I hope everyone who celebrates Christmas had a wonderful holiday. And maybe Santa was good to you also? (And everyone else is doing well, that is if you don't celebrate Christmas.)
I enjoyed a wonderful holiday with my husband and daughter sharing our family traditions which include making and enjoying a huge Christmas breakfast and eating lots of junk food. We also like to give each other a gift that is a bit of a puzzle.
Here's what I got. Do you know what it is?
It's a bat house which I am quite excited to have. (And I did guess it on my second try) I need to stain (they say black) it and then hang it outside in the spring. We have a huge problem here with local bats dying off from a fungal disease, and the need any help they can get. (For you bat squimers, they do help keep our mosquito population down.) I used to see many over the course of a summer and last summer I saw only 1 or 2. So maybe this will help a little bit.
And here's my husbands. Any ideas? He didn't guess his at all.
You put you cell phone in the slot and this amplifies the sound (like one of those old Victrola speakers). It works really well and he used when he called his mother yesterday and is VERY happy with it.
Plus it's a beautiful piece of artisan work and supports the local crafting community.
Santa was good to me and my husband and my daughter so everyone is happy.
The rest of the weekend was spent visiting my mother
(I know you love seeing photos of my mom Susi)
and also we had a large extended family brunch on Monday with my in-laws. Both were quite fun. My daughter is taking today off and we are heading out for a bit of sale shopping and to meet my husband for lunch, and tomorrow, once life gets quiet again, I need to pick up the house. There are gifts that need to be put away and dog toy fluff (the dogs had a fantastic holiday too-they got toys and treats in their stockings) lurking in the less obvious spots that needs to be vacuumed up. I guess I didn't do a great job getting super heavy duty dog toys this year.
Maddie was rather impatient to get her hat off.
.
As you can see it was a good holiday in my house.
I'll finish off this post with the rest of the photos from this spread in my December journal.
Have a wonderful post holiday day!
16 comments:
Oh Erika!
Firstly thank you for bringing the charming smile of your lovely Mom to me with this nice photo of her! She simply looks AMAZING!
And you all obviously got fantastic gifts - never heard about a bat house...wow! And this cool booster - amazing!
Great that your daughter stayed with you as well and the dogs look very excited with the celebrations!
Wonderful pages in your Dec.Journal Erika!
Here is all well - visited one of my both Dad's yesterday - I had a bit too much vine... and delicious things to eat.
We have some other events this week also...
Great family and friends times!
Wishing you a fantastic day!
Thank you for all the support for ELizabeth's theme this month again! So much appreciated! Your art always makes me happy!
Susi
Wild Birds Unlimited is one of my favorite places, but we don't have a good place for a bat house even though we'd love to try one. The cell phone amplifier is a striking piece. I had no idea such things existed lol It sounds like you've had a fun and busy holiday :) Happy 2nd Day of Christmas!
Sounds like you had a great holiday. I didn’t guess either of those gifts. Very unusual. Have fun shopping today. Hope you find some great bargains.
Looks like you are having a great time. Love that bat house, what a gorgeous idea. And your husband's present is fabulous, too. I've been having a quiet holiday with lots of walks, books and too much food! Hugs, Valerie
It looks like you had a super Christmas Day Erika. The dogs seemed so happy as well with their gifts. Your gifts to each other looked lovely . Really happy photos of your mom as well.
Enjoy the rest of the holidays.
Yvonne xx
First, I love the wonderful photos of your family you shared. Your mother looks happy and bubbly, your daughter looks like she was enjoying herself, and the dogs looked really inquisitive. I can tell you had a wonderful Christmas from all the photos you shared.
Those December pages are really special and enjoyable. What fun to see this book come together. I love, love, love it.
When I lived in MO, my next door neighbor had bats in their attic. You could see them fly out of their chimney at dusk. I NEVER saw a single mosquito. There are no bats in Wichita. Too populated, I suspect. But WOW, do we have the mosquitoes.
Happy belated almost Boxing Day, dear friend.
I forgot to mention, I thought the bat house was a beehive house at first.
Glad you had such a wonderful time with your family! The presents are super, I didn't guess either of them ...lol 😉. I loved seeing all you happy photos too and your journal pages are so festive - perfect! Enjoy your week and sending you happy and creative wishes for the New Year! J 😊 x
Good morning Erika: You obviously had a fine Christmas and I am very happy to see that you received the gift of a bat box. Bats are in serious trouble due primarily to white nose disease, but the death around wind turbines is appreciable also. We hosted Miriam’s daughter, Erin, husband Richard, and the two kids yesterday, and I think we ate enough for a week, and we have leftovers enough for another week! I need to get out and do some serious walking. A little kefir and some blueberries this morning for breakfast. I have to continue like that for a few days. How am I going to resist all that cheese and pâté that is left??
It sounds like a terrific holiday. Love the pic of your mom. And love the idea of the mystery gifts. I never would have guessed a bat house. Or, for that matter, a phone amplifier! That's a stunning piece of work, just as is!
Sounds like loads of fun with family and more to come. Savor every single second!
Soon after Christmas, Japanese people start preparing for the year-end and New Year’s events.
Compared to Christmas, many of these events are based on Japanese tradition and are deeply related to religion.
The end-of-year party is called “bonenkai” in Japanese. “Bonen” means to forget (the worries of) the past year.
People are busy with events on New Year’s Eve.
Sounds as if you had a super Christmas, - always good to bring smiles to people's faces. Some amazing gifts, it will be so interesting to see whether the bats will do better next year.
Great final pages in your journey too and now enjoy some peaceful days!
We had three super busy family days in a row and I now really look forward to some quiet time in my craft space...
Beautiful festive pages Erika! I love the carollers!
Lovely photos, and those gifts look wonderful! Hope you get some nesting bats!
Hugs,
Alison xox
Those were quite the unusual gifts and I would not have guessed their use. Hope the bats will return to devour the mosquitoes.
You have some fun traditions, Erika. I didn't guess either of the puzzle gifts. Santa brought Chris a warm polar fleece shirt because it's quite cold in our house this year. Santa brought us both some socks, which we promptly threw over our shoulders in the tradition of our favorite Christmas movie,"A Christmas Story."
I loved the photo of your dog in his Santa hat and, of course, the ne of your mom.
All the best of the season to you. Hugs, Eileen
I hope your bat box does the job! We have bats both here and at the caravan and I love to see them! The booster looks to be a good idea too!! Glad you had such a great time at Christmas!! Hugs, Chrisx
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