Christmas lights

I love to look at Christmas lights.  We drove an hour to go to a drive through display in Metarie at a park.  After driving and hour and then waiting an hour, they CUT the lights off before we made it through!   We were driving up to where the display started and BAM...lights off...30 minutes early.  

I couldn't believe it but luckily, we had a new Ed Sheeran cd and the soundtrack from Guardians of the Galaxy so we were good......

We drove around looking at houses instead.  It was late so most houses had their lights turned off.  A few on St. Charles were still lit up...

As was this nativity at Loyola...

These were just down the street from us...

back home...

I need more deer....just a couple....

makes ya go hmmm...

This picture is HUGE and is in a restaurant here in town.

So does it look like Charlize Theron ......

or have I just had too many margaritas?   

little bits of Christmas...

The season flew by again...we kicked it off at school with Literacy Express....

Then Matt came home,  that sweet boy brought me roses...

and friends popped by for a visit...love 'em

We had a lovely evening out with friends at the annual Christmas Musical we attend at City Church in New Orleans.

Some of Kaela's sketches...   It amazes me what she can do in 5 minutes with crayon and a pen.

Our annual party.....

A childhood Christmas tradition, carried on to my own family...

along with Dean's "cheesecake of the month"....another pinterest success.  Layered Pumpkin Cheesecake with a gingersnap crust.

Our tree.  I kept with the bird theme again this year.  Thinking of mom and dad a lot.

  I know it can be hectic but I hope everyone had a lovely month.  I know I did.  

Ornament hop and a giveaway!

Handmade is simply better.......

Look at these little lovelies!  who wouldn't love a tree decorated with them all.  Each one special in it's own way....

a little vintage setting 

a joyful toadstool

a starstruck snowman

a stately gnome

and a safe nesting place

We are enjoying the day and looking forward to our outings this evening.

If you have popped by for the ornament swap showcase, please keep going!  The links are on my sidebar.

Leave me a comment and I'll put your name in for this hand crafted angel....what a cute little shelf sitter!   The drawing will be held December 31st and I'll ship her out the first week of January.
Shelly won!              Merry Christmas Eve everyone!

crafting and crochet....

I made some cinnamon ornaments for my tree...they smell SO GOOD!!

Daddy had a love/hate relationship with the squirrels in our backyard.   There was one that was sweet and it would come up and eat peanuts out of his hand.  He named him "Charlie."

Well, apparently Charlie went and told all his hoodlum friends and soon after, a bazillion  squirrels moved in.

Thus began daddy's long term "hate affair" with them.

 We called ALL of them "Charlie" and dad would sic our poodle on them.  Hysterical!  That dog would go berserk trying to catch those squirrels.  

I made these Charlies for my own tree and can't help but crack up each time I look at them!

I have a thing for acorns....I just love these with their little glittered caps.  

Last year, Tammy gave me some lovely alpaca yarn.  

The yarn is named after the Alpaca that "donates" the yarn...This was called Sweet Caroline

The yarn sat in my stash the entire YEAR while I tried to figure out what to make with it.  I recently I made a cute boucle hat and had enough yarn leftover to make something little....but not enough for a scarf...

Lucky for me, the yarn matched Sweet Caroline nicely and when I put the two together, it was enough to make an infinity scarf.

    I did a simple trellis stitch so it would have a nice drape to it...don't know why it looks PINK in this photo...must be the lighting.

Now I have a scarf and hat set and the alpaca makes it soft enough to sit against my skin without being itchy.

I've made a few other things but can't share them yet as they are gifts.

Happy Birthday!

Today is someone's birthday!

Just another year to go and she will be heading to college.......time flies.

Happy birthday sweetie, we love you so much!

running.....

Since Kaela made the soccer team, I've been doing a lot of running and driving between practices and games.   
In between doing all that and work and everything else I've managed to consume mass quantities of this stuff....in a variety of ways...it keeps me going.

We decorated our school's Crochet club tree....the kids were super jazzed with how it turned out.

I've been hitting the web HARD looking for THIS...can never find it.  Ever and I've been looking at least 3 years.

but I did find a couple of these for 2 bucks at Tuesday Morning.  I took one to work and left one at home in my craft room...

Someone brought a puppy to visit....OH MY GOSH was this guy cute.
They can't keep him and I was tempted .  I love big dogs and this guy is part lab and part Great Pyrenees and will be HUGE.  I wanted him soooooo bad....I mean, look at that face!
He was so cute, grunting the entire time.........

Sooo tempting but not to be.  Not once Kaela reminded me how big this guy's Po0p will be!  hahaha!

Ren Faire....

Thanksgiving was a whirlwind!  Dean's sister and her family was here and we really enjoyed being with them.  We did lots of catching up, lots of eating and a fair bit of shopping....

Matthew came home for a few days.....miss him so much

Dean and I got a photo of US!  ha!

While everyone was here, we went to the Ren Faire...it is SUCH fun and the boys had never been to one.  
The weekend's theme was Dr. Who and Time Travelers and the costumes were amazing!  Lots of Tardis outfits and booths!  Lots of Steam Punk costumes too.

This guy was Jaques Ze Whipper and he was hands down our favorite.  He was not only very good at his craft but he was engaging and funny....and interestingly humble.   Wonderful show.
We actually went and watched it twice before leaving for home that night.

He draws his mustache on with a marker and uses a cheesy accent and the crowd goes crazy.  He will tell you when to take photos....like in this shot!

But he was talented...and proceeded to whittle a straw of spaghetti down to about an inch while his whip was on fire...and not hurt himself.  

and by the time he was done....

The Ren Faire is here for a full month so if you are ever in the area, you should really plan on attending...