Oh, how I DOOOO love this time of year! And, being in a new house is fun because I can find different places for all my holiday stuff! I ALWAYS decorate the day after Thanksgiving, & yesterday was a GREAT day for it! Very chilly all day & I had Christmas music in my head as I worked! It's going to take two posts to show you all my photos so I hope you won't be bored. I just felt like sharing. I'm not good at arranging things and my stuff is sentimental rather than fancy in any way. But I LOVE each thing, and as I take them out and find just the right spots for them, they bring back good memories! Some (mostly ornaments) go back to before my daughter was born, some are as recent as THIS year! Over the next 2 posts, pretend you are here with me, drinking some hot tea or coffee. (I always have both!) So, come on in! I'm REALLY glad you're here!Here is the FIRST group of pictures! The first one (below) is the table between our recliners. Beneath is a basket with red-and-green paper & in front of it is my very favorite angel. She looks JUST like Gladys Herdman - the youngest Herdman - from THE BEST CHRISTMAS PAGEANT EVER by Barbara Robinson. NOTE: If you have never read this small book, PLEASE, PLEASE do yourself a HUGE favor & get a copy! You will laugh for SURE, you will finish it VERY quickly, and you will get SUCH a warm & fuzzy feeling! Okay, end of 'commercial' - LOL! 
Next is right in front of the tv. This is one of the things I changed last night. I moved the tiny Santa to the Santa shelf & put two more small wooden reindeer in the middle.
This one is also a bit different now. The two lil' reindeer are the ones I put in front of the tv, and now there's a medium-small old-fashioned Santa in their place.
I LOOOOOVE where we put the tree in this house! You can see ALL parts of it from the livingroom or diningroom or kitchen! AND it was EASY to get to it and decorate! And there's LOADS of room to add gifties as I wrap them!
The first view was taken from the diningroom. This one was taken from the livingroom.
Here's my pink Santa and a crazy bead tree I made awhile back. It's in the area of the livingroom just before you enter the first hallway.
I took all the 'normal' stuff off this shelf that divides the living & dining areas and replaced it with some of my Santas. At the base, I put my gourd Santa (too tall to fit ON the shelf) and a couple of Christmasy canisters.
Below are two views of the shelf with all the Santas!
Meet my NEWEST Santa! I buy one every year. I LOOOOVE him!
And those of you who have known me awhile will recognize this - my OLDEST Santa. 
Here's a small tree in the 2nd hallway.
Some HATS in the BATHROOM!
I have to tell you all that I have ALWAYS adored frogs, real and otherwise! But I just completed a swap - The Frog Doll Swap - hosted by the sweety, Cindy Owens - and I am now officially IN LOVE with froggies! My awesome partner was Angie of Angie's Raggedy Patch, and she and I REALLY connected! Look what she sent me! This is Polly, the Christmas Frog! Does Angie know me or WHAT? LOL! Check it out: she even comes with her very own TREE and her own tinsel! But wait - that's not all! (Hee hee!)Look at the next photo! See all those lil' froggie heads? They are Christmas tree ornies! O - M - G!!!! As some of you know, I decorate all sizes of trees all over the house. This year, I am going to have my very first FROGGY TREE! One more thing. See the little bitty frog? HE WINDS UP AND HOPS! I confess, I have been playing with him since I opened the box. What? Yes, I KNOW I'm 59! But, hey! He's FUN! Everybody needs a wind-up toy! THANK YOU TO ANGIE FOR BEING A MARVELOUS SWAP PARTNER! Now scroll down & look some more at the photos & I'll 'meet you down there just before the last one, okay?
These are NOT froggies or even frog-related, but I wanted to show you my new jars. They are HUGE and HEAVY and WONDERFUL and I LOVE them. They will be filled with more crafty-type stuff soon but for now, I just like SEEING them. I'm afraid the light didn't hit just right so the photo isn't very (at ALL) impressive. Still, you can get the idea, right? I hope ALL of you have a beautiful Thanksgiving, whatever YOUR traditions are, whatever YOU enjoy doing! It's already smelling gooooood around here with pumpkin pie and cornbread dressing having been made earlier! YUM! (Hmmm ... wonder if I could sneak just a teeeeeeny slice of that pie & scrunch the pieces back together without anyone noticing? Naaaaah ... I'll be good - for ONCE! BIG GRATEFUL HUGS TO EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU!
