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When Popsaroo and I first got married, I decided that I was going to make some ornaments for our tree. I can not tell you how I threw myself into this. I had been cross-stitching during the winter we were married, but do you know that although I finished them, I never made them into an ornament. They are still at the bottom of my cross-stitching basket-safe and sound. I have good intentions.

The ornaments that I did finish, were the ones that I painted. They have been put on our tree every year since. I have several favorites from that group that I painted. A gingerbread house, a sleepy mouse in a cup, and a church with a red door. The gingerbread house takes me back to Hansel and Gretel. I loved that tale as a child and every time I see a gingerbread house, I have to think of them pulling treats off the witch's house to fill their hungry tummies. This mouse was probably my first Christmas mouse of my very own. Mum's had made several mice for the tree while I was growing up- I always loved Christmas mice. I think churches can be so beautiful at Christmas-and even though my church doesn't have a red door, I love the vesper service on Christmas Eve.

I just love unwrapping these ornaments every year, ahhh...memories. This year, BubbaLou has been more interested in the ones that I made and the ones that Mums made. It is always fun when BubbaLou actually wants to listen for the answer and hear about our traditions of Christmas.

Mum's ornaments will be the next post. Mums let me raid the ornament box at her house and I brought home some of my all time favorites from my childhood.

Last year, BubbaLou and I made snow flakes. We wrote prayer requests on them last year. We placed them on a piece of red yarn and strung them around the tree. I really love the snowflakes and the memories of the prayers that we said. We checked the names twice to make sure everyone was accounted for this year and celebrated those prayers that had been answered.

I have also had silver bells hanging on the tree for many years. They are the inexpensive ones, but I sure like to see them on the tree. The carol silver bells always runs through my head when I untangle them and put them on the tree.

Silver bells, silver bells

it's Christmas time in the city

ring-a-ling, hear them ring

soon it will be Christmas day!

City sidewalks, busy sidewalks
dressed in holiday style
in the air there's a feeling of Christmas!

Children laughing, people passing
meeting smile after smile

and on every street corner you'll hear . . .

Silver bells ( silver bells! ) silver bells
( silver bells! )it's Christmas time in the city

ring-a-ling ( ring-a-ling! ) hear them ring
( hear them ring!! )soon it will be Christmas day!
~Silver Bells Carol

Cookies and Home

BubbaLou had a brownie party to attend not to long ago, and I needed to send cookies for her to decorate. I was short on time and planned to run by Publix and pick up some sugar cookies from their bakery. This turned out to be the one and only time Publix let me down, they didn't have any made. In their defense, they offered to make me some but it would take about twenty minutes. I couldn't wait, I figured I would just pick up some of those Pillsbury sugar cookies-you know, the ones that are already cut and you just have to plop them on the cookie sheet. I picked up 3 packs since they were on sale and headed home. Popsaroo had tagged along, so I asked him on the way home, "Have you by any chance seen my cookie sheets?"
"Yeah, they are in the back yard, " he said.
"In the back yard?!"
"Yeah, we were using them as home plate." He said this like this was an everyday occurrence to have your wife's cookie sheets out in the back yard for softball practice!
"What am I supposed to make cookies on?" I asked. I knew at that point what the answer was, Mum's cookie sheets!

I took those cookies over to Mum's house and baked them up and sent BubbaLou off to her Brownie party just in the nick of time. She had fun decorating them with her friend, Bubbles who had fun decorating the cookies that she brought(I don't know the story behind her cookies.)

Now, I am still without cookie sheets. I am not bringing those things back in the house! So, I was looking in the fridge this morning, and noticed that one of the packets of Pillsbury cookies was not lying just right, so I picked it up, and it was EMPTY, except for one unbaked cookie! BubbaLou and Popsaroo(I don't think either one of them was in it alone) had eaten up a whole package of cookie dough! c'est la vie....I popped the last one in my mouth and laughed!

It's Christmas time...

Christmas time has come to our wee family's house. I have been working hard the last week to get our decorations up and boxes put away. Our tree this year is not Fat Charley, but Ereth Sappy, named after Ereth the Porcupine from the book Poppy. Ereth is sappy, we got sap all over us on the way home, and Ereth is prickly-but not dry. Mums, BubbaLou, and I decided on his name on the way home from finding him.

We thought that finding a new tree would be a chore. I mean, we all came to have a special place in our hearts for Fat Charley. It turned out to be really easy and quick. BubbaLou picked him out in about five minutes and bonded with him right away.

We got Ereth home and couldn't find the stand. So he stood out on the carport in a bucket of water until Popsaroo got home and found the stand. We stood him up, buckled him in, and filled up his water trough. Then we didn't get back to him except to water him for a couple of days-we were busy celebrating BubbaLou's birthday.

