Santa Train

"And in the quiet of the holiday moment, they realized how truly colorless their lives would be without each other."
They get taller. I get older. The memories and moments mean even more. God bless us, everyone!

Disneyland x 9

The nine of us were lucky enough to get to go to Disneyland last week together. It was a very fun, memory filled day. Of course, it comes with a little grief and strife too. Late lunches and hungry people, trying to get to every ride towing nine people, kids disappearing for a moment, etc. Still, it all adds up to a day spent together that was special and important. Like life, both the good and bad parts, make us realize what truly matters and that is each other and the memories we make together. Priceless...

Callie Girl

Who are you & what are you doing in MY house??
It's hard to believe that, last year, on this date, I didn't know Callie existed! She has become such a big part of our family and daily routine. The kids love her because, at nine pounds, they can pick her up and haul her anywhere they choose. Mostly, she tolerates it with an occasional growl thrown in for good measure! Even my husband, Mr. Anti-Dog, himself, enjoys her. He calls her "the little girl". He also accompanies us on our final walk of the evening (she gets 2 or 3 a day!) because it is dark. Looking back, I see we have had some good talks that, without Callie, probably would not have occurred. Another positive side effect to being a dog mom.
Her Adoption Birthday is this month, and, yes, we ARE having a dog party! As my daughter-in-law to be calls me, Crazy Dog Lady! Crazy never felt so good!

Cookie Lessons

I didn't want to write this in yesterday's blog, but I am going to attempt to post EVERY day in December. A friend told me last week how sad it made her that I had stopped blogging so much. She said she looked forward to it. She said it often gave her pause to think about things she might otherwise overlook.
I guess I don't think many people even read my blog and it really only matters to me.  The subjects are often small and unimportant in the scope of life. That brings up another reason I think I stopped blogging so much. I kept waiting for something BIG to blog about and my life has not had too many big things lately. I have changed my attitude and decided I am going to write about really small things.
Today it is Abigail and a batch of predone cookies to cook. Look at her intensity in this photo as she places each cookie in the pattern I showed her in the beginning. She did it perfectly and the look of satisfaction on her face when she was finished was a sight to see!
Cooking with kids takes twice as long, is three times as messy but it is tenfold as rewarding! So many skills are learned through cooking beyond just preparing food ~ counting, measuring, patterning and thinking through the process are just a few. As for me, I am just blessed to share the experience with them.
Bon appetit!

Our Tree

"The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree:  the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other. " ~Burton Hillis
For the first time in eleven years, we got a real tree! To make it even more out of the ordinary, I saw a picture (darn you, Pinterest!) with RED lights and knew that is what I wanted for our tree this year. So, here it is. I truly love it, needles and all! I think it represents that part of Christmas that is the tradition we always do. It is the glue that binds a family. The other part, represents the change that is inevitable in all our lives. Try as we may, to keep everything the same, things change ~ kids grow, relationship ebb and flow, people come and go. Good or bad, this change is part of all of our lives. The trick is to be open and willing to go with these changes ~ mighty oak or bending willow? For me, a little of both!

A Thanksgiving to Remember

Thanksgiving 2012 will go down in the history books as one to remember. Along with our family, we had invited our son's girlfirend's family to join us for the first time this year. For the table, as place cards, I had written each person's name on a rock and placed it upon their napkin. I asked each one to turn their rock over and write something they were thankful for and during dinner we would go around and share what we had written. The answers ranged from cute (Jack, age 6, was thankful for hockey!) to heartfelt (support of our spouse, health, etc). My son was last. He also expressed how thankful he was for his life, his family, and especially his girlfriend, Emily, who has been there for him through thick and thin. He then told us all that he actually had another rock, which he produced from him pocket. He turned the rock over and asked Emily to read what it said. As you can see from the photo above, it said, "Will you marry me?". He then proceeded to get on one knee in front of all of us and and asked her to marry him as he opened the ring box!!! She started crying and was beyond joyful. We did, however, point out that we had not heard her answer yet!! Through sobs, she nodded her head and said, "YES!". Tears flowed, hugs were plentiful and we all got to share this special moment. Who knew those silly rocks would become so important this Thanskgiving!
Later, as we said good bye to all our guests, Tyler & Emily hung back. Just when I thought the day couldn't get any better, our son asked his dad to be his best man. He told his father that no other person in his life had been there for him, supported him and been his friend quite like he had. He looked up to him and couldn't think of anyone else he would want as a best man.
I feel so blessed and grateful for all the people in my life and the richness they bring to it.

Alice

I am constantly amazed at where life takes me. Sometimes I am closed off to new things and new people, but when I look around a little closer, I find the most wonderful experiences. Take Alice. I just met her today because she makes these fabulous scarves. I went to chat with her about her scarves as I am helping with the marketing of a local store that offers them. Totally a random thing that our paths crossed and, yet, maybe not so random. There are no accidents!!
Alice is 83 and as joyful and happy a person as you will ever meet. Her husband passed away two years ago (they had been married 60+ years!) and, guess what, she started making scarves two years ago!! It takes her about 5 hours to make one scarf. She never intended on selling them, but, one day, she walked into a luncheon wearing one and the ladies went wild for them. Sweet, mild Alice was stunned anyone wanted to BUY one! Today, EVERYONE wants to buy one! She attaches these adorable, handmade flowers to each scarf, which really adds a special flair. She showed me one flower she made and the center has a buttom that came from her own mother's coat. When she showed me and I admired it, she said, "Mama." That flower, of course, is not for sale! She keeps it in a special bag, a treasure, for sure.
I have decided I need more scarves, for myself and for friends. I may buy them one at a time. Then I get to go and visit Alice and hear more of her story. That may be even more of a gift than her beautiful scarves! So, thank you, Laura at the bank, who introduced me to Del, who introduced me to Tricia, who introduced me to Alice. Isn't this road of life a grand adventure?!?!