Snow Much Fun!

We didn't have to dream of a white Christmas this year!

The Christmas Orange

My girls enjoy hearing stories of things that happened when I was a little girl. Most of the time they laugh, or think I'm crazy, but they love the story of how I always got an orange in my Christmas stocking. Every year in the very bottom of our Christmas stocking my siblings and I would get an orange. We knew it was always the last thing we would pull out. To a person, we would pull it out, look at it, and say, "Great, an orange," and get up and go put it in the refrigerator. Of course, as kids, we would have preferred something else in our stocking, like money or candy.

Strangely enough, I remember being jealous of my cousins who received nuts in the toes of their stockings. Nuts! I cannot say why I always coveted those mixed nuts. I mean, they weren't even shelled, but I loved the beauty and texture of all the different colors that would come tumbling out. Do you think I have mental issues? Coveting mixed nuts? Hey, I was a kid. Who knows what was going through my mind?

Last year, for fun, I put oranges in the toes of my kids stockings. The looks on their faces were priceless. "Great, an orange!" they all said. And, promptly got up and put them in the fridge. We all shared a great laugh together.

I'm not sure why my mother always gave us oranges. Maybe that's what she got in her stocking. (And we were glad to have that, I can hear her saying.) Maybe we couldn't afford anything else. Maybe she was using it as a space filler so she didn't have to get so many other little trinkets and junk. (Maybe she will read this post and tell us why...hint, hint) More than likely she will say, "I don't know why, I just did!"

Here's hoping for an orange (or nuts) in your Christmas stocking this year.

Some Things I'm Liking Today

A quiet house. . . whipped cream on my coffee. . . peanut butter toast. . . my new Mr. Coffee cup warmer. . . no school. . . wrapping gifts. . . giving gifts. . . Christmas music. . .scarves. . . contentment. . . comfort. . . and joy.

Just Some Random Thankfulness

Some things I'm thankful for today:

1. a warm house

2. Christmas ribbon

3. spice tea

4. a husband who fixes garage doors

5. a sweet mother-in-law

6. crossword puzzles

7. Honeybee Gardens lip balm

8. fuzzy pink socks

9. 40% off coupons

10. apple pie scented candles

Tour of Texas - 2009 Edition

I give up. I've been trying to add about five more pictures of our Thanksgiving trip, oh...say, FOR THE LAST SIX DAYS! My computer, or Blogger, or both will not cooperate so I'm going with what I've got. (mainly because Christmas will be here soon and I will still be talking about Thanksgiving) Not that I'm against giving thanks, right?

So...we left Fort Worth on Tuesday, November 24 and drove to Buna. I drove so Jeff could pull out the old laptop and get some work done. I know this is a shocker, because I never drive on long trips. And, most people won't care, but I did want to document here that I was a good wife, for once, and did about four hours of the driving. Thank you. Please hold your applause.

Anyhoo...our annual "Tour of Texas" was as usual. We helped Nanny decorate for Christmas, we saw cousins, we ate lots of bad food (bad FOR you, not bad tasting), we saw more cousins, etc. In short, we did all the things you're supposed to do on a holiday after driving for hours and hours. And, drum roll please.........no one got sick after we got home. Not much.

Nanny and the girls decorate the Coca-Cola porch,

while Jeff and Katherine glued together a Santa puzzle.

Forced picture with cousins

Abi and Gabby

Playing dodgeball with a basketball?

Another forced picture with more cousins

Don't Jeff and K look excited?

A beautiful November sky, on the way home

Thanksgiving in Florida

Well, it was a nice thought -- Thanksgiving in Florida. Warm temps, beaches, the wind in your hair, turkey, sand, well....ahem....anyway....got carried away for a moment.

When I saw these pictures, it made me think of Florida -- the bright sunshine on oranges. You know those TV commercials you see for fresh orange juice. You know, the kind that comes in a can "fresh?" Anyway...I digress again.

This post is really going nowhere, so I just wanted to say I loved these pictures of Nanny's orange tree, that made me think of orange juice, that made me think I might be spending Thanksgiving in Florida. I'm pathetic. That's all.

On the Brink of Magnificence and She Just Wants a Taco

Last Saturday Abigail attended her final piano competition of 2009 -- the Texas Music Teachers Association Jazz and Hymn Festival. It requires quite a bit of preparation: one memorized jazz piece, one piece to be played as an offertory for church, and two hymns played as accompaniment.

Side Story (Background important for the telling of this story): For the last few weeks every time we pass a Taco Casa restaurant Abigail says, "I want to eat at Taco Casa!" When asked why, she just smiles and says, "I just want to eat there." Oookkaaayyyyy... Now, I don't know about you, but just the name Taco Casa (in English) means 'not that good' to me. The restaurants don't even look appealing. And, I feel they are probably on the level of Taco Bueno and Taco Bell -- two restaurants into which I will never step foot, unless forced to at gunpoint.

Back to our primary story...

As we were driving to Burleson for the competition, we passed, you guessed it, a Taco Casa. "TACO CASA!" Abigail shouts out. "How nice," I reply. "We should eat there," she says. Of course it's 9:30 a.m. and I'm just not feeling it. So, we pass by and on to the piano festival. Abigail plays beautifully and receives two superior ratings for her performance that day. On her written evaluation, the judge stated: "An amazing performance today, you are on the brink of magnificence." WOW! The. brink. of. magnificence. (And she's only 12!) What a commendation. Her teacher was so thrilled to have that said about one of her students. I was excited to have that said about my child. What did Abigail think?

"Can we get a taco now?"

Well, I guess it's good that she doesn't let all those fine words and bragging go to her head. And, we headed to Taco Casa. Right after I forced her to take this picture holding her ribbons.

