Christmas 2010

We had our first Christmas celebration on Christmas Day.  Tab and Sam and their families came over for lunch, Todd deep fried a turkey and it was GREAT!  We had the usual green bean casserole, sweet potatoes and jello salad (it seems like I'm forgetting something).  Anyway, after lunch dishes were done, we opened presents!
We had the kids all pass out the presents


Dom received a nerf-type gun from my parents


And so did Angel


Alyssa received an Easy Bake Oven!


Tyler received a camo back pack (and gloves, which I didn't get a picture of)


I gave Tab and Sam stained glass that my sister made:



We gave the grandkids clothes, so they weren't too excited, but it was a need. lol
After the presents were open, we had cheese ball and crackers, and punch, then everyone went home and Todd and I could relax for the rest of the night.

We don't use our fireplace for wood very much, so I put a bunch of candles in it.


Later in January we'll have our Christmas with Megan and Kate and their families.  David is getting home from Iraq today, so we are all excited for that.  I'm planning to make Prime Rib and a ham when they come, yum!

We did have some bad news on Christmas Eve, my brother-in-law in Nebraska had a heart attack and open heart surgery that morning.  He's doing well and still in the hospital, but this was the second year in a row that we've had family in the hospital over Christmas (last year Brandon, ours son-in-law was there after his bad fall).  Jerolyn was hoping to take Dave home tomorrow, but the doctors say he's not ready yet.  Hopefully he'll be home by the weekend. We're keeping them in our prayers.

Christmas Cookie Decorating!!!!

Last Saturday we had the grandkids over to decorate the Christmas cookies.  It was a lot of fun and the kids did a really good job.  It's one thing that I do every year and they seem to enjoy it.

Angel:


Alyssa:


Tyler:


All of them:


And I always have some little Christmas toys or fun stuff.  I made them each a little bag and sewed each if their names on it.


I think I only have one more present to buy for Christmas, but it's for McKenna and I need to talk to her Mom to see what to get her.  We're celebrating Christmas with them later in January since David will get home from Iraq in a couple of weeks.

December 13, 2010

I couldn't think of a title for this post, so I'm just using the date..  lol

Unfortunately, I haven't been doing much with the family since we got back from Nebraska for Thanksgiving.  I've completed a quilt and have been knitting and crocheting, so you can see that on my "sewing/craft blog".

Today I made Christmas cookies since the grandkids are coming over this weekend to decorate them.  I'll make sure I take pictures then.  (Since we have ceramic tile on the counter tops, I have to roll the cookies out on the stove - at least I can do that instead of having to do it on the table!)


Kate gave me a tip on using powdered sugar to roll them out instead of flour, so I tried that and it really worked!  However, the later cookies were very flat and when cooked they spread out much more than the first ones.  I probably should have used a mixture of flour and powered sugar.  I may try that next time.


One of Todd's co-workers requested some more Malted Milk Chocolate Chip cookies when I met him at the Christmas Party, so I'll do them sometime this week.  I don't have enough chocolate chips, so need to head to the store in the next couple of days.

I also started decorating for Christmas.  I usually do it right after Thanksgiving, but we're having Christmas with Megan and Kate later in January since David, Megan's husband, is getting home from Iraq at the end of December.  So I just put the Christmas tree up last weekend.  Then caught a cold or Cedar Fever, not sure which, but felt bad on Saturday.  I still need to finish, but I can take the rest of the week to do that.  We're really looking forward to being home for Christmas this year.  Since we moved to Texas in 1998, I think this will be the 4th Christmas we'll be home, all the other years we've went to Nebraska.  Now that the grandkids are getting older, I think it's time we are here to start building traditions with them.  And speaking of grandkids, Angel has a birthday this week!!!  On Wednesday he'll turn 6!  (Can't believe it!!!)

Time to put some more cookies in the oven.  Please check back next week for pictures of Christmas Cookie Decorating!

Merry Christmas, everyone!!!!

