Bush 43

So after being a Debbie Downer in my last post, I thought I would update again and tell you about the great day we had the day after Christmas. We loaded up the car and headed to Dallas to George W. Bush’s Library and Museum.

And it did not disappoint.

I had the idea to make this post because it was such a fun day but when I looked through my pics, I realized I didn’t take very many. I don’t know what was wrong with me. It was a teensy bit crowded and sometimes that makes it hard to take pics of just what you want..without lots of other people ‘ruining’ the pic. I really regret not taking pics of a single one of Laura’s beautiful gowns. Trust me..stunning! She is such a classy lady though, she could wear a feed sack and make it look like couture.

One of the big reasons I wanted to go at Christmas was because of the special displays during the holiday. This is the tree filled with ornaments that hung in the White House… I’m thinking 2002. The year the theme was ‘home for the holidays’. The tree was beautiful.

A little snippet up close.

 

Mt Vernon. I took at pic of that one because we’ve visited that one, so it felt a bit more familiar than the other homes. They were all beautiful.

I especially loved this quote. Sadly the America that so many people have fought and died for seems to be slipping away. This line of thinking is unheard of in today’s White House. (stepping down from soap box now)

There is a walk through replica of the oval office. It was packed with people (walking around the edges of the room is allowed) so it was impossible to get a good pic. So this is all I got…

See what I mean.

They had a photographer taking pics of people sitting at the desk. My girl and her boyfriend got pics together there. So I’ve got that. : )

The ceiling.

We had a great day. It was beautiful out that day and we enjoyed our visit. Highly recommend it if you visit Big D. : )

And now for something completely different. This is the girl opening her Christmas presents. Christmas before last I made ‘hot dog’ pillowcases for several of her friends, but just made one for her from scraps I already had in my sewing box. It was cute but it wasn’t something I picked just for her. And I kinda felt like I owed her one since I did it for everybody she knows. So I found some cute and happy kitty fabric and made this for her. Since she’s a teen and sleeps like…A LOT…I was able to make this right under her nose without her being aware of it. : ) It was a fun surprise for her.

Have a great day, y’all. : )

in my rear view mirror

So thankful to be on the back side of the holidays. I am always glad when the tree and all the decorations are put away and with it, all the sadness and unfulfilled expectations of ‘the perfect holiday’ can go too.

I lost my mom a few months before Christmas, a few weeks after we found out Bub wasn’t going to make it. That was a somber holiday. We tried to be festive. We tried to keep things exactly the same. We picked out ornaments with each kid just like always. But we had Bub pose with his, because we knew it would go into the attic and the next time we pulled it out, he would be gone. It was hard to muddle through and not behave like all these things were going on. But we tried our best and I think we did ok.

We lost him in April, as most of you know.

So along with the thankfulness that Christmas with all it’s mixed emotions is behind, comes the little ache in my heart, knowing that spring is just around the corner. I love spring. And yet it’s when we lost our little fella. Everything is a mix these days. Joy to the world along with knowing my mom (and now dad too) and my little Bub are with Him for the holiday and every day.

A while back I had an epiphany. When I was growing up, Christmas was perfect and wonderful and my favorite time of the year. Because my parents made it so, while they missed long since gone family they remember from long ago. I don’t know why that realization was comforting (but sad) to me, but it was. It sort of clicked with me that they experienced the same things…love and loss and feeling like it’s not quite right. It’s not new. It’s been going on for generations.

And so it goes…

kind of like a stroll in the woods {updated with pics}

We went for a walk late Sunday afternoon. We’ve had bitter cold and now warm weather on its heels. Along with ice still decorating the shaded spots along the way.

We drove to a park near our house and hopped out to make ‘the loop’ around a small pond. As we made our way up the path to begin the loop, we noticed the small cluster of trees, decorated with paper snowflakes and bits of ribbon.

Others had plastic orbs and flashy tinsel.

And then we made our way to the foot bridge that carries walkers and bikers over a small creek. It was decorated with arches of red and white with more dangling trimmings. One arch after another until we were across the bridge.

It felt kitschy and fun…a little bit like something from a movie. And it made my usually Grinchy heart swell with the warmth of the season.

