Elvis is in the House!

That is Elvis our adopted Elf on a Shelf. He arrived last year and it has been great finding him every morning after he has reported into Santa.  Here are pictures of his recent places.

He decided to hang out by the kids papers

Checking out what we've been up to this year.

Chilling in my stocking. The kids are convinced this means Santa won't bring me anything.

Joining the Nutcracker Army

Peeking through the kitchen opening.

Part of our Family tree

Driving Diego's Jeep

Enjoying my wooden shoe

Trying to call St. Nick. (Yes the photo is flipped, this  picture would not cooperate.) 

It could always be worse......

That is true, it could always be worse. However, that does not make what someone is going through at the moment insignificant. Many people don't realize that by just uttering that phrase you could make someone who is going through something tough feel worse. Why are we not allowed to moan, complain, cry, get angry, etc about our problems? Yes there are worse things, yes there are people worse off, but that does not make our problems go away. So the next time someone you know is going through something,  don't automatically say that phrase.  Sometimes people just need to know that you care no matter how trivial you feel their problem is.

Another quilt

I had a baby shower for friends and wanted to make them something special for their special little boy. So off to the fabric store I went. I found a few things that I liked and then discovered a monkey fabric on a blue teal background. It was so cute and perfect. (I later found out that it was actually the theme for the nursery, I had not known because I never looked at the registry.) So I got some coordinating solid teal fabric, a light yellow striped fabric and off I went. I was quite happy with how it turned out. I have such a hard time getting the sizes right, so this turned out quite large, but at least it was a little on the big size than small, right?

3 coordinating burp rags. 

I thought about you yesterday......

Who am I kidding? I think about you every day, multiple times a day for that matter. For the most part I think of good times, the love you had for us and how much you loved your grandkids. I think about the food you made, how you were always there if I needed to talk. (Let's face it, that was a lot of times.) I still to this day, 2 years, 7 months and 12 days later go to call and tell you something. I just recently changed the names on phone to Dad because every time Mom calling would pop up a little hole would be punctured in my heart.  There are days that the memories of your final days are first and foremost in my mind and even I can't stop them, so I  don't. I see you as clear as if it was happening again laying in that bed dying and praying to God for some sort of miracle that never came.  That last day where the light had just gone out of you, my world stopped spinning. I was forever changed. It is still too hard to imagine a world where you don't exist. There are days that I regret the kids not coming to see you at the hospital, or your home or at the funeral home to say goodbye, but I quickly push these aside. I do NOT want my kids to remember their Grandmother like that. It is so hard for me to forget it and I would never want to put that kind of pain on such little kids.  I did what you asked, your last "command" as my Mom to not bring the kids to see you like that. As always, you were more wise than anyone I know.  I recently went to a baby shower for a beautiful baby boy and the pain of you being gone was there. It drove with me to the shower and sat with me while I tried to have a good conversation with the other guests. It was not that I was sad about the shower, rather the fact that you could not share in the joy. You would have known most of the people there since you grew up with them. I am no longer just Holly that is all grown up, I am Holly, Ida's daughter and then comes the look of sadness for me because they know you are gone.  I am so happy that I got to have such a great mom and that we had such a great bond. I feel so bad for those friends who can't connect with their moms the way we did. I just pray that I am as good as a mom as you were and that I can have the same relationship with my daughters.

No truer words were spoken as these;


It's so curious:  one can resist tears and 'behave' very well in the hardest hours of grief.  But then someone makes you a friendly sign behind a window, or one notices that a flower that was in bud only yesterday has suddenly blossomed, or a letter slips from a drawer... and everything collapses.  ~Colette

Chocolate Coated Popcorn

I admit, when I first found this recipe I was a bit thrown off, but let me tell you it is the best sweet and salty mix ever! So I decided to share this super easy recipe.

First off all the ingredients
2 packages microwave popcorn popped and all the kernels  removed(you wouldn't want to bite down on one of those babies)

I just used cheap butter flavored popcorn.

1 package of candy melts, any color.

I used Wilton's Orange Candy melts. 

Another coordinating color of candy melts. 

I used Wilton's Dark Chocolate to stick with the Halloween theme.

I only used about a cup of it. 

Assorted Sprinkles. I could not find my Halloween Sprinkles, so I just used some Wilton Rainbow Chip sprinkles. 

Now the Directions.

Place the popcorn in a large bowl.  Melt the bag of candy melts according to the directions. (The best way I found is to do it in the microwave according to the directions.) Pour melted candy over the popcorn and mix well. Your hands work the best, Allison had a great time doing this part!  Spread mixture onto two cookie sheets lined with wax or parchment paper.  Melt the other candy melts and drizzle all over the popcorn. Sprinkle on what ever sprinkles you want to use at this point also. Let set until firm, about 30 minutes. Place into a bowl and serve. It can be stored in ziploc bags for 2 days. 

Nice and melted

Getting ready to mix up.

I used a squeeze bottle to drizzle the melted candy, but a baggie  would work fine.

Yummy!