One Busy Week! (and one more Christmas card to show you!)

Wow. It has been one busy, action packed week! I'm sure I'm not alone. Those seven days leading up to Christmas always seem to fill up fast.

We celebrated not one, but two birthdays this week. And on top of it all, I also had an article due on Wednesday. And I had to finish Christmas shopping. And don't forget the grocery store for all the special holiday food.

A lot to do.

And still, these busy days are filled with joy because we are home for the holidays.

So here's what this week looked like:

I adore this lantern I found at Walmart! It was the perfect thing to hang from the shepherd's hook. I added some battery operated candles to it, and it's just the right glow.

We went to see Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Of course.

Sam performed with his jazz band. He's such a talented musician! I'm happy to report that this school had many Christmas carols in the repertoire. Some school systems have winter concerts with no hint of Christmas. Sad. But not this time! yay!

Looking for a quick gift for someone over the holidays? Why not make them a compilation disc of some of your favorite Christmas tunes?

I made this one for Mom and sisters. I didn't have CD cases, and I wasn't sure what to store them in. So I rummaged through the craft room and came up with these SMASH album envelopes. Perfect! I embellished them with die cuts and stamps, and voila!

My little girl turned two this week! In dog years, that means Jemma is fourteen. Uh oh! We now have two teenagers in the house!

It's hard to believe that come Valentine's Day, we will have survived Hurricane Jemma for two years!

She has become a really good girl as she has matured. We do love her so, and she fills our days with lots of laughs. Here she is, cuddled on my lap while I sat reading in the arm chair. Yes, she's an eighty pound lap dog. What can I say? She loves her Mama!

I've been reading this book from the library. So pretty, with lots of photographs and recipes to try.

I stopped by a new bakery/cafe here in Saline. Here's what I discovered:

I can probably pass up bread, no problem. Cheese and dairy? I think I can do without. But cookies? Life without cookies? Nope. Not gonna happen. These shortbread Christmas tree cookies were ah-ma-zing!

I finally got my Christmas cards mailed out. Better late than never, I always say! This is the last card from my "PTI Holiday Folk" series. These cards were a lot of fun to make this year.

My sweet husband is finally home from his week-long retail holiday travels. Our son, John, is on his way home from Indianapolis. And we got another dusting of snow this morning.

White Christmas!

Blessings, cafe friends!