Lean In

Dear Santa...

I found the cutest Santa letters in the dollar section at Michael's..picked one up for each child, and yesterday, they made their lists..we are going to pay Santa a visit on Monday, but they kept switching their wish lists around, making it confusing for "Santa"..so I made them do their list and now it is in STONE..NO changing! lol...

They were all business...

Faithful companion that is ALWAYS under our feet...with his stuffed bone that I brought him back from Texas :)

Let's hope Jynx has been sending good reports to Santa every night :)

This is beautiful...

As I was blog reading this morning, I came across one of the most meaningful quote on love and marriage...I loved it and wanted to share:  

From NieNie's blog: 

Love is a temporary madness. It erupts like an earthquake and then subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have become so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of promises of eternal passion. That is just being "in love" which any of us can convince ourselves we are.

Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident. Your mother and I had it, we had roots that grew towards each other underground, and when all the pretty blossom had fallen from our branches we found that we were one tree and not two.

Louis De Bernieres

Love IS a decision once you get past the being "in love" part....I'm so blessed that  I have a husband who I feel this way about...and claims to feel this way about me :)  That is definitely something to be thankful for....

My birthday trip...with my Honey...

For my birthday last weekend, Brad and I took a little tripto San Antonio, Texas to the Riverwalk...Brad had been wanting to go back for some time and I had never been...we were supposed to go back in October, but plans got messed up (by me), so we ended up going now..and it was so much better all decoreated for Christmas...

We got there on Friday afternoon around lunch time, threw things in our room, and headed out to find some lunch...our hotel had stairs right down to the Riverwalk, so it was nice..the weather was perfect!

We ate lunch at this pub..sat outside on a quaint little porch...

This was the view around us:

At night, the whole atmosphere changed...

Tons of beautiful lights, tons of people, restaurants, pubs, bars, music, boats up and down the river.. it was awesome!

We ate at the Republic of Texas outside right along the water...a little chilly..but they had Shiner beer, so all was well :)

Brad playing some beat on the table..that is SO him..

We ended up at "Howl At The Moon"..a piano bar that was packed!

and then we closed down the Riverwalk back at that pub we ate lunch at...not sure how old we thought we were, but the next morning we had blaring reminders in the form of pounding headaches that we aren't 21 anymore..lol

We finally got up and moving and walked a ways to the Mexican Market...ate lunch at Mi Tierra's..and then walked around..lots of ugly junk in lots of stores, and some interesting characters along the way...

Ummmm? Can you spot the odd thing in this picture?

and then it started to rain..and didn't stop until the next day..we had to walk home in the rain...so, I didn't take any pictures on Saturday beyond these which I had planned to do..darn it!

That night we went out to eat a an excellent Italian restaurant (we did a LOT of eating..lol)

We had a great time...almost didn't get on the plane home (we fly non-rev)..we were the last two people they cleared on a full flight, but we made it home safe and sound..and refreshed ...We missed the kids and dog too :)

We're still here...

(It's his favorite spot during the morning while it's just he and I at home)

I'm going to edit the few pictures I took in San Antonio this past weekend tonight and share...got some Christmas shopping done today...checking the kids out of school mid morning tomorrow to go visit Santa (good or bad Mom?)....be back shortly..

Right now, I will enjoy this glass of Pinot Grigio before dinner....I love that stuff!

A Pinterest recipe review....

Hmmm, not sure what my record is from trying recipes from Pinterest, but I know it weighs more heavily on the "just OK" side...

Last night I tried the Chicken Parmesan Bake that I had seen being pinned many times and the comment under it was "This could be the BEST recipe I have found on here! Chicken Parmesan bake! No frying, just baking!"..I'm thinking the person who came up with the recipe pinned it himself and added that comment, but I digress...

(photo from the website)

Ok, overall, the taste was great! Love the combo of the tastes...however, the only thing that bothered me and the kids (Brad had no problems with it, but he will eat anything..thank the Lord) is that the croutons got REALLY mushy on the undersides...the top of the casserole was awesome where it was nice and crispy, but that underside? Almost made me gag...seriously...so my thought was, if you could maybe make the topping separately, it would rock...cook the chicken and the sauce and the other ingrediants and then on a cookie sheet with non stick foil (I LOVE that stuff) layer the cheese and croutons and then put it over the chicken at the end or something? 

