My Perfect Little Model

I've been busy making fabric flowers using the Big Shot and the SU flower folds die. I thought the best way to share some is by using my perfect little model - Bree. And even better...we were at Julie's and she took the pictures. They took a walk in the woods and Bree had fun posing in front of the camera for her Aunt Julie.
Here's a sampling of their "work"

These Are A Few of My Favorite Things...

...baking, decorating, creating, giving (& wrapping) presents, blessing someone in need, listening to carols, watching Christmas movies, my special time with my close friends, and having my family home. But all of these things would be meaningless if I didn't reflect on the person around whom the season revolves, Jesus Christ, God's gift to us. I try hard to keep Him the center of my thoughts and daily life. So I read! I read the Christmas story. I read advent stuff. I read books like Joe Wheeler's "Christmas in my Heart." I listen to Christmas music while at home by myself (a favorite this year, Chris Tomlin "Glory in the Highest"). And what was so very, very cool this year...Gary and I were able to attend PC3's Christmas Eve Service. It was incredible!
I wish all of you a very Merry Christmas. Blessings, Doris

Caroling Parties

Another memory from Jill...
When I think of Christmas I think of those awesome Caroling Parties. They were so fun. These didn't start until we were in high school and we try to continue these as best we can; there's nothing like the old Calabash neighborhood. They so loved to see us and listen to our carols (that's because we had those awesome singing Walters! ;) and others of course, like Becky Stover.)
Lots of fun memories from these parties...
Like the year I leaned back on the bar and caught my hair on fire! Yes that's right I went up in flames, but everyone quickly got it out, nothing bad just a few singed hairs! We enjoyed learning a couple of country line dances one year. And simply all of the faces of appreciation from our neighbors (most were elderly) who enjoyed our company so much! And of course the gobs and gobs of cookies and yummy Snyder food!

Jill Writes...

When I think of Christmas I think of...
Baking, baking, baking. I remember helping Mom bake cookies at Christmas time. We still do today. We bake so may different kinds of cookies. And then we make trays to give to customers of The Shipping Station (used to be all of the beach realty companies too when Dad still had Snyder's Lawn Care). I hope we continue this tradition, even though I don't own a business that requires that I make trays and trays of yummy goodies for my customers! I love to look through Mom's cook books. Although I now like to collect my own too! ;)

Gingerbread Men

When Becky and Richard were preschoolers -many years ago- I used to read them the story of "The Gingerbread Man." I remember reading it over and over and over. After Jon was born I remembered the gingerbread story when I saw these cute cookies at Apple Annie's in Wilmington. So I bought one for Jon and sent it with his Christmas present. The first set of pictures was taken that year. The next year I sent another gingerbread man from Apple Annie's and you can see from the pictures that Jon was very excited when he recognized the box.

Every year I send Jon, Caleb, Butch and Becky each a gingerbread man. A couple of years ago I started making my own gingerbread men. I don't know if they are as good as Apple Annie's, but I do enjoy making them for the Rahes and for my family. Of course now, I keep the storybook on hand to read to Bree...especially at Christmastime when the gingerbread men make their annual appearance. Somewhere I have pictures of Bree with her gingerbread men. Hopefully I will post them soon.

Cookies and Peanut Brittle

Whew! I am finally sitting down. I just finished stuffing over 90 little bags with peanut brittle..and I should add...after making 3 batches of cookies. Yes, it's that time of the season when Gary and I are busy making lots of goodies for his customers. I have no idea when this tradition started, but we've been doing this for many, many years. In 1993 I started keeping a journal of some of our special dinners, celebrations, parties, etc. Most of the entries tell my menu and the guests. Occasionally I actually made comments about food that didn't turn out or something that became a new favorite. It has definitely helped to have a Christmas cookie list from years past. So what did I make in 1993 that I am still making? Cranberry cheesecake bars, mexican wedding cookies, buckeyes, chocolate dipped social tea & vienna finger cookies. What did I make then that I haven't made in a while? Chocolate walnut minis (a small tart), Barb Weaver's sugar cookie recipe, and raspberry coffee cake. The first 2 take a lot of work and I can't get the raspberry filling to make the coffee cake (but I still look for it every year.)
Oh, the cookie trays will be done tomorrow! Yeah!

Julie remembers...

"I remember before Jill got married we would sleep in the same bed the night before Christmas. I think it was so that Jill could wake me up. I knew the presents would be there when we woke up, but I guess Jill thought we better get to them before they disappeared. I remember being kinda sad when Jill got married and we couldn't keep that tradition up. But. at least I'm married too." Julie Snyder Mixon

Thanks for sharing

Christmas Stockings

"When I think of Christmas I think of...stockings.
Stockings are my favorite. I love all the different stuff that would be in there! And we had really long stockings when we were growing up. So the gifts just kept coming and coming. I love to load Bree, Ty and Chris' stockings with unique candy that they will love and cool gifts too." Jill
I think what Jill really, really likes in the stockings is chocolate...especially if that chocolate has peanut butter with it! I don't think Julie complained about the chocolate either. And I will admit I always made sure there was chocolate for me and Gary! Wow...all this talk about chocolate...just gotta have some!

