Belated CIJ Celebration Details!

Sorry for the long delay everyone. Meetings, preparation for our vacation and the fact that my daughter broke her foot/ankle put things into a bit of overload here in my home. I've still got plenty of things to share and that's why my blog is called "Confessions of a Holiday Junkie". The ideas are endless and on no time restraint. I've still got recipes from dinner, new Christmas ideas popping up and Halloween is just around the corner. Stay tuned for some fun things. Now, with no further delay are pictures of our little CIJ party. 

My dining room is paint central a the moment, so no sitting down for a formal dinner and for some reason everyone forgets I have a basement. So we always end up in a circle upstairs in my itty, bitty living room. It's very comfy and cozy. 

Tammy started off great by bringing me some flowers. They were the perfect center piece and she cut them and put them in the vase all by herself. Yeah!! 

We had a small gift exchange this year, thanks to Tammy's fabulous idea. Ciara decided to be a little creative and used Duct Tape to wrap Shae's package. The point was to keep her out of it for as long as possible. But she is a kid and they will figure out a way to get into the package. 

Ciara had Shae and Shae had Ciara, so that was fun. They bought her the coveted Keep Calm and Carry On poster for her room. This has been on her want list for at least a year. Now we'll be searching for the perfect frame. 

Byron made Aunt Sandy a Houndstooth beaded bracelet. As usual,  his bracelets are always a hit. They are made with lots of Time and LOVE!

Tammy was my partner and she gave me these beautiful snowflake earrings. As usual, my camera would not do what I needed it to do, so you can't see the crystals up close. I love them and I loved my Disney tag! 

Shari also brought me a hostess gift. It was a fabulous ornament, reminding me of  how much I ROCK! hahahahah 

Mike is always fun, because he's the kid at heart in the family. I was  his Secret Santa, so I bought him a bouncing glow LED ball and a UFO magazine. He loved both! 

Byron received an Orchid. He loves Orchids and his had some bugs, so it went bye, bye! 

Byron and Hector, weren't suppose to be here for the dinner, but they both made it and amused us. 

Shari received this beautiful frame from Aunt Sandy and we all received a little extra something from the Gorilla glue... (wink, wink)

We wore our best T-shirts and beautiful Christmas jewelry

Santa made a visit... well sorta...

We had some fabulous Ham and Mashed Potatoes from the crockpot, along with a fabulous mini salad bar and some deviled eggs. I tried to keep everything COOL this year, considering the heat.

Then we had this fabulous Ice Cream Sandwich cake from the freezer and it was awesome! I will be posting the recipe in the future for sure. 

After a bit of laughing, good food and enjoying each others company we decided it was time to part ways. But we did have a little fun on the way out. 

My purpose of this post is to remind you, that everyday is a good day (and excuse) to have some fun with your family. You don't need to wait till Thanksgiving or Christmas to make it fun and special. Just pick a day, any day and come up 

with a good excuse!