So, overall, it was great (the basil + garlic+olive oil was so good), but that mushy part got me? Any ideas?

O Christmas Tree...

So, on Sunday, we FINALLY got the tree decorated, my village completed (will show pictures of that later), and all boxes up in the attic! YES!

(Pandora on the TV playing Christmas music ...love me some Pandora!)

The kids pretty much did all of the decorating..Brad put the framed pictures on...I was going to go back later and "even things out", but you know what? I haven't..I've left it how they put things..and just let it go...it looks beautiful just like it is :)

and it is complete....deep breath...now, I can relax and enjoy the twinkling lights :)  I love the lights..so cozy...I keep them on all the time..except when we aren't home :) 

and the outside of the house looks awesome due to my wonderful light master of a husband..I love coming home after dark and seeing the house all lit up..all in white of course..I'm picky about outside decor...it all has to match..no randomness for me..it bothers me..lol

Happy Wednesday!

Wolfpack Gathering...

Welp folks, this past Saturday, it was that time of year again..time for the annual school Christmas program...BUT this year was different! Chaz had a speaking part..yahoo! He nailed it..

I have no idea how that music teacher keeps all those kids in order and doing what they are supposed to? Bailey is right there in the front...my favorite song they sang was the one from The Polar Express "Hot Chocolate"..very cute!

Of course, Dr.Smith got up and rocked out "When the Wolfpack Howls"..lol..along with their mascot..it's always a hit..and I sing it for the rest of the day...

Horrible lighting, blurry picture..bleh! But I still like the picture...

Unfortunately during Chaz's whole program, he was blocked by a big girl with an OBNOXIOUS holiday bow in her hair...grrrr..so had to wait until they let the parents come up to take pictures..and then this little girl in red kept standing in front of him too (this was not the girl with the huge bow from earlier)...I yelled at Chaz to stand in front of her..lol..it gets cra-ZEE with the parents with cameras..it's quite humorous to sit back and watch..my Dad and I have laughed many times at the paparazzi...

I love the song Chaz's grade sang "Sing We Now of Christmas"...It had a celtic feel to it..

 

Another program down in history :)

Do your kids do an Advent calendar?

We do...I remember having one every year as a kid and for some reason, it was a big thrill for me to open those little windows each day...We started getting one last year..and I got one for each kid ..but this year, the selection wasn't great (and I don't really like the design of this one, I like bright fun whimsical advent calendars) and really Chaz didn't act like he really cared about it last year, so I only bought one..well of course when I got home, he wanted to know where his was..grrr..so, to Bailey's chagrin, they are having to take turns opening the windows (she was NOT happy about that..she's like her Mom, she just likes to be in control of things like that..lol)...

Just a fun little tradition...

Elf "mis-adventures"...

Catching up on Jynx's activities from the past four days...

Dec 1:

It's hard to tell here, but he has a dry erase marker sitting in his lap...he did a little "artwork" to their picture..so funny...horribly blurry picture, but you get the idea...

 

Dec. 2:

Jynx hitched a ride on Santa's back..piggy back style..lol

Dec. 3:

Using our light as a trapeze...

Dec. 4:

Jynx scurried to the top of our Christmas card tree..(which by the way, is waiting to be filled with cards and pictures of family and friends !! Hurry up people!...however, I still haven't sent mine out yet either)...

This morning's picture is still loading from my camera..so will add later..

The kids love getting up every morning and finding this fella...

And tonight begins our three night stint in Dicken's Village....

December 2, 3, 4 & 9, 10 11 - 6:00p - 9:00 Nightly
10th Anniversary of Dickens Village. Come and see our NEW expanded village square; including a special outdoor nativity and indoor musical show taken from the classic, "A Christmas Carol"

(The Crawford family circa early Victorian era Britain)...and yes, those costumes are huge drawstring bags that make you look like the side of a house..plus we had layers on cause it's COLD at night)...

But doesn't Bailey look adorable? She has a primitive handkerchief doll to play with while I work in the Marketplace in the village..Brad is "upper class" Britain..obviously...he's a caroler...

C'mon on out and join us...