Caroline is NINE!

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!!! All she wanted to do for her birthday is go to the mall, spend her Christmas gift cards and go to Starbucks for a snack and chocolate milk. So, that is just what we did! She came home with these, too! After she blew out the candles she informed us that in just another nine years she will be in college...

Holiday Wrap Up!

The Holidays around our house....

I made the stockings on Christmas Eve day.

Granny Smiths and cranberries...I just LOVE the apple green and red together.

The family room, from the foyer.

...and from the breakfast room.

The dry sink in the kitchen.

The dining room table.

The hutch in the dining room.

Christmas Eve at my Sister-in-Law and Brother-in-Law's...

MBM and the girls stalking Santa who makes some visits early on Christmas Eve,

riding on a fire truck , of course.

And they weasel their way into my sister-in-law's neighbor's house,

make some last minute Christmas wishes!

Me and my girls...not as happy to sit with me for a picture,

as they were with Santa...if they only knew!!!!

The whole team.

Christmas pajamas! Every year a Christmas Eve gift from Mimi!

Ready for bed...

Finally!

Well...let's see today is the 17th of December! Finalized these today! Picked up the pictures this evening and will pick up the cards tomorrow, as I am having coffee with the stationer. Assemble, address, stamp and send! And with a few days to spare!
Tomorrow, will also be my last trip to the Post Office...HOORAY!! Then it is baking, wrapping, reading, and a trip to NYC on Thursday!

Dear Santa

I thought this was sweet....ENJOY! Dear Santa, I've been a good mom all year. I've fed, cleaned and cuddled my children on demand, visited the doctor's office more than my doctor and sold sixty-two cases of candy bars to raise money to plant a shade tree on the school playground. I was hoping you could spread my list out over several Christmases, since I had to write this letter with my son's red crayon, on the back of a receipt in the laundry room between cycles, and who knows when I'll find anymore free time in the next 18 years.. Here are my Christmas wishes: I'd like a pair of legs that don't ache (in any color, except purple, which I already have) and arms that don't hurt or flap in the breeze, but are strong enough to pull my screaming child out of the candy aisle in the grocery store. I'd also like a waist, since I lost mine somewhere in the seventh month of my last pregnancy. If you're hauling big ticket items this year I'd like fingerprint resistant windows and a radio that only plays adult music, a television that doesn't broadcast any programs containing talking animals, and a refrigerator with a secret compartment behind the crisper where I can hide to talk on the phone. On the practical side, I could use a talking doll that says, "Yes, Mommy" to boost my parental confidence, along with two kids who don't fight and three pairs of jeans that will zip all the way up without the use of power tools. I could also use a recording of Tibetan monks chanting "Don't eat in the living room" and "Take your hands off your brother," because my voice seems to be just out of my children's hearing range and can only be heard by the dog. If it's too late to find any of these products, I'd settle for enough time to brush my teeth and comb my hair in the same morning, or the luxury of eating food warmer than room temperature without it being served in a Styrofoam container. If you don't mind, I could also use a few Christmas miracles to brighten the holiday season. Would it be too much trouble to declare ketchup a vegetable? It will clear my conscience immensely. It would be helpful if you could coerce my children to help around the house without demanding payment as if they were the bosses of an organized crime family. Well, Santa, the buzzer on the dryer is calling and my son saw my feet under the laundry room door. I think he wants his crayon back. Have a safe trip and remember to leave your wet boots by the door and come in and dry off so you don't catch cold. Help yourself to cookies on the table but don't eat too many or leave crumbs on the carpet. Yours Always, MOM ...P.S. One more thing...you can cancel all my requests if you can keep my children young enough to believe in Santa.

Brace face!

Caroline got braces today...and she is beaming, sporting her "Orthodontist" t-shirt. I didn't bring her back to school figuring there would be some pain. So we went out for ice cream and the daily trip to the post office.

A few hours later...still no pain, on the phone telling MBM all about them. She opted for red and green bands for Christmas and is already planning what she will "do" in January!
Of course, like the basket case I am, I teared up when I saw her. My little baby girl smiling from ear to ear so proud of her mouth full of metal. How can she be old enough for braces? What's next....a training bra? Lord help me!!!!

Weekend at Home!

