See Ya Later, Training Wheels

Abigail decided last week that she was ready to ride a bike without training wheels. She insisted that Daddy remove the training wheels and get her on her way to big girldom. He obliged, and I did my best to stay out of the way.

There seemed to be a bit of a communication issue. He was talking and she was ignoring. 

Needless to say, it didn't go well and she's strictly on scooter patrol for a few months. 

Brewmaster

When we lived in Hawaii, I gifted Daniel with his first brewing kit.  He had always dreamed of brewing, reading books and discussing it with a chief who brewed, but living near a homebrew supply store helped make the dream finally come true. It's a tedious process that requires time and specific supplies, two items he wasn't able to come by easily in South Carolina.  The nearest homebrew shop was not just two hours away, but left a lot to be desired. And, he worked too much to even think about having time for hobbies. So he's been in a brewing slump for the past few years. That is, until last week.

After meandering the local homebrew store and spending his Christmas gift card last week, he was able to spend an entire day brewing two different batches of homebrew. I'm not a beer connoisseur, nor do I even like the smell of it, but he enjoys the hobby and opportunity to tinker with different recipes. I don't know much about the process, but I'll do my best to fill you in on what's going on in these pics.

These are the grains.

This is the concoction cooking.

Again, cooking. I think the hops had just been added in at this point. Sidenote: If anyone ever asks you to smell some hops, don't fall for it. They reek. 

It has to spend a week bubbling and doing it's beer thing before Daniel can bottle it. When he gets to that point in a few days, I'll show you what that looks like. In the meantime, the homebrew is residing in the garage fridge. Once he bottles it, it'll take at least six weeks before it's ready for consumption. 

I've strayed from blogging about the political realm for quite a while. I wanted to leave it be and allow the dust to settle. I didn't want to form any opinions on our new president's performance until enough time had passed to allow a well-rounded performance assessment. However, he jumped the gun, and gave me something to not only be disappointed in, but even disgusted.

In just his third day in office, President Obama lifted the ban on giving federal funds (read: our taxpayer dollars) to international groups that provide abortions and/or abortion information. Granted, he's not the first president to lift such a ban. The ban, originally implemented by the Reagan administration, was also lifted by former President Clinton, while both Presidents Bush upheld the ban. 

Make no mistake about me, I am pro-life in every situation with zero exceptions. I believe it is immoral. I'm not even interested in debating anyone on that issue. However, I feel that this political situation is a whole other issue. I find it absurd that a president would allow our taxpayer funds to be used in such a way.  This issue is so widely opposed by almost half of those who contribute the funds that would be applied. If these countries are so much in need of our citizens' moneys, the ban put in place by Reagan did not ban citizens from contributing their own moneys to this cause they support. No American has ever been personally banned from making their own contributions to these international groups.  However, our new president has now issued a call that my tax dollars are mandated to go to a cause that is so obscene to me. Wasn't this country founded on freedom? I certainly don't feel free in this instance. I feel bound to other citizens' cause, their ideals, and their wants. 

I'm so disappointed in all the bi-partisan promises and statements that he would be bringing people together. If that was true, why did President Obama choose this issue, the most divisive in our country's history, as one of his first to act upon? I'm not alone in my disappointment. On Saturday, Monsignor Rino Fisichella of the Vatican stated about Obama's act, "Among the many good things that he could have done, Barack Obama instead chose the worse."

I can take a bit of solace in being a Texas resident. At a pro-life rally attended by thousands in Austin on Saturday, Gov. Perry asserted his support of all pro-life efforts. He even owed to fight all research that requires an end to human life, i.e. stem cell research. He's serious, folks.  

Unfortunately, President Obama is just as serious.  He attended a similar gathering last week but it was instead a celebration of the anniversary of Roe vs. Wade. He didn't address his lifting of the ban, but did address the moral questioning of the abortion issue, using the chance to re-state his commitment to supporting women's rights. I wish I could ask him how he decides which women to support. Why does he choose to not support the millions of female babies who's lives will be aborted by his decision? And, I'm a woman. I certainly don't feel supported by Obama with the lifting of this ban. I feel stepped on and ignored.

