IT'S BEGINING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE CHRISTMAS - Father Christmas

My four Father Christmas that adore the top of our entertainment center each Christmas season

This is the first Father Christmas I ever got. It was a gift to me, from my forever friend, Joan, many years ago.

I purchased this smaller Father Christmas for myself to add to the one above.
Purchased another small Father Christmas to add to the collection.

This beautiful Father Christmas was a present from my daughter, Jacque, the first Christmas she was with us after losing everything in Katrina Hurricane in 2005.

Thank you for letting me share one of our many Christmas treasurers that make our house a home and mean so much to us.

ALSO, the chrystal Angel sitting in the middle of this display resides on this entertainment center year-round. It was a gift to me, several years ago, from my son Marc. She sits on a circular mirror base that turns and lights up. I absolutely love her and she is my latest addition to my Angel collection.

SPIRITUAL SUNDAY 2010 - #11 - A Christian - What would you do?

A big thank you to Charlotte for this wonderful forum to share. Go here to read the many other posts.

A CHRISTIAN

Several years ago, a preached from out-of-state accepted a call to a church in Houston, Texas. Some weeks after he arrived, he had an occasion to ride the bus from his home to the downtown area. When he sat down, he discovered that the driver had accidentally given him a quarter to much change. As he considered what to do, he thought to himself, "You'd better give the quarter back. It would be wrong to keep it." Then he thought, "Oh, forget it, it's only a quarter. Who would worry about this little amount? Anyway, the bus company gets too much fare; they will never miss it. Accept it as a 'gift from God' and keep quiet."

When his stop came, he paused momentarily at the door, and then he handed the quarter to the driver and said, "Here, you gave me too much change...' The driver, with a smile, replies, "Aren't you the new preacher in town?" "Yes" he replied. "Well, I have been thinking a lot lately about going somewhere to worship. I just wanted to see what you would do if I gave you too much change. I'll see you at church on Sunday.

When the preacher stepped off the bus, he literally grabbed the nearest light pole, held on, and said, "Oh God, I almost sold your Son for a quarter."

Our lives are the only Bible some people will ever read. This is a really scary example of how much people watch us as Christians, and will put us to the test! Always be on guard -- and remember -- You carry the name of Christ on your shoulders when you call yourself "Christian."

WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE DONE?

-----------------

I want to ask the true Pray-er's who read this to join in standing and praying with us about our daughter and our son's family. Please go here, my previous post, for details.

SHOW & TELL #2 - Grandfather Clock

This is my 2nd time to participate in Show & Tell Friday this year. Hard to believe it is already May 7th!!! My Romantic Home hosts this fun event. I hope you will go there and see all the other wonderful items that others have chosen to Show & Tell today.

This grandfather clock was given to me by my sweet husband as a Mother's Day gift 33 years ago in 1977.

Although it had set in our entry hall here in Coweta since reestablishing ourselves here in 2005, after our travels around these great United States & Canada, the chiming mechanism was not working.

About 6 weeks ago Mickey took it in to the clock repair "hospital" and so on this Mother's Day, 2010, this beloved clock is now residing in the corner of our living room and chiming out it's beautiful sound every quarter hour and then marking each hour of the day. Nothing like the beautiful sound of chimes and bells.

Thank you honey for this lovely Mothers' Day Gift 2010.

What a wonderful heirloom to someday pass on to our family. Just like our marriage of 51+ years, this clock has weathered the moves, the changes, the adjustments, the good and the bad and is alive and well and still making beautiful music. May it ever be so. I love you!!!!!

SHOW & TELL #1 - Meet Great Grandma Beryl

Show & Tell Friday.....such fun!!! Go here , at My Romantic Home, to find out all about it, participate and visit all the posts showing neat things.

Just a few weeks ago I posted about some of the lovely Christmas decorations that grace our home each year and about the wonderful woman , Great Grandma Beryl, who gifted them to us.

Beryl came to town this week and we were blessed Tuesday to meet her, our son, Marc, & his fiancee, Deann at one of our favorite places, Ol*ive Ga*rden.

Mickey, Deann & I
Beryl, Marc, Deann & I

Would you believe that she is 85 years YOUNG? She is, and will be the first to tell you!!! She is in almost perfect health and full of more vim and vigor than almost anyone I know. What a remarkable woman she is and how blessed we are to have her as part of OUR family.

She was suppose to be in town the week before, but had to cancel due to the rare blizzard we had here Christmas eve. When she arrived and called she said, "I have a little something for you."

I should have known right then that "little something" in Beryls vocabulary is something BIG and GRAND because that's the way she is.

