New Years Eve 2009....

Sarah over at www.memoriesoncloverland.blogspot.com made a beautiful winter banner. It inspired me to make one today! I'll leave this up until Valentines day...




I know I fuss about the squirrels all of the time but yet....I feed them! I can't help it...I figure they probably would like to have special treats once in awhile.


I hope everyone has a wonderful New Years Eve and a safe one!
we are babysitting our grandson Maddox tonight. We'll take him out to dinner at the Outback and then come back and play awhile. He's spending the night with us so I hope he does ok...that guy, he's such a momma's boy!

later...

Lost...

I have felt out of sorts for the past few days.
should be so happy....I'm on vacation and so is Johnny.
we're having a great time together but something just felt missing.
and today it dawned on me......

I have not had my camera in my hand since Dec 26th!
this pretty much never happens.
I always have my camera with me or within easy reach
I need to unload my memory cards onto the computer and my extra hard drive.
I need to get some printed
I need to hold my camera......

later.....

Asian Salad recipe....

My 4 year old grandson Maddox could not stop eating it. Make this and your family will love you....

2 (3 oz) pks ramen noodles, crushed
1 cup slivered almonds
2 teaspoons sesame seeds
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 head napa cabbage, shredded
1 bunch green onions, chopped
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup distilled white vinegar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons soy sauce

1. In a medium skillet over low heat brown ramen noodles, almonds, and sesame seeds with melted butter. Once browned, take off of heat and cool.

2. In a small saucepan bring vegetable oil, vinegar and sugar to boil for 1 minute. cool....then add soy sauce.

3. In a large bowl, combine shredded napa cabage and chopped green onions. Add the noodle and soy sauce mixtures. Toss to coat and serve.

You have to just go ahead and eat all of this because it's no good left over. The noodles get soggy. Also, don't sub cabbage. It's really best with the nappa cabbage.

I hope you enjoy!

later.....

A few things about Christmas...

1. I did not finish my shopping until Dec 23rd! And I still forgot one gift...arghh

2. I was cutting up jalapeno peppers on Christmas eve for chicken chili and the juice from the peppers got into my skin and burned like hell. I tried so many remedies but they only worked for a short while. Johnny had to go to the pharmacy where they told him to get Noxzema. And it worked!

3. I didn't go to Christmas eve service at church because I smelled like Noxzema.

4. We did not really have a white Christmas as it didn't snow "on" Christmas but technically, we did....as we still had snow on the ground from the previous storm.

5. I had a 30 min window on Christmas day when no one was home except me. I took a quick nap.

6. I FINALLY found my recipe for Asian salad...and made some on Christmas day.

7. Young children do not like to open gifts of clothes. Going forward...just mark those as "To Mom"

8. My family is loud...very loud.

9. My family is fun!

10. As I say every year....this was the best Christmas ever!

Happy New Year everyone!

later.........

Christmas 2009......

Chrissy girl waiting for Santa......

We just had the best Christmas ever......of course, I think I say that every year. The only problem is, it goes by way too fast. Jacquelyn said......."next year, let's do it all slower". Haha...I think she is right! Here's just a few photos from the holidays.


Jake and new video games....

Jake and Domino the pup!

Jacquelyn and Bucky on Christmas eve......

Gabe helping grandpa open a present....

Maddox sporting Nicole's pink Va Tech hat....

This is "Vivian".....we gave Jacquelyn this dress form for Christmas. She's wearing a new apron we also gave Jacq. I really like Vivian but when you catch her out the corner of your eye, she kind of startles you!

My beautiful greats niece Victoria....

Jacquelyn and I having fun at the crazy gift exchange....

Jake, Bucky and Johnny being so serious about the crazy gift exchange....

Maddox enjoying some pudding...
I'm worn out...thank goodness I'm still on vacation until Jan 4th.
later...

25 Days of Christmas.....Eating!!

haha....that is one of the really good things about Christmas, all of the good eating. And I love cooking for the family so it's def one of my favs!

Besides all of the cookies and candies we've been making, here's a run down of what we'll be eating...

tonight we had spaghetti with meatballs that Johnny cooked. And oh my, it was so good. We also had salad and cheesey bread.

Tomorrow I am cooking chicken chilli, pasta salad, roasted potatoes and london broil. I'll have most of that cooked in advance so that we can all attend 6:00 candlelight service.

Christmas morning we are having breakfast casserole, cinnamon rolls, bacon and hash browns.
Then on Christmas day, we just eat all day! I'll have ham and turkey, Asian salad and fruit.
On Saturday we will have Christmas with my family and we are all bringing a couple of appetizers. I'm making meatballs and a veggie tray.

Then I'll spend the rest of my Christmas vacation on the treadmill. We will become very close friends over the next few weeks.

later....

