What? Squirrel stew?

We use this pot to heat water for various things. Rocky was in the kitchen, alone, when I spotted him sitting in this pot eating one of his pea pods!

Look at this face!

Isn't he the cutest thing you have ever seen?

Richard took this picture of Jaiden and I. I had no idea he was winking, until I uploaded it on my computer!

I just LOVE it!

Harvell family fun

We went to CiCi's with Richard's brother and his family saturday night. There were 14 of us (mostly kids!!). We had a fun time.

Then we went to our niece, Brooke's, new house. It is decorated so cute and so her!

The kids were all so good and had such a good time playing in the game room. Diane got each one of them a stocking with some candy and quarters in it! The perfect gift.

water, water, everywhere...

No, these are not pictures of a lake or pond. These are pictures of our side yard.

What the heck is up with this crazy weather.

It is 60* and raining(with flash flood warnings). Last weekend it was 6* with a windchill of -30*. And windgusts of 30mph.

F O G

The fog has set in. It's getting hard to see the houses across the street. Even with their porch lights on.

I'm glad we don't have to go anywhere tonight or early tomorrow. It worries me that Heather has to be at work in the morning at 6:00.

Some of our favorite gifts

Birds on a wire...

when I was checking out the cars sliding by, I noticed these doves sitting on the cable line. We usually have anywhere from 4 to 12 doves at the feeders everyday. I don't know why they would have been on the cable line.

Weather update:

it was just announced that we are under a dense fog advisory and a flood warning. It has warmed up quite a bit, hence the flood warning. It is still extremely slippery.

I just saw someone else fall and have seen so many vehicles that just can't get traction. There was a tow truck down the street that went off the road a little bit and had to have another tow truck come and rescue him!!

I didn't even wander out to the mailbox today. Hope Ed McMahon didn't send me anything!!

Elkhart County is under a level 1 state of emergency...

Our county is under a level 1 state of emergency. It is so icy that anyone on the roads, other than emergency vehicles, will be ticketed.

We were going to go to dinner and have Christmas with Richard's brother, Randy, and his family this evening. It has been postponed until tomorrow.

We have seen car after car sliding down our street. The neighbor guy fell and busted his butt a little while ago.

I'm glad we don't have to venture out.

The pictures are of our driveway and our vehicles.

One of Kylah's favorite gifts

Kylah and all of her friends are big fans of the Twilight book series and the Twilight movie. Some gals on a message board I'm on were showing "Twilighted" photos they had made for their daughters. I just knew Kylah would love one. I e-mailed the seller a photo and 2 days later I had the finished product.

I ordered a 5X7 for Ky, Heather and myself and 8 wallet size for Kylah to give to her friends.

It was a big hit. She likes the fact that none of her friends will have seen these!!

Santa and his little helper

Richard said he wished we had a little Santa hat to put on Rocky. I remembered that I had one in my scrapbooking stuff. It was the perfect size.

It was not an easy task to keep it on him long enough to get a picture!

We think these are so cute!

Christmas tradition...part 2

You didn't really think that my pets would get away without having their pictures taken with Christmas apparel, did you?

They weren't as cooperative as my human victims, uh, I mean models!

Justin told Heather that when they get a dog, she isn't getting a small one, because she'll dress it up like I do Spike!! He's right!

Poor Spikey!

Christmas tradition...part 1

Every year I take my family's picture with a Santa hat on. This year was no exception. In fact, I also got pics of Tyler and Shannon(my nephew, that moved up here from FL and his girlfriend) & Kyle and Taylor(my nephew and his girlfriend).

To daddy...Love, Rocky

When Heather, Kylah and I went to UP mall on tuesday, I found the cutest stuffed squirrel(toy!). I bought it for Richard. Kylah wrapped it and we said it was from Rocky! I know, I know...we're dorks!

He stood at the entertainment center to open it, with Rocky right by his side. I think Rocky thought it was for him.

A little side note: In case anyone wonders why Richard always has a heavy flannel shirt on, Rocky has really long, really sharp nails. We have trimmed a couple of them, but not all. I usually wear a button up fleece, if I am going to hold him or play with him.

Ooh, more presents!

