Last Night..

...we got ourselves a TREE.  Let the decorating commence!

Talking Turkey

Behold the power of advertising:  I got an email sometime back from our local BBQ place informing the world that they would be selling smoked turkeys for the holidays.   Since I've made it this many years without actually cooking a turkey, I decided it sounded like a fine idea.  And, really, if I'm going to place an order with the BBQ restaurant, how can I NOT get a quart of their deeeelicious mac and cheese?  And what's that you say?  They're selling a special gravy and big pans of yummy cornbread?  FINE.  I'LL DO IT.

That is how Thanksgiving 2015 came to be quite a hybrid of food from without and within.   Gathering together for at least the 8th year, C, E, and Miss O joined us for eatin' and playin'.  (I know it's probably been more years than that but ye olde blog only goes back to 2008 and I'd have to go look through photo albums for further historical research!!)

Thanksgiving 2015 will also go down as the one where I didn't take very many photos, nor were the ones that were snapped very good.  So there you go-- a goal for 2016.

The turkey, pre-reheating process:

Oh, and that reminds me-- as you'll see in the pic above, we also procured our desserts from the outside.  The realtors around here have really gotten into "free Thanksgiving pies for life!" (okay, I don't know if it's really for life, but I hope so. I mean, it's already been 3.5 years since we bought the house and there is still pie being offered!) so I got pecan from our realtor and Christy got pumpkin from hers.  I felt like chocolate couldn't be a bad thing so I also picked up those festive cupcakes pictured at the back right!

I'm sure you're all too full from yesterday to look at more food, but for posterity purposes:

In addition to the aforementioned turkey, mac and cheese, gravy, and cornbread, there were also two kinds of stuffing (C&E do not agree on the nature of stuffing) and green bean casserole,  and I made carrot souffle.  Add in some high-brow cranberry sauce from a can and we all had quite the tasty meal!

There were also some cute kids!

We had a later meal because we were waiting for this little one to have some more time to recover from some sickies.  But doesn't she have a cute "I'm about to blow my nose" face?  (Also, if you look closely, you can see some of us in the window reflection!)

Let's see...who's missing from that reflection?  Oh, these two.   It's all fun and games until a wine cork gets stuck and the attempt to get it out with an ice pick leads to red wine being sprayed all over the walls and ceiling!

It really worked out in my favor, though, because while Miss Clean Chisty was up there, she went ahead and dusted my wall-hanging and scrubbed my door!!

HAPPY FRIDAY!

Gobble 'Til You Wobble!

Every so often, my dad's birthday would fall on Thanksgiving.  Today is one of those days.  I wrote the following piece to post on Facebook but, since I know many of you aren't on there, I'll include it here.  Happy Thanksgiving to you all!  Big Hugs!
----

I feel like I’m pushing really close up against a social media statute of limitations for talking about people who have left us, but since today is not only the day for giving thanks but also would be my dad’s 68^th birthday, I hope you’ll indulge me this one tale.  (Or just skip right by it.  It’s wordy—which, frankly, honors him, too!)

As some of you might know, when my dad was growing up in Waco, he wanted to be a high school history teacher and coach.   While at Baylor, he somehow stumbled upon taking the LSAT and did well enough that he hung around a few more years at Baylor Law School.  (Kinda different than the way that process works now, huh?)   I can’t deny that this unexpected career path yielded wonderful experiences for his children in the form of travel and treats, but I also can’t deny that there might be something to the adage of “a girl marries someone like her father” because it turns out I’m spending my life with….a high school teacher and coach.

My dad LOVED getting to travel up here each fall and live vicariously through the BG’s football coaching adventures.  Many an October weekend was spent with us taking to the countryside for apple picking, going to a Varsity game Friday night and a JV game Saturday morning, and then (him) making apple pies and apple butter for hours on end the rest of the day. 