Christmas when you're 1

More pictures of Christmas at the Naves home. Just think, there were only 3 grandkids at this time. Can you imagine what it looked like a few more years down the road when the grandkids kept coming and coming! Stacy had just turned 1 in November, Jill's birthday was just a few days away. I'm not sure they were all that impressed with the whole thing.
Becky, Richard, Corey, Stacy and Jill. I wonder if this picture was taken before the presents were opened. Either that or mom had already cleaned everything up...or maybe this is another room???
This is Julie on her first Christmas. She looks like she hadn't been awake long and was probably wondering what the big deal was all about.
I know it seems like presents are a big focus of our Christmases, but these are the glimpses we have because of pictures taken. We don't have pictures of singing carols or reading the Christmas story, or advent devotions. So enjoy these old pictures and I'll share stories about the other traditions and celebrations later.
Blessings

Holden Beach Christmas

In August of 1984 we left family and friends behind and moved to Holden Beach, North Carolina. We rented a house on a canal on the island and somewhat enjoyed beach life for a while. The girls were so glad to have their Aunt Becky join us. It really helped adjusting to life away from cousins, grandparents, etc. Twenty-five years ago the beach became practically deserted after Labor Day. So we had a very quiet (silent) holiday. One thing I remember was walking on the beach on Christmas...barefoot. It wasn't really warm enough to be walking around barefoot...we just wanted to be able to say we were on the beach with sand between our toes.
I asked Gary what he remembered about our first Christmas here and he said, "We got the girls bicycles, it was 70 degrees and the girls were able to ride their bikes. So perhaps it was warm enough to go barefoot.
On the back of the Becky's picture I wrote, "Becky's First Christmas Away From Home." I'm sure she missed Mom & Dad and Richard, but we were all very glad she was a part of our home for our first Christmas here. (At least it looks like she enjoyed her gifts.) Don't the girls look so cute in their Strawberry Shortcake nightgowns!

From John

I can always remember dad running out at the last minute to buy something from mom. We always opened gifts on Christmas eve, and one year I got a lionel train set. We set it up on the kitchen table, and dad had it going wide open. It flew off the table and broke. Then I was sad, but dad went out and got a new engine for it!!!
God speed...John

Thanks for sharing that memory with me. I had forgotten all about dad's last minute shopping trips. And opening gifts on Christmas eve must have started after I was older ...maybe after I left for Nashville? I guess you guys got a jump start before the crowd came in on Christmas Day. In one of the pictures from Friday's post there is a huge dog. This was John's dog, a great dane (?) named Goliath. Man, that dog was like a small horse! Merry Christmas, John!

Christmas at Grandma Naves

Christmas at Grandma Naves has changed over the years. John and I don't live near, so our families aren't able to participate in that wild event. I say wild because that's what happens when that many kids gather in one place. But our hearts are there even when we aren't. I'm trying to think about Jill's age in these pictures and I believe in the first one she is 3, in the second one she's 5 and in the third one she's 4. Am I right? Anyway, from the pictures you see that Christmas at Grandma's was fun for the kids!

"Santa Claus" author unknown

He comes in the night! He comes in the night!
He softly, silently comes,
While the little brown heads on the pillows so white
Are dreaming of bugles and drums.
Who tells him I know not, but he findeth the home
Of each good little boy and girl.

He rides to the West, and he rides to the East;
Of his goodies, he touches not one;
he eats the crumbs of the Christmas feast
When the dear little folds are done.
Old Santa Claus does all that he can;
This beautiful mission is his;
Then children, be good to the little old man,
When you find who the little man is.

Christmas is Remembering

I love Christmas. I love the sights, the sounds, the smells, the tastes of Christmas. I'm so glad I'm part of a family who loves Christmas. I can't imagine being married to one of those "bah humbug" persons! Ewww! I'm also very blessed to have some "kindred spirit" friends who also adore Christmas....definitely some great memories of past Christmases there!

For the next couple of weeks, I'm going to look back through the years and remember. I welcome you on my journey.

A few years ago, we started taking a family picture on Christmas day. This one is from 2007. Bree had so much fun helping Julie push the button on the timer and then running and jumping into place. And how cool is it to have a photographer in the family? Way cool!

Tomorrow we'll go back to Christmas in Nashville 1974.

Julie's on Etsy

Julie has a shop on etsy. It's called "Design Pile" and currently features photo christmas cards. It's a great value for one of her designs. She also offers printing service if you like a better quality print - you know something other than wal-mart, snapfish, sams, etc.

Check out her shop here

And remember her designs when you get ready to order your Christmas Cards.

(And FYI Julie is my younger daughter and also has an addiction to paper. It runs in the family - Jill has it too!)

Blessings!

Happy Birthday Bree!