This morning we picked Kylah up at her other grandma's house. She had Christmas with her dad's family this morning. Her dad gave her her cellphone back and told her he would never take it from her again (she got her lip pierced and he took her phone from her). That made for one happy 14 year old!!

After we picked her up we went to Heather and Justin's for breakfast. He fixed bacon, sourdough french toast and hash browns. I took juice and eggnog. It was so good and better yet that I didn't have to cook or clean up!

We took our gifts from each other and opened them while they opened theirs. It was fun. I was so dreading spending the morning at home with out the kids.

The 3 kids each got a new pair of shoes. Kylah-DCs, Jaiden-lightup Sketchers and Kammie-Sketchers. Plus, lots of other things. Video games, puzzles, dvd's, clothes, toys, etc.

Santa brought: Jaiden-3 video games, Kammie-kitty build a bear in a carseat and cash for Kylah!

Heather got some UGG boots and a new digital camera (I am now the proud owner of her "old" camera and Kylah is the proud owner of my "old" camera). Justin got some video game stuff, Mario lounge pants and shirt and other stuff I don't remember!

Kamrie Montana?

Kamrie loves Hannah Montana. She is her biggest fan!

We got her a HM wig, tiger stripe dress, make-up, bangle bracelet, HM barbie doll and lots of little misc. Honnah Montana stuff. She screamed every time she open a gift!!

Here she is doing her best impression of Hannah.

By the way, Heather is also a fan! Can you tell? LOL

Ooh, presents!!

After dinner, but before dessert we open gifts.

I think the pictures speak for themselves.

The last picture is of Kamrie after eating the chocolate fondue. I take a picture of her every year with the remnants on her face!

We had a very yummy Christmas!

Our menu was:
turkey manhattans(Justin roasted the turkey and made the gravy)
homemade mashed potatoes
sourdough bread
black olives, green olives, marinated mushrooms and pickles
carrot sticks, cauliflower, grn peppers, cucumbers, celery sticks and mushrooms

For dessert: cupcakes from Adam's and chocolate fondue with:
clementines
cherries
marshmallows
fresh pineapple
pears
3 kinds of apple slices
bananas
pretzels

Yummy punch:
pomegranate 7up
regular 7up
white cranberry/peach juice
rainbow sherbert
I made an ice ring with 7up, maraschino cherry juice and maraschino cherries

The little kids didn't eat much of anything. However, the rest of us ate way too much. It was sooo good!!

Is that Santa, at the window?

Last night the kids were here for our annual Christmas Eve celebration. The 2 little ones were getting a little "crazy" and didn't want to listen. I took the Santa hat and some sleigh bells and went out the back door. Slipping and sliding, I held up the hat with a long stick (so they couldn't see me), jingled the bells, tapped on the living room window and did my best Santa impression "HO, HO, HO--you kids had better be good, so Santa will bring you some toys"!! I'm sure my neighbors thought I was nuts!

Kamrie was totally convinced, she didn't even miss me not being in the living room.

Of course they wanted to see Santa, that's when I produced the above pic of his hat!! I told them Santa wouldn't let me take a picture of him, because he was in such a big hurry. That's all it took. They knew Santa was watching and they had better be good!

YUMMY!!

Richard had to go in to work yesterday for a safety meeting. When they passed out pay checks they each got a 2 pound box of See's candies (nuts and chews)!!

They don't sell it around here (except online). And I haven't had any for years. When I worked at the assisted living we had a fmaily member of a resident, that would bring it for staff when she came to town

I love that stuff. I am not much of a chocolate eater, unless it's GOOD chocolates! Such as Fanny Mae, Godiva and See's.

I was so excited to open that box. It did not disappoint!! :)

I'm glad that Richard is happy with my homemade fudge. That way there is more of the "good" stuff for me!

Favorite Ornament...circa 1969

Some of the other bloggers are showing their favorite ornaments.

This little angel was given to me by my mom and dad when I was 12. I still remember receiving this little cutie. Both of my sisters also recieved one. They each had a different hair color.

We each got a new ornament every year. I don't have very many, any more, as most of them were fragile glass. Which makes this one even more precious.

The shirt says it all!

Spikey!!!

Sweets for the sweet!

>
The grandkids and I made Christmas sweets today.

