Opening Gifts

Two years ago, we were spoiled by having grandchildren here on Christmas Day.  Santa actually came to our house to bring their gifts. It was so much fun to see the glee as they opened their presents from Santa.  Since then, we've had to do our best to imagine the fun on Christmas mornings. Thankfully, we have some very cool photos sent to us online to help us get through it.  

This is one  I particularly liked this year, of Julia opening a present to find a little play purse with a telephone, compact, hair brush, keys, lipstick and credit card that we had sent.  I liked when she picked up the compact and powdered her nose. It was even cuter when she picked up the phone and announced that she had taken a selfie. 

Jubliant

I found the perfect scrapbooking kit to go with this picture of Mason at Steak and Shake. It was created  by Amanda Fraijo-Tobin at Scrapgirls and called Jublilant. The tile describes Mason's mood very well. 

His choice for this meal was certainly a surprise. When he was told to use one of the coupons, he chose the Family Meal Deal. So even though he does not eat bread, he ended up with the meal of his choice. 4 breadless hamburgers, four 'orders' of fries and four cokes.  Yes, he was jubilant... 

Curves is Fun

Not only is Curves a good place to go for a workout,  but that is not the only thing one works out there. We also have brain games  that make us think and learn new things. There are games to enhance one's power of observation, where  we need to find  things around the room while we are there. We have puzzles to solve and books to share. We  also develop our social skills while on the track.  We exert ourselves,  stretch, search, joke and laugh at the same time. It is well worth one's money and time.

Angies'

It is really nice having April and her husband Tim close enough that they can visit once in a while.

This day  Tim and April came to celebrate Christmas with us early so that they could spend Christmas Eve  and  Christmas day with their grandchildren.  We were happy to see them. April had also planned to see her uncle Jerry, Ron's brother, while she was here; so she arranged for us all to meet at Angie's for  dinner.  It turned out to be a great visit and  I'm hoping we can do that more often. As a matter of fact, we should do it again soon, since that was nearly  8 weeks ago.

Me and My Dog

Not so Pretty

As you can see, this was not a pretty picture. It had been a rough time in the fall, after most  of the leaves had fallen making the trees nothing but ugly bark. The grass had died back to a pale winter green.  The only colorful item was the tractor. This is the perfect  situation to document only to remember the unpleasantness of the situation. It would take a double optimist to see something beautiful in this. I didn't take time to decorate it. I'm just telling a story.

Need Any Help?

Help would be nice, but I have grown used to doing things all by myself. My hubby was a very busy man earning a living for the two of us and six kids. He wasn't home much, especially our first 30 years of married life. I could do it then and I hate to give up and say, no, I can't do it anymore. I'm sure the day will come...they already do a day or two at a time, but until them, I'll keep on keeping on.