This is definitely one busy home! Cooking, sewing, quilting, and occasionally...cleaning. Lizzie made this quilt for her guitar teacher for Christmas. This quilt is similiar to the quilt I made for my mother. Same fabrics. Still have lots of leftovers, so I guess we'll be making another! This quilt contains 28 music-themed, black and white fabrics.

Lizzie had been very busy, so she got behind on her quilt. The afternoon of her lesson, she spent every spare moment sewing. With an hour to go before lesson, we girls helped sew the binding onto the outside.

I love the backing fabric.

Here's a closeup of the backing. It was worth every bit of stitching to see Mr. Chip's face when he saw this quilt!

Mr. Chip's home was decorated beautifully.

His indoor porch was very welcoming.

The stone exterior looks so homey.

My pictures don't do justice. Everything was so nice.

I finally found a picture of our first significant snowfall. This is the pond in front of my parents' home. Wish it would freeze over for ice skating!

Ruthie has been sewing for her dolly. She made the skirt...

...and this backpack.

Great job, Ruthie!

Maggie and Lizzie made peppermint marshmallows to give away for gifts. Yummy! First it has to sit for 24 hours to lose the grainyness of the sugar. Then Maggie will cut it into little squares and drizzle melted chocolate over each square. Yummy!

Ruthie made taffy today. It tastes exactly like the Saltwater Taffy that is popular at Ocean City, Maryland. She made rootbeer (my favorite), cherry, and coconut.

This past Saturday, our family went to Nonie and Roy's home to finish our singing for the XYZers from church. Their home is beautiful. (Nonie is short for Winona.)

I love Nonie's long island. Enough room for all the dishes. The food was superb. I saw Mrs. Jane's award winning cake...it looked so yummy...no wonder it took grand champion at the fair!

Nonie showed us all her quilts that she made for Christmas gifts. Hopefully you can't see this quilt too well. You never know who might be reading this! Nonie had four tables set up in different rooms. Our family was instructed to split up and sit among the old folks. Anna thought that was the highlight of the day...getting to know the old folks one on one.

I tried to get a picture of Snickers the Dog. He doesn't stay still for long. But it's obvious who is king in this home!

Ruthie and I ate in the toy room. Nonie has five children and lots of grandchildren and great-grandchildren, so I'm sure this is a favorite room. I regret not seeing her sewing room.

Oh my! I mistakenly touched something on my keyboard...and a picture disappeared. Oh well. The picture was of a small round table with lots of black and white photos of a young Nonie and Roy. The picture frames are beautiful. I enjoyed studying the photos.

Nonie and Roy had their home built for them 28 years ago. Nonie laid the stonework for the fireplace. Very nice!

My favorite...this shelf with antiques in the mudroom. This is one of the cleanest mudrooms I have ever seen!

Well, three more days to go until Christmas. This has been such a busy year. It's been hard to keep up with everything...especially posting everything on my blog. Tomorrow I will sit down and use my brain to write one final list to go shopping on Thursday. I have all my gift shopping complete, I just need to shop for a Christmas Eve party, Christmas Day turkey dinner, then Christmas Day supper at my brother's home. Sounds easy...just a matter of concentrating!

I hope you are enjoying your Christmas season. I am enjoying watching my children...who are all now old enough to receive more pleasure from giving, than from receiving. I can see that they now realize that Christmas is about so much more than gifts. PTL

My children are all visiting my parents for the evening. It is blissfully quiet except for the crackling of the fire.

Many blessings ~ Kathie