The Day After Christmas

Only 364 days to go!

A Very Merry Christmas!

To all my dear friends and especially those who read my blog, 

Merry Christmas!

 May the Spirit of Christ dwell with all of us.

I will be back after the New Year. Have a lovely week, my friends.

Christmas Carol Countdown 2014: 1 Day to Go

Here I am on Christmas morning just as I see my presents!
My sister is hovering in the background.

Christmas Eve dawns and sleepy little children wake with excited anticipation. One More Day. They stare at the chimney thinking of Santa coming down it that very night. They examine the wrapped presents under the tree. This day will be one of the longest in their year.

I remember when I was 6 or 7, I found a bit of black rubber on the bricks by the fireplace. I was entranced! Santa had lost a bit of his boot on our fireplace! I danced around as I showed everyone my amazing treasure.

Here is Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians singing “Christmas Was Meant for Children.” We had this album (when there were albums!) that we played on our Hi-Fi. It was one of the three Christmas albums we owned. It played through every year of my youth.



Christmas is for all of us. Here are two videos about the beauty and worth of Christmas.

The first is one made by artists who are very popular on YouTube. The most important part was to share the joy of Christmas.  

The other goal was to set the record for the largest nativity ever made. It has 1039 people in the video. In the video notes it said: “All angels in the final nativity formation are real, NOT computer generated. No angels were added or subtracted.” 




The second video is a “follow-up,” if you may, of the video.




May the Spirit of Christmas bless your house this day and tomorrow.

Christmas Carol Countdown: 2 Days to Go

This morning, my mind wandered back to what would have been happening in Galilee 2,014 years ago. Mary and Joseph would be traveling to Joseph’s home city: Bethlehem to pay taxes to Rome.

Mary, being pregnant, is riding a donkey. How uncomfortable that would be, being ready to deliver the baby and plodding on a donkey. On a dusty road with many, many others heading in the same way for the same purpose.

What thoughts must Mary have at this time, knowing who her baby would be? Joseph must have been trying so hard to make Mary as comfortable as possible.

On the way to Bethlehem…to the greatest event that the Israelites had been waiting for centuries.

Sissel is a Norwegian singer with an international following. She has such a clear and elegant voice. Six years ago, she was the guest star of the annual Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas Concert. Every song of hers was a precious offering. You can look up, on YouTube, more of the songs she sang that night by searching Sissel Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

Today I chose "In The Bleak Midwinter," a poem written in 1872 by Christina Rosetti. It was published after her death then became a Christmas Carol in 1906. Its setting imagines the Nativity in a snowy Northern landscape. This fits perfectly with Sissel's home in Norway.





Kids & Christmas: Learning the Meaning of Christmas Through The Eyes of Children





Don’t forget to come back every day to see the next Christmas Carol Countdown. If you’ve missed any so far, there are lots of wonderful carols! Just click on the badge near the top of the right sidebar!

Quilting Design Wall & Christmas Carol Countdown 2014: 3 Days to Go!

My vacation quilting began on Saturday. I worked on a Christmas gift for my granddaughter who will be born in January. I can’t say anything now, because Chief and Noel Heart don’t know what it is.

Noel Heart is the pregnant one! My granddaughter is
hiding behind her Mommy's sweater. At right is Hubby and
at the bottom is Firstest

Tomorrow I’m going to quilt with my friend, JP. We’re both excited for being able to quilt almost every day of the vacation! I will be doing the “final stretch” on the Mystery Quilt “Cascadia.”

Lori from the blog “Humble Quilts,” started a QAL on November 7. It was to be a wall-hanging and end up about 17” x 19” square. When she mentioned using up 1.5” squares, I was hooked. I have a box of those little squares and it would be fun to use some of them. On November 26th, Lori did the reveal. It’s an adorable quilt. She copied it from an antique quilt she found.

Here’s my progress so far. The center strips are seminole piecing. It’s my first experience and tomorrow will be my third day trying to get it right. I believe I got it figured out at the last quilt-together. I’m anxious to see what I can do tomorrow!

We’re in the final stretch for Christmas! I miss the days of having the kids home for Christmas vacation and doing fun activities with them. Young moms, believe me, there will come a day when you miss having the kids under your feet at Christmas!

Quilting Nonnie with my three young kids.
In front, Nancy Drew  3 yrs, Noel Heart 5 yrs
and I'm holding TGS, 1 yr

I have told stories of our Advent Calendar activities when our kids were at home. My crazy son, TGS, and his lovely OSLW, have finally dropped over the cliffs of insanity. I thought it was cute when OSLW told me she painted the husky’s toenails. Of course, I helped things along this year by sending my granddogs an advent calendar. Now they’ve gone around the bend! TGS excitedly told me just a bit ago that Ginny and Gandalf (my granddogs) had done the Jello Slurping contest. Once Hubby had brought me back with smelling salts, I got the second-by-second description of the contest. A video is forthcoming. TGS said he wouldn’t spoil it by telling us who won. I think it’s Gandalf; Dale thinks it’s Ginny. I think we should make a bet!

