Diamonds are a girls's best friends....and Christmas books!

 I know...here I go again with the snow pictures but when I looked out this morning it looked like a diamond field!  I get ecstatic over nature's beauty and always take it as a gift from above.  I wasn't sure I could capture the "sparkliness" but I did; from several vantage points.  These are my kind of diamonds....I've never cared for the others.  I did nothing to the pictures either.....this is just how it looked;  amazingly beautiful!

I dragged out my Christmas books.....do you have special books you bring out at Christmas? 

I probably have more but these were what I ran across.  The top left hand corner book is my all time favorite at Christmas.  It is written by 4 sisters who grew up in Ames, Iowa and talks about their traditions growing up and recipes their Mom used to make and how they have kept those traditions going through the next generation.  It's a heartwarming book to read over the holidays and contains some great midwestern recipes!  The top right book is a book of lists for organizing your Christmas by  Mary Emmerling.  None of the lists have been written on.....that explains a lot!  The bottom book on the left I bought last year, used and I'm just now reading it.  It's got a little bit of everything in it from the Christmas Story to vintage illustrations and Christmas Carols plus who knows what else.....it's a big book!  The lower right hand book my daughter gave me in 1995 and it is by Mary Engelbreit entitled "It Doesn't Hurt To Ask"...it's a popup book for adults with her gorgeous illustrations.

These 2 books I haven't read yet, although I've had them for several years....I can't even remember how I came to have them.  The Christmas Letters by Bret Nicolaus (coincidence?) and The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus by Frank Baum who wrote The Wizard of Oz.  He wrote this book for his little boy in 1902.  It was reprinted in 1983.  I haven't read it either but it contains reprints of the original illustrations.
 Where would Christmas be without lots of recipes especially for sweets?

 I love the tree on the front of this book.  It's like the perfect Christmas tree.  This contains the whole ball of wax....decorations, recipes, craft instructions for gifts.

 And of course where would Christmas preparations be without at least one Gooseberry Christmas book?  This is book #8.....how many were there?  Are they still making these?

 I managed to get the ingredients for cinnamon hearts, chex mix and a few items for the birthday boy so tomorrow I'll have pictures of some Christmas progress, I hope!  We have another freezing rain, sleet, bag of tricks coming tomorrow and Saturday so please pray we don't lose power....although if we did I might get that scarf finished! LOL! I hope you are all proceeding joyfully through the holidays!