Inquiring Minds May Want to Know

A BIG Thank You to those who voted for you favorite gingerbread house.

To the Stitchin Schoolmarm and Lynn - AD and I had already tallied the votes and the grand and consolation prizes had been given out on Christmas morning before I read your comments. Not to worry though. It didn't make a difference for the grand prize winner.

House #1 was the big winner and was designed by G1. He received a gift bag containing a box of HoHo's and a box of Ding Dongs with a tag that read, "Ho Ho from your Ding Dong Granny."

Ok, well I thought it was funny. . . .

Second place was House #2 and belonged to G2. If this had been one of the boys' dirt track races the announcer would have said something like, "G1 edged out G2 by one car length" when the checkered flag fell.

In 3rd place was House #4 was designed by G2's girlfriend.

G1's girlfriend's house came in at #4.

The consolation prizes were a package of Reese cups, a package of Hershey bars and a box of Skittles. The runners up got to choose their favorite in the place where they came in. G2 chose the Reese cups, his girlfriend chose the Skittles and the Hershey bars went to G1's girlfriend.

**********

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas.

Ours was a little hectic but a very good day and we couldn't have asked for better weather. We were at AD's mother's home in the afternoon for lunch. Her home is very small and with 32 people in attendance the good weather made it possible for the kids to play outdoors.

*********

Did anyone venture out early this morning for the after-Christmas sales?

We haven't done that in years. This year though we decided we really needed a new tree for next year. (My family prefers artificial trees. Does that make us a "green" family? You know, because no trees are harmed in the decorating of our home.

Anyway, I'd checked out all the local stores a few days before Christmas and found the one that would work best for us. This morning we drove into town and when the doors were opened there were still some available so we're all set for next year.

Of course I had to look around in case there were a few more bargains to be had. I picked up some wrapping and tissue paper, a few bags of candy (who cares if they're wrapped in Christmas colors?), a couple of Oklahoma University ornaments for AD and the most beautiful angel tree topper. Instead of sitting atop our new tree next year though, I think she'll be sitting on top of one of our bookcases.

**********

As 2011 draws to a close I'd like to thank each and everyone who drops by my blog for a visit. I so enjoy reading comments that are left.

I also want to say how much I enjoy visiting you in your blog-homes. I feel like I've made some wonderful friends I never would have met otherwise.

Wishing each of you a very Blessed and Happy New Year!

You Be The Judges

G1, G2 and the girlfriends were up for a bit of gingerbread house decorating.

I told them I would post pictures of their creations on my blog and ask readers to vote for their favorite.

I also told them there would be a small prize for the winner.

Below are pictures of the houses with a brief description of each.

House #1

Santa is apparently visiting this little house at the moment. His sleigh is visible up on the roof. There is a pile of pretzel logs sitting beside the house just waiting to be put in the fireplace. Notice a path has been cleared of snow to welcome visitors.

House #2:

This darling little cottage features a fenced yard and is all decked out with Christmas decorations including a tree, a snowman and candy canes leading up to the front door. The lamp post on the left side of the door lights the way for visitors.

House #3:

The children that live in this house have been busy building a snowman and an igloo. On the right side of the house and just at the base of the statuesque angel, a fire has been built in anticipation of roasting a few marshmallows with neighbors and friends.

House #4:

The final gingerbread house features a chocolate door and windows along with a roof decorated for the Christmas season. The owners' beautiful Christmas tree beacons visitors to stop in for a visit and the licorice gumdrop chimney promises them a warm place to sit and chat for awhile.

There you have it - our 4 gingerbread houses for 2011. Please leave a comment today (Christmas Eve) with your favorite - #1, #2, #3 or #4.

G1, G2, the girlfriends and I thank you for helping choose a winner.

2011 Christmas Tree

As I was cruising around blogland this morning there were many bloggers sharing photos of their Christmas trees so I decided to post the above photo of ours.

The couple in the photo is G2 and his sweet girlfriend.

By now you probably know I'm hooked on Pinterest and all the interesting ideas that are being shared. Earlier this week I was able to get those 2 to come over and let me try a couple of the ideas I've seen recently. The above photo was one of the results.

I think it's my favorite of all.

Today is also one of those extra-special birthdays for G2's girlfriend.

Wishing her an extra-special Happy Birthday!

Frog and Traffic Jams

What was your first thought when you read the title of this post?

(My mind would not have gone to something I'd spread on biscuits or toast.)