True success for those girls on the brink of magnificence?
-- a taco from TACO CASA!

Esta' muy delicioso. Adios!

An Open Letter to Sonic

Dear Sonic,

You must know by now how I feel about you. You are all things amazing when it comes to your Diet Cokes with Lime, Butterfinger Blasts and Mozzarella Sticks. I even enjoy your hamburgers from time to time. (mainly when you don't squash the top bun flat) I'm not sure your french fries can compete with others, but you do offer those tasty little tater tots. And, your occasional Breakfast Burrito makes my heart sing, even though I can feel my hips growing as I finish the last bite.

Why then, oh why, can you not make a decent salad?It can't be that hard when you already do so many things well. I know you're a fast food restaurant, but you seriously should make the attempt. You only offer three choices, which should make your life even simpler. I just don't understand why you think people want to eat brown lettuce and mushy tomatoes. When you opened up that lid to put the grilled chicken on top, did you not notice there was not even one speck of green in the bowl? And, maybe you don't realize this, but salads are comprised of one main ingredient -- lettuce, and......lettuce is green. I just felt you should know this, you know....in case no one had ever mentioned it.

So, be warned, that I will not be burned again by your beautiful pictures advertising a colorful and tasty salad. I do thank you, however, for the crunchy onion ring that sat on top. It was the best part!

Sincerely,

Frustrated in Fort Worth

P.S. I'll see you this afternoon at 3:00 for Happy Hour.

Halloween Recital

An odd day to have a piano recital, to be sure... I kept thinking one of the students would play "Monster Mash" or "The Graveyard Boogie," but no such luck.

I tried, for about 20 minutes, to upload the videos of the girls playing their pieces but just couldn't handle the time commitment it was obviously going to take. Twenty minutes of my life I'll never get back. The girls love playing at Steinway Hall and the pianos...ah, the pianos. I pick out one to take home every time we're there.

Katherine played "Dawn" from "Pride and Prejudice."

Abigail played "Goldfish" by William Gillock.

It Was A Dark and Stormy Night

Actually, it was a beautiful night. It just seemed a good title for a Halloween post. We had big plans for October 31st. We started out the day with an early morning piano recital. (post to follow) Rebecca went to a movie at the mall with friends, Katherine was somewhere, Jeff was in College Station for the game (whoop!) and Abigail and I met up with her friend, Emma, to have a party.

Moon over Lynndale Place
(Doesn't have the same ring as Miami, does it?)

We enjoyed a little pre-Halloween party shoe shopping.

Love these two characters!

We planned a ghoulishly delicious meal for the evening. MENU: Swamp Juice, Dried Bones, Pizza Mummies, Frozen Frog Eggs and Fresh Veggies

Ingredients for Swamp Juice: fish eggs, gummy fish, gummy worms and fizzy water with lemonade

Making Pizza Mummies

So cute, and tasty! (Please ignore the nasty stained baking sheet.)

Best part of icing the brownie ghosts? Lickin' the knife!

Just so you know, I checked to make sure they finished
icing the ghosts before they licked the knives.

And, it seems, goblins have taken over this bottom photo.
It uploaded like this, and then wouldn't let me delete it.
Ooooooooo...........

Hope you had a delightful evening with your ghosts, pirates and hippies!

I'm Not a Real Snake, I Just Play One in a Tree

Have you ever tried something to fix one problem and it created another? Kinda like taking medication for one illness and it has about 10 kinds of side affects?

Sooo....most of you know of my aversion, dare I say hatred, for squirrels. They are the most destructive of any animal on the planet. Always looking for ways to get rid of them, and having many ideas not work, (traps, cayenne pepper to name two) I read about using blow-up snakes to scare them away. Hey, I'm game for anything that will scare away a squirrel. And, since Abigail will not let me buy pellets for Jeff's BB Gun, a blow-up snake is currently my only option.

Guess what? For the most of the past few weeks, we've hardly had any squirrels. Of course I'm wondering if they have been holed up somewhere getting out of the rain, but I'm pretending the snake has done its job. It's too bad that I didn't put the snake out before the little destroyers ruined my peaches, ate every pecan on my tree, and dug up most of my potted flowers.

Now, back to my "medication causing other problems" analogy: I was in my bedroom the other day when I heard this horrible sound of birds squawking loudly outside my window. Seriously, think Alfred Hitchcock. I looked out and couldn't believe it. A flock of grackles were joined together above the pecan tree (where Mr. Snake now resides) and were screeching out the biggest racket you can imagine. What in the world? It was SO OBNOXIOUS. "They're trying to scare off the snake," Abigail said. Surely not, I was thinking. "I bet if you take the snake out of the tree, they will go away," she said. So, of course I sent her out to remove the "medication." Getting the connection? And, you won't believe it! The birds left! Thankfully, I was able to put the snake back out the next day and no birds have returned.

Keeping my fingers crossed for a yard free of squirrels, birds, and real snakes. Can you tell I'm a nature lover?

Will the Girl With the Real Glasses Please Stand Up?

Hello! My name is Rebecca. I'm the girl with the real lenses in my glasses. And, my mother thinks I'm adorable.




I love these photos that Rebecca took of herself with her new glasses. She does look very smart and stylish. Now, let's see if they'll help her with her homework. Fingers crossed.

Maybe It's Just Me, But I Think the Glasses Help

Abigail brought home her 3D glasses from seeing Toy Story, and punched the lenses out. Now they are a must when doing her homework.

She reminds me so much of Katherine in this picture.

Oops! Busted. I'll stop taking pictures now.
Thank you for your time.

Tune in tomorrow to see someone else's new glasses -- complete with lenses.