Author Archives: ~~Rhonda

Living in a small town, I share my life with my husband Russell (married in 1977), five children (one still at home), and six cats (one indoors, the others outside).

I teach an online class called “The Christmas Notebook” which is about all things holiday prep. The many facets of celebrating Christmas comprises one of my favorite hobbies. Other favorite things include gardening, reading, cooking, and scrapbooking.

sugarplums

Lindsey and Tricia, this is for you. 🙂 So glad you were able to come yesterday! These sugarplums are delicious and easy to make. I double the following recipe for the open house. Sugarplums * 3/4 c. raisins * 3/4 c. chopped dates * 3/4 c. dried apricots, chopped * 1 c. walnuts * 1 […]

open house

We made it! About 10:00 this morning, I was pretty sure we wouldn’t! I think this year was the hardest to pull together of any we’ve done. I guess renovating, a son’s wedding, and babysitting one year old twins doesn’t help make Christmas prep any easier! But with the tremendous help of my sister Genny […]

a few snapshots from the past few days

Busy! We’ve been *very* busy! Last night, I didn’t have the energy to check email before I went to bed at 12:00. For me, that is tired! 🙂 Here are a few pics from the past few days. Sugarplums Peanut Butter Truffles Genny always decorates the mailbox Young ladies from church came to help. A […]

foam board houses

A few weeks ago, I saw a pretty display in a store. White houses and trees, flat and glittery. I thought, “We could do that!” My sister drew a pattern from the picture I took. She cut the patterns from foam board. The buildings and trees were sprayed with texture paint (which was brown…couldn’t find […]

dd’s room in progress

I know it’s crazy to try to get some of this stuff done before Sunday, but DD has been SO patient and looked so forward to having her room remodeled, that we want to see what we can finish before the open house. The carpenter told us he could have the bed done in time, […]

menu plan monday ~ december 1, 2008

I’ve missed a few weeks of menu posts. I’ve been so busy that by the time I think of it, we’re into Wednesday or Thursday! Made the menus…just didn’t get them here. This week will be *very* busy, with prep for the open house on Sunday. So, easy and quick meals with some crock pot […]

thanks, hgtv!

We’ve redecorated the addition which includes the guest room, and I knew the Christmas tree had to be something other than the Victorian themed tree we’ve had in the past. The new decor is cottage / country. I found a pink tree for DD#3’s room on Ebay, so decided to use her old tree for […]

front door snow

We’ve been very busy here! Getting a lot done, though it always seems there is more to do. Got a long list of “to dos” to go! Today Genny made several runs to Wal-Mart, she decorated the mailbox, we decorated the guest room tree, and this evening, Genny and I made snowflakes for the front […]

tree skirt for the living room tree

The living room ceiling is 12′ tall. The Christmas tree sits on a 2′ tall wooden box to raise the 9′ foot tree to 11′. I had a large piece of fabric that I had draped over the box in years past. This year, I cut it to fit the box and used velcro to […]

dd chose the colors…

In the midst of everything else, we are painting DD’s room. She will be eleven soon and chose these colors. Aqua blue, bubble gum pink, and a touch of lime green. The woodwork will be glossy white. We have a carpenter building a double decker bed (ceilings are 12′). He hopes to have the bed […]