My New Year's Resolution.

Actually, this really IS my resolution this year!!

What's yours?

HOLIDAY EATING TIPS

HOLIDAY EATING TIPS

1. Avoid carrot sticks. Anyone who puts carrots on a holiday buffet table knows nothing of the Holiday spirit. In fact, if you see carrots, leave immediately.. Go next door, where they're serving rum balls.

2. Drink as much eggnog as you can. And quickly. It's rare. You cannot find it any other time of year but now. So drink up! Who cares that it has 10,000 calories in every sip? It's not as if you're going to turn into an eggnog-alcoholic or something. It's a treat.. Enjoy it. Have one for me. Have two. It's later than you think. It's Christmas!

3. If something comes with gravy, use it. That's the whole point of gravy. Gravy does not stand alone. Pour it on. Make a volcano out of your mashed potatoes. Fill it with gravy. Eat the volcano. Repeat.

4. As for mashed potatoes, always ask if they're made with skim milk or whole milk. If it's skim, pass. Why bother? It's like buying a sports car with an automatic transmission.

5. Do not have a snack before going to a party in an effort to control your eating. The whole point of going to a Holiday party is to eat other people's food for free. Lots of it. Hello?

6. Under no circumstances should you exercise between now and New Year's. You can do that in January when you have nothing else to do. This is the time for long naps, which you'll need after circling the buffet table while carrying a 10-pound plate of food and that vat of eggnog.

7. If you come across something really good at a buffet table, like frosted Christmas cookies in the shape and size of Santa, position yourself near them and don't budge. Have as many as you can before becoming the center of attention. They're like a beautiful pair of shoes. If you leave them behind, you're never going to see them again.

8. Same for pies. Apple, Mincemeat, Pumpkin, Chocolate.... Have a slice of each. Or if you don't like mincemeat, have two apples and one chocolate... Always have three. When else do you get to have more than one dessert? Labor Day?

9. Did someone mention fruitcake? Granted, it's loaded with the mandatory celebratory calories, but avoid it at all cost. I mean, have some standards.

10. One final tip: If you don't feel terrible when you leave the party or get up from the table, you haven't been paying attention. Re-read tips; start over, but hurry, January is just around the corner.

God Bless Us Everyone!

Merry Christmas!

for you last minute wrappers

here are some quick and easy wrapping instructions!

Two Christmas Miracles in One Night!

First, early in my night came a page from a man who found one of our Pediatrician's wallet in a restaurant parking lot. Found the business card inside and called to try and return the wallet. I've never had more fun paging a doc!!!!

Then, later in the morning I sat listening to my 8 yr old who we thought would never walk talk or have independent thoughts sit by himself and read every word in a brand new book he's never seen before!!!!! He got upset when called away before he'd finished the book! :-)


As of this morning I have wrapped all the gifts and hung all the Christmas Cards I've received! It really IS starting to feel like Christmas!!

It's getting CLOSE!!!!

Have a terrific weekend!

He finally lost his second tooth! :-) the one next to the gap is dangling...I'm hoping for it to fall out by Christmas so he can sing "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth!"....we'll see!

As a matter of fact!

I'm wondering why she gave him ammo.......

Had a WONDERFUL day off!! pedicure, massage, The Expendables with hubby (KABOOM! -- the grandaddy of blow em up BIG movies!) and 5 miles on the bike in 23 min! 2 min faster than last week!!

The frozen milkshake my hubby saved for me......I had to wait awhile before I could eat it!!

She MIGHT be my child.....she was found sound asleep, with all the lights on, and a book in her hand.....YUP! I think she belongs to ME!!

haha

Please take a moment to remember those who can't be Home for Christmas!





God's many Blessings on our troops this season!

Lights....

you may know by now that I'm a total sucker for a good light show!

This is the best I've EVER seen!

totally amazing

Hmmmmmm......

Getting there....

For some reason I'm having a hard time getting into the Christmas spirit this year.

However, I am slowly getting there. Looking at the calendar with Sonshine on Sunday I realized we are LESS THAN 2 weeks till Christmas!! So I have taken a few measures to help turbo boost my Christmas Spirit.

First off, I have FINISHED my Nativiy curtain!!! It looks better than I expected so I'm pleased about that.



I have also finished all of our Christmas presents....but you don't get to see those yet!


We went for our pictures with Santa. Totaly new experience for me to feel VIP at the front of the line. Santa was AWESOME!!

Now, I just have to decide which picture to put in the Christmas cards.....

Which would you choose?


As my final attempt to kindle some good ol Christmas Spirit, tonight I have restarted what used to be an anual December tradition of mine:

If you'll excuse me, I've got some Humbug to banish...with the help of a ghost or two.............

Christmas is coming! Are you ready??

My girl cat and my girl child are both repeating the same phrase over and over ......"I want the curling ribbon! I want the curling ribbon!" I should hand it over and video tape them fighting for it!!!!
and my 15lb boy cat keeps trying to climb the artificial tree.....