Tuesday Treats - Lean 'N Green Chile

Ingredients
8 (6 inch) corn tortillas, divided
2 teaspoons vegetable oil, divided
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into 3/4 inch pieces
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 cup chopped poblano pepper (1-2 medium) ( I substituted a green bell pepper)
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 pressed garlic clove
2 (14 ounce) cans reduced-fat chicken broth (99% fat-free)
2 (15 ounce) cans pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 1/4 cups salsa verde (green salsa) or 1 (10 ounce) can green enchilada sauce (I used the salsa verde)
2 tablespoons minced cilantro

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Cut four tortillas in half and stack them one on top of the other. Cut into 1/2-inch strips & toss with 1 teaspoon oil.  Spread tortilla strips in a single layer in a baking pan. Bake 10-12 minutes or until crisp, stirring once. Remove from oven and set aside.  (This is the step I skipped.)
4. Fold each of the remaining 4 tortillas into quarters & and coarsely grate. Set aside. 
5. Toss chicken pieces with cumin.
6. Heat remaining 1 teaspoon of oil in a large soup pan, add chicken and cook 5 minutes. Remove chicken.
7. Add poblano peppers, onion and garlic to pan. Cook and stir 3 minutes.
8. Stir in chicken, broth, beans, salsa and grated tortillas.
9. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to simmer, uncovered, 15 minutes.
10. Stir in cilantro, ladle into soup bowls and top with baked tortilla strips.

I skipped out on the baked tortilla strips topping to cut down on a few useless calories, but it's still a very yummy soup, especially when it's so cold out. And, each serving is very filling, which was surprising for me. Enjoy! (This recipe comes from the Pampered Chef It's Good for You! cookbook.)

Servings: 6. Calories/Serving: 260.

Movie Monday - Mamma Mia!

Man, oh, man. I was on such a roll with my blogging. And, then... PTA happened. I am in charge of the yearbook committee, rather, I am the yearbook committee for Abigail's school this year. My first deadline of 32 pages is due to the publisher this week and I've been filling every spare second I can get at the computer with page layout and proofing over the past week. Aack! I have another 32 pages to do by mid-March, and I'll be oh, so excited when this project has been put to bed. I will then unvolunteer myself for ever doing the yearbook again. I don't even think it's appropriate for an elementary school to have a yearbook. And, why did I ever believe that silly PTA board president when she told me there was very little work involved with this responsibility?!

Anyways, I think I'm back on track to return to blogging just in time for Movie Monday. This week I actually have a non-children's genre movie to gab about! I know, it's shocking. Unfortunately, it's not a good review.

I finally got a chance to see Mamma Mia!.

I've been wanting to see this since it was released, but never dared to request that Daniel see it with me. He would probably have nicely obliged me, but I would have felt very guilty. And, now that I've seen it, I would have felt remorse for making him sit through it.

I think musicals are difficult to pull off on the big screen. Grease is one of the rare exceptions to this. Mamma Mia! is just odd on the big screen. It's weird when out of nowhere a character breaks into an ABBA song complete with choreography and 200 back-up singers/dancers that come out of the bushes. It just didn't jive with me. I think I would enjoy seeing this on stage, but it just didn't work as a flick. 

Another One Bites the Dust...

It's impossible to miss the abundance of media coverage around the pending historical inauguration and close of another president's time. However, my favorite bit of TV coverage devoted to the outgoing President Bush aired last night on The Late Show with David Letterman.



Don't get me wrong, I was a Bush supporter for the majority of his presidency. I'm not usually one to poke fun at him, but one can't help but get more than a few chuckles from that.

JAM Sandwich - Smashed by Pam

You could certainly have labeled us TV-aholics at other times, but it's been quite a while since we've had the time (or desire) to be addicted to the boob tube. Between the kids, work, housework and more entertaining options, we just don't watch it much. HOWEVER... Our DVR is permanently set to capture 30 minutes of some of the most creative and entertaining TV -- The Office.  We sometimes have a few episodes accumulated by the time we can get around to seeing Michael and the gang's antics, but it never fails to disappoint. 

