my elves ...

it is that time again .. christmas card making time .. so i have been working on pics of my kiddos .. first of all let me just say .. when did they go and get so big .. i look at them everyday and don't notice it .. but take a picture and all of sudden they look like they could be .. gasp .. teenagers .. OMG !!!

i like this pic of them .. i shows their "true" personalities .. so i ran a couple of different actions on it so see how it would turn out ..

not sure which one i will use .. i will keep you posted though ..

and we are moving onto christmas ..

am i the only person that wishes that the 3 best holidays (in my opinion) .. halloween .. thanksgiving and christmas .. weren't jam packed into a 2 month span .. it seems that we go from halloween candy to turkey and pilgrims to trees and presents in about a 58 day time span .. why can it not be spread out a little further .. so that we can really savor each holiday for what's it worth .. or .. are they crammed together so that we only pig out on halloween candy and turkey and all the trimmings for just 58 days .. and then the rest of the year we eat "healthy" .. 

i guess that i just really want to be able to spread the family time out more .. i feel like i should say at thanksgiving .. well .. i guess we will see you in a few weeks .. and then at christmas .. i feel like i should say .. well i guess that i will see you at thanksgiving .. no no no .. i know .. i don't need a "holiday" to have family time .. it just seems like that is how it has become .. that is for a whole other post ..

doesn't really matter i guess .. it's not like i can change the holidays .. so we are just going to roll with it ..

so put down your pilgrims and turkeys and get out those christmas trees and ornaments ...

put on your santa hats and christmas music .. say ho ho ho and couple of times and just like that it feels like christmas ..

so .. who's even started their christmas shopping .. and ruth .. you don't get to play !!

HO HO HO !!!

the food ..

the food .. was amazing .. as it always is .. there is not one member of our family that can't cook .. ok ... well .. maybe me .. i can bake .. but not so much cook .. hence .. why i do the pies ..

and yes .. i stood at the end of the line and took pictures of everybody with their plates as they walked by ... and no that is not strange ..

is it ready yet .. ????

we had a wonderful thanksgiving day .. for us it was a smaller crowd than last year .. just 24 turkey eaters this year ..

see this app right here .. you need this one uncle dan says ..

how do you even dial on that phone ? dad says ..

ross is wondering how much longer until we eat ..

hey neil .. why don't you go make some gravy so that we can eat ..

neil .. making gravy ..

time to pray .. this means that we are about to eat ..

hey ..

daddy .. uncle ross is eating the turkey and it's not time to eat yet .. "ranny" hasn't said that we can eat yet .. daddy .. i want some turkey like uncle ross .. how come he gets to go first .. did "ranny" say that he could go first?

pecan pie anyone ..

today i stayed home with the kids and we baked pies .. yummy delicious smelling pies .. we started off with pecan pie .. i use tina's moms recipe .. we call her ma .. it is easy to make and the best pecan pie that i have ever had ..

you need pecans .. and 2 helpers .. in their pj's .. pie taste better when you make it in your pj's ..

then you add 1 cup maple syrup and 3 eggs and 1 tsp of vanilla ..

add a 1/2 cup of sugar .. 1/4 tsp salt and 1/4 cup butter .. and mix it well .. gently if you mix like cash ..

then you add at least 1 and 1/2 cups of pecans .. if i chop the pecans into small bits i add 2 cups ..

yummy .. then you pour into a pie shell shell and bake at 350 for 45 minutes .. and ..

there they are .. perfection .. we will drizzle one pie with caramel syrup ..

and we will eat them both ..

and for you pumpkin pie lovers ..

we hope that everyone has a amazing day tomorrow as we celebrate thanksgiving .. we have lots to be thankful for ..

the relay of friendship

as promised ..

my friend trina .. a girl that i have known since i lived at 1026 n hickory place .. what is it about the address that you had to memorize for kindergarten .. i will never forget it .. anyway .. trina lived at the end of the street .. the end of 1026 n hickory place .. i was 5 or 6 i guess .. so we have been friends that long .. she lives in texas now .. you can check her blog out at .. www.feedthebirdies.blogspot.com .. she invited me to play .. so here are the answers to her questions ..

