Merry Christmas

From The TeaMouse Family To
You and Yours
Wishing you a very Merry Christmas
and a
Wonderful New Year!

Christmas Tree/Decorating Extravaganza

I'll leave this post up at the top through Christmas - stop by and visit these sites and see some beautiful Christmas trees and decorating. If you have pictures up on your blog of your tree or your house decorated please leave a comment and I'll link you up here.

Pour yourself a cup of cocoa, eggnog or some other Christmas cheer and visit everyone and say Merry Christmas.

Here is my Sister's Tree

Here is a picture of mine lit up

1.Lovin Comfort Knits - I've never seen a tree decorated in silver and blue, but it's simply gorgeous! She also has a Gingerbread Parade to view.

2. Colours of Dawn - She has a Thursday Thirteen of her Winter holiday decorations.

3. Cura Animarum - DH's post is up with pics of our tree and our Nativity Scenes.

My Snowmen & Other Christmas Ornaments

Thursday Thirteen #35 Christmas Fun

Merry Christmas - I scoured the www and found out some fun sites for you to check out, enjoy!

1. Can you guess these Christmas Carols from the pictures - great to print off for a Christmas party.

2. Another Christmas Carol quiz - guess these ones from a short descriptive sentence...also great for a Christmas social.

3. Christmas Carols - Ever want to do a sing-a-long and you can't remember the words. Here are the lyrics for several Christmas carols.

4. Christmas fun- Games, puzzles, jokes and more.

5. Christmas Crafts for kids - Have some kids to keep busy, here are a few fun crafts that they might enjoy.

6. Northpole - This site has it all from recipes to crafts and more.

7. Fun Christmas Coloring Pages

8. Elf Yourself - or your friends

9. Decorate and send a free Ecard

10. Christmas Movie List - with reviews

11. Wife Saver Breakfast recipe

12. Homemade Gift Ideas - Still have someone to get a gift for, check out some of these unique ideas and avoid the crazy shopping malls.

13 Pop Bubble Wrap - Looking for a stress buster? Why not go and pop some bubble wrap with this virtual bubble wrap popping site.


Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!
The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted! View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Afghan Complete

I am going to have to take a lint brush to this - but it's done..yay!!! I love the colour combination and I'm sure he will too. This is the afghan I made for my DS for Christmas. Now I am almost there just one more pair of pocketbook slippers and I'm finished.

Tree Show and Tell!

This is our tree - I just bought this one this year. Please dis-regard the knotty pile of yarn on the half wall. My rotten lovely dog Oliver got into some cotton yarn and he did that to it.
So here our tree sits and waits for Christmas Eve before it will guard all of our gifts. This is a first, usually the gifts go under right away. I wanted to do it different this year so the gifts will go under on Christmas Eve. The tree skirt I crocheted about 10 years ago - I suppose I should get another one of these days.

My DH posted more pics of our family creche if you want to see them pop over and visit. He also has a great You Tube video up from the movie The Nativity.

So are you going to show everyone your tree?

If you do show your tree please leave a comment and I'll pop by to see it.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Humor and Frustration

Ok first some Christmas Humor:

A little boy named Tommy wanted a red wagon for Christmas.
He thought and thought about how he could write a letter to Santa.
He thought about this a lot, he didn't want to leave anything to chance so
he decided he'd write his letter to Jesus instead.
He started off like this "Dear Jesus, if you give me a red wagon for
Christmas. I will be good for one whole year." As he wrote the words down
he began to think, a year is equal to 365 days. I've never been good that long
before. He started again. "Dear Jesus, if you give me a red wagon for Christmas
I'll be good for a whole month." Again he thought to himself a month is
really a long time. It was a month until Christmas and that seemed like it was
very far away. He erased and started over. "Dear Jesus, if you give me a red
wagon for Christmas, I'll be good for one whole week." Now Tommy was getting nervous
after all the thoughts of behaving, he'd never been that good at behaving. He tried again.
"Dear Jesus, I would like a red wagon for Christmas. If you give me a red wagon, I promise
to be good for one ENTIRE day!" Phew, he was certain he could do it and then he remembered
how he always got into some trouble every day and he always heard "TOMMMMMY" at least
once a day. Ok, he had it now the perfect plan.
He went downstairs to the living room and carefully took the Mary statue that they
kept on the prayer table. He wrapped it carefully in some towels and he began to write again.
"Dear Jesus, if you ever want to see your mother again, you'll make sure I have a red
wagon under the tree for Christmas, signed Tommy."


Now for the frustration.

I was almost finished my DS's afghan last night - just 3 rows to go and I ran out of one of the colours. I didn't just run out of any colour - oh no! I ran out of the colour that I have to buy a whole pound of yarn for....lucky me! I guess I'll be doing some more black projects in the future.

