11-30-2014 Thanksgiving Leftovers

Thanksgiving leftovers are gone...

time for a new pot of soup!

I took the Thanksgiving leftovers and 

made a casserole with them...

buttered a 9x13" pan,

spread the mashed potatoes on the bottom

and poured 1/3 of the leftover gravy on them,

then spread the leftover turkey (cut up into bite-sized pieces)

on top of that

and poured 1/3 of the leftover gravy on them,

and finally spread the leftover stuffing on top

and poured 1/3 of the leftover gravy on it.

Baked at 350*F for 45 min.

Yummy!

11-29-2014 Presents!

Since my 2 year old granddaughter loves to help me in the kitchen

I got her a little apron with a kitty on it.

(Her current fascination is pretending she is a kitty.)

Baby granddaughter took an immediate liking

to her new sensory toys.

She's still at that 

"everything goes in the mouth" stage.

I need to get some pix of the grandsons

opening presents from them...

the only ones I took are very blurry. :-(

11-28-2014 Christmas at Thanksgiving

Because the weather is too unpredictable 

for travel plans at Christmas time,

our family celebrates Christmas 

at our Thanksgiving get-together.

After our Thanksgiving meal at noon,

Papa brings up the Christmas tree

and boxes of old ornaments

and the grandkids get to decorate the tree.

While the youngest granddaughter

taste-tests all the Christmas tree ornaments...

...the 2 year old grandkids decorate Oma and Papa's

little Christmas Tree

with ornaments made my their parents

when they were little.

 I love seeing their faces in the glow of the Christmas tree lights!

I hope this tradition makes some good memories for them!

11-27-2014 My Thanksgiving Table

Turkey

potatoes and gravy

stuffing

green bean casserole

candied yams

and 

pumpkin pie

with Chocoflan!

We are blessed!

11-26-2014 The Young-uns

Our grandson (left) and granddaughter (right)

born this year.

11-25-2014 Making Christmas Ornaments

~grandkids painting popsicle sticks

to make snowflakes and Christmas trees~ 

...and a good time was had by all...

11-24-2014 My Aunt Rocks

Love these cute shirts on my grandsons!!!

And love my Daughter-In-Law for this sweet surprise

for my daughter!

11-23-2014 Thanksgiving Display

What a beautiful Thanksgiving display at church!!!

11-22-2014 Christmas Stockings

How cute are these?!?!?

And even customized with names!

My DD ordered these for her family.

It reminds me of when I knit some

for myself and my DH

back in July 2011...

Purple Christmas Stockings

I used purple,

my favorite color:

11-21-2014 Huggy Dolls

Received this in the mail today

from my dear friend in Maine!

Thank you soooooo much!

What a wonderful surprise!

11-20-2014 Naughty Bear

Today I finished up this little 'naughty bear'

from the "Naughty Bear-Nice Bear Collection."

Love how it turned out!

Notice my use of traditional holiday colors

of green and red?!?! (NOT!)

Still using purple, my fave color!

All sewn together!

Hangin' out among the tea pots...

ready to hand out a candy cane

from a purple Christmas Stocking

to holiday visitors!

11-19-2014 Festive Coffee Cup Cozy

Decided it was time to switch out my 'foxy' coffee cup cozy

for something a bit more festive

so whipped this up last night...

something to resemble Santa!

What do you think???

Ho-Ho-Ho!!!

11-18-2014 Happy 5 Month Birthday!!!

...dear grandson!!!

Oma and Papa love you so much!

11-17-2014 Gingerbread Men < > Reindeer

Someone else shared this idea on my knitting forum...

(don't know where she saw it...

Facebook? DIY? Pinterest?)

...but I thought it was a cute idea!

(Especially since I've been making lots

of gingerbread men cookies lately!)

I have to make 4 doz. cookies

for the homeless shelter

on Dec. 21 this year...

think I will give these a try:

11-16-2014 Beaded Flowers

Gift from our Realtor

after a recent property sale:

2 small vases

with 2 small Gerbera daisy flowers

that had a beaded stick pin in the center.

Lovely?!?!?

11-15-2014 600+ Yards

... of soft, yummy alpaca yarn...

what to make, what to make?!?!?

I'm thinking a double thick hat with earflaps,

or a nice warm shawl

for these cold Iowa winters.

