Nothing Interesting

It snowed on the 25th. Dan took pictures. This is the shot of the 'main' road. This is about the extent of the snow falls around here in the Puget Sound. Wet. And here are 3 cats I found. I probably should have saved the URL....LOL
I have frozen a whole mess of cookies. I am throwing away some chocolates that were given to us....I think they were meant to be wax...you know...fake foods. Whatever, they taste nasty! The homemade fudge is slowly being devoured. And not by just me.

Advent is done...right?

Stockings hung from the gift ladder....

Hundreds more than any of us meant to spend.Bling Bling from the Dollar Store, including the 'grill'.....

4 dollars.

Having your grandchild wake you Chirstmas morning...

Priceless

And on a different note....

that's Ben 'stocking diving'....

"what all kinda candy is down here in the big toe?"

The girls are, in order of apperance...Stephanie, Ashley, Megan and Kacie. That's daughter, daughter, granddaughter and daughter in law....did I mention they are daughter's of one kind or another?

Christmas Day. The end of the Day.

Megan has been bouncing off our walls for 3 days.

She has now gone home and is snug in her own bed, and so are mommy and daddy!

Advent~ Day 24

QuiltingFitzy asked "Will the kids accept the fact that ALL of their gifts are "in their stockings?""

Yes....it all leads back to Ben, our oldest. He got a rather skimpy stocking one year while in his teens, and he was bummed because "thats the best part of Christmas for me, my stocking". Well, that changed the outcome of stockings around here FOR EVER! [picture the kid from "The Sandlot" {?} movie saying this in slo-mo-deep-voice] forrrrrrrr evvvvvvvvvvvvvvv orrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

And finding these giant dollar stockings has got me thinking of next year already. It would have to be something else at the dollar store to use for 'stockings', and it has to be cheesy, of course. Maybe easter baskets???

And for todays photo...

I need to find another subject to share pix of....any ideas?

Advent~ Day 23

I have 2 Advent calendars this year. My ME Believe cross stitch Santa in a wooden frame with hooks. The days are counted down with misc. items, like earrings and old buttons. The second one is new. It's from Playmobil and we haven't opened the boxes yet. I thought I would save that for Christmas Day as a way to while away 20 minutes...
check out our stockings for this year...

Advent~~ Days 21 & 22

Comments

Thank you for the comments on the Gingerbread House, I passed them on to Stephanie, who is glad someone noticed her bird footprints! Have you all enlarged the picture? It makes it really huge and easy to view....I wish this were so easy on other things, like books!

Christine I have duly noted the fudge corrections. I re-boiled the stuff I had made and now it's glossy and rich and a soft caramel-like substance...I love it!

Gingerbread House

This is the completed house. It's really a cake, with 'fake' frosting {see the tubs on the counter?} on it that Stephanie painted with food coloring. No, there isn't a brown food color, she just mixed colors. The stars and trees are marshmallows.
You might want to click the pic to really get a good view of this. I love her snowman! And to think there isn't a pinch of ginger anywhere near this creation. No foundant or royal icing either, just all the fake stuff lathered all over a cake from a box mix. Well, 2 boxes.

Advent~ Day 19 & 20

My own pictures today. Last night, Megan lined up these dolls and needed a blanket for them, so I gave her this fabric panel I had of animals & snow, with "Peace on Earth" written on it. Today Abby decided to lie down on the 'blanket'. Stephanie is now out of school for the Holidays. She has started her Gingerbread House cake. {and has to adjust the volume on her pod, of course}
Usually we get a kit for this, but after watching many episodes of Ace Of Cakes and other such goody shows on the TV, I thought she should make a cake....So this is the start of it. More pix to follow.

Advent~ Day 17 & 18

This is called the Knitted Christmas Tree....I am not sure if the green parts are socks, or what. Here's another picture.
It's sleeves. And here is a Beanie you can knit I don't knit, darn it. Or there's this hat.
Gotta love the people out there that make Google so fun.

Steph and I tried to do some sweet stuff tonight......we burned the sugar for the Candy Apples, but the color was a really nice red with out having to add coloring, but had to be tossed out. The caramel apples came out ok, a little hard, like brittle, but yummy And the fudge....boy did I mess that one up!! Too much evap. milk, didn't measure, just poured. The result is a nice ice cream sauce....

Advent ~~ Day 15 & 16

Different ways to present a tree. I really like the ladder idea! Good use of beer bottles, or are they wine?

