A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS

This year my table setting for dinner on Christmas Day was my favorite decoration. Grace helped me set the table and she wrote the placecards.

My favorite event was taking Grace to The Nutcracker. It is our annual event and we both love it. Jim thinks it is a bit too much dancing and I have to remind him it's a ballet! This year we weren't going until the last performance and we did not want to take a chance that they would be sold out of nutcrackers so we made a special trip on Friday after school to get her nutcracker, another tradition we have started. She couldn't decide which one she wanted so the perffect solution was to buy both. And then Papa saw another one at the mall later that evening - so three nutcrackers were added to the collection this year.

And my favorite gift was a pink 4-wheeler!

AN UNCERTAIN FUTURE

Before Jim and I married he warned me that he was so unlucky that if he bought a funeral home people would quit dying! I thought it was funny at the time but over the years I started to wonder about his "luck". It never seemed to fail that whatever Jim bought or did there was always a problem. Everything from cars and motorhomes to missing parts, something was always wrong. But we always joked that he could count on two things to work right - his '97 Ford pickup and me. We never let him down. Well, last week he sold his pickup. It had 135,000 miles on it. I don't exactly know how many miles there are on me and I admit I have slowed down a bit the last couple of years so I have to wonder what my future holds.

GRACE'S CHRISTMAS PARTY

Each year I have a Christmas party for Grace and her friends. When Grace got here she put on her lipstick and gloves and checked out the table which I had decorated with carousels from my collection. We then discussed the proper way to greet guests, where to put their coats and a few house rules. As each girl arrived I took her picture with Grace and Mirabella, the snowgirl. They decorated a perma-coated plate and had dessert. Jim even got into the action when the girls decided he needed to wear the reindeer antlers!

THE STOCKINGS ARE HUNG

Last year Grace fell in love with my Christmas stocking. It is a simple off white satin with lace trim around the top. I then put several rhinestone pins, vintage and new, on the stocking to dress it up. Jim's stocking I made from black velvet and vintage ties, along with an initialed tie tac. They look rather nice on our fireplace and Grace thought she should have one too. And of course I thought so as well and I promised her I would make her one for this year.

During the month of December we like to give her a few small gifts throughout the month. This way she can enjoy each gift and not be overwhelmed with so many things at once. Saturday after her party she spied the two packages under the tree and knew they were for her. She opened her stocking first and was so excited. She really was thrilled and kept saying it was beautiful. She especially liked the pearls and the the fluer-de-lis pin. (She is very interested in all things French! Some little girls want to go to Disney World- Grace wants to go to Paris!)