Paid My Dues

I guess I have paid my dues and am now officially admitted in the Old Peoples Christmas Organization. I am feeling rather guilty because I know that my children have been going crazy this week, and especially today, getting EVERYTHING ready for Christmas. And what did I do today? Whatever I wanted- haha. Today was a no-alarm-clock-day, just get up whenever we wake up. I tried to stay in my pajamas all day, but about mid day I realized that my skirt, that I want to wear on Sunday, was still at the cleaners and we needed some more eggs and we needed gas in the car. So I got dressed and went out :) Then Ron completely took advantage of the fact that I got dressed and took me out for dinner and a movie. I don't know what today was like where you live, but it seemed like the entire city of Houston was out today at the restaurants, the department stores, and the grocery stores. Traffic jams everywhere, no places to park, long lines to check out etc. What a way to completely ruin the spirit of Christmas :(
Now I just need to convince myself that it will be okay to just sleep in, with no children sneaking around early- only have a couple presents under the tree- have a nice breakfast about mid morning- have a quiet dinner early afternoon. Kind of uneventful huh? ;) That's what an "old people Christmas" is. Have fun with your "little kid Christmas"- I'll be missing it.

I'm Done

I'm done, I'm done, everything is ready for Christmas... well almost :) I still have to work tomorrow, and we still have a couple more people to visit, but the stockings are hung, the last package is going out in the mail tomorrow, the cards went out yesterday, we had guests for dinner tonight (my favorite restaurant cooked the lasagna and Ron picked it up on his way home :), and the house is decorated and cleaned (well at least the downstairs :). Looking forward to a couple of days off, but for now, I think I'm worn out, I'm going to bed :)  

Time Flies...

when you are getting ready for Christmas. Instead of it being the week before Christmas, I was thinking I still had two weeks :) Somehow I lost a week and I missed three birthdays. Happy belated birthday, to three great guys.



Big O is 2!



J dog is 6!




MC is 26 and now has a little MC called DC.





Merry Christmas

Newest Grandson

When a picture is out there, on a public space like Facebook-

                                                  anyone can grab it :)
                         This picture is amazing, he is only a month old.



Christmas Lessons

Besides my two favorite Christmas things (the lights and the music), there are always very meaningful lessons and talks given at Christmas time. Two of the talks given at our church today were about service. I wanted to share a brief story that was given. It is not even really a Christmas story, but just more of a "life story".
The gentleman that was speaking told about when he was a boy he would work for his grandfather, hoeing the corn field. He grandfather always assigned 1 boy to each field. He knew that if he assigned 1 boy to 1 field he would get 1 days work from that boy. If he assigned 2 boys to 1 field he would get half a days work from the 2 boys together. If he assigned 3 boys to 1 field, he wouldn't get any work from the 3 boys :) (I'm sure that A1 is lol about now)
He went on to tell, that one day someone asked the grandfather why he didn't just use his machinery to take care of the field, rather than the boys. The grandfather replied, "I am not trying to grow the best corn in the town. I am trying to grow the best boys in the town." I think his plan worked.
One of his main points here was to teach children to work and to serve others. Include them in your holiday service projects. Let them experience the joy of working and also the joy of giving. A story from another talk about service, was about the impression made on young girl by her father including her in a secret Santa project. At the time the young girl didn't really understand the situation, but she understood the good feelings she had from "giving". We would plan secret Santa outings with our children- they always enjoyed those times and I think it provided them with a desire to continue "giving" even now that they have families of their own.

Candy Bar Tree

A while back I saw an idea for a "Best Witches Candy Bar Tree". It was a candy bar tree for Halloween. I'm thinking...I'll bet I can do a Christmas one.

It's a rather messy project.