Anyway, when we took our second trip to Muskogee to see the Nina and the Pinta we also had lunch at the Amish Country Store for the first time.

Oh. My. Goodness! I'm pretty sure we'd make another trip down there just to eat.

While we were waiting for our order to come to the table I decided to do a little shopping in the store. I looked and looked and looked.

They have lots of wonderful items to purchase - jams, ciders, snacks, candies and cookbooks to name a few.

I was so busy shopping that our thoughtful little waitress came and got me when she served our food. She said she didn't want my plate to get cold. Wasn't that the sweetest thing to do?

AD and I both chose the open faced roast beef sandwich that came with two sides. One of the sides we chose was something called Amish Casserole. That was a new dish to me and I had to ask what it was.

It's sort of like chicken and noodles but not really. The gravy/sauce is some different and there's also corn and peas in the dish. I don't know if they serve it as an entree but I could have eaten a whole plateful of that casserole and been wa-a-a-y happy!

I did ask if the recipe might be in any of the cookbooks that were for sale but unfortunately it isn't. Must be a trade secret, you think?

If anyone knows of a similar recipe I'd sure appreciate you sharing it with me.

After we finished our lunch I went back and picked out several goodies to bring home with us.

F.R.O.G. jam for one. Have you ever heard of or had F.R.O.G. jam? It's a blend of figs, raspberries, orange, ginger and the rest of the ingredients that make it a jam.

And it's mighty tasty! I only bought a small jar because I wasn't sure how well it would go over with my grape-jelly-only-loving husband. But he even admitted that it was pretty good stuff.

I think Son's kiddos will get a kick out of the name too.

I was also intrigued by another jar with the name Traffic Jam on it. Although the one we brought home with us has yet to be opened I'm sure it's a winner too. The list of ingredients includes peaches, strawberries, red raspberries, cherries and cranberries.

Yum!

Hmmm. Now I'm hungry and I haven't had breakfast yet. I think I'll go fix me some toast.

Enjoy your day, everyone!

Only 12 days to Christmas.

Have You Been to Any of These Places?

Every month or so one of the guys from my graduating class sends out an email with upcoming classmates' birthdays, what some of them have been up to and usually he adds one or two funny stories.

Tonight I received on of those emails and thought these few paragraphs might bring a smile or two to some of you.

HOW MANY OF THESE PLACES  HAVE YOU VISITED?

  
I have been in many places, but I've never been in Cahoots.  Apparently, you can't go alone.  You have to be in Cahoots with someone.

I've also never been in Cognito.  I hear no one recognizes you there.

I have, however, been in Sane.  They don't have an airport; you have to be driven there.  I have made several trips there, thanks to my friends, family and work.

I would like to go to Conclusions, but you have to jump, and I'm not too much on physical activity anymore.

I have also been in Doubt.  That is a sad place to go, and I try not to visit there too often. I've been in Flexible, but only when it was very important to stand firm.

Sometimes I'm in Capable, and I go there more often as I'm getting older.

One of my favorite places to be is in Suspense!  It really gets the adrenalin flowing and pumps up the old heart!  At my age I need all the stimuli I can get!

I may have been in Continent, and I don't remember what  country I was in. It's an age thing. . .      
                                                                                           -Author Unknown

This 'n That

It's cold here today. I'm thinking of baking some cookies from a recipe I found on Pinterest.

Do you do Pinterest? It's addictive!

******************

I'm gradually getting our Christmas decorations put out. Usually that's done by now.

On the upside - All the the Christmas gifts we've purchased have been wrapped.

That may not sound like much but it's a BIG deal around here. Christmas Eve usually finds me scrambling around getting everything wrapped and under the tree.

*******************

G1 got a new puppy.

Elliott trying to figure out what's up with this pup.

His name is Bassett. You're probably wondering why an English Bulldog is named Bassett. It is kind odd unless you know us.

All of our dogs and Daughter's family's dogs have names related to racing.

It started out with NASCAR names - Elliott, Smoke, Dani (Danica), Mikey, Earnhardt, Kasey and a few others.

Now the names have branched out to car parts - Holley (carburators), Hoosier (tires) and Bassett (wheels).

G1 brought Bassett over the other night to visit for the first time.

I took 61 pictures of the little guy in the span of about 40 minutes. That number even surprised me!

The photo above is one of the few where Bassett was awake.

Most of the time he looked like this.

Ahoy, Mateys!

Replicas of Columbus' ships, the Nina and the Pinta are currently docked in Muskogee.