I won this as a raffle prize

at the recent knitting retreat. :*)

Woo hoo!!!

11-14-2014 Clarks

Time to replace my 20 year old Clarks slippers.

The old ones (on top) are literally falling to pieces!

I was happy to find that they still make the same style.

Merry Christmas to me!

11-13-2014 Ironic

Today DH & I went to the library.

He went persuing the stacks for a book to read this weekend,

and I went in search of a specific book that my daughter recommended.

When we came back together at the 'check out' counter

we had a good laugh...

...does anyone else see the irony?!?!?

(My book was on the right. Even though I've already 

successfully potty trained 2 babies, I wanted to

familiarize myself with the method my DD wants to use

for my granddaughters.)

11-12-2014 Honeycomb Cowl

Starting to knit a new cowl

using this yummy malabrigo yarn

that I bought at the knitting retreat last weekend!

11-11-2014 Pi Bench

While I was away at my knitting retreat this past weekend

DH finished (sanded and varnished) his "Pi Bench,"

I love it!!!

11-10-2014 Knitting Retreat Projects

I started and finished these slippers

at the knitting retreat

and now have to felt them down to size.

I also started and finished the 

horseshoe cable mittens

to go with the hat (11-5-2014 post)!

So, I should be nice and warm this winter...

head, hands and feet are covered!

11-9-2014 Dinner Winner!

Dear Daughter

texted me this picture

of the Dinner Winner plate she purchased

for my 2 year old granddaughter.

What a brilliant idea!

Why didn't WE think of that?!?!?

Granddaughter LOVES it!

She gets to pick out and 'hide' her dessert treat

and then eats all her foods until she reaches the treat.

11-8-2014 Knitting Retreat!!!

Where we spent the days knitting

and the nights sleeping...

A prepared 'camp' breakfast, lunch and dinner

were a 5-10 minute walk down this road...

...in this dining hall/activity center...

At the end of the retreat

we had "show and tell"

of the projects we completed...

(this is a pix of only half the room and half the ladies).

This knitting retreat was just what I needed

after this past stressful week!

11-7-2014 Each Separate Day

I have this saying

(found in a fortune cookie long ago)

taped to the window above my kitchen sink.

It never fails to lift my spirits

when I am having a bad day.

11-6-2014 Scarf done!

Finally finished the scarf for this little guy

and have decided to leave his eyes red.

11-5-2014 Horseshoe Cable Hat

Today I finished this 

Horseshoe Cable Hat...

from a kit that I purchased in Galena, IL

at the Fiber Wild Yarn Shop.

I hope to start (and finish!) the mittens 

at this weekend's knitting retreat.

The wool is absolutely yummy...

50% wool and 50% super fine alpaca!

It's like knitting with butter!

11-4-2014 Red Band

Was in the neighborhood

of the Red Band coffee shop today

so stopped and treated myself with a decaf latte.

Mmmmmmm!

11-3-2014 Future Chef in the Making

"Dis soup needs mo spices!"

Every Monday

my dear granddaughter

helps me make a big pot of soup for the week.

Her job is to scoop the cut up veggies 

out of the bowls and into the soup pot,

then go the the spice drawer

and pick out ANY 3 spices she wants

and add them to the soup

(and taste each one with her finger as she does so!).

Then, while the soup simmers away,

we head to the library and exchange books

(so baby sister can take her morning nap at home),

sip a lemonade in the library's coffee shop,

and finally walk over to the house next to the library

to look at all the yard ornaments

before heading back home for some soup for lunch!

11-2-2014 Finger Puppets

Recent snail-mail brought this adorable Halloween card

from my dear Sister-In-Law!

The Owl, Ghost and Black Cat

are all finger puppets

which have been played with each day since

by the little fingers that 'haunt' my house!

Thanks so much, my dear...

you are the "cute card queen!"

11-1-2014 Heart of Stone

I found this rock.

It looks like it has a heart of stone in it.

It reminded me of the scripture:

God says to His people...

"I wil give you a new heart

and put a new spirit in you;

I will remove from you your heart of stone

and give you a heart of flesh.

And I will put my Spirit in you

and move you to follow my decrees

and be careful to keep my laws."

Ezekiel 36:26-27

I pray this scripture for myself,

my family,

and all people.