Christmas photos

The tree is down which oddly enough I enjoy doing as much as putting it up and I feel like the season is over. I know, I know, for many people New Year's eve and day is a big thing too, but it never was to me. Sure, it is a good excuse to get together with friends but it has never been big in my book and I've never really planned around it. Like many people, I make new year's resolutions, though at this stage in life they are more like goals for the new year instead of life changing things. I'm big on goal setter and feel I never get anywhere unless I have things to work towards so at some point in the next few days I'll write down my goals for the new year and then I have something to work towards. I already set out business goals for the year and will look at those a bit more and than should be off and running for a new year.

Christmas was good. The kids had a great time and got nice gifts. We went to see Marley & Me Christmas afternoon which was a great movie. If you see it be prepared and have some tissues. We also went to see Bedtime Stories (must be movie week) a couple days later and that was very good also. Seems there is always good movies coming out around Christmas time.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all! Santa can now take a vacation.

It is the calm before the storm. I'm expecting the kids to arrive from their dad's house before too long (though I'm getting anxious for them to get here) and then chaos will reign, wrapping paper will fly, voices will raise, and it will be a week before the house is ever the same. Maybe longer.

Guess I got lucky!

I though I'd check out web sites about putting out grease fires, since I just had one and they said "don't use flour"...opps. Oh well, it worked and was the only thing I could think of. It did work...though we dumped on like a five pound bag of it. Had we tried to sprinkle it on, I don't think it would have worked. Seems the best thing is to use a pan lid. Lot of good it is to know that now! - Though anyone who knows me knows I NEVER fry with grease so I doubt this information will ever come in useful again. But who knows?

Christmas vacation is starting out with a bang!

Ohhh....its going to be a LONG Christmas vacation. Is school ready to start again?

I just had the fire department out. No, we didn't burn down the house, but we sure tried. It goes like this. I'm taking a shower and the boys were so nice as to make dinner tonight to give mom a day off. This morning and announced they'd make breakfast and dinner today. Brent makes wonderful eggs and bacon this morning and all goes well...except I have to clean up the mess, but that is expected.

This evening was a different story. As I said, it started with me being in the shower. After I get out, Brent comes in an announces they had a little fire and put it out (seems there was a noodle or something under the burner that caught fire...no big deal). I walk into the kitchen just to double check the situation and I notice a pan on the stove and it begins to smoke like crazy! I yell (yes, it was a yell) "that is TOO HOT" when all of a sudden - POOF. You guessed it. Up in flames!

At this point Ryan grabs the handle and throw it in the sink. Flames are licking the cabinets above the sink and as I'm saying "NO WATER ON A GREASE FIRE" ( Yes, I was yelling again) he turns on the sink. Again, you right if you think this just made it worse. Now flames are up to the middle of the cabinets, not just under them. I said "flour, flour" as I've lost the ability to think and say things at this point but knew that it need to be smoothered and there was a bag of flour on the counter. At first I thought it made it worse, but then it went right out.

At this point our smoke alarms are going off, but it doesn't take but a few seconds for the master alarms to go off which can only be turned off after the fire department comes. So after a few minutes of ear piercing alarms, two rather handsome firemen show up and peek into the kitchen, open the hall doors and leave. Though my embarassment may last a bit longer.

No damage and I've actually had longer clean up times for meals that haven't caught on fire.

I think we're headed out for some pizza.

More pictures from last weekend

These were taken Sat. evening at the zoo and the church.

A Weekend of Christmas

Saturday morning Brent, Hailey and I headed to church to deliver food baskets for the holiday season. Our church delivered 515 food baskets, each with about $100.00 worth of food to our community. Brent, Hailey and I filled up two of the 515 baskets and got our names and headed out to deliver our food. The first house had what appeared to be four or five children and a grandmother. The second home had a single mom who had 9 (of her 10) children there. She was so thankful for the groceries. It was a great experience.

Later that day, the kids and I made candies for the holidays. Then we watched Fred Claus. Which was good, but especially so because I have a "thing" for Vince Vaughn.

That evening we went to the Zoo for their holiday lights display which was pretty. After the zoo, we headed to a church just outside of town that had a "Night in Bethlehem" experience which was great! They do it every year and do a fabulous job at bringing the birth of Christ to life. We will defiantly make this a holiday tradition.