We made: peanut butter fudge (mom's recipe), white chocolate dipped pretzels with sprinkles, chocolate-peanut and raisin clusters and rice krispie treats.

We were also going to make fantasy fudge and puppy chow but Jaiden had a samll meltdown and was not being very Christmasy! We will finish up tomorrow.

I can't hardly stay out of the rice krispie treats. They are my favorite, well, that and the fantasy fudge!

Taking Christmas pictures with a squirrel...101

To get good pictures of a squirrel, you have to:
1. Make sure the dog isn't making fun of the squirrel.
2. Have something to hold the squirrel's interest. Such as a small toy, tissue paper, pencil or juicy grape.
3. DO NOT wear santa hats with fuzzy balls on the end.
4. Do not let your guard down. Just when you think the squirrel will hold still, he won't!

Kylah was attempting to take a picture for us to sent to family and friends! Well, these pictures speak for themselves!! LOL

Please, don't make me...

wrap anymore presents. I hate to wrap gifts. Hate it. Years ago, I would wrap everything all pretty with little adornments and bows on each package. Not anymore, if I could, I would just put everything in a bag, slap a name tag on it and call it a day!! Seriously, I don't like to wrap Christmas gifts, birthday gift, shower gifts. None, nada.

SO, every year Kylah comes over to help. Who am I kidding, she wraps the majority! And, Richard, come on he is NO help at all. It takes him an hour to wrap a small one! I kid you not. And when he is done, it looks like the dog wrapped it! LOL

Last night Richard picked Ky up on his way home from work, after dinner it was time to get busy. I actually started wrapping in the afternoon, I didn't know if she was coming over or not. A teenager has so much more fun stuff to do. I guess I need to start teaching Kamrie how to wrap, for the future!

Of course, Spikey and Rocky had to get in on the fun. Hey, I wonder if I could teach them how to wrap.. We could tell everyone Richard wrapped them!!

Slip, sliding away!

We got lots of freezing rain overnight and part of the day today.

Richard worked, Jaiden had a 2 hour delay and Kylah didn't have school. Memorial is finishing finals and the kids were only scheduled to go until 10:00 am. With the delay the high school cancelled classes. Didn't hurt her feelings any, except for the fact she didn't get to take her gifts for her friends.

Richard came home and plowed our drive and Dougie's drive. Dougie gave him $20.00, every little bit helps. Especially since Richard will be off the next 2 weeks, with no pay. We are gonna feel some serious $$ hurt. We aren't getting each other anything for Christmas this year (well, to be honest, I have a few things for him since I start my shopping in January), but nothing for me. Which is okay (I guess!!).

The pictures are of a school merry-go-round we have in our yard, one of many feeders, Richard's truck and a tree in the yard.

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas...part 3

My dining room is probably my favorite room. I love my buffet and hutch. My china cabinet. My table and chairs. My hanging light. I love it all!

I got my placemats and napkins at Goodwill. I paid $1.50 for 4 placemats and $1.00 for 4 napkins. I tied a piece of gold curling ribbon and a vintage ball ornament around the napkin. I tucked in a stem of pine and a candy cane. It is simple, but I love the way it looks.

The centerpiece is made up of vintage glass balls in a cut crystal bowl (that was my mother in law's), candy canes, pine stems and a yummy pomegranate/mandarin candle. It is sitting on an antique doily and a green wooden charger plate that I bought for 90% off at Target years ago. I also added my Santa and Mrs. Claus salt & pepper shakers.

My favorite decorated piece is the lamp hanging over the table. I bought this at a Spiegel outlet about 4 years ago. It was on clearance for $15.00. When I bought it, it was silver. So not my color! I first painted it yellow. This summer I painted it flat black. It now looks wrought iron. Normally I have shades on it with saltbox houses (that match the wallpaper border) painted on them. I take the shades off for Christmas. I have pine and berry candle rings around the lights. This year I hung vintage glass balls, black sleigh bells and candy canes from the hooks on the lamp. It was hard to get a good picture, so Richard held up a tablecloth so I could get the pic I wanted! Gotta love him!

Christmas photo shoot...sort of!