One of those weekends, maybe ten years ago, the games were away, across the county, and Friday night was a slopfest in the pouring rain.  I remember nothing about the opponent, the score, or really, anything about the game itself.  As we trudged back to the dark parking lot after it was over, we noticed a kid, from the opposing school, standing under a tree.  He had on a backpack but no jacket.   My dad told me to wait a minute, and I watched him walk over and give the boy his raincoat—literally, the clothes off his back.  As strange as it sounds, I remember etching that moment into my memory and thinking that it would be such a fitting story to share about my dad when he is gone.    He was not perfect (kitchen was always a mess after his baking pursuits, for one!) but there was never a finer example of generosity than Gene Moore.

As it turns out, there were too many stories to share about him at the memorial service in April 2014 for this one to be included.  But, to this day, it resonates with me and reminds me of the good fortune I had to be shown regularly the importance of giving freely.  “My” high school teacher and coach isn’t going to end up in law school (and I don’t think I will, either!) so our finances are likely always to be more limited, but I hope that never stops us from thinking about how thankful we are for what we do have, and also about what we can do to help others in need. 

May you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving full of turkey, pie, and, most importantly, appreciation.  As for me, I am going to gobble ‘til I wobble, just like my daddy used to say when he’d answer the phone on Thanksgiving.   And let’s be honest—I probably won’t clean up the kitchen, either.

The Littlest Turkey Through The Years

Not claiming any of these are quality snaps but hey-- who doesn't love a "coming of age" collage, here depicted at preschool Thanksgiving feasts?

From sister-of-a-4-year-old to one herself!

Produce Bonanza

The family rule:  can't go to Wegmans without taking a snap in the "little red truck o' veggies":

We opted, instead of eating dinner at Weggie's Market Cafe, to hit up Jason's Deli across the street.  I realize this photo does a horrible job of presenting scale but OH MY GOODNESS-- were they just trying to get rid of all their fruit?

I mean, usually you get maybe 4 cantaloupe pieces and 3 strawberries.   Crazy!

Let's Do It Again Friday!

I'm pretty sure that my spirited outfit and Baylor-approved Dr Pepper led to our Bears beating undefeated Oklahoma State Saturday night for the first time in Stillwater, OK since 1939:

Might just have to reenact this whole thing (complete with nachos and guac, of course!) Friday night when the Bears travel to Ft. Worth to take on a TCU team still angry about the 61-58 loss to us last year.    Both teams are injury-ridden (we had to put in our 3rd QB after the 2nd one, in for the broken-necked 1st one, got banged up) but it should still be quite a game!

(Sending love and support already to loyal reader Lindsay who is married to a TCU horned frog...!)

Other than that game, we did very little this weekend.  Well, I should clarify:  the BG bought a new ax (axe?  discuss.) and did some serious wood-chopping.  After most of the weekend as a slug, I finally got going yesterday afternoon and, between 4:30pm and 7:00am today, got 6 hours of work done on a project for my contract gig.   So hey-- I might be tired but now I can afford a whole CASE of DP for the game on Friday!  :-)

(Hope we don't need it!)

Classic.

I actually recorded this video yesterday because I intended to send it to B's Uncle Geoff for a giggle.  At the time, however, our power was out (I saw sparks flying from the transformer on the pole and everything!) so I didn't send it then.   The power ended up coming back on shortly after and I got caught up with other things-- and now I realize that it could provide everybody with some Friday Fun.

Background:  B came into the living room and asked me, out of nowhere, what a particular word meant.  I was able to guess what he meant from context clues but his pronunciation was so hysterical that I couldn't answer him until I recorded it for posterity.   Once again, thanks to Mr. Charles Schulz for filling our days with laughter.

MMMMM......

....CARBS!

C's preschool class had a field trip to Great Harvest Bread yesterday.  Um, yes please. 

C + C practiced their moves ahead of time.  I think those dance classes are paying off!

Who needs a Kitchen-Aid mixer when you could have this behemoth?   The "dough hook" alone weighs 25 lbs!!

SO.MUCH.BREAD.

In addition to the hunk of challah slathered with butter we each got in the store, the kids each got their own loaf of honey whole wheat bread to take home!   The Cs were pretty excited!

Spoils of a Trip to the Asian Market

There are few places I enjoy wandering through more than this market.  Not pictured are some REALLY good lookin' okra and also limes that are not small and were 5/$1!    The produce that is pictured was purchased purely because Miss C said, "This is one of the Pikmin fruit!  We should get it for Brooksie!"   Pikmin, you say?   Indeed, it's a video game.   And she knows of what she speaks!!!