May you all enjoy all the things that warm your heart this Christmas and remember the greatest gift of all is Him.

I miss being here but at the same time, rarely feel as though I have anything to add to the conversation. And when I do, I don’t have time to document it. Oh well. I will continue to be sporadic as I can’t bear to just shut ‘er down. Merry Christmas, y’all. : )

spring break in our rear view mirror

We all survived spring break. It was a pretty low key non-event around here. But we managed to squeeze in a little fun. : )

My girl turned 18. She had a small get together with her besties.

I made cupcakes. And there was no licking involved on my part. For the first time. Ever. And I didn’t eat one either. These aren’t the prettiest cupcakes but they are a recipe of my mom’s that this bunch seems to enjoy. So instead of a bundt cake, I made cupcakes. And I sent the leftovers home with everybody so they weren’t staring at me. Crisis averted. : )

One of the girls made her this pretty bookmark. This girl is a reader herself so it makes me smile that she gave my girl a bookmark for her birthday. It’s very pretty. Good job!

She could use it in Pride and Prejudice. She was having to read that for school. And this sort of book is not her thing really. (even though she finished reading it last night and ended up liking the ending, so it’s all good) But the girls also gave her this…

…which I think is a hoot. The light is awful because the flash is so obnoxious that I shot a lot of pics without it. : / But the book on the left is P&P and the book on the right is P&P and Zombies. Cracked us up! A fun little gift while she was trudging her way through the real thing. : )

They also did some things you can do now that you’re 18 kinda stuff. One of the things they did was a mock-wedding. This is the ‘bouquet’ being tossed. The girls made tissue paper flowers for fun and used these in their ‘wedding’. It was a hoot!

The party was fun. She had a great time getting together with the girls and I had fun planning it and listening to them laugh. : )

Also during spring break, my girl went for her driving test. Well, nerves got the best of her and she drove into a parking lot instead of making a right turn. And got so flustered, she didn’t do well on the rest of the test. She did not pass. (she went again a few days later and passed with flying colors, justsoyaknow) She was crushed and a little embarrassed but handled the situation with grace. I was thankful for her attitude and it was a learning time for her…even though she was disappointed at the time.

We drove to a podunk town near us to order her a class ring. It is one of the things about school she was missing and really wanted one. So we found a company that could make that happen even though she home schools. So that was a fun little outing.

On a funny note…we have had trouble with our potty flapper for ages. I can’t tell you how many we’ve gone through. But his time the hubs came home with something different.

Isn’t it cute? It’s kinda like being at a bed and breakfast every time I flush. Or not. ; )

My garden seems to be taking off. I have baby strawberries.

And the kale is getting bigger. And everything is really doing well and growing. And the squirrels are doing their best to dig it all up. Will be making a fence’y kinda deal pronto!

I had to take the cat to the vet Monday. She had a weird tummy. Come to find out she had lost THREE POUNDS. Gah. So the vet did a bunch of blood work on her and she’s got high thyroid. So we’re doing meds for that. She’s acting better but not eating as much now. I may end up trying to find something herbal for her if she doesn’t start eating soon. She is on antibiotics also which can cause her not to want to eat. The thyroid med doesn’t taste bad and it’s not hard to get it down her. But the antibiotic tastes bitter and she foams at the mouth with every dose. Which is gross, in case you didn’t know. ha. So it will be a long week or so til that’s over. Ugh. Poor kitty. Aaaand in a strange move I still don’t understand, she slug slobber onto my lip last night. Poor me. : p

Well I think that about covers all the major activities of spring break and beyond. Hope you are all doing well, my friends. : )

Happy New Year…and all that jazz. : )

Happy new year..and Merry Christmas, for that matter. : )

I got an email from somebody today asking how I was doing and if I’ve blogged, and I just thought I’d update on the ole blog…even though I will send her an email anyway. *smile*

We had a great holiday. We decided to ‘do’ Christmas…the presents etc…the Monday before Christmas. I know that’s kinda early, but it worked for us. And for the girl. She was done with school and it gave her plenty of time to chill and fiddle with her new gadget, an iPod Touch, before it was time to hurry up and hit the books again. (we started again over last weekend…a little earlier than her public school buddies..but it worked for us)

We went to look at lights one night. And visited a local hotel that really does the holiday up big. Ended up not feeling as big this year as in years past, so I didn’t take a single picture. *sad face* But it was nice to get out and we still had a fun day.