Kamrie wanted to wear her Christmas shirt that had Rocky on it (the shirt actually has a chipmunk on it, but who am I to say any different!). Then she wanted to take pictures for paw-paw.

She took the ones of me (which are not too bad) and I took the ones of her. In one of my pictures the "photographer" has me saying CHEESE (real big, okay gram). She is saying HO, HO, HO in one of hers. Hence, the funny expressions on our faces!!

We have fun everyday!

~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~
GEM of the day-I always buy each of the kids an ornament every year. I put their names and the date on them. Monday I took them with me to Heather's. J.J. loved his and put it right on the tree. When Kammie got up and I gave hers to her, this was the conversation:
Gram: Kammie, I bought you a new ornament for the tree. It's on the table.
Kammie: What does it say?
Gram: It has your name and the year I gave it to you. Do you want to go hang it on the tree?
Kammie: Nope. It doesn't say my name. There's no K.
Gram: yes there is, right here (pointing to the K).
Kammie: I don't like it, that's not the right kind of K. You can take it home.
Gram: Okay, but that really is a K.
Kammie: No thanks!
Later that day:
Gram: I'm sorry you don't like your ornament.
Kammie: Well, I don't. It's not a real K.
I'm not sure what she thought it was. It is on the tree now, but she swears it doesn't say her name!?!?!

I love these...

My dad bought my mom these salt and pepper shakers the first Christmas they were married, 1956. When mom died in 2001, my sisters and I divided the salt and pepper shakers (among other things). These have always been my favorites. They have been on my Christmas Eve table every year and I love them so much.

Don't they have the sweetest looks on their faces? Santa reminds me so much of my dad that, I could kiss him!!

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas...Part 2 1/2!

I have quite a few small Christmasy vignettes in my house. We have a very small house, so little things work great.

The glittery houses are from Bath and Body. I got them at Goodwill for $1.50 each. The bottle brush trees, small santa, nativity and the wreaths were all together in a bag of goodies at Salvation Army. I think it was $1.00 for the whole bag. I have this displayed on the bottom shelf of a little desk that was my mom's when she was a child. It is in my dining room.

This little ceramic tree was made by me in 1976, the year I graduated high schiool! Boy, is it old! My mom and I took ceramic classes together. Her best friend owned the shop where we took classes. I have lots of good memories of us spending monday night together. We did this for years. Even after I got married. It is missing some of the lights. I am going to check Hobby Lobby to see if they sell them. Does anyone know? It doesn't seem to photograph very well. I have it on top of the little desk.

I got the hurricane candle holder on clearance at Target this fall. It was only $3.00(shh...I bought Heather one, too, for Christmas). The greenery was cut from a garland I bought at the Dollar Tree. The 3 santas were also in the bag from Salvation Army! It was full of goodies! This little pretty is on top of my china cabinet. Also, in the dining room.

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas...part 2

I haven't decorated much outside this year. To be honest, it's just to darn cold! I know I could've done it weeks ago, but I didn't want to!!

We bought the Cement goose in Brown County, IN about 22 years ago. I used to always "dress" it, but kind of got over that! Richard mentioned a couple of months ago that he enjoyed seeing the goose dressed sitting on the deck. So, being the good wife that I am...LOL...I started dressing it again. My mom the the red outfit at a church bazaar many, many years ago. Richard, this is for you!!

I bought the little cement bear, he sits by the back door, at the Shipshewana flea market several years ago.

The white tree, I bought at Goodwill 2 years ago. It was only $5.00. I got the flag there also, $1.50.

We used to hang icicle lights on the front of the house. But, Richard doesn't want to anymore.

Rock band...guitar hero...

Do you have video game lovers at your house? Do they obsess over rock band and guitar hero? Well, they do at Heather and Justin's!! Kylah and her friends love these games.

It is funny, as alot of the songs are older rock and roll songs. Even Jaiden and Kamrie know the songs. When an "oldie" comes on the radio, Jaiden will say "hey, that's on rock band". He doesn't have a clue that the song was around way before the video game.

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas...part 1

I put my Christmas flag and white tree out front! Yay!

I just haven't had any Christmas spirit. I've lost my mojo! But, Kylah's concert started me in the right direction.

