if you don't like the weather in texas wait 10 minutes

yesterday it was 75 degrees and today it's below freezing outside and snowing - only in texas! people joke about having to check the weather report before getting dressed but i thought that was totally normal. if i haven't watched the news before picking out my clothes, i will call time-and-temperature to see what it's like outside (and primarily what it WILL be like)! about the only time you don't need to worry about it is in the dead of summer because you KNOW it will be hot!!

the snow is pretty but only if i get to stay in the house and watch it! i sure as hell don't want to get out in it! unfortunately, i think i have influenced my kids to feel the same way. i asked them if they wanted to go out and play in the snow and they said "no, it's too cold and wet". they are 3 and 6 - they are supposed to love playing in the snow!! i even had to force them to go out in the yard for a few minutes just to get a picture of them in the snow!

we just found out that our church has cancelled Christmas eve services (that is always my favorite church service of the year) because the streets are getting too bad to drive on. i hope all of our family will be able to make it over to our house tonight (and to go back home to their houses tonight too)! :-) a white Christmas sounds great in the story books but it is actually kind of a pain unless you can stay "holed up" in your own house!

watch out hannah montana

last night was the first grader's Christmas program at school and she did awesome! she sang a bunch of songs with her class, she had a solo (she actually had two but the other little girl sang over her part during one of the songs) and she read the closing prayer. i was very proud of her!

i've known for some time that my first grader has quite a "personality"! she is a ham - she loves to be the center of attention - that i get! what i'm not sure about is where she got such a pretty voice from because it definitely was not from me. i can't carry a tune in a bucket)! her dad is not really a singer either (i'm trying to be nice) and he is way too shy to get up in front of people to sing. he wouldn't even be able to get up and speak in front of 10 people and she got up there and sang in front of 300+ people (standing room only) and wasn't even nervous!

happy birthday Jesus!

family christmas letter

wow - i've been so busy lately that i haven't even had time to read other people's blogs much less write my own! i will write something soon but for now here is our family Christmas letter that we sent out this year:

2009 has been a very busy year with a lot of ups and a few very hard lows!

Some of the ups – We spent most of the summer in the water – either going out on the boat or to the local water park or to the neighborhood pool. The girls took swimming lessons and the first grader can actually swim now (hopefully she won’t forget it all by next summer)! The four of us took a trip to Chicago in July to visit my brother Mike and his wife Erin. We had a great time visiting and playing tourists (although the water in Lake Michigan was COLD)! The hubby and I went to the NASCAR races again this year in April and he went to the Chicago race in July and to the Texas race in November and we also took the girls to the truck race in June. The hubby and I saw Robert Earl Keen in concert three times this year but the best was when we went to see him at Gruene Hall on November 13th with my aunt and uncle. It was awesome! We stood right in front of Robert Earl Keen during the concert and then I got his autograph!

A few of the downs – Our dog, Kitty, died in April. She was almost 14 years old. We have not gotten another dog yet. Unfortunately, my 98 year old paternal grandmother passed away on November 5th. She was such a kind-hearted woman and will be greatly missed. We went to Rayville, LA for the funeral. It was a bittersweet trip because we got to see some family that we hadn’t seen in a long time, but we had to say goodbye to a person who was such a joy in all of our lives.

The hubby is still working for the same heating/air conditioning company based out of Dallas. Because he was able to get a very good deal on a set of golf clubs, he has started playing whenever he can. Funny how we saved so much money buying this set of clubs, yet he has to spend so much to play the game! His 1972 Chevy step-side is still a work-in-progress, but it looks pretty good now!

I am still a stay-at-home mom but have been extremely busy with all of my work at the first grader’s school. I am the room mom this year as well as last year. I was the treasurer of the PTA last school year and am now the PTA president and treasurer. I am no longer babysitting for our neighbor’s daughter, Sophie, but we do get to see her often since they live next door! I am in relatively good health and am even more thankful for it after going through a medical ailment this summer. For about a month and a half, I had severe joint pain. It started off minor and progressively got worse until I could barely move (even while on prescription medications). I saw my primary care doctor and a rheumatologist and had MANY tests run and they finally put me on steroids which made me feel so much better. I still don’t know what caused it, but I’m just happy that I feel better now!

The first grader (6) is still doing gymnastics and really enjoys it. She is in 1st grade now and has been on the A-honor roll (both 6-weeks). She has lost 2 teeth so far (with 2 more very close to coming out). She may even be singing “All I Want for Christmas is my two front teeth” in time for Christmas. Just last month she went to a Dallas Cowboys football game with a friend from school – at the new stadium – in a suite!! She is now the only member of the family that has been to the new stadium! Brooke will be singing a solo in the Christmas program at school. She has been practicing A LOT!

My little one (3) is doing gymnastics now too. She loves it and her teacher says she is a natural. This is the first year that it has just been the two of us alone everyday and I’m enjoying it so much. She is at that age where she wants to do things just to please you and wants to help out. She is my little helper and I couldn’t ask for a better one!

