HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I'm late in getting my New Year's greeting up today. But I hope that 2008 brought you more good memories than bad ones and I hope 2009 brings you many blessings all year long. Thanks blogging buddies for being such good friends all year. I appreciate your kind words and encouragement. Have a wonderful New Year and be safe.

More of Christmas - 2008

I have named these photos "how to tick off your cat in two easy steps." First put some silly Christmas pet thingy around her neck and then take a bunch of photos of her. These are two different photos but they look the same because she has this I am really bored and getting ticked off about this look. Don't worry Cleo, this pet Christmas thingy is going in storage today. LOL

And it was pretty outside this weekend! Sydney(aka SAS) came over to Grandma's on Saturday while Mommy and Maddie went to meet some friends. I never get Sydney time all by myself so it was fun lovin' on her exclusively. It was so pretty outside that we took a walk. We both have bad head colds so I thought the fresh air might be good for us both.

Sydney loved being outside. All of the neighbors were out also because we just don't see 70 degree weather the end of December. Isn't Sydney just the sweetest little thing??

You really didn't think I was going to let Christmas go by with only one photo did you? LOL So here's a few more. I was having some fun on Snapfish with their borders.

Maddie had so much fun opening up gifts. These are really Sydney's toys but since Sydney didn't care one way or the other, Maddie was so happy to open them for her.

This is me, Cameron and my sweetie Christmas Eve morning when we all went out for breakfast. I really enjoyed this time,probably because I didn't have to do any work. LOL I hope we do this again next year. hint hint........

You mean you don't have someone doing this in your home on Christmas Day? LOL This is Troy(our daughter Christina's boyfriend) and my sweetie. Troy is a physical therapist and he brought his equipment to evaluate my sweetie's shoulder. Sweetie has been having alot of pain in both shoulders and has some kind of problem and will have to go and see a doctor soon. I'll probably have to drag him there. LOL

Miss Maddie enjoying every bit of her toast when we went out to eat breakfast Christmas Eve. I think she liked licking the butter off of it the best.

Here's Maddie and her new Fisher Price digital camera(and it's pink). I was so excited about giving her this gift that I forgot to pick up the AAA batteries that the camera needed to work. LOL We took a few from other things in the house so she had a ball taking photos. Everytime she took a picture she would look at the screen and say "wow."

My sweetie and our grandson Cameron and our son Jim at breakfast Christmas Eve. Did I already say how much I enjoyed breakfast?? :-)

And my Dad with all of his grandchildren and most of his great grandchildren. It is really hard to get a decent photo of this many people at one time.

And this last photo is of our son Jim and grandson Cameron with a book that Grandma and Papa gave him. We are getting each grandbaby a hardcover book every Christmas and write in the cover the year, a message etc..... I hope to pass down my love of reading to our grandchildren. Can you believe it's almost 2009??? I look at that number and just can't believe it. Well, I have a ton of errands to run today so I better get movin'. Have a good one! Oh and some of my photos have captions today.

Christmas 2008

I hope everyone had a great Christmas! Ours was filled with family, babies and good food. I am still going through all of my photos and will post more later. I took about a million, mostly of the babies(big surprise, LOL). We took this family photo last night, this is all three of our kids and our son-in-law and all three grandbabies. Little Sas was all worn out from too much Christmas. Having little ones around makes Christmas so much fun. I usually take the tree down today(it's real and has been up since Thanksgiving,which means it's dead) but I don't feel like doing that today. So I am just going to rest and get a few things done around the house. I got my sweetie one of those digital photo frames for his desk at work so I am going to try and load it up with photos for him today. Have a good one and guess what, Cincinnati might hit a record high temperature tomorrow. We are suppose to make it to the 70's. Woohoo!! Wish that weather would stay all winter. Well, a girl can wish, can't she??? LOL

MERRY CHRISTMAS

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

These three little guys(our grandbabies) are going to put the FUN in Christmas this year. And to think that last year, Maddie was the only one here to enjoy all the fun. Amazing what a new year brings and we have been very blessed to have not one but two new grandbabies in 2008. I know the real little ones won't be into it all just yet but Maddie loves Christmas and everything that has to do with it. I need to get a photo of Cameron with his red sparkle hat(I got it and posted it above) in the next few days and if I am lucky(and that's a real big if) I will get a photo of all three of them with their Santa hats on. LOL

Tomorrow starts off with going out for breakfast with our kids and son-in-law and grandkids and then back to our house so Cameron can open his gifts from Grams and Papa because we won't see him until later Christmas Day and then off to my sister Gail's house for dinner to celebrate with my family and then off to my sweetie's side of the family to see all of his cousins and aunts and uncles. And then on Christmas morning we celebrate Christmas with our family and then we have our annual open house. So I should fall over about 5pm on Christmas Day. LOL

But I am hoping to have some quiet time early Christmas morning. My sweetie and I have gone for walks early on Christmas Day at the park up the street. We get up early. And before all the busy stuff of the day starts I like to take some time and think about the gift God gave us in the form of a little baby so long ago. When our kids were little and they came downstairs on Christmas morning and before they would open their presents my sweetie would read Luke 2 to them(not the whole thing but the part of Christ's birth). So I'll leave you with that part of Luke because that is why we celebrate Christmas and with all that's going on this time of year I don't ever want to forget that. Merry Christmas!