Just look at this wonderful, beautiful, stunning wreath she made for us!!!!! The picture does NOT even begin to do it justice as it glistens like rubies and pearls & gold.

Thank you so much, Beryl. You are the real JEWEL that shines and blesses each & every body you know.

Here I have just opened this beautiful wreath.

More Christmas & A Tribute to Great Grandmother Beryl

For Show & Tell last Friday I shared 2 Nativity Scenes we have; one inside & an outdoor display. Today I want to share another Nativity Scene and a few other special items of Christmas decor that grace our home at this special time of year.

(Clip all pictures to enlarge)

This basket sits in our entry hall on a little magazine rack that had been made for my

father years ago.

The pretty basket.

Then if you look REAL close at the top of it you'll see

this tiny little Nativity Scene. I just love this. Before I retired I always took this item to display on my desk in my office.

Next. this little 2' tall miniature Christmas tree that is also in a little wicker basket. It is just loaded with ornaments of various kinds.


The tip top,

The middle,

The bottom,

The basket.
And here it is at night, plugged in with all the little green lights shining. Not the best picture, but I hope you get the idea!!
This silver & greens display sits in the window sill of our dining area.

Here it is all lite up.

A lovely silver & green center piece.

All four of these lovely items were made by Oksana & Aric's Great Grandmother Beryl and given to us as gifts in various years. This post is a tribute to Great Grandmother Beryl - an amazing, talented, and loving woman. We're glad you are in our lives Beryl.

SHOW & TELL #16 - Nativity Scenes & Santa Clauses

I am finally getting around to posting again on Show & Tell. Please visit My Romantic Home to participate and to see other Show & Tell posts.

I am showing this Nativity Scene mainly because of it's age. I can't remember specifically when we purchased it but I know it was some time in the 60's which would make it over 40 years old. It has been on display in all the homes we have lived in except for the years 1999-2004 when we were traveling in our 5th wheel. When we sold our home and packed up things our oldest daughter, Suzette, asked us for this set which we gave to her to use. When we returned to our home in 2005 I asked for it back!!!!! I couldn't imagine Christmas in my home without it. It will eventually be hers as she has spoken for it. The tallest Shepard is 10" to give you a feel for the size.

I decided to show this when I unpacked it last week to set up. It is in the original, old, tattered box in which it was purchased. When I noticed the price on the bottom of the box I thought it would be interesting.

As you can see it was purchased at Tar*get for the price of $19.99 and it was made in Japan.

Here is our large outdoor Nativity Scene. We only have the 3 pieces, Mary with Baby Jesus, Joseph and one Shepherd. The angel to the right is a permanent item in our yard year round. Mickey always buys a few bales of hay to form a somewhat manger.

These pieces were purchased about 9 or 10 years ago.

This shows it lite up at night. I love this set. We have tried to locate additional figures. that match, to add to it but have been unable to find them.

Our family has always enjoyed decorating at Christmas time with both the main reason we celebrate Christmas - Jesus, but have always been fine with having Jolly Ole St. Nick around too.
This adorable St. Nick was painted by Suzette as a gift to us when she was 19 years old so he's been a family fixture for a long time too. He is solid and weighs 14 lbs and is 15" tall. He greets people in our entry hall.

This wooden Santa being lifted to the roof by the three adorable elves was made for us by our son-in-love, Dave, as a Christmas gift shortly after he and Suzette were married 15 years ago. He is in 2 pieces (in order to be able to store him) and Mickey has to put him together and then mount him as one piece.

The night view.
Mickey use to put lights up all across the roof and around the entire house but he only did the front including the garage and the garage side this year. Last year, due to his heart bi-pass surgery in October we had not outdoor decorations. It's so nice to have them back up this year.



If you'd like to see a Partridge In A Pear Tree wall hanging I did 44 years ago and hang each and every year go here. Go here to see The 12 Days of Christmas tree skirt I did 24 years ago and is still under our tree today. I showed some Vintage Candles I've had for almost 50 years here. These little candles are in various places around our home.

Thanks for letting me share some of our beloved Christmas items that truly have memories and make our house the home it is.

Show & Tell #14 - Prayer Shawl

Happy Friday also means Show & Tell time. Go here to join in the fun and to see the other fabulous Show & Tell items for this week.




Many of you have seen many of my posts about my Angel Collection, including my story of my Littlest Angel on my Side Bar.


I was blessed this week with this beautiful black & white Jewish Prayer Shawl that now graces the entertainment center where I display some of my angels.

Isn't it beautiful? I LOVE it and it is very special because it was given to me at Wednesday night services by a wonderful woman in our church named Kelly.