Sunday was church, then making the rest of our candies and last night was a Christmas program and then I went to my friend Julie's house to visit with friends.

It was a great weekend.

I'm done with my Christmas shopping!

My goal was to be done before December, but I just didn't make it. I had quite a bit done before that time though, so a couple trips out this month and I'm finished. I'm sure I'll pick up some more stocking stuffers in the next few days but all the major items are purchased. I hope the kids like what I got. The older they get the harder they are to buy for. And really, the boys can't hardly even come up with anything they want except maybe a four-wheeler and that was out of the question.

She looks so much like me!

I took this picture last night and was struck how much Hailey looks like me. I always knew she did, but this photo really makes us similar looking. If I was younger when I had her (say, 18 or 20) when she turned 18 or 20 we could enter those "mother daughter" look alike contest and give them a run for their money. LOL

Kids with Santa

I figured my days of getting the kids to get their pictures with Santa was about over, but last night we went downtown and there he was - Santa himself!
Santa's house was open and since it was so cold we were the only ones crazy enough to be there (or so it seemed). Santa's house was about to close for the night and was completely empty except for Santa and Mrs. Claus. Even though Ryan and his friend Jake protested a little, I convinced them to step inside for a picture with Santa. Besides... it was warm in Santa's house!

Hailey's CHRISTMAS Program

So I head out last night under the threat of really bad weather for a school program for Hailey that I'd wouldn't miss for the world. I am a bit sad about it because after 12 years of continuiously having Chistmas programs at New Central I know that this is the last year. Hailey heads for middle school next year and this is the last elementary school Christmas program I attend till I have grandchildren. Which should be a while....

Anyhow, I arrive about 15 minutes before the program and there is nothing that even resembles a seat to be had so I resign myself to standing the entire program. Oh well, I knew I didn't want to miss this.

Just when I was too sad about it being the last one, and annoyed that I was too hot and knew I had to stand there for the next almost hour someone comes around and hands me the program. I look at it. The first thing that struck me and made me smile was that this was called a "Christmas" program - not a holiday program.

Now, I've been attended these Christmas programs for 12 years now and I'm always pleased because though I'm not sure if they've always been called Christmas programs, I do know that there is usually one faith based song sung during the program. I've thought every year how nice it is that my kids attend a school where that is allowed. But this year was different. I noticed it right away. Instead of Santa Claus is Coming to Town and Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer (or as Ryan heard and sung it for his Kindergarden program - Rudolph the "ett" nose reindeer) the songs this year were Away in a Manger, The First Noel, O Come All Ye Faithful, Hark the Herald Angles Sing, What Child is This, We Three Kings of Orient Are, O Little Town of Bethlehem and Joy to the World. In fact, during a little skit put on one student got up and told the "real" meaning of Christmas and proceeded to tell the audience of the birth of Jesus.

Blow me away! Public schools that don't try to discourage faith and a belief in Jesus. I would have expected the same Christmas program from Hailey's school if she'd been going to private Christian school. Thank God!

I also noticed on their gym wall was a poster - "God Bless Our Troops".

So, instead of last night being so sad for me it was a real boost to know that even in today's politically correct culture some schools can still remember that this is CHRISTmas.

Today I'm allowing myself to be sad that it was my last Christmas program at school and that my daughter is growing up.

How to appreciate what you've got.

Sometimes a series of events in out lives points things out to us. Our sermon at church last week was about gratitude. Then on Monday, as is my usual routine, after I went to the post office I stopped by the Salvation Army store to check out anything new there that I just can't live without :) I always glance by the book section and usually pick out a book or two I want to read or a book to send to my mom to read (or one I read and then send to her). Anyhow, they are very organized there and have a separate section for Christian based books so I always check that out first before going to the fiction section.

A new book was there - about gratitude. It looked very good so I picked it up and for 50 cents decided I would dive deeper into gratitude. I'm anxious to start reading it as the sermon was very good and makes me think about all I have to be grateful for.

Then on Tuesday night the kids are I went the the home for the blind here in town. Our church group has "adopted" this home and a few times a year we do special programs for the residents there. Last night we visited with the residents, took treats, and sang Christmas carols with them. Hailey and Brent were very nervous about being around the people but by the end of the evening they were both saying how they liked the people and wanted to go to whatever event was held there next.

The whole experience made me very grateful. One, for having my health and vision and the other for my children being healthy and able to open their own hearts to help others.