AND BEHOLD, AN ANGEL OF THE LORD STOOD OVER THEM AND THE GLORY OF THE LORD SHONE AROUND THEM AND THEY WERE GREATLY AFRAID.

THEN THE ANGEL SAID TO THEM "DO NOT BE AFRAID, FOR BEHOLD, I BRING YOU GOOD TIDINGS OF GREAT JOY, WHICH WILL BE TO ALL PEOPLE"

FOR THERE IS BORN TO YOU THIS DAY IN THE CITY OF DAVID A SAVIOR, WHO IS CHRIST THE LORD.

AND THIS WILL BE A SIGN TO YOU, YOU WLL FIND THE BABE WRAPPED IN SWADDLING CLOTHES, LYING IN A MANGER

AND SUDDENLY THERE WAS WITH THE ANGEL A MULTITUDE OF THE HEAVENLY HOSTS PRAISING GOD AND SAYING

GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST

AND ON EARTH PEACE, GOODWILL TOWARD MEN.

Andes Mint Cookies and Pizzelles

I just finished reading this really cute book called On Strike For Christmas by Sheila Roberts. It's about a group of women who get tired of doing all the work preparing for Christmas and not being appreciated for their efforts, so they go on strike and make their husbands do all of the work that they usually do to get ready for Christmas. I got my book from Target and it is a fun read. But at the back of the book the author has some recipes and the Andes Mint Cookies one caught my attention right away. She said this was in the Prevention magazine a few seasons ago so I figure it must be pretty healthy right? RIGHT???? Here's the recipe and if you are not all worn out making cookies yet, go and make these babies, they are so good.

These things taste so much better than they are looking in the photograph. The chocolate ones are the ones I am talking about and the other cookie is one of the pizzelles that we also made today. To make pizzelles you will need a pizzelle maker. I got mine at Sur La Table. Pizzelles are crisp Italian cookies and we make them almost every year. They are so yummy and my sweetie loves them. So here's the recipe for the Andes Mint Cookies:

3/4 cup of butter

1 1/2 cups firmly packed dark brown sugar

2 tablespoons water

2 cups(12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

2 eggs

2 1/2 cups of flour

1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 to 3 boxes Andes creme de menthe mints

chocolate sprinkles(optional)

1)In a large, heavy saucepan over low heat, cook butter, sugar and water until butter is melted. Remove from heat, add the chocolate and stir until it is completely melted.

2)Pour the mixture into a large mixer bowl and let stand for ten minutes to cool sightly. With mixer at high speed, beat in eggs 1 at a time. Reduce speed to low and add dry ingredients, beating just until blended. Chill dough one hour for easier handling.

3)Preheat oven to 350F. Line 2 cookie sheets with foil. Roll dough into small balls(about 1 inch); place 2 inches apart on cookies sheets. Bake 12 to 13 minutes - no longer(cookies will crisp as they cool) Remove from oven and immediately place a mint over each cookies. Allow it to soften, then swirl over top(I used a toothpick to swirl). If desired, decorate with chocolate sprinkles. Remove from cookie sheets and cool. Frosting will harden once it cools. Makes about 80. We also used the pink Andes peppermint holiday candies along with the chocolate and green ones they always have. Like I said they don't look that exciting in the photos but they taste like little pieces of chocolate heaven with chocolate mints on top. And check out the book, On Strike For Christmas too, it's a fun time. I am almost ready for the big day, we are going grocery shopping bright and early tomorrow so I am off to bed so I can hit the floor running tomorrow!

Shop Till You Drop!

This is what you do when you have had enough Christmas shopping. LOL Maddie went Christmas shopping with us this past weekend and since we were going around in circles and couldn't make a decision she decided to hop in one of the display beds at Macy's. She jumped in and pulled the covers over her head and said night, night and then proceeded to act like she was snoring.

I really can't blame her, the sheets were flannel and so soft and warm and it was getting pretty boring waiting for Grandma and Papa to decide what to get our kids and son-in-law. But right after this we found the perfect gift for all the kids, I am actually pretty excited about it. My sweetie and I both looked at each other after we seen it and said that's the perfect gift! Can't say what it is because some of our children actually read Joan's Journeys(and they tease me sometimes, not that I am going to name any names or anything). LOL I think I am done with all the Christmas shopping, we just need to get the food for Christmas Day. So maybe I'll just go take a nap in some nice cozy flannel sheets(but I don't have any)! Have a good day!

Downtown Train Display

When your alone and life is making you lonely
You can always go - downtown
When you got worries all the noise and the hurry
Seems to help I know -downtown

Okay, now that great old song by Petula Clark will be in your head for the rest of the day. Sorry. LOL
So my son, Jim and oldest daughter, Melissa and I took the grandbabies downtown to see the Christmas train display. Maddie and Cameron loved it. SAS(Sydney) didn't wake up the whole time we were there. Here's a few(maybe more then a few :-) photos of our time there. It is worth the visit and if you are ever in Cincy around the holidays, make sure you visit the train display. And it is free. :-)

Look at Maddie with her face pressed up against the glass. She loved this train display. Thomas the train is one of her very favorite shows and they had a Thomas the train going around the tracks. I love this area that is set up for little people to see the trains up close.