AD and I made a trip down to see them today.

Actually we made 2 trips - yesterday and today.

That's a lot of driving miles but it was well worth it.

Yesterday we did some shopping in Owasso and Claremore as we made our way to Muskogee. And because we didn't know exactly where we were going, by the time we got to where the ships were, everything was shut down and it was, well, it was dark.

I was very disappointed.

AD said we could try again on Saturday. But after listening to the weather forecast he said we'd better go today as there is a 90% chance of rain tomorrow. So we drove back down today.

There were lots of school children there to see the ships and learn a bit of history.

That was a very good thing because we were able to listen to the guides too. Those kids sure had some great questions too!

The ships are in Muskogee through the 7th, then they'll be sailing off to Florida.

If you ever have a chance to see these replicas, my advice is to do it!

Black Friday Shopping

Were you among the shoppers on Black Friday? Did you find what you were looking for? I hope so.

AD and I ventured out but much later than many folks. We found most of the things we went after and missed a few too. That's ok though because the stores got more than their fair share of our hard earned dollars.

The first place we stopped was Staples for a couple of things we needed for our own use. AD zipped in and out of there in no time. The next stop was our local mall. It's a small mall and we were happily surprised that it wasn't all that busy. AD wanted to go to Sears and I had to return a gift I'd already purchased a couple of weeks ago. UGH!

Those who know me well know that I HATE returning things. I will do most anything to keep from returning merchandise. But there was no way around it this time. And I have to say, the folks at American Eagle really made it easy on me. I can't tell you how much I appreciated the two clerks that helped me. I was able to exchange the item I was returning for something that is sure to make someone very happy. And I was in and out in a flash. Seriously! On Black Friday of all days.

Then we were off to Tulsa. Our timing couldn't have been more perfect. The first huge wave of shoppers were probably home taking naps by then. There was some traffic but not nearly as bad as we'd expected.

I was periodically checking my email as we made our way from store to store. When I read one from Best Buy that said they had iPads on sale I remembered AD's youngest sister mentioning on Thanksgiving that she was looking for one but there weren't any in the newspaper sale ads that she'd seen. I told AD in case he wanted to pass that information along.

Well, guess what?! The next thing I know we're headed to Best Buy. AD let the iPad out of the bag so to speak. He told me Santa was planning to bring me one for Christmas. So that jolly old elf caved in and gave me have my gift early. Santa can expect extra special cookies left out for him this year!

Oh, and that kaleidoscope picture of AD at the top of this post - I've already been playing with my iPad.

Thanksgiving 2011

Ok, so I set up a post to wish everyone who stops by my blog from time to time a very Happy Thanksgiving.

I set it up to automatically post at 12:01am on Thursday, November 24.

When I called up my blog just now I was surprised to see my 'noodle post' pop up.

I'm sorry about that!

I hope you and yours had a wonderful Thanksgiving and made some wonderful memories.

Blessings to you all.

I Knew I'd Forget Something!

I had a question with regard to my post yesterday about my homemade noodles.
Wouldn't you just know I'd leave something important out?!

After the noodles are cut they are left to dry at least overnight, sometimes even a few hours longer. They are ready to cook then or be frozen for future use.

After the ones I made the other day were all nice and dried, I put them into a freezer bag and popped those babies in the freezer.

Thursday morning they'll come out of the freezer just as soon as the chicken broth has come to a nice boil.  Then into the pot they'll go.

I can almost taste them now.

Note to Driller: I've often said that if we had to limit our Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner  to just the bare essentials, our family would unanimously choose to have chicken and noodles, mashed potatoes and homemade hot rolls. Everyone in the family, with the exception of myself, tops their mashed potatoes with their chicken and noodles.

Homemade Chicken & Noodles

Last week I had some questions on how I make my noodles.

Over the weekend I made up a batch and froze them in preparation for Thanksgiving.

We're expecting 18 to 20 people and all of us are pretty fond of our chicken and noodles. So I needed to make a big batch.

I started with 8 large eggs. (Please pardon the scratched up bowl I use. It's seen its share of noodle dough over the years.)

Then I added some salt and pepper. Sorry, but I didn't measure those but it was about 10 turns of the grinders.

The eggs were then beaten with a fork.

A couple of cups of flour went into the eggs.

This is what the dough looked like after the 2 cups of flour were mixed in.

Then 2 more cups of flour were mixed in. The dough became fairly stiff.

I dumped the dough out onto about another 1 and a half cups of flour and kneaded it in.

