Gumbo, Etouffee & Christmas Light Display

A few days before Christmas, My sister, my oldest son and their little families all gathered at Grand-ma'ma''s house (that's me! Oh...& Paw-Paw's house too ;) ) in anticipation of a hot meal & a chilly walk through the park to see the twinkling lights of the season...

We had steaming hot gumbo, spicy etouffee, tempting sweets...

Then Santa stopped by and we opened gifts galore...

Afterward, we headed out into the night to see the Festival of Lights...

Armadillo with a cowboy hat...

Tunnel of lights...

Three amigos, three amigas...

Alligators...

Longhorns...

Silly Santa...A busy elf...

The lone star state is proud...

We hope you all had a very Merry & blessed...

!!!

Come again, y'all!

Sugar and Spice's Christmas Tree

{Our Baby girl's Christmas tree}

She decorated it herself...


















Pink disco ball-esque ornaments. Fun!
It's a white tree but somehow it has a rosy glow...just like our little girl!

Strong, Sassy, Silly

Three generations.

The Wayward Crafter-Christmas Gift Tags

For your viewing pleasure (or displeasure...whatever the case may be. *giggle*) I thought I'd share a few of the gift tags I created out of my "stuff"- aka the scrapbooking goodies I've picked up here & there along the way:

For You
Fold cardstock in half, stamp, fill the heart in with color, punch a hole for the raffia, stamp my nephews name inside.

Done.

BZ

Cut an oval with an interesting edging, stamp, punch hole.

Done.

No Peeking

Fold cardstock in half, stamp, attach Christmas-y what not, stamp niece's name inside.

Done.

Max

Use a pre-cut tag, place an "M" at the top, stamp the remaining letters of name, tie a knot on piece of ribbon after inserting through hole of tag, place & glue strategically on pre-decorated gift box.

Done.

A Gift for All Y'all
Cut three circles (I used red, dark brown & a gold-ish paper)each getting a bit smaller than the last, stick a Christmas-y embellishment at the top, dig through buttons, find one & glue at bottom, Use stickers for first letters of each name & the "&", stamp the remaining letters of names.
Done.

These were fun & easy and used stuff I already had on hand.

Well, I hope you enjoyed (that I bared my crafting-101 soul to y'all & hope you don't laugh at/mock me all you black belt crafters you) this little tour through my Christmas gift tag gallery.

Please come again!

LOVE This Quote About Christmas!

A lovely thing about Christmas is that it's compulsory, like a thunderstorm, and we all go through it together.-Garrison Keillor

Ho Ho Ho

Just got back a few days ago from visiting family in Louisiana... the ladies

the gents

I miss 'em already.

We drove nine hours to get home and the last two or three was in drizzle. And fog. And some rain. And let's throw in a little bit of Houston's rush hour traffic. In the dark. In the Monster (some of y'all know what I mean).

I was shell shocked when I pulled into our driveway. I was still thanking the Lord well into the next day that we made it home in one piece. Deep breath. Just thinking about it still puts me in a state.

Let's brighten the mood a bit shall we?

A brief tour of a few of my favorite Christmas decos...

I glittered the SNOW letters & added a few embellishments from my scrapbooking supplies collection. (Have I ever mentioned I collect scrapbooking materials? One day I intend to actually scrapbook with them.)

A sand dollar I glittered years ago before the mighty Domestic Diva herself decided to make & heavily promote glitter. (You know who I'm talkin' about. Yes...her.) I made a set of six and I hold my breath as I carefully unfurl them from their tissue paper each Christmas, hoping they are still intact and haven't released their tiny doves while I wasn't looking.

Our stockings hung by the chimney with care. Mike's, Bobo's, Ari's (who isn't very hopeful is she?Just jokin'. I hung that there. Because she does have lofty ambitions when it come to gettin' gifts.) and mine. The Santa painting was done by my oh-so-talented mom years ago before I had Ari. Notice that tag hanging from the teddy's arm? It has my son's names painted on it.
Thilvethter greeth you at the front door holding our wreath with a thmile. (Maybe he'th hoping a birdie will alight on the twigth.)



Well, this Missus Claus has hung her hat & apron up for this Christmas. (More about that next time.) These are the closest anyone around here is gettin' to homemade cookies this year...
Maybe next year.

Thanks for stopping by!

Glimpses of Christmas

The wreath is hung on the front door, the tree is trimmed...

Ohhh...what is under our tree?

Looks like an early Christmas present!

It's The Holiday Season!

I'd like to share a little of our Thanksgiving day gathering:

The parents of my grandson, Lee & Josie

The kiddos watching a pre-dinner movie (Jesse is always moving!)

My pretty niece, Zoe

Gram & the girls...granddaughters Breezi & Ariana

Three generations guarding the oven's tempting treats. Niece Breezi, Ari, mom & sister Cindy:

The arrival of my handsome brother. Father & son embrace. Heartwarming!