Doesn't this little town area look real?

Here's a view looking in from the outside. It is alot of work to put this together.

Look at the tracks, trains and train station.

I told you sweet SAS was sleeping the whole time. She was guarding my leopard print gloves. :-)

Mommy and Maddie.

Jim and Cameron

See this police car, it says Cincinnati Police on the side. The detail is great.

And one last photo of the choo-choos as Maddie likes to call them. They also pass out cookies to everyone when you go so Maddie was in heaven. Cookies and choo-choos, nothing beats that.

So go downtown

Maybe I'll see you there

We can forget all of our troubles, forget all our cares

Things will be great when you're - downtown

Don't wait a minute more - downtown

Everything waiting for you

Downtown

Downtown

Downtown

Is Petula in your head for the rest of the day? :-) And don't even tell me you don't remember Petula, you'll just make me feel old. If you want to do pay it forward with me, it's in the post below this. I signed up on Twitter today also, it's on my sidebar. Not quite sure what it's all about yet but thought I'd try it out. Have a good one!

Pay It Forward

My good buddy Donna from Cottage Days and Journeys did this on her blog and I decided do it also. I will get one of her fabulous homemade items in the next year and then I pay it forward to the first three visitors to my blog who say they want to play. I have never seen the movie Pay it Forward all the way through but I love the idea. The idea is to repay a kindness by paying it forward to another person.

To fulfill my obligations, I am to add the PIF symbol to my blog and add a link back to Donna's blog. Then, I am to invite the first 3 visitors to my blog who leave a comment saying that they would like to be involved and receive a handmade gift from me within 365 days of joining. The first 3 to leave a comment and say that they want to participate will get a handmade goodie from me sometime in the next year! You also need to follow-up with an e-mail to me at joansjourneys@yahoo.com to confirm your spot. To participate, you must have your own blog, follow these steps, and do the same for your first 3 visitors. So if you want a handmade gift from me in the next 365 days, just let me know. And even if you don't want to play along, just leave me a comment saying hey because I just love my bloggy friends!

In other news, it's suppose to snow here in Cincy tonight. Whenever the mere mention of snow is talked about on the news everyone flocks to the nearest grocery like they will never see the light of day again, ever...LOL I really had to go to the grocery today(really I did) and it was filled with people getting supplies for the snow(bad four letter word). I am meeting all the girls I used to work with in the morning(we all work from home now) so I was looking forward to that and also meeting one of the girls brand new baby boy. So I hope all the news of snow is wrong because I am not a fan of driving in the stuff. That's it for now, I am off to blog hop and see some of the gorgeous Christmas decorating that is going on around blogville today. You can go to Rhoda's blog at Southern Hospitality for all links to the different open Christmas houses going on. Have a good one!

Brenda's Photo Challenge ~ Holiday Decorations

It's time to show all things holidays for Brenda's Photo Challenge. Kim from Caffiene is Life(I just love her blog's name) is our hostess this time. And since I have been showing Christmas decorations non stop lately, I thought I would share a few fun ones of our time this week that we spent in Hilton Head and just outside of the island in Old Town Bluffton. Thanks Kim for this fun challenge
My friend Sherra(who lives in Hilton Head) took the girls and I to some fun shops in Bluffton. In all of the time we have been going there I never have visited this area. I just loved this antique, boutique shop and this old bike with a Santa on it. I don't know why but I liked the look of the place.

Every time I see a Betty Boop I think of my Mom. She loved Betty Boop. Do you ever see things like this that remind you of someone, especially someone who has passed on? Anyway, I thought Betty was too cute in her Santa hat and Maddie loved her too. We ate lunch at this restaurant and it was delish!

This one is a little dark and probably not the best photo ever. LOL But if you click on it, you can see Maddie playing in this holiday tunnel, really she did not want to leave this magical tunnel. Anyway, these are my photos for the challenge this time but really any of my last ten posts could have qualified for the challenge because I am having so much fun taking photos this holiday season. I'll be by to see everyone's photos soon. I'm off to Christmas shop early this morning and hope to be done today. Keep your fingers crossed that I can mark everyone off my list. There comes a point where you just don't want to go into another store. Did I really say that???? LOL Have a good one! Thanks again Kim!

Home!

We are back home, safe and sound and grateful for this chance to go away and have fun with the little girls. Maddie kept asking about the beach all the way home. Since their Daddy works for an airline, these little girls are good little travelers. Maddie knows exactly what to do when she goes through security, she takes off her shoes and waits until the security person tells her to come through. And she loves flying on the airplane and does really well for a two year old. So today it's grocery shopping, laundry and finishing up my Christmas cards and catching up with my blog buddies. I've missed seeing what everyone is up to this busy time of year. Have a good day and here's a few photos I took of the girls before we left. Don't you love these little Santa hats? Of course they are pink sparkle ones. LOL You can get them at Walgreens in all different colors. Have a great day!