Fleur de Aleta

I love to decorate for the holidays. And I love it even more that Greg enjoys decorating too! The below picture is one of my favorites, mostly because of a conversation: Greg: "What's this?" Me: "It's a salt and pepper shaker." Greg: "Where does the salt and pepper come out?" Me: (giggles) "Look closely." Greg picks up the reindeer, turns them around. I giggle some more, then point to show him... Greg: "Great.. salt and pepper from a reindeer's butt!" Yep, that's right! Greg: "Which one is the boy and which is the girl?" Me: (thoughtful)... "The one with the red nose has to be Rudolph, so that's the boy. Girls like to wear red, so the other one is the girl." Greg: "But they BOTH have antlers!" Me: "They have balls on the antlers, decorated for Christmas. Maybe the girl put on fake antlers to play in the reindeer games." Yes, we actually have conversations like th...

I love sparkly things and Christmas sure brings a lot of that around, from outside lights to Christmas trees. Some years I don’t get to make jewelry for Christmas, because the holiday seems to sneak up on me quickly. This year, though, I was able to get a head start. Here are some jewelry pieces I’ve made recently. I updated my jewelry blog, if you want to see other items – click here .

Do you prefer a color theme for your tree or do you decorate with all sorts of different ornaments? I like to have a mixture of both. Sometimes the main color theme is gold and red, with delicate glass hearts, lots of white lights and various ornaments. This year we don't have one Christmas tree, we have three! Greg and I love the fiber optic trees, because the colors dance and change. The only problem is that there are so many lights, when the tree is on, you won't see any ornaments. We put very simple gold ball ornaments on one of the trees, so that it's not completely barren. But seriously... you can't see the 63 gold balls on the tree when it's lit up! I wondered, "What to do with all those lovely, special ornaments?" Ahhh, I'll get a tree that has no lights, no leaves. It's an iron rod tree with curls on the end to hold the ornaments. The third tree once belonged to my parents. It's also a fiber optic tree, but mostly, it's a poi...

Did you know that there are UTube videos on how to wrap a gift! I think it's cute. I learned how to wrap gifts from my Mom. When I was little, she would fold and I would put the tape on the paper. I don't think she ever realized just how far I'd take the tape stuff. She created a monster... You see, when I wrap a gift, NOBODY'S going to get into it without using a knife or scizzors! Seriously. I don't know why, but I just get a real kick out of taping up every single little edge. I read somewhere, and I shouldn't write this... because... now I'm actually thinking about doing it... The person didn't just put tape on the edges where the paper meets.... but on the ENTIRE wrapped gift. I had to laugh when I read that.. I bet boxing tape, the heavy duty stuff, all the way around the gift. yeahhh... OK, I won't do that, but it is funny! So, how do you wrap or do you use bags mostly? (Whisper - I hope Greg doesn't read this blog post.... one, be...

Do you keep any Christmas decorations up all year long? I know some people who keep their Christmas icicle lights up all year but only turn them on for December. I know a lot of HOA's have attitudes about homes being decorated after the holidays. (Though we've never had any issues with our HOA, at least, that I'm aware of.) One person told me that "you should leave something out that is from Christmas all year long" - someone from high school said that years ago and it made an impression. When Rob and I were younger, we gave my Mom and Dad a lighted ceramic Christmas tree. When my grandmother came to live with my parents, Mom and Dad kept the little ceramic Christmas tree out and it stayed lit. It was the "night light" in the family room all year long for as long as Nana (my grandmother) stayed with my parents.... when my grandmother passed away, Mom and Dad turned off the Christmas lights. Very symbolic... Christmas... Love... and respect of Nana...

