Merry Cheery Happy Holiday Wishes!!

It is officially that time of year!  Stars and sparkles, and cakes, and cookies, and egg nog, and angels, and wishes, and prayers, and thoughts, and family, and love, and pups and kitttens, and birdlings too possibly maybe, and visits, and wrapping, and carols and full bellies and and…!

And the spirit of Christmas, indeed!

I fell, quite like Alice, tumbling straight into holiday madness this week.  Hours and hours and hours of shopping at antique stores.  Choices and gifts, and lists.  Chocolates and packages, and well, the rush of Christmas insanity hit me - in a good way.  In fact, editing photos and writing to you here right now, is my one break before baking all night ensues.

I feel it.

Christmas time is upon us.

In the nuttiness of parcels and plans, I stop often, and reflect on the true meaning of Christmas…

Such a beautiful time of year…

Little trees I will plant later are tucked in everywhere this year (as I shared before).  They add to the joy of the season for me, in that, I still have something to look forward to with them, after the holidays are long gone.

They will remind me of this time in my life, as they grow…

Such a beautiful time with Mister Lovee, the boys, elves and art and painting and music, and adventure, and living life as we see fit for us.

As my Dad says, in the end, that is all that really matters.

I am making sure to savor the moments, including the hustle and bustle.

Cozy breaks included…

I wrapped my gifts in brown kraft paper (my fave) and brown vintage silk ribbon, and then I spray painted some dollar store silk flowers in matte gold and silver.  Then I tossed some large gold glitter sparkles on the petals while they were still wet.  Perfect parcel centerpieces me thinks?

A little over the top, but fun at this time of year.

I have crocheted so much this season.  In fact, I made oodles of things this summer as well, and plum forgot to share them.

I can't share now though, in case a recipient is peeking in.

I drove up to Oracle, Arizona yesterday to do some shopping at Sue and Jerry's.  It was such a pleasant escape for a couple of hours.  Just about 15 minutes away from me, with open spaces to soothe the soul…

I am still collecting pyracantha berries in the garden…

In fact, I was at my city house and the pyracantha arch I have there was so full of berries, I had to bring a little bucket full to add to my country house berries.  I just couldn't let them go to waste (even though there were about 50 buckets worth there).

Oh!

And, in furry holiday news…

I tried to so hard to get a Christmas card photo of my boys.

Alas, they had other plans, and sitting for a photo was not part of them, haha!

Miles would sit for a second, but then spot a stick that he just had to have (he is always carrying a stick, and still collects the newspaper every single morning and delivers it to his dad).  This stick is small compared to the logs he carries around these days.  Toe breakers, we call them 🙂

I bribed them with treats, but all that did was made them want to run and play…

Then, I got them to sit, and just as I turned around, they decided that wrestling had to happen at that very minute, and not a minute later…

Scary wrestling faces and all.

This goes on constantly.

I never would have thought that I would have ended up in a house full of wrestling crazed boys! (but I wouldn't have it any other way)

After the wrestling, I got them to sit again, but just as quickly, they had to sniff…

And then, Miles decided to smile, but Matty was not into it…

I finally got them to sit in the most perfect lovely green spot, but then, Matty decided that playing dead was much better than having his photo taken.

Which prompted Miles to pull his ears back in rebellion as well.

And so, this was as close to a Christmas card as I got, hahahehe!

I think they saw how sad I was to have no Christmas photo to share.  I mean, Grandma and Grandpa would love a photo of their grand-dogs for Christmas.  So, they stopped for a sec under the apricot tree…

Just in time for me to snap one photo of each cub…

Hoooray!

And so…

We are off to bake, and make our final holiday time preparations.  We celebrate both Hanukkah (Mister Lovee) and Christmas (me) in our home.

So with that…

I would like to say to you –

I wish you the most beautiful Holiday season, filled with warmth and kindness.  My greatest hope is that you are full of heart, and that at least one of your secret wishes comes true.  ( I have a feeling it will!)

Much Love, from our home to yours!

 

Love,

Vanessa, Mister Lovee, Matty and Miles