Going Downtown

On this last day of 2011, I have one more Christmas (ish) post for you. On Christmas Eve, Ken and I went to Downtown Kansas City to see the "Holiday Windows on Main Street." This was the second year that several local merchants in a two block area decorated their storefront windows. Some of the windows were decorated by local artists and you could vote for a particular artist. The artist with the most votes would win a prize. Never did figure out what that was was--sorry. Let's begin our tour. Bundle up it is a bit chilly this evening. Shall we? The picture above and the next two were in the windows of the big grocery store. I'll let you browse and maybe make a few more comments here and there. Enjoy!

The tree was soo cool! It was made

from the ends of plastic soda bottles.

Th red striped this is the tree cord

you can't see the plug but there was

one! The word is "GIVE" but the I

was laying down and hard to capture.

It reminds me of a "Light Brite"

picture.

This artist depicted a snowy scene

with some of the buildings we see

downtown. The building with

"PRESIDENT" on it (above) is

a famous hotel here. It has been

renovated to it's former glory.

Several famous entertainers

used to play in the Drum Room

restaurant back in the day.

Above we have another famous

building-"The Western Auto"

building. Again, back in the day

when downtown was a bustling

place to be you could find

customers getting their auto

needs taken care of there. It

went to rack and ruin too but

now has been renovated into

lofts.

The above picture and the next

three are life size cutouts of

the weeknight anchors, sports

guy and our weather guy.

NBC Action News helps sponsor

this contest. This is a very

talented artist. I could of

stood there for awhile just

looking at all the details of

the faces, clothes, snowballs

etc. I think this was my fave

set of windows!

More life size people-these were

shoppers in the snow. This was

around the corner from the news

windows.

This concludes your tour of

"Holiday Windows on Main

Street." Hope you enjoyed

the chilly brisk walk, now

let's get warm!

***Ken and I would like to wish

EVERYONE a blessed NEW YEAR!

May it be full of joy, happiness, love,

good times, peace and prosperity.

It has been another full year for us

and we are looking forward to seeing

what the new year brings to us.

Happy New Year! 2012

~Keep on Dreaming~

Oh, My Goodness!!!

This evening's sunset!

What more can I say? Awesome!

~Keep on Dreaming~

March of the Penguins and Friends

Last Thursday evening Ken and I drove to a house that have known about for two years but never got to last year. This family has a Penguin display as the above sign says. Now, I am not talking about one or two of the large inflatables BUT the WHOLE yard is covered with Penguins and friends. All donations given are donated to the Leukemia Society in memory of his Mother. We had a blast walking through the displays in the front and side yards even if it was COLD. But that is the best time to look at penguins don't you think?? He even had a screen set up that was playing "Happy Feet" on it. You will see it in one of the pictures. We hope you enjoy the tour.

See the screen next to Santa

who is flying above the driveway!

Santa was the last piece of

the display! Where do they

keep all of these during the

year??? Curious minds want

to know.

~Keep on Dreaming~

Our Wish to You

Mr. Ken and I would like to wish

EVERYONE a Merry Holiday season.

We wish for you love, laughter and

peace this season.

Enjoy your time with family, friends

and anyone else who happens by.

I'll be back soon with several post

holiday posts on our adventures

this weekend.

MERRY CHRISTMAS, HAPPY

HANUKKAH, KWANZA and

BOXING DAY my friends!

~Keep on Dreaming~

Our Merry Little Tree

This year I went with a theme for the tree. "Candy Land." I had a bunch of different "candy" ornaments from past years, so I didn't have to buy much for the tree this year. We used the tinsel tree again this year. A night view. A tippy top view of the bow and garland that I wrapped around the ribbon. A bottom view--I used the box and the game board then put the tree on top.

Different views of the tree.

Pretty ornaments with frosty

icicles, lollipops, more

ornaments, candy canes and

frosty balls, snowmen and

another pretty ornament with

a snowflake on it.

A fun theme indeed!!

***Tomorrow is the First

Day of Winter*** Whoo Hoo!!

~Keep on Dreaming~

Fun For All

Yesterday my students made "Reindeer

Food." this a quick and easy activity

for young and old alike. Kids love

the concept.

I checked on the net for a printable

copy of the "recipe" and gift tags.

Here is the recipe.

Magic Reindeer Food

In a snack size zipper bag, mix:

1/2 cup uncooked oatmeal

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup red and/or green sugar

sprinkles

Zip up the bag tightly and mix

together. Add a gift tag with

directions on sprinkling on

your lawn.

**We skipped the sugar and used

just the oatmeal and the sprinkles.

I found the recipe and tags on:

www.oganizedhome.com

This would be fun for your kids,

grands, nieces, nephews, scouts,

and church groups.

If you can't locate the recipe and

tags, let me know.

~Keep on Dreaming~

A Fun Read

Image:Google

I was watching the World

News the other night and

heard a spot on this book.

After listening, I Googled

it to find out more.

It is written by Colleen

Christian Burke--she

received a personal

invitation from First Lady

Laura Bush to help decorate

the White House of Christmas

of 2008.

She writes of the traditions that

each First Lady decided on during

their time in the White House.

It begins with the Kennedy's and

continues through the Obama's

I have read the first chapter and

now I am moving on to the

Johnson's term.

This would be a great book for

someone who has an interest in

the White House, the First Ladies,

history and traditions. Each chapter

ends with a special treat for the reader.

I purchased this for myself for

Christmas and I am really enjoying it!

~Keep on Dreaming~

Christmas Fun

A holiday/ Christmas Q & A

From Better Homes and Gardens

Magazine: (Facebook Fans)

What holiday treat do you look

forward to the most?

Christmas Cookies---67%

Homemade Candy---15%

Hot Chocolate---11%

Time with Family---7%

What do you look

forward to?

I look forward to time

with Ken and we enjoy

going to look at all the

pretty lights.

When does your family

open holiday gifts:

Christmas Morning---78%

Christmas Eve---21%

Right Away---1%

When does your family open

gifts?

Ken and I open ours

on Christmas morning.

I have two of my own ???'s

Do you exchange gifts with

the WHOLE family?

We do not--too many ages etc.

Do you send Christmas Cards?

Yes, I enjoy sending them and

receiving.

~Keep on Dreaming~

Oh Joy !!!!

The season's FIRST SNOW!

According to the weatherman

this was supposed to be "flurries."

It didn't amount to any accuulation

but it sure made a mess getting to work

this morning. The first snow sure does

throw drivers for a loop. :) We may get a

little more later in the week.

***Thanks to all for the sweet wishes

for our anniversary.

~Keep on Dreaming~

Happy Anniversary!!!!

It is that time of year again! What time do you ask? The time for these two kids to celebrate their wedding anniversary! This is number 12! Yea!!!!!! This is where we had dinner last night. A very authentic Italian restaurant, owned and operated by Jasper Mirable. We had a chance to speak to him as were leaving! He is like a local celebrity here in the Kansas City area. For dinner I had Chicken Parm. with pene pasta. Ken had Italian sausage with pene pasta. Our meals began with a most delish salad and bread! No pics of our meals because the photographer was too busy eating and enjoying. :) This folks is "the dessert cart." Five levels of the most devine delish desserts one can imagine! Drooling can occur when this comes flying by!

I'd like to introduce you to

THE most DELISH piece

of Strawberry cake EVER

tasted by these lips. Oh,

my goodness! (We split this)

Ken and I had a very enjoyable

celebration dinner and can't

wait for another reason to go

back.

Today is the actual day for our

anniversary and we had fun

running around and spending

the day together. We are ready

for 12 MORE!

~Keep on Dreaming~