"It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas......dooo de doo doo dooooooo"......



Major Mommie SCORE this week!! I am the master of the magic of CURLING RIBBON!!!!See it's straight! Run my hand down it and VOILA! See it's curly!!... Run my hand down it again......and........IT'S STRAIGHT!!!!!!

TaDa! Ha ha ha HAAAAA!!!!!!

Seriously it kept all 3 kids entertained for 20min!! They couldn't figure out why it didn't work for them..........





Me: (teasing) so you want a strawberry milkshake right?
Sonshine: no, just chocolate
Me: chocolate? Are you sure??
Him: yes, chocolate helps me focus
Me: focus??? On what??
Him: chocolate helps me focus on my Tae Kwon Do, Mom!!!!!


Uh yeah. Ok.
(he MIGHT be related to me in some way....)

Tomorrow or the next day I'll put up pictures of the Christmas decorating/sewing we've been doing. But it's been a long hard night and today I just wanna laugh!

December 7th.

this is a repost from 12/7/08....it will continue to be reposted every year....

If you happen to meet a WWII vet this week, thank him or her. I too will be going out of my way to say thank you.

TAKE TIME TO REMEMBER.

"The attack at Pearl Harbor sank four U.S. Navy battleships and damaged four more. The Japanese also sank or damaged three cruisers, three destroyers, and one minelayer, destroyed 188 aircraft, and caused personnel losses of 2,402 killed and 1,282 wounded." Wikipedia



The wrecked destroyers USS Downes (DD-375) and USS Cassin (DD-372) in Drydock One at the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard, soon after the end of the Japanese air attack. Cassin has capsized against Downes.
USS Pennsylvania (BB-38) is astern, occupying the rest of the drydock. The torpedo-damaged cruiser USS Helena (CL-50) is in the right distance, beyond the crane. Visible in the center distance is the capsized USS Oklahoma (BB-37), with USS Maryland (BB-46) alongside. Smoke is from the sunken and burning USS Arizona (BB-39), out of view behind Pennsylvania. USS California (BB-44) is partially visible at the extreme left.
This image has been attributed to Navy Photographer's Mate Harold Fawcett.




Destroyer USS Shaw exploding after her forward magazine was detonated



USS California sinking


USS West Virginia took two aerial bombs (one dud) and seven torpedo hits; of the seven at least five were from aircraft and one from a midget submarine






As I am writing this it is the Saturday before Labor Day. September first. We are trying to spread the word to get everyone to fly their American Flag on September eleventh in memory of the tragedy that took place 9/11/01.

However, you won't be seeing this post until December. December seventh to be exact.

Because 9/11/01 reminds me of 12/7/41.

The day that the American Naval Base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii was bombed by the Japanese.

My Grandaddy fought in WWII, he lost his only brother in that war then was sent home as the last surviving male member of the family. He flew cargo planes for the US Army Air Corp....perhaps my love of flying and desire to be a (fighter) pilot is genetic.

I remember the sadness and frustration he expressed when we kids couldn't tell him what day Pearl Harbor had been bombed, or the names of the ships lost, or even how many ships, or what impact it had on WWII (The BIG 'un). I remember him saying that the world stopped that day...and when it started moving it was never the same again. I remember wondering what on earth he meant by that. I remember his anger when he went to the VA, that is Veteran's Affairs, hospital for a doctor's visit and found out that his assigned doctor was "a damn Jap!!" This wasn't a man given to fits of anger, but boy he got hot telling me about THAT! I remember wondering what the big deal was.

Then came 9/11/01 and I understood.

I understood the sadness and frustration when the people around me forgot to take note of that day. I remember how the world stopped, how my husband kept saying over and over that nothing will ever be the same again and I understood exactly what he meant. I understood the anger at any member of a specific group of people who were responsible for so much unprovoked bloodshed. I understood exactly what the big deal was.

In light of this understanding, I will never again forget 12/7/41. What it cost our countrymen and how it changed the world.

Do you have an American Flag?

Do you fly it at half-mast on Pearl Harbor Day?

YOU SHOULD!









The USS Arizona. ".... and as you can see from the picture, she still mourns her dead...." Cookie

For more information about the effects of the attack on Pearl Harbor.






After posting what you see above I got curious.

I started reading everything I could find on the attack at Pearl Harbor. That's when I went back and added all the pics. I read and read and cried and cried that night. Well into morning. I don't know (or care) if you believe such things, but I felt like this room was full of soldiers urging me to learn...then to teach. So that they should not be forgotten as another generation comes of age.

Here's what I learned.

1) The United States of America is the BEST damn country in the world.
2) You may knock us down, but you'd better watch out when we get back up.
3) We ALWAYS get back up.


We had 12 ships "sunk or beached" and 9 "damaged" in that attack.
Not to menton all the planes and buildings.