At the beginning of December, I didn’t even feel like fluffing the Christmas tree, so we didn’t do one. We did decorate the mantle with garland and a wreath, though. : ) But now, I am feeling a lot more like myself. I have started walking and have been enjoying doing some little jobs around the house that slipped when I had my surgeries.

The girl caught a viral sinus type bug around Christmas time from going to the pediatrician for pink eye. And then ended up giving the cold-like deal to me. It is lingering a little bit for both of us, but I was able to put the humidifier away today. 

Last night I slept in our bed, only to realize by morning that I was really missing my recliner. So it will be back to the chair for me when bedtime rolls around this evening. My body just isn’t ready to lay flat yet.

But…something my body *is* ready for…I got fitted for a bra and prosthetics today. It was actually fun. I know that sounds weird. But I went to a very cute shop in one of the hospitals in the big city near here. And the ladies there are amazing. She made me feel right at ease with the whole process. I didn’t know if I would be in a light hearted mood, or end up in tears. And thankfully it was just a really fun experience. And because of the nature of the whole thing, kind of funny at times. I did my best not to let the “this is awkward” feelings creep in, because it is what it is. And she is there to help me and there isn’t any reason for me to feel weird.

I ended up with some cute little boobs. They had one bra that fit me in white…along with my B girls. But I really prefer beige colored bras, so they were going to order them for me. And believe it or not, the bras were only $30! Bras cost more than that just about everywhere, so to me, $30 felt like a steal. I walked out with two bras on order. But as I was driving home, it hit me that I really need three bras…it’s hard to keep two bras clean, especially when it gets hot. And if I had two beige ones, it wouldn’t be such a big deal to have one white one. So I might call them tomorrow and see if they’ve still got the white one and go back and get it and ‘them’. I didn’t know how it would feel to wear ‘them’, but it didn’t feel that weird at all. Once I had on a bra that fit correctly, it all felt very natural. Weird, isn’t it?! They also come each in their own box, and after washing them at night, I’m supposed to put them back in their contoured form inside the box.

My two cake boxes for my two foobs. Ha!

let them eat cake

Yesterday I made a cake in the flavor she requested. A birthday is coming up. We decided she would have a few girls over today, since we’re having some repairs done to our house for the rest of the week.

Happy spring break to us.

It’s called California Citrus Cake and my mom used to make it all the time.

It’s so good.

So when she asked for lemon, I knew exactly what to make. : )

California Citrus Cake

4 eggs, beaten (I used egg beaters), 1 yellow cake mix, 1 package small lemon instant pudding, 3/4 c. water and 1/2 cup oil (I used canola).

Beat ten minutes. (I used the stand mixer….or I probably wouldn’t even make this cake LOL) Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour at 350 in a bundt pant. Cool and ice.

Icing:

2 c. powdered sugar, 1/2 cup orange juice concentrate and 2 tablespoons orange peel, grated.

Bring to a boil and let cool; drizzle over cake.

This cake is so good. But whaddaya know, I just noticed I didn’t follow the recipe. I forgot to cook the frosting. I guess that’s why it wasn’t very thick.

But it tasted good. And that’s what counts.

Merry Christmas

This video isn’t very long but it’s very powerful. 

Merry Christmas to you and yours. See you soon! : )

the mourning booth

Yesterday the girl and I did her last ‘go to the gym’ PE session. It felt good to realize we did what we set out to do. 18 weeks of PE (as of this Friday).

woot.

But a weird thing happened yesterday. We walked in the gym on the walking track. Which means we were walking one floor above the wooden gym floor along the outer rim looking down at what ever was going on.

And at that particular time, 3 year old Mother’s Day Out kids were running around playing. At first I was annoyed. Noisy kids. Turn up the iPod. And then I started watching them. I guess being a mom for all these years makes me a bit of a student of behavior because I could pick out the shy kid. The dominant one. And so it went. But then I picked out the girl that reminded me the most of my girl when she was that age. I even told her she was ‘those kids’ once…playing on that same gym floor during her MDO days.