November 2010

I guess I can title this post November 2010, since it's already December.  :D

Todd finished the gate so we could move the trailer to the back yard.  It looks good!




It's so nice to have it moved from the driveway!

Todd and I were trying to decide what to do for Thanksgiving this year.  It's been a while since we've gone somewhere just the two of us - the trips we've taken in the last 18 months or so were always with family (funerals, holidays, cruise, IL), so we thought about going to Vegas, then maybe to the coast, but ended up going to Nebraska for Thanksgiving.  It's always nice to see family, but soon we need to do something just us.  Anyway, we drove all of Thanksgiving Day to Falls City, celebrated with them on Saturday, drove to Milford on Sunday and had a nice meal with them that afternoon.  Got up Monday morning, went to breakfast in Lincoln w/ Mom and Dad, then heard about a snow storm coming and decided to head home early.  We left early afternoon, stayed overnight in Pauls Valley, OK that night and made it home early afternoon on Tuesday.  Todd had to be at work Wednesday Morning, so it was nice to have a while to relax.

Anyway, while we were at Mom and Dad's, Jerolyn wanted a family picture, so I took my camera down to snap a few.

 Ben and Josh


Jerolyn and Dave


All of them together

I'm organizing my Photobucket account,

so if you see any pictures that are missing, please send me an email or comment on the post and I'll correct them.



Thanks!!!!

Two posts in less than an hour!!! SHOCK! lol

So after I posted the last entry, I heard some noises outside and looked out the window.  Much to my surprise, I see a guy out there with a gun!  I grabbed my camera to get a picture, but never could.  I saw him go over to talk to our neighbor, so I went over there to see what was going on.  There was a deer with a broken leg and they called animal control, who came over to take care of it.  He tranquilized it and took it away.  Soon after, this is what showed up in their back yard:

Apparently it was around her this morning, before they realized she had a broken leg.  I was wishing I had my other lens for the camera, but I cropped it and it looks OK.  We always have a bunch of deer around here, but it's not often I've see such a big one.  (And all the deer in TX look smaller than the ones in Nebraska.)

Anyway, that was my excitement for the afternoon!! lol

Wow, where has the time gone!

It's been awhile since I've updated my blog!  We had a visit from my parents (and I was bad and didn't take any pictures), spent time with the girls and Todd and I took them to "The Oasis" in Austin while they were here.  It was lots of fun and their visits always seem to go so quickly.

The current project we're working on is adding gates to the backyard so we can park the trailer there.  Currently it's sitting in the driveway, and we want to move it.  Unfortunately, our city has "ordinances" where trailers can be parked and the backyard is really the only place we can park it besides the driveway.  Originally we wanted to park it next to the garage, but it can't be within 6 feet of our property line.

Todd stopped at Home Depot on his way home from work on Saturday and got most of it set up.  This is what it looks like right now:

The chairs are around the concrete so that the deer don't bother it.  We still need to cut the post down to the right size and shorten the chain link, then we can move the trailer there!  It will be nice to get it out of the driveway!

Other than that, no major projects going on.  I'm still going through all the jewelry we brought home from IL.  We have a lot of nice costume jewelry, unfortunately most of it is silver and all mine is gold, so I can't really wear it.  I've been searching the internet looking to see if I can find values, but haven't had much luck.

Today is Veteran's Day, so please take the time to thank a veteran!  We're looking forward to our Son-In-Law to come home from Iraq in a couple of months.  They are going to come see us in January, so that will be nice.  I'm hoping we can get everyone together for a family picture while they are here.

China Hutch is finally in the house!

Todd finally had a little time to work on the china hutch we brought home from Illinois and his grandma's house.  The quarter-round on the inside was loose and we didn't want to break the glass, so he had to buy some small screws to tighten them up.  After we got it in the house, I cleaned it good, then started to fill it up.  Most of what I have it in was Grandma Rena's.   I took a few pieces of the china we brought home and put them in there.  I think it looks pretty good!   We put it in the foyer so it's the first thing you see when you come in the front door.

