Guess Who's Coming to Town

Not Santa Claus - not just yet anyway.  Vicki!!!!!

She'll be here tomorrow night.  Then we will know Christmas is really here.

Hidden Treasures

When I was growing up, I loved going to my Memaw and Pawpaw's house. Pawpaw would work in the garden in the mornings, then he would come in and watch Price is Right until Memaw had his lunch ready.

Pawpaw didn't do sandwiches -- he expected a full course meal for lunch every day. I loved going to visit them right around lunch time so I could cash in on one of these home-cooked meals. A typical meal would be some sort of meat - usually fried chicken, lima beans, okra and tomatoes, and homemade rolls. I LOVED Memaw's rolls. I always checked her bread basket the minute I would walk in the door. If there were a dozen rolls in that basket, or only one, she would insist that I have one -- even if it was the last one in the basket. It didn't matter if the roll was a day or two old, it was still fantastic. I watched her make them several times, but sadly, never asked her for the recipe. Out of 3 daughters and 7 grand-daughters, none of us ever got her recipe. I can picture how she made them, but I have no idea on exact measurements. This past weekend, I was at Mama's house and she gave me 2 cookbooks that she had received when Memaw died. Flipping through them, I could see that they had been well loved and used often. There were stained pages with handwritten recipes stuck in between pages here and there. I happened to find a recipe for Light Rolls and, as I read over it, thought how it sounded like it may be THE recipe. Memaw's rolls were not very sweet, and this recipe only has 3 teaspoons of sugar in the whole batch. Could I possibly have found THE recipe? I can hardly wait to give it a try.

Another little treasure we have stumbled upon is this seatbelt violation ticket that my Daddy received several years ago. It looks like the date on it was 5/4/93, which would have been 8 days after Squirt was born. Papa Bear found it tucked away in the glove department of the little Ranger. We all got a kick out of this. I can't wait to ask Mama if she ever knew anything about it.

Superbowl Sunday

I love Superbowl Sunday! I must admit that this year's teams are not really any of my favorites, but I'm still going to enjoy it. We love to use Superbowl Sunday as an excuse to eat more finger foods like we do on New Year's Eve. I think finger foods rank right up there at the top of my list -- right behind mexican food! I'm going to fix my boys some stuffed mushrooms, and some meatballs for me and Scooby. Plus we have some hot wings that I froze. YUM! Oh - and I guess I'll be pulling for the Colts because: a) I really don't care for the Saints; b) Peyton Manning cracks me up in his commercials; and c) Memaw Jennie and Pawpaw Lawrence gave me a toboggan YEARS ago of the Baltimore Colts. If I could find it, it would probably be worth something. Ha ha! Not sure if "that" team is now the Baltimore Ravens or the Indianapolis Colts -- but I'm going to say it's the Colts now and make that my 3rd reason to pull for them.

And in the spirit of football, here's a page I did a while ago of Squirt's "glory" days. I can thank Squirt and his Midway Eagles team for making me the football fan I am today. And actually, I'm kinda sad football is going to be over after tonight. Obviously, I'll be looking forward to Fall and the kickoff of the next football season.

Happy Dating Anniversary to Darling Hubby

February 4, 1989. I went to Brandy's in "town" with my future sister-in-law (she was a co-worker at the time) and her hubby, BJ. BJ's brother, future DH, was on an Army Reserves trip. He was scheduled to be back around 6:00 so we could meet at 7:00. It didn't work out that way. He was late and I sat there till 11:00 waiting on him. Future SIL kept saying, "He's coming. He will be here." Something made me wait. Destiny maybe?

Well, anyway, he did come . . . and I knew immediately I would end up marrying him. I always knew I would marry someone tall, dark, and handsome. He had the handsome part down, but he wasnt very tall (just a little taller than me) and he wasn't dark, as a matter of fact -- blonde! Ha ha! Funny how those things work out. We decided to give our blind date another chance by meeting up the next night on our own. That worked out and we hit it off.

The rest is history!

Snow Day!

We got SNOW! And lots of it!



See what happens when I get a snow day? We play outside, I take pictures, and then I scrapbook them -- meanwhile, all household chores are neglected. But that's ok cause we're making happy memories.

I've been a bad blogger. I can't believe I didn't even blog Christmas! And what happened to the recipe blog I was going to start? I guess it got swept under the rug. There's just not enough time in the day to do everything I want to do . . . unless I get to stay home for a snow day! ha ha! I actually didn't stay home all day -- I went to work for a little while. My car is in the shop (again!). Well, actually, we picked it up this afternoon because the nice man at the Welcome Texaco couldn't find a thing wrong with it. Gotta love that -- it makes a lovely grinding noise when I apply the brakes -- but only at certain times, and those certain times can never be predicted. Sometimes it's when the car is hot; sometimes it's when the car is cold; sometimes it's when I barely ease on the brakes; sometimes it's when I lightly push the gas pedal. That kind of stuff drives me insane. Oh well - just grin and bear it I guess.

And now they are calling for more bad weather tonight, tomorrow, and later this week. I'm ready for Spring!

Wordless Wednesday

It's nearly impossible for me to be wordless. I can't believe it's Wednesday again. Fast week! So to get us in the Christmas spirit, here's a Christmas page. It's coming quick!

Wordless Wednesday - Again!

Happy Saturday!

