Merry Christmas from Halie

Halie loves to sing and is learning a few different songs. Now that it's Christmas time and she's hearing some of the same songs over and over she's picking up on those too. She does't tend to be too shy about singing if asked to. : )

So Far in December...

Here's a few pictures of the house decorated for Christmas. I did a new theme for the tree this year. A couple of years ago I bought the ribbon on clearance after Christmas and I love it. It's just a really traditional Christmas plaid with green, red, and a bit of gold. I liked it so much I decided I wanted to do a whole tree based on it. I already had several ornments that matched and throughout this past year I've picked up several more for cheap from thrift stores and yard sales. I got the star topper at Goodwill for $3. I really like how it turned out.


The red and white quilt on the rocking chair is over 100 years old. One of my favorites! It was a birthday present last year. The stuffed rocking horse was made by my Grandma Delamarter many years ago and it's something else that's very special to me.

I was finally able to find battery operated light strands for my Nativity set. I've been looking for them for 3 years. It looked really pretty while they lasted, but they were really cheaply made and the batteries were worn down after only a few hours of using them. : (

We're going to get the old radio refurbished. It was my Great Grandfather's. We checked into it and it won't cost nearly as much as we thought it would, so I can't wait to have it done. We found the exact same one, fully restored, for sale online for $700!

The lower white figurine of Mary, Joseph, and the donkey was made by me in the 4th grade and it's very special to me.

I found this little tree and the ornaments at a yard sale for $2. Since it's my year to decorate the tree (and use white lights) I figured Robert could have this little tree with colored lights. : )

I love using Brazilian Pepper berries in my Christmas decorating. They add such a nice splash of color to all the greenery, and the best part is they're FREE!

I made this wreath with leftover clippings from our tree and some leftover ribbon and ornaments. After this picture, I ended up taking off the shiny balls and left just the dull ones for a more simplistic look. Like it much better.

Halie in her pretty new dress and shoes from Nana on the 1st Sunday of December. The cute purse is from Great Aunt Ruth.

Our new puppy. We're not sure of her age, I think maybe 8-9 weeks. She's a mixed breed and will become a cow dog when she's older. Her paws are huge so she's gonna be big! But she sure is a sweetheart and she loves Halie to death! She follows her around everywhere and just loves to knock her down and then cover her with slobbery kisses! We named her Rita.

2nd Sunday of December - pretty dress from Meemaw and Papaw Cantrell.

Stay tuned for more updates from December!

Making Birthday Cookies

Just about every Tuesday we go to the library for story time and they always have a snack and juice part way through. So Halie and I decided to make cookies to take tomorrow since her birthday is on Wednesday. She was so cute in her little apron helping out wherever she could. We made a big mess and ended up with less than perfect looking cookies, but we had a lot of fun!

Nana gave her this little rolling pin awhile back and this was the first time we used it. So cute. : )



Mixing up the icing.



So proud of herself!

I asked her what color she wanted to make it and she decided on purple. She just learned purple last week so I have a sneaky suspicion that's why she chose it. She just laughed and squealed when we squeezed in red food coloring and then blue and when she mixed it up it turned purple!

Putting the sprinkles on.

Posing with her finished cookies.

The finished product. We hope the kids at the library enjoy them.