Are you ready for some football?

Okay, I think that is the phrase, and it is supposed to be screamed so I guess I should have put it in all caps. But in all honesty, I'm not a huge football fan, in fact I'm not a fan at all unless my kids are playing and today they were.

We gathered today and had a "touch" (though I must say it seemed pretty aggressive to me) football game. I knew the boys would love it so I braved the cold weather and went. I did, however, get out of actually playing football and was just a spectator. I'm thinking I might have been warmer had I actually played. Ryan ended up taking off his sweatshirt and playing in a t-shirt only as he'd gotten so warm from playing. I held Zeus and he worked as a great excuse on why I couldn't actually play since he's too big for Hailey to hold without him running her over. But I also got to take photos since I wasn't playing.

After the game, we had hamburgers, chili, and brats along with lots of other goodies (like we need to eat after Thanksgiving....) and visited for a bit. The boys had a fabulous time. I froze, but enjoyed myself and it was nice to have a break from home as going into day number three here with kids having no school was starting to get a bit old. It was great to get out.

So much for making plans!

So yesterday morning, I get up and after writing my blog about how I'm going to Michelle's house for Thanksgiving, I start to make sweet potato casserole to take. My phone rings and it is Hailey. She is on her way home from her friend's house where she'd spent the night before. She was crying.

Seems she ended up having the flu. Above is a photo of how she looked on Thanksgiving.

She thought she'd feel better so she jumped in the bathtub, but after getting out and becoming sick again, she (and I) realized that Thanksgiving plans had to change. I called Michelle who was sweet enough to tell me to come over and get some food to take back to the boys. I went over and picked up turkey, noodles, dressing and mashed taters and I stopped by the grocery store and picked up rolls, cranberries, drinks and a pie to put in the oven. It all worked out well and we had a good dinner (a little later than noon and not on plastic plates....but I will say that when I went to Michelle's and she had her table set, much to my relief there were real plates there also).

So, my plans were set aside as God had other intentions for the day. Maybe He decided it was time for me to get over my "anti-Thanksgiving" attitude and have dinner at my house.

Its 9 am on Thanksgiving and I'm already stuffed...

Let the holidays begin!

So I get up this morning and think, "well since it is a holiday I might as well splurge". So instead of my normal just coffee breakfast, or coffee and some oatmeal, I gobble (get it...ha, ha) down a large (and I do mean large) pecan banana nut muffin with real butter. I can feel my arteries clogging up already and I'm so stuffed that the thought of Thanksgiving dinner in three hours is not appealing at all.

My question is this....why is Thanksgiving dinner SO early in the Midwest? Seems everyone eats it at what they call "dinner" which is really lunch. My recollections of Thanksgiving when I was younger was we'd eat around 3 in the afternoon. Which meant that there were small appetizers from noon on and the main meal was sometime between a normal lunch and dinner. This meant that you finished pumpkin pie about 4, played games, then ate some more and the day was pretty much done. I always feel somehow cheated here in the Midwest (never mind the PAPER plates that are so often used....what happened to china?) in that you were done with the holiday in the middle of the day and it was over.

It has taken me years to get used to this and I still long for the three pm (ish) Thanksgiving dinner. Since I refuse to cook dinner myself (long story, I'll save it for another time) I always go to other people's houses for dinner, so I refuse to complain too much and am very thankful for friends who open their houses and families up to me and mine.

This year I'm headed to my friend Michelle's house. It is at noon and I'm bringing sweet potato casserole. I have no idea if we'll use paper plates, but I do know one thing, I'll be in good company and since my family is so far away that is the most important thing. I'll get over the "dinner" time and paper plates.

I'm wanting a convertible again

Years ago, as in before children, I had a convertible and loved it. Over the years, the memories of a convertible have faded. They were reawakened while in San Francisco. Vic and I were going to rent bikes and ride across the Golden Gate Bridge but we woke up that Saturday morning to gray skies threatening rain. Actually, I think Vic secretly prayed for the gray, rainy day so I wouldn't drag her out on a bike after making her walk up Nob hill the day before...