FA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA!!!! Looky, looky! Kai is in a Christmasy sort of mood! Oh, wait! Kai is ALWAYS in the mood for Christmas! But, having just experienced our first real (tho' quite short-lived) cool front (we were in the low 40s at night) I started REALLY getting in the mood. And the new TV Guide came in today's mail - a 2-week issue through the 7th of December. LOTS of Christmas shows are scheduled! I LOVE Christmas shows! Why, I couldn't HAVE the holidays without Charlie Brown, the Grinch, Miracle on 34th Street (the original ONLY because you DO know Edmond Gwynn really IS Santa, don't you?) and Scrooge (again ONLY the one with Alistaire Simms because - well - I LOVE that one best! LOL! I think his first name is spelled differently than I spelled it, tho'. Will check on that later!) Anyway, I decided to show you some stuff. I just finished making the wreath to put next to the mailbox on the front porch! Not NOW, of course - the day after Thanksgiving! And look what came in today's mail! My best friend, Jan, sent the most darling First Christmas bib for my great grandson! AND she sent me the prettiest ornament which means the world to me because of what it says! (I LOVE YOU, my Jan!) Also in the package, a gorgeous holiday kitchen towel (which I double DARE anyone to actually USE) and matching potholder! Needless to say, those three cookies WON'T remain untouched (or uneaten) for long! And, having shown you all of the GOOD stuff, I thought I may as well show you the froggies I made. They were mailed Tuesday with delivery confirmation and it looks as tho' they have been delivered to their destinations. The first one is a lil' critter for Cindy Owens (SUCH A SWEETHEART!!!) who hosted the swap! Her frog's name is Phibian. HUH? PHIBIAN????? Yeah. See, if anyone should ask her who she IS, she can say, "I am Phibian!" BWAHAHAHAHAHA ... AM PHIBIAN. Uh - amphibian ... sorry. Couldn't help myself. Anyway! The second frog is for my swap partner. She is Little Frog on the Prairie. See, Angie loves Little House as much as I do! We were PERFECTLY matched! I even gave her a covered lunch pail like Laura carried, holding - what else - BUGS! Heehee! My sewing leaves MUCH to be desired, and I truly hope I'll be forgiven for that. But I had FUN doing both frog dolls, and put my heart (if not my talent - sigh) into them! Ahhhhh - Christmas is headed this way. I FEEL it because I am waaaaaay too happy! HOHOHOHOHO!
Ah-ha! You thought (hoped?) I fell off the face of the earth (or at least off Blogger) didn't you? But I DIDN'T. I'm HERE! (Here I am. This way! Over here! See?) I've just had all those stinkin' computer problems mentioned in my previous post, plus I'm doing some volunteer work again, AND I've been finishing swaps, birthday gifties, and - gasp - CHRISTMAS gifties. Noooo, can't show you any of the above. But I will eventually, of course. Oh, okay. Let me give you a tease. How's this?
WHAT, you ask, is THAT stupid looking thing? Uhhhh ... it's ... SOMETHING! Only NOW it's a FINISHED something, and I LIKE it a LOT! Curious? Bwahahahaha! Too bad. You'll see it at a later date! (What a BAD KAI, huh?)
And what is THIS guy up there doing in my laundry room, pray tell? Just hangin' AROUND, of course! He needed to dry out. Oh - gracious, NO! He wasn't INTOXICATED. He was SOAKED from being painted green! (But, shhhhhh! Don't tell HIM. He thinks he was BORN that way.) Yes, that IS my frog doll (stage one) for a swap. But trust me, the finished doll looks NOTHING like that picture! So if you are peeking, Angie, as Willie Olsen said so eloquently: NAH-NAH! Heehee! At any rate, I'm here & I'm still kicking. Feeling kind of sad 'cause, thanks to the HUGE increase in postage this last year and my big hospital bill, then saving for a new computer, I won't get to mail lots of Christmas gifts. I hope everyone will understand. Pretty please with sugarplums on top? Okay. Your turn, everyone. What are YOU up to?
