I feel like I have fallen into the blogging black hole. I have been keeping up with blog reading, but posting has fallen by the wayside.

I have had a cold/cough for the past month, and just went to the doctor yesterday. She did a chest x-ray, and I have bronchitis. I got a sinus shot in the hip, blood drawn, and prescriptions for antibiotics, and codeine cough syrup. I am not coughing like I was, so I do feel much better.

You can see a little of what I have been doing lately. Last week when I babysat the grandsons, we made a tent under the dining room table. I couldn't get both boys picture in it at one time, but they loved it. Jackson had his toolbox and several cars under there. I had to get in, too-which didn't leave much room for playing.

We had snow here in the Memphis area...my sweet little tigers in the snow. They liked playing in it.

Their daycare had a winter gala program. This cute backdrop was made for photos. Jackson was a snowman. They made their shirts.
He loves his friends there, especially that cute little blonde girl next to him.
They were so cute lined up singing a snowman song.

Here I am with my favorite little fellows.

I went with my daughters, and Shawn's sister in law with the kids to Pump it Up...a blow up slide and bouncy place.
Hudson is sporting a new cute haircut.


Jackson loved going down the giant slide.
They all enjoyed the bouncy house.

Getting three kids to look at the camera is impossible.

But, you get the idea. We had a blast.

So, I finally got the Christmas decorations put away, and the house looks kind of sad. We have been going through old Christmas decorations in the attic, and trying to purge and consolidate storage. I do have about 8 boxes of items to take to the Goodwill. Not to mention the MANY boxes that were taken to the dumpster. It is nice to get rid of clutter in our lives.

We are trying to make room in the upstairs bonus room for either an exercise bike or elliptical machine. We have a Bow-Flex up there, and I decided it is time to use it. I need to get rid of a bit of weight that is cluttering my body.

I have vegetable soup cooking away in the Crock-Pot as I type. It smells so good .

That's all for my ramblings today. Stay warm and cozy.

I'm a Winner!

No, I'm not tooting my own horn here , but I won somethin!! . I won this sweet LOVE necklace from Sommer at Designer Garden . I like to enter giveaways, but haven't won too many things. I get so excited to get packages in the mail.

The necklace was made by her friend, Tammy, at Type A.

She makes them from silver and fires them in a kiln. She stamps them with wax seal designs.


I think it is fabulous. She sent me a little enclosure card thanking me for "stalking" her blog.
Don't you love to "stalk" other people's homes via their blogs?

I know I will enjoy wearing it for Valentine's especially.

I hope the new year finds you well. We have snow here, and it is cold. I haven't really had much blogworthy going on.
Hopefully, I will get back in the swing soon. In the meantime, I will just enjoy stalking all my favorite blogs. Hee. Hee.

A Little More Christmas

It is starting to feel a little more like Christmas to me. I got a call today from my boss, and I have tomorrow off. Yea! I don't go back to work until Monday...I needed a little break. I am enjoying catching up on some blog reading and relaxing this afternoon. This is my little computer nook.

and a few other little Christmasfied areas in the house.

a hot cocoa and spiced tea station...

And today, our dear friend, Betsy and her husband Jimmy, came for lunch.
I used small stockings to hold flatwear and napkins.
Betsy brought a delicious Butterfinger cake and a plateful of cookies.

I made a chicken and rice stew

and a chili dip.
The dip was a recipe from my boss who brought it to work last week. You spread a brick of cream cheese in a baking dish. Pour a can of Chili Magic over that, and top with 1 cup of grated cheese. Bake at 350 degrees until bubbly, and serve with Fritos. It was really good.

The best part was the company, but we did not take a single picture. I am so disappointed, but I think we were too busy chatting to think about it.

It was good to catch up and share with friends...it did me good.

Rudolph Cake Balls

I made cake balls today. Rudolph cake balls, in fact.

You bake a chocolate cake and break it up and mix in a container of chocolate (or any flavor you desire)icing into it. Dip out spoonfuls and with damp hands, roll them into balls. Refrigerate for about an hour.
Then dip them in melted chocolate wafers and place a red M&M for the nose.

Some white icing and a black dot of gel icing for eyes.