Mother & son enjoying pie & catching up on news

Our own private Santa, incognito. My daddy

After many attempts at charming guests in the quest to get a tidbit of turkey, Toaster resigns himself to a turkey day nap.

A yummy day!

Thanks for stopping by to share our Thanksgiving!

The Day After Thanksgiving

Blueberry pancakes.

Starbucks Sumatra.

Black.

Lots of it.

Christmas decorating.

Christmas shopping in my AVON store.

Relaxing with family.

Thanksgiving leftovers.

A delicious day...

Happy Thanksgiving!

I wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving as you gather 'round the table hand in hand with your loved ones!

Savor the turkey, savor the pie but most of all savor the moment!

My Online AVON Store is Open!!!

I'm SO excited to announce the grand opening of my online AVON store! Grab a steaming mug of your favorite beverage, put you feet up and stop in & browse around!

//tommielombardi.avonrepresentative.com/

The Golden Days of Autumn...

They bring such pleasure. I love the golden haze that shrouds the afternoon on a clear, crisp Autumn day. The scents of mouthwatering apple, scintillating spices and earthy wood smoke. Mmmm...love it.

Along with the pleasures of Fall come other things that aren't so pleasant. Like the flu. Yuck. No, we haven't had it but it seems we can't escape the daily deluge of news reports of H1N1 compliments of the media. It scares a lot of people but I for one am not going to join that bandwagon. I don't plan on getting a flu shot even with the media's best efforts at trying to cause a panic. I've only had one flu shot in my life and that was when I was working at a doctor's office during cold and flu season. It just seemed the thing to do when you have hundreds of people breathing their flu germs on you everyday. Anyhoo, my plan of action for myself and my family is what it is for any other day of my life: put my trust in God, wash my hands or use hand sanitizer OFTEN throughout the day, build my immune system with supplements, teas and wholesome, nourishing, homemade food as often as possible. What, exactly, is in those vaccines anyway? Okay, now if someone will help me down off this soapbox please...

This past week has been blessed and full as always. I've decided I need to rearrange my office/craft room and clean out stuff I'm not using. At the rate I'm going, it could take a year or more but, hey...baby steps.

Ari & I enjoyed an after school lunch on Wednesday at one of her favorite restaurants, Panda. It was a precious time of a little girl talk, great food and looking into those beautiful hazel eyes.

I continue to build my team and Avon business and welcome to the new ladies! Darla, Vera, Betty and Brenda. We are gonna do great things girls!

I've been focusing on my walk with the Lord and pursuing a deeper relationship with Him. I've seen Him move in my life in ways big and small since I have committed to this with Him.

AMAZING!!!

All day today I have been slow simmering homemade chicken stock in the slow cooker...

smells delicious

I'll put it away in the freezer in one and two cup portions to add to hearty winter meals in the future.

And on the bread front:

I made a couple of loaves of cinnamon raisin bread a couple of days ago. One for us and one for Lee, Josie and Jesse. We found out last weekend that the leftovers make really good french toast! (if it lasts that long ;-) ) And I made a new sourdough bread recipe yesterday; it turned out great! This afternoon I made banana bread...can you smell it? Mmmm...

And right now, I'm working on crocheting some coasters from a natural colored cotton yarn to keep those pesky rings off the furniture. Nothing fancy. Simple. Sweet. Functional.

What's been keeping YOU busy this week?

Thank Goodness It's Saturday!

I always look forward to the weekend with my family. Even though we may all be in other places in the house at any given time pursuing our own interests, it's still comforting to know we are all together.

This has been a busy week for me. My new recruit called yesterday to check in and told me she already had 12 orders! Good for her...I wish her continued success! I have had a load of other things keeping me busy in the pursuit to contribute financially to our coffers and am looking forward to a little girl time at the mall with my baby girl on Sunday.

I am holding steady following the Somersize plan and have lost 6 pounds over the past few weeks after years of the scale steadily climbing...climbing...climbing. I eat well and I eat plenty; this is my kinda "diet"! I enjoy trying out different recipes from the website community archives and the Somersize cookbooks. In fact, I just finished making a couple of batches of Somersized basil pesto to slather on baked chicken thighs tonight. I'll use it on whole wheat pasta as a sauce for the family along with the chicken since they have no interest in sticking strictly to "level 1". They enjoy (most of) what I make and I sometimes tweak it to appeal to them more (i.e. adding the pasta to the meal).

Basically, I have just been spending time these past few months enjoying all the blessings God sends my way...

A certain precious boy. Grand-ma'ma's pride and joy (roll the "r" in "Grand" if you please...and add emphasis on the "ma ma"...I'm not the least bit eccentric!)

who just turned 3...

family...

shopping...

good times...

simple pleasures...

Yes, it's good to be blessed!

I hope that you consider yourself blessed today!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!!!