What did you first want to be when you grew up? a teacher .. i can remember playing school in a little red shed that santa brought us for christmas one year .. i had a chalk board and maps and everything .. my mom would bring home extra papers from the shop and all my "students" would fill them in and then i would grade them .. everyone always made a 100 because i was a great teacher ..

a little side note .. those of you that have known me long enough know that i was a teacher .. i taught 6th and 7th grade science .. i loved it !!!

Favorite Cartoons? smurfs .. and popeye ..

Favorite childhood game? not sure ..

Favorite birthday? 21 .. my mom and dad came to ou and surprised me .. i know this isn't a question but i am adding it in ..  worst birthday .. 30 .. ugh .. i wanted to crawl under a rock and stay there for an entire year .. i can remember feeling so old .. it was weird ..

i will turn 40 in february .. i am optimistic as to how it will go  ...

Something you have always wanted to do and haven't done yet?  i want to go to the grand canyon and yellow stone with my kids

What was your first love?  Buck .. my horse that i got for christmas when i was 11 or so .. i was so madly in love with that horse .. he was a great horse ..

First musical idol?  Prince ... i still listen to his music today !

Favorite gift?  my kitchen aid mixer that i got from jeff's grandparents as a wedding gift ..

If a theme song played for you everywhere you went, what would it be?  i am going to change this a bit .. if a theme song played every time you went boating what would it be .. it would be jam packed .. and folsom prison blues ..

Favorite city to visit?  new york .. to see my other oldest friend .. kim .. and her new sweet baby molly and her very witty husband patrick

the relay of friendship

trina handed off the relay of friendship to me today .. so when i get back from tulsa today i will play .. something to look forward to ..

Happy 40th birthday Mike Jackson

were you wondering where i was yesterday .. i was home .. putting on the finishing touches on the big birthday party that we had for mike last night .. you thought that i was in bed watching law and order reruns and eating oreos didn't you .. it's ok .. you can be honest ..

to celebrate being 40 we ate cake from Wanda's .. oh man .. and she doesn't just make any kind of cake .. this cake is covered in chocolate shavings and chocolate covered strawberries ..

as you can see we didn't have any problem eating it ..

this is mikes mom .. she is the sweetest momma that i know .. she makes homemade soap that is wonderful .. she brought me some super fuzzy and warm slippers to .. not to mention that they drove over 3 hours to help us celebrate mike being 40 !!

happy party people ..

birthday boy and his friends ..

jeff and toby were analyzing the ou game .. talk about arm chair quarterbacks .. and tail backs and running backs and defensive ends ..

birthday boy .. and toby ..

this is lee .. mike's son .. he can play a mean guitar ..

we had chicken and steak fajitas for dinner .. noah assured me that everything was perfect .. that is why he went thru the line 5 times ...

that is mikes dad .. his momma .. and his daughter julia and her boyfriend ..

after dinner .. it was time for presents and cake .. and yes .. i made him wear the birthday hat .. !!

look at the glow from all of those candles .. 41 of them .. i put an extra on for good luck !!

after dinner .. presents and cake we sat out by the fire .. told big stories .. and the fellas drove gene's car thru my front yard .. i can see how it kinda looks like a nascar track ..

we ate to much .. celebrated way to hard and stayed up way to late .. i think that is the perfect way to celebrate being 40 !!

Happy Birthday Mike .. !!

They're off to White Rock for a big camping adventure ... Me .. Oh .. It's pizza .. beer .. and movies !!

larry bird vs lebron james ..

jay came up last monday to celebrate cash's birthday with us .. while they were waiting on me to finish up dinner they played a little ball ..

cash showed uncle jay how his crane and bull dozer worked ..

all was good until "larry bird" came out to see what was going on ..

he thought that he needed to show everyone how to play basketball like an old white guy with a bit of a belly ..

and the game was on .. young in shape military guy .. who is also very cute and funny .. against the older guy with a bit of a belly ..

oh .. young guy dunking the ball .. old guy wishing his ankles still allowed him to do such moves ..

but wait .. the old guy can shoot from way back ...

and the old guy has a helper ..

basketball sign ups are due friday by the way ..