Today...

Today in the town of David,
a SAVIOR has been born to you;
he is Christ the Lord.
Luke 2:11

A Christmas Miracle!

Snow pictues of Jack, Holly and Nathan from Sunday afternoon.

This is a true story... a TRUE Christmas Miracle! On Saturday, Holly had several friends from college in town for the weekend and they all landed at our home for the afternoon. There was lots of outdoor fun in the snow and wings and homemade pizza and football and babies and toddlers and confusion galore...( I have to accurately give the setting so it won't appear I have dementia!) After dinner, the unscraped streets were freezing up and Ed was anxious for everyone to leave before the roads became worse- thus more confusion in the hurriedly packing up of children and their "stuff".

Holly asked if she could take home the camera card to download some pictures. I suggested she take the whole camera, but she said no, just the card. Apparently, I picked out the camera card- and was holding it as I continued to clean up the room, gathering items that needed to go with the kids. I picked up some wrapping paper and ribbon from the floor, threw it in the fire and continued the process of gathering. Several minutes passed and Holly asked for the camera card. What? Camera card? Was I suppose to have it? This is where it gets scary- because I honestly don't remember ejecting it from the camera. After looking high and low, I decided it must only be in two places- the trash can or the fireplace. I would look through the trash in the morning- it was too cold in the garage and I was too tired.

This picture was taken a few minutes before the tragic clean-up!

The next morning Holly called to say she was coming over to help me look through the trash. I looked outside to see EMPTY trashcans by the road. It was Monday, and Ed, my effieient husband, had taken the trash to the road the night before-I felt sick. Jack's entire first year was on that camera card. I could visualize pictures I had looked at, but never printed or downloaded. GONE. I rarely cry. I cried. I prayed. I asked God to help me put this in perspective- that we hang on to things loosely, that we are just passing through.. but God, I'd love to have a miracle about right now.

Meanwhile, I am walking around frozen (literally) because during the night, we lost our heat (the new unit is only 4 months old). Cold and sad. It was pretty pitiful. The technician was unable to fix the heat unit and we were going to have another cold night. So my sweet, efficient husband prepared the fireplace for another fire. He always cleans out the previous ashes before building a new fire. As he is cleaning, he says.. well here's your camera card!

Ok.... here's the miracle. As he handed me the dirty card it looked completely in tack-it appeared be all there. Unbelieveable. I blew off some ashes and prayed as I slipped it into the computer. IT WORKED. ALL OF MY PICTURES WERE THERE!!! That seems impossible as it was literally in the middle of the fireplace- right in the center of the fire. I have no explanation except that God knew my heart and he delights in our relationship with HIM. Trusting him is way more important than any pictures. He used this for MY GOOD and HIS GLORY. So I am so thankful to him for that special Christmas blessing. Really- it's a MIRACLE! A little something extra from God. :)

Blizzard!

It's hard to say exactly how much snow we've gotten since it is fluffy and blowing around- but it must be nearing 15 inches. In the front yard, it was up to my knees and we still haven't dug out by the back door. That may be a project for tomorrow! As fast a an area is shoveled, it is covered again... at a rate of about 2 inches an hour.



Ben's car is buried.

This picture was taken through the back screen door.

Ed- so happy to have helpers!

Let it Snow!

It looks like it will be a white Christmas...which is unusual for Virginia! It began snowing last night around 8 PM and is suppose to continue until tomorrow morning! We're expecting between 10-24 inches!! A blizzard warning is now in effect!


Betsy and I plan to bake and wrap presents... maybe even clean out the fridge! Ed and Ben will probably go stir crazy by tonight. Ed was out of the house early this morning to take shovels out to Nathan and Holly. Hopefully, he won't get snowed in out there! Katie's not home from Lynchburg ... she has until Thursday- so we're not worried yet!

This backyard picture will be an interesting measure of how much snow we get... we'll see how the birdbath disappears. More later.....

Oh My!

I'm a bit overwhelmed...as evidenced in not posting in over a week! This working full time, sewing full time and getting ready for Christmas has been a wee bit crazy. Two kids are home and the cooking has also begun! So, I've been "making my list and checking it twice".... it's way too long!


Last night Ben and his girlfriend helped with the last bit of decorating. It felt so good to finish! The house looks so cheerful.. all red and green and bright! Tomorrow, I'll be posting some pictures.

Fun with BLING!

I first started collecting vintage earrings not more than 3 or 4 years ago. I came across a vendor at The Big Flea who had a shoebox full of odds and ends and was asking $1.00 for 20 pieces. At a nickle a piece, I am still astonished that I actually left some in the box. What was I thinking?

Recently, my friend Hillary, had asked me to make magnets from my stash of vintage bling to sell at Chicks Picks. I could visualize how cute they would be, but I wasn't ready to part with my cute jar full. (Looking at it brought me some sort of satisfaction???) Well, I found a new source, not a a nickle a pop, but still at a fairly good price...so I got out the pliers and glue and went to town!



