We had a glorious service Sunday morning service of Lessons and Carols!
My heart joined in rejoicing with the entire congregation!
The service featured children's choirs as well as the adult choir and readers were both young, old and in between.
Being IN and PART OF a service is something you simply can't experience online or watching on TV! However, these are wonderful options and we take advantage of them when we can't attend in person for health reasons or if we are out of town - as out on the ranch. We are hoping to spend more and more time down there so it may well be time to look into a local church in Mart, Texas!
Amber invited us to have lunch in Quadville after church.
She had put a pot roast in the crock pot that morning and let me tell you - it was DELICIOUS!!!
I'm not that big a meat eater but I had TWO helpings!!! That was counting eating every scrap the quads left on their plates!! She and Mike manned the kitchen together (much as Louis Dean and I do at home) and the roast was served with old fashioned mashed potatoes - just as Louis Dean likes them!!! Potatoes + butter + milk + salt and pepper. Period. Amber also served up baby carrots split in half and sauteed in butter and seasonings. MY FAVORITE!! Right AFTER the pot roast! We also had garlic toast - and it was NOT burned!!! Amber does NOT take after her mother in this area!
I am famous in our family for burning the garlic toast!
I am famous in our family for burning the garlic toast!
While Amber and Mike were putting the finishing touches on lunch, I gave the quads a surprise!
Candy Canes!!!
Trystan had shown so much interest in the one decorative - but OLD - candy cane on the tree in the gazebo that I KNEW I wanted to be the one to introduce them to the real thing!
I LOVE getting to share these very first experiences with the children!!!
They all wanted to hang their candy cane just as high as they could reach!!!
Kailey is the tallest and hung hers at eye level!!
After their naps, they were allowed to eat one of the candy canes and they loved them!!!
Except for Kailey!! She rushed to the kitchen for a glass of tea to take the taste away!
I have MORE candy canes for them to hang on the trees here at our house and I will use them as an object lesson!
Yesterday Trystan was licking her candy and the red had disappeared around the crook of the cane.
She said, "Look, MeeMaw!!! I did that with my mouth!!!"
Although I had places to go and things to do Sunday afternoon - including a wonderful party I had been invited to - I cried "Uncle" and took a nap and rested!
It was nearly 7:00 before I got off the couch and took Louis Dean with me to buy the groceries and supplies we needed for this Christmas season! Our choice was the Super Target in Plano where we got EVERYTHING we needed - all in one fell swoop!
It was a 'Divide and Conquer' situation and we were home, unloaded, put up and in bed by 10:30!
I slept like a ROCK last night - only waking up ONCE! That's like amazing for me!
I wasn't quite ready to start my day so I lounged in bed in bed looking at Facebook and saw this from the Timehop app!
Six years ago Louis Dean and I traveled to Aberdeen, Scotland where we stayed for the entire month of December with Amber and Mike! They lived there for a year - from August 2009 to August 2010!
You can read about our Scotland Experience Part 1 !
I am going back to reread it myself!!!
I just did before I posted and I felt as if I should comment on it!
This was back in my first year of blogging before anyone in my family really knew that I was writing a blog! It IS my journal and I am so glad to have this record of our experiences!!
I wrote 9 posts in all - first on Facebook in 'Notes' and then I copied them into blog posts in November 2010.
My sweet husband brought me coffee in bed and it wasn't long after that I was up and at 'em!!!
Today was Prep Day for my annual Ladies Cup Of Christmas Tea Party!
Den - DONE!!!
I even have a puzzle in the works in case there is a lady or two who likes to do them!
I am planning on painting a canvas of this cardinal scene for next Christmas to hang in our bedroom!
Living room - DONE!!
I will have Christmas music playing on my old school CD player!
It plays constantly here unless I have the radio tuned to 101.1 - the classical music station.
My newest Santa from a Goodwill trip this fall!
He is presiding between two chairs in the living room!
I am trying my very best to 'Dial it Back' as my family says.
Normally I use real dishes, silver and cloth napkins + real wineglasses.
Not this year! I am beginning to feel my age and have opted for 'easy' this time around.
I am almost ready!!!
Louis Dean is my hero!!!
He made a Sam's run to buy chicken this morning and cooked it this afternoon in the pressure cooker!
Pressure cookers scare me! Have you ever read The Egg and I by Betty MacDonald and the hilarious account of her husband who LOVED a pressure cooker - and it EXPLODED all over her kitchen? My favorite part was where she was happily picking chicken bits off of the ceiling - until she realized her husband was looking at advertisements for bigger BETTER pressure cookers!!
Anyway......LD cooked the chicken and I de boned it!
Then HE chopped and chopped and chopped!!! Onions, celery, apples, pecans, grapes......you name it - this salad probably has it!!! He added the mayo while I sprinkled in the seasonings!
It was a Win! WIN!!
