Our Loss This Christmas

I waited to do this post

to see if he would come home.

Christmas Eve, while my family was in Orlando,

my neighbor was over to let our Goldens out

and our cat Vixen snuck out.

He is a 3yr old. orange tabby Hemingway kitty.

What that means is he has 6 toes on his front paws, 

which you can see in the picture.

He is quit the ham ...

 And a well beloved member of our family ...

It's like our house isn't the same

We have put up & handed out fliers. Called ALL the local shelters. 

Placed an ad on Craigslist.

Put a flier at a local restaraunt and walked/drove our neighborhood daily.

We miss him SO much.

Please pray that Vixen comes home ...

my family thanks you : )

Thanks for stopping by ~

Deanna

Organizing Craziness

A few days ago I took all my

decorations down. I put everything

on the dining room table.

Now I have to figure out the best way to

organize and store everything. 

I want to store everything better then I had

in past years. Packed away in garbage bags

and those huge plastic boxes.

But until then, they sit ...

 (sorry for the blurry pics but it adds to the craziness ... bad camera setting)

It just might be New Year's Day

before they get put away ...

How are your decorations?

Have you taken them down yet?

Do ya have an organizing trick/tip?

Thanks for stopping by ~

Deanna

A Universal Christmas

After the passing of my father, 3 years ago,

my family started celebrating a new Christmas tradition.

We decided that we were no longer giving ANY

presents to our kids. We were tired of spending

a HUGE amount of money on toys that our

kids would only play with for a week

then end up in the back of the closet.

So, our new tradition is we make presents

for family and friends and we take our

kids to Orlando.

This year we celebrated

Christmas with the Grinch.

And The Cat in the Hat ...

Kaley snuggled with Woody Woodpecker ...

 

Scooby-Doo ...

and Horton ...

But their favorites had to be The Simpsons

Hubby even got into the fun. He LOVES dinos 

Christmas night Kaley got a lesson on how to hula.

It was COLD, well it was 45* and 

to us Floridians it was COLD.

Our last day was FREEZING!!!

We left our resort at 6:20am to get into

the Harry Potter park. We were told that

by 10am there usually is a 6hr line,

which I was NOT going to be a part of.

It was WINDY (Chicago windy),

rainy and 36*.  I think we had lost our minds.

I had taken some pics of Hogsmeade

and the village but they mysteriously

disappeared, I think my camera was protesting the cold. 

So I'm showing ya some pics I 

found online of exactly what I saw, minus

my kids, lol.

This is the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey 

ride which is in in Hogwarts castle. 

This is Dumbledore's office in the castle.

FUN ride but NOT for anyone that gets

motion sickness, which would be me.

Not fun to vomit first thing in the morning.

Good thing I hadn't had coffee yet : )

Mandy and I waited for Hubby and Kaley

at the Hard Rock Cafe'.

We teased her that we could hear the wind 

whistling through her ears, lol.

Before lunch at Bubba Gumps

Kaley and Mandy did some

hula-hooping. They rocked the hoop ...

Whatta' fun Christmas. 

Hope you had just as much fun.

I think we will be nursing colds for the New Years.

Thanks for stopping by ~

Deanna

Some Holiday Wishes

Since I'm going to be MIA 

the next few days

getting ready for Santa,

I thought I would send

you my Holiday Wishes ...

Make sure you get to bed on time ; )

HAPPY HOLIDAYS !!!!
~ Deanna

Curse You Christmas Cookie

My mom always said that Christmas cookies didn't have

fat or calories. Every year they are the death of my diet.

I cursed them today 

when I tried to put my jeans on.

Although I got them on they were UNCOMFORTABLE.

But Christmas cookie are just so damn good.

Thank goodness Christmas is next week.

My diet will start the 26th or maybe the 27th

or maybe I should make it a New Year's Resolution ...

And enjoy the yummy-ness now.

Sweatpants don't look too bad with a Christmas sweater ; )

Thanks for stopping by ~

Deanna

From a Cast-Off to a Beauty

Do you guys remember this lil' table

 I dug outta here. Do ya see it?

I picked it up off of Craigslist for FREE!!!

Ok, so it was WAY past rough but free was a good price : )

Well, I thought I would start on it this week.

First I started by doing ALOT of filling and gluing.

 This entire corner was missing. I had to reconstruct it out of wood filler.

Then I sanded it and started to prime it.

From a Coffee Sack to a Christmas Present

I have been racking my brain in what I could get

my daughter's teacher for Christmas.

Yea, I could do a Starbucks gift card

but I really wanted to make something.

So ... I thought I would take 1 of the MANY

burlap coffee sacks I have and this is

what I came up with ...

A tote and laptop cover.

The tote is lined with left over drop cloth.

 

The laptop cover is lined with a soft khaki fabric.

The laptop fits perfectly in the tote : )

I think I'm gonna add a rosette to the tote 

and some kind of closure.

Hope she likes it ...

Thanks for stopping by ~

Deanna