Friend’s Hospitality

A Christmas Brunch… prepared with such a sweet spirit…

A friend I met at the YMCA… will be two years this January…

invited my sister, my sister-in-law and myself for breakfast brunch…

The house is decorated with love … with all of the things she has been given, collected, made, bought and handed down…

It’s like walking into a Christmas Holiday Shop …

It says “Christmas” in every room…

Angels, Santas , Flowers, a Train, Trees,  Ornaments, Nativities . Snowmen

The table was set with Christmas dishes  … a small handmade bag filled with candy at our place settings…

              

Either side is so cute… with a few added sparkles…

I hung as a decoration when I got home!

Janice makes quilts and you see her handiwork everywhere…

Menu was just right…

Fried Ham/ Biscuits 

Homemade Apple Butter/ Strawberry Jam

Cheesy/Egg Baked Dish

Fresh Fruit

Danish

Coffee/Hot Tea/Juice

It was delicious!

We all talked as we ate …

enjoying each other’s company… learning more and more about each other…

My sister hadn’t been to Janice’s home, so I said, “You must have the tour!”…

An old farmhouse… fixed as cute as it can be…

so… to every room we went… downstairs and up…

We left a little sleepy … with a full tummy… and good feeling of being with such a nice person…

Isn’t that the way it should be!…

Thanks Janice… for your hospitality!

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Homemade Love!

I always make something homemade  for someone at Christmas… and whether they like it or not… I will probably never know… I’ve made fleece throws  … embroidered … made ornaments… cookies/breads, etc. …

This year my daughter-in-law had the kids make each other a gift… My 11-year-old granddaughter, Kennedy …

… made her little brother, Carson… a “Viking” tied fleece throw … He plays peewee football and that is his team’s name… He threw his arms around her… You have to know he’s 8… and said, “I love it!” … to her surprise… The love at that moment was pure bliss!…

and he in turn who loves to make things with wood… was to make her a Lego table … because they both love building with Legos  … I wasn’t present when that event happened… but, I’m sure it was received with love also…

My oldest Granddaughter, Taylor

… surprised us all by taking her little brother, Carson…

shopping for ornaments and then making cards with him to attach the ornaments to… We learned this after receiving our precious gifts…

         

I have to give credit to their Mom for instilling the gift of giving from your heart in them…

and I’m sure some day this tradition will be passed on…

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“Gifts From the Heart!”

Some of my favorite gifts that I remember were homemade … My Mom crocheted me an afghan in the colors I specified over 25 years ago… it was to match my bedroom in our first house we owned… Burgundy, rose and pinks… I still look at it with such fond memories… although put away for safe keeping now… I have embroidered dish towels I will never actually use… only for decoration… too special… made by my best friend’s Mom over 40 years ago for my wedding … Simple and so sweet… one for each day of the week… A long time friend made flour dough Christmas ornaments  for my boys  and I kept them until they disintegrated… but, will always recall them at Christmas when I get my ornaments  out… along with the homemade Cheese Ball … which was such a treat when you had little money to spend on extras… Nothing tasted so good!… Homemade cookies  made by nieces, sisters, friends… just love them!… Jellies  made by a sister-in-law … Wood pieces made and painted by my brother … I felt the love in each one… Homemade cards and notes from my Grandchildren…hung on the refrigerator for months … Those “I LOVE YOU’s” meaning more to me than anything they could ever buy… My wood bird feeder   made by my husband… after mentioning I would like to have one… My birds and I adore him for making it for us… Gifts of, “I’ll clean your house for your birthday Mom”… and doing it…What more could you want? … My attempt at homemade gift giving I’m sure has been met with mixed feelings at times… Cookies  for the neighbor kids and distant relatives too far away to get together for the Holidays… embroidered dish towels for friends… embroidered  table runners for a daughter-in-law, paintings of pictures and furniture , doll clothes for a granddaughter, tied fleece throws for family, framed pictures, homemade pickles , fried pies and jams … I like to give what I like to receive… Gifts from the heart … Just makes you feel all fuzzy inside!

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“My Kids”…

If you have been following “My Blog”  … you probably realize I try to include something about the kids I worked with … whether it be a similar incident, story , a “funny” happening , a “sad” happening     or truthful event that would relate to what was on my mind… As the year is coming to an end… only one more month after this… I’m feeling a little melancholy… My goal will have been completed… something I had always wanted to do… I should be glad…but, I wonder if my stories have done justice to “My Kids” as I call them… we’ll see…

As I am speaking of  “gifts from the heart” … I know these children are who gave me the greatest gift I could have ever received… It wasn’t planned... it wasn’t tied up in a pretty package … it was a lot of things combined... somewhat like a Homemade Gift… not perfect… not what I wanted all  of the time…sometimes the best I could have ever imagined… I gave to them and they gave to me… That fuzzy warm feeling … “I’ll take that kind of gift   any day!”