It was a sweet time just thinking about how much my girl has grown up. She’s not that young anymore..she’s taller than I am now. My how she’s changed!

And then I noticed one or two little boys that reminded me of my little boy. Always little to me. One little boy had that same bouncy little run. And another had the same little haircut and face shape. And then my mind wandered a little bit and I started to tear up. I continued to walk with Christmas music ringing in my ears, feeling anything but merry and bright.

It reminded me of several IRL friends…and the blogging community. When one hurts, another will come along side and just ‘be’…listen and say they’ve been there or they understand..or they don’t understand and don’t know what to say but they still care. Those are the best kinds of friends…the ones who are content (and comfortable enough) to just be in those moments.

But there is an even greater Comforter as well. And I know He is with me always. 

John 16:7 (Amplified Bible)

⁷However, I am telling you nothing but the truth when I say it is profitable (good, expedient, advantageous) for you that I go away. Because if I do not go away, the Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Advocate, Intercessor, Strengthener, Standby) will not come to you [into close fellowship with you]; but if I go away, I will send Him to you [to be in close fellowship with you].

cute little gifts

Do you ever need a cute little gift at Christmas (or anytime) that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg?

Me too!

I saw the cutest idea the other day in Scrapbooks Etc magazine and decided to copy it. And here’s what I did.

I bought some vanilla cookie flavored scented candles at Walmart a nice store. They came bigger, but this small size was the cheapest cute and easy to work with for my project.

I cut strips of scrapbook paper approximately one and a half inches ‘tall’ by ‘whatever around’. One piece of 12 by 12 scrapbook paper was more than enough for what I was making. 

I also used a small punch to make small circles. I used an inkpad to distress the edges just a little bit. You can’t really see it, but it looks better than a plain circle would have.

Then I added stickers.

And put them all together.

And wrapped them.

There you go…five gifts for $5…plus the stuff I already had laying around in my scrapbook bin.

By just changing out the scents/papers, this project would make a fun yet inexpensive gift anytime.

hearing a carol anew

Ya know how sometimes you listen to a song you’ve heard a hundred times and for some reason something sticks out and it’s like you’ve never heard it before.

Yeah, me too.

I was listening to Christmas music the other day and heard something profound that I have sung more times than I can count.

…peace on earth and mercy mild..

…God and sinners reconciled…

That last line there just blew me away. It was like the entire gospels…or the entire Bible..encapsulated in one phrase. God and sinners reconciled.

It just made me really contemplate God and just how separated from Him we are apart from His grace and mercy. And re-realize how much we needed Him to send Jesus. We are just so lost in our sin and nothing can make that okay in ourselves. We can’t be better or act better or change or any of those things. God Himself had to reconcile that impossible distance between us.

I’m thankful this Christmas season that God made a way to reconcile sinful people to Himself. I stand in awe of God that he would send Jesus to die for someone as sinful as myself so that vast chasm could be bridged between God and sin. Not just for me, but for all mankind.

Thanksgiving break

I hope everybody had a nice Thanksgiving holiday. We did. We didn’t go anywhere, but still had a nice time.

Wednesday we visited a local hotel that really decks the halls and enjoyed walking around and taking pictures. Got the perfect shot for the annual Christmas card. Bonus!

And Saturday we went to the city’s public gardens and just enjoyed being out. The weather was just perfect and the fall color was stunning.

Enjoyed being off school for a week, although we did keep doing PE. It gets us one week closer to being done. Woot.

We also did the tree. I think the torch has been passed. The girl has done all the tree trimming for two years running now. And she does a really good job.

The cat is enjoying a new hiding/sleeping/play area now that the tree is up.  Glad we can be of service.

more bling, Walmart and a busy week

So I’m supposed to be working on the grocery list so I can get in and out of Wallyworld early tomorrow and be done with it.

But I’m here.

Sometimes I just don’t want to think about what we’re going to eat. And on a week that celebrates the turkey it’s kind of hard for me to decide what I should make.

Cuz I cook with chicken and turkey every day.

But I don’t make cranberry salad and pumpkin pie every day. Looking forward to those.