Now, to this city girl, "sunk" means dead. Sitting on the bottom rusting. But "All U.S. Ships except Arizona, Utah, and Oklahoma were salvaged and later saw action."
Most of those ships were saved and sent back to war within the year. And the cleanup was dirty, oily work.

Follow the links folks, look at the pictures. This is an AMAZING story that you won't soon forget! And remember that no matter how bleak the scenery looks, there's always a way to rebuild, and strike back.

Santa Claus

This is a repost....I repost it every year at the beginning of December. It is a true story from my childhood.

OK, when I was a child we lived in what I now know was poverty. However, because my then step-father was going to SMU to seminary (he never finished) we lived for a year and a half in the richest part of Dallas. It was very hard to be "the poor kid."

Well, during the second of those Decembers we got an envelope in the mail that said "To the parents of Sarah ....." return address was Santa Claus. Inside were $100 in gift certificates to the local grocery store. Our Christmas was not big, but we did have one. Because of the former step-father's poor spending habits, we would have had Christmas regardless...but then wouldn't have had money for food. Those gift certificates were perfect. A month's worth of food (give or take) that can't be spent on anything else. (This was long before you could get groceries and "stuff" like clothes and toys at the same store.)

I have a younger brother with a different last name. Why was it addressed to my parents? Who sent it? How did they know that just sending money wouldn't be as helpful as the gift certificates? Did they know? How can you accept a gift when you don't know who to tell thank you?

These questions have no answers.

But I do know this. I was 12 years old and very depressed. Ready to lose hope in everything. My Mom was in the process of kicking out the former step-father with poor spending habits. The world as I knew it was falling apart. Out of nowhere Santa sent me a gift. Not just a gift of money for food for the family, but a gift to me of hope, an example that people aren't all hateful and snide, and the assurance that I could and would make it and be able to move on to a better life. Also, the knowledge that there'd be help along the way through the Grace of God.

Christmas is about the Birth of Christ. However, Santa Claus is about spreading hope and joy to those most in need. And every December I celebrate BOTH. Yes, I DO believe in Santa Claus and I DO believe that he still lives.

He lives in our hearts every December when we make a point of spreading hope and joy to someone else.

"And I heard him exclaim as he drove out of sight Happy Christmas to all and to all a good night."

The story of a Library book....

A couple weeks ago Sonshine checked a book out of the school library. When it came time to take it back to school it was nowhere to be found. We searched the house, his teacher searched the school we just could not find this book. Neither Subvet nor I had ever seen the book and we really thought it must be hidden at school....

Since he can't get another book till that one is checked in I went ahead and sent a check with him to school this morning to pay for the lost book.

I just got this email from Sonshine's teacher....

Sonshine went and paid for the library book. About an hour later Gator's class went to the library and Gator turned in two library books. He had Sonshine's library book with him. So, the Librarian called my room and returned the check because the book was found.

Life in my house is NEVER dull!!

Getting exciting around here!!

Dear Darling Daughter,Please note that pull-ups are NOT reusable. They do NOT need to be washed. And therefore do NOT put them in the washer anymore! The 2 pair of pull-ups that got washed in the last load of darks was The End of the recycling experiment! Got it?!




Wow. I must be overwhelmed this year. I'm crying my eyes out because a totally unexpected chain of generosity is making it possible to get my kids' Santa pictures done at a convenient time!!! Unexpected generosity amazes me!!



You may know that I work 6 nights a week, this makes it hard to do things that can only be done during "normal" business hours. Last year we had the most fantastic Santa pictures made EVER!




Pretty amazing with 2 Autistic boys!! But I got in the virtual line at 10am and didn't get the pics till 6pm. This year I just can't devote a whole day to waiting for our number to come up. I've been very worried about this situation and really wanting those pics. Matter of fact I'd have to say if I had a Christmas wish for this year, it'd be an easy way to get pics with that awesome Santa.

So, I happen to have a friend who happens to work at the store where Santa is taking pics this year. She happened to be there at a time when there happened to be NO kids/shoppers around. She was asking about the best times for us to show up for pics and "told Santa about [my] family." Santa said to come when I could and he'd move me to the front of the line! WOW! That's it! My Christmas wish has been granted......without me ever asking for it out loud to another person. I can't WAIT to see Santa!! And hug his neck.


I have another amazing Santa story to tell. Watch for it in a day or two.





Decorated a bit more last night.....

kids had a great time searching out the 2 new things that went up










And, of course, our Elf on the Shelf chose a new spot to watch from.

Plus we finally we able to open the first door of my Advent Calendar!!

The kids are so excited! I spiffyed up the box with some holly and glitter! I love that we rememorize the Christmas story each year with this simple and fun tradition! I added a new twist, this year I printed the daily verses on some sheets of ink jet magnetic paper that a friend sent me awhile back! Now it's more permanent and easy to just plop on our freezer each day!!