naughty I've been...

about not posting...

but I have some really good reasons...

yesterday was not a good day...

but, I made it through...

today was better...

DH and I rode over to Paris because he wanted to take me out to lunch...

we were supposed to go Friday night for supper...

but it wasn't a good day for me...

we slept in this morning..

and I slept 7 hours straight through...

I rarely do this...

2-3 hours is tops for me...

this has happened 2 nights in a row now...

another reason for not posting...

sleeping through my computer time...

so we were slow moving this morning...

took us both a little bit to get going...

but we headed out and I wasn't sure it was a good idea, but I kept it to myself...

we went straight to Burger King for a large vanilla milkshake to share while we were out...

ok- if you haven't tried them lately- they are the best milkshakes ever now!

then we headed for Rural King so DH could run in and get stalked up on Bebe food...

we didn't take the chair so I waited in the truck...

parked in the sun shine...

catching rays and listening to jingle bells...

when he came out, he had this huge Santa in his arms for me...

he said their Christmas stuff was 40% off and he thought I would like it...

;)

then we headed for McDonald's...

(we snagged Craig a meatball sub at Subway on the way)

Big Macs were 1.99!

yeah, we nabbed a couple and he thought we could go to the park and eat...

I had a better idea...

let's go park at Walmart!

and that's what we did...

we sat there and ate...

and watched people come and go...

and the kids...

I watched the kids...

skipping, laughing and sometimes being towed right along...

it was a fun morning and I started feeling better...

and on the way out, I asked him to drive by the kettle...

you know the one...

I told him I needed to put  something back because we were so blessed...

you know, that man never blinked an eye...

and after going the wrong way in a couple of the isles...

we made it to the front of the store and he pulled up in front of the bell ringers...

I had my window down and held out the money and one of them came over and took it for me...

and he went back and dropped it in the kettle...

and no one honked behind us while we did this little thing...

I think they understood that someone needed it...

DH and I talked...

laughed...

poked fun at each other...

and we came home and took a nap...

then tonight, we took off for Newman...

where he works...

and drove around looking at Christmas lights...

holding hands and listening to Christmas songs...

then we came home and ate supper...

now, its about time for bed...

its been a busy day for me...

and I so enjoyed it...

hope you are having a fun weekend...

;)

Christmas past...

that's me...

in the 60s...

Craig, DH and my dear father in law at my grandmother's home in 1993...

our last Christmas with her and my mom...

check out the bunny ears...

I don't have many photos from that time period without them...

boys...

and that's DH!

I had one of those old runner sleds, too!

I thought you could use a chuckle today...

hope you are getting the stuff done on your lists...

I am under the weather today...

up most of the night...

so just hanging out in my nightie today...

drinking hot tea with french vanilla creamer...

eating soup...

and napping a lot...

hopefully better tomorrow...

can't sleep...

so here are some vintage Christmas card images for you...

I love this snowman...

these images take me back to my childhood...

not only did I get to look at all of ours...

but when we stopped by grandma's...

I would look through hers, too...

mom taped ours up over the archway between the kitchen and living room...

but grandma put hers in a basket on the end table that held her Charlie Brown tree...

not only were they pretty...

but most of them had news in them...

hand written little notes about who had been sick, had surgery, got a new job...

if a baby had been born...

and of course...

the school pictures...

mom always stuck ours in there, with her little notes and mailed them across the country...

mom worked on her cards for weeks...

I can remember many a time finding her at the kitchen table, writing to someone far away...

my job...

licking stamps...

yuck...

there were always certain things that were on the table...

box of cards...

ink pen...

stationary...

stamps...

and a big glass of water...

I still send out Christmas cards...

with little notes about us...

its one thing that many people don't do anymore...

but as long as I can write...

I plan on doing it...

because keeping in touch the old fashioned way is still fun...

and its tradition!

a gift for you...

the first and most amazing gift the world has ever received...

didn't come from stores, online or even from your crafting rooms...

there is so much packed in such a little package...

love...

hope...

joy...

everything that a Father holds dear was placed in that first gift...

and He gave it freely...

because He loves you that much...

all we have to do is believe in that gift...

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten SON,

that whosoever should believeth in Him should not perish,

but have everlasting life.

John 3:16 KJV

how something so long ago and far away can still make a difference...

one birth can still change the world...

do you not find it amazing that something that happened so long ago is still, yet today, so full of its glory and power as it was back then?

that even today, we still seek Him?

that even today...

for one night...

the world remembers?

keep Christmas well, all through the year...

keep Him in your heart...