I hesitate to post this idea, because the directions are pretty vague. The directions for the Halloween tree said, " Adhere candy bars to a Styrofoam cone using a glue gun so that candy bars are staggered like shingles on a roof. Place in flowerpot and decorate with raffia." So, it's a little more complicated than that :)

I bought two Styrofoam cones (can't remember exactly what size)- I bought two small metal pails- I filled them with glass beads (to give it some weight at the bottom)- I glued the cones into the pail- I glued the candy bars on (it took two bags of mini candy bars for each tree. "Crunch" bars that were wrapped in red, green and silver wrapping)- then I filled in bare spots with sprigs of green and white garland (that is the messy part- have you ever cut up garland before ? :) I also glued a small tuft of garland on the very top and some silver curly ribbon. They turned out pretty cute, but it is definitely a test of hot glue on garland and foam (that also tends to melt) and trying not to burn your fingers or melt the candy bars.  This is one of those gifts that looks too cute to tear apart- but that's the only way to eat the candy. Actually I think with a small pair of scissors the ends of the wrappers could just be cut open to take the candy bars out- leaving the wrappers on the tree. But...after I give them away it doesn't matter exactly what happens to them :)
PS- Sorry the pictures aren't better- it's pretty hard to see how the candy bars look.

Going Back to Reality

We just got back from our little, magical, winter wonderland, play with the kids, go shopping, baby blessing, long weekend...

tomorrow we go back to reality.

But it was great while it lasted.

Thanksgiving Week

Only in Texas- a Nativity scene with a long horn cow, a horse, a pig, a turkey, and a deer (which was behind the pig).

This week we went to our property near Bandera.



My brother came to spend a few days with us. He met us in Bandera, then we stopped in San Antonio at the Alamo, then we spent Thanksgiving at our house.




Ron and Doug spent some time "digging" for the corner pins on our property- good thing Doug had his shovel, tape measure and metal detector.

 We met Doug in Bandera on Tuesday evening. The timing was perfect, we all arrived there about 7:30 pm. We checked into a motel and then went for dinner at a restaurant right behind the motel. The food was great- the best shrimp and  sweet potato fries I have ever had :) On Wednesday morning we had a big Texas breakfast at the Old Spanish Trail restaurant. Then we went to our property for a short time. Doug helped Ron find the markers on the edges of our lot. Since Doug hadn't been to San Antonio before- we decided to go visit the Alamo on Wednesday afternoon. On Thursday we had a quiet Thanksgiving at our house. On Friday mom and I went to work at the store- Doug and Ron "hung around" together. Friday evening we out for dinner to one of our favorite restaurants here in Houston. Seems like four days of eating! It was great to spend some time with my brother.

What Are You Thankful For?

Places to Go, People to See

So...we don't get to see any of our kids this week, but we all have places to go and people to see. Carrie's mom is there with them and they will have Thanksgiving dinner with Carrie's dad. Then Carrie's mom will take care of Nicholas while Mike and Carrie celebrate Carrie's birthday. Annie, Alex, and the boys are meeting Ashley, Daniel, and the kids at Daniel's sisters house for Thanksgiving. Between those three families there will be 10 children- 5 boys and 5 girls. Now that should be a fun Thanksgiving dinner :) Alison and Micah will have Thanksgiving with Micah's family on Saturday. I guess Saturday fit into everyone's schedule better than Thursday. Most of Sam's family should arrive in Texas tonight. They just need to show up at Sam's, uncle's house with their food assignment.  My brother is coming here from Denver. We will be visiting Bandera with him and then having dinner here on Thursday. I am so grateful for our family and for our extended family. I am so grateful that all of us have places to go and family to see. We love the relationships that we have with each other and the many blessings that we share.
Happy Thanksgiving...where ever you are.

Al and Dal

For Al

Al just had a baby this week- little Dallin was born on Tuesday. I guess there has been some discussion about who he looks like. These are pictures of Alison. (They are not her newborn pictures, but it might be fun to look at them. Of course, I can't come up with baby pics. of Micah to compare. I'll play around and try to add a picture of Dallin) Ash posted a few cute pictures on her blog and Annie posted cute pictures on her blog. I'm sure there will be more to come. (Al and Micah and Dallin- we love you and we are soooo happy that all is well.)

Birthday...

