Delivering a Package to~

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  I am still on "vacation".  At this moment I am nursing 2 kids with the stomach flu.  I had it yesterday along with 4 other family members.  3 others had it previous to Thanksgiving.  That makes 10 of us in all who made this Holiday a most memorable one.  Does anyone else's family get sick when they all get together?  Ok, no one wants to hear about this. 

We Have A Winner:)

~Susan from Glen Oaks Primitives~  

Thanks to all who played with me.  It's so fun to be involved with such great blog friends.

On to decorating for Christmas. 

Scenes from Southern Idaho~ Fall's gone

I was driving my kids to school yesterday and it was a beautiful morning.  Just as I was reaching home I decided to grab my camera and take a drive to capture the last of what is Fall around here.  Stopping along the country roads that surround my neighborhood, to take pictures of the things I see everyday, helped me appreciate the place that I live in again.  I had someone stop to see if I was o.k. and I told her I was just photographing the landscape as it was beautiful out today.  She gave me a funny look and said "really?".  I guess to some it would not be pretty, but it is home to me.  I realized how much I loved it when we moved to Alaska where there are no fields, open skies, or miles of open land for your eyes to see.  Fall is almost gone now.  Just a week left I bet.  Here are some of the pictures I took of what I see (minus the millions of dairies~everyone has seen cows before) everyday of my life and I love it.

My favorite barn.

Overlooking the next town to the left.

Properties divided by small fences.

Some corn crops are left up during the winter.

Many homesteads dot the land surrounded by their farms

Hay stacked for the animals.

The Russian Olive trees smell so good and follow the canal.  My neighborhood is just behind them.

All harvested and beautiful blue skies as far as one can see.

Random neighborhoods here and there.

I love the windmills as long as there are just a few in one spot. 

Over looking the next town to the right.  Old barns are here and there. 

Just to the South, the South Hills provide a forest for camping 45 min. away.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!!  We are having a birthday party for one of my very special little girls.  Then we are going shopping for Thanksgiving dinner.  Costco here we come.  If we get there right before lunch, we don't have to feed the kids while we're out.  They will just gobble up all the samples.  Ha Ha Ha.  Tis the season.....

p.s. ~ don't forget to sign up for my giveaway

Ho Ho Ho~ Giving away Santa

 I saw this tutorial on Lee Hill Primitives blog and I knew it was the one for me.  I just had to make one for myself and a few extras for fun.  I sewed up the bag and grunged it with coffee and cinnamon.  Then I fashioned the Santa stump doll out of muslin, wool, and some thick brown fabric.  You can take him out after the holidays and put whatever else you want in the pocket year round.  I have never sewn by hand much and the workmanship is not professional but I think he turned out dang cute. The last giveaway I had was so much fun that I wanted to have another one!  I am giving this one away (along with a small candle and chocolates) on Nov. 26th!!!  Just in time to start decorating for Christmas.  Ho Ho Ho.  Just follow me ~ Tell me one of your most favorite Christmas traditions ~ Post the giveaway in your sidebar if you like (that's always nice).  Thanks so much for all your visits. I enjoy getting to know everyone.

This last picture is fuzzy for some reason, but you get the idea.

A Very Unlikely Win!!

I saw that Notforgotton Farm was having a wonderful giveaway so I went to go make my post entry and saw she already had like 164 comments for this sweet pin cushion.  I made a comment anyway because I wanted to compliment Lori on such a cute giveaway ~ knowing that there was no way she was going to pull my name out.  I didn't even post it on my sidebar (that's how I remember which giveaways I've entered) to remind myself about it.  That's how optimistic I was.  Well Robin (that old cranky crow) sent me a message congratulating me on my win and I couldn't even remember what it could possibly be.   So I hoped on over to Notforgotton Farm and sure enough!!!!!  Lori had pulled my name out.  I just about died when I read it.  The sweet thing came in the mail yesterday.  It is sooooo cute.  Pictures don't do it justice.  Thanks Lori.