Anyhow, since biking in the rain didn't seem like too much fun we decided to rent a car and drive across the bridge to the other side to see Napa wine country and Muir woods.....(I'll post some photos). There was a car rental place just across the street from the Hilton, so we headed over there and asked for an economy car (as a side note, to rent a CAR for 24 hours for the two of us was half the price of renting bikes for the 2 of us for 24 hours! - figure that one out). They were out of economy cars, so they gave us this convertible instead. I wasn't too excited, as those gray skies had now turned to a light rain, but what the heck...we weren't going to turn it down.

That last night we left our downtown hotel and for a 1/3 of the price stayed at a Comfort Inn (with free breakfast) in the Napa area. The next morning we woke up and the skies were bright and clear. Although a bit chilly, Vic convinced me to take the top down for the ride back into San Francisco to the airport. I'm glad I did. It was such a fun ride! Now, I miss my old convertible.

Maybe someday, when the kids are gone and I can be less sensible, I'll get that convertible again.

Its cold!

I'm just not ready for this weather. I guess I was thinking since fall was so wonderful, that winter would just never come. I woke up and it is a whopping 20 degrees outside.

Though, I must say, it is nice and toasty in my home. I do wish I had a fireplace though.

Anyhow, this is just a quick post to whine about the weather. Just a couple weeks ago (it was in November), Hailey was running around outside in her bathing suit! If the pool was open, I'm sure she'd have jumped in.

My favorite things about traveling

1. Planning a trip
2. Being on a trip
3. Coming home

In that order. I love it all I guess, and that is what makes me a person who loves to travel and see new things. Researching a place and figuring out what I want to see when I'm there is so much fun and builds excitement. On the trip, it is amazing to see new things and people and it makes me realize just how small and insignificant I am in the world, which is humbling, but also reminds me of the diversity and magnitude of the world that God created. I also LOVE coming home to "my world". I always appreciate home so much more when I've gone somewhere else. I'm ready to jump in my car and negotiate streets that are familiar to me once again.

There was so much more I did on my trip and I'll post that information and photos later, but wanted to add this little blurb this morning as it is what I was thinking about....but with home, comes the responsibilities of my work, so that is what I'm going to be concentrating on the next few days.

But in the meantime, it is good to be home....

A Taste of San Francisco

Last night Vic scored me a ticket to her opening reception....good thing because I wasn't about to pay the $150 for the ticket! She is friends of someone higher up and they got me an extra ticket. Anyhow, it was held here at the hotel in the ballroom and was just fabulous. It was set up all around the room with the different areas and neighborhoods of San Francisco represented. There was sushi from Japantown, shrimp, oysters and crab from Fisherman's Wharf, Chinese food from Chinatown, Italian from North Beach, chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate....and too much to name really. Prime rib, roast beef, pizza with goat cheese and shrimp. You get the picture.

I paced myself. I ate a little bite from each and felt like I got a taste of each neighborhood in San Francisco. It was great! I was hoping to hit a lot of these places for the food, but didn't feel I had the time. It was wonderful to have it all in one place.

After the reception here at the hotel, we had four additional receptions to attend....we made it to two of them and then decided we were too tired (we are getting old), but we both came to the realization that parties are only fun if you want to be there and we decided that relaxing in the hotel would be more enjoyable so after the first two we headed back to rest our tired feet. The next two receptions were also great. One was held in some wild looking underground nightclub and the second was in a huge, ornate turn of the century old theater. Just going to the buildings and looking around was worth it. Of course the food was plentiful in both places and I had to sample some more yummy things....oh yeah, and more chocolate. Today I don't have a migraine hangover - I have a chocolate hangover.

San Francisco

Day one - well, it is actually day two since I arrived yesterday.

Didn't start well. I woke up at the crack of dawn, though actually it was BEFORE dawn (don't schedule a vacation where you set your clocks back, and then gain two more hours in flight...seems like all that gaining time would be great and it is, until you wake up at 5 in the morning) anyhow, back to my point why it didn't start well. I woke up with a migraine. They are always the worse kind. I feel them all night long so I don't sleep well, yet I'm not awake enough to realize I have to get up and take some medicine or it will be worse. So I woke up and was miserable. I took some medicine and laid back down but as usual with migraines I don't keep it down. So, poor Vicki had to hear me sick in the bathroom (you know how hotel rooms echo...I bet the people next to us heard it) but she was a good sport about it and told me that Rebbecca got sick every day of her pregnancy so it didn't bother her at all. Good thing she isn't one of those who get sick at hearing someone else sick!

