with your Christmas preps? Are you finished sewing & quilting? Are you doing any food things? I am having my family here, 13 of them, plus the neighbors and assorted in-laws for brunch on Christmas Day. Today I am making pumpkin bread for the mail carrier, and trash men to give out tomorrow. Then I am going to make beef & chicken flavored dog treats for the grand pups, made with baby food. All the food is purchased. I have finished all the gifts that I am making; not as much this year. I want to hear what you guys are doing.

I have a lot of family who work for the PO and a brother at the garbage company... I know how much they all appreciate these goodies (((HUGS)))

I would like your recipe for dog treats made with baby food.

I've finished Christmas EXCEPT what I take a mind to sew the rest of the week...I'd like to do a few baby quilts and a throw and some placemats and a wall organizer. We'll see what I get done...

Hi Grann, I am finished with most everything. Have a few cleaning things to do tomorrow. I am stressed today for some reason. I would do better if School vacation was one week instead of 18 Days. I take care of my 6th grade Grandson 24 seven and some days he makes me nervous. I made some cute Chocolate mice yesterday and he help me. He is pretty good about helping me, I am just too old to be raising kids. I love him to death. I be ok. Merry Christmas to everyone out there.

I've finished the quilt for my son (my first- and hand quilted at that) and finishing small details of hand quilting on my daughter's quilt in the evenings after she's in bed so it remains a surprise. Almost done with the baking but taking a day off today as my mother and nephew are visiting which should be a lot of fun if my husb. and mother can get along (the kids are young 2-6 year olds and a 3 year old).

Forgot to say I made homemade meatballs today to have on Christmas Eve. I am taking Blue berry jello with frozen bluberry. in it and after it sets you put a cream cheese and sour cream misture on the top and sprinkle with chopped pecans. i am taking that to my Mom's on Christmas day. Have a good holiday. Suzanne

I am going to help dil with her quilt again tomorrow. Hope we get it done by Christmas! LOL If I have to bake one more cookie, I am gonna scream!

The 2 older boys are still fighting and I am keeping my opinions to myself. Oldest son and his family will be here for Christmas, middle son, my Marine, will be here for New Years. That settles that! Youngest ds will probably just hide in his room and dh can help with kitchen duty.

We are having a quiet Christmas my husband is working graveyard shift. My grown son will come watch a movie with me Christmas Eve and we will exchange gifts Christmas day when hubby wakes up. I will be fixing a ham and green bean casserole requested by son. I have finished with all the gifts I am buying. I have to finish the bow tuck purse for my boss (Thursday is out last day to work) and make one more set of the coasters for a professor. I will be up late tonight.

I have two that are fighting too and they will not be caught dead in the house together- their idea not mine. Yes it is best to stay out of it. Good Luck and have your self a Merry Christmas anyway!

I am done with my sewing and most of my shopping. Got some cleaning to do and then to start cooking. For some reason I don't have much Christmas spirit this year. Some years I do and some I don't. I guess it is just my age.

Think I'm down to wrapping and cooking, the rest can wait.

Have a Happy Holiday !!

One of the benefits of growing older is, you pass off the stress of Christmas to the younger generation, sit back and enjoy the season. Years ago when dgc were young and their parents had money woes, I was Santa and tried to buy the big items they wanted. Now they have their own family and I let my daughter worry about her grandchildren's gifts from Santa.

I talked to my son in Montana yesterday and he told me his 5 yo daughter was worried that Santa would skip their house because he (my son) kept getting her in trouble.

I am done just doing the wrapping, as for food I have sausage balls in the freezer and will be doing some deviled eggs and cheese and crackers for snacks to hold us for the main event. We always have prime rib for Christmas (it is my SIL favorite) and just a couple of sides. We are pretty low key, just hanging out and enjoying the day. I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

We have our get together on Christmas eve. Should be about 25 of us. I'm just fixing 3 kinds of soup and everyone brings something to go with that or desserts. I just finished with 4 queen size quilts for our 4 children. I made them all dresden plates quilts but in different colors. I don't think I will ever make another dresden plate again. I hand quilted one and machine quilted the other 3 on the DS machine. That pattern was getting rather boring at the last.

I have the binding yet to put on FILs quilt. Been making cookies, fudge, flat rock candy,choc coveredritz peanut butter crackers, just finished putting together the GD's John Deere turf tractor! :( Have been running DH around some as he has been stuck in the house since his surgery. I AM TIRED and my shoulder is hurting from picking up that john deere thing. other than that I am great. lol. Gotta love the season!!!

