Christmas is finally over!!!! lol

Last weekend we had our last Christmas celebration with all four girls and their families.  Our SIL made it home safely from Iraq (PTL) just before New Years, so this was the first time we could all get together.  McKenna is getting so big and it was great to see everyone together again!


Todd passed out the stockings


And everyone opened their presents



Then we had a late lunch of ham, prime rib, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, etc.  The prime rib was EXCELLENT and everyone ate lots.

The weather was so nice, we all sat outside and visited for the rest of the day.  Lots of FUN!

Todd and I had been thinking about getting another vehicle.  My 2003 Mazda Protege LX has over 98,000 miles on it and the 2001 Dodge Ram PU is getting lots of miles put on it with Todd driving it to and from work every day.  So Saturday night after we took Kate and Brandon out to supper at Joe's Crab Shack in Round Rock, we stopped at the Mazda dealership (same one where we purchased the Protege).  We were looking at a used CX-7 when one of the salesmen came out to talk to us (it was 10 minutes before closing, so I thought we'd get lucky and they would leave us alone).  He told us he had a 2010 that had a reduced price, so we looked at it.  It was nice and we said we'd think about it, then ended up going back Sunday before everyone came over for Christmas to see it in daylight.  Anyway, to make a long story short(er), we ended up purchasing it.  So I have to share pictures!!!!

The color is called Black Cherry Mica - in the sun it looks purple with specks of red, but in the shade
it looks almost black.

Not trunk, and LOTS of storage space in the back.  This will come in VERY handy on our trips up north.

We wanted something to protect the cloth seats, so I made some seat covers.  No pattern, just winged it!


 
LOVE IT!  Todd finally got to drive in last night when we went to Olive Garden in Round Rock.  It's getting pretty good gas mileage.

Today is the super bowl.  We aren't fans of any sport, really, but we're planning to watch it for the commercials.  lol  For supper I'm making some good snacks - hot legs (not wings, Todd likes legs), steak bites and onion strings.  They are all Pioneer Woman's recipes (where the links take you) that I've made before and we really liked.

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!!!!

Saturday Dec 12, 2009

On Saturday we had a monumental day in our family.  Kate graduated from COLLEGE!!!  (She's the youngest.)  We are both extremely proud of her.  She graduated summa cum laude - which means "with highest honors".  That is so great considering she worked all through college and also was married in that time.

We left to go to Stephenville on Saturday morning, and after driving for more than an hour, I realized I forgot my camera.  So the only camera I had was my blackberry and the quality is not great.  (Not that the quality is great on my other camera, but it's better.)

Anyway, here are some pictures I snapped and I apologize for the poor quality.




After the ceremony we went back to Kate and Brandon's house.  They have a pit bull named Punkin - she really liked McKenna!

After that, we went to an Italian restaurant for supper.  I got to sit by McKenna so I snapped a couple pictures of her, too.




She's getting so big and she's SOOO CUTE!!

Unfortunately Kate and Brandon aren't going to be able to make it to Nebraska for Christmas, but we will see Megan, David and McKenna there for a little bit.  Todd and I are going to celebrate Christmas with Tab and Sam and their families this coming weekend.  Then Todd and I will leave either the evening of the 23rd or early the 24th for the drive to Falls City. It will be good to see Todd's family for a GOOD reason, but it will be sad to not have Nel and Rena there.   Saturday, the 26th we'll celebrate Christmas with Todd family in the morning, then we'll drive to Milford for supper to celebrate it with my family.  Then we'll head back to FC that evening and get up early the 27th to drive back home.  Both of us have to work on Monday the 28th.  It will be a quick trip, but I'm really looking forward to it.

Christmas Tree Decorating 12/9/09

We had Tab and Sam come over on Sunday so the kids could decorate the Christmas Tree.  I had also made some snacks (chex mix, chocolate covered pretzels, seasoned crackers) and homemade hot chocolate.

The kids did a really good job!  Brian helped them put some of the ornaments high, but all the rest are pretty low on the tree.  And I haven't taken time to move them, so they may just stay there this year.

For some reason, Tyler liked to put them really low.


After it was done, I tried to get them to hold still for a couple pictures.

Christmas 2008 (12/29/08)

Merry Christmas, everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our Christmas was supposed to start out on Christmas Eve with Tab, Sam and their families coming over for Chili, grilled cheese sandwiches, cheese ball and punch. Unfortunately, Angel ended up sick so Tab took him to the hospital to be checked out, but instead of giving him medicine, he ended up being sent to Dell Children's Hospital in Austin for the night, so they were not able to come over. He had a little bit of pnemonia in his lung and they wanted to watch him close. He had a breathing treatment (or two?), then ended up going home on Christmas Day afternoon. I sent their presents with Sam, so they could get together while Todd and I were gone. Tyler received a Wii for Christmas from an aunt and uncle, so they had fun all playing together.

