Monday Morning Musings. Baby's First Christmas

I know it's the new year and Christmas is over but I couldn't let it pass without at least one post about our sweet little Amelia's first Christmas.

Was she spoiled? Of course she was! But this grandma bought the best kinds of presents, ones that never get old . . . books! Morgan and Kim have been warned. Milly's going to have a bazillion pictures taken of her and her room is going to fill up with books. And what's not to love about that??

We all had a great time watching her 'open' her presents and Jada, who loves opening presents, was standing by, ready to offer assistance if needed. Morgan even got to play Santa courtesy of Jesse's new Santa hat complete with flowing white beard.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Creating Gingerbread Houses and a Contest

For longer than I can remember, I've made gingerbread houses with my kids. When we were young, my siblings and I would visit my dad in the bakery while he was making gingerbread houses and 'help' him decorate.

You'd think, now that my kids have all grown up, that this tradition would have petered out . . . . but, in fact, they like it even more now than they did when they were younger. Morgan and Kim even came home to decorate with everyone and left their creation behind for me to enjoy. (Smartie the cat would devour it if they brought it home.)

I love that my kids enjoy creating. And to celebrate that with all of you I've decided to have a contest!

Here are the rules:

• The person who can choose which gingerbread house belongs to which creator correctly, for each house posted here, will win the desk version of this year's Whimsey Photography calendar.

• Who ever gets the most creator/house combinations right will receive the calendar. Should there be a tie, I will make a random draw for the winner.

• You have until Thursday, December 18 at 8pm to give your answers. 

The winner will be announced on Friday, December 19th at 12 noon. The contest is open to everyone, no matter where you live. Shipping is on me! 

I'm still having trouble with my comments here on the blog, so, rather than leaving your answers on the blog please go here to leave your answer on my Facebook post. (click on the blue word 'here' to get to the proper Facebook post)

Now to introduce you to the creators  . . . .

My oldest daughter Crystal:

My next daughter, Holly (with a friend):

Holly's boyfriend Alex:

Morgan and his new bride Kim (they did one together):

And Jesse:

Here are their creations in no particular order:

 House number 1:

House number 2:

House number 3:

House number 4:

And house number 5:

And just to get you started . . . I posted one of these house and it's creator on my Facebook page, If you haven't seen it yet, head over to A Life Of Whimsey on Facebook to find out which one it is.

Good Luck!