My own decor, the quilt on the wall, the "el" of Noel hanging in the hallway, the tree and inside lights.

Advent~ Day 14 & Flashback Friday

Tonight Stephanie has been invited to go to see the Nutcracker Ballet performed by the Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle, WA. this is a painting by Linda Paul, and though it's not a real unusual holiday picture, it is a different view of the Nutcracker.

She was 3, I think, when she saw it the first time. My mom took all 3 kids and with another mom and her 2, they went to the Tacoma Ballet. [I am not really positive it was that one, could have been Seattle] Both girls were all dressed up in their finery, and Ashley was sick, running a fever. She went anyway, would not stay home. Mom said Ashley sat forward in her seat the whole performance, absorbing the whole show. Stephanie....well, she did her usual 'check out the bathroom' routine 2 or 3 times. Good thing Mom had seen the ballet before! [I think. Gee, lots of doubt in this posting]

Advent~~ Day 13

Real holiday things today....The Zoo Lights at Point Defiance Zoo in Tacoma. Ashley took her boyfriend for his birthday.
And of course had to take a picture of an occupant of the zoo....guess sharks were the only critter awake....haha.
the RocketScientist needed a new Pod Cover, so she made one for herself. "Houston, I think we have a solution"
gee, look at the fingerprints in the flash....

Advent~~ Days 11 & 12

This is your Librarian. She can shush you anytime you push her button. Great gift for all those librarians you know. [i know, not exactly holiday 'themed', but you gotta admit, would make a great giftie]
And for those on your list who are naughty....

Advent~~ Days 9 & 10

Since it's midnight, I will cover 2 days. LOL

Weather pix

I tried posting these a couple of days ago....Proof of all 12 inches of rain that Bremerton got. The sign says Bremerton to the left, Silverdale to the right. Why did the salmon swim across the road?
This is the Gorst area, the main road to Bremerton and Silverdale. There are "back roads", but this is the hiway way.
The sinkhole in Port Orchard, in the bowling alley parking lot. It's also the Joanns parking lot.
Look, a car swimming with the ducks. [look carefully for the duck near the bushes.]

Advent~~ Days 7 & 8

Am about as good at keeping up with the daily thing here as I am on the one we have on the wall....Trees. Different versions.

Advent~~ Day 6

On another note....I picked Stephanie up from school yesterday, and got to see the sinkhole next to the bowling alley, caused by the rains earlier in the week. There has to be a joke in there somewhere. The rains were a result of what is fondly known as a Pineapple Express, the clouds even stretched all the way to the Hawaiian Islands, and that is a long way to be strung out! Bremerton , which is really close by, got 12 INCHES of rain in around 24 hours!!!! I think that was the winner for this storm. But the coast got the hurricane force winds of 100+ mph. Someone on the news said this storm had been a typhoon on the other side of the world, before it got blown our way. Our winds here in the interior, weren't as bad, but the rain...whew!

Advent ~~ Days 4 & 5

I can't believe I forgot to post yesterday!
Anyone want a chunk of coal ornament? [I can't remember where it was, but it's unusal.]

Baby Elephant eating a christmas tree...Yummmmmmmm.

Is everyone seeing my header smaller? As in, most of the picture cut off?

Advent~~ Day 3

I decided to edit todays post. It just wasn't unusual enough. This one had teeter totter motion when I clicked on it's url.

click the pic and it will take you to the URL.

Advent~~ Day 1 & 2

I enjoy Advent Calendars. So I am doing one here. I thought it would be fun to post unusual pictures that came up on Google Images.when I entered the word "Christmas", of which there are over 34 MILLION. Above-- Christmas Island, Australia

Ashley and I were getting ready to go outside to put up lights, when I looked out the window....It was snowing!I decided a picture with Stephanie was needed. I wish I weren't that round, but I am.I thought the house looked really nice. Those bowing bushes are the bamboo around the pond. But that is supposed to change, of course. This is what weather.com says

THREE TO SIX INCHES COULD FALL SUNDAY...AND FIVE TO EIGHT INCHES COULD FALL MONDAY. THIS IS COPIOUS RAINFALL BY ANY STANDARD. That's not rainfall, that's firehose amounts.

EVERY RIVER FLOWING OFF THE OLYMPICS COULD FLOOD MONDAY. SOME OF THEM COULD REACH NEAR RECORD FLOOD STAGES. That's because it will wash all the new snow away too.

a duplo creation by Stephanie. I think Megan helped too, but she usually does her own thing, like lining up the people....