Merry Belated Christmas

Hello guys!  It's been forever.  Even my Christmas greeting is late.  My granddaughter and I have been having a great time.  She leaves in two days and my life will return to some normalcy.  I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday.  Below are a few Christmas pictures.

This is the upside down Christmas tree in the woodworking shop I go to.

The majority of the ornaments are made of wood.by the members of our guild. 

My kids dressed up for the holidays.  Mom has on the Santa outfit and her two kids are the coordinated elves.

Next year's Christmas card picture.  Isn't he adorable?

A very happy doggy.  He got new toys!

Happy New Year!!! 

The Happy Couple (Photostory)

It's the end of the day and Tina, the psychiatrist, is finished for the day.  Her fiancee, Harrison, has arrived to take her out to dinner.

"It's so good to see you honey.  It's been a trying day.  Everyone is extra stressed because of the holidays.  Sometimes it's hard to feel happy when so many people are hurting."  (Tina)

"Well, you're the doctor.  You have to lead by example and keep smiling."  (Harrison)

"I know.  Having you in my life makes that a little easier."  (Tina)  

"Before I forget, Leslie wants to know if we can have Christmas dinner at her house?  Shantavia and Bruce are invited, too."  (Harrison)

"Oh that's so sweet of her.  I would love to.  I will have to check to see if Shantavia is available.  Now that she and Bruce are getting serious, I can't just assume she's going to be available.  I'll call her tonight after dinner.  (pause)  Why are you looking at me like that?"  (Tina)

"No reason.  I'm just happy to have you in my life."  (Harrison)

"Ohhh honey.  You're so sweet."  (Tina)

Tina bends down and gives Harrison a nice juicy kiss.

"Speaking of being in your life, we really need to get moving on these wedding plans.  We're not getting any younger you know."  (Tina)

"I told you, just tell me where to be and when, and I will show up with bells on."  (Harrison)

"That's no fun, honey.  I want you to help with the planning.  It's your special day, too."  (Tina)

"Honey, the thing that's making it special for me is you.  As long as you and I are together at the end of the day, I'm happy."  (Harrison)

"You are not getting off that easy."  (Tina)

"Where are you going?"  (Harrison)

"To get my stuff together, so we can go."  (Tina) 

"Okay.  I think I have everything."  (Tina)

"Where do you want to eat?"  (Harrison)

"Oh, I don't know.  I don't want to be out too late.  I have a few cases I need to review before I hit the sack tonight."  (Tina)

"Does that mean I'm sleeping at home tonight?"  (Harrison)

"You know you are always welcome to stay.  I will try not to work too late."  (Tina)

"I guess I will have to get used to you burning the midnight oil.  Here, let me help you with that."  (Harrison)

"Thanks, honey."  (Tina)

Harrison sneaks a little kiss after buttoning up Tina's sweater.

They head out, arm in arm, to dinner.

Tina's sweater was gifted to me by Rosemary Hill of Life in Rosemary Hill.   The sweaters are so well made.  I love them.  You can see the other sweaters from her in this post.

Bah Hum Bug.....Not Really.

Hello guys.  I was trying to take pictures of dolls today, but my hectic schedule didn't allow for it.  Just to get you caught up.  I just finished two weeks of radiation.  It wasn't painful or anything, but it was very emotional.  They treated three areas;  my right arm, my left leg, and my spine.  Treatment of the spine left me really nauseous.  I hate that feeling.  Midway through the second week, I was able to take advantage of their free acupuncture sessions.  That really helped take away the nausea.  I also experienced some fatigue.  There were a few days that I slept most of the day away.  After the first week, I started having pains in my right knee.  The xrays revealed lesions in that area as well.  So I am headed back to radiation next week for another 5 treatments on my knee.

My house guest is doing much better.  She may be leaving next week.  My brother is coming to visit today, and my granddaughter will be here from next Monday through the end of the year,  Chances are I won't be posting much at all, but I will try to get a couple of posts up before January.  I miss my dollies and I miss chatting with you guys.

Just in case I don't get back before Christmas, have a very merry Christmas.  I look forward to being back regularly starting in January,

Upcoming Church Story

Happy belated Thanksgiving to everyone.  Hope you all enjoyed your families and some good food.  I cooked more this year than I ever have.  I have been crazy busy and the dolls have taken a back seat, but I will be getting back to them soon.  There's so much going on over here at the moment, it's hard to focus.  Just to give you an idea of my real life drama....... Remember my house guest?  Well she fell and hit her head the first night she was here, and she's been down and out ever since.   There have been a couple visits to the hospital, but luckily there's no real damage.  So I've been playing nurse maid.  Tomorrow I start two straight weeks of radiation.  It's just to remove some lesions in my arm, my leg, and my back.  It will also help rebuild my bones.  Did I tell you that I now tutor math three times a week?  I love math and I love tutoring when I don't have to deal with a lot of drama.  Most of my tutoring jobs are riddled with parent drama.  This is no exception.  