Birthday- New Baby Day! Not many details yet- but from the pics. on FB looks like all is well. This is grandson number 7. (We also have one "princess" grand daughter) I guess all of these grandsons are Ron's reward for all those years, (after Mike graduated) of "me and the girls".

New Perspective

Before I get to my new perspective on food storage- here is my confession-- my opinion is influenced by Fox news. We watch Glenn Beck, we listen to Rush Limbaugh, Michael Barry, and Sean Hannity, we joined the Katy Tea Party, and we mostly agree with the party of "no", but may be leaning toward Libertarian. There...now you know. Okay so with the government printing money (again) we can most likely expect bad things to come. One prediction is that energy and food costs will skyrocket during the next year. My first thought- I will probably wish that I had a more economical car. My second thought- If food prices go way up, that gives a whole new perspective to food storage. There won't be a food shortage, just outrageous prices. Basically stock up now to avoid high prices later. My third thought- If food is really expensive, what other costs can we cut back on or eliminate? (Personally- What things could I go without buying for a year? I can come up with a pretty good list.) If people are struggling just to buy food- what other things are they not buying? (For some silly reason, prom dresses come to mind :) My fourth thought- What do I have that I could share with other people? I think we are headed for tough times. Buy some extra food.

Not Out of the Woods...

Oh, wait a minute, did I say woods, I meant weeds- not out of the WEEDS yet. This past week we had alittle rain and the pollen count improved some. Several days the grass, trees, and mold have been "low" or even "none". But those weeds went from "extreme" to "heavy" to "medium", and then back to "heavy". Just can't get rid of those things :)
Soon, I'll blog about something else...I promise :)

One Little Glitch

So...I found these really cute Halloween bags...

and cute little Halloween toys...



then I made cookies. BUT the cookies were too big to fit into the bags...



So I had to buy new bags. My treat for my nursery kids at church was a cute bag with a cookie inside and then tied with a ribbon and a cute toy.



Plus I had cookies ready for refreshments for another class that Ron and I teach on Sundays.



AND, even though I thought I didn't have the energy to do Trunk or Treat- WE DID.



I told Ron that when Halloween falls on Sunday, seems like the celebration begins on Thursday- then Friday and Saturday- like a 4 day weekend :) Plus, he is thinking it has been a great weekend-- he got pizza, chili, and bacon all on one weekend.

Life is not Fair

So...last week the pollen count looked like this-

Tree Pollen, low.

Weed Pollen, extremely heavy.

Grass Pollen, low.

Mold Pollen, low.

This week the pollen count looks like-

Tree Pollen, medium.

Weed Pollen, heavy.

Grass Pollen, heavy.

Mold Pollen, medium.

Can't we get a good rain storm???

Here I am suffering from itchy, red, swollen eyes, itchy nose and throat, sneezing, sniffling, sinus congestion, sinus headache, sore throat, etc. So I am trying to avoid breathing... okay, maybe not all breathing, but at least no outside air :) and Ron is driving around in his convertible thinking, "Man what great weather"!

Trick or TREAT

Do you need some cute ideas for Halloween food? Go to http://www.allrecipes.com/ -then click on the Halloween tab. Lots of ideas!!!

Got Any Cheese to go with this Whine?

This has not been a very good week. Mom and I got up very early on Monday morning to get her to the hospital by 6 am for her throat procedure. That actually went very well. We were back home by noon. On Tuesday, she seemed okay, she came to work at the store on Tuesday afternoon. Ever since Wednesday she has been sick. They claimed that her very strange symptoms were not a result of her surgery on Monday- I guess it was some very weird coincidence. What was even worse, this week, is that it is very sad that when the weather here gets cool enough to be able to open some windows and not run the air conditioner- then the ragweed comes out in full force. Bad news for me. And I seem to get getting worse each year, just being outside for a few minutes makes my sinus' go bonkers! I had hoped to be able to use a nasal spray to relieve my symptoms, but I had to resort to the antihistamines and the nasal spray. I have decided that being on the antihistamines 24/7 gives you fuzzy thinking, weird dreams, and maybe even kills brain cells :) So as I have been trying to just maintain- problems started popping up at the store. Dresses not fitting, last minute alterations, problem fabric and frustrated customers.