Thanks to the Moores, we now have another way of enjoying the beauty that is The Office. 

You're eyes aren't deceiving you. That's Michael Scott's mug on a die. For Christmas, Maggie, Ted and Kevin gave us a trivia board game for our favorite sit-com. We finally broke it out earlier this week, and it was, obviously, an entertaining match.

Pam (me) in one corner...

Jim (Daniel) in the other corner...

And, this was no JAM sandwich! Pam kicked Jim's tail. Yea! I answered a correct trivia question for each category, collecting a Dundie Award in each color as I trekked across the board. I will be honest, though... The key to my win was not being over-confident. Throughout the game, you can choose to be asked the Assistant to the Regional Manager level questions or the Regional Manager level questions. Of course, I was out to win and always took the Assistant to the Regional Manager level questions. Daniel, thinking he was so much more knowledgeable than I, took only the Regional Manager questions until he realized that he wasn't getting any correct and was very far behind me. By the time he wised up, it was too late. See, Hardy, just because you've seen all the BBC seasons of the original Office, doesn't mean you're smarter than me!

In the end, I collected all my Dundies and the Save the Rabid awareness bracelet to school Daniel in our first round of the game. Go me!

Out With the Old, In With the New

The kids accumulated a few new toys for Christmas. The new loot, combined with their organizing skills, had created an annoying toy room/closet.  I was living in fear of the toys taking over. When the kids are tucked away at night, it's nice to know that their belongings also have a place to be tucked away and not strewn about the living area.

So, I was excited to tackle the room Saturday while Daniel was gone hunting. And, no, I'm not being sarcastic. I love organizing and creating order in a room. I set the kids up with a movie and emptied the contents of the oversized closet into the entry way and went to work.

There were a few toys that Cooper had outgrown along with a stash of dress-up shoes and clothes that Abigail has physically outgrown. By weeding out those items and putting everything else back in the appropriate bins, I was able to restore order to the kids' domain. 

They were so excited, and I'm proud to say the room is still in order after nearly a week. They are great at cleaning up after themselves and will hopefully be able to last another 5-6 months before I start to see chaos in toyland. 

Makes Me Want to Jump, Jump

I must say that pre-cooked dinners have changed our lives. We've had dinner at home every night but one since the kids returned from Odessa. That's allowed us to count calories, watch our portions and save some money. But, the best benefit has been time. We've spent evenings at the park, playing Wii, reading and a few other activities we haven't made time for in quite a while. 

Last night was a savage Wii tennis tournament, and tonight I was certainly feeling it in my arm. So, the court, errr.... living room, was left dark tonight, and we ventured outside for trampolining instead.  

Not only is the trampoline a great cardio work-out (I was huffing and puffing when I finally returned inside.), but the uninhibited bouncing and rolling is a blast for the kids.

One of my favorite trampoline effects is the hair. 

And, who can't help but love a brother and sister who love to be together, no matter what the activity.

Tuesday Treats - Skillet Lasagna

I was hesitant to make this recipe because I already have a tasty lasagna recipe that I'm familiar with, and it's always a crowd pleaser. But, I don't make it often because it is time consuming, so the skillet lasagna recipe from my Pampered Chef 29 Minutes to Dinner cookbook seemed to be the potential replacement when I'm craving Italian food but don't want to be bothered with intensive cooking. It doesn't hurt that Daniel absolutely loves this meal.

Skillet Lasagna

1 jar (24-26 oz) marinara sauce

3 cups water

8 oz. lasagna noodles

1 lb. bulk hot Italian turkey sausage

2 garlic cloves, pressed

2 oz. shredded Parmesan cheese

1 cup fresh whole milk ricotta cheese

1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1/4 t coarsely ground black pepper

1. Combine sauce and water in skillet. Cover and bring to a boil.

2. Meanwhile, break noodles into quarters. Stir noodles into sauce. Cover; reduce heat and simmer 16-18 minutes or until noodles are tender, stirring occasionally.

