Happy New Year

My all time favorite Christmas card sentiment is:

The magic of Christmas never ends

and its greatest of gifts

are family and friends.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and here's to a very joyous New Year!!!

A Memorial To Those Who Lost Their Lives In Omaha

I wanted to share this picture my father just sent to me from Omaha, Ne. It is in front of the entrance of the VonMaur store where the gunman entered the store. It's a great tragedy and I still can't believe that it happened in my hometown, minutes from the house where I grew up and where my parents still live. On that day, when I heard the news, I knew my Mom was not there thankfully because she was hosting a Christmas luncheon for her Red Hat Group. For a split second though, I thought of my Dad, knowing that he would get out of the house with that many women there "yacking" away. And then I thought, my Dad at the mall during Christmas, no way, he hates crowds. Luckily he was at lunch with a friend.

It just goes to show you though that life is so precious and we never know when it can be taken away. I hope you say a prayer for all the families that were affected by the shooting and give all the ones you love an extra hug today. Peace on earth and goodwill to men really has great meaning.

Twelve Days Till Christmas

I can't believe how close Christmas is. Instead of buying the traditional advent calendar, I created my own version this year. Everyday, I leave this little box out with a tag attached saying how many days till Christmas. My children are having great fun anticipating what goodies will be in there each day. And I had lots of fun decorating each of the tags all "Christmasy". I hope you're all enjoying the holidays!!!!

I Wish This Was In My Backyard

How cute is this? This "little cottage" is all decked out for the holiday season.

My Children (and our dog, Milo) Being "Elfed"

A friend has sent me the cutest email of her children doing a holiday dance in elf costumes. And the best thing is all of you can create one too at http://www.elfyourself.com/. It is simple to do and fun to watch and you can email it to all your family and friends. You download headshot pictures and the website puts them on elf bodies and then they do a little holiday dance. You can even record a message and the elves sing it. My kids sang "We Wish You A Merry Christmas". The kids got a great laugh watching themselves perform and the grandparents absolutely adored watching it since they live far away. It is a great way to spread a little holiday cheer. Happy elfing!!!!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Happy Holidays everyone. I can't believe the Christmas season is upon us. How fast time flies by (it seems like just yesterday the kids were picking out their Halloween costumes). This year I am going through all my decorations and just putting out the ones that will make the most impact but at the same time keeping it "simple". I feel a few well done decorations have a much more stunning effect than a lot of them. In years past, I had an abundance of decorations scattered throughout the house. I felt like I was decorating the whole month of December and not taking the time to enjoy the beautiful holiday season. So here's to simplifying and enjoying!!!!