There is just so much on my heart today. I just feel so full. But it’s a holiday week and I know you girls just aren’t going to be around as much. And I know it’s the stuff that can take it out of me..not grief stuff..God stuff. Perhaps I’ll write and wait to post. Perhaps I’ll just go for it. Or perhaps it won’t happen.

This week will be busy, even though we aren’t doing school. Well, we aren’t doing the academics. We’re doing PE. That gets us one more week closer to being done with it. On this schedule, we will be done with PE when we break for Christmas. We’re loving that.

I made a birthday present to send to someone I love. Look familiar?

I made mine and wore it out shopping yesterday and got so many compliments on it that I knew I needed to make one as a gift (so I ran out late yesterday, bought the stuff and made it so I can drop it in the mail tomorrow morning). I look at it and can’t believe I’m wearing something so cool.

And I made it.

Well, I guess I’d better get back to the grocery list. It’s not going to make itself. What are you up to this week?

homemade bling

This little elf has been busy.

The four on the left are Christmas presents and the two on the right are mine.

I love the one with the big cross and all the pearls.

I also love the purple one with the glass piece on the end.

Ya know..that might be the back..but it’s a really pretty purple flower.

It’s been fun doing something a little different.

But I need to get going on scapbook calendars so they’ll be ready for Christmas.

Have you started Christmas shopping/crafting yet?

camp and a little puddin’

Well, the girl lived through camp. She loved it, although she was more than exhausted when she got home. As were we. Picking up a kid at 1:30 AM is a bit late even for us. But we had the whole weekend to rest, unwind and hear all her stories. Here’s the condensed version…

• Beach open, ocean closed. Oil.
• Pool open.
• Condos rock.
• Delicious food.
• Great worship times and great teaching.
• Made a few new friends. (She is the new girl.)
• Came home tired and unsure about whether she wants to go next year.
• I’m sure she’ll change her mind by next year, though.

Then we had Father’s Day. It was pretty low key. I couldn’t think of anything he needed, so we decided to make a banana pudding for him.

And it’s easy peazy to make.

Banana Pudding:

Make a small box of instant banana pudding with the two cups of milk in a large bowl. Add in one can of sweetened condensed milk and one regular sized tub of cool whip. Mix with a whisk until it’s all combined. Layer vanilla wafers in the bottom of the bowl. Slice bananas on top of the cookies. Pour on a layer of pudding. Repeat with the cookies, more banana and the rest of the pudding. Crumble a few wafer cookies on top, just for pretties.

Tada!

And he got it all to himself since the girl and I can’t eat dairy.

But it sure smelled good!

a touching Mother’s Day tribute…

…from the cat.

Um. not.

I also got a sweet card from the girl. The same girl that went to the fancy party weekend before last. 

And totally rocked a fancy barrette!

Not the ugly orange jobber-do we practiced doing her hair with.

She had a blast and I had fun fixing her up for her big night. She told me she was having a really good time while I curled her hair and helped her into her party dress. That was the best early Mother’s Day present ever!

This past Saturday we decided at the spur of the moment to go to the big amusement park that’s in another city ‘near’ us. We hadn’t been there in years. My how some things have changed…and other things have stayed the same. We had a good time.

And I came home convinced of something I don’t like to dwell on.

I’m old.

Happy Easter

It has been amazing to be studying John while Easter approaches. Just looking at the Father’s love for us, while we were yet sinners, is truly heart stirring and humbling, to say the least.

Happy Easter, everybody. *ps. On my last post, blogger was acting weird and one of the comments went poof. I didn't delete it. : )

a little more Christmas fun

Before the Christmas season is completely old news, I thought I’d share a couple more highlights… or maybe I should call it some more fun stuff from those days.

The cat had a really good time.

She loves hiding under paper.  Her best side, no?!

I made this for the hubs.  Isn’t it cute???  I found a bowling pin at an antique store and spray painted it antique white and taped off to paint a red stripe.   Then I used sponge letters to spell DAD and added the stars, both in red. I touched up the edges of the D’s because they weren’t crisp enough for me. I think it turned out really cute.