3. As noodles cook, place sausage into another skillet; cook and stir over medium-high heat 6-8 minutes or until sausage is no longer pink, breaking into crumbles. (The Pampered Chef Mix'N Chop is the best tool for this!) Add pressed garlic and cook 1 minute. Stir sausage into noodles and sauce.

4. Mix cheeses and pepper in bowl. Scoop mixture over noodles. Cover skillet and simmer 3-5 minutes until cheese is melted and ricotta mixture is heated through.

Servings: 6. Calories: 470/serving.

(In case you're wondering... I've been sticking to the serving guidelines on all recipes and counting calories in an attempt to lose weight so I'm including this info on all recipes in case anyone else adheres to serving suggestions.)

Movie Monday - Suggestions Needed

Sadly, I have no movie to review on this Movie Monday. Thus, I'm taking the opportunity to implore my readers for suggestions. We rarely see movies in the theater, but Abigail has been begging us repeatedly to see a movie. We're very particular when it comes to the movies the kids see, and I haven't found anything I would approve of them seeing without either Daniel or myself seeing first. Has anyone seen any new children's movies that are suitable for young viewers? I've read that Desperaux is dark and creepy and Bolt is violent. Are these true-to-form parental reviews or have you seen otherwise?

And, I'm also looking for rental suggestions for me and Daniel. Has anyone recently rented anything they would recommend? Speaking of that, if you rent movies, I highly suggest seeking out the Red Box vending machines in your area. There are quite a few near our house, and I love the opportunity to get $1 rentals. You can't beat a night of cinema entertainment that doesn't require a babysitter and only takes a buck from the budget!

Ideas...?

Aloha to Maui

We recently said goodbye to our first, and dearest, family pet. Maui, a Basset Hound, has been with us since we moved to Hawaii in 2003. We had been living in a small apartment in San Diego since we were married, and Daniel couldn't wait until we were in a house with a yard so that we could have a dog.

When we moved to Pearl Harbor, I went ahead of Daniel to secure our house, a small 2-bedroom duplex, and have our household goods (which we'd shipped two months ahead of time) moved into our new home. After unpacking and getting "us" settled, I was so excited when Daniel finally arrived to help me with furniture and items that were beyond my strength. However, when he finally landed in Honolulu, all Daniel was concerned with was getting a newspaper and finding a dog. A few days and $600 later, we had the sweetest Basset Hound named Maui. (This was the beginning of our tradition of naming our pets after the locales, i.e. Charlie - a Malti-Poo acquired in Charleston, SC; and Alamo - a lab/golden retriever acquired in Austin, TX.)

Maui had the best demeanor and was loved by everyone instantly. Even the neighborhood kids would come and ring the doorbell in the afternoons and ask if Maui could come out and play. Our funniest pasttime with Maui was to chase her as we were sweeping the floor with a broom. For whatever odd reason, Maui would go crazy and scatter so quickly she ran into walls trying to get away from the broom. 

My funniest memory of Maui was one night as we drove to a friend's house for dinner. Our friends loved Maui and always requested that she come along with us, so she was riding in the backseat of our SUV. Daniel rolled the windows down as he talked about wanting to have a dog who hung her head out of the car. I nagged him to roll the windows up, saying that I was scared Maui would jump out. As he insisted that dogs don't jump out of cars, Maui leapt out of the car and into oncoming traffic. Fortunately, she wasn't injured, but Daniel never again tried to get her to stick her head out of the window of a moving car or let her ride in the bed of his truck. 

At the beginning of November, Maui was injured and became paralyzed, not able to use her hind legs. At the vet's instruction, we cared for her on bedrest for almost a month until Daniel's saintly mother took the task on for us. Maui was never able to recover from her injuries, and she is now gone.  We'll miss her greatly but are relieved that she is no longer in pain. 

