It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas!!

Well here we are nearing Christmas once again. What a rollercoaster of a year it has been.  So many of my friends and family have lost loved ones, my parents have battled through illness all while moving forward with the new changes in their lives.  I, myself have been dealing with personal issues I wish could be different yet still, here we are. Even though there may be dark clouds over part of my year I still have so many great memories that help sustain me.  Lots of trips to visit with family and friends, meeting new people and making new friends.  Having the opportunity and privilege to care for such appreciative folks and helping them reach their goals!  I have people that love me near and far that give me support and encouragement, that laugh with me and cry with me, and when the crying is over, laugh with me again.

So onward full steam ahead I go into the Christmas season. Now that my shopping is done I can focus on baking, mailing off some special packages and watching the Christmas specials.

It looks like we are going to have a green Christmas this year, the temperature today, December 13th, is 12 degrees, sweater weather here in St. George, NB!!  So many of my childhood Christmas memories are covered in snow, like building forts, snowmobiling, tobogganing and skating over the holidays.  Thankfully my mom and dad created other traditions that required no snow.  Having Christmas parties, lots of Christmas music playing, attending the Christmas Eve service at Church, bundling up 5 kids and going to Grandmas for Christmas (even though we wanted to stay home and play with our new toys), decorating the house and of course lots of baking.  Even though pinterest gives me every recipe under the sun, I still count on mom's old recipes to make Christmas feel just right to me.  Snowballs which are peanut butter balls dipped in glaze and rolled in coconut, jam tarts and sugar cookies always make the list.

I had a great day baking with Paul's sisters Denise and Claudette.  Together we learned the secret to melt in your mouth shortbread cookies.  So delicious!!!  I am so glad we started up this new tradition and it always brings up memories of past Christmases baking with my kids.  Another tradition we had when the kids were young was  trip to Simcoe to see the lights.  Now I have found a few places out here that have lights to music that we go see.  I am happy that my parents started traditions with me to pass down.

Brooke and I have set up a workshop in her basement and made a few Christmas gifts.  It's nice to have a place to work and not have to clean up and put everything away when we are finished working for the day.  Dad gave me a few tools before they moved so I am learning as I go how to use the power tools and so far I still have all my fingers attached.  We also have an area for painting which inspired me to dig out an old cast iron frying pan I found at Paul's house.  He used it years ago when he took his kids camping.  Now he can hang it by his wood stove as a reminder of good times :)

Brooke found this quote for her boyfriend's mom who recently lost her mother.  We made the sign from scraps of wainscoting and she painted it, I think it turned out very nice.

These are what I call my "Little Scrappers" because they are made from the scraps leftover when we did some renovations at Brooke's house.  The round snowmen sitting on the ends are not attached. They are just some little decorations I made with old cd's and battery operated tea lights for the nose.

Now you know what I've been up to the past couple of months.  Soon the big day will be here and gone and we will move forward into a bright and shiny new year.   I hope this Christmas season you and your families are enjoying traditions old and new.

Merry Christmas from our house to yours, see you in the New Year!!!