There...now that got all of that whining out of my system, maybe next week will be better. Maybe we will get a good rain storm or something. For now, I'll take my sniffly, sneezy, stuffy nose, headache, sore throat, itchy eyes, and go to bed :)

The "Red Bag" Society

A2 and I are officially part of the "Red Bag" society.

We went to a women's conference this weekend and this was the bag that everyone received.

For those of you who recognize the sign- this women's conference is called "Time Out For Women". It is a Friday evening, and a Saturday, filled with inspirational talks, music, and women of all ages. This one was in Plano, Texas and 1800 women attended. Ron and I drove there Friday afternoon and he had some "guy time" with Sam and his brother. I love these events, especially when I get to spend them with at least one of my daughters. I'm already plotting for next year to have all of the girls meet me for one of these weekends. I just have to figure out to bribe the guys into babysitting (and that will be no easy task :) Later I might post some of my favorite talk- if I can figured out how to do it justice in a condensed form.

Never Give Up

A Birth Day

Happy Birthday to "Super Mom" with super kids.



It's always fun to see this picture and then see the boys as babies.

Have a great day. I hope you used the gift card for yourself. There is something else that might arrive today. Kind of for the boys- but only you will appreciate it :) I think I will just go watch "Mamas Song" and cry. We love you.

I'm Missing the Girls- but it's OK

Voter Registration Info.

Here is a link for voter registration info. for Texas-
http://www.sos.state.tx.us/elections/voter/reqvr.shtml

Pledge to America

GOP Pledge to America Final

The Party of NO

Contrary to popular media reports, the "Party of No" does have ideas on how to help our economy. Find all of the reports and stories about the "Pledge to America". It contains real answers for our economy and how to work toward smaller government. While, some of the spending cuts may be painful- it won't be nearly has painful as our current course of action. This is not a complete answer to our problems, but it's at least a step in the right direction. As soon as I find a link, to be able to read the "Pledge to America", I will post it. In case you haven't already figured it out, I am a proud member of the "Party of  NO". I won't claim that we can trust all of the Republicans- but it's time for real "change and hope". Everyone needs to be registered soon to vote. Need help with that? One benefit of finding your nearest "Tea Party" is they will help give you good information on who the candidates are. Get out there and vote- but vote informed.

Mitt Romney on Liberty

Katy Info.

Here is a website with information about the Katy 9/12ers and the Katy Tea Party. http://www.912katy.org/
There is a 9/12 meeting next Tuesday evening, Sep. 21 at 6:30 pm. There is info. on the website- if you want to attend you need to register and let them know you are coming.

I guess I know how to cut out comments on my blog- just post political stuff :) I'll get back to normal soon- but until then... are you registered to vote? The choices will be well defined in November. Everybody vote! You still have about two weeks to register, if you haven't already.

8/28 Highlights

For those of you who are looking for 8/28 highlights- see these first few posts (except the Bday one- you can skip it :) then also go to "Older Posts" because there is another post there. Also, look at the comments on the posts- Ron's comments are there and some other info. Soon I will post links and info. on the Katy 9/12ers and the Katy Tea Party. Check back for that.

If You Are Conservative...

and believe in smaller government- getting back to the constitution- no more taxes- returning to faith, hope, charity, and honor- returning to personal responsibility instead of government "handouts"- keep reading. If you don't want those things- never mind :)

Two links that you might be interested in:

http://ktrh.com/pages/michaelberry.html
Watch the video called "Why Democrats Must Go" part 1 of 2
(it's fifteen minutes long).
http://www.theblaze.com
News and opinion site from Glenn Beck.

