Now THIS....

is what it’s all about!

Remember I told you how I like to linger after a dinner or a holiday? Well, this is exactly what I’m talking about! Outside it is gray and cold and wet; inside is a nice warm fire and cups of hot spiced (and spiked) cider with a bowl of homemade caramel corn and oatmeal raisin cookies. It just doesn’t get any better than this. And the best part…John set it all up himself (well, not the cold and wet outside.) He is so good about creating the scene for me to really enjoy all the special elements of this life we share together. Thank you, dear sweet hubby!

Okay, that was yesterday; today, he took me to a new outlet mall northwest of Houston to meet up with Alicia and the kids for a day of shopping and lunch. I got two new tops (on sale of course!) and Alicia got herself a new sweater and pair of shoes. Erin spent some of her gift cards, as well. It was a great day. What a wonderful husband I have!

CHEERS!

Sigh.....

Christmas is over. The kids are gone, most of the gifts have been put away, and the quiet is deafening. It kinda makes me sad. It's like a huge dinner that you've been planning, shopping, prepping and cooking for, and then it's all eaten in fifteen minutes. It's all over way too quickly. I like to linger and enjoy the flavor of both big dinners and big holidays, especially Christmas.

It was a very good Christmas! I got some scrappy stuff, some really big trays for serving on the deck, and a beautiful sweater, but the best gift of all was the shelving set that Alicia and Chuck gave us. Chuck even helped to hang them before they left for home. Isn't he a doll? I'm so glad to have them up, 'cause the wall was way too big and bare without them and the clocks looked funny up there by themselves. Now it looks 'decorated' and I have a place to display my favorite owls, and even some more clocks!

I hope everyone got what they wanted for Christmas. For me, it was so nice to spend time with family, and to hear from friends and family that we couldn't be with. We even got a Christmas card from son John all the way from Djibouti! It was indeed the most unique card we got!
Now it's time to sit down and write out my resolutions, and get busy on things I've signed up to do. I also hope to get some scrapping done this week.

CHEERS!

The Reason for...

...the Season! I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and that you get to spend a wonderful day with loved ones.
Alicia and her family will arrive sometime tomorrow afternoon, after they've had their Christmas morning at home. We will exchange gifts and then sit down to dinner of Prime Rib, roasted potatoes, green bean casserole, and orange and avocado salad. Fruit "Pizza" for dessert.

Blessings to everyone!

Happy Birthday, John II

Happy Birthday to our son, John II, who turns 37 today. Below is a picture of him at age 5.
He is now a helicopter pilot in the U.S. Marine Corps and is currently deployed to parts unknown on an aircraft carrier named the USS Bonhomme-Richard. Yesterday was his and Kerri's 10th wedding anniversary. I know she misses him and we all wish him well and safe flying.

Happy Birthday, Son. I love you.

Cheers!

The Tastes of Christmas

We spent the last two days in the kitchen making some of our traditional Christmas favorites.

Caramel Corn:
John's world-famous Peanut Brittle:
and of course, Chocolate Chip cookies!
Are you hungry, yet? We filled the little bags (top photo) and delivered some of the goodness to friends in the neighborhood. I just love this time of year!

Merry Christmas and CHEERS!

It's Beginning to Look....

...a lot like Christmas around the Charlton house! I FINALLY got the tree finished and just got the Santas up today. But the house is taking on a little Christmas spirit piece by piece as evidenced in these photos.




Merry Christmas and CHEERS!

Recent Projects

Here is the layout I did from the snow pictures. I followed a challenge on Coordinates Collections that called for using a white background, and even a white title and embellishments. I love the white-on-white look! And the best part? ....I'm using up some of my old papers and stickers in my stash! Thank you, CC!

Another project I've completed this week is a mini 'Grandmother' album along with one for the big brother's pictures. He'll have his own album to look at while everyone is ga-ga-ing over the new baby. Here are the covers.




I'll show more projects later.

CHEERS!

More Snow Pics

John came home from the mailbox and said it was snowing even harder there. I think it's because it is less protected by the trees, but it also was snowing much harder by then. So we went for a drive and got these pictures.





And don't you just feel sorry for this little pup. He was being so good about 'staying' without understanding why he needed to.


CHEERS!

It's Snowing!

Yep, it's really snowing in deep East Texas! And it's also snowing down south in Houston! Alicia and the kids have early dismissal. (Hey, we don't get snow very often down here, and even an inch or two warrants a "snow day"!) The Houston weatherman was predicting up to 3" and said that this is the earliest that it has ever snowed in Houston.
Just a little bit of excitement in our day. Glad we took the dog for his walk earlier. We only got a bit of freezing rain while we were out.

CHEERS!