It's been a weird weather day around here today! It started out rainy and dreary . . . then it cleared up and was super hot . . . then it got all dark and poured rain . . . then it cleared off again. And now it's clouding up AGAIN!

My Scoob didn't make the middle school softball team but she's ok with it and I am too. It would have been nice, but I guess it wasn't meant to be. Maybe she'll follow in Squirt's footsteps and make it her last year at middle school.

Can't believe this is the last Saturday before school starts. Sigh . . . it's been filled with cleaning house and doing laundry. Squirt washed his car and Scooby attempted to clean out her closet. Everybody is just kinda doing their own thing around here this afternoon.


So here's a little page I did the other night when I was feeling all sad . . . thinking about summer almost being over and school getting ready to crank up. I took these pictures at the beach.
Time sure flies and I can't believe school is almost here.

The Terrible Two's

Well, hopefully not! The pups turned two on Monday. Hopefully they are settling down and growing up a little bit! Time will certainly tell! Meanwhile, here's some pictures from the birthday celebration that Scooby so carefully coordinates!
Here is the birthday cake -- errr - leftover mashed potatoes.













Cocoa is such a ham! And Roxie is obviously thrilled. Here they are posing in their Barney birthday hats:












What's left of the birthday party hats:


And then a little layout I did showcasing last year's birthday pictures:


I think we've created a tradition! Pups are going to expect a birthday party every year!

My Life Will Never Be the Same

and here's why:


I'm so proud of him, but dang it sure was hard to let him walk out that door with car keys in his hands. I ask him if he wanted to go for a drive by himself, and he said "kinda." So I told him he could drive "around the block" (meaning - out one curvy road, right on another curvy country road, then right back on our road). He ended up going to Mammaw's and Pawpaw's to show them his license. Right after he walked out the door, Darling Hubby said, "I can't believe your letting him go. Do you not realize it's going to storm any minute?" Well then I was a nervous wreck. Ready to throw up the grilled chicken sandwich I had had for supper. I told him I was going to hop in the Durango and follow him -- he wouldn't let me. I told him I was going to call Mama and tell her Squirt was on the way and have him call when he got there -- again, he wouldn't let me. But it's funny that HE was the one that wasn't quite ready to turn him loose. Thankfully, Squirt made it to Mammaw & Pawpaw's without incident, and before the heavy rain came. I have never been more thankful in my whole life than when I heard that car door slam when he pulled back in the garage.

So in honor of Squirt getting his license, here's a page I did a while back before he had even gotten his learner's permit. He was driving the big ole' Lumina out in the field.

Happy 16th Birthday, Squirt

My buddy boy is 16! I can't believe it! We had the gang over Saturday for burgers. I still can't believe Shawn ate 4 burgers and that Bryce is now 6'5. I fixed the world-famous Oreo Icecream cake and they loved it. I got that recipe from Bryce and Shawn's mom probably 6 or 7 years ago. Then on Sunday we met Grandma and Pawpaw at Chipotle's for lunch (Squirt's FAVE!). Had strawberry cake at our house later on with Mamaw and Pawpaw and Uncle Vann and Aunt Pat. Then Arigato's for dinner. I'd say Squirt had a pretty nice bday!

So in honor of Squirt's birthday, here's one of my most favorite pictures ever. Simba was his buddy once upon a time. Isn't this sweet?!!!

Happy Easter - just a week late!

Man, has this month FLOWN by or what! We've been filled with birthdays and still have one more for the month of April (Squirt is gonna be 16 in 8 days - eeeekkkk!). Here's a quick little picture I took of the kids at Easter. Look how much that tree has grown! Just kidding! But actually I do take their Easter picture out by the same Bradford Pear every year just to see how much they have grown compared to the tree. Here's a closeup of my rascals! And why is it it always seems to be cold on Easter morning? They are really shivering in that picture! And was it really that long ago that they looked like this? It sure doesn't seem like it! Gosh they grow up quick!!

Happy Birthday Scooby!

Scooby Doo turned 12 over the weekend. I must say the birthday sleepover went over very well this year. Usually, we always have way too many girls and somebody ends up getting mad, crying, etc. before the night is over. Not this time -- we had 3 girls spend the night and nobody got mad or their feelings hurt. They messed around outside for a while then came in watched Twlight. It was WONDERFUL! And just in honor of Scooby's birthday . . . here's a page that I did recently that reminded me of what she used to love to watch -- BARNEY! I love you, Scooby Doo! Hope you had a wonderful birthday!

Scrapbook Page of the Day - 3/30/09

So here we go . . . I thought this one would be a fun one to share - especially since I haven't mentioned Frick and Frack (aka Roxie and Cocoa) at all in my blogging so far. These pictures were taken in October - and what's really funny is they think they are really in for a treat if they happen to snag a little apple off the dwarf apple tree. But if the truth be known - that pathetic little tree grows apples about the size of golf balls - and has for years now. I'm not sure why it won't grow regular size apples -- maybe because DH (Darling Husband) bought the tree many years ago from Big Lots. Not that anything is wrong with Big Lots -- but you know what I'm saying here. I don't think I'll ever be getting a crop of apples off of this little tree. But who knows -- maybe one of these days I'll be surprised. Meanwhile, we just get a kick out of the silly dogs trying to get a "treasure" off the tree. Dang, I love those silly dogs!