Mom's going to bring me one of her teapots next time they come, so I left room for that.

I couldn't find a date on it and sure wonder how old it is.

What a year we've had.

Today is the first anniversary of Nel's passing.  Brings back lots of memories of the emotional  two or three weeks our family went through last year.  Two weddings and two funerals in the span of 15 days.  Lots of miles we put on our vehicles going to Falls City, Kansas City and Pleasant Hill during that time.  Larry's come a long way and doing better than I thought he would.  I can tell Todd still misses his mom a lot, but I hope it's becoming easier for both of them. 

I'm still working on the quilt top I brought home at Christmas, but I use her sewing machine quite a bit.  I used some of her fabric to make a blanket for Josh and Ruth's baby, which I think they probably appreciate.

It's nice to see reminders of both Nel and Rena in the house.

Lots of treasures!!!!

Last week Todd's family met in Pleasant Hill, IL to clean out his grandma's house.  She passed away last October and the house is getting ready to be sold.  I've blogged a lot about grandma - I visited her over Labor Day in 2009, then Todd and I went to get her in Pleasant Hill late September of last year for Nel's (Todd's Mom) funeral and Josh and Ruth's wedding.  (Rena passed away just a few days after the wedding.)  Anyway, you can look at the tags on the side of the blog to find various posts.

She lived in a HUGE, old house and there were lots of antiques to choose from.  The trailer we took is only 1/4 empty, so I don't have pictures of everything, but I wanted to post a few things we've unpacked already.

Aluminum Pitcher



Blue Bubble bowl (my mom has a complete set of this that she put together piece by piece)



Crock Pitcher



Beautiful glass vase - can't wait to get a dozen pretty red roses for this!



A complete set of china



Silverware



Kate wanted this chair, so we brought it home for her.  We're also giving her the drawing of Grandma's house so she can make more for everyone.  Also an antique high-chair to the left.



Glider that Todd remembers his Grandpa Homer sitting it it.



Old lawn chair - we're planning to strip and repaint it.



Drop leaf table that we can't get open - one of the legs is tucked inside the other legs, so we have to figure out how to get it out.  Also an ottoman - I'm thinking of recovering it to match the chair I'm working on.  I'll have to see if I can find more material, though.


I'll add more posts as time permits.  I have pictures of the foggy morning - she lived on the hill in Pleasant Hill and it looks over the valley.  I also took pictures of the headstone that has the date of her death on it.  Brad also moved Tobe's headstone up there.  (That story will follow with the pictures.)

Lots of work for Todd and I now, we'll see how long it takes us to get it all done.

Woohoo!!!!

So excited - we got a new fridge!  First time I've ever had water and ice in the door - WONDERFUL!!!!!

THREE gallons of milk on one shelf (in addition to juice and a gallon of sun tea)!!!!

Three crisper drawers for fruit/veggies, plus one long one for deli meats/cheese, etc.

LOTS of room in the freezer - also has small pull out shelf!

Small door compartment - this is the side w/ the ice maker/dispenser.

Larger compartments on the other door - a couple of them are large enough for a gallon of milk.

The matching dishwasher is huge, too.  Stainless steel on the inside and holds lots of tall things on the bottom.

We're lucky enough that my husband could install them himself, so we didn't have to pay anyone to do it for us.  The appliances they replaced were both at least 11 years old, so it was time for new ones.

Quick post while I'm supposed to be making supper.

We had storms a couple weeks ago while I was at home and I had to snap a quick picture of Brute.  He doesn't like storms, so he'll sit under whatever it is I'm sitting at.  On this particular day, I was in the office at my desk.

And a picture from supper last week - our Chicken Kabobs we had on Monday (8/2/10).  They were SOOO GOOD!!!!!

