It's the Busiest Time of the Year

There will be much mistletoe-ing. And hearts will be glowing. When loved ones are near. It's the most wonderful time of the year.

And what makes it wonderful is sharing time with family and friends.

The holidays always make me think of family and this is one of the only pictures I have with my brothers and sisters all together, at least the seven of us all together. We had it taken for Mom and she was so happy. After all, she'd had nine kids and there aren't any pictures that exist with all of us. Maybe because Mom and Dad never owned a camera. Photos were few and far between. Any photos we had were always taken by friends or other family. So, this is a special picture.

And, today is a special day. It's Tammy and Steve's birthday!!! They aren't twins but that's a strange phenomena in our family: people share birthdays. My husband and I share a birthday and two of my kids share a birthday, plus my brother and sister share a birthday. Strange...

Anyway, I'm planning a party but it's hard to squeeze parties in at the holidays because it's a crowded calendar this time of year.

It might be the Most Wonderful Time of the Year, but it's also the biz-biziest-time of the year ;)

There will be last minute buying and parents a-sighing
as they rush to the store looking for "just one present" more. . .

Wednesday, after work, we went Christmas Shopping at Pioneer Place, then Nike Town, then Michael's and after that we went down Peacock Lane and off to Palio's for hot cocoa and that's just the tip of the iceberg. The holidays are rolling in. . .more like a tornado than a soft breeze but

I hope you're having a fun-filled season.

Christmas with the Kasch Family

We like to make our own ornaments and always have. The first year we were married we painted ceramic ornaments and cross-stitched little patterns that we hung on our tree. It was meager as far as ornaments go but we used those ornaments for years. And, we still like to make our own decorations.

This year we wanted to have a simple tree.

It's a beautiful noble we got from my husband's brother's Christmas tree lot. So, it hardly needs any ornamentation.

My husband took a simple snowflake and made it into our Christmas Tree Star by wrapping a little copper wire around it. I think it's beautiful.


How 'bout you? Do you make any of your own ornaments?

The 12 Days of Christmas

Why all the birds?

After all this song has: a partridge, turtle doves, french hens, calling birds, geese, and even swans a-swimming. What does fowl have to do with Christmas...well, except for the turkey we're planning on inviting to dinner ;)

I've always wondered what the heck that song meant.

I'd heard that each gift was supposed to represent something from the Christian faith so I thought I'd look into it.

The song outlines gifts given for each of the 12 days of Christmas and some people say these gifts are only symbols:

1 partridge in a pear tree = Christ
2 turtle doves = The Old and New testaments
3 French Hens = Faith, Hope and Charity
4 Calling Birds=the Four Gospels
5 Golden Rings = The first Five Books of the Old Testament, “Pentateuch”
6 Geese A-laying = the six days of creation
7 Swans A-swimming= the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, the sacraments
8 Maids A-Milking=the eight beatitudes
9 Ladies Dancing=the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit
10 Lords A-leaping = the ten commandments
11 Pipers Piping=the eleven faithful apostles
12 Drummers Drumming=the twelve points of doctrine in the Apostle’s creed

But snopes says nope.

Still, I think it's a fun song. What do you think?

The 7th Day of Christmas

Today is the 7th Day of Christmas. And I know how the gift-giving goes. But, I wouldn't have wanted a partridge to begin with. And, this is the day when my true love gave to me:

seven swans a swimming...

Now, where the heck would I put seven swans a-swimming? In my bathtub? I think NOT.

That present would be completely foul and totally for the birds because that is one, no, seven things I don't have room for. So, this gift would be a total fowl-fail.

I definitely don't want anything I'd need to clean up after. After all, I already have three "kids" and my hubby to follow around after.

What I really want is a kindle or a new laptop. Santa . . . are you listening? "Do you hear what I hear"?

But, if you'd like to get an embroidered version of that seven swans a-swimming, you can find this patch on-line, check it out here.

A Little Angel Story

When four of Santa's elves got sick, the trainee elves couldn't keep up. They weren't producing toys as fast as the regular elves. Sadly, Santa started to feel the
pressure of the season.

And, when Mrs. Claus told Santa her Mother was coming to visit, he really
stressed more.

Then when he went to harness the reindeer and found three of them ready to give birth he was beside himself but then he noticed two others had jumped the fence and were out on the town. Only Heaven knows where.

Then when he began to load the sleigh, one of the floorboards cracked,
the toy bag fell to the ground and all the toys were scattered.

Frustrated, Santa went in the house for a cup of apple cider and a shot
of rum. When he went to the cupboard, he discovered the elves had drunk
all the cider and hidden the liquor. In his frustration, he accidentally
dropped the cider jug. It broke into hundreds of little glass pieces
all over the kitchen floor so he went to get the broom before Mrs. Claus found out. But, he found the mice had eaten all the straw off the end of the broom.

Just then the doorbell rang. An irritated Santa marched to the door and
yanked it open. There stood a little angel with a great big
Christmas tree.

The cheerful angel said, "Merry Christmas, Santa. Isn't this a
lovely day? I have a beautiful tree for you. Where would you like me to
stick it?"

And so began the tradition of the little angel on top of the Christmas
tree.

Only a few people know this part of the story ;)

Tour of Holiday Homes

I love to decorate. . . but, it's difficult with dogs in the house.

I spray painted some pine cones and nuts and put them in pretty glass bowls. Then I set them out around the house. The problem: Sasha didn't understand that spray paint meant "NO EATING".

I came home to find chewed up pine cones littering the floor. She'd actually cracked the nuts and eaten the insides out.

"Spray paint," Sasha says, "NO PROBLEM!"

Not for those giant teeth of hers.

But when I saw that she'd eaten the glass Christmas balls, I was worried - for a second. Sasha must be part goat. That glass didn't even hurt her at all. Still, she knew better and quickly crawled underneath the coffee table to hide. She just didn't think to hide the evidence - empty nutshells were right beside her head.
Still, I decorate. But now I don't put tempting treats (like glass balls) so low to the ground. No need to tempt those teeth of hers.

I pulled out some of my pretty Christmas plates and did a test run on the table - higher up.
And, some of the pretty plates, I even hang on the walls - way out of reach from Sasha.
Plus, I've got stockings hung by the . . . stairs with care. Well, not so much care but I still think they're pretty.


How 'bout you? How do you decorate and do you have any challenges - like Sasha?

And, if you want to check out more blogs, hop over here.

Just Me and the Girls

I know we may not have Kit much longer, after all she's 17 and that's 119 in people years. But, she's still going for walks with me. And, I want to remember (especially at this time of year) the things I'm thankful for. Pets are such a blessing.