Christmas 2016 in Sadieville...

The 'Elf on the Shelf' returned...only there are really two of them. One is a girl named Crystal Snowflake and the other a boy named Harry George. Harry George has been with us the longest. Crystal Snowflake arrived last year. Harry has a bandaged arm. Seems he was found one morning in Hayden's bedroom and the cats toppled him from the shelf injuring his arm.  

This is the year that marked the beginning of change for belief in Santa from the Mini's. Bailey is still fully engaged in the entire Santa visit, tracking him on the cell phone on Christmas Eve, cookies and milk for Santa and carrots for the reindeer, etc. Hayden is beginning to realize it is a pretend kind of thing and he didn't bake cookies or search for where Crystal Snowflake and Harry George might be located each morning. The awakening is happening for him. 

Jake brought chocolate covered cherries to help with puzzle making. Hayden was sure they were just for him. The kid does not care to eat real food. Textures and flavors are very strong for him and he just can't eat lots of good things. But there seems to always be a spot for anything with sugar. He does have a Papa gene in him that is strong. 

I had a box of Little Debbie brownies. I put them in on the kitchen island to see if anyone wanted to have some. Hayden and Bailey were sure they should eat them all. Michael had enough of rationing so he felt the best way for them to learn the lesson of why parents ration sugar was to have them eat them all and then feel the effects. They sat on the love seat in the living room and ate the entire box. Hyper-active Bailey had no reaction except to bounce around more. Hayden clearly wanted nothing of any kind to eat for some time after. Thus goeth the lesson. 

Bailey made and decorated this lovely tray of cookies for Santa. Jake did decorate one of them. You can tell our girl is growing up because there are clear arrangements on top of each cookie instead of all that each cookies could hold of whatever was available. I didn't get pictures of the setting of things out for Santa. Andie got those pictures. However, I was informed that our little darling flung those tiny carrots for the reindeer all over the front yard and managed to pummel the baby Jesus in the Nativity. Not deliberately, mind you. But pummel she did. 

I put up this little tree in the basement and Hayden and Bailey decorate it each year.  This year Bailey is considerably taller than the little tree. 

Our Christmas eve evening was spent relaxing. At one point I peeked around from the kitchen and found Templeton resting on Jake's head. 

After a huge smoked brisket dinner, we had a great time playing this game (can't remember the name of it) and Apples to Apples.  When we finished family games the puzzle came out and the ball games came on.

I took Papa home Christmas Eve before dinner. He has a bad hip and it was giving him fits. He just wanted to be home in his chair. He would not come out on Christmas day so that his hip could heal while sitting in his chair. 

Christmas morning found every one getting ready for me to take the family picture on the stairs. First, since I am never in the picture because I am the photographer and I don't own a selfie stick, I had Andie take one of the Mini's and me and Claude. Bailey has developed a new smile for the camera that she is very proud of. Alas, we can take hope in 'this too shall pass...eventually'!

Here is the family picture. Front row: Andie and Michael. Next row: Hayden and Bailey. Top row: Claude and Jacob. Then it was up the stairs for the opening of stockings and presents.

Michael had an app on his phone. He was able to set the television to play quiet Christmas music and display a fire for us to enjoy while opening presents. (Andie, Hayden & Bailey) This year I finally turned over the handing out of presents to the Mini's. It was cute to watch and listen to Andie and Michael trying to train them to give so everyone opens and they do it one and a time so everyone can see what was received.

Nissa sent her brother a light saber pancake flapper. Jake was pleased! 

Bailey got a DS. Hayden already has one. They spent a great deal of time helping Bailey learn the ropes and then playing a game against each other on their respective DS's. What an age we live in!! 

Since Papa couldn't come to Sadieville, the Mini's and I took Christmas to him. Claude and I gave him a star for his wall. He is fascinated with them on homes as we take our long drives in the country. He is sure they have some religious significance. I had searched the internet and read to him and tried to get him to understand they just started with the Amish and mean welcome, friendship, etc. Claude and I found one in Berea and purchased it for his home. He was very happy. The fun part really was the bubble wrap. I covered it in layers of bubble wrap so it wouldn't bend in the box. As soon as that wrap was out, Papa was like a kid in a candy store. He started popping bubbles one by one. Bailey heard the sound and was right there helping him along. She did handfuls at a time. I have the sweetest video of Papa laughing while they popped the bubble wrap together. That will be a treasure of a video clip.