PocketbookSlipper

Yep, that's what it looks like when it's off the foot, does it look like a slipper...lol?
I made this pair for my Granny.

Holiday Eating 101

I got this emailed to me and I just had to share it with you all....eat, enjoy and be merry!

Holiday Eating Tips

1. Avoid carrot sticks. Anyone who puts carrots on a holiday buffet table knows nothing of the Christmas spirit. In fact, if you see carrots, leave immediately. Go next door, where they're serving rum balls.

2. Drink as much eggnog as you can. And quickly. Like fine single-malt scotch, it's rare. In fact, it's even rarer than single-malt scotch. You can't find it any other time of year but now. So drink up! Who cares that it has 10,000 calories in every sip? It's not as if you're going to turn into an eggnog-alcoholic or something. It's a treat. Enjoy it. Have one for me. Have two. It's later than you think. It's Christmas!

3. If something comes with gravy, use it. That's the whole point of gravy. Gravy does not stand alone. Pour it on. Make a volcano out of your mashed potatoes. Fill it with gravy . Eat the volcano. Repeat

4. As for mashed potatoes, always ask if they're made with skim milk or whole milk. If it's skim, pass. Why bother? It's like buying a sports car with an automatic transmission.

5. Do not have a snack before going to a party in an effort to control your eating. The whole point of going to a Christmas party is to eat other people's food for free. Lots of it. Hello?

6. Under no circumstances should you exercise between now and New Year's. You can do that in January when you have nothing else to do. This is the time for long naps, which you'll need after circling the buffet table while carrying a 10-pound plate of food and that vat of eggnog.

7. If you come across something really good at a buffet table, like Frosted Christmas cookies in the shape and size of Santa, position yourself near them and don't budge. Have as many as you can before becoming the center of attention. They're like a beautiful pair of shoes. If you leave them behind, you're never going to see them again.

8. Same for pies. Apple. Pumpkin. Mincemeat. Have a slice of EACH. Or if you don't like mincemeat, have two apples and one pumpkin. Always have three. When else do you get to have more than one dessert? Labor Day?

9. Did someone mention fruitcake? Granted, it's loaded with the mandatory celebratory calories, but avoid it at all cost. I mean, have some standards.

10. One final tip: If you don't feel terrible when you leave the party or get up from the table, you haven't been paying attention. Re-read the above tips; start over, but hurry, January is just around the corner.

Remember this motto to live by:

"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, martini in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO HOO what a ride!"

Have a great Christmas & Holiday Season!

Janey's New Cloth...

I don't know if anyone has ever been so happy to receive a consolation as Janey was. She has posted some pics of her 'pity rag' and she doesn't even want to use it to wash dishes...my goodness! I am so happy that she likes the cloth - I tried a new pattern and it was a lot of fun to make it. Check out her blog if you want to see what I sent her and congratulate her on her win.

Thursday Thirteen #34 - All about Christmas

With 12 days to Christmas here are some of my favorite Christmas foods, memories and more!

1. I love homemade cabbage rolls. When I grew up my mom would make them with rice and hamburger and if we were lucky sour cabbage. When I met my DH his family prepared them a more traditional Ukranian way of just rice, onion and butter for filling. His mom cuts the cabbage leaves in half and she rolls up the tiniest cabbage rolls ever and they just melt in your mouth!

2. Perogies are another family favorite. My favorite way is with cheese and potato but I have bought some from the Ukranian Co-Op that had just cottage cheese and they were quite good. Homemade is best followed by homemade ones purchased at the co-op and if all else fails Cheemo are really good for store bought.

3. Christmas music. I love listening to Christmas music. This year I tried to listen to it in November and I just didn't enjoy it, I've been listening to some daily since the beginning of December and it's so relaxing.

4. Baking -Whether I'm making it or eating it, it's good fun. My favorite Christmas baking has got to be Jam Jam's followed closely by butter tarts and whipped shortbread.

5. Snow - It's beautiful and relaxing to watch fall softly down and it's a lot of fun to get out and enjoy by going tobogganing or even just a walk in the park. I love to hear the snow crunch under my boots...lol.

6. Gift giving is so much fun. I love to watch people open their gifts and see the reaction on their faces - it's the best feeling ever.

6. My favorite gift as a child was the box of barbie clothes that my mom had sewed for me. I was thrilled with all the outfits. My Barbie was the envy of all my friends when I brought her trunk full of clothes along to play.

7. The year I disliked Christmas the most was the year I turned 15. I remember sitting at the table and thinking I have no Christmas spirit - I was truly a grinch that year. It must have been a teenaged moody thing.

8. I love Christmas stockings - it's one of my favorite parts of Christmas morning. Santa wraps up each item individually and it's a lot of fun to open and watch everyone open theirs.