Next Stop: Heart of Texas

After Christmas celebrations in Odessa, Daniel and I had to return home for work obligations. However, Abigail and Cooper were able to stay behind to spend a week with my parents, better known as Gran and Grandad. 

They spent a few evenings with my second parents Robbie and Sherman and their youngest son Blake. Abigail has been telling me all about how much fun Blake was. So, Blake, if you're reading this, you should come for a visit sometime. Your new girlfriend would love to have you over for a playdate!

There was also some sort of incident with Cooper being locked in my parents' bedroom and Abigail having to crawl through the bedroom window from the backyard to unlock the door and free him. 

I think the most fun was had with my cousin Casey's girls, Ally and Ashley. Abigail had so much fun with them that she has been keeping their pictures on her nightstand in her room and talking about them on a daily basis. Hopefully, the four of them didn't cause too much damage to Gran's house in the midst of their fun.

I'm sure there were few rules and not enough attention paid to bedtimes, but I'm learning that a week of that here and there won't do too much damage.

From what I've heard, they had a blast. That was evidenced by the tears and pleas to not have to come home when I met them in Brady last week for Gran and KellyAnn to return them to me. 

Aside from them not wanting to come home, we had a nice daytrip to Brady. It's a small but quaint town in the center of Texas, about 2-3 hours from me and the same from my parents. 

We enjoyed a nice lunch of salads and baked potatoes at a cute restaurant and then visited the town square's shops, pausing to sit a while in the rockers...  

... and grab a bite of German Chocolate Cake, which was oh, so yummy!

The town's square is centered around the county courthouse, which was built in 1900, and the source of the kids' delight all day. They just knew it was a castle...

All in all, it was a fun week for the kids and a nice daytrip for all of us. And, as if I hadn't expected it, the kids were worn out...

.

The Concert With No Singing

I've been waiting to post these images until I could upload video from my camcorder, but I've finally decided that the camcorder is inoperable and the video can not be retrieved. Thus, we're stuck with the still images. Unfortuntely, these don't capture the humor of the night, but it's the only option.

Cooper's school, a church pre-school in Hutto, TX, presented a Christmas program one evening in December. We first learned of the event when Cooper's teacher sent home a list of songs they were to perform with a request that we practice with him. My first reaction was to laugh. I'm so proud of my kids, but I'm realistic and know they have limitations, and the reality is that Cooper is just 2. He's not about to put on a concert for a sanctuary full of people. Then, I second-guessed myself. I decided that maybe Cooper was learning something at school and he would surprise us. I followed the teacher's request and tried to prepare him for the performance. 

Over the next few weeks, I frequently prodded Cooper to sing with us. We tried Jingle Bells and We Wish You a Merry Christmas along with the various other Christmas songs Abigail was constantly singing. Every time, we heard the same response from Cooper. "NO!" If you asked again, he yelled, "NO! NO! NO! NO!" while shaking his head back and forth.

So, when the night of the "performance" came, I wasn't expecting too much from my cute but non-musically interested youngest child. And, he delivered on those expectations. 

 

He was the first one to enter the stage, and I was proud that he went to his place as instructed. There were a few kids who insisted on having their mothers on stage with them, or they weren't about to stand up there in front of everyone.

The class sang three songs and Cooper (far left), as expected, never uttered a word. However, when they were given a set of bells to play as they sang Jingle Bells, Cooper shook those bells through the entire tune. He was a jingling fool! 

We were so proud of Cooper, and Abigail, especially, was excited to point out to everyone nearby which one was her brother. 

You Better Clean Your Plate, Kid. There's Starving Kids in Ethiopia!

Daniel found this in the Austin newspaper last week and brought it to me to share with you guys. Unfortunately, he had crumpled it up in his pocket, so it's not completely legible. If you can't read it, it's an ad for an all you can eat buffet at an Ethiopian restaurant. Hopefully you can see the same humor we saw. 

You Can't Catch Me, I'm the Gingerbread Man

We took on a new task this Christmas with a gingerbread house. It sounded like a fun activity for me and Abigail... That's right. It "sounded" like a fun activity. 