The Big 45

Oh... wait a minute maybe it's the big 54. It's hard to remember :)

Actually, Ashley told me I could still be 30, because people think she is 13. I guess it's hard on a very young mom to show up at back to school night for your child that is in kindergarten. They didn't know if she was the sister, the baby sitter, or the mom. Back to me... it was a birthday yesterday. It was pretty much impossible to just skip it, because it was publicized all over face book, for the whole world to see. Mostly it was just a normal day- other than, mom and I had a little "field trip" to a store in El Campo. After we got back, we went out for dinner at Outback. These birthdays just aren't a big deal any more. Ron paid for a magazine subscription that I asked for. He also thinks "we" need an IPhone for "my" birthday :) But we need to shop around for that, in hopes of maybe making a semi intelligent decision. (plus I don't want to spend any money). I may have to post a newer profile picture, so I don't get accused of false advertisment. Other than the fact that, I color my gray hair, I need to lose some weight, I have bad circulation in my legs, and I wear trifocals now- I'm in good shape :) As Ron says, "it's not fun getting old". lol

There was another birthday this week. My excuse for not posting something (sorry Sam- I'm not perfect :), was because I spent all day Monday in the car. (we were driving back from Dauphin Island- we went to see Ron's sister and her husband). And... Alex gets off easy because I don't even have any "funny" pictures of him to share with everyone. So "Happy (belated) Birthday" to Alex.

Tea Party Video

This next video is not from the 8/28 rally, but it is a Tea Party video.

"Rise Up" and join the peaceful revolution.

An Awakening

"A crowd of 87,000, angry, old, white, tea baggers,

wanting to cause trouble."

Don't believe it!!

It was a 500,000 +, friendly crowd. Yes, conservative Christians, but

all races- non political- practicing virtues of faith, hope, and charity. Mostly charity! People had patience and charity, even when a crowd that large were all trying to leave at the same time, after (most of them) stood in the heat for three hours. Leaving hot, hungry, and tired, but not leaving even one piece trash on the mall. Leaving with a resolve to "make a difference" in the commitment to "return to God".

The Restoring Honor Rally ended with 240 religious leaders standing on stage together to represent a unified commitment to returning this country to God.

The Restoring Honor Rally began with 4 people. One to represent the Jewish people. A couple to represent the American Indians (descendents of American Indians that met the pilgrims of the Mayflower). The fourth person was Pastor Paul (Who gave the opening prayer. Members of his family were pilgrims on the Mayflower).

Amazing Grace

Do you see us?

Right there... under the tree. LOL!

"America today...

begins to turn back to God."

Restoring Honor Rally- 8/28

Along with all of the other "fun stuff" we did this week- our real purpose in going to Washington DC was to attend the Glenn Beck, 8/28, "Restoring Honor" rally. It was the most amazing event that we have ever attended! You can now google various topics and find the Internet "a buzz" with articles, photos, blogs, videos and comments on this event. Don't believe everything you see out there. One example is even in the guesses on how many people attended this event. Numbers ranging from 1 thousand to 1 million. CBS claimed that there were 87,000 there. (don't believe that) The park service number was more like 600,000. The event started at 10 am on Saturday morning. Ron and I arrived at the Lincoln memorial at 12:30 am. We spent a gorgeous night just sitting around with thousands of other people trying to get there early enough for a "good spot". Basically we watched people arrive for 9 hours. This was a religious revival to bring America back to God. It opened with a very powerful prayer. (Given by Pastor Paul who is a direct descendant from the Mayflower.) It honored the founding fathers- especially George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. It honored all military service men and women. It donated 5 million dollars to SOWF (Special Operations Warrior Foundation) It included some well known people. Sarah Palin, speaking as a mother of a soldier and Alveda King speaking as the niece of Martin Luther King. It gave us some real life heroes- Pastor Charles Lewis Jackson (Pleasant Grove Missionary Baptist Church from Houston, Texas). He represented FAITH. Albert Pujols represented HOPE (Honesty, integrity, trust) He spoke briefly about baseball and the Pujols Family Foundation for downs syndrome individuals. Jon M. Huntsman represented CHARITY. (He wrote a book called "Winners Never Cheat". He is the founder of the Huntsman Cancer Institute. He has donated billions to charity. He was not actually in attendance at the rally- but he was given the "Charity award") There were stories of 3 military men, who had survived truly remarkable situations. Then of course Glenn Beck spoke... time to restore America and restore honor in this country. He gave specific teaching on how we as individuals can "make a difference"-- on how we as individuals can be better people-- on how we as individuals can turn back to God-- on how we can teach all of these things to our children. The crowd was (I think) 700,000, average Americans, just like Ron and myself, who are conservative, Christians wanting God back in our country, our government and our schools. (Just that in it's self was a miracle) The crowd was friendly, even in an unfriendly situation like being tired, hungry, hot, and in close proximity to one another. I didn't see this myself, but I believe that there was no trash left at this event like there was for the inauguration of President Obama. There were 240 religious leaders there, from all faiths, standing together. While these people from different faiths don't all believe the same religious philosophy- they do all believe that "returning to God" is the answer. The entire event ended with a very moving arrangement of Amazing Grace and another very powerful closing prayer. I truly believe that this will be the beginning of a movement- the beginning of an awakening of a sleeping giant- the awakening of the conservative Christians in this country. At least there are 700,000 people out there that have been strengthened, motivated, and unified. And their lives will be changed forever. An interesting underlying idea, from Glenn Beck- is that somewhere out there in that crowd might be a child, who 25 years from now might be another "George Washington". Someone with integrity, honor, faith, hope, and charity to lead our nation.