I thought I was going to lose my mind with all that I wanted to do, so I'm not doing it! I'm done. Today I had the most wonderful day with my dd. We went shopping. Just she and I... no kids. We haven't done this for three years! We had a nice lunch and just took our time. What a wonderful day!!!!

Everything is done except cleaning the house. Sounds efficent doesn't it?LOL Actually, I've still got two very last minute gifts to wrap, and some pecan tarts to bake, but tose are last minute. Hubby has a raspberry cheesecake in the oven baking, he made sausage balls last night, and a cheese ball today, and Friday he will make stuffed mushrooms . He pretty much does the Xmas eve snacks, I make the sweets. All the kids will be here plus a GD's boyfriend., so that is 13 people, unless someone else drops by. We will have a good evening, unwrap gifts, and most will be gone by 10;30. Some a lot earlier! hen in the morning, all will come back for brunch We don't have a big special dinner anymore. My kids alwasy had in-laws to go to also, so we just pared ours down to lots of snacks and a few glasses of wine Xmas eve, and breakfast in the morning. I think my daughter is going to spend the night with us rather than drive home alone late. I hope so!! I have so enjoyed seeing all the pretties today and reading the board. I enjoed that so much. I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas, and a safe one.

This has been a not-so-good Christmas season for me. DH and I had a stomach thing that lasted too long so I'm behind on a lot. I feel terrible over all the things I didn't do but it always seems to work out.
One of my sons will be here tomorrow night from D.C. and Thursday he and I planned lunch and shopping. I love doing that with him! Christmas Eve we have a feast, part Italian, all fab foods that my DH and sons make. My sister and I do the baking. Christmas Day we nibble more and just chill out.
I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday!!!!!!!

Still working on some bandana's for our Grand-dog Snickers. The rest of the week I will be cleaning and baking to be ready for Christmas Eve dinner at our house. Merry Christmas everyone!

Just need to buy stocking stuffers and do my gift wrapping...last cookies out of the oven about an hour ago, finished a quillow yesterday for my son's girlfriend...of course there is more I would like to do, but with working every day the rest of the week, have to be realistic and know that it just isn't going to get done...and I am ok with that....I also made 10 tablerunners/toppers, 30 kleenex holders, 10 ornaments, other shopping, other baking, decorated...I am about worn out...but it has been fun at the same time.

Hi,

Wow, you sure have been busy

I was wondering if you would share you recipe for us for the dog treats

Craftybear

What a Day! Baked 12 dozen cookies and delivered goodie tray to 4 neighbors, bought groceries for the Dinner of Turkey amd fixings, also brisquet; wrapped gifts, and today will 'cover bulletin board with fabric' of DGD's choosing. All with broken wrist that is almost healed. By tomorrow, I'll be running on 'empty'!

We had a party over here last Sat. for my husbands family. Will be having my family here on Thurs. Have been baking and eating a lot. Presents were wrapped on Mon. and went Christmas shopping for our dog yesterday. No quilting this month. Have a Merry Christmas everyone!

Yes, I can post the recipe. How about if I post it in the recipe thread? I'll do it in a bit. Just got up a while ago; ache all over again today. Had the dogs out and let them taste test the treats. They were a big hit so today I may try to make them in chicken flavor too. Actually, if you go on http://www.twodogpress.com/dogfood.html they have lots of recipes. These are called Big Boy Beef Biscuits.

oh my, everyone is so busy, i am also. finished 2 quillows & place mats for gifts, now to the cooking for saturday, still some wrapping & just a few gifts to pick up. It's been fun, but tireing, for all of us i am sure.

Just when I think I have the time to finish up, it snows! Got 4-1/2" yesterday with ice on top. Not too hard to shovel up, but we were in a snow emergency and I was jockeying the van around one side of the street to the other, down the block, up the block and back to home, then had to shovel out four feet of snow in the carriage walk.