It was Christmas Day when we finally had the time to get to the house. I know, there's nothing like waiting until the last minute. But, it's the thought that counts, right? Well, I was regretting that thought when we finally got to it. 

I actually assembled the house on Christmas Eve because it had to set for a few hours before decorating it. Fortunately, Daniel and my mother came behind me and assembled it again after my assembly did not last more than five minutes. I was so "pleased" with the endeavor that I was ready to throw it away, but my more patient mother and husband nicely salvaged the project. Thanks, guys! 

Still in our pajamas late on Christmas Day, Abigail and I finally got around to decorating it. That part was actually fun. 

I was impressed with Abigail's decorating skills as she continually explained the "patterns" she was creating. 

Not too shabby, for first time architects. But, I think it may be the last time unless next year I'm able to find a kit that includes an already constructed house that just needs to be decorated. I don't mind being Martha Stewart, but I'm not a contractor.

Tuesday Treats - Cooking Ahead

We started a terrible habit earlier this year when our house (in South Carolina) was on the market. It seemed almost all showings on the house were done around 5-6 p.m. weekdays, meaning we were kicked out of the house around dinnertime many evenings. We did what any fiscally irresponsible and non-health conscious family would do.  We kicked our eating out habit into overdrive. 

Once the house sold, we were in transit for a few months, which continued to fuel our eating out. 

I could rattle off many more excuses, but the story is that we've been frequenting restaurants way too often for the past six to seven months. It doesn't help that my long workdays usually culminate just in time to eat or even after dinnertime many days. Thus, the option of me cooking dinner every night just isn't realistic. But, we have been faced with the challenge of ending this horrible habit, for budgetary and health reasons.

About six to eight weeks ago, I decided that we needed to find a way to eat at home on a nightly basis. A friend in my weekly Bible study mentioned that she spends every Sunday afternoon cooking their meals for that week, which made me think that the cooking ahead/freezing method seemed to be our best route. We are certainly a leftovers-friendly family, but I've never frozen meals in advance and knew nothing of the ins and outs of this practice. But, I dove right in and took it upon myself to spend New Year's Day grocery shopping and cooking meals for our family that would last us a month. 

I used quite a few Pampered Chef recipes and tips that were sent my way from my friend Emily. And, I also included a few Weight Watchers and Pampered Chef recipes that I cook regularly. I wanted to make sure I didn't go to this effort and end up with meals we didn't enjoy. In the end, it was a messy endeavor...

 

...but, it was very simple and seems to be paying off well. We've only had two of the meals so far, but we have 10 other entrees to choose from that we'll split up into leftovers and ration out over January. 

If you want any of the recipes, just let me know and I'd be happy to share them with you. I made...

Dijon Chicken Noodle Toss

Chicken Stir Fry

Smoky Black Bean Chicken Wraps

Tortilla Soup

Mexican Chicken Casserole

Skillet Lasagna (very tasty and made with Italian turkey sausage)

Beef Stroganoff

Beef Chili

Cheddar Chicken & Rice

Taco Soup

Lean N Green Chili

Tex Mex Chicken & Rice

Beef Enchilada Casserole

As you can see, my freezer isn't even full thanks to the handy (and cheap) Reynolds vacuum bags. Hopefully, this will help keep the frostbite at bay while leaving room in the freezer for cold mugs, a few of the kids' treats and some veggies.

Mexican Chicken Casserole

10 corn tortillas (soft)

2 cups cubed chicken (cooked)

12 oz. shredded fat-free cheddar

1 can Healthy Request cream of chicken soup

1 can fat-free cheddar cheese soup

1 can Rotel

1 1/4 cup skim milk

1 cup chopped onion

Tear tortillas in 1" strips.  In baking dish, alternate layers tortillas, meat and cheese, reserving 1/2 cup cheese. Combine remaining ingredients and pour over layers. Top with 1/2 cup cheese and freeze in dish. To serve: thaw; bake covered at 350 for 20 minutes, uncover and bake 10 more minutes. Servings: 8. WW points: 6.