Better go before supper burns!!!!  LOL

Just because I haven't had much to post lately,

I decided to post our meal plan for the week.   I started doing this a while ago because when I worked full-time (and after Todd came home), I always forgot to get something out of the freezer for supper and then I'd panic, or I couldn't figure out what to make each night.  It seemed like I made the same things all the time.  After that, I signed up at Meal Time Makeover (endorsed by Dave Ramsey) for a few months and got lots of good, new recipes.  It gives you a meal for each day of the week, the recipe and grocery list that you can print out each week - so it made things SO MUCH easier for me!

Since then, I've kinda made the same concept for me, but we now have much more variety for supper.  However, since we bought a new gas grill a few weeks ago and this week is supposed to be really hot, I tried to do a lot of meals on the grill.

So here's our menu for the week of 7/31 to 8/6/10:

Saturday:      Lunch:  Left overs
                     Dinner:  Out (we only eat out once a week or less)

Sunday:        Lunch:      Mushroom Swiss Burgers (on Grill)
                                     Sweet Potato Fries (on Grill)
                    Dinner:    Salmon (on Grill)
                                   Green Beans
                                   Salad

Monday:        Dinner:    Chicken Kabobs (on Grill) (marinated chicken, red pepper, red onion  and                                                                                     marinated  mushrooms)
                                     Rice
  
Tuesday:        Dinner:    Steak (on Grill)
                                     Sautéed Mushrooms
                                     New Potatoes

Wednesday:    Dinner:    BBQ Chicken Thighs (on Grill) - trying new recipe
                                       Grilled Zucchini
                                       Salad

Thursday:    Dinner:    Burritos
                                    Charro Beans (made last weekend, need to eat)
                                    Spanish Rice

Friday:        Dinner:    Sausage (on Grill)
                                   Sauerkraut



Todd takes leftover for lunch every day, so I do usually make more than enough for us.  I usually have leftovers or a sandwich for lunch.

Today we're going to Walburg to meet with a Thrivent rep to get our IRA's started and hopefully he'll be able to help us out with a Health Savings Account.  Todd signed up for one back in March when his company was bought out and they've been taking money out of his paychecks, but never got an account set up for us.  This week they finally said we could do one on our own, but our bank in town doesn't do them.  I looked online and Thrivent does, so we'll talk to him about that, too.

In other news, our new Plasma TV that we bought in March quit working last night.  It doesn't turn on at all, so Philips is going to pay for someone to come out to the house to fix it.  Good thing it happened now while it's under warranty!

This morning while Todd's at work, I'm getting groceries, then back home to hopefully hear from the company about setting up a time to come fix the TV and getting other things ready for our meals this week.  I don't buy taco seasoning anymore, I found a recipe online and make it at home!!!  Along with Hidden Valley Ranch seasoning, Lipton Onion Soup mix and a mix to make Spicy Hamburgers (bought the original stuff at a craft show and it's hard to find).  Anything to save a buck!!!!

Brute got his hair cut again yesterday, but this time they didn't charge us because they nicked him!  He's got a little cut on one of his back legs where it meets his body.  It doesn't seem to hurt him too much and doesn't bleed, but the poor thing!  I haven't decided yet if I'm going to take him back there next time or not.  Usually if I take him early in the morning, they have him done around noon.   Yesterday I took him at 8:30 am and didn't pick him up until 4:00 pm.  When I dropped him off, I asked her how long it would take and she said she had four dogs in front of him to do - so I don't know why she had me drop him off so early!  That should have been a hint.   Anyway, busy weekend and I need to get going.

Have a wonderful week everyone!  And let me know if any of the dinners sound good and you want me to take a picture!

For my cruise journal

I thought I probably should do a post and put the links with the days in order for easy viewing:

Pre-Cruise
Pre-Cruise Part II
Day 1 - Embarkment
Day 2 - At Sea
Day 3 - Curacao
Day 4 - Aruba
Day 5 - At Sea
Day 6 - Dominica (this post is very picture heavy)
Day 7 - St Thomas
Disembarkment and post-Cruise

Enjoy!!!!  I'd love to hear comments!