Finally, we got around to decorating him. I have a strange sort of theme, I don't really have one. I have a mix of ornaments that I painted when Popsaroo and I got married back almost 19 years ago, most of them or assorted little woodland critters. I also have a collection of ornaments that I have found in antique stores and at yard sales and then I have ones that have been given to me.

The santas on the bell is one that I painted after Popsaroo and I got married. The vintage angel is one of four instrument playing angels(I even have the original box) I found at an estate sale-I think.

The Mary and baby Jesus are part of an entire Nativity set that is hanging around the tree. I got them from our Global Impact Conference at Church. A missionary was selling these as part of World Crafts. The money goes to help support the women that made them.

This was one of my finds last year at a Christmas store or sorts. Every thing was on sale and it was just exciting:) He is my Irish Leprechaun Santa.

What usually happens when you uncover your real past to strangers? You show, for instance, to your neighbor a photograph of the old farmhouse where you were born. When you look at it you can smell the clover in the fields, you hear the cows lowing, you know that your mother is weeding in the garden yonder. You see yourself and Jack-two big, freckled boys, leaning from that attic window at night planning your lives out in the world, full of fighting and glory...

...All of these things are in that photograph for you. But your neighbor sees in it only a common frame house and barn that need repair badly....

~Some Old-Time Christmases

by Rebecca Harding Davis

Family Meeting

BubbaLou called a family meeting the other day. She made sure that both Popsaroo and I were both seated before she would tell us what it was about. She had her music stand in the living room with construction paper posters. She had graphs and everything. She announced that she was going to discuss "Going Green" and " Eating Better." It was classic!

She had a couple of graphs that showed that Momsaroo and BubbaLou were doing pretty good when it came to eating right and going green. Popsaroo, not so good. She lectured him a bit and asked him ways he could improve. He needed some suggestions so she provided them.

I will have to let you know how her next poster presentation goes. You never know, we may just see some improvements. Well, maybe not until after Christmas on the "Eating Better" one, cause right now, I am on the Santa diet! I just got my season stash of Bob's Christmas Candy canes! They are all mine! No one else likes peppermint except me and Santa! Hahaha, I mean, HoHoHoHo!

~Momsaroo, why do you like Peppermint?~

~BubbaLou

Happy Birthday BubbaLou!

BubbaLou is 9 years young! I can't believe it. Popsaroo and I spent the first 9 years of our marriage with a twinkle in our eye, the second 9 years we have had the most wonderful little girl we could have ever imagined!

BubbaLou is full of personality and spice! We always look forward to celebrating her birthday with gusto. What other way could their possibly be when you have a BubbaLou???

This year we started off with a present or two leading up to her birthday. We like to have birthday week in our family! She made out with a Taylor Swift CD and an Idog named Icey.
She was thrilled!

Since school must go on whether it is your birthday or not, we celebrated with cupcakes during lunch. Mmmm...vanilla! We even slipped one to her best friend that isn't in her class. The other kids were so jealous! Hey, there are perks when you are friends with BubbaLou!

After school, we went to Mum's for a cookies and cocoa sidewalk gala. I brought the cookie and Mum's made the cocoa-spicy! We had to cut it down a few times because BubbaLou and her two taste testers where running around saying, "My throat is burning..." It had a dash of cayenne pepper in it.

We wanted to keep the gala simple-no gifts. Mum's had a great idea- the kids could bring food donations for the homeless and she could fill her basket to take to church. BubbaLou was all for it. She delivered her flyer invitations Sunday afternoon(nothing like last minute)-almost everyone came. She ended up collecting two grocery bags full of food! She was quite impressed with her friends food cans!

BubbaLou's Party Hints

Party hint Number 1 - Have the party guests blow up the balloons!

Party hint Number 2 - Include chocolate, whipped cream, and marshmallows:)

Party hint Number 3 - Have lots of napkins, you are gonna need them!

After the party when all the sugar had peaked and the meltdown was taking over, it was necessary for Popsaroo and me to take BubbaLou to a steakhouse for a birthday steak and some version of a cow-poke birthday song to be loudly sung to her in front of lots of strangers. She loved it! It is one of the things she has wanted to do for a long time.

Her final gift was the Littlest Petshop -she has been wanting one so bad!!!!

Believe it or not, she doesn't know what to ask Santa for. She is going to ask for Santa to bring her a surprise, just like she has every single year she has been willing to talk to him!

Happy Birthday BubbaLou-you live in a zoo!

Thank you God for my BubbaLou!

Hay Dog!