Counting the Days

I meant to do this yesterday (the 1st). Just wanted to show that I am trying to get into the spirit of things, but DANG, Christmas is really coming up on me fast. Here is one of the decorations I altered for the season. Since it starts at 1, I have to put it up now, but the rest of the decorations aren't going up just yet. Except for the outside, which we already have up. The neighborhood had a 'lighting' celebration last Saturday. Several of us helped put up lighted trees and such near the entrance and the fire station, then had a party to start off the season. It's a great way to show community spirit (and push some of us into getting ready!) On a positive note, I do have my cards made (and letter written), addressed, stamped and ready to mail!
Today, we are officially going out to do some Christmas shopping! We've picked up a few items here and there and ordered some off the internet, but today we'll get serious. I'm actually hoping to find some inspiration while we're out, 'cause I just don't have a clue what to get some of my family members.
I will report back to let you know if I had any luck; until then...

CHEERS

Fall Favorites

Okay, it's been so long since I've posted on here, I think instead of trying to catch up, I will just start over from now.
We have truly been enjoying real fall weather here in East Texas, at least over the last few days. I don't remember in past years the leaves turning as pretty as they have this year. I remember today to get out and snap a picture. This tree is right next to our driveway. I'm thinking of going out in a while on the scooter and try to catch some other colors around the neighborhood.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We were expecting to just stay at home and cook a small turkey breast for just the two of us - but it turned out sooo much better than that! Alicia and Chuck called to say they would come up just for one night, since they were planning to go to Louisiana on Friday. That seemed like a lot of driving for them, so we offered to go down there instead. I would make the side dishes, so Chuck wouldn't have to do so much work. They agreed.
Then, just a few days before the big day, we got an email from Kerri saying she would be close to us and could she please come for her cranberry salad fix. John II is deployed to parts unknown until next May, so she's on her own for a while. Of course we said absolutely come, but that we were driving to Houston for the day and she could go with us. The kicker was - we didn't tell Alicia she was coming. We kept teasing her that we were going to pick up a homeless person to bring to dinner. She said, "Yeah, right! HarHar!" It was so fun to see the look on her face when she saw her favorite sister-in-law! Oh yeah, Chuck cooked an amazing dinner and of course, he added his own sides and outdid himself as usual, but the highlight of the dinner was the scrumptious deep-fried turkey! So crispy and tasty on the outside and so juicy and delicious on the inside. I really do like it done that way, even if it doesn't leave you any pan drippings for gravy.
All for now. I'll try to add more later.
SMILES

Happy Anniversary to Us!

Well, okay, it was yesterday, but we went into the Big City to have lunch with Alicia and the grandkids and help her in her classroom. I was tired when we got home, so I'm posting this today. Below is a photo taken on the front porch of our house in Del Rio the day John graduated from Pilot Training - 42 years ago!

On our anniversary, I'm always reminded of the story of how we met. I like to tell the story, 'cause it's kind of unusual, so I'm putting it here for posterity.

I was a bridesmaid in John's sister's wedding and for one of the pre-wedding parties she fixed me and another bridesmaid up with blind dates. We double-dated and John was the other girl's date, but he paid more attention to me than to her. A week after the wedding her called and asked me out. He was in Ft. Worth and I was in Nacogdoches (Dallas on the weekends.) We had about a total of four dates and were engaged withing 3 months! Then he went on active duty in Del Rio and I finished school in Nacogdoches. We saw each other about three times in the eight months we were engaged!

Below is the two-page layout I did of that wonderful day forty-two years ago!

We've never been happier and look forward to many more years together!

CHEERS!

It Rained!

Finally! We had a couple of short thunderstorms during the night - gooood sleeping weather. Then it rained again this morning - the guage read an inch and a quarter. We really, really needed that and the golfers are probably singing praises to the gods, since they are responsible for watering the course.

I'm looking forward to another weekend visit with Alicia and the kids. This time they're bringing their boxer, Pepper. It should be fun! The two dogs usually get along. I'm sure Bandit will be happy to show Pepper how much fun she can have in the water.

This was taken last weekend. All you have to do is say the word "swimming", and he is off and jumping into the lake.


CHEERS!

Weekend Report

It's Monday, and I'm winding down after a very fun weekend with the kids being here.
Just wanted to show off what I accomplished in the scrapping department. Here are the TWO layouts I finished - yep, I got one more done to all the ones Alicia did. But I'm pleased with the way they turned out. I used photos from the past - way past! The first one is about John before we were married.

This one is from when we were living in an apartment waiting for our house to be built in Ft. Walton Beach just before John II was born in 1972. I told you they were from WAY back!

When we weren't scrappin', we were either eating, or doing this:

It was a fun weekend!

CHEERS!

Welcome to my world...

This is my very first blog post! We've been spending the weekend with the kids here - scrapping, sitting by the lake, jet-skiing, kayaking, scrapping, eating, playing video games, scrapping.....well you get the picture.
I get so much inspiration from Alicia when it comes to getting my mojo going, but it seems it works in reverse, because, to my ONE layout, she has completed FOUR!
We're having a great weekend, and on top of everything else, she helped me get my blog started. Thank you, dear daughter of mine!

CHEERS!