table with you, and look forward to seeing all of yours.

May we share the light of Jesus throughout the world so others may come to know Him.

Lunch Party

Merry Christmas to everyone. We had a little party yesterday. Our friend Betsy came over to exchange gifts and have lunch with us. My mother and I argue over whose friend she is. She was originally my grandmother's neighbor and good friend. She is between our ages, but we both claim her as our best friend. She has a son my oldest daughter's age, and they were friends growing up. She is such a dear person. Enjoy a few pictures from our little get together.

Notice Mother's reclining wheelchair. She still can't sit upright due to sacral fractures, so this is a lifesaver.

Shannon and her boys joined us for lunch.

As usual, Hudson slept through most of the party.

My youngest daughter, Shawn, had to work so she couldn't be a part of our party yesterday. She dressed up as an elf for work. She is a hair stylist. Love those pointed ears.


We are having our family for dinner tonight, and we are getting together with Joey's family Saturday night. We will enjoy a quiet day tomorrow. I hope everyone gets to spend some time with family and good friends.

Santa Baby

Shannon has a friend, Jennifer Howell, here in Memphis, for those of you who would like to have some cute pictures of your kids. Here is her website

http://www.jenhowell.com/

She came to their house and took these great pictures.

Jackson took to her right away, which is saying a lot as you can see from their attempt at taking a picture with Santa...

Go to shannon's blog for the whole story.

http://shannonhaynes.blogspot.com/2009/12/giving-santa-second-chance.html

We decided we should take some pics ourselves. Here are our photos...

Hudson in his going home from the hospital outfit.

We literally had him hanging over the pillow on my couch, of course I was holding his feet

Sweet baby Hudson with Santa hat. Shannon Photoshopped it to make the hat red.

This is Hudson's first Christmas. He is 3 weeks old. We just love dressing him up and taking pictures. I guess over 1000 pictures of him have been taken between parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, great-grandpartnes, etc.in the last 3 weeks. Wow. Good thing for digital cameras.

Jackson is such a good big brother. Here he is "burping" Hudson.
I got this outfit and several others like it in different sizes one year on clearance after Christmas, before there was even a hint of a grandchild. I'm glad I did.

We had to bribe Jackson with a few M&M's to wear the hat.
And here is the little sleepyhead with his Elf on a Shelf.

If you are not familiar with Elf On a Shelf, read what Shannon wrote on her blog:

"Elf on the Shelf- My mom gave this to us last year for Christmas. On Thanksgiving Day, we read the book to Jackson. (The story in a nutshell...Santa sends a elf to you around Thanksgiving. The elf watches you during the day and then at night, he goes back to the North Pole and reports to Santa what went on during the day. The kids can "plead their case" to the elf but they can never touch the elf, his magic will go away. Everyday, he appears in a new spot to "watch". On Christmas Eve, kids say goodye to their elf and when Santa comes that night, he takes the little elf with him.)"

Well, as you can see, we don't always follow directions, because Jackson is touching him. But every morning he looks to see where the elf is hiding. It has been a lot of fun for him, and I hope for years to come. Don't you just love tradition?

Thank you for stopping by to see my little cutie pies.
Here are my 2 daughters, Shawn and Shannon with Shannon's boys, Hudson, and Jackson

It's going to be such a fun Christmas.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone!I am linking this post to Susan's Deck the Halls party, http://thoughtsfromovertherainbow.blogspot.com/ I will share my attempts at decorating my home for Christmas. (I am experimenting with taking pictures with no flash versus flash. Sometimes I prefer one over the other,and it varies. So, some are better than others, but you will get the gist of the decor. )

Maybe Santa needs to bring us a nice, shiny, new DSLR camera for Christmas.

I've been good...pretty good...well, Ican explain...Ohwell, here goes...

I have placed 2 pairs of wooden shoes by the front door. Do you think Santa will fill them with goodies?

A little greenery under an ordinary birdhouse makes it look a little more Christmasey.

You all know we have dogs galore at this house, 6 to be exact. Their room is the laundry room, so this little nativity is placed fittingly on the washer. My aunt Jody sent the grandkids this set . You'll see the angel, Mary, and Joseph behind baby Jesus, and the shepherds on the left and wise men on the right. A few of them resemble a few of our dogs. As you can see, I'm doing laundry now-only 22 minutes to go.


I placed a chalkboard over my stove and painted it with those increcible chalk paint markers I have told you about. They are fun to use, and I got them at Michaels. Don't forget to use a coupon. I just found out that Michael's takes competitor's coupons, and also has a website you can print coupons from. You see 3 pans of banana bread. It was pretty good, but I am searching for a great banana nut bread recipe. E-mail me one if you have a good one to share at whitjsss@aol.com

I also used those Chalk Paint markers on the pantry door. This idea was from Ruthie of Sugar Pie Farmhouse blog. If you haven't seen her blog, you must check it out (after this visit), please.

http://www.sugarpiefarmhouse.com/

How about a cup of tea, cider, or hot chocolate?

I added some greenery and berries to the mantle over the stove. too. Just left it as it was and put that greenery on there.

A little more greens, berries, and candlerings to dress up the buffet in the kitchen.

A little skirted side table in the dining room is festive with a leopard print lamp, a centerpiece, an old clock, and some gorgeous Vaseline glass candlesticks. I keep some candy canes in my glass jar, and a little container that holds Bible verses.

The dining room table is decorated with a runner, greenery and berries, candles, redbirds, and lanterns. I am kind of enjoying the natural look this year.

I have a little buffet in my dining room where I placed my largest nativity set. I got it at Hobby Lobby several years ago.
Here it is in a closer shot. I think it is beautiful, and helps me to remember that Jesus came to Earth to redeem me. Thank you Jesus!

This little tree under the cloche is special to me. My mother and I made it about 35 years ago. when I was a teenager. We strung every one of those seed beads on wires, and joined them together into a tree, then glued and wired on miniature ornaments. We had a cloche all those years and didn't even know what a cloche was. Ha. We just called it a dome. It sits on our coffee table in the den unless the 2 1/2 year old grandson is coming over, then up high it goes. We decided that would be best last week, when he took the dome completely off and tried to play with the toys under the tree.
This little side table in the den was an aquarium stand in a former life (rescued from the side of the road). I painted a board in a giraffe pattern for its top. I also painted the little drawers with various animal prints. I seem to have a little touch of animal print in every room.

A little greenery does wonders for anything , doesn't it? Here is the fireplace in the den all gussied up for Christmas. I bought these deer at Old Time Pottery. The large vase belongs to my Mother, and the flickering candles give a nice glow.
We love to sit on the hearth when there is a fire lit. It is so warm.

Here is a little closer shot of the mantel. Even closer...

I just love potpourri, and this wooden bowl always has some in it, according to the seasons.

Thank you for visiting my home for the holidays. Wish you were here in person. We could have such fun. I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas with your families and loved ones.