Happy Birthday to Me...sniff, cough, sniff

Okay, so we're still suffering from colds around here, but that didn't keep my husband from bringing home dinner and a cake for my birthday. We ordered take-out Chinese food and had cake from a bakery.

The cake was delicious! And my friend Lisa sent me a bag of treats, including special teas and her homemade marshmallows--pumpkin flavor! Yum!

Now, if I can just get over this cold...

My Halls Are Decked

In spite of a nasty case of sniffles which seems to be going around my family (I'm blaming the teenager--she started it), we managed to get our Christmas decorations put up today.

Our tree is in its usual spot, with it's blue ribbon and big bow on the top. The children put the decorations on it and they are nicely arranged, the decorations that is. Now that the children are a little older, the decorations manage to make it all the way up the tree. When they were smaller, there was quite a concentration of ornaments around the lower half.

I also put up a wreath in my kitchen. It's pieced, a bit like a Dresden plate quilt block, in Christmas fabrics. My mother made it many years ago and it's nice to have something of hers to keep me company this year.

This is also the one time of the year that I load up the top of the piano with decorations. I usually resist putting anything there. It's a musical instrument, not a shelf, but a few well-chosen, and padded items are allowed to rest there for a few weeks.

I'll try to get some pictures soon. It's a bit late today and the light is terrible, so you'll have to use your imagination. Actually, your imagination is probably better than the reality, so I may just let that suffice.

Have you done any decorating yet?

Let the cooking begin...

I'm starting my Thanksgiving cooking with Cran-Apple Relish. It is delicious and freezes well, so not only am I set for tomorrow, I'm also set for Christmas.

Here's the recipe for Cran-Apple Relish:

1 orange, unpeeled

5-6 red apples unpeeled

1 pound of cranberries (actually, they usually come in 12 oz bags and that's enough)

2 cups sugar (I reduced this to one cup and it tastes fine.)

1 20 oz can of crushed pineapple, well drained

1/2 cup chopped pecans (I usually leave these out.)

Quarter orange and apples; remove cores. Grind apples, orange and cranberries in a food processor. Add sugar, pineapple and pecans. Mix well and refrigerate overnight. Makes 2 quarts.

Thanks to Cousin Leanne for the recipe!

Flu Shot Day

My children and I went to the doctor's office this week for our flu shots. You might think that they would dread this day, but thanks to a little bribery, it wasn't too bad.

My deal is this: behave for your shot and you get a treat afterward. "Behave" is defined as holding still, not kicking the nurse and no excessive whining. A tear or two is tolerated, just no tantrums.

Before--



After--




It helps that there's a Walmart across the road from the doctor's office.

Weekend at the Craft Show

I spent the past weekend at the Carolina Craftsmen Christmas Classic (don't try to say that five times fast). It was fun, exhausting, entertaining--in other words, a 3-day craft show.

If I had a dollar for everyone that walked into my booth, looked at a basket and said, "How cute!" and then walked out without buying anything, I could retire. It was huge fun though, to have lots of other people say "How cute!" and then proceed to buy two or three!

Another aspect of craft shows is that I get to spend time in the booth with some of my favorite people. Friday, my booth buddy was the wife of the Cousin-who-shall-not-be-named. She's a fellow homeschooler and, even though we spent 11 hours working a craft booth, it seemed like a day off! Thanks, Leanne!

Saturday and Sunday, Lori, the "other Bede Sister", was with me. She's amazing at staging the booth. Sales are always better when she's in charge of set-up. Yay, Lori!

How was your weekend?