9. Hearing everyone say Merry Christmas after Midnight mass and sending and receiving Christmas cards.

10. Cold winter nights snuggled up inside where it's warm watching Christmas movies!

11. Decorating! I'll never forget the first time I saw DH's parent's home all decorated for Christmas. It was a truly amazing site. It looked like the North Pole. We carried on this tradition and one year we had my Granny over and she was thrilled with all the decorations and she said it really was a Christmas wonderland!

12. The Annual Christmas Light Drive - this was/is always good fun!

13. All the quality family time - dinner with family - Christmas parties with friends and co-workers all the wonderful merriement that goes along with the Christmas season. Family game time as we play games on Christmas day as the smell of turkey roasting wafts through the air....good times indeed.

I wish you and your's a very Merry Christmas !

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!
The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted! View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Recipe Review

My Jam Jam's were a success, just like Granny used to make! They are lighter than I remember, I was supposed to use golden corn syrup and I thought I needed white - but they still taste the same. I know they're not Christmas shaped but when I was little my Granny had cookie cutters in the shapes of diamonds, spades, hearts and clubs and that's what she used to make her jam jam's, so these remind me a lot of her. I told her I was bringing her some Christmas baking and she's really looking forward to it. I also want to try to make some of the fudge she used to make when I was little. She always had fudge at Christmas.

If you like Ginger Snaps at all - you must make these. I have never made them before but I'm sure glad I tried the recipe - they are so easy to make and they taste delicious! They look just like store bought ones when they are done - too easy! I may make another batch before Christmas yet, they are very popular at our house.

Tonight I'm going to make some chocolate no-bake's - I have to search for a recipe as Oliver ate the cookbook that had the recipe in them. I also plan on making Rice Krispie treats with red and green rice krispies.

Are you feeling like a Grinch?

Are you feeling at all Grinch-like this year? If so pop on over to Grinch Name - Discover your true Grinch Name mine is Frownymonster Wickedpoop! That sounds terrible doesn't it! I have to admit I had Grinch like feelings this weekend. With a hormonal teenager coming at me it was hard to stay in the Christmas mood - I didn't get any of my baking done that I had planned to do. I don't know why I let her get to me like that? I have to keep myself going regardless of if she is unraveling.

For more holiday fun you can Elf Yourself or Scrooge Yourself...using photos of those you know you can create a little holiday fun, my mom had sent me an email with us in it and it is hilarious - she even had Oliver as an elf. It's some innocent Christmas fun from Office Max.

I did however finish up a lot of projects and get the ends weaved in on a lot of them(why oh why do I save that for the end) - I found a ball of Navy dishcloth cotton when I was out shopping on Saturday...that was the highlight of the shopping trip. I have been wanting to make a ballband dishcloth in the Edmonton Oiler colours of Navy and Orange. I was beginning to think this wouldn't happen as I didn't want to do anymore yarn orders before Christmas. I looked all over town at all the LYS and Michaels and there they were sitting at Zeller's of all places.....lol!

I finished that cloth for my BIL and I did another 12 rows on my DS's afghan - only 23 more to go!!! I started another pair of pocketbook slippers for my Granny and I weaved in the ends and sewed the pair up for my mom. Someone had suggested they were called pocketbook because they can fit in your pocket...that could very well be as they are very transportable. I just love knitting them and soon I'll make myself a pair.

Tonight I'll get some more of my baking done. I popped over to Jean Pare's website as I've since lost my Cookie cookbook of hers and my kids really want jam jams (these are such a good cookie, and they are great to fill up the cookie jar - use your favorite jam in between, I always use Raspberry) and I"m also making DH's favorite of Ginger Snaps and I may even make some Sugar Cookies and ice them with colored whipped cream cheese icing and lastly I will whip up a batch of the Chocolate No Bakes (I don't use peanut butter when I make them, but you can try it and see if you like it) ....phew! Now I won't get this all done tonight...but maybe I can make two at least.

I say Merry Christmas!

I'm getting plain tired of this 'Happy Holiday' BS - let's call the 'holiday' what it is for pete's Christmas it just becomes nothing. You could then choose any day and exchange gifts, eat turkey etc.

I was watching a t.v. movie last night and I noticed the station ran a little "Happy Hanukkah" splash between commercials. That's great, and if it's ok to say Happy Hanukkah, then why is it not ok to say Merry Christmas.

Why do I offend when I refer it by its name rather than this politically correct terminology? Are you really bothered of I say Merry Christmas and you don't celebrate it...likewise should I be offended that the t.v. station chose to splash a 'happy hanukkah' message while I was watching a t.v. program...after all I don't celebrate hanukkah.