Papa doesn't buy gifts at this point. However, he feels concern that he doesn't. I assured him the adults need nothing but he might enjoy giving the Mini's something and watching them open it. I purchased two little gifts they might enjoy for him and showed them to him. He approved so I wrapped them from him to them. We took them to Papa's apartment on Christmas day and they opened them in front of him. Look at the smile on his face. Worth a million dollars. They were so excited and raved about these two little gifts, then gave him lots of hugs and kisses. Could have been the best part of Christmas day for me. 

Hayden is trying to explain how the DS works for Papa.  

I tried to bring a little Christmas into Papa's apartment again this year. I bought him a poinsettia and put it on one stand. Then I put out a Christmas tree Mimi made and a Wabbit Santa Claus they owned. Papa enjoyed these treasure because each was meaningful. He loves and truly enjoys flowers around. Our family nickname as a child was Wabbits (Pa Wabbit, Ma Wabbit and the 3 little Wabbits). The tree was a part of Mimi's handwork and he could feel her close with it being there. 

Bailey wrote Santa a special letter Christmas Eve. Not just a note but a letter with a request. Andie had that 'deer in the headlights' look. She had carefully watched what they wanted and this was something in a letter she had not seen and wasn't sure what to do about. After Bailey was in bed, Andie carefully opened the letter and learned Bailey wanted a silver bell from Santa. Yike!! I was taking Papa home and received a phone call from Claude just as I got in my car to come home. "Did I have any silver bells?" I did have a little stash of bells and told him where to find them in the Danish cookie tin inside the heart box from the first Valentine candy he ever gave me. There were only gold ones but that would do. Andie was able to craft this special response from Santa for our girl and include a gold bell. Whew!! Bailey was very happy Christmas day to find this letter.

This is our Christmas puzzle. It was finished before everyone left. There was one piece missing. Jake found in under the dining room table and it matched the carpet and was not showing up. Yippee!! 

I am learning to do Tunisian crochet. This was my first project and was way to small for my neck. Bailey totally enjoyed it and wore it around the entire time. Don't you love the drama of her pose for this picture. What a girl!! 

Then it was time on Monday for everyone to return to their homes. One last picture of the Mini's with their Uncle Jake. (Hayden, Jake, Bailey) I love this picture! 

While Nissa and family were not here, I loved getting a picture on Christmas day of Nissa and Todd's kids and grandkids all together. Even though they all live close, that doesn't happen very often. (Back row: Mitchell, Tate, Carlie, Drew, Paul. Front row: Derek, Aubrey, Raelyn, Katelyn.)

It was a good Christmas. Good times!

Christmas Decorations 2016...

Here is a pictorial journey of our home decorated for Christmas. Claude said several times how much he is enjoying the house decorated this year. Enjoy!

Merry Christmas from our home to yours!

Christmas on Facebook...

You never knew what people will post or share on Facebook. But sometimes it is just moving or ever so cute. Here are a few of my favorite Christmas pictures posted on Facebook this year.

This is the 'Tree of Life' and is located in Utah. Would love to see this come day.

The following two captured my attention because of the Mini's. I saved them and sent them to the Mini's via eMail. 

Merry Christmas!

Taking Care of Papa...

Papa's electric bill is as high as ours during the winter. He needs his apartment warmer than our home because he doesn't tolerate the cold as well as we do. But I needed to see what I could do to keep that bill down.

I have emptied out a lot of things in his storage room inside his apartment. That left the dryer vent open. I taped that puppy shut completely. 

As I mopped Papa's kitchen floor, I noticed an opening between the bottom of the door and the floor. He needed a piece of weather stripping to stop that hole. I put an old pillow in front of it until I could take care of that issue. I mentioned to Claude what I needed and asked him if he had any extra. He didn't but said he would check Lowe's for me. He purchased a piece of weather stripping. 