We hope you all have a very merry Christmas and a wonderful 2010!

i'm like the wicked witch of the west - i can't get near water

it's no secret - i hate to be pale! if there was a surgical procedure that i could get to be tan for the rest of my life, i would do it in a heartbeat! i used to go to a tanning bed in my younger days. i was not one of those people that likes laying in a tanning bed though. i can't sleep on my back and i lay there tapping my fingers thinking of all of the time that i'm wasting. now i go and get a spray tan. it's quick and so much safer for me, but it does require some planning!

it takes some planning ahead because you can't shower or work out for at least 4-6 hours afterward. i usually go at night and when i wake up in the morning i look like i just got back from some tropical vacation. my sheets are "tan" now too, but oh well! i also have to make sure that it's not raining or i will be splotchy. one time i went with my sister-in-law and when we were leaving the tanning place it was pouring rain. we had umbrellas but we would still get somewhat wet. the girls at the salon were so sweet that they put robes over our heads and walked us out to the car and when we were in the car they pulled the robes off and shut the car doors. they got drenched but our tans looked good the next day!

through trial and error i have figured out to use saran press and stick to keep the bottom of my feet from turning brown. i looked a lot more splotchy when i first started and it does take some practice, but most people are very surprised by how natural it looks for me now.

where did thanksgiving go?

okay, i am not a scrooge! in fact, i love all holidays (especially christmas) and i love to decorate for all holidays (especially christmas), but this is getting ridiculous!!

i know that i have been really busy lately, but did i somehow miss thanksgiving?! i'm pretty much used to the stores putting up decorations early - although they started even earlier this year (before halloween)! the black friday deals are starting even before thanksgiving! one of my neighbors has hung christmas lights on his house already (and they are turned on)!! i have numerous friends that have already put up christmas trees and decorations!!! there is a radio station that is already playing non-stop christmas songs!!!! people, it's the middle of november!!!! there is another holiday that you are skipping right over - it's called thanksgiving! it's kind of an important holiday too because you are supposed to stop and think about all that you have to be thankful for. and i, for one, have a lot to be thankful for! i can't even find thanksgiving decorations at the store anymore - they went on clearance the day after halloween!

most of my friends that have already decorated said that it was because they would be out of town until thanksgiving. so what! there is no law that says that you have to put your tree up on thanksgiving weekend! yeah, it's convenient for most people because it is a four day weekend but i usually wait until december to put mine up anyway. (and you know that these will be the same people that take their decorations down on christmas day because they are sick of looking at it all)! one year i even put my tree up on christmas eve and took it down the day after christmas (we were moving). fifty years ago, everyone put there tree up on christmas eve. at this rate, it won't be long before people will start putting there christmas trees up on the 5th of july!

hell, maybe i'm the one in the wrong - maybe they cancelled thanksgiving this year and I didn't get the memo!!

winnie mae moreland

my grandmother passed away last thursday in her sleep. she was 98 years old and yet somehow, that still wasn't long enough to get to be with her! we buried her yesterday right outside of the small town in louisiana where she lived for most of her life. she was one of a kind - so sweet, so funny. she has never riden a bicycle, driven a car, gambled or had a sip of alcohol. i spoke at the funeral and this is what i said:

Some of you may know her as Winnie Moreland, but to me she’s Ninnie. She became a grandmother at the age of 63 – I was the first grandchild and her only granddaughter. We had a special bond and I would have to say she spoiled me quite a bit! Every time that she came to visit us or we went to visit her she would scratch my back until I would fall asleep. She would always have some money folded up in her pocket that she would slip to me and my brother (when my parents weren’t around) and she would insist that we took it. She has never punished me or yelled at me (although to tell you the truth, I doubt she has ever yelled at anyone)!

One of her greatest achievements in life was raising a smart, honorable son (who is my dad). Ninnie worked hard and would do without because she wanted the best for him. He went to college and joined the Air Force and became a fighter pilot which she was so proud of. She loved her daughter-in-law like the daughter that she never had and she loved to come and visit us wherever we were stationed around the country. She liked to visit us but she hated the “getting there” part. She flew in an air plane for the first time in 1975 to come see me right after I was born.

About 15 years ago, I brought Brent (who is now my husband) to meet her for the first time, she told me that if I ever decided I didn’t want him around anymore to send him her way because she loved him from the first moment that she met him. And the feeling was mutual – Brent tells everyone in his family that Ninnie is “as sweet as apple pie”! She was a beautiful soul and definitely one of the kindest, sweetest people I’ve ever met (or probably ever will meet).

I am not a writer and I don’t write poetry but I did find an anonymous poem that kind of sums up how I feel about my Ninnie:

A Grandmother is one of life’s best gifts,
Someone to treasure all life through,
She’s caring and loving,
Thoughtful and true,
Someone who all of your life has a special part,
Someone who holds a prime place in your heart,
She’s a mentor, a confidant and also a friend,
Someone on whose love you can depend.
A Grandmother always has your best interests in mind,
She’s someone so dear and so kind,
She’s a blessing, she’s a gift,
She’s someone that is truly wonderful.
Wherever you go, and whatever you do,
A Grandmother’s love will always see you through,
These are my sentiments, Ninnie, for you!

Heaven may have gained a new angel, but we have definitely lost an angel here on Earth!

i love you, ninnie and i am going to miss you so much!!

happy halloween y'all

i love halloween. i love dressing up. this was my favorite costume in quite a few years because ... i love the 80's!! i would dress like this every day if i could. i was only about 7 years old when this style was popular (and my mom wouldn't let me dress like this) and now this look is coming back in style and i'm way too old to dress like this! can you imagine the looks that i would get as an almost 35 year old mother of two walking around looking like cyndi lauper everyday?! oh, but i can dream!