Thomas the dog has officially lost his mind. We think that he believes himself to be a rabbit. Before the rabbit- Patrick Poopers the lop eared rabbit came into our lives, Thomas the dog would eat just about anything. He liked any meat-still does, loves apples, bananas, tangerines, green beans, steamed broccoli, peanut butter and just about any sort of yummy kids cereal(although he wasn't supposed to eat any.) He would snub raw carrots and broccoli.

Guess who begs, I mean begs for raw carrots and broccoli now? I have even given him some kale at his insistence. I had to hold it and it would tear away at it bit by bit because it would fall out of his mouth-but he was certainly making an effort.

Now look who I caught gobbling up Timothy hay from under the rabbits cage. That's right, Thomas the dog who thinks he is a rabbit. Hay. The dog is eating hay. We caught a pic with it sticking out of his mouth. We had a good laugh over this one!


On Green Acres this would be considered normal!

Marshmallows

No food speaks of holidays as strongly as the marshmallow. It is one of my favorite foods. Of course it belongs in that very tiny portion of the food pyramid that you can barely see. One big marshmallow is bigger than that little allowable sweet tip of the pyramid. Oh, I forgot, I was never that good at geometry or fractions. I think I will just move the marshmallow down to the base of the food pyramid for the time being-it is Christmas time ya know!

BubbaLou and I just watched Rudolph on t.v. We have the movie, but there is nothing like watching Christmas specials on t.v. We enjoyed cocoa, whipped cream , marshmallows, and of course some green Christmas sugar sprinkles. Magical!

It was the second time this week that we enjoyed marshmallows. Thomas the dog only got them the first time. Popsaroo built a bon fire the other night when I got home from work. Nothing says "Welcome Home" like a warm toasted marshmallow and hugs and kisses from the dog, the daughter, and the big hunk of man that built that roaring fire!

Okay, so he had a little trouble getting it started, but he succeeded and came through with hot dogs and marshmallows. Did I mention that Popsaroo had to scour several grocery stores earlier in the evening to find the big marshmallows. BubbaLou blamed it on the Thanksgiving rush and Popsaroo went along with it.

Mmmmm. Toasted Marshmallowy goodness! You better watch out, Thomas the dog will eat them right off the stick when you aren't looking. However, he does spit them out because he burns his mouth and then gobbles them all up! A burned mouth is no excuse for not eating a marshmallow.

I love the fact that God gave man the idea for fire, and then for marshmallows, and finally the common sense to put them together.

~me

It's Christmas time and I have been goofin off

I have decided that I have been goofing off. Mesmerized by games on the internet, I have gotten behind in my encouragement blog.

I write this blog, not because I am a writer, I'm not, but because I am an Encourager. I have just gotten lazy and run down. Life has thrown me some real curve balls lately, and I have zoned out in my efforts to cope with them. No more, I vow to limit my search for words amongst scrabble tiles-my vocabulary is quite limited so it has been pretty useless anyway.

I need to be encouraged and writing this blog encourages me and some other members of my family and a few friends. When I write a post, I try to look for the silver lining, the part that God intends for me to either learn from or to cherish.

That said, it's Christmas time- my favorite time of year! I laid in bed yesterday watching Santa Claus movies and eating Chex mix. BubbaLou and I sang Christmas songs in the car today and tonight, it is Rudolph.

"Mom, it's 8:00pm, Rudolph is on, Come on!!!

~ BubbaLou

Growing up

BubbaLou is growing up! Once upon a time, she wasn't this tall, she was a wee babe that walked around theme parks that had rides for the little people. She is spoiled! I admit it. It is not all children that get to know theme parks like Disney, Universal, and Busch Gardens like the back of their hand.

Being an only child has its advantages when you live only a hop, a skip, and a jump away from Orlando. We rotate the seasonal and annual passes for the parks and enjoy just about every minute of it. We occassionaly take advantage of the hotels in the area-wait, maybe they take advantage of us. Hmmmm. Anyhoo, most times, we just drive up for the day or afternoon. Popsaroo has even been known to pick her up from school on Fridays(while I am at work) and take her to ride some roller-coasters. I think he is the biggest kid-maybe she isn't an only child.

Last Christmas, we went up to Universal for the afternoon. We had spent the morning with Mums and Mummy Iris, but decided to venture out and about. I know it is a little different, but it was better than sitting around with nothing to do. It was very Christmasy. They were playing carols that included Jesus and they were wishing people a Merry Christmas. We totally enjoyed it. The employees, though working on Christmas seemed to enjoy it too. Popsaroo and BubbaLou horsed around and it made for a not so bloated, sleepy afternoon. It also distracted my mind, because I was missing my Santa. They make me laugh, they are a good team!

