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.