Todd and I woke early (3:00 am) on Thursday for our drive to Nebraska. We decided to take a different route this time (well, TODD Decided). Instead of staying on the interstate, toll roads and such, we kind of took the back roads, still highways but much more scenic. It took us longer so we didnt arrive in Falls City until about 7:30 pm. Of course, we had both dogs with us on the trip so each time we stopped for gas or anything, we had to get them out to relieve themselves and to give them a little exercise, so that took a little longer. Here are a couple pictures I snapped on the way - I think these are in NorthEastern Kansas:



It was really nice to see Todd's grandmother and parents! His mom ended up going to the Dr. on Wednesday, and was told she had to do NOTHING for the next few days, so I was assigned to be the cook while we were there. It was kind of fun having someone just tell me what to do instead of having to decide everything. It was tiring, but still lots of fun. Todd's brother and his family came on Friday, then Megan, Dave & McKenna were there on Friday, too (I think). Anyway, we did get some FIVE Generation pictures.



Kate, Todd youngest, and her hubby came, too, so we had the gift exchange. We both received lots of good stuff as always.

On Saturday night, Todd and I drove to Beatrice NE to meet my parents and get Mom's old industrial sewing machine!!!! We drove through a brief snow storm, but the roads weren't bad. Falls City had a blanket of ICE Saturday morning when we woke up, so I was worried the roads would be bad, but a few miles out of FC the roads were cleared. It was windy and COLD when we met Mom and Dad to change the machine from their PU to ours, so after Todd had it tied down, we went to RUNZA for a quick supper. (We don't have them in Texas, so that is a MUST place to eat when we are up north.) Todd and I had a tough time getting the machine unloaded when we got home last night, but it worked and it's in the garage waiting to be cleaned and oiled before it gets used. I can't even explain how excited I am to have it! I can't WAIT TO SEW ON IT!!!!!!!! Here is what it looks like now:




Mom also gave me her button maker!

It needs to be sanded or something, but I can't wait to use it! For a while Mom used to recover furniture and redo car interiors, so that is what she used the machine for. I remember both her and Dad working in the barn and going out to help or watch. That was a LONG time ago!!!!

Anyway, Todd's brother also took some pictures of our dogs, Buddy and Brute. Their first "Photoshoots". I hope he lets me have a couple of the pictures so I can post them on here, but we'll see. He was going to do some editing so I'll give him a couple weeks before I e-mail him.

We left Sunday morning at 5:50am and arrived at home about 7:30 pm or so. It was after 8:00pm until we got the boys (dogs) settled and the PU unloaded. We were both exhausted so crawled into bed early since we had to work today.

After work I went to the gym for an hour or so, then we went to grab a bite to eat and get groceries. I made a chicken pot pie for supper tomorrow. It's in the refrigerator so all we have to do is cook it tomorrow. I'm working on laundry since nothing was done over the weekend, but will head to bed and hope I have something to wear to work tomorrow!

P.S. - If you have a couple minutes, you can click on the ads I have on the blog and help me earn some extra $$ to go towards my sewing expenses!!! LOL Thanks a bunch!

Quilt top is DONE! (12/14/08)

Last night I finished the quilt top!!!!! Added the boarders and serged around the edges since it will be after the first of the year before I can put it in and start quilting it. I quilt by hand, so it will take up our entire living room and with Christmas so soon, I need to wait.

Here is the final result - the boarders add a lot! I made the boarder at the top of the quilt smaller so I'll be able to tell what goes on the top of the bed - a trick my mom uses.

I also took pictures of the Christmas tree and fireplace "mantel" - practically the only Christmas stuff we have up.

Todd put the stocking up this year.

And the fireplace with the lights on (sorry it's blurry, you get the idea).


Today the girls and grandkids are supposed to come over to decorate Christmas cookies and to celebrate Angel's birthday. It will be fun, but I still have a bunch of cookies to make, so I'm up early.

I also decided I'm going to make a purse for my sister for Christmas since we are heading to Nebraska on Christmas Day. I bought some more fabric at Kinsey Interiors Friday, so will use one of those. I'll post pictures if I get it done early enough.

I will have to work Christmas Eve, probably until 1 or so, then we'll have the girls and grandkids over to celebrate Christmas. I'm planning on a casual supper of Chili and grilled cheese sandwiches, then opening presents. Todd and I will get up really early the next morning (Thursday) to start our long drive to Falls City, Nebraska. We are taking both dogs and driving the pickup so that we can meet my parents sometime while we are there to get mom's old commercial sewing machine. I can't wait!

While in Falls City, we'll stay at Todd's parents and get to spend lots of time with Todd's grandma. Megan and family will come up sometime so we can get a 5 generation picture. We'll head home either Saturday or Sunday (at the latest) since we both have to work again Monday. It will be a quick trip, but at least this year I don't have to drive it by myself.

Better get those cookies in the oven.... :D