Hershey, Part 2

(The bear, not the chocolatey town!)

When Camille, er, I wrote up the journal entry for our weekend adventures with Hershey, I first posted a pic of the 2012 visit he made to our house:

Look how wee they all are!

And here they were eating breakfast again with Hershey 3 years later:

Up and Down

I was gearing up all day Saturday for the big Baylor game that started at 8pm.   We had a busy morning and then I decided to make myself accomplish a house-straightening project that resulted in me not taking my usual afternoon nap so, by the time the game rolled around, I was already pretty sleepy.   Much like my daughter, here pictured a little bit after the game started:

Texting with both Lindsay and Paula (and Big Daddy!  And JC!) kept me awake as we all prepared for what we thought would eventually be a huge brawl due to some serious chippiness on the field.  While that never transpired, it continued to be an intense game that unfortunately had a negative result for our Bears.  The BG tells me that I'm taking this loss way too hard since, after all, we lost our starting QB to a neck injury and, as good a backup as we supposedly have, that's still a pretty significant downturn for the season.  But still.

Oh well.

Sunday, we spent quite a lot of time at church because we went to the 9am service per usual and then stayed into the 10:45 service since the kids were singing in the cherub choir.  They did a great job (B-man even had a duet with the other 2nd grader!) and then we went to get lunch and do some grocery shopping.  I ended up getting hit with some sort of funk later in the afternoon and was pretty much dead to the world starting around 4pm.  After sleeping for many, many hours, I feel much more normal this morning--hooray!--and would like to give major props to the BG for taking care of everything yesterday!

One of his projects this weekend was loading up the car with a whole bunch of wood from our neighbors who had a tree taken down and offered it all to us.  The kids "helped" him with that transportation activity so Miss C posed in the wood pile with Hershey, the preschool Class Bear that came home with her for the weekend:

She loved having an extra friend around:

An Evening of Artistry

(or something)

It turns out that the B-man was interested in redeeming his "Art Prize" (won through a raffle at Family Reading Night) after all so, since the Paint-Your-Own Pottery deal had to be redeemed on a weekday and the BG had a full afternoon/evening of work anyway, the other 3 of us went on a little adventure last night.

Before we made it to the pottery store, however, we hit up a truly bubbly fountain:

The prize covered the studio fees and also included one mug.  So we picked out/purchased an additional mug and the kids settled in to paint 'em up for the impending Hot Cocoa Season:

 (It should surprise no one that the B-man slapped on some paint in about 10 minutes and then spent the rest of the time asking if we could leave yet.)

It seems he was very excited to go to our next stop:  the hip and happening haircut place where C was going to get a little trim....and her brother got to play video games while she did:

Then it was off to a tasty dinner, a visit to the library branch in the shopping center, and a walk through a cute little gift shop.  While we were in there, I saw a man wearing an Oklahoma Sooners shirt so, obviously, I had to heckle since Baylor plays them tomorrow night.   I've learned my lesson about some people just wearing random shirts that mean nothing to them, so I started with "Did you go to OU?"   His response, while better than "Nah, I got this shirt at the thrift store" was still a bit perplexing:  "No, I actually went to Oklahoma State University but I support both teams from Oklahoma."  WHAT?  Would a Longhorn ever wear an Aggie shirt?   Totally bizarre.

I'll take what I can get, though, since it's not very often I can talk Big XII football with people up here.  He talked about how impressed he is with what Art Briles has done as the Baylor coach and I gave his OSU Cowboys props for "dismantling TCU." (That was fun to say!) 

Then we headed to the car but not before a now-dark revisiting of the bubbly fountain:

HAPPY FRIDAY!

(And....GO BEARS!  BEAT OU!)

Well, That Explains It

I had some butternut squash I needed to use and decided I'd make risotto.  While Risotto with Butternut Squash, Pancetta, and Jack Cheese remains a favorite (remember it, loyal reader Karen?!), I wanted to do something a little less decadent.  I found a recipe for a more basic butternut squash risotto, threw in some dried mushrooms we also needed to use, and stirred, stirred, stirred my way to some tasty gooey-ness.