We ate sample sandwiches in the den while watching a TV program and gave the chicken salad a two thumbs up!!!!
I took away all the place settings and put out serving platters and plates for tomorrow.
The glass snowman was a gift from Amber in 2007.
I added new white candles to it and will light them tomorrow evening.
Louis Dean and I just came in from taking a break outside.
The weather is still unseasonably warm but I am good with this tonight!
I can hear the fountains gurgling and the open doors makes it cool enough inside.
Just about time for bed!!
Tomorrow morning I will start my baking!!!
I found this on Facebook today and it was already on my list of things to make.
My old recipe calls them Angel Graham Bars.
I like that name and they ARE delicious!!!
I hope to see YOU tomorrow and we shall have a Cup of Christmas Tea!!!
It all looks just lovely! welcoming qnd delightfully old fashioned! Yall have a great time tomorrow ya hear? Enjoy yourself!
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to it! We missed you but understand it is a busy time of year
ReplyDeleteWow...some ladies are in for a treat! Your house is beautiful and welcoming; I can't wait to read how it went.
ReplyDeleteI make that kind of chicken salad, sometimes adding pecans--but my folks prefer the usual, with celery and homemade pickle-relish. :) It's been in the mid 70s and humid here in the Tidewater area of VA. Hard to feel Christmas-y in this weather, and our AC is on right now! But in 10 days, we'll be celebrating our Savior's birth with our son and his family, up in the mountains of Va. Our 8-yr-old "grand" Katherine is still excited for Santa to come. ;) We'll be up late on the 24th and up really early on the 25th! "Meme and Pop" will need a long nap after Santa has come and gone!! I praise God for our little family---such a blessing to us!
Enjoy every moment, Linda! (I think that is your wonderful personality that makes your own "It's a Wonderful Life!")
Trudy (Bluebird49)@ toppingoff55 AT yahoo DOT com. :)🎄
Hi Linda can i have your cookie reciepe?
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely!! You can find it here:
Deletehttp://lindaslifejournal-artlady1948.blogspot.com/2010/11/friutcake-cookies.html
All just lovely Linda...so festive! Really looking forward to seeing you at the Christmas tea! Hugs!
ReplyDeleteGreat minds think alike Linda. I posted about Candy Canes today as well. I was thinking of adding the story of the Candy Cane but I was in a rush and did not take time to look for it. Lots of my friends read your blog so maybe they can read the story here!! I am hosting my girlfriends for lunch on Thursday. It is fun to gather with friends at this time of the year.
ReplyDeleteLinda, I loved the story of the quads and candy canes. How cute they can be. LD is your Hero...I call Teddy Bear that at times. I love how ell you both help each other in tight time lines. Blessings for a fun day at your house. Love you guys, xoxo,Susie
ReplyDeleteYou have decorated your house so beautifully for the special event. The Angel Graham Bars look good.
ReplyDeleteThe quad pictures are precious. Louis Dean is a treasure. He must be a man of great patience. As much as I enjoy your 'debris' my husband would not. Surely you don't store your Santa paintings in your back yard storage.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed the candy cane story of the quads and their excitement and i love the poem that tells about the cane. you lead a truly exciting and wonderful life and i wish my hubby would help in the kitchen
ReplyDeleteAlways fun to visit here! You have so much going on. Now I am going back to read about your time in Scotland.
ReplyDeleteSo many wonderful things going on in your life. I miss the programs, cantadas, musicals. Of course, I enjoyed Connor's Sunday and my son's Sunday but I'll miss my hometown's many festivities. I see Santa's in the workshop. Have a great day.
ReplyDeleteI love all your photos, Linda, and the header and background, too! Another lovely post.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your kind comment on my blog post today. I don't share too much about myself because my blog is not meant to be about myself, (well, my main focus is not on this), but to help people see the beauty, positive side of life and to feel encouraged, hopefully to make people think, smile, laugh, or feel better about life in general. I will now and then share more about myself, as I did today. :)
I just love coming over here...with you and LD working, playing, doing every thing together. I love it all.
ReplyDeleteI am stealing your CANDY CANE button...may I ? I would like it on my sidebar all thru Christmas. I did a post years ago about the story of the candy cane.
Glad to see you taking advantage of all the adorable paper plates... I have been using them when we have a large crowd and love them...you will, too.
hugs
My goodness, it takes me quite a while to read your blog, because I look so long at your photos!! I feel as if I'm inside a country store when I visit your place! There is so much to look at here! I just love it!! What a great post, and especially what a great blog!!
ReplyDeleteDebbie
xo
My goodness, it takes me quite a while to read your blog, because I look so long at your photos!! I feel as if I'm inside a country store when I visit your place! There is so much to look at here! I just love it!! What a great post, and especially what a great blog!!
ReplyDeleteDebbie
xo