We don't have any plans this weekend...nowhere to be nothing pressing to do, except sewing of coarse! MBM went to a football game with a friend the girls and I are home for the day. I am in my studio working and the girls are playing in the next room. I turned off the TV and music so I could listen to them play. I am not sure exactly what they are playing but I know it involves costume changes, because every time I peek out Lulu is a different getup! I wonder how long this is going to last? Them playing so nice together! I probably just jinxed it...but, I'll take what I can get!!!!

Let it snow!!!!

Oh, how I love the first snow fall! Everything so pretty and white...the girls school delay means lazy morning for everybody... I decided to count my custom orders after all...just 13 more to go!!!! HOORAY!!!! Then is is time to bake, read, and paint!!!! I am just about finished shopping. Just a few more things to pick up. Everything seem to be falling into place....hopefully no speed bumps! For fun I took this from several other blogs! Enjoy! Christmas Meme! 1. Egg nog or hot chocolate? Hot chocolate 2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Santa LOVES to wrap gifts! 3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? White lights on the tree and I keep it simple outside white candles in the window and a spot light on the door 4. Do you hang mistletoe? I haven't in a few years...maybe this year there is still plenty of time! 5. When do you put your decorations up? Usually the week following Thanksgiving...we do a little bit at a time! The girls LOVE to help! 6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert): MBM makes the most delicious Christmas dinner...pork tenderloin with a mango relish....yummy! 7. Favorite holiday memory as a child? Running to my cousin's house on Christmas morning for breakfast...we lived 4 houses apart. I miss it so much! 8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? The summer before first grade...Shawn McGee told me sitting by the azalea bushes, we were eating peaches...and I told my cousin Christmas morning, mean, I know! 9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? MBM and I do..the girls have to wait until Christmas morning! 10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? White lights...and every ornament I have ever received. When I was getting married, my class had a shower for me, each child in the class gave me an ornament with their name on it. I love pulling them out each year. We also have all the things the girls have made over the years on our tree. Including a Kwanzaa chain Caroline made when she was 3 and a Star of David Emma made in preschool! 11. Snow: love it or hate it? I love the first snow fall...after that I am pretty much over it! 12. Can you ice skate? Yes, several years of figure skating lesson...I so wanted to be Dorthy Hamil, even had the haircut! 13. Do you remember your favorite gift? My engagement ring...MBM popped the question when we were decorating my parents tree. He handed me an ornament I didn't recognize, a heart engraved with "Will you marry me?" 14. What’s the most important thing about the holidays for you? Staying at our house on Christmas day...I will host 100 guest as long as I can stay put! 15.What is your favorite holiday dessert? I am a apple pie and ice cream girl! 16. What tops your tree? Angelica, our Christmas angel! 17. Which do you prefer, giving or receiving? Since, we have had kids, it is all about them. And I love to give creative and thoughtful gifts...I am anti gift card! But, I am not going to lie it is nice getting a little surprise under the tree for me! 18. What is your favorite Christmas song? O, Holy Night and Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree (we were announced at our wedding to it! Got the party started!) 19. What is your favorite Christmas movie? Charlie Brown...not really a movie, but I never miss it! 20. What would be the best gift you could receive this year? Time to enjoy the season with my family!

Back to work!

All finished with trunk shows and custom parties until February!!!! Now I will be hunkered down in my studio sewing, sewing, sewing to fill all the custom orders...I am afraid to count how may I have to do!

Saturday, after the trunk show we decided to go get our tree at a local Christmas tree farm. I love this place, it is like a scene from a movie...bonfires, hot chocolate, live reindeer, everyone bundled up, kids running around like crazy...love it, love it, love it! You can take a tractor ride to the field to cut down your own tree which is a lot of fun, but, this year it was just too cold and Team McCulley was just not dressed appropriately, so we opted for a pre-cut tree. Our tree this year is about 8-9 feet tall. In past years we have had 12 feet and over, ridiculous, I know! It really wasn't fun to have a tree of that size...we would have the farm deliver and set up the tree and of course write a big check to do so! Kind of takes away the "magic" of Christmas for me! We ran into several families we know...which is another reason I love this place...you always run into someone you know!

The girls with the reindeer...Douglas and Frasier

MBM with the girls...don't they look cold?

Yesterday, I went here with two of my friends! We left at 5:00am and returned home at 7:30 pm...tired but a lot of fun!