Now, when I am done here I will head over to Walgreen's and pick up a really neat cookbook for granddaughter and then come home and start cooking for Friday - Mini hot Dago's. Tomorrow is going to be really wild. Have to go grocery shopping for us and for my mother, get home and start in baking and cooking again. Friday morning I have to bake Stollen (a German bread from my Great Grandmother - which I have been making for Christmas Eve for the family, since it has become too much for Mom) and then, get everything on the table, ready to go, me showered, house vacuumed, dog bathed (maybe), and everyone is coming over at Noon. Which I think means that I should be getting up around 2:00 AM. Did it last year and it seemed to work. So much preparations and it is all over in the snap of a finger. But I do love it so much. Mom doesn't do much traveling anymore, so my sister and her husband will be coming over for a buffet and present exchanging between us, have a few glasses of the fruit of the vine, eat, have a few glasses of the fruit of the vine and fix up a plate for Mom and they will head over to her home and spend Christmas Eve with her. Our kids will be here, but then will stay longer, have a few glasses of the vine of the fruit, open presents, (My OAO gave me a portable dishwasher, so I won't miss out on anything - pop them into the dishwasher, sit down with my family, have a few vines of the fruit of the glass and watch my grandchildren open their presents! (I am kidding about the few fruits of the vine of the glass!) I am making sure there are lots of leftovers, because my husband and I can sit back, do nothing, enjoy our day and pig out on hot dagos, bbq'd chicken wings, cheesy hashbrown casserole, turkey, ham, (I just found out our grocery store has miniature Kaiser Rolls - isn't that just perfect?), chips, dips, cheese, thuringer, crackers, herring, you name it, we got it! It'll be a lot of fun.

Merry Christmas to you all. It is so much fun reading all these sites and knowing what you are all having for dinners, etc. Make it a good day, a good year. Edie

Your chocolate mice are adoable.

I'm feeling a little tired and stressed today, but trying to let some things go that just won't get done. Have one quilt project to finish up, 2 pies, a casserole, shopping for the ingredients for the two pies and casserole, two dirty dogs to bathe, packing, cleaning so I'm not scared to come home! Oh, and so many gifts still to wrap! Yikes! I love to wrap my gifts, but I may be picking up a few gift bags.

One of the things I'm supposedly "letting go" is more Christmas candy/treats, but I really want to work that in!

I too am feeling stressed. Just remember this, if you don't get it all done, no one will even notice. Ever since my shingles episode a few years ago at Easter, I remember that my doc told me they are brought on by stress, and once you have them you can get a repeat. So I try to just take things as they come. I always have too much food anyway. And gift bags are wonderful. I save mine from year to year and only had to buy a couple large ones for the girls quilts. Much less mess to clean up after, and saves the landfills some trash. My DDIL brings cookies and I MAY make a few but won't worry if I can't get it done. Today is cleaning day, I guess.

Going tonight with my DD to look at Christmas lights and eat Chinese. Maybe some light shopping.Mostly just to spend time together :) Everyone is so worried about being healthy around here, its kinda putting the hurt on the Xmas treats....but I might make some fudge and cookies if the weather turns cold.

Today I'm making cookies, cleaning the house and doing the laundry, finishing the Longarm work on a wall hanging (Not a Christmas gift) so I can load fabric into the longarm to play/practice on.

DD and her DH will be here Christmas day.

I have one gift yet to wrap and then one more card to buy (Or make) and then I'm done.

I've never run it so close. I'm usually done weeks before this!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Hello Grann: I am ALL done with the sewing projects and just have to get things ready for Christmas Eve. I am feeding 12 and can't wait. My grandkids are all little so they should have a Blast opening all the stuff from "Santa" I am going to relax tonight with a nice glass of wine and celebrate the season!

EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW WWWWWWWWWWWW :shock:

We will go to middle daughter's. All I have to do is fixed baked beans and some Waldorf salad and remember to take all the gifts!

I have every thing done except for more candy making. I just made a batch of Date Roll and I am wondering if it will set. It is so humid here today sweat is dripping from my hair. Good thing I have a beauty appointment tomorrow,

I'm done sewing before Christmas. I have a Christmas B-day card to make. Baking not done and the house needs cleaning and ready for Christmas eve and all the kids and grandkids will be here and so will Santa!! I can't wait!!!

DH baked the ham yesterday so the bone could go in today's trash pickup. When I took out kitty litter this morning, the barrel was 4 houses away and the lid and hambone bag halfway down the next block! But most of the trash was still in the flooded trash barrel!!

I always save the bone to make bean soup. Next time send it to me, I love bean soup with ham.

I am getting our ham tomorrow and then make split pea soup. Look forward to that more than the ham itself. Edie

Yep, like that too. I just love the flavor the bone imparts.