December, my favorite month :-)

This fun video features my family and I breaking a Christmas dance :-)
We wish everybody a Happy Holiday Season and a Very Blessed New Year!

I wish I could dance like this in real life....

Happy mail from dear friends

This month has been a fun and festive one..It was easy to get out and about because of gorgeous weather...

While walking the mall with my friend Kim, we passed this Santa having a wee bit of down time :-)

Then we visited a Build a Bear Shoppe..

I had so much fun building this teddy bear fairy for my granddaughter Caroline....Her name is "Snuggles"....Press on snuggle's paw and hear my voice recording saying " Grandma and Grandpa love you Caroline".
There is also a tiny velvet heart that I "wished upon" before it was sewn inside of Snuggles's chest..I hope my wishes come true for Caroline!
I went a little crazy buying several different outfits so that Caroline will have fun changing Snuggles's look..  ;-)

Even though I'm in the midst of winter holiday preparations, I like to get out of the house for my daily walks to clear my head...I enjoy many pretty views of our landscapes / seascapes .. It rarely looks like Winter in my neck of the woods ( Upper Texas Coast ), even in December....

Because we have little to no winter season during December, I have to get creative in order to keep my Christmas spirit strong..
Decorating my house for the holidays while sipping coffee from one of my Christmas mugs makes me smile..This year I decided to decorate my small wire Christmas tree doggie themed...

My sweet Simon loves to supervise me when I decorate, craft, write, crochet, play :-)

I LOVE hanging out with my besties :-) We meet for coffee weekly at our local mall...

Holiday cheer from my good friends Michelle, Kim and Nadine makes my heart full..
A snowman cookie makes my tummy full!

Christmas celebration with my kids and sweet granddaughter Caroline :-)

Part of me regrets putting my voice recording in Snuggles...As Christmas Day progressed, I saw Ben ( my younger son - Caroline's dad ) pressing on the bear's chest to find ways to mute the voice player..Oh, well..Payback for the years he drove me nuts as a teen, when he practiced on his drums in the living room, lol..

For post Christmas festivities, Chris ( my older son ), Gary and I squeezed in an afternoon at the movies / bowling, before Chris left town to go back home..

The first time I bowled in 20 years..I felt like I had pretty good control of my ball, but my form was very awkward, lol :-)

Needless to say, December 2018 has been good....



2019 will be a challenging year for me, drastic changes in my life are already beginning to unfold...

Enjoy right where you are at....

How sweet the morning air is....

I am grateful that I have caring family and friends, they are my biggest blessings...



A birthday sonnet an old friend wrote to me :-)
2018 Birthday Sonnet

Let us be grateful...

I love November! I feel more alive with the Autumn chill..

Lately, I have taken to wandering, exploring the local trails and parks

• Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom ~Marcel Proust~

"Joy is the simplest form of gratitude.” – Karl Barth

“You cannot do a kindness too soon because you never know how soon it will be too late.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air..

~Ralph Waldo Emerson~

"The beauty of a morning glory is the patience of its wait for the sun to rise in the morning.."

~Mary Kate~ 

“Thanksgiving creates abundance.”

– Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts 

Not what we say about our blessings, but how we use them, is the true measure of our thanksgiving.”
– W.T. Purkiser

“We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.”
– Thornton Wilder, The Woman of Andros 

A heavenly Thanksgiving Eve sunrise

To close out the holiday weekend(and the month of November), I plan to abandon a scarf that I crocheted..

On Friday, Nov 23rd, I will place this scarf in a safe spot frequented by lots of people (shopping mall or park)..It will be wrapped and tagged, identifying it as a free abandoned piece of art..This is the group I joined
Flood the Street with Art VI

I want to do this post and random act of kindness /art abandonment in honor of a dear artist friend/pen pal who very recently lost her father..

I like the excitement of getting ready for the winter holidays...I LOVE spending time with my family near and far..We celebrate our blessings and the fact that we have each other in our lives..We also remember our loved ones who are not able to be with us...



linking up with  Anna-Nuttall-bloggers-link-up

Greeting the sunrise

It has been many moons since I last visited Armand Bayou Nature Center..
They offer monthly guided sunrise / sunset photo walks ( register ahead of time, pay $10.00 per outing ) from September thru April..
This morning was a heavenly day to go on one of these walks :-)




Go to the people and places that ignite a spark in your body, mind, soul...

It is your time to shine...


When I’m out in nature, I can take a deep breath and smile..

I opened two gifts this morning, they were my eyes..
~Zig Ziglar~

When spider webs unite, they can tie up a lion
~African Proverb ~

What sunshine is to grass, smiles are to humanity...
~Joseph Addison~

It's easy to be grateful for a pretty day :-)

   

• I like the muted sounds, the shroud of mist, that comes with fog. ...

Morning Star

"Good morning. Life is like a mirror: it will smile at you if you smile at it"

"With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts."

"An early-morning walk is a blessing for the whole day." – Henry David Thoreau

"Opportunities are like sunrises. If you wait too long, you miss them." – William Arthur Ward

"The sun is but a morning star." – Henry David

Early morning, is my favorite time of day, especially if I’m not in a hurry..
I like to sit quietly on the patio and collect my thoughts over a cup of hot black coffee..It is relaxing to watch Simon happily chase squirrels or look for the perfect spot to take care of business..
Most mornings a mockingbird will perch nearby and sing to us..
These simple things often make me smile  :-)

Summer Fun

The last few days have shown me that the dog days of summer are becoming less relentless..The past three days have brought nice breezes and clouds both of which I enjoy during a walk outdoors :-)
Hopefully my newfound motivation to get out and about in nature, with my camera, will last...

This cloud looks like a snow man and a snow woman are dancing the tango..The snow woman(left) is wearing bunny ears.