So I finally kept a few pills down and went back to sleep. When I woke up again around 9 am, Vicki was leaving for her appointments and I was feeling better. I manged to shower and get out of the hotel by 10 am. As long as I kept my dark sunglasses on I wasn't too bad, though could feel the "hangover" of the migraine (that is kind of how it feels). I took about a 1 1/2 mile walk to Alamo Square and took a walking tour of the Alamo historic district. This is where the famous "painted ladies" are - the ones you see in the opening of Full House sitcom. We took a tour of a private home and Richard, the owner, had refurbished it in period 1880's and 1890's antiques. He actually lives there but I'm not sure how, as it is more like a museum. It was quite a site. We learned the history of the area and the homes and walked around for two hours discussing the different styles and periods. This is a free tour (takes up a donation) and was very informative. I highly recommend these tours to anyone visiting San Francisco.

After the tour, I was going to try to book it back to take a tour of Nob Hill with the same city guides, but it was quite a walk back and the effects of the migraine were still lingering so instead I took a leisurely stroll back stopping in shops, eating at an outdoor restaurant, and visiting a local farmers market that I walked through on the way down there. It was a great way to see San Francisco. I walked about 3-4 miles, and didn't get to take my second tour but overall a good day.

Last evening, Vicki and I went to a swank restaurant for dinner as one of her friends/business associates Valorie took us to eat. The place was incredible and the decorations were out of this world. You were definitely paying for the ambiance as the food was very good, but not incredible enough to warrant the prices. Though I'm finding food in SF to be quite expensive. Good thing I don't eat too much...ha, ha.

Tonight there are three receptions to attend....should be a blast.

When a child grows up.

I've had this discussion with a friend. At what age does a child start realizing they are not the center of the universe? I think it happens slowly and little by little, they begin to put others first. Then perhaps, for most, it reverts during those teen-age years. Hopefully, by the late teenage years they've once again realized they are not the center of the universe.

I mention this because I witnesses something very special this weekend. Brent really wanted to go miniature golfing yesterday. As I had a lot to do and wasn't feeling that well, I reluctantly went. I eventually decided to go because Ryan has hit that age where he doesn't want to do much with mom and I thought to myself that someday Brent will be there (soon I'm sure) so I should take advantage of every opportunity I get to spend time with him.

So, Brent, Hailey and I head out to the park and when we get there I get my purse out and get ready and Brent says "you can leave your purse in the trunk, I'll pay". WOW, what an incredible gift on his part to me. Not that I can't afford the $16.00 to miniature golf, but I just thought that the mind set of wanting to pay had hit that level where he decided to put someone (me and his sister) ahead of himself or something he could have bought for himself with that money.

It was the best game of miniature golf in the world!

PUMPKIN FESTIVAL

The owl pumpkin that was a favorite.

H
T

A busy weekend...as usual with the kids. Last night we headed to Hailey's favorite park (Washington Park) where there was a Pumpkin Festival - over 2000 (heard it was 2008, but I only confirmed over 2000) carved and lit pumpkins. This was quite a sight! I had envisioned a lot of pumpkins, but not this many. Some were very elaborate and works of art.

Brent, Hailey, Hailey's friend Sydney, and I walked around for over an hour looking at the cool pumpkins. Hailey's favorite pumpkin was the owl and a face that had weird eyeballs. Brent's favorite was the owl and Yoda. Sydney's favorite was the owl and the skull.

The park does this every year and I spoke with a volunteer. The weekend before is pumpkin carving at the park and I'm going to do that next year. I love to carve pumpkins, but since living in an apartment, I have no need to do so, so I've missed out the last couple years. The best part is, I only have to carve and they've scooped the insides out. So, next year I'll post pictures of the pumpkins I've carved.

A Walk in the Woods

Giant Fungus - Hailey collected several for her class.

I guess I just took that title from one of my favorite authors, Bill Bryson (I recommend his books, but they are harder to find), but I can't think of a a better title for what we did....

Brent, Hailey, and I went to Carpenter Park and took a walk through the woods. There are several nature trails there and we traveled several of them along with Zeus. I took a ton of pictures but mainly we just enjoyed ourselves. We felt like we were in the middle of the wilderness, though we were just outside of town. The weather was perfect. We will definitely go back for another walk soon.

We collected beautiful fall colored leaves that had fallen and came home and make leaf collages and framed them for display.