ding dong merrily on high

Ohmegosh my kids are noisy.  Even though I yelp occasionally like a puppy who has their tail stepped on I love these sweet holly-days.  They are really growing up and their humor has a bite (I dunno where they got that) my mouth has hurt all week from laughing.  And sometimes I am laughing at stuff that a mother shouldn’t tolerate. 

Though the gifts have long been opened I am happy there is still a festive feel to these days.  I am not one to take the tree out the day after Christmas, by the time I pack everything up it has a nice coating of dust.  Winter is so long, I have never understood the haste one feels to put Christmas back in a box so quickly. 

Sam likes to bake.  I like to eat sweets.  It works out nicely, don’t you think? 

His sisters were really in his space in the kitchen today telling him he was marbling his brownies all wrong and he just stood there while they high-pitched-voiced their directions over each other and then did it his own way.  It’s like he has a mute button for them.  He is a nice boy and I’m glad he’s still cute and little and not sweaty and smelly like most teenage boys.  

We went to go shopping in Oklahoma which even after three years still makes me break out in song.

OOOOKLAHOMA, WHERE THE

WIND COMES SWEEPIN

DOWN THE PLAINS

But my husband took some side roads and instead of looking at the Le Creuset at Williams Sonoma we looked at this western stuff and ate BBQ.  

 

 

I liked this area.  Whenever we come across an area that has stayed true and independent it makes me happy.  So many of our towns look too much alike with the same department stores and urban sprawl.

We did end up looking at Williams Sonoma (too expensive) and seeing Santa (too fake).  Henry was so full of fear and adrenaline I thought he was going to pee his pants. 

See you next year!

to you and yours

     

 

 

 

Have a very Merry Christmas dear blog friends!

Wishing all of you near and far a warm and happy holiday…

See you next week!

a little bit o’life in my camera

 

frosted ice cream cones and candy made by little hands that want to help in the kitchen

 

a wreath crafted from the Matthew Mead holiday issue, it was fun to make but cost too much for supplies

peeking in on the kiddos while bringing in wood, which brings me to say Texas has the strangest weather as we have been cold the last few days but today I woke up to the sun and by 3:00 it was 83 degrees.

 

hadley looking so sweet and lovely without her long hair.  today we put the kitchen table in the middle of the living room and crafted while watching Christmas Vacation.  it was great fun.

 

maggie dressed as a boy in her latest play (Greater Tuna) and if that wasn’t bad enough we laughed through watching these two as the craziest old ladies.  one of them is him. it always seems when something funny happens i am laughing way too hard compared to everyone around me, then i start thinking about it and can’t stop. it’s a problem.

pecan bites…i make these because I don’t like them and won’t eat them all. 

do you have a sweet tooth? mine needs to be punished, it’s out of control.

feeling punchy

There is a high level of energy in this house.  It’s almost Christmas!

I’m at the point where the amount of stuff I have to do pretty much equals the amount of time left.  I feel some procrastination coming on.  Have you completed your list?  Go ahead and tell me you had your shopping done since July and everything is wrapped and embellished with tiny pinecones you collected on a nature hike.

We have had a crazy December so far, everyone is busy with performances and parties.  The military loves a holiday party.  We have one more to go and so far I haven’t embarrassed myself too much, though now that I said that I will probably make up for it.

Everyone is busy except for him:

He is pretty lazy.

He is nearly 14 and it took me this long to realize he likes Christmas.  He knows all the routines and often puts himself in the middle.

He knows I’m going to yell at him for chewing ribbons, I think that is why he does it.  He also knows that I will snuggle with him in bed even though he makes my eyes get red and itchy.  He knows if he meows REALLY LOUD in the upstairs intercom at night I will get up and make sure he has food. 

This picture is for his cousin Earl in Ohio.

He lays like this in front of the stove, I’m not sure if it’s gross or funny.

I hope you’re enjoying the countdown to Christmas.

Peter (the cat) says he hopes you’re feline well and have a Meowy Christmas.

Saturday Morning Hair

                                   The Wave

                             The Propeller

                            The I’m Still Not Awake

A little Saturday morning love for the boys in my life.

Over the Sink Link

Leila is having an over the kitchen sink link.  It’s fascinating to see.  Thanks Leila for sharing this!

It’s unique how many emotions get carried around the kitchen.  It is where I find myself for the good chunk of each day whether I feel like cooking or not. 

It would be difficult to complain about our kitchen as I have lived in some places with some, ahem, less than perfect conditions. It has everything I need and a bit more.  It’s not my dream kitchen, though. 

I bought the cactus on the right when we moved here- something about living in Texas and having a cactus made me happy.  The kitchen sill is my favorite place for plants, probably because it is hard to forget to water them when they are right there in your face each day.

Thanks for visiting my sink!

a mayhem of words

I recently went to an estate sale that had thousands of Raggedy Ann and Andy stuff.  It was crazy.  I refrained from taking pictures mostly because the guy that did this particular estate sale really gets on my nerves.  Every time I go to one of his I tell myself I won’t go back to another.  But I do.  By the way I only bought one raggedy thing: a golden book.  But I’m not having regrets as it was interesting to me to see this massive collection.   I couldn’t stop looking at everything.  I myself do love Raggedy Ann and Andy but not enough to have everything in the whole wide world with their faces on it. 

Luckily there were more sales and a few treasures to be found.

I love this mother silhouette, I found several but this is the only one I’ve cleaned up. 

I was having such a burst of energy last week with decorating and cleaning and baking.  It was so cheery! But I should have known it was a pre-gross-virus burst of energy b/c  all too soon I was having some really bad thoughts about everything I have ever had to eat in my whole life.  The little guys bounced back rather quickly and entertained me with questions like You sick, mom? Why you sick, mom? You feel better, mom? Why you still sick, mom?

Henry drew a portrait of me as I dozed in and out while watching lots of movies, it’s pretty accurate.

 

My mother must have had some motherly tlc intuition as she sent me an envelope out of the blue with lovely things to look through. Thank you, Mom!  I love the old magazines, especially this one.

The articles are still relevant:

And there are many words that should still be used in our everyday speech like cookery:

Julia Child used the word cookery often.  I like it.

And how about toggery?

Especially Toggery for Tiny Tots.  I want some Toggery, don’t you?

Our local news said there is a lot of flu going around, I hope it isn’t where you are.  But if it is try not to think about enchiladas or eating baked beans or the way hard boiled eggs taste when you burp them up.

I always like to be of any help I can….

Cheerio!

the merry and bright night

                                                                       

Last night some Christmas magic came blowing into our house.  It was the day when I tidied up all my messes from hauling holiday stuff into each room.  I hadn’t given much thought to anything but cleaning up and making dinner.  Then it got dark and the record player was humming a crackly version of the Nutcracker. The house felt warm and the soup smelled good. 

This is my favorite gift of the season, more than any wrapped present, it’s these magical few weeks leading up to Christmas.  The magic is right there for the taking, if you reach for it.