~~Merry, Merry Christmas, Santa Claus!~~

Christmas Eve is one week from tonight, right this minute! At this moment, a week from tonight, every child will be trying to fall asleep with thoughts of Santa & his Reindeer flying through the sky on his way to every rooftop! I had a MAGICAL MOMENT Saturday morning in the mall - a place I never go except at Christmas time. And there I sat, on a bench only 10 feet from Santa Claus, mesmerized by every child that sat upon his lap. My children visited Santa every single Christmas while they were growing up, up to 14 pictures - guess I was lucky I could still talk them into to it at that age! I treasure those memories & pictures so much. So Saturday morning, in the mall, watching Santa, was a very emotional moment! Ryan & Eric are all grown up, now 25 & 23, & they both just graduated from college last week ~~that will be my special post for tomorrow! Here are a few more pictures of our holiday home & those Santa pictures that I treasure the most. The Rabbit & Santa Celluloid ornaments were from my mom's tree when she was a little girl!

~~Feeling the Christmas Glow!!~~

I am enjoying the Christmas Season SO much this year & am really Feeling the Glow! Some years are so busy & can be stressful, but this year I am just sitting back & enjoying it in a slow, peaceful kind of way. Not too much to do, not too much to buy & loving the simple things. I've been busy making the ornaments for my family's tradition which we have done for many years instead of buying gifts for each other. My tree is covered with so many unique & beautiful handmade items because of this wonderful tradition. This Christmas for me is all about love, much happiness, thankfulness, peace, & remembering what Christmas is all about ~~ I'm loving it! Here is my Christmas Cottage in it's own little laid-back, slow-moving, stress-free, serene happy glow ~~ Happiest of Holidays!

White Roses, Lights, & Candle Glow~


LOTS of Candle Glow~

"Isabelle" in Glowing White Lights & Roses~

"Feather Bird Tree" in the Hallway ~


Old Fashioned "Bubble Light" Tree in the Mudroom~~my Mom made the Snowman years ago!

Norfolk Pine - this beauty came from a garage sale 8 years ago for 50 cents - it was 6 inches tall!

HAPPIEST OF HOLIDAYS to all!

~~Camping with Dinosaurs~~

We just went on a little camping trip & had a wonderful time camping in Dinosaur Valley ~~ walking where the dinosaurs walked. This beautiful state park has actual dinosaur footprints & how lucky we were that it was still 80 degrees so we could cross the river where most of the prints are under water. They have wonderful marked trails where we took nice long hikes & beautiful wooded campsites where we spent alot of time just sitting & soaking it all in. We made early morning campfire coffee & there's nothing better than breakfast on a camp stove......bacon smells SO good outside! And of course Cabo & Cookie loved it too & their tiny little legs kept up every step of the way on our hikes. It was hard to come home! But we did get back for a wonderful Thanksgiving with family & after our 80 degree days we had snow & sleet Saturday morning! Texas finally turned cold!

Tonight we will be putting up our tree in between watching Dancing with the Stars Finale! I hope everyone had a wonderful & happy Thanksgiving! I can't believe it's time to decorate for Christmas! My family gift tradition with my parents, brothers, & sister is only homemade, handmade things so I'm busy trying to come up with ideas !! I actually took a bag full of fabric, ribbon, pins, beads, & styrofoam balls on our camping trip thinking I would come back with lots of treasures made........has anyone ever covered a styrofoam ball with fabric?? I'm having a terrible time figuring this out so please send suggestions if you know how!!

Have a lovely day!

~~Simple & Quiet Halloween Night~~

I hope everyone had a fun & happy HALLOWEEN! Ours was VERY laid back & quiet with no little ones anymore to take trick or treating & none to trick or treat our house. Well we did have 3 come by together - 2 little ones & a big one who started up a chain saw on the front porch when I got to the door! I was happy to see it didn't have a blade but it scared me to death! I always buy a little bag of candy "just in case" so I was happy to give out 3. It still felt like Halloween with our 50 cent garage sale orange lights, one pumpkin, & two mums.....our only splurge for this holiday ~ I did make popcorn balls earlier in the month but they didn't last long!

We spent most of the evening outside starting a new wildflower bed for next spring & then lit the fire pit & sat mesmerized - it's always hard to get up & walk away from a warm outdoor fire.....so nice & warm & soothing.....kind of just melts your to your chair. The coyotes were howling which made the night seem "spooky" so we considered that our "halloween"!

And here it is November 1st already ~ Wow - just 3 weeks from now we will be having turkey & getting ready for the holidays! Even though I miss summer I have to admit I'm excited about getting the casa cozy for Christmas! ~~ HAPPY NOVEMBER! ~~

~~VICTORIA ** A Return to LOVELINESS~~

Once upon a time & for many years I thought I lived in my own little "VICTORIA World"! But I have learned otherwise from so many bloggers that love this magazine TOO! I was ecstatic when I discovered that VICTORIA was back! I subscribed for years & still have all my many stacks that I look through over & over & I still enjoy them all these years later. Every once in a while I run across them at garage sales & pick them up to sell on ebay.

So last week I went through every cupboard, shelf, & cabinet where I stash my old ones & sorted them by month & year to make sure I only sold the extra ones that I already have. AND "ditto" with my other two favorites - Romantic Homes & Home Companion. I can't part with any of them unless I have two! So once I got them all laid out & sorted I wanted to look at every one of them right then ~ every Victoria cover makes you want to open it!

When I looked at the new Victoria website & read "The Bliss is Back"...."Fall in Love All Over Again"....& "A Return to Loveliness" I was overwhelmed with that cozy ~ old fashioned feeling again.....I'm so looking forward to getting cozy with that very first issue & I'm so happy it's back!

~~A Little Red Jewel in a Sunny Spot~~

The back room of our house is our "mud room" ~ just a little room where we come in from outside....it's main purpose is for packing ebay stuff because my ebay closet where I store what I sell is just off of this room. We've had an old plaid couch back there just to have something to sit on but during a walk through our favorite flea market there sat a little "red jewel"!

This little antique love seat is very old, with springs & straw inside, wooden turned legs, & best of all it's RED!....my favorite color! And even better than RED it was only $20 & happened to just fit in the back of our Santa Fe so that I could bring it home. I really fell in love with this little antique ~~ it's not perfect so it fits in perfectly ~ but still in good shape for it's age & I adore it!

Some of my favorite things in this room are the picket fence garden picture & the red geraniums picture, both painted by my very talented mom ~ she also made the stained glass hanging in the window ~~ the little girl mask with grapes is Fitz & Floyd - one of my favorite garage sale finds that I've researched & have never found anything like it....I bought it to sell but couldn't part with it - she's so unique & too cute!

I've filled the wicker basket with some of my favorite Fall back issues of Home Companion & Romantic Homes - a nice reading spot. I love sun rooms & since I don't really have one I like to think of this as my mud~sun~room~parlor! It's bright & sunny & a quiet cozy corner in kattz*cottage! ~~