I have to say here that sometimes it takes more flour than that to get a good stiff dough. I'm not sure but maybe the weather has something to do with it.

The dough was then rolled out as thin as I could get it. (I have a big table!) I use a heavy rolling pin now but years ago, before I had a rolling pin, I just used a heavy glass.

That's where the noodle cutter comes in. It's just like using a rolling pin except that it cuts through the dough. Because I can't reach all the way across the table, I cut one side, then went around to the other side and lined up the noodle cutter with the lines that had already been cut. 

Then I use a pizza cutter to cut the strips of noodles going the other way. Some people like long noodles, some like short noodles, but we like ours kind of in-between. They're probably about 3 1/2 to 4 inches long.

Tomorrow I'll cook the chicken. I do that in a pressure cooker but boiling it is also fine.

The chicken will be taken off the bone, shredded and refrigerated. The broth will be cooled and then go into the refrigerator too.

On Thursday morning, the broth will be put in a large pot along with several cans of Swanson's chicken broth - probably 6 or 8 for this size batch. The liquid will be brought to a boil and the noodles will be added in handfuls, stirring after each.

Once all the noodles are in the pot, the chicken will be added. The noodles will cook for at least a couple of hours because we like the broth to thicken.

I do stir the noodles every once in awhile while they're cooking and add more broth if needed because the noodles do absorb some of the broth.

Oh, and as they absorb the broth, they expand. That's the reason for using a big pot.

Tribute to a Fallen Hero

On Saturday, November 12, just one day after our nation celebrated Veteran's Day, Sgt. Christopher Gailey was laid to rest in Ochelata, Oklahoma.

Chris was a 26-year-old member of the Oklahoma National Guard’s 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, based in Sand Springs, Oklahoma.

He, along with Sarina Butcher, 19, of Checotah, Oklahoma were killed on November 1 in Afghanistan’s Paktia Province when a bomb went off near their military vehicle.

AD and I were proud to be among hundreds of people who stood along the funeral procession route from Bartlesville to Ochelata to show our gratitude to and our respect for Chris and his family.

I couldn't begin to count the number of vehicles that passed by honking, waving and giving a big thumbs-up. It was a very emotional time and one I won't soon forget.

At this time of year especially, I would ask that you pray for those who serve in our military and their families. And if you happen to see someone in uniform while you're out and about, thank them for their service.

Noodle Cutters and Lumberjacks

When AD and I visited Silver Dollar City last month there were two main things on my agenda.

Daughter wanted a new noodle cutter. We make a lot of noodles in our family and we love the noodle cutters from Silver Dollar City. I, personally, have 3. The first one I bought was back in 1976.

It cut many a noodle and after many years of use one of the blades (for lack of a better word) somehow got a nick in it. I could still use it but I had to go back and cut each place where the nick went over the dough.

So when Daughter got married 20 years ago, I bought her a noodle cutter and a new one for myself. 

Last month this gentleman made our new ones.

It always amazes me when I watch the craftsmen at Silver Dollar City at their work. They make each of their crafts look so easy.

During this year's Fall festival there were a couple of lumberjacks showcasing their skills.

The pole shown above was 40 feet tall. The crowd was told that normally lumberjacks compete climbing poles that are 60 feet in height.

They can shinny up and down those poles in less than 30 seconds. WOW!

There were also sawing demonstrations as well as axe throwing.

But the competition I really wanted to see was log rolling. These two guys did some of that but my photos didn't turn out very well.

Here they were running from the shore across several logs out to that platform.

They both fell in a few times.

Oh, I think I forgot to mention that the temperature that day was in the high 40's and there was quite a wind blowing across the water.

Bbbrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

At one point one of the lumberjacks just stayed in the water until he absolutely had to get out. AD said he was probably warmer staying in the water.

All I know is I was freezing and if I hadn't wanted to see that demonstration so bad I would have been inside somewhere drinking a nice mug of hot chocolate.

'tis the Season for

Display at Silver Dollar City. The larger pumpkins aren't real.

Pumpkins and lots of things made out of pumpkin.

Like Sonic's Pumpkin Pie Shakes.

Which are very good, by the way.

Sorry, I don't have a photo of one.

Then a couple of weeks ago I had one of these.

A Dairy Queen Pumpkin Pie Blizzard.

It ROCKED!

Actual bits of pie crust swirled throughout the Blizzard.

I. LOVED. IT.

The following week AD and I took our trip to Branson.

There's an Andy's Frozen Custard in Springfield, Missouri.