Movie Monday - Charlotte's Web

I interrupt this Movie Monday blog entry to show you our Texas Longhorn pride. Hook 'Em Horns!

We're cheering our Longhorns on tonight in the National Championship bowl game, err... I mean, the Fiesta Bowl. The kids had to take baths after the pre-game, but they were still wearing their Longhorn gear, thanks to the blankets from Aunt KellyAnn. 

Back to Movie Monday...

Abigail has been asking to see The Tale of Despereaux for weeks. She was convinced she would see it over Christmas with Aunt KellyAnn. Fortunately, the movie showing times never coincided with their free time. I say "fortunately," because I planned to take the kids to the movie yesterday but I checked out a review at the Christian Spotlight on Entertainment and made the decision not to see Despereaux. The comments from parents that said the dark themes and spookiness of much of the movie caused nightmares for their kids made me balk at exposing the kids to it. Abigail and Cooper neither one have nightmares, that I know of, but I don't want to go to a children's animated movie only to see spookiness. We want laughs and smiles!

I explained the situation to Abigail, and we began talking about the other movies. We contemplated seeing Bedtime Stories, but in the end she took the fiscally responsible choice and asked to purchase Charlotte's Web. 

Since it's the only movie she's ever seen in the theater, I thought it was a great choice. And, at just $10, it was a lot cheaper than going to see a flick at the theater. Even better, we got to watch it in our jammies!

The movie is very close to the Newbury Award-winning book by E.B. White that I grew up with, and I love that it is happy and tells a great story. And, we've recently had to discuss the issue of death (another post for another time), so it was good timing for Abigail to see this story again.

If you're looking for a new video to add to your collection, this one's a winner.

Now... Back to our Horns!

Christmas - Part Deux

The last few days of our time in Odessa was spent with the Dunaways, Stephanie's family.  This time included Christmas Day, so we also enjoyed our own Hardy family Christmas traditions at the same time.

I can't believe I didn't get pics of the annual Hardy Christmas Crab Boil.  This Christmas Eve feast, courtesy of Daniel, was an event we were obviously occupied too much with to take photos.  There were crab legs and shrimp and potatoes and corn cobs.  It was so, so, yummy. But, I will admit that the seafood was a bit harder to procure in the desert of West Texas than we've previously experienced in Charleston.

Christmas Day was not a sign of the RecessMas that the media has been fear mongering so viciously. It was truly a blessed Christmas for us, that we enjoyed so much.

The kids had fun climbing into their new sleeping bags with built in air mattresses. Little do they know, it's all part of our plan to make them sleep on the floor when company comes from now on...

It was a bit upsetting for Daniel to see, but Cooper enjoyed being Abigail's first client in her new hair salon chair. He sat there patiently enjoying primping from his sister.

The bouncy ball from Gran was also a big hit, but it's probably more fun for us to watch him fall from it any time someone lets go of him.

The kids got numerous dress-up outfits from ballerinas to race car driver to Cinderella. 

  

Obviously, Daniel was jealous and made his own dress-up outfit from his new life-jacket (to be used with his new kayak) and his helmet (to be used with his new welder) and his new spotlight (to be used to find stray glass in future glasseroles, i.e. Thanksgiving).

 

From all his loot, Cooper was most taken with the set of Caterpillar trucks Grandad gave him. Unfortunately for Grandad, Cooper seemed to think Grandad was a perfect track for his trucks.

Of course, there were diamonds and shoes and clothes and much more more to fill the day. But, really it was such a treat to be with family. It was the first Christmas in quite a few years that Daniel and I were in Odessa over the holidays and able to share the time with both sides of our families. The chance to be together and easily travel to see them was the best part of the holiday season this year. In many ways, the blessings we've been gathering all year came together to create a very blessed time for us. We continue to see how fortunate we are that God made a way for us to live in Texas and raise the kids so close to our families. We truly mean it when we say, "Thank the Lord!"