Where in the world is Santa Claus?

My kids always loved finding out where Santa was on Christmas Eve. It was also a good way to get them to go to bed when they were all wound up. We could check to see how close Santa was to make sure they were sleeping when he arrived. There are several good places to watch Santa's progress:

NORAD Santa Tracker

Follow NORAD on Twitter

Santa Tracker

Merry Christmas!!!

Sewing and shipping and hoping it gets there on time...

I finished up the last of my custom orders. Everything will arrive in time for Christmas gift giving.

I am now offering Gift Certificates available in any denomination. For a limited time, if you purchase a minimum $20 Gift Certificate, your recipient will receive FREE SHIPPING when the certificate is redeemed.

Dan's Emerald Forest

Every Christmas season my family heads over to Dan's Emerald Forest to see the wonderful display. My parents still live in the house where we grew up, which is in the same town as Dan's house, so it's never hard finding time to visit both. Usually we pick an awful cold day to visit my parent's and make the side trip to Dan's to see what is new. This year was no exception. It was 32 degrees with a slight breeze and a few sprinkles. Chilly. Actually, our local FOX news was live at Dan's the Wednesday before our visit. We had really strong winds that day, knocking down lighting displays all over town, and the wind kept the trains off the track at Dan's.



We've been taking the kids every year since they were little. The kids love seeing what is new and what they remember from the year before. You can always find something that you've never seen before. My husband always has a hundred questions for Dan. He likes to hear the dirty details of how the changes occurred since the previous year.

I was a bit sad - due to the rain sprinkles the drive-in theatre was movieless. There is usually a small flat screen tv that serves as the movie screen. Here you can see the cars pointing in one direction with nothing to watch. Last year I think 'It's A Wonderful Life' was playing.



New this year - or should I say returning this year - was the ski slope. But I don't think the little gondolas were running up and down the side of the ski slope. At least I don't remember them moving at all.

The Little Tree

We've had the same Christmas tree for years and years and the kids have always loved it. It's huge, pre-lit, and rotates - which is just the coolest thing ever. Dad and I have grown tired of trying to get all of the lights to work - we end up stringing lights on it so the whole tree is lit. So this year we thought we'd try something different and bought a pre-lit 6 foot tree (it was only $35). Which is really quite nice and perfect for US. However, my kids hate it!! My son refused to help decorate it this year, and my daughter complains every day about the 'stupid tree', mainly because it doesn't rotate. Here she is in front of the stupid tree. I took this photo as we were heading out the door to her school choir performance 2 weeks ago. Notice the green cast on her arm? She had a blue cast on before, but after a few days her fingers swelled up and I took her back to the doctor. Her cast was squishing her hand, right around the top knuckles of her fingers and causing them to swell. So they cut that cast off and she picked out a different color. She had the cast removed for good on Monday. She's much happier now.

Cardinals Game

This is one of our summertime events that I never got around to posting about. During 4th and 5th grade, my daughter was in show choir at her school. It was an after school activity, and they had several concerts and appearances at events throughout that time. One of the biggest was singing the National Anthem at a Cardinals home game on August 19, 2009. Here is a shot of my daughter on the outfield Jumbo Tron.

Amy Butler Ginger Bliss and Charm Fabrics

I recently had the opportunity to purchase Amy Butler Ginger Bliss and Charm fabrics. The 2 bundles on top are fat quarters, the fabrics on bottom are yardage, and I didn't pay an arm and a leg for these either. Has everyone seen the ridiculous amounts people are asking for some of the prints? I am not that desperate to own out of print fabrics. Truly, if I paid $30 for a yard of fabric, I would NOT want to use it!!