I guess I should explain the reason for the gift though. He decided late last year that he needed to lose some weight.  So get ready to hate him girls.. here’s what he did!  He stopped eating snacks and started doing the Wii Sports Resort. And he did a lot of bowling on there… thus the little nod in the gift. 

But the fact that he’s lost 30 some-odd pounds by skipping snacks is pretty amazing… and a wee bit annoying at the same time.  But good for him!

And then there’s a little bit of Merry Christmas To Me!  I went to Hobby Lobby and bought a bunch of rubber stamps for scrapbooking with my Christmas money.  I’ve borrowed stamps and liked them, but resisted buying them for myself, but they’re a better deal than stickers.  Once it’s on the page, it’s over. So I’m going to try to use more rubber stamps. I used a couple of them on my scrapbook calendar for this year. Cute.. but I still need a little practice.  : )

We also made a gingerbread house a few days before Christmas. It turned out cute… but we kept chipping away at the icing.  Very klassy….but yummy!  We put a dot of icing on Miss Boo’s nose and a tiny red candy (and took her picture). 

Rudolph’s goofy stand in.

I’ll spare her the drama of posting that pic on the world wide webby of fun.

So that was a little more Christmas fun, but now the season is done. Happy new year y’all.

blogging in the new year

So it’s New Year’s Eve, and here I sit. Blogging.  I’m sure I’m not the only one, though.

Many of you have done a year in review, and honestly I really don’t want to review this year.  For the most part, it was just hard.

So I think I’ll stick to a Christmas break in review kinda deal.  We’ve really enjoyed having time off during the holiday.  We’ve had some family time and just relaxed without work and school stresses pressing in on us. And that’s been so nice.  We’ve watched movies together.  We’ve eaten together. We’ve gone shopping together.  I could go on and on. 

We’ve even watched it snow together.  I can’t say that we played in it… because we didn’t.  I kind of hate that, but I also hate the cold. I was a little surprised that hubs and Boo didn’t want to get out in it, but we HAD been “out in it” technically returning home from the resort place, and I guess after all that drama, we just weren’t up to it anymore.

But I took pictures!  Out the front door.

And out the back door. OK.. I actually didn’t open a door to take that one.. I parted the blinds with two fingers and took the pic with the other hand. It’s good to have a talent, I guess.

But I think this pic sums up the weather we’ve had of late... with or without the snow.

Just wake me when it’s over.  This pic totally cracks me up.. she’s hugging her back foot!  Yes, that’s my unmade bed.  And yes, that’s about a billion blankets. 

Winter, I am not a fan.

Happy New Year everybody. Stay safe. Stay warm! : )

so if it’s not a bb gun

Remember this?

It wasn’t a Red Ryder BB Gun after all. 

Turns out it was one of these! 

 

She loves it!

And it looks really cute in place too! Excuse the unmade bed… just keepin’ in real here, people.  : )

Art imitating life…

or immortalized in poster…

or something.

white Christmas

We planned a little getaway for ourselves. There is a hotel near us with an indoor waterpark. We thought that would be a fun thing to do, so we planned our trip to arrive there on Wednesday evening and return on Christmas morning.  Well…

It started snowing around lunch on Thursday.  We watched out every window as we played and enjoyed the resort.

And then finally things took a nasty turn for the worse and we pulled the plug on our second night, checked out and came on home. 

The drive home was tedious at best and we even slipped a couple of times. We made it home safely and then had to navigate our steep driveway.  After three or four tries, we made it safely in.  We unloaded and got bunkered in for our white Christmas.

It was beautiful.  And it may be the only one we see here in our lifetimes too. The weather man said it’s been 83 years since there was a white Christmas where we live.

It was enough snow to be messy, but not quite enough to build a snowman in.  Since we got back home in the dark on Thursday evening, we didn’t play outside.  Friday morning we just enjoyed the snow from the window.  It was pretty from inside and we didn’t get cold. : )  I did take a couple pics from the dining room window of the backyard though. woo hoo.

It really was a very unusual holiday.  It’s a long story… for another day.  But I will say that we really enjoyed just getting out, relaxing and being able to spend more time with each other.  Hubs is off work until after the new year and we’ve been enjoying some family time.  And that’s good. Whatever time of year it is.  *smile*