The time in between..........

It is a strange time, this time in between holidays.   The big stuff is over, but it doesn't' feel quite like it should be.  We had a really wonderful Christmas.  All of my boys had a wonderful day.

This one really enjoyed opening up presents.  I was proud of him, he played with each one, one at a time, and continues to enjoy them all.

Christmas is Max's favorite day of the year.  We are all together in the family room, and he LOVES presents.  He can find which ones are his under the tree.  He also took a piece of turkey off the platter during Christmas dinner, he can still be a bit sneaky even at the age of 10 1/2.

Even big brother's had a good time putting things together for little brother's.   We had a wonderful family day, and minus my Dad becoming suddenly ill and needing to go home at dinner time, it was just perfect.   I think it was so special to have Little Buddy with us to make us all remember how magic Christmastime can be.

The day after Christmas this lovely package arrived in the mail for me all the way from Ontario.

My dear and lovely friend  Deb sent me a surprise in the mail.  I was so excited and so very touched.  Deb is an incredible artist, you must pay her a visit and see just how wonderful she is.  Just look at the Santa on the front of the card, amazing isn't he?

Inside was this gorgeous fellow all wrapped up to stay warm in the cold north.  This lovely card with buttons sewn right on it and of course my favorite........

A miniature Max for my Christmas tree.  Something you may not know is that Max has his very own box of Christmas ornaments.  I will add this to it next year, but for now this sweet Max is going to be out where I can see him year round.  Deb you have surprised me and just made me so happy.  Thank you for your thoughtfulness, I am so grateful for your generosity.  You can find Deb here at this link to her blog and also at her Etsy store vintage sparrow studio, where you can see all the beautiful art, cards, photography and stitching she sells.  Pop into her blog and meet Archer her beautiful and soulful lab, he will delight you.  Deb's blog is an amazing place to visit, her outlook on life and her beautiful photography will astound you.

There were also some presents for me, this wee sheep from my knitting friend Kaylyn.

And my sweet Sofie (on the right) now has a sister Sarah.  Sarah was given to me by my friend Lynda.  Although they look like twins, Sofie is older and wiser.  I wonder what kind of trouble these two will get into? You can tell by their cheeky grins they will be up to no good in no time at all.

I have made myself stay very busy today so as not to dwell on the fact my son left to go back to Ohio this morning.  I took our tree down, put the ornaments away and cleaned up all the dead needles.  I cleaned all the bathrooms, changed our sheets and did four loads of laundry.  I cleaned all the huge planter shelves way up high in my house, a once a year job which always make me feel my house is a dust-ridden mess.  Then of course everything under them had to be dusted, polished, vacuumed and washed.  It is a big job, but it kept me busy and I feel like things are cleaner.  It is hard these children of ours leaving, I never get used to it and this time seemed harder for my son.  He will be fine once his buddies arrive back in the house they share and then I will be here worrying and he will be just having a good ole time, isn't that always the way it is?

I am working the next few days, but am planning to have all of Christmas put away before the New Year.  I like to start my New Year with a clean slate, everything flesh, organized and cleaned up.

There will be time for knitting, oh and there is some new yarn, but I can't show you everything right away now can I?