As you can see, I had alot of help with my decorating. NOT! He undecorated faster than I could decorate.

I decorated this small tinsel tree with vintage glass ornaments and put it on the entertainment center. For about 5 seconds. That's all it took for Rocky to see it and knock it over. This is the exact reason I haven't put up my big tree, this year. And, I don't think I'm going to.

Saturday's thrifty bargains

I had a 50% coupon from GBM(goodwill booster member)and a $5 off of a $10 purchase also from GBM. Both coupons can be used together.

To be a goodwill booster member you pay $5 and you get 12, $5 off a $10 purchase, coupons. One for each month, you also get 4 extra 50% off coupons throughout the year. Also, every other saturday they have a 50% off day, for anyone.

Anyway, I got some good deals yesterday...
2 americana pillows, for the kids room here at our house.

A brand new cream colored top for Heather, from Cato.

The cutest Sweet Home decoration. I don't what it was originally made for, but I LOVE it! It is chenille on top. I'm not quite sure where I am going to put it.

4 really pretty Christmas placemats and 4 green napkins. They are already on the table!

I bought a silver frame with rhinestones for Kylah. The girl loves some BLING!!

I bought a santa hat and a few other things, that for the life of me I can't remember!!

I was in a hurry, so I didn't look as well as I like to. I had to get to Heather's to see Kylah and her friends before they went to the dance.

Memorial Christmas concert

The Memorial High School Christmas concert was today. It included orchestra, band, choir, The Madrigal singers, dance team, jazz ensemble, strolling strings and many small groups.

It was absolutely beautiful.

Kylah is in the orchestra, playing the violin. She was also in the strolling strings group. Of course, we sat in the aisle she was strolling in! She tried to avoid my camera, but grandma is quicker than she is!!

Mr. Phipps (he was my choir teacher and Heather's choir teacher at Central) was the narrator. It was so very entertaining.

Those music teachers deserve alot of credit for this performance.

Heather and Victoria Beckham

Heather has always been fascinated with celebrities, especially Victoria Beckham! At one point she even had her hair cut like hers.

I found this fun photo site and made this picture for her!

Jaiden's first sleepover

Jaiden's best buddy from school, Caden, is spending the night with him tonight. They have been so excited all week. This is the first sleepover for both of the boys.

Of course, Kamrie thinks she should be involved in everything they do!

It will be an interesting night at the Johnson household! Kamrie is sleeping in Ky's bed, she is going to Katie's after the dance. Caden is sleeping in Kamrie's bed. If they sleep at all!

Winter Formal-2008

Tonight was the Winter formal at Memorial High School. Ky and several of her friends (Katie, Haleigh, Elizabeth and Safire) went together. The girls went to her house to do each others makeup and hair.

Richard didn't get to come with me. He was at Phil's working on the car. Poor guy has a horrible cold, today, probably from laying under the car in the freezing cold.

As soon as I got to Heather's house, Kylah informed me she needed pantyhose. I took her and 3 girls to WalMart. They were in their formal dresses!

We got the hose and FOOD of course! 14 year old girls are always hungry.

Elizabeth's mom brought her a little later.

They all looked so beautiful and so grown up.

Do I look like grandpa, without a beard?

When Richard came to pick me up today, we had to wait a few minutes for Kylah to get home from school. He took off his jacket and Jaiden snatched it up and put it on. He then took grandpa's hat off his head and put that on.

Now, mind you, Richard is 6'2 and about 260lbs. Jaiden is 5yo and very slim. He looked so funny. Then, of course, Kammie had to put the stuff on, too.

We just can't catch a break

Richard took me to Heather's yesterday morning. He is having problems with the steering on his truck. When he came to pick me up we stayed and had pizza with Heather and the kids. Justin was at work. We stopped by the ATM to make a deposit on the way home. As he was waiting for me, the check engine oil light came on. When we got home, he put oil in the car and it just ran out underneath the car.

When we got home today he laid under the car (on the freezing ground)to try and see what the problem was. He couldn't figure it out.

We took it to Phil Schlabach's house and he is going to work on it tomorrow.

I hope and pray that he can fix it and it won't be expensive. We work so hard and try to do everything right and we can't seem to get ahead. Richard is having a 2 week, unpaid shutdown starting on the 19th. And are funds are soooo tight right now.

