Lighting the Tree

I know. I know. You aren't ready to hear about Christmas yet. I used to be one who didn't want to hear one thing about Christmas until after Thanksgiving.

But...this year, since I'm not working a full-time day job, I kind of got in the Christmas spirit early. Today I ventured to Michael's to pick up a few items for my granddaughters to work on tomorrow. We're having a "girls night" at Grandma's. I decided to buy them wooden boxes with designs on the top that they could paint and line with felt. Fun! I bought a variety of acrylic paints and brushes. I know they'll have fun, because they like to craft just like I do.

While I meandered through the aisles at the craft store, I saw all kinds of Christmas items. And they didn't make me shudder. I almost wished I could hear Christmas music. Don't throw tomatoes at me. I'm making up for last year when we had a really sad Christmas.

This year I'm planning a family get together, and I'll have lots of time and fun thinking of decorating ideas and craft things I can make to give away. I'm even thinking how fun it will be when our cats invade our tree and the cute pics I can get.

And, yesterday, I decided to upload my Christmas short story "Lighting the Tree" to the Kindle platform. It should be availabe for purchase for only $1.00 sometime tomorrow.

So, how many of you are thinking about Christmas already?

Remember When...Laugh 'Til You Cry!

Below my blog is the information on who won an ebook of Moselle's Insurance by commenting on LoRee Peery's guest blog about the Sisterhood of Romance Writers.

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Yesterday family gathered at our home to share food, conversation and fun. Our home is not large, nor do we have room for a lot of people in any one room. Since the weather was nice, we turned off the air conditioning and opened windows and the sliding doors from the kitchen to the deck. The food covered the table in the kitchen. The men congregated on the deck to eat and watch football, while the kids carried their plates down to the family room to watch television, and the women congregated in the living room to talk. Eventually, the kids moved outdoors to play. We, the women, listened to the kids laughing and having a good time and began to reminisce about things the kids had done when they were younger. One story led to another, and soon we were laughing so hard tears were rolling down our faces. My cheeks and my sides ached from laughing so hard. Occasionally, one of the men would wander in just to see what they were missing.

And that's what I love most about getting together with family. Sharing memories made over the years and laughing together. Family is one of the greatest blessings God has given me. I'm looking forward to Christmas because more of the family will be able to join us. The house will be overflowing with people and love.

I pray all of my friends who are in the US and celebrated Labor Day this past weekend had a fun and relaxing time. Thanks for stopping by!

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And the winner is....Donna B.

So, Donna, if you would, please email me through the contact page of my website http://www.carolannerhardt.com/ and give me your email addy to receive your book. Thanks to everyone who commented.

Also, Donna and everyone who left a comment now have their names entered twice in my monthly drawing for a Bath & Body Gift Certificate. There is no limit to how many times your name can be entered. Every comment on one of my blogs gets one entry each and every comment on a guest blog or interview gets two entries each.

The winner of Mended Heart will be announced here on my blog on Friday! Be sure to stop back and see if you are a winner!

Spontaneous...That's My Family

What a spectacular weekend. I took Friday off work which gave me a nice long four day weekend. Saturday our son planned to get married in our yard, so I wanted a little time to prepare. Imagine my surprise to get a phone call from my brother telling me he was on the way to our house and would arrive before I got off work!! I haven't seen my brother in nearly five years. He was in Indianapolis with the race car crew and they told him to take the rental car and come visit since we were only 3 hours away. Woo hoo!!

I love my brother soooo much. We're like the true yin and yang. He's so much fun, keeps everyone laughing and is one of the most patient and loving people in my life. He's overcome a lot and is my hero.

We had a wonderful time visiting and running around looking for a Harley Davidson shirt from the area. Yeah, he's a bike man, but trust me...he's just a little bitty guy. I tease him all the time about being a little pipsqueak. I think his biker friends call him buzzard bait. LOL!

Saturday the wedding was set to take place at 12:30 pm in our back yard. While we were setting up the reception at the church, we decided to have the wedding at the church in the gorgeous prayer garden. Good thing it was only family. We made some quick phone calls. At 12:25 one daughter and her hubby still hadn't shown up and they were not answering their cell phones. So, my brother and I headed back to my house and...yep, they were waiting in the back yard wondering why no one had shown up yet. LOL! We got back to the church and were getting ready to move the wedding party to the garden when another family member from out of town that we hadn't known was coming actually found us at the church! He'd been to our house, too. Yep, we have a very crazy family and we operate on spontaneity!

The wedding was beautiful, and I know have a wonderful new daughter-in-law. My brother headed back to Indianapolis at 8PM on Saturday evening.










My Brother and Me