Today's is Bree's 4th birthday. When I called her this morning she proudly told me that she is now 4, that when she goes to school (childcare) today she will be 4, and that she will be 4 for a long time. I guess when you're four a year does seem like a very long time.
Bree is all about pink. Her bedroom walls are pretty close to the pink layer on the card. She likes cupcakes and princess stuff, but is not afraid to pick up the worms that get caught on the driveway after a rain. She gathers them, places them back on the grass, and then waters them hoping they will plump back up and live again.
I used the scallop edge punch to make the cupcake bottom and a circle punch for the top. I had to add some pink rhinestones to dress it up a bit. And the sentiment - well, it says it all. So Very Sweet! At least I think so.
Happy, Happy Birthday Bree!

One Cool Dude

I don't have any cards or projects to post right now. But I think it's time for an update on the little guy. The clothes and hat are from his Aunt Julie and Uncle Shannon. What can I say...he is so cute! His big sister Bree is keeping a close eye on him. I don't think she wanted him to go to sleep. Being a grandma is wonderful!
I would really like to add a texture or border to the pictures, but I haven't experimented enough with them. FYI...Aunt Julie does awesome work! Check out her blog.

Ty Harrison Hall. . .

was born Saturday, December 27th. He is sooo cute! Jill is doing well and both are now home (along with Chris - he stayed at the hospital with them, and Bree - she stayed here with us.)
Bree loves being a big sister. She calls him "baby brother" and was happy to tell everyone all about him. I don't have pictures to post because I left my camera at the hospital with Jill and then forgot to bring it home today.
However...Julie has great pictures on her blog
She's coming back this weekend for Ty's first "official" photo shoot.

No more baking...almost

Wow, it's been almost 2 weeks since my last post. And what have I been doing? Baking, making candy and packaging all the peanut brittle Gary has made. I think this is a record year for him. He and Debbie (from the store) gave out almost 100 bags to their customers. If you have ever made peanut brittle...especially a lot of peanut brittle...you know what a mess it can be when you break it apart. Well, all is done now and there is no more sticky residue on my kitchen floor. I made about 250 truffles, lots of buckeyes, vanilla cremes (that's new for me this year), and toffee crunch candy bars. I used snowflake stamps to decorate the cookie boxes, the candy wrappers, and tissue paper for the peanut brittle. (No, I did not stamp 100 pieces of tissue paper for Gary...just a few for some friends). I also stamped snowflakes on white cardstock and made pillow boxes with the Big Shot.
Here's what a few of them looked like.
Inside the pillow boxes were lip gloss and a mini candy bar. I made about 60 of these for my sister Becky. Almost all of them were on cardstock that I had stamped on. Just a few were made from designer papers. The pillow box die is a really great tool to make great favor boxes.








So what did I do today, now that most of the baking is done and the kitchen is finally clean? I helped Bree make her Christmas gift for her papa.
We took a giant pinecone, smeared it with peanut butter, and then covered it with bird seed. If you see smudges on her face, that's where she sampled the peanut butter. She did a great job and we had lots of fun. A couple of hours later we put it in a gift bag and hid it behind the tree. I explained that she was to keep this a secret until Christmas. Yeah, right! When he walked in the door, the first thing she said was I made you a present. She started rambling about birds and feeding them all the while I'm laughing telling her she isn't supposed to tell. But then that's what happens when you're three.
So, now we're a few hours away from Christmas Eve, and then everyone is here Christmas afternoon. We have one day to catch our breath and then on Saturday it's to the hospital where Bree's new baby brother will make his grand appearance. So the next pictures you see will undoubtedly be of Ty Harrison Hall.

Fall Fun

Sometimes Jill works from my house. She camps out in the outbuilding while Bree and I have fun in the house. We usually play games and have little tea parties. But last Tuesday I was busy getting ready to paint the ceiling in my bedroom, so Bree had to watch more cartoons than she should have. So after lunch I decided we needed some outdoor time. Instead of grabbing the ball and bat we grabbed our rakes and got busy. Ok, I know you can see my rake leaning against the tree, and Bree busy with her little rake, but trust me...I raked!


See, I really was doing my fair share (which translates to most of the raking...after all she is only three and I am?). As soon as I had a little pile of leaves, Bree would come over, walk through them, kick them around, and wait for me to start over again.








Does this look like fun or what? I am so blessed to be able to spend this time with her.

At the beach

Last weekend I went to Jill's scrapbook retreat at Ocean Isle Beach. The weekend weather was dreary and rainy...and yes, that's good weather for scrapbooking at the beach. You scrapbook and you don't go for walks on the beach. The first group of ladies went home and then Bree came to spend a few days on the beach. The rain, drizzle, and dreary skies were replaced with sunny days. It was gorgeous.

Gary took Bree and her friend Cole to the beach to feed the seagulls. This is always one of Bree's favorite beach things to do. Next they went to the water's edge...feet in the sand, waves washing the sand away, gentle ocean breeze...absolutely wonderful!
These are future scrapbook pages!