Well, maybe more than one. But we pass right by this one on the way to Branson. You may remember because I've written about it before.

They had a sign that read: Pumpkin Pie Concrete.

We didn't stop right then but I knew we would on our return trip.

(Note that there is an Andy's in Branson too. It's just that I look forward to stopping at this particular one when we're over that way.)

Anyway - and this is just my humble opinion - Andy's Pumpkin Pie Concrete blows Sonic's and DQ's pumpkin ice cream treats OUT. OF. THE. WATER!!!!!*

There was a sign that said each Concrete contains a slice of pumpkin pie. I'm a believer too. Because:

1. The smell of pumpkin pies baking was coming from inside.

2. I saw one or two (small) chunks of pie in my Concrete.

'Nuff said.

If anyone has enjoyed an Andy's Pumpkin Pie Concrete, I'd love for you to leave your opinion in a comment.

If you haven't I'm truly sorry. But still leave me a comment. They'll be my virtual treats for the day.

Which brings me to Halloween.

I did buy Mikey a little get-up for Halloween but didn't get a picture.

So, I'll leave you with this picture from the late '70s of my two young'uns.

Son, this one's for you.

Next year maybe you won't tell me how sorry you feel for Mikey that I dress him up for Halloween photos.

He does get treats you know.

*Disclaimer: The only tie I have to Andy's (or Sonic, or Dairy Queen) is that I am a customer, period. They don't know me from Eve. And I would never turn down a Sonic Pumpkin Pie shake OR a DQ Pumpkin Pie Blizzard.

Someone Might Wonder. . .

. . . where this Oklahoma Granny has been or what she's been up to lately.

Busy is the only word that best describes it. Lots of things going on around our house lately.

One of the most important things was

Girlie's 5th birthday.

Her party was last Saturday (a week ago today) - wow! it's already been a week. The days just seem to be flying by!

Son put together a fabulous 'Fancy Nancy' soireè (that's a fancy word for party) for his daughter.

It was a spa party and he had some friends help by giving the girls mani/pedi's and doing their 'make-up' and hair.

Then each little girl had her photo made in this little setting. There were acrylic frames for the girls to gussy up - that's not a 'fancy' word. It's an Oklahoma term for decorate them to be really fancy. LOL! Then each of the photos were put into the frames as party favors.

Isn't that Fancy Nancy on the wall cute? It looks like Son painted it on but although he could do that - he's talented that way - it's actually a repositionable sticker. Umm - stickers that all go together and actually look like the wall has been painted. Even up close!

There were lots of goodies for the girls to enjoy. There were chicken salad sandwiches on croissants, dainty little cucumber sandwiches, fruit and yogurt parfaits, DARLING sugar cookies in several shapes, cake pops, Hershey's Kisses, M&Ms, Jelly Bellies and pink punch with raspberries.

It was a fun party and one I'm sure Girlie will never forget.

Because there would be so much going on at the party, Girlie opened our main gifts the night before. Are you familiar with Precious Moments? They have a birthday 'train' set for little girls that is made up of the Disney Princesses. AD and I gave her the first two pieces, the Prince that leads the train followed by Snow White.

Girlie's mom and dad gave her the rest of the set up to age 5.

**************

That was one busy weekend! Besides the party, there were also soccer games to watch the morning of the party. Then I had to leave the party at 4:00pm and drive like a crazy woman to get back home to watch G1 and G2 race that night. I drove straight to the track - no stopping by the house.

Once I finally got home I had a couple of days to rest up before AD and I left on Tuesday and went to Branson for a few days. More on that later.

One last thing. While Son and I were out and about doing errands for the party (did I say I went down a couple of days early to help out?) we tried to go to Nic's Grill for lunch. Wouldn't you just know it - Nic's was closed last week.

So instead, we ate at Smashburger. Have you ever heard of that franchise? Their burgers are great! The one shown above is the Oklahoma. It has fried pickles, pepperjack cheese, haystack onions, lettuce, tomato and buttermilk ranch dressing and comes on an egg bun. There were sweet potato fries too. I just couldn't pass those up and they were delish!

Maybe someday I'll make it to Nic's.

Anyway, I've gotta run. I have to go into town, pick up pictures from the party, get by the bank before it closes at noon, then make it back home just in time to head to a race track that's about and hour or two away. Special races tonight.

Another busy weekend. I will get some pictures posted of our Branson trip here in a few days when things have slowed down some. Like they ever do . . . . sigh.