This is my dear hubby installing the weather stripping. 

I assured him I could take care of all of this. His response was something alluding to the need to screw it into the wood. Hmmm...I believe I could do that. But I was ever so grateful to defer to the manly side of him that wanted to help in some small way and carried through with his help. Love this man O'mine!

Best Date Each Year...

Claude and I created a tradition several years ago just for us. Every December we find one evening we block out just for us. We find somewhere special to go for a very nice dinner and to some type of entertainment if possible. It is simply a time for us to shut out the rest of the world and just enjoy Christmas to ourselves. If that sounds selfish, so be it. I told Papa on Wednesday that I would not be in Thursday evening. I explained about this tradition that Claude and I have and told him Thursday was my date with my honey. Papa just looked at me and said, "That is a great tradition!" So there, it is Papa approved!

This year we had Thursday, December 22nd as a free night and left it free. I found that Mannheim Steamroller was coming to the Lexington Opera House that night. I secured seats in our favorite spot in the balcony for that venue. 

We determined we would eat at Sal's that night which is also in Lexington and a favorite spot for special dining. Claude was responsible for dinner reservations. He found out that Sal's is no more. There is a series of restaurants along this portion of the shopping center on Tates Creek Road and they are all owned by the same company. They determined they needed more catering and banquet space. So they converted Sal's into this type of venue and all their dining is now at Malone's and Drakes, the bar/restaurant next door. Claude got reservations at Malone's.  

We spent our Thursday morning getting things done. I completed the laundry and ironing so none of that would be needed over Christmas. Claude was preparing to make mayonnaise cake cupcakes and banana bread when... at 11:30am...the power went out completely. We had anticipated leaving our home at 4pm. We planned to get our showers and get ready beginning at 3pm. Hmmmm... We checked and realized the power was out all over Sadieville and Kentucky Utility was working between Sadieville and Mallard Point. Not sounding too good. Claude called KU and they assured him they were researching the problem and planned on everyone having power by 2:30pm. Okay. 

We set to filling our afternoon as best we could with no power. Baking stopped, blogging could not be done. Vacuuming could not be done. So many things we do require electricity and you just don't pay any attention to that until you have none. Our home is all electric. So, after two hours with no power we were both putting on sweaters or jackets. I had decided to just sit on the love seat in the living room where some light was coming in the window and work on my crocheting. Claude did some reading, took a nap, and then started to pace a bit. Finally he stood near the end of the love seat and said, "Power could come back on any time!" He was over the interestingness of this little hiccup in our plans for the day. He was trying to decide about his cooking. At 2:30 the power did indeed come back one. Claude quickly whipped up his banana bread and put it in the oven. We got our showers and prepared for leaving our home. Whew! Our Plan B was to go to Papa's to take care of showers, blow dryers and curling irons. Thank heavens for a Plan B.

We made our way to Malone's and truly enjoyed our meals. We each had a shrimp cocktail to being our meals. To me, that cocktail sauce is what I love with a little shrimp on it. Silly Moi! We were served unending bread and salad. I ordered salmon with a dill sauce and Claude had steak and crab. Yummy!! We waddled out of the restaurant and Claude drove us to the parking garage across from the Lexington Opera House. He passed the ice skating rink that goes up in downtown Lexington over the holidays with its beautiful tree decorated beside it. Claude asked if I wanted to ice skate. It took me no time at all to assure him my knees have taken as many falls as they need, I really didn't want to fall on the ice at all. Very considerate of him to offer but, alas, I have passed that point in my life and am happy to watch others gracefully skate over the ice.

On to the Lexington Opera House for an excellent performance by Mannheim Steamroller. Absolutely exhilarating. We watched a full orchestra perform on a Christmas special earlier in the week. This little group made as much volume. Great to watch to see whose instrument is the one making the lead sound. They played Christmas favorites in their own style and some that I didn't know at all. They came back for an encore and played two other pieces. The first was a number with the University of Michigan Men's Chorus singing the lyrics. Wow! I truly love a men's chorus. Then they did a version of Silent Night that took my breath away. Great evening.