I got so much satisfaction, making them into sets and was very happy with the way they turned out. They will be available this week at the Chicks Picks sale!

Leftovers

With Thanksgiving behind us, there seem to be leftovers everywhere I look. I packed up any fall decorations this afternoon to make way for the Christmas season!

The pumpkins on the front porch went out with
the evening trash :(
And the flowers from our Thanksgiving table are fading fast.


Thankfully, the kids stayed for dinner before driving back to school- so tonight they ate the last of the left overs. Finally, the refrigerator can breathe! (Can you believe I actually posted this picture?) Scary!



I love Thanksgiving........ kids, cooking, laundry....I need to go back to work and get some rest!
(Really, I do LOVE thanksgiving and my family- I'm just a wee bit pooped!

Happy Thanksgiving

Last year, the day before Thanksgiving, I came up with the idea to make little books for each family member, where we would record what we had been thankful for in the past year. I couldn't find the little notebooks in time. So this year I saw them over the summer, bought them and waited until Thanksgiving eve, but I got them finished. I envision looking back through the years.....seeing God's blessings to our family.

It was such a fun day... having all the kids at home.

The Caccia family joined us for dessert!

Jack held up well without an afternoon nap. :)

Jill Kitty was anxious for the turkey! Yes.. that's a cat on the table!


Hope you and your family enjoyed God's blessings!

Lots of JOY!

I've had a great time making some more Christmas goodies to sell at The Cottage! I've been decoupaging holiday themed wooden blocks for several years. The blocks are so much fun... love the colors and combining the different patterns. To make it simple, I just kept making them all say JOY this time. Next week, if I have time, I'll probably make HOPE and PEACE.

And I'm still working on pillows too....


JOY and HOPE... it's really what Christmas is all about.

Fun Finds at the Big Flea!

Several weekends ago, I spent Saturday morning at the Big Flea. I was all alone....poking through booths and uncovering some great treasures. I got some beautiful linens, at great prices, a few plastic Christmas ornaments and a huge lot of vintage jewelry. I spent $3.00 for this cute little book. Being red and green, it caught my eye as I imagined it as part of a Christmas vignette. As I picked it up to examine it more closely, an envelope fell out! Now I was certainly going to buy it.....what was written inside the envelope?

I hope you'll take time to read it...written 87 years ago....I wonder what happened to her and Walter..... (click to enlarge)


So either this was a rough draft or more likely an unfinished letter, never to be read by Aunt Netta. It made me think.... 87 years from now, where will our scraps of communication be and who will be reading them? I'm thankful I was the recipient of this scrap.. it made me happy :)

Brag Monday at The Graphics Fairy

Last week I found this precious Thanksgiving postcard posted on The Graphics Fairy. Karen always finds and SHARES such wonderful images. I printed it and made some little decorative cards for several of my friends who love the brown and robin's egg blue. Finding those colors on a Thanksgiving postcard was such a surprise! After printing the card, I adhered it to a scrap of brown card stock, added some vintage seam binding and a little "bling"! It just makes me happy to see such a cute Thanksgiving greeting sitting on my kitchen windowsill.

The Graphics Fairy has a "Brag Monday" post edition where readers post what they have created with the images that Karen shares.. I'm not too sure that I have understood exactly how to participate... we'll see. Click the Brag Monday tag to see some fun projects.

Who's that in the cupboard?

Years ago, I went to Richmond to pick up some furniture left to me by a relative. In the dark corner of the basement, my friend noticed this cupboard and insisted that I not leave it for Salvation Army. So, so happy I followed her advice! We got it home, had it refinished and hung in the kitchen. It holds our everyday dishes.... a collection of blue and white.

This little plastic boy came my way from another relative. As a little girl, I would always see it in her kitchen and thought it was so scandalous. His hat comes off so he can be filled with water. Obviously, when his hat is squeezed, he relieves himself! I've never seen another one anything like him. So now, this little guys resides among our everyday dishes. Maybe that's a little odd!

Christmas- Cottage Style!

Today after school I rushed to The Cottage. Ann and Linda had really "decked the halls"- completely transforming the shop for their Christmas Open House. It was simply AMAZING! Every nook and cranny was beautiful. Some rooms were very chic.. gold and ironstone with soft muted shades. An there was an entire wall shelving greens and Christmas lambs and these sweet little Christmas wreaths scattered throughout. ( I went home with six!)

Upstairs was a little bed -rescued from my garage and transformed for Santa's little elves. And there was an old red fire engine that Santa had dropped off. Santa had apparently dropped off his britches too!


If the fire engine is there next time, I may need to sit Jack in it and take a Christmas photo of him!

Red and Green....so happy...

Folk art brought from Pennsylvania was charming- feed sack stockings and little paper ornaments stuffed with fresh greens.


Earlier in the week I had dropped off about 30 holiday pillows. It was fun seeing how Linda and Ann worked them into each room.


Cookies for Santa? He didn't show so we helped ourselves.

Ann and Linda~ thanks for your ever inspiring creativity and including me on your adventure.:) You two make cute little elves!