(sorry, but I couldn't get any better pictures- where Ron and I were sitting, it was impossible to a better view of the entire crowd. But you can find great pictures on the Internet)

Chocolate and Lobster

Before I came on vacation, I was on a low meat, low milk, low wheat, low carb, low everything diet. I decided to try my best to "stick to it", but I knew that would be almost impossible this week.

One evening we ate at The Chart House.

Dessert was chocolate brownie, covered with chocolate syrup, covered with chocolate candy bar, topped with ice cream.

We had to eat it, it was free! lol

I think it was called a chocolate lava cake or some such thing :)



Last night we ate at the Fish Market.

Here is what Ron's dinner looked like :)

He watched them pull it out of a tank of water- carry it back to the kitchen- then this plate showed up.

I had lump crab- it was alot less work then Ron's meal. lol

26 0n 26

Happy Day- 26 years old on day 26.

You are probably spending your day in the car (with a back ache :)-

but we will be thinking of you. We wish you another great year.

Some things that you will learn soon is that everyone will only come to see the kids. All the phone calls and letters will be for the kids.

All the gifts will be for the kids. So...

here is the first item I bought while on our trip here in Alexandria- it will be a gift, in the mail, to you (or maybe to baby C.)

Hopefully your real gift will be waiting for you at home :) :)

My Day Off from Walking

You can't come to Washington DC and not WALK alot. After two days of walking, today was my day off. We mostly just hung around the condo. We had lunch at the Hilton that is next door. We are going out for seafood dinner tonight at the Chart House. It is at the river end of King Street, here in Alexandria. "With breathtaking views of the Potomac River, Chart House offers world-class dining and impeccable service." (at least that's what visitors guide says :) We rode the King Street trolley again today, but only went to a couple of places, so not much walking. I bought a few items for myself at the Christmas Attic- a cute little gift shop. One of those places STUFFED with so many items that your brain goes on overload mode. I bought a kitchen decoration, a Halloween decoration, and a box of bright colored Christmas ornaments. Tomorrow we are going to Mount Vernon. We are going there by boat and then coming back on a bus and the metro. The other gift shop that I wanted to go to today was closed. We will have to go back there tomorrow when we get back from Mount Vernon. Then tomorrow night we are going to eat at The Fish Market. "Known for its clam chowder, raw oysters, crab cakes and "schooners" of beer, the newly remodeled Fish Market is a landmark. From its unique balcony, watch the bustle of King Street and the Potomac River." (so says the visitors guide :) We'll see. I think we are just going there for the beer. lol


I took this next picture yesterday. We are standing at the back of the Washington Monument, looking toward the Lincoln Memorial. I wanted this picture of this area without people there. Then on Saturday- I will try to get a couple of pictures with a million people there :) :)