OSLW with Gandalf (left) & Ginny (right)

 Now that Nancy Drew suggested a song, TGS, whose name might be changed to Crazy Geek Son, sent his Christmas “carol” into me.

TGS was totally absorbed with Dr. Demento when he was a teen, which might explain his personality now. He’d record each show from the radio. Actually, it was fun! I learned some goofy songs during that time!

TGS sent me a Christmas “carol” he heard on a Dr. Demento show. It is by the great comedian, Stan Freburg. He was well known in the 50s and 60s for his satire and parodies of many common themes of the day. TGS’ request today is “Green Christmas,” which TGS loves because he agrees with the jist of the spot.





Because of the Design Wall, this has been a little bit longer post. I hope you enjoyed the quilting, the music and the stories.

Don’t forget to come back every day to see the next Christmas Carol Countdown. If you’ve missed any so far, click on the badge near the top of the right sidebar!

Christmas Carol Countdown: 4 Days to Go!

I thought I’d start off today with a big chuckle. Many families like to re-enact the nativity story for Christmas. Our family has been no exception and you’re so lucky: I have Pictures!

1986 Family Nativity: Nancy Drew as Mary,
TGS as Joseph

I’ve never been this late in my life! I still have Christmas shopping to do. Here’s the kicker…I don’t know who I still need to shop for!

I’m knuckling down this afternoon and delving into the Christmas gift box. I am going to find out who’s getting a present and who’s getting an empty box!

Tomorrow promises to be a busy day of buying…and I’m sure I’ll be kept company by hundreds of others like me. **Sigh**

I found a real gem for today’s carol. I can guarantee you haven’t seen this before. And, no, it’s not a video of my children singing when they were young. It’s “Go Tell It On The Mountain” but played in a very different way.




I’ve been nattering on about gifts and I love to get them. Still I always keep in mind the gift that was given to all on Christmas Day.





Don't forget to come back every day to see the next Christmas Carol Countdown. If you've missed any, click on the badge near the top of the right sidebar!

Christmas Carol Countdown 2014: 5 Days to Go

Today is a happy, joyous, exciting, amazing, fantastic, _______ (supply your own adjective) day!

Guess why.

Hint:  I am a school teacher.

Yes! Happy dance yes! Today is the first day of Winter Break, or as it was known in my day: Christmas Vacation.

Yesterday was a grueling day and in itself enough to make me cherish the vacation to come!

Many carols have been written about the longing for Christ to come to earth. Today's carol is one of those:  O Come, O Come, Emmanuel. It is sung by the BYU  Vocal Point, an acapella men’s group. 




Here's another treat! Monty the Penguin, a Christmas TV advertisement from John Lewis, a department store in London.




Merry Christmas. May the true spirit of Christmas be with you this year. God bless.

Christmas Carol Countdown 2014: 6 Days to Go!

Every year, I count on my calendar, I count on my fingers and then I do it three times more! How can I not figure out how many days to Christmas? A little adjustment needed to be made. Today it is 6 days until Christmas.

This morning in my email, Nancy Drew sent me a link to her “new favorite Christmas song.” Isn’t that how favorites work?

What was your favorite color when you were young? What is it now?

And especially fun: What was your favorite piece of clothing when you were young?! What is it now?

My Christmas carol favorites change from year to year. This year, I’m with Nancy Drew, this is my new favorite: "Hallelujah Christmas."






For those of you familiar with the original song, or heard it in the first Shrek movie, this is a re-write of the words.

A couple of days back, a blogger friend asked me if I would include her favorite: Mary, Did You Know? It’s another of my Christmas favorites too. 

The first time I heard "Mary, Did You Know?" it was sung by Kathy Mattea. In the following video, Kathy says that "Mary, Did You Know?" is her favorite.

So, Libby, here is your favorite Christmas Carol!

I also found a new version done by Pentatonix, a vocal acapella group. Last year I had their carol, "Little Drummer Boy", on my countdown. I hope you enjoy this one also.

Merry Christmas to all who read and visit my blog. I hope you have all your shopping done; I know I haven’t! Argghh!

Christmas Carol Countdown 2014: 10 Days to Go!

Firstest, my first grandson, introduced me to the zany, loopy world of Veggie Tales. It started as a series on TV and has expanded to DVD’s of episodes.

Each episode would teach and help kids to understand moral themes. The stories are told and acted out by animated vegetables. The hosts are Bob the Tomato and his less-than-serious sidekick Larry the Cucumber.

Here is Firstest at 1-and-a-half with his Mommy, Noel Heart.
I don't know who that man in the red suit is though.