On to the dolls.  I will be doing a church story in the next couple of days.  We have met the pastor and two of her children.  I want to introduce you to her father (principal Reed), and her teenage daughter Shelley.

Initially I thought about making the principal her husband, but I got more of a father vibe.  It's always nice to have another grandpa in town.

I've already started setting up the church story.  Now one is dressed yet,  When I do a big scene like this, I usually put everyone in their seats, then I dress them.  Makes things a lot easier.

We will see you guys real soon!

New Sofa

Here's the latest sofa that just hit my Etsy store.  It's a little different because it has three back cushions.  Halle is on another assignment, so Monica volunteered to fill in.

Jem and G.I. Joe

I saw this Honda tv commercial this morning and wanted to share.  It features Jem and G.I. Joe.

Touching Base

Hello guys.  It's been over a week since I've been on the blogs, so I thought I should do a quick check in.  I know you guys get worried when you don't hear from me.  I am fine.  There's a lot going on right now.  I'm hosting a house guest for a few weeks and that has really thrown off my schedule.  I'm experiencing car trouble.  As a matter of fact, I am waiting for the tow truck right now.  We are also having a cold spell in Atlanta and I'm not in a hurry to go work in the cold basement.

I think over the next month I am going to focus mainly on getting new items listed in the store.  It's the holidays and I need to make sure I have items in stock.  So for those of you looking for stories, bear with me.  I will throw in a few here and there, and return to doing them regularly in January.  I will catch up on reading your blogs sometime this week.

Stay warm!

Christmas Sweaters

On Flickr a few days ago, someone posted pictures of some Christmas ornaments from Michael's that would make the perfect doll sweaters.  I went out this weekend and bought a few.  It took me awhile to find them because they weren't with the rest of the ornaments.  They retail for $5.99, but they were on sale for 50% off.

I bought this set specifically for Rod and Danielle.

I think I will use this set for one of the teenage daughters and the mom.  Possibly Christina and Cassandra.

Rod threw on his Santa hat at the last minute and I snapped the shot,

By the way, I added initial pillows to my Etsy store.  You pick the initial and chose between the colors black or red.

It's Still Halloween

Halloween came a little late.  Remember the outfits I thought I misplaced?  Turns out I never took them off my desk.  I didn't figure this out until after I spent a couple of days cleaning the basement, thinking I had misplaced the outfits down there.  All's well that end's well.  

What a turnout!  Danielle wasn't expecting all these people.  She had to change party plans a little bit due to space constraints.  It's a good thing the older kids went trick or treating.  

"Thank you all for coming.  You all look fabulous.  We're going to start the party off with a little family fashion show to show off your cute little costumes.  When it's your turn, just come to the center, face the camera first, so we can get your picture, then do a 360 to show everyone else.   Are we all ready?"  (Danielle)

As Danielle speaks, the kids are not really paying much attention.  That's kids for you.

But Danielle gets a resounding 'yes' from the people who are paying attention.

(Did you notice the light is now pink?  It randomly changes colors.)

"I guess me and my boys will start things off."  (Danielle)

There's a new sheriff in town.  Julian was not about to give up his Batman costume this year.  

Stephanie is dressed as a princess.  Both her kids are in elephant costumes.  Awwww.

Lynn is dressed as a princess and she brought along her little pumpkin, baby Layla.

Looks like Racquel  and baby Shay are both witches.  I wish I had gotten a better picture of Shay's witch hat.

Angelica and Nina.

"Honey, we're next, so let's put your mane on."  (Michelle)

Michelle and Mikayla

Penelope Moretti and the twins.

Just in case you don't remember what the twins look like.

Leslie, Ciana, and Joseph

Lisa dressed her two little ones in chick-a-dee costumes.

Kimaya, Naisha's daughter, is a little mermaid.

Little Diana Ross, I mean Zahara.

I don't have a clue who Antoinette is supposed to be.  Kenaz is such a cutie in his dragon costume.

Vanessa was feeling a little 50ish.

Alicia is the cutest little bunny.

After all the picture taking, Danielle tries to get everyone's attention, as side conversations and kiddie conversations increase.  "Okay everyone, next on the agenda is 'bobbing for apples'.  Give me a minute to set it up."  (Danielle)

Batman helps Danielle with the apple tub.  Ciana gets excited as Danielle explains how to play the game.  "Can we have a couple more kids gather round the tub?"  (Danielle)

"Batman, you may want to take off your cape, first."  (Danielle)

"But mom, Batman never takes off his cape."  (Julian)

"Okay, Julian.  The first one to get an apple will win a prize.  On your mark, get set, go!"  (Danielle)

The kids are cheered on by the crowd.

There are a few more rounds of apple bobbing so that all the kids who wanted to try, got to do so.  A few kids went in multiple times.  Afterwards, there was ghost storytelling, but not too scary.   More along the lines of Casper, the friendly ghost.  Danielle didn't want the kids having nightmares.  Everyone left the party with a good bag of treats and prizes.