When I started to eat it, however, I sensed that it has the slightest nuance of....old.   So I took a gander at my box of Arborio Rice.  Can you see the "best by" date?  OOPS.

Sooo....not only was it OLDER THAN MISS C, but it also moved with us from a different house!!!

The Three-Story Tree

Gloomy Day

Sad faces for the grayness outside:

(Big props to the one on the left.  The one on the right told me that he "couldn't figure out how to make a sad face with closed eyes."  Is that like not being able to walk and chew gum?  Grammie-- is he YOUR grandkid?!  ha ha!)

Just a few minutes before this photo was taken, he said, "Wouldn't it be a sight to see Elvis eating grass?"

Bewildered due to utter lack of context, I replied, "Who is Elvis?"  "WHO IS ELVIS??" he shrieked.  "He's a famous singer!"

Well, alrighty then.  No idea about the grass...but he said he didn't get that from a Peanuts strip, which is where he gets most of his deep thoughts.    His sister is paying attention, too.   She heard someone on the radio mention Veterans Day and said, "Veterans Day?  Are we going to quaff some root beers with Bill Mauldin?"

Good Grief!

You know what's weird about these pics from the final football game this past Friday?

No, not the "Spirit Sticks!"  Those things were awesome!  A very nice football mom had a bunch of them to hand out to our kids (as well as some elementary school friends who also came to the game)-- a perk of having the same school colors as Halloween!  Apparently they were quite the deal at the dollar store!

What's weird is that MY KIDS AREN'T WEARING COATS.  

It was 73 degrees at game time.    That is super bizarre for early November.

I actually just looked back at my blog post from the final game of 2014 and here's what I wrote:

"I think it was 41 degrees with a windchill in the 30s.  The concession stand ran out of hot chocolate and coffee before halftime.  By the end, Camille was crying from being so cold.  All in all, we're not sad there's no post-season play because we might have turned into icicles."

There is also no post-season play this year because, um, it was a rebuilding year. (But hey!  At least we didn't freeze!)  See you in 2016, football field!

With the end of the season came a free Saturday morning for the BG so you better believe we hit the road for a 9:45am (BARGAIN!) showing of The Peanuts Movie.  It should not surprise you that the B-man read us all kinds of Charles Schulz factoids on the way there:

We all loved the movie!  The kids and I were seriously dancing our way out of the theater-- can't remember the last time (if ever) I did that!!

Pssst....I Won't Tell!

Which of you regular Costco shoppers bought one of these diminutive bears to have under (er, around? next to?) the tree??!!!

HAPPY FRIDAY!!

Sic 'Em, Bears!!!

As some of you know and the rest of you probably don't care at all, the Baylor Bears return to national television tonight to take the field against the Kansas State Wildcats.   Since we had a bye last weekend, this will be the first opportunity to see how the backup, true freshman quarterback does taking over the reins of a "devastatingly dominant" offense after our starting quarterback had season-ending neck surgery.

I'm pretty excited.

I have not yet gotten dressed for the day so don't have a picture in my planned green/gold attire but I made sure to send the 2nd grader off to school with some spirit (and a fierce face):

GO BEARS!

UPDATED AT 9:45AM:

You Can Feel Like You're Here!

Recorded at 8:20am after I suddenly realized I hadn't blogged:

King of the Hill/House

The public schools had a teacher work day yesterday so the B-man got to spend some time at the preschool.  (Which, strangely enough, has a teacher work day on Friday-- seems like they should coordinate that better?)  He was the featured reader at the end of the day and all the 4 year olds just loved him.

He also got to enjoy the last of what used to be a hay maze and is now a small pile.   They kept climbing to the "top" and proclaiming to be "King of the Hill" but, for some reason, Miss C kept saying "House"! 

Grand Times With Grandma

We've been having lots of fun with Grandma in town.  She got to enjoy both rounds of Halloween parades and parties on Friday (FYI: I'm really looking forward to next year when both kids are at the same school!) and then she turned herself into a spider and came with us Trick or Treating:

We also have had some normally-dressed fun, too!

Hope you all haven't overdosed on Halloween candy!!