Sleep, glorious, sleep...

This is what I found when I went to wake J.J. up for school today. He was in his mommy and daddy's bed. SOUND asleep.

This child gets up so good for me every morning. He always has a smile on his face.

His big sister, is another story! Teenagers seem to never want to get out of bed!

Jaiden's Christmas program...

was last night. He has been practicing his songs for weeks. The program was the done by the kindergarten students. All 100 of them! The gym was jam packed. The kids all looked sooo cute!

About half way through he spotted his daddy, who was sitting on the aisle. Justin was our official photographer. As you can see by the last picture, Jaiden decided to take our picture!!

He knew all of the words and all of the hand and body movements. They did such a good job.

Mrs. Hanft is the music teacher at Cleveland. Sse was Kylah's music teacher when she went to Cleveland and Heather's music teacher at Pinewood, many years ago! The lady has the patience of a saint.

Afterwards, they had punch and cookies in the cafeteria. It was a short program that was very fun and entertaining!

~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~
GEM of the day-When I got to Heather's house monday morning, she had all of the gifts wrapped and under the tree(beautiful, by the way!!). This is the convo with Jaiden: Gram, see that big present with the red paper?
Me: Yes, it's pretty.
Jaiden: It's for you, but I'm not supposed to tell you that it's a vacuum cleaner.
Me: LOL That's okay buddy, we won't tell anyone you told me!!
Jaiden: Okay, gram, cause it's a secret!!

Is she stylish, or what?!

When I got out of the shower this morning, I could hear Kammie just talking away. I peeked in the living room and there she was in all of her stylish glory!! She was playing with some stuffed animals and watching Nick!

It's cold and pouring down rain outside. So, I guess she knows how to make the best of an icky day!

Ho, Ho, Ho

Saturday morning Heather and Justin took the 3 kids to breakfast with Santa at Jaiden's school. They ate, did some crafts and gave Santa their wish lists. Kylah thinks she's too old to sit on Santa's lap!

I'm not the only one...

that thinks the vintage ornaments are pretty! As you can see, Rocky likes them, too. I had them on the dining room table and he decided to help me decorate!

He was also playing with and behind the tops of the boxes!

Never a dull moment! LOL

Aren't these pretty?

I bought these 3 boxes of vintage glass ornaments at the Salvation Army, for .50 a box!

The boxes say Made in U.S.A. for the Kresge Corp. The plain ones have a price printed on the box of .79 and the decorated ones have a price of $2.33!

I am going to hang the plan ones, with some pretty ribbon, from the light above my dining room table. I think the others will go in a cut glass bowl(that was my MIL's) on my dining room table.

Snow beard...

Spikey always roots around in the snow. This is how he looks when he comes in! The bottom pic is a close up of his cold nose! Even though he is so small, he loves the snow.

Jordan on the other hand, doesn't! He goes out, does his business and scratches to come in! He's the smart one!

Snow, snow and deer

Richard got the "let's go plow snow" call at about 7:00pm. Brian told him to be there at 2:00am. He went to get some sleep at around 9:30.

A little while ago I looked out to see if it was still snowing and there were the 2 deer at the bird/squirrel feeder. I feel so bad for them. I am sure they are hungry.

I tried to get a couple pics, but of course they didn't turn out. I do think that the snow looks kind of cool in the pictures though!

I did go out and get some hoofprint shots. Yesterday, I told Jaiden and Kamrie that 2 of Santa's reindeer were in our yard. They were so excited. I told them I would bring the pictures of their "footprints" for them to see. I went out (in the freezing, cold snow) and put some carrots and a pear at the feeder. Hopefully they'll be back.

Ooh, look what I found today!

Aren't they the cutest little tinsel trees? I love them. I got them at the Dollar Tree. Yes, for just $1.00 each. The red one is going in the kitchen. The silver one is going in my scraproom/computer room! I can't wait to put some cute little decorations on them. I have miniature kitchen utensils and mini cookie cutters for the kitchen tree!

I'll post pictures when they are decorated all pretty!

I got some Thrifty goodies today!