And now, for my rant, well, etiquette lesson. As a child, I was taught that it was not polite to enter or exit during a performance. If it must be done, it was to be done between numbers. But ideally, you should come in early and be prepared to sit through the performance. I was also taught that you didn't talk with others during the performance. You could sing along if the group was singing and you were invited or speak between numbers and during the intermission, but never while the performance was going on. As an adult, I am grateful for that instruction as a child. It makes for a much more enjoyable experience for all attending.

Why the rant, er, etiquette lesson? Once again the people behind us thought they came to chat and giggle. I mean really!! We all search for entertainment that fits what we like. I look for things that uplift or make me happy. We all pay a premium to view these performances. So we should all be respectful of that for everyone. These people must be placed in my path to teach me patience. I was good almost throughout the entire first half. I kept telling myself to lose myself in the performance and that would block out the riff-raff behind me. For the most part it did. But I did find myself once turning enough in my seat so they could see I was trying to look at them and let them know to be quiet. During the intermission the couple directly behind me said out loud that they would take their conversation outside. This they did and they didn't come back for the second half. The two girls sitting next to them however came back and, with the mellowing effect of the alcohol they consumed during the intermission, were more giggly than before. Goodness. I tried again to focus on the performance and ignore them but they only got louder. Finally I realized I had turned around, put my fingers to my lips and given them a loud SSSHHH. That only helped for half of one song. I was greatly relieved when a song later the man sitting to the side of them leaned over and asked them in words to please not talk. So, it wasn't only me. They were quiet for a bit but they still giggled and chatted. My plea to the world it that, when you attend a performance, please respect others and the choice and expense they incurred to attend. No chatting or whispering or giggling during the performance. There truly are lots of places for that to happen other than during a performance. There. Enough said.

Claude and I did enjoy Mannheim Steamroller. Excellent musicians. Program was well thought out and very enjoyable. It was just great to have a date with my hubby and pause to enjoy this time of year. Merry Christmas!

Kentucky League of Cities Christmas Lunch...

Friday, December 16th was the culmination of this year's service with KLC for Claude. He spent that week and the week previous criss-crossing the Commonwealth of Kentucky helping with COO's (City Official's Orientation). This is free training provided to any city official in Kentucky but especially pertinent to those who were elected in November. Cities were selected across Kentucky and invitations were extended to all city officials to attend at a location near them. The KLC staff would hold a training in the morning, travel to the next city for a training in the evening, travel to the city where the next morning's training was to be held and spend the night there, and then repeat the process the next day. It is a grueling two weeks and Claude managed to attend all sessions. He had to travel on his own for some of them like the Tuesday morning one the second week. He had a Sadieville City Commission meeting Monday evening. As soon as it was over he hit the road and drove most of the way to where the first training that week would be held. He spent Monday night in Central City, Kentucky and got up early Tuesday to travel the remainder of the way and make all the training's that week.

Friday, December 16 would be the Christmas luncheon for KLC followed by the final Board Meeting of the year. I drove to Lexington to have lunch with everyone. This year the lunch was held at Red Mile Racetrack. This is the harness racing track for Lexington. On the property is this old barn called the Round Barn and it houses a museum named Standardbred Stable of Memories. It has a collection of 'sulkies' which are used in harness racing. Here are a few views of this grand old structure and the sulkies it houses.

This year KLC held an ugly sweater contest and several participated. My favorite was the young mother too be with a snow man face for her and a snowman face over where the little one is peacefully gestating. So cute.

The meal was delicious. The conversation was enjoyable. Then it was time to head back to Sadieville after a few brief shopping stops and Claude would head back into downtown Lexington for the final Board Meeting.

I did get Jon Steiner to pose for a picture in his magnificent ugly sweater. Jon is the Chief Executive Officer and did not participate in the contest. But he proudly wore his sweater in support of those who did participate in the contest. Jon was leaving after the Board Meeting to go to the airport to pick up his daughter from college. She will be soooo happy to see her dad in his sweater. That is right, it is a sumo wrestler. Goodness!!

Great party. Thanks KLC for inviting me again this year.