More of a How To Than a Recipe

There's a recipe making the rounds on the internet for Cinnamon Roll Pull Apart Bread. It's a simple recipe and would be good for a special weekend breakfast with the kids or if you are having guests.

I wanted to try it last week but I was the only one at home since AD had already left for work that day.

So I tried it using a single hard roll.

Basically what you do is slice the roll (or round loaf of bread if you're serving several people) in roughly 1/2 inch cuts going one way. Don't slice all the way through - just slice until you get fairly close to the bottom but the roll (or loaf) is still connected.

Spread honey butter (I have included my recipe for honey butter below) on all the exposed bread between all the cuts.

Now turn the roll (or loaf) 90 degrees and slice the other way. Spread honey butter between the new cuts.

Sprinkle cinnamon sugar liberally between all the cuts.

Wrap the roll (or loaf) in aluminum foil and bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes (or 30 minutes for a whole loaf).

After removing the bread from the oven, unwrap, move to a plate or serving tray and drizzle with a simple glaze made of powdered sugar and a bit of milk. It might be nice to add a drop or two of vanilla to the glaze.

For the roll I used one spoonful of powdered sugar and stirred in just a couple of drops of milk - just enough to make a thin glaze.

It was a sweet treat on a cool morning.

Honey Butter

1/3 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup powdered sugar
2/3 teaspoon cinnamon

Whisk all ingredients together until smooth and keep refrigerated. Serve at room temperature.

Me - from A to Z

I haven't blogged much lately for a couple of reasons -

1. Not much to blog about right now.

and

2. I've been busy.

A week or so ago I saw this on a couple of blogs I follow and thought I'd give it a go. Read on if you want to know more about me. If you don't, I understand.

A. Age: 61 as of last Sunday.
B. Bed size: King. It gives AD and I plus our 3 Yorkies more room to be comfortable, although I still sleep on the very edge of the bed because Smoke sprawls out all over. Yeah, I know, he's spoiled.
C. Chore that you hate: DUSTING!!!!!! Makes you wonder why we moved to the country, doesn't it?
D. Dogs: Elliott, Smoke, Dani and Mikey
E. Essential start to your day: Checking my email and reading blogs. You can do that when you're retired.
F. Favorite color: Blue
G. Gold or Silver: Silver
H. Height: 5' 4"
I. Instruments you play: Would a kazoo count?
J. Job title: Retired - yea!
K. Kids: 1 son. 1 daughter. 5 grandsons. 1 granddaughter.
L. Live: Oklahoma
M. Make of car: Ford Explorer
N. Nicknames: Mom, Granny, Dear
O. Overnight hospital stays: Once for a broken arm (I grew up in the 50's/60's), 2 times having babies and 1 time for gall bladder surgery.
P. Pet peeves: People who park their shopping cart in the middle of the aisle and walk away. People who seem to go slower while getting in their car if they know someone is waiting on their parking place. (Yes, I spend a lot of time at Wally World.)
Q. Quote from a movie: Allie: [lying in the middle of the street] What happens if a car comes?  Noah: We die. (from The Notebook)
R. Right or left handed: Left.
S. Siblings: 2 sisters, 1 brother.
U. Underwear: White cotton
V. Vegetable you hate: black-eyed peas
W. What makes you run late: things like cows in the road, trains, farmers on tractors
X. X-Rays you’ve had: remember that broken arm? and x-rays of my teeth
Y. Yummy food that you make: Chicken and noodles, mashed potatoes and homemade rolls.
Z. Zoo animal: It's too hard to pick just one. I like the elephants, giraffes, monkeys, lions, tigers, seals and the list could go on and on.

PS. Happy 13th birthday to Google. I don't know what I'd do without you.

Why Grandparents Go Gray

This past weekend God was certainly watching over G2.

He was at the Texas Motor Speedway dirt track racing and had a horrible wreck during his heat race. His car was destroyed.

Below is a video that has been posted on YouTube. There are actually 2 wrecks shown on the video. G2's was reportedly the worst wreck of the weekend and is the first one on the video clip. He is in the blue and orange car. The wreck is shown once as it happened and then following that it is shown again in slo-mo.

Note that he does wear a HANS device and was NOT hurt other than a few scratches.



Just as any other grandparent would be, we are very thankful he was not hurt.


PS. AD and I were not at the track. It is probably a very good thing. 

The Season Is A-Changin'

We were headed into town this morning when we caught sight of this flock of Canadian geese flying south.