Elves

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I'm willing to take some ribbing about the insane number of elves we have and share this picture.  I packed them up this AM and took a picture of the group after I had collected them up from all over the house.  Annalee, antique, showed up on their own, eBay, passed down from family, found at the thrift store, and Michael's Craft Store collection.  Amusement for me and the boys.  Tolerated by others;-)

The rule is that each boy gets to pick 3 to keep out all year round in the curio cabinet.  It ended up being 4 a piece but that was OK.  Johnny was soooooo sad as I packed them up.  It's hard to say goodbye to 'good friends' until next year.

It's National Bird Day.  I should be posting a bird shot.  Maybe I can take a bird shot today to post tomorrow.

March of the Nutcrackers

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I haven't put up our nutcracker collection yet.  I liked the line-up and the light.  Guess I'd better get cracking on putting them away;-)

Kit Cat

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A quick shot of our cat.  Not sure she has a permanent name.  We registered her as Princess Kitty on her microchip but mostly we call her Kitty or Kit Cat.  She's a sweetie.  Tolerates the kids well.  Rules the roost with the dog.

New Years Dinner

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We had a real treat for our New Years dinner...standing rib roast or aka prime rib.  First time ever buying and cooking this cut of meat.  We bought the roast from our local grass fed beef farmer Wilkerson Farms and boy was it yummy.  They say you should know where your meat comes from and who your farmer is, and I couldn't agree more.

I researched 8 different recipes on Google and decided to use this one by Paula Deen..  I followed the directions exactly, and the roast came out perfect!  Asparagus and cauliflower mash were the sides.

As you can see even the dog, Blaze, got a treat.  Nothing like a good steak bone!

The dessert was homemade ice cream. Donnie had cranberry sauce and chocolate syrup on his. I put a bit of Kahlua on mine. Yum!

We actually exercised before, but it's a better story if I tell you we exercised afterward, right?  Pack leader Donnie out for his run with Johnny and I along too.  I ran the first km and then hopped on my bike.  Johnny was on his bike the whole time.  I guess Johnny road for 3.5 miles total.  Good for him because that's not so easy with his short legs on his tiny bike.  Much easier on a 10 speed.  It spit rain a bit and was in the 40s but we were reasonably bundled and happy to be out breathing in the fresh air.  I would never be out there running and riding if Donnie didn't kick things off, so I really appreciate him motivating all of us.

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I'm happy to say my Fitbit seemed to register my activity on the bike just fine.

Happy New Year!

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From our family to yours wishing everyone a very happy new year!

I saw a 2013 shot on Facebook yesterday where someone put 2 0 1 3 candles in 4 separate champagne flutes with bubbly and a gold background.  I thought, hey!, I have all the kids' yearly birthday candles in a basket in the pantry.  Let me try that!  Well, first off, candles don't weigh much and they float.  Second off, I only have 3 matching flutes and they are too narrow for the candles.  Third, all my vertical options were too short to fit 4 candles.  OK, I'll try just the 1 and the 3 in a short but wide glass.  That's when I found out they wouldn't stay vertical.  Oops!  So I went with what I had and shot looking down.  That's tinfoil reflecting up the stove hood halogen lights.  I did an invert and a neon and an scurve adjust to get the prettier colors and then used a spherical filter to distort the roundness of the glass.

Here's the original.

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Christmas Cactus

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Thought I'd share a pretty flower on a cold winter's day.  This guy is on my plant light rack safely inside where it's warm.

Sharing

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The kids after exchanging gifts this week.  Joey is showing Madi a new game on his Nexus 7 (Android tablet).  Johnny has graciously  handed his over to Madi and is watching.