A Special Gift

~An e-mail I wrote to Linda Parker~

Dear Linda,  Oh the giddiness was a sight as I opened my mailbox today.  3 little girls crowded around and begged me to open the box you sent me.  You have never seen a woman prepare, cook, and serve dinner as fast as I did that evening for I wanted to open that box!!!!  After dinner we sat on the couch and tried to unwrap the package.  You do a good job.  2 pairs a scissors and a sharp knife later.  I couldn't believe all the wonderful things that kept coming out.  Linda, I love every single thing!!  I do hold the framed fall stitching dear though.  What a wonderful thing you have done for me, someone that you have never even met in person or have even known very long.  It wasn't long after I started blogging that I discovered the friendships that everyone has with each other.  I felt that I was peeking in on personal relationships between a network of people.  I didn't know that sort of thing could even exist.  Ladies cheering each other on, crying with each other over life's tragedy's, laughing with each other over the silly things that happen to them, etc.  I wanted to be a part of that so, I set out to make some friends.  Soon I found myself crying right along with them and laughing with them and praying for people I had never met.  I just wanted you to know that you have made me feel excepted and a part of that something.  You have shown me that there are people in the world who want to do things for other people without thinking of a return~ That will give to people they haven't even met~  Who are charitable.  You have made me feel special, and important, and noticed and for that I thank you.  Your friend -Stephani-  

I needed something else to hang on this wall in my kitchen!

Funny, I was just thinking the other day I needed a luminary for the corner this sits in:)

I wanted to replace an broken frame that has been sitting on my piano and this (my favorite) was a perfect replacement.

Just perfect for filling up that empty space.

I recently acquired this big jar and really needed something to fill it up with to tie it all together. 

These old books have been sitting on the floor next to the shelf forever.  I just didn't know how to fit them in, but now I think they look perfect. 

My ever tree was looking dead.  The star garland spruced it up a bunch.

Now I am not the only one without a cat.  He loves a good boat ride.  And the pumpkin does too.

I absolutely love the chestnuts.  I put them right up to my nose to smell them.  It brought back so many memories of my Grandmother and how we would pick them up off of the ground for her and climb her big trees.  Maybe I will try to roast them. 

Perfect for my hot chocolate.  I love to drink it before bed.

My month has been made dear Peeps and friends.  

A Very Special "First Thanksgiving"

Once upon a time there was a seven year old girl who was very excited to be able to order something out of the school book orders.  She had many younger brothers and sisters and didn't get special things like this very often.  This gangly girl was particularly fascinated with Indians as they were studying them in school.  So, it fit that she chose "The First Thanksgiving" set to be her order.  

On the special day of it's arrival, she carefully punched out the people and accessories one by one, studying the detail in each picture.  Delicately she set the up the town next to the fireplace in the living room and played Pilgrims and Indians for hours.  

For the next 11 years she would somehow keep it safe from the clutches of 4 younger brothers, 1 younger sister, and 1 older sister.  Then she packed it away in a box and stored it during her 4 years of college. The last 13 years it has lived with her in a special place ready to be uncovered by her own children; two of them who are now the very age she was when she first set it up.

Yesterday it was lovingly unpacked, during a quiet day while the kids were at school, and set up on the mantel for her children to enjoy.  Each piece was studied and admired again by this girl.  She smiled and remembered a time when life seemed magical and anything could be possible.  

She hopes to be able to share this wonderful gift with her Grandchildren someday.  

And laughs at the irony that now, it's possible that it is an antique of her very own.

I hope everyone has a very happy weekend.  Thanks for letting me share my wonderful story with you.  And thanks for being such great friends. 

$4's and a Display Later

Brrrrrr..... Good Morning to you.  It is sooooo cold out today.  I froze my fanny off taking my kids to school this morning.  That used to be one of my nick names in school. "Fanny" short for Stephani (no e on the end).  Yesterday GW was calling my name and now I know why.  I found a few great things to show you.  The lady ringing me up asked what the mold was.  I told her I was going to make wax corn on the cob with it and she just stared at me then put it in the bag without a word.  I am a sucker for primitive art and was so thrilled to find four prints on metal slates.  Then this wall hanging of course had to go in the cart too.

So, this morning in less than an hour, I sanded and stained it up and found a place for it in the upstairs family room.  I grabbed a wooden bowl that was just laying around (Halloween decor took it's place) and grabbed a few twigs of garland off of a wreath and wala.  

Then I tore down some ugly swag stuff I had above the upstairs hall closet and replaced it with my paintings. 

I hope you all have a happy Wednesday.  It will be busy here.  I have to volunteer at the school all afternoon and make it to the fabric store for some items.  I hope to get some ditty bags made with Christmas Santa's to go inside by the end of the week.  By By.