Some of their stories are: The Wise and Foolish Builders, An Easter Carol, The Wonderful Wizard of Ha’s, and two different episodes of Minnesota Cuke, that are parodies of Indiana Jones, but the themes are still about knowing how to choose the right. There are several Christmas-themed episodes also.

Soon I was totally enthralled with Veggie Tales. In each episode there would also be Silly Songs with Larry. My daughters and I learned many of the songs and loved to belt them out.

The “Christmas Carol” for tonight is from Silly Songs: Oh Santa. It features, of course, Bob the Tomato and Larry the Cucumber along with a green onion robber, a Viking pea and a squash?, you decide.

Don’t miss the Viking’s reference to quilts!



Don't forget to come back every day for more Christmas carols and a countdown to Christmas! You can always click on the badge in the upper right sidebar.

And if you still are seeking more Silly Larry songs, try these:

Christmas Carol Countdown 2014: 11 Days to Go!

Our Family in 1987
Left to Right: Noel Heart, Quilting Nonnie, TGS with
bunny, Sam, Nancy Drew & Bambi the dog in front

We had a great time in our young family during the 12 Days of Christmas. Each year we would choose a family to “host” for the 12 days. Most times we’d choose a family that had some type of need: a young single mother with 2 children, a Mom with 2 teenagers that had very little money…

For the 12 Days, we would put together our “offering,” pile into our car and drive to the neighborhood of the family. I would choose a good place to park where we couldn’t be seen from their front door. The kids were always the ones who went and “doorbell ditched” our offering. They would race back to the car, jump in the car as I pulled away.

Each year it varied what we decided to do for each day, but there were a few that showed up each year. We loved the Jello Slurp & Pop the Balloon games we played at home.

One time we made 12-day candles to burn a little every day. Was that ever fun! We had to figure out how to make them: a ruler with pins taped to it that was used to mark the days for us. How to mark the candle. It was a challenge, but we got it done. And we never did it again!

Another year as an outside activity, my daughters talked to the moms of little children in our ward (a church congregation). They offered to answer letters to Santa from any child whose parent brought it to them. The girls had such fun writing back personalized letters from “Santa!”

Our last year of doing 12 Days we decided to choose a totally different type of family. We chose this family because the mom was the Young Women’s (a program for girls from 12-18) adviser to each of our daughters. The interesting part was that this family had two pre-teens and two teenage sons. With our enthusiasm bubbling, we started ditching our packages on their doorstep. To our chagrin, those tricky teenage boys set up a video camera in a room that pointed to the porch. They caught our kids “red-handed!” It was the only year we got caught.

Today’s Christmas Carol is a song for children: The Cat and the Mouse Carol. It is sung by David Archuleta with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. I hadn’t heard this carol before, but it is sweet.






Merry Christmas…only 11 days to go. It’s time to make your list and check it twice.

Remember to stop by every day and enjoy the Christmas Carol Countdown 2014. You can always click on the button on the upper right sidebar.

Christmas Carol Countdown 2014: 12 Days to Go

Good cheer to all my friends! Welcome to my third year of the Christmas Carol Countdown.

Many of you, like me, are enchanted by the music of Christmas. Whether it is Frosty the Snowman and Jingle Bells. Or Silent Night and O Little Town of Bethlehem. It could be silly: Grandma Got Ran Over by a Reinder or sacred: Angels from the Realms of Glory. Or maybe you like a singer and listen to his songs: Frank Sinatra, Michael Buble, or Vienna Boys Choir. What would Christmas be without them?

Welcome to Christmas Carol Countdown 2014!

My first choice is the quintessential song for today: The Twelve Days of Christmas!

Each time I hear that song, I remember an experience from third grade. Our teacher, Mrs. Winn, got all of us kids involved in a big project for the school Christmas Assembly. We made paper models of each of the items in the Twelve Days of Christmas. That meant there was one person holding the Partridge in the Pear Tree, but there were 8 holding up the 8 Maids A Milking. We sat in our places, singing the song, but when your "day" was sung, you'd pop up holding your model. It was great fun all that popping up and down!

I found a couple of renditions of The Twelve Days of Christmas that keep that same silliness.

The first is by Straight No Chaser, a professional 10-man acapella group, which started out at Indiana University. Their version of The Twelve Days drove them to stardom and got a 10-album contract with a recording studio.

Shhh! To help you with YouTubiness..all those horrible pop-up ads--there is a way to get rid of them. As soon as video starts, click on the settings icon (looks like a flower or a gear) in the lower right corner. Click on it and then click no on the line that says: "Annotations." File this under General Helpfulness from Quilting Nonnie."

Be sure and tune in everday until Christmas for the Countdown!

And now, without further ado, Straight No Chaser!

The second hilarious 12 Days was done by a large group of real estate agents at a Christmas Party. It all starts out fine, until the song gets speeded up!