Christmas ~ sharing time with family and friends. This past weekend, Greg and I attended two different church services. The first was for the St. John Prep Alumni Association. Greg graduated from St John Prep. When he attended, the current Archbishop was one of Greg’s teachers. It was nice to see Archbishop Aymond at the service, along with the camaraderie among the various alumni. There’s a sense of respect and sincerity with the guys, no matter what year they graduated in.. The second church function was held at St Stephen’s ~ Kristen and Bill had their marriage blessed. It was a lovely ceremony. I got teary eyed as they repeated their wedding vows. Afterwards, we went to Kristen and Bill’s home for a barbecue supper. Greg and I were made to feel very welcome with the family members there. It was lovely to share in their joyful memories. (Greg took video snippets of the ceremony on his iPhone and I merged the snippets with a couple of pictures that I took on my iPhone - s...

Greg put on Christmas music in the car when he "kidnapped" me. He told me to wear something Christmasy and we were going out. He wouldn't tell me where we were going, but we were both donned in red and a twinkle in our eyes. Greg drove me through neighborhoods, as if to say, "We are just going to see lights." Which I was happy to do as well, but I knew he was teasing me and there had to be something more... He had tickets to the music of the LPO (Louisiana Philharmonics Orchestra), coupled with various choirs from schools and colleges. There was even a section of "sing along" for the audience to participate in and a "story telling" of the Night Before Christmas. I loved it! What a sweet, thoughtful and romantic way to welcome the Christmas season. While we were there, I recorded a few snippets on Greg's iPhone.. (The clip below seems to be cut off on the right side, if you want to see it from uTube, click here)

You know how a smell can bring back a memory? Greg loves the smell of cookies baking in the kitchen. It reminds him of when he would go over to his grandmother's house and they would have cookies. I bought a sugar cookie candle for him. (And just to torture myself, I bought a mint chocoloate chip candle for me.) Christmas brings lots of memories from the nose too.. the mix of pine, cinnamon, cookies, marshmellows in the fireplace, poinsettias, peppermints, vanilla, pumpkin pies..Oh! and eggnog :) All of those delicious family recipes when everyone gatherings together ~ you can smell it before you even walk in the door - greeting and waiting for you. All of a sudden, I'm hungry.

"Did we get any mail today?" It's a question asked from time to time. If it's not junk mail, then it's bills. But during Christmas time ~ it's completely different! The mailbox delivers gifts of good tidings in envelopes, sometimes with glitter on them, sometimes there's a letter updating on the year's recap, but always bringing a smile. On December 1st, we received our first Christmas card from a good friend in Texas! How exciting! Christmas cards make me smile. Oh sure, it takes time to write out the addresses and all, but it's so worth it, knowing that it made someone else smile, wishing them joy and happiness! If you'd like to be added to my Christmas card list, drop me an email at aleta.grimball@gmail.com And, if you'd like to participate in "Holiday Mail for Heroes" - below is the address. Holiday Mail for Heroes is sponsered by American Red Cross. You mail Christmas cards to the address and American Red Cross distrib...

And Prancer and Vixen, Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen. But do you recall.... The most famous reindeer of all? Ok, the above picture doesn't look like the Rudolph of our childhood. The other night, Greg and I turned on the Christmas tree and surfed the channels for Christmas shows. Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer was on and yes, two adults - we watched it. The graphics were old and the story retold so many times... but we watched it to the end and enjoyed it. It's one of the joys of Christmas ~ you can embrace the spirit of childhood memories, cartoons and all. Christmas allows us to see the world through the eyes of a child. I think that's called "hope." Then one foggy Christmas Eve Santa came to say, "Rudolph with your nose so bright Won't you guide my sleigh tonight?" Then all the reindeer loved him And they shouted out with glee, "Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer You'll go down in history!"

I'm trying to stick with a theme for a month. Thanksgiving's "grateful" theme.. well, I fell very short of it, though I have so many things I'm grateful for :) I'm trying to get back on track with blogging and starting a new theme. Reasons I love Christmas - that's what I'm going to write about I'll start it off by repeating something Greg said... "Aleta, I know what makes you happy.... doing things for other people." He said this after we went Christmas gift shopping and not long after having friends over for dinner. Is it doing for other people or making people happy? I like seeing people happy and... when people are in the Christmas spirit, they are happy. I love that about Christmas, people share smiles, even with strangers :) (You might barely be able to see it, but that's snow on my blog ;)