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.

ornament garland

After seeing an ornament garland on the blog Pretty Quirky, I decided to make some for my scrapbook/crafting room. My sister Genny loves shopping thrift stores, so she began scouring them for shiny ball ornaments. Except for a few ornaments DH bought near the end of the project, all the ornaments used were thrifted. I […]

open house 2011

Our annual Christmas open house was yesterday. The weather was wet and chilly, with light rain during the first part of the afternoon. It didn’t dampen the holiday spirit, though! We had a wonderful time with 195 guests signing in. We are told each year that this party begins the Christmas season for many of […]

a few pictures from today

Today was very busy! Genny and the family worked hard today, decorating and cleaning. I spent all day in the kitchen, dipping truffles. Raspberry, mocha, chocolate cream, Oreo peppermint, plain Oreo, peanut butter, and strawberry cheesecake truffles. These are the chocolate peanut butter truffles. The centers are dipped in chocolate, then in almond bark. Our […]

candy cane tree

Two of my daughters worked on this tree. After the fourth tier was done, DD wasn’t sure how to finish the top, so I did that part. It will stand on a candlestick…haven’t decided which one yet. I saw two similar to it at “Making the Moments that Matter.” ~~Rhonda

living room tree

We finished the living room tree today. It’s a nine-foot tree and sits on a two-foot box. This tree has red beads, popcorn and cranberry strings, and multi-colored lights. It displays all the family ornaments, the kids’ collections, and the ornaments they have made through the years. It also gets a final twinkle of tinsel. […]

some new decorations this year

I will have more to say (and show) about our new decorating projects at a later date. We’ve been too busy for me to take time to post, but here are a few pictures to whet your appetite. A glass ornament mobile in the hall bath upstairs. The iridescent balls remind me of soap bubbles. […]

our Christmas letter

Merry Christmas, Family and Friends! We pray this finds you well and enjoying God’s many good gifts and blessings. In January, we savored a week of lovely weather in Florida, while home was hit with an ice storm. We were glad to get reports from friends that all was well at our house, though we […]

menu plan monday ~ November 14, 2011

We’re knee-deep in Christmas boxes and decorations. Most of the trees are up…three to go, I think. I have a lot of pictures to share, but will start with this one of the grands and get the menu up before it’s too late to post it. The twins wanted toast for breakfast, so we dolled […]

birthday girls

Our son and his family came over for supper this evening. We celebrated the twins fourth birthday. I was frosting the cakes when they walked in. Excitement reigned! But they were adamant! NO flowers on the cakes! I was lucky to get them to relent to my using any other color but their favorites…blue and […]

menu plan monday ~ November 7, 2011

And now they’re four! Sissy made cupcakes for them on their birthday. The whole family is coming Tuesday evening for supper and I’m making birthday cake for dessert. Should be fun. Monday Hamburgers Homemade Buns Chips Celery / Carrot Sticks Tuesday Fried Chicken Oven Fried Potato Wedges Broccoli Corn Green Salad Birthday Cake and Ice […]