And....scene!

What a Christmas! It was sooo nice to have a day off. Doug and I spent Christmas Eve with each other. We went to a candlelight service and then drove around looking at Christmas Lights, as is our annual tradition. We enjoy going out to the country where people are more liberal with their decorations and electric bills. Christmas morning we went to mom's to see what Santa had brought to us. My youngest sister and her husband came too and the four of us squished on the couch.

Heather and Chad....did you have a good Christmas?

After some fun family time and watching my youngest brother rip through the presents (his new toys are the envy of the family...we've all spent the past few days playing Guitar Hero III and the wii) we went back to our house to meet up with Doug's parents.

We enjoyed some more low-key unwrapping and then dinner. After dinner we moved the Christmas presents into the kitchen to be assembled. I have my own little cafe now!

Isn't that cute? The table has leaves on both sides that pull out so you could (squishily) accomodate six, but since it's just me and Doug, folds down to have a small cafe table for two. The new hutch is sooo awesome. I have been longing for some more counter and cabinent space since we remodeled the kitchen this summer. Now my kitchen is *almost* 100 percent done. We just have to finish painting the cabinents and install the new nobs and get a curtain rod. Then...it's on to the living room.

Some of you may remember this past April we lost our beloved dog King. Doug got the most wonderful Christmas present from his boss this year that has been a work in progress since April....he had a local artist do a colored pencil drawing of our dog.

I don't think the picture does it justice. It is absolutely breathtaking how lifelike it is. There is a bit of a funny story behind it though....the artist needed a picture to base the drawing on, but Bart didn't want to call me because he wanted it to be a surprise for me too. So he got in contact with Doug's mom who broke into my house one day and stole some pictures out of my scrapbook. She was telling me the story on Christmas morning about how she didn't know where I was or when I was coming home and she was sweating trying to get in and get out as quickly as possible.

It was a great Christmas all around.....now I get to relax. (as soon as i get the Christmas decorations taken down).

PS. I saved my sanity this year by only knitting two teensy weeny gifts this year....two dishcloths for my mother-in-law. I had momentary delusions of grandeur wherein I imagined giving handknit socks to my mother, grandmother, father-in-law, sister and hubby. Mittens for my other sister and her son....etc, the list goes on. Then I remembered last year and the embarrassment of giving half-finished knits still on the needles and the teasing I still get about the state of mom's other sock and decided I'd rather spend a few dollars at the mall than stress that much about anything. Maybe one day I won't work in retail at Christmas time and I can pull something like that off. Yeah.....right after I grow extra appendages to hold all those needles!

SP Thank you!

Thank you, thank you to my Secret Pal Kristan . She sent me the BEST stuff over the past few months. Here are the pics from my last package.

She sent me two balls of the cutest twist yarn...the color is really hard to pick up on camera correctly...it's mostly purple and green with other colors twisted in as well. She also sent a neat-o knitting book, about the history of knitting. There was a sock yarn pattern to match the yarn she sent, swedish fish (yum!), a "K" shaped ornament which we hung on the tree when we decorated it last week, a tape measure, and a pack of tissues. Then there are the two things that were my favorites of all the goodies I have received over the past few months. The first was the needle roll that will fit my circs. It's sooooo cute. It actually matches one that I made for my DPN's. The other item that was the most thoughtful thing I've ever received in a package was a small package of gourmet doggie treats for my dog, Chance. Thanks sooo much Kristan! I have loved opening up the packages the past few months, and I have loved every single thing you've sent. Thank you sooo much :)

In other news, this past Saturday my mom, Beth, and I had the bake-o-rama.

These cookies are "Spritz" cookies that I made using a cookie press. I had never used a cookie press before. It took some getting used to but I loved it once I got the hang of it. My least favorite part of making cookies is rolling them into balls and shaping them, so I lean toward drop style cookies or other things I don't have to mess with. That makes the press perfect...just stuff the dough in and poof! cookies in cute shapes. I didn't opt to ice these, just leaving them plain, but I think they came out really cute. All-in-all we made five different kinds of cookies, several dozen each. We ended up baking for about 8 hours....that's a long time to spend preparing dough and washing dishes. There is still one dough prepared and in my fridge that I will bake up tonight. I'll post pictures of that one when it's done....I got the recipe out of a magazine and the cookies should end up being really cute. It's just a basic sugar cookie recipe with peppermint extract that you form into uniform size balls. Once the cookies are cooled you brush them with melted white chocolate and then dip them in crushed candy canes. Yum!

I also owe you a picture of the aprons and the crazy story behind how the aprons came to be...but that's for next time.

Coming soon.....

.....the official thank you for my SP. I was all set to do a big post with pictures and all but I left the info with her blog addy at home. :-( Sorry, SP!!! I did LOOOVVVVEEEE all the goodies though. You really know me well! I don't want to post the pics without a proper introduction to the person who's been spoiling me for the past few months, so next time. I'll try to get it up this weekend.

As we get closer to Christmas the store is getting busier and busier. It's good because it makes the days go by so quick, but bad because it can be so stressful. I'm ahead of the game though, all my Christmas shopping is done. (Notice I didn't say Christmas knitting. I'm good, but not that good.) Hubby and I put the tree up on Wednesday.

(Doug insisted that Chance help decorate and put the star on the top.) Now my house is filled with the wonderful aroma of pine needles. I am so happy to be done with the shopping so I can enjoy the rest of the season. I love putting on Christmas music while I knit, or watching the holiday specials on tv. Tomorrow my mom, Beth, and I are having bake-o-rama. We are going to bake tons of Christmas cookies all day long (or until we keel over from the sugar). I have a few recipes I want to try out from some magazines so I'm looking forward to that. I'm sure I'll have lots of pictures to share. In true "I'm-so-crafty-I-must-be-sick" form Mom and I are making some cutesy holiday aprons for all the women in our family. We bought generic red aprons and are sewing Christmas trees to them using yo-yo's (the gathered circles of fabric). I am also writing down all the cookie recipes we are using and tying them up with a cute ribbon and a cookie cutter. Then we are sending those crafty things along with a tin of cookies out to the women in the family that live far away like both Grandmothers and my middle sister. Whew! I'd better get back to work on the aprons.....

...pictures when they are done.