I absolutely refuse to purchase a Christmas card that says 'Happy Holidays' instead of Merry Christmas - let's not forget what it is we are celebrating and why we celebrate. If you are not Christian and don't believe that Christ was born then why are you celebrating Christmas? You may as well create your own holiday like they did on one Seinfeld episode in which they celebrated the Festivus holiday.

If it's true what they say about Christmas shopping being the main revenue source for retailers then by gosh and by golly they should call the holiday what it is. Instead of trying not to offend non-Christians alike they are in effect offending all the Christians who celebrate CHRISTmas!

Pocket Book Slipper Progress

I finished one of the slippers I'm making for my DD last night. I decided to add a button hole on the strap and attach a button. I'm very happy with how they turn out, except I have big feet that are wide and for me it's a task to get them to fit so I may have to make mine a bit larger if I can figure out how to do so. This green is one of the colours in the afghan I made her for Christmas.

I worked on the one for my DS last night and I have about 20 rows left to go and it's done...thank goodness. I'll take updated pictures of it's progress later today. It's grown a lot since and I love how the colours are working up together.

Thursday Thirteen # 33 - what I've been up too lately

Life has been crazy busy and I just haven't gotten around to blogging like I usually do and I just haven't felt so creative, so to save you from horrendously boring posts I've been doing all this other stuff:

1. Recovering from a nasty cold virus. It started out with a vicious sore throat and then moved from a cough to a sinus cold.....Achoo!

2. I helped organize and run a santa market for our parish. It was a lot of fun even though I was sick through it all. It was so nice to see the big smiles on the kids faces as they shopped for their family members. Thankfully I was a cashier and I didn't have to wrap as we had some kids buying arms full of goodies - and why not at the very reasonable price of .25/item...lol!

3. On Saturday when I got home I just crashed and had a two hour nap - I think my body was demanding I take the much needed rest.

4. After the long sleep we had it was time to set up the Christmas trees and get them decorated. For the first time ever we had two trees to set up and decorate. The kids did the one in the basement and DH and myself did the one upstairs. It's a 71/2 pre lit tree with LED lights. It has a ton of lights and it's so pretty! I didn't get all my decorating done so this weekend we will have to put up the green boughs and other decorations.

5. I've been finishing up some of my Christmas shopping, now I only have two more gifts to buy...yay!

6. I am still knitting like a mad woman. I finished a pair of pocket book slippers for my mom in a nice red(her favorite colour) and I stared a pair in a grass green. With this pair I want to try doing a button hole on the strap and putting a funky button on it...this pair will probably be for my DD.

7. Dishcloths are getting behind. Every time I turn around I find that there are more people I want to make them for and I'm running out of time! I feel like I'm a knitting machine. I finally had to take away my Christmas countdown from my Facebook account as it kept reminding me of how fast time is going by....oh yeah and I've been on my Facebook account a bit. I have four scrabble games going with my friend and one with my sis!

8. We had DH's parents over for his birthday on Monday. I ended up buying his cake on the way home as I was just too worn out and sick to make one, plus this bakery makes the best cakes! Even though I wasn't feeling good I enjoyed that cake!

9. We've been getting little bits of snow every day and we have been playing around with the new snowblower. I actually got to use it last night - it works great, but my hands were getting cold - maybe I need some ski mitts....lol!

10. I took my DD out shopping last night, she is having a formal next week and she needed a nice dress. I saw one right away that caught my eye and it looked great on her. She said it was a breath stopping dress because I stopped breathing when I saw her in it. It did take my breath away, she is turning into a young lady and it seems like it's happening over night.

11. I've started watching my Christmas movies/t.v. specials. It's fun to do while working on my knitting projects.

12. Christmas baking - thankfully I am almost done. I didn't quite make my deadline of having it all done by the end of November, but I only have two more things to make. I also have some holiday Rice Krispies that are just screaming to be made into rice krispie treats.....I still love those, what a big kid I am.

13. We had my DD's Improv Games to attend last week. She had so much fun and it was so much fun to watch. Unfortunately they didn't make it to the final round but they were competing against the Grade 10's and 11's as the junior spots were full. I was quite proud to see her up there in front of everyone.


Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!
The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted! View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

Winter Wonderland

Let it snow, let it snow and let it snow some more! What a beautiful sight out my office window today. Gentle snow flakes are falling lightly and I've got Christmas music streaming from my media player! I am really getting into the Christmas spirit.

We put up our two trees on Saturday and I have to finish the rest of my decorating....on Dec. 17, 2007 I'll have a photo tour of my house decorated for Christmas.

Happy Birthday to you...

Happy Birthday to my best friend. I hope you enjoy your Chinese food! I love you tons! Here is some humor for your special day (K)!


Movie deleted as I didn't watch it all the way through - not quite as funny and a little disturbing...oops!