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.

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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.

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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.

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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!

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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.

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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!