We went to Macadoo's for breakfast this morning, braving the cold and blowing snow. The streets were slippery and I was glad I had a professional driver at the wheel! We used one of our certificates from Restaurant.com. We paid $2.00 for a $10.00 certificate good on a $15.00 purchase. We ordered alot of food to get to $15.00! But, it was good.

Richard had a meat lover's omelet(bacon, sausage, ham and cheese), whole wheat toast, bacon and coffee. I had american fries with gravy, bacon and iced tea (no coffee for me). We split a LARGE homemade cinnamon roll. It came to just $17.00. It was so good and we were so full.

Next stop Kohl's. I had a $10 Kohl's cash that Heather got on Black Friday. She said she wouldn't be going to Kohl's before it expired and gave it to me. I also had a 15% off e-mail coupon. I bought Kylah a grey hoodie and a top. She has wanted this top for months and showed it to me again last week. The hoodie was $34.00 and the top was $24.00. With the HUGE sale today and the coupons I only spent $6.47 for both!! Gotta love Kohl's sales.

Next stop, Bath and Body (right next door). I had a coupon for a free lip product w/any purchase. They had the room sprays on sale for $3.00. When I got to the register with my Cranberry spray, they had a basket with the TREE room spray for $1.00. So, I got $17.00 worth of product for $4.00 Heather will be the happy recipient of these!

We had a few more stops throughout the day. We were gone all day. With the last one being at Walgreen. I bought some essentials with coupons and 3 packs of gum for Kylah's stocking. The gum was regular $1.19 each and I got all 3 packs for .59

We had a fun time and got some really thrifty deals!!

Spikey and his "new" winter coat

When I was a kid, we had a toy poodle named Pierre. The little plaid coat, that Spikey is wearing in these pictures, was his. Why I kept this coat for all of these years (at least 35-38 years), I don't know. But, I am sure glad that I did! I think Spikey looks so handsome, he doesn't seem to agree!

Every Christmas we would put little candy canes in the pockets for Pierre. I did the same today.

New kitchen cabinet handles

I got a bag of shiny, brass handles at a garage sale for free. Now, I don't particularly like shine, brass...so I figured I could paint them! The old handles have been on the cabinets and drawers for many, many years. They were a white plastic. Yes, I said plastic. We have 15 doors and 8 drawers. I just couldn't justify spending alot of money on them.

A couple of weeks ago when we were at Richard's brother's shop fixing the driveshaft on the truck, I took the handles, spray primer and burgandy satin paint with me. Randy has a small paint booth in his shop. While Richard worked on the truck I painted the handles. They turned out so nice. Yay!

Well, this week I have finally taken the time to change them out. They make such a difference. I really like the way they look.

By the way, I changed out all of the handles on the cabinet drawers on wednesday and Richard hasn't noticed. He is not very observant! But I love him anyway!

Baby it's C-O-L-D outside!

It's 12* with a windchill of 1* below zero! BRRRRRRRRR!

There is a light snowfall and light wind. I'm glad I'm in for the day!

Poor Richard is in and out all day. I think he'll need some good, hot, homemade soup for dinner. Wonder where I can get some! Just kidding. I'll be heading to the kitchen to see what we have for soup.

These pictures are what stylish dogs are wearing for the cold! Don't they look thrilled?! LOL

We had deer at the feeders

Richard and I enjoy the bird and squirrel feeders that we have. I always tease him that my extra money is spent at the thrift store and his is spent on bird/squirrel food!

Last night after dinner, he was looking out the living room window and saw a deer looking back at him! He called to me and when we looked out the sliding door we saw 2. They were at the feeders! Of course, Spikey started bark and they ran off.

We live in the county, but only about 3-4 blocks out. A few weeks ago we saw 2 in the back, but have never seen any nearer to the street.

I sure hope that they went back to the woods and not towards town and the busy, busy streets.

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GEM of the day-Yesterday Kammie and I went to 7-11 so she could get a slushy! On the way we were talking about Rocky and she brought up animals that live in nests. This is how it went:
Kammie: Have you ever seen a rabbit's nest?
Me: Yes.
Kammie: Don't they look funny when they climb trees?
Me: Rabbits don't climb trees. They make their nests in the grouind.
Kammie: Uh, gramma. I think you're wrong!