Keeping Busy & the December Give Away

Second Post of the Day

Benefits of having a big family? Lots of presents. Drawbacks of having a big family? Lots of presents. Christmas preparations continue to run apace!

Yesterday I wrapped 28 gifts and I'm only about 2/3s done. Our bedroom functions as the Christmas wrapping station and right now you can barely walk through it. Mama is timid by nature and yesterday she was too overwhelmed to even come in to borrow Pepper's bed. (Don't worry about Pepper. She was borrowing mine.) Mama went back to her own bed in the living room.

The spa tub is filling up with packages that our out of town family is sending and will wrap when they get here, but it isn't too bad yet. In fact, I used it yesterday to hold boxes that I'd broken down for recycling from my own wrapping blitz.

Teacher Daughter Lisa's health and work schedule finally allowed her to spend some time putting out my mother's Nativity with me.

It's been a tradition for nearly 20 years that we do that together and one that I cherish. 

My mother poured and cleaned the greenware, painted it, and then fired it, doing a couple of pieces a year until she had finished them all.

Now we just have the tree to put up, and Craig and I are determined that today is the day. (Wish us luck - it's 11 degrees out!)

Remember the card Kate sent me last year that made me cry on Christmas Day?

Pony Pal Susie sent us an electronic one yesterday with singing snowman and then wrote a sweet note to accompany it. I've lost count of how many times I've watched that card. Thank you, Susie!

Craig enjoyed watching it in my office accompanied by Nash (who is very attached to Craig.) That's Pepper sitting on my feet. The four dogs enjoyed a day together, playing, eating, and sleeping hard despite all the things scattered on the floors and around our home.

We managed to squeeze in time for our monthly volunteering down in Indianapolis this week. While down there, we spent some time at what has become my favorite outdoor Nativity.

Getting there was interesting. We took a different route than usual to avoid traffic. Take a look at how we went:

That's 14 roundabouts. 14!!  And that wasn't all of them! They don't call Carmel, Indiana the home of the roundabout for no reason!

Carmel has more that 150 roundabouts, more than any city in the United States. (If you are prone to dizziness, you might want to skip Carmel.)

Feeling a bit like we'd just ridden an extended merry go round ride, we made it to the Nativity. I've been visiting it for over the past ten years, and it has become a place of joy, happiness, and peace. It also provided a place of solace when James died just before Christmas in 2022.

Simple, quiet, and without fanfare, I love this scene. (And that donkey.)

December Give Away

I pulled out my embroidery machine and have been making gifts for family members. This Nativity is a new pattern for me and is made in a technique called "Sketch."

I made two hand towels and the winner gets to choose one of one them.

But that's not all. I ordered six of the Christmas blankets from Breyer, hoping to get one of each of the three designs.

That didn't go so well! So, I will be giving away one or more of these, too.

The usual rules apply - entries begin now by commenting on any blog post published starting today and ending Sunday, December 15 at 11:59 PM Eastern time. One comment per blog post, please, and don't forget your name or initials so I can identify you if you win.

Good luck!