Humor helps us to think out of the box. The average child laughs about 400 times per day, the average adult laughs only 15 times per day. What happened to the other 385 laughs?Anonymous

Lucky Lizards!

I have decided that I never have my camera when I need it. I had it in my purse yesterday and forgot I had it. I didn't really need it at the yard sale that we went to on the way to BubbaLou's softball game, but I could have used it later. I missed out on some good shots, like BubbaLou hitting the ball and getting to first base and when she stepped down on home triumphantly as she scored a run! I loved the look on her face-all smiles:)

I changed purses this morning and left the camera at home. I wished I had it, because we could have gotten some great pics of the last supper musical dramatization. BubbaLou noticed the men dressed in the funny looking costumes(biblical dress) right away as we walked into the worship center this morning. We were looking forward to the Lord's supper, I mean, who doesn't get excited to sup with the Lord in rememberance for all that he is, and all that he has done? But the costumes were creating even more excitement for us.

BubbaLou marched into the worship center and led me to a seat in the nose bleed section. She settled down with her bag of goodies-a book, a journal, and her rubber lizard. The rubber lizard was her Saturday treasure from the yard sale, and her new best friend-Ray. BubbaLou happily led Ray through song and prayer, and he looked on while we partook of the Lord's Supper. Soon, church was over and we all filed out and headed to the car.

Reenactment

We went home for a bite of lunch and then headed over to Mums. BubbaLou took Ray outside in search of her friends and soon got busy. Not wanting to leave her lizard in the grass, she placed him on the bumper of Mum's van.

Mum's had church business, so she took off and said she would see us later. The next thing I know, BubbaLou is coming through the door in a panic. Ray is gone. Once I finally had the story straight, I assured her that I would drive down the road to see if we could find Ray-the lizard. Her two buddies were all about going with us to hunt for Ray. Everyone loaded up, and off we went-down the road in the subdivision, down the highway, and finally turned into the church parking lot. Guess who was still on the back of the bumper?...Ray! Cheers! Ray had gone to church again. I don't know if rubber lizard can be lucky, but I think BubbaLou is blessed.

I thought, "I wish I had my camera!"

Psalms 127:3

Children are a gift from the LORD; they are a real blessing.

Bloggy Christmas Ornaments

My bloggy friend Kate has issued forth an invitation to participate in a bloggy Christmas of sorts! Announcing!!!

The Accidental Travelers

first annual

Great Ornament Exchange!

The best part, is that you are invited and real ornaments and new friends are involved! It sounds like a great way to celebrate the season and encourage our bloggy friends with Good Tidings! You know me, all about the encouragement! Just hop on over to her site and sign up! While you are there, read some of her posts, like her wonderful post election post!

Speaking of post election, I am so glad the election is over and I only want to hear good positive things from all Americans! :) I have very good friends who range from the center on out to left and the right and they are all good Americans! I am proud of all their votes! So I am ready to celebrate the Season of our Lord's birth!

Cause no matter who ya are,

the Good Lord has plans

and He is in control-

whether you believe it, or not!

BubbaLou Wisdom

"Momsaroo, your vote could make all the difference in the election!"

It has been fun teaching BubbaLou about voting and what our freedom allows. She has been learning about voting in school and even got to cast her own vote. She was quite pleased with it. She has picked a candidate and is quite open about her choice. I however, have had a much tougher time deciding. I followed her advice, and cast my vote. To tell you the truth, I voted along with BubbaLou's choice.

This morning in the car, we had a good conversation about Democracy and how our leaders were elected. Mind you, it will require much more teaching and reinforcement before she gets the whole popular and electoral college concepts. What is so neat, is that she brings up these topics in such interesting ways.

See, BubbaLou has been listening to a book with a mean owl. His name is Mr. Arkaxe and he has informed Poppy's family of mice, that he is ruler. He will protect them from porcupines, but they must ask permission to travel and move from place to place, or they get eaten. So, BubbaLou brings up Mr. Arkaxe and refers to him being like the President.

"No,"I say, " Mr. Arkaxe was a dictator. He used power and intimidation to rule over the mice. The mice didn't get a vote. They were just told what they could do or Mr. Arkaxe got a mouse lunch. That is what is so wonderful about a Democracy, we each get a vote. We can have our say, our freedom. We can vote for the person that we each think will represent our interests the best."

This conversation then led into the whole popular vote and electoral vote thing and I sorta lost her. But this is one more reason why it is so important to read to your child. You just never know what they will walk away with!

Recommended listening-it is fantastic as the audio book. We checked it out from the local library.

Poppy by Avi