25 Days of Christmas......countdown!

wow...can't believe I missed a day!
When my kids were young, they so enjoyed having a countdown to Christmas. Most of the time we used a long piece of felt with yarn threaded through it. There were 3 pieces of candy tied to the 24 strands of yarn. And each day, with eager anticipation, they would fight over who got to untie the yarn or who got the first piece. Fun times....haha! I'm kidding because I used to enjoy it so much, especially if they actually forgot a day, which they did sometimes. And then the excitement was even greater because they got 2 pieces of candy! And you know when you are a kid, that's like the best day ever!

A couple of years ago, my son Jake who is now 21 yrs old, told me how much he loved having that countdown. So I bought him one. A nice wooden one with doors. And each year I fill it up with his favorite candy....soft peppermints. And every day he opens a door for his candy. I'm sure he misses a day here and there....but I love that he still enjoys it.

later.........

25 Days of Christmas......more snow & gifts!

this is what my street looks like

and here's what my car looks like......hmm, wonder if I'll be able to get out tomorrow to go shopping

we have some killer ice hanging from the roof

yep...that's me out on our walk

Jake and I took Chrissy out for a walk today....she's feeling so much better. Here's a tip on how to easily get the "snow balls" off of your doggies fur......before they go out, rub some hair conditioner in your hands and then rub the doggie underneath. After you come in, the snowballs will just come off real easy.

Our home....all covered in snow


this is what I bought myself for Christmas...yes, I like buying myself something....I work hard during this holiday season :)

I took this picture from the upstairs pool room....can you see them? 2 snow angels.......made by Jacquelyn and Melissa.

later......

25 Days of Christmas......More Snow!

haha....I just can't stop talking about the snow! I guess if you're from this area, you understand. For those of you not from around here...in Richmond, Va....we are ALWAYS on the rain/snow line. So we ALWAYS get the rain. We might get a dusting once in awhile but we never, never get snows this big...especially in December. We might get 3 or 4 inches in January but rare to get these big ones.

When Johnny left for work this morning, we had 13 inches. We then had an hour or so of some pretty hard sleeting and then it switched back over to snow. It continued to snow on and off for the rest of the day. It was so wonderful just watching the snow fall. Pretty windy...I went outside with Chrissy and in some spots, it was over knee deep because of the blowing snow. Chrissy had a ball leaping through the snow!

I only ventured out once because of the wind. Couldn't really get any good pics because I was so afraid of getting my camera wet. So tomorrow, I'll be out getting lots of pics. Which means that tomorrow's post...yep, will probably be about snow again.

It's cold tonight too....I think down to 21.
And to top off the day.....THE COWBOYS WON!! Oh yes they did...they beat the undefeated New Orleans Saints. woo hoo....

later...

25 Days of Christmas......SNOW!!

We do not get a lot of snow in Richmond, VA. Maybe one good one a year but some years, nothing but a dusting here or there. So when the weather started reporting earlier in the week that we might get a big snow....a really big one.........one might say a "historical" December snow, well, we all got pretty excited.

And historical is exactly what it is turning out to be. Where Johnny and I live is right on the line of either 4 to 7 inches or 10 to 12 inches. It's 9:30 and I just went and measured the snow on the deck and we already have 6 inches. And the heavy snow is not supposed to arrive until tomorrow afternoon. What fun! Seriously, what fun....because when it comes to snow, I'm 10 years old again. I can't wait to get out in it tomorrow, camera in tow!

Including a pic of my Chrissy girl........she's finally feeling a bit better. Still not 100% but better.

later.......

25 Days of Christmas.....Excitement!

Remember the excitement you felt as a child as Christmas got closer...and you couldn't sleep at night. Well, I'm a grandma and I still feel that way! And I can't sleep....And now, they've added the possiblity of a pretty good snow storm for our area..I love it!

later...

25 Days of Christmas......lights!

I love Christmas lights. We have not been able to get any lights out on our house yet...Johnny working 7 days a week makes it hard and I just haven't had the time. Well tonight after work, I went straight to get my nails done and a pedicure. Oh lala...it was nice! And when I came home and rounded the corner.....those pics above, that's what I saw. I was nothing but smiles.....just makes me happy! I've always said it really doesn't take much to make me happy...haha.

later.....

25 Days of Christmas.....House tour part 4

hmmm...guess this is where Santa sleeps at night....

I think the headboard looks so pretty with the greenery

this is our bedroom and yes, I even wrap stuff around the bed post!

Here's the Santa that sits up on Johnny's bar.....

Here's the wall of signs in the pool room....Johnny is working on another wall with just sports stuff

This is looking above the bar mirror...Johnny loves those pics of Ali....the fight was the one called the "thriller in Manilla".

this is FinFin....he hangs out in the pool room and is still wearing his wig from Halloween!

that's it for the house tour
more Christmas stuff tomorrow

later......