Break up some pretzels for the antlers. They do take on their own personalities. One looked like a bunny rabbit, and one reminds me of Mrs. Potatohead with her "angry eyes" on. But, in all, I think they turned out kinda cute.

My Christmas Table

I am sharing my Christmas tablescape today. This was the table set last week for my extended family dinner. Sadly due to our wreck, we did not get together that day. We will try again after Christmas. Anyway, I really liked the way the table turned out, so I will use if for our Christmas Eve dinner.

My idea was to use what I already had this year, so I scavenged the attic, the buffet, the pantry, and, yes, the backyard.

I used a basic green tablecloth as the base.

I made the centepiece from those branches you have seen many times. These are like the ones we used at Shawn's wedding. I hung some old chandelier crystals with some vintage gold ornaments that I had purchased from an estate sale.
I retrieved the silver vase from my attic.


I nestled a pine cone, some greenery, a little white ceramic bird, and some more crystals atop some moss in the vase.The soup tureen is from the Goodwill. The hurricanes were also used at the wedding. I filled them with rock salt and placed a candle inside. I snipped some greens from the yard to tuck into the "snow", er I mean salt. The white plates are just plain buffet plates dressed up with pretty soup bowls from Goodwill.


The wicker chargers came from Wal Mart a few years ago.

Doesn't the caramel cake look good on the milkglass cake stand?

The little ceramic birds clipped to each charger were also a Goodwill find...I was lucky to find a whole box full of them.

I had to take some pictures, so I can recreate this for Christmas Eve.

I don't follow the "rules" when it comes to table setting. Who makes those rules anyway? I just use what I have, and what I like.
I am joining in this week's Tablescape Thursday. Hop on over there and feast your eyes on some beautiful tables.

http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/2010/12/christmas-tablescape-twelve-days-of.html

Thanks for looking at mine.

Gloom, Despair, and Agony on Me

You may remember the song from Hee Haw that says , "If I had no bad luck, I'd have no luck at all...". I believe that must apply to me. We were supposed to host my family get together today, but plans can change very quickly. We had rain here in Memphis yesterday, and we had just left the Honeybaked Ham store with a 10 pound ham to come home and prepare for our company, when this happened. A young lady hydroplaned on the wet street, unable to make the curve, and she was heading straight for us in our lane. Thank goodness Joey was driving, and he tried to veer right to avoid hitting her head on, but we were on a 2 lane street with no shoulder. We ended up being hit down his side of the car and landing down a little embankment. Thankfully no one was seriously injured, but we were very shook up. Our air bags deployed, so we were not allowed to drive the car the 1/2 mile to our automotive shop. We had to pay $125 for that wrecker call. My brother in law came to rescue us and deliver us home. (Word to the wise...always go to the bathroom before you get in the car for a long drive, because the wait for a wrecker might be over 1 hour. I'm just saying. Rick drove me down to the shop for bathroom privileges and brought me back to wait with Joey until the wrecker came. At one point I thought I might have to knock on someone's door and beg to use their facilities. ) After being out in the very cold, windy rain we got home about 2 hours later. The adjuster won't be able to assess the damage until Wednesday. Some of you remember that the reason I had this car in the first place is that we were hit last February, and our last car was totaled.

I wonder if this one will meet the same fate...

Joey and I are both very sore today. My side and right chest area are tender from the seat belt. I think Joey is going to the doctor tomorrow morning to get checked out. His hand is swollen, and he has some bruising on his back. He can't raise his arm to get his shirt on, and he is an auto mechanic. It hurts to laugh--maybe a broken rib. I dont know.

Our family might have to stop celebrating holidays: last Halloween Jackson had swine flu...Memorial Day he had pneumonia...right after Father's Day daddy had a heart attack...4th of July Hudson had a stomach virus...Thanksgiving Hudson had his seizure...and now this. ENOUGH, thank you.

We are truly thankful that in all these hardships, we have all come out safe and sound, just a bit frazzled. God is good!!! As Psalm 121:7-8 says, "The Lord will keep you from all harm-He will watch over your life: the Lord will watch your coming and going both now and forevermore."
Be safe everyone,