WELL, GOOOOOOD GRIEF! It seems like forever since I got to post anything I've created. I HAVE created - quite a LOT, actually - but it's all been for swaps or birthdays and I can't SHOW you all yet. Sigh. But THAT'S not why I'm posting now. In an earlier post, I let you know I'm having SERIOUS computer headaches. I thought I'd gotten them under control, but I absolutely haven't. So I will be biting the bullet & buying a new computer probably sometime later this week. As I just told my best friend in a email, it took me exactly FOUR LONG HOURS to get this blasted thing to work this morning. And last night, I turned it on & it literally ate my emails. POOF! Gone! That included emails I'd saved to draft so I could answer them. NOT HAPPY! There are also MULTIPLE blogs I can no longer access and sites I ALWAYS used to visit which now cause this idiotic thing to FREEZE. So if you think I am ignoring your blog - NO!!!! I just can't access it. Hopefully, a new computer will solve this. I've had a LOT of problems since I got this one, so I will NOT be sad to see it go. At any rate, Happy Blogging to all of you, my lovely friends! And I'll be back soon to bug you again. With any luck, I'll get to visit EVERYONE'S blogs then! P.S. For those of you who know Helen Grossman, today is her birthday! I KNOW she'd love to have you pop over to her blog and say hello! You'll find her link to the right of my blog! She's a doll!
Next is right in front of the tv. This is one of the things I changed last night. I moved the tiny Santa to the Santa shelf & put two more small wooden reindeer in the middle.
This one is also a bit different now. The two lil' reindeer are the ones I put in front of the tv, and now there's a medium-small old-fashioned Santa in their place.
I LOOOOOVE where we put the tree in this house! You can see ALL parts of it from the livingroom or diningroom or kitchen! AND it was EASY to get to it and decorate! And there's LOADS of room to add gifties as I wrap them!
The first view was taken from the diningroom. This one was taken from the livingroom.
Here's my pink Santa and a crazy bead tree I made awhile back. It's in the area of the livingroom just before you enter the first hallway.
I took all the 'normal' stuff off this shelf that divides the living & dining areas and replaced it with some of my Santas. At the base, I put my gourd Santa (too tall to fit ON the shelf) and a couple of Christmasy canisters.
Below are two views of the shelf with all the Santas!
Meet my NEWEST Santa! I buy one every year. I LOOOOVE him!
And those of you who have known me awhile will recognize this - my OLDEST Santa. 
Here's a small tree in the 2nd hallway.
Some HATS in the BATHROOM!
A tiny tree in the guest room!
More stuff in the bathroom!
And, last, but not least, a pink wreath in my room!
I'll be back later today or tomorrow with a second post and the rest of the photos. Right now I feel like having some tea and listening to carols! DECK THE HALLS WITH BOUGHS OF HOLLY ...!!!
These are NOT froggies or even frog-related, but I wanted to show you my new jars. They are HUGE and HEAVY and WONDERFUL and I LOVE them. They will be filled with more crafty-type stuff soon but for now, I just like SEEING them. I'm afraid the light didn't hit just right so the photo isn't very (at ALL) impressive. Still, you can get the idea, right?
And what is THIS guy up there doing in my laundry room, pray tell? Just hangin' AROUND, of course! He needed to dry out. Oh - gracious, NO! He wasn't INTOXICATED. He was SOAKED from being painted green! (But, shhhhhh! Don't tell HIM. He thinks he was BORN that way.) Yes, that IS my frog doll (stage one) for a swap. But trust me, the finished doll looks NOTHING like that picture! So if you are peeking, Angie, as Willie Olsen said so eloquently: NAH-NAH! Heehee! At any rate, I'm here & I'm still kicking. Feeling kind of sad 'cause, thanks to the HUGE increase in postage this last year and my big hospital bill, then saving for a new computer, I won't get to mail lots of Christmas gifts. I hope everyone will understand. Pretty please with sugarplums on top? Okay. Your turn, everyone. What are YOU up to?
NOW all I need to do is ... CREATE!!!!!!