Now for the rest of the story - or the full story. Monday I was at the church working in The Klothes Kloset and had occasion to go down to the office area of our church. Misty, the Church Secretary was not at her desk so Kelly, the Office Manager was helping me. We were standing in the Pastor's office and he has a beautiful prayer shawl over a book shelf that I was admiring. I told Kelly, "I would love to have one of these prayer cloths." She said, "Well I have a black & white one that Pastor gave me and I would love to give it to you." I was floored, to put it mildly, and said, "Oh No I didn't mean anything like that." She began insisting and I began crying because I was so moved that she would even think or say such a thing.

I was insisting that no, she would NOT give me her prayer shawl. As far as I was concerned that was the end of that and settled.

Wednesday evening I had just sat down in the pew and Kelly comes and sits in the pew in front of me, turns around and hands me this beautiful Black & White Prayer Shawl. After saying, "No" several times I graciously accepted the fact that she truly wanted to bless me with this Prayer Shawl and now I have it is proudly displaying my angels and I will treasure it forever. Kelly, you are one of the many examples in our Church Body that truly has the heart of our Lord Jesus whom we serve. Kelly's only request was that I remember to pray for her!!!

This Prayer Shawl is double special to me because it came from Israel. A place I would love to see and walk where Jesus walked.

Thank you Kelly & may God bless you richly for being such a blessing to me.

Show & Tell #13 - Faithful Servant Project

Joining in at Show & Tell once again at Cindy's. Go here to participate and to read other Show & Tell posts.

My Show & Tell this week is a little different but I think the IDEA is so wonderful that I wanted to TELL it and consequently SHOW what we did.

The TELL: Several weeks ago, during the Sunday morning worship, our church handed out brand new $10 bills to whom ever wished to take one. The object of this was based on the parable of the Talents found in Matthew 25:14-23. Those who wished to participate were to take one of the $10 bills and use it in some way to multiply it. Our church is doing this as a fund raiser to pay down our building debt on the Recreation Center Building at our church.

The SHOW: We took our $10 and bought the ingredients to make a honey dressing using some of Mickey's wonderful honey.

The finished product: OKLAHOMA HONEY MUSTARD DRESSINGS & GLAZE.

(sorry the label didn't show up well it reads "Oklahoma Honey Mustand Dressing & Glaze. Stir well before using")

It turned out wonderfully YUMMY and we were able to turn our $10 into $59. Not a 30 or 100 fold by any means, but just under 6 fold wasn't too bad.

The really wonderful part is, the funds are being matched by a family in our church so our effort will pay off $118 toward the debt on our building.

When we have the grand finale and I know the total amount those participating were able to pay off on this demonstration of the Talents I'll let you know.

SHOW & TELL #12 - Candleholder

Cindy, here,
has taken over for Kelli for Show & Tell and Mr. Linky. Kelli has done such a great job hosting this site and I've enjoyed participating in it with her. I'm sure Cindy will do just as good a job. Thank you Cindy for taking this on so that we have a place to Show & Tell about our things.

Several weeks ago I bought several things at a garage sale for a total of $3.60. One of the items was this 5 candle holder for 25 cents. I loved the shape of it, but as you can see it was in pretty bad shape and looked......ugly

I wanted to give it a sort of silver tone. We had an old can of white spray paint so I decided I might just spray it white, which would go with all different color candles.

The other day I was out for awhile and when I got back home my sweet Mickey said, "Come and look at the candle holder and see if you like it." He had sprayed it very lightly with the white paint, but on top of the black, it had come out exactly the silver toned look I wanted.

I love it!!!

SHOW & TELL #11 - Embroidery

Friday is Show & Tell time at Kelli's. I always enjoy sharing something of mine. Some times new, sometimes old!! Today it is something old.

This is a pair of pillow cases that I embroidered MANY years ago.

I began embroidering at the age of 8 when my parents gave me a sewing box, embroidery hoop, needles, thread and a very simple pattern for my birthday.

I took right to it and loved it and spent many, many pleasant hours embroidering various pieces. As I got older I added counted cross-stitching to my joys.

I wish I could tell you the exact age of this pair of pillow cases but I honestly don't remember exactly when I did them but I know it has to be at least 35 to 40 years ago.

As you can tell, they are in almost perfect condition. Although I did use them once in awhile I have mostly preserve them to be handed down to my children.

Thanks for letting me share yet a little bit more of me and mine with you.

+++++++++++++++++++++

If you have the time, please read the post below on Why I'm Proud To Be An "Okie".