Friday, November 30, 2007

Friday Fill In

1. When my blog is broken, I'm sad and find something else to do.

2. I saw the most amazing person this morning.

3. P.S. I love You is the new movie I'm most looking forward to seeing. (I read the book and loved it!)

4. Work: Necessary and Fun

5. Of all the new TV shows, I enjoy my old favorite, Grey's Anatomy, the most.

6. If only the weekends were longer and the work week shorter.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to dinner and shoe shopping, tomorrow my plans include a day in Galveston picking up my parents from the cruise ship terminal, a teacher holiday workshop and Dickens on the Strand Festival and Sunday, I am having lunch with the girls and hopefully finish decorating my house.

** My responses are the bolded words. You can play along just post your answers on your site and let me know that you played so that I can comes read yours**

Thursday, November 29, 2007

Thursday Thirteen~Children Christmas Books

Here are the top 13 Children's Christmas books that I love to read. Story of Holly and Ivy by Rumer Godden
The Legend of the Candy Cane by Lori Walburg

A Wish for Wings That Work: An Opus Christmas Story by Berkeley Breathed

The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg
Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer by Robert Lewis May
A Snowman Named Just Bob by Mark Kimball Moulton
Snowmen at Christmas by Caralyn Buehner

The Jolly Christmas Postman by Allan Ahlberg

The Wild Christmas Reindeer by Jan Brett
Country Angel Christmas by Tomie dePaola
A Cowboy Christmas: The Miracle of Lone Pine Ridge by Audrey Wood
The Gift of the Magi by O Henry
Jingle Bells by Iza Trapani



What are your favorite Children Christmas books?








Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Fun Birthday Party

We attended a fun birthday party given by the Melkus Family for their son. They had the party at Incredible Pizza. It's a place with a huge pizza, pasta, salad, soup and dessert buffet. There are different themed rooms in which you can seat and eat your food. Then the main attraction is the game area. Video games, ball games, driving games, miniature golf, bumper cars, bowling and mini go-karts race cars.

My boys enjoyed the go kart race cars. It's run like a real race. There is an announcer over a loud speaker giving status at to what car is in the lead, how many laps to go, etc. The winner of the race receives a ribbon and my DH won both races that we did. Here are a couple of pictures from the race.

Waiting to get into the cars.


My DS was the first in the line up.


My DS acting like he is cool.


My DS in burnt orange Texas colors and his friend Alex in maroon Aggie colors. Needless to say Texas lost to Texas A & M in the football game that day. We were shocked.


My DH and Johanna last in the line up. Johanna drove like a turtle and DH was super fast.

DH with his winning ribbon.

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Game Night~Uno

UNO is one of the world's most popular family card games, with rules easy enough for kids, but challenges and excitement enough for all ages. My DS loves to play this game and wants to play it every night before heading off to bed. We joke and kid that we are going to win tonight's game over dinner. I pack this game in my bag and take along on trips, near and far, to keep us entertained. This would make a great stocking stuffer for someone in your house.

Here is how to play:

Each player is dealt 7 cards with the remaining ones placed face down to form a "draw" pile. The top card of the draw pile is turned over to begin a "discard" pile. The first player has to match the card in the discard pile either by number, color or word. For example, if the card is a red 7, player must throw down a red card or any color 7. Or the player can throw down a Wild Card. If the player doesn't have anything to match, he must pick a card from the draw pile. If he can play what is drawn, great. Otherwise play moves to the next person. When you have one card left, you must yell "UNO" (meaning one). Failure to do this results in you having to pick two cards from the draw pile. That is, of course if you get caught by the other players. Once a player has no cards left, the hand is over. Points are scored and you start over again.

Number Of Players: 2 to 10
Recommended Ages: 7 and up

Monday, November 26, 2007

Pumpkin Pie Crunch Cake

Today is National Cake Day. So in honor of this great day, I'm sharing a delicious cake recipe that my sister shared with me. This would be so good to take to holiday parties or fix for your family. Gather all your ingredients.
Mix it well.
Drizzle it with butter.
Don't forget the pecans.


1 16 oz. can pumpkin

1 12 oz. can evaporated milk

3 eggs

1 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

4 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

1/2 tsp. salt

1 box yellow cake mix

2 sticks butter, melted

1 cup chopped pecans


Heat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all ingredients from the pumpkin to the salt. Pour in a 9 X 13 pan. Sprinkle dry cake mix on top. Drizzle melted butter over cake mix. Bake for 40-45 minutes until the top begins to brown. Sprinkle pecans on top for the last 10 minutes. Best when served hot with whipped topping or vanilla ice cream.
Enjoy!

Sunday, November 25, 2007

Thrifty Finds~Christmas Ornaments


This week I found Christmas ornaments, beautiful balls of blue, gold and silver. These will grace my front room tree. Also, snatched up a large bag of confetti. Why? Not quite sure. The colors were so pretty all sparkling.


I did most of my Christmas shopping way before Thanksgiving so we did not venture out to the malls on Black Friday. We did go shopping! We hit a thrift store and Barnes*and*Noble. It was not very crowded and parking was easy to find since both places were no where near the mall. We stocked up on some books, magazines and fun activities at the bookstore. Which was absolutely perfect since the weather here turned quite chilly.


Our Thanksgiving was very nice. We spent the late afternoon/evening with my DH parents. I cooked the turkey and a couple of other sides. His mom made the stuffing and two pies, all of DH favorites. We had a nice, small gathering of just the five us. I was so busy that I didn't take one picture, very unlike me.


Saturday, we went out to my sisters. My sister and I hit Target and JC*Penneys. Picked up a couple of stocking stuffers and some sweats for DS now since it's chilly. Also, picked up some great DVDs on sale. After dinner, the adults watched Wildhogs while the kids played in the other room.


Today we went to church and was surprised to see my dad's brother and sister there. We didn't go to lunch with them since we had to hurry and get to basketball practice. Soccer is not quite over and we are starting basketball. We are constantly on the go. My parents are leaving on a Caribbean cruise tomorrow. I know that they will have a great time but I worry about them. Please keep them and the ship in your prayers.


Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends!

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Game Night~Magnetic Darts


We had game night the other night. Magnetic Darts was the game of choice. We picked up this game of darts at Goodwill. It was an unopened box. It had Christmas wrapping around box with a cardboard slip over it like you see prepackaged gifts at stores during the holidays. So we ended up with someones Christmas gift that they didn't want. We are having a blast! My aim is way off. Everyone in my house seems to get it on the target but me. When I throw the dart it either misses altogether or bounces off. We play several rounds and add up our points and the loser does something silly what the other two can dream up. Spending time with your family playing games~priceless!

Staying up late to catch up on my DVR shows and sleeping in tomorrow morning til 7:30. No work or school for us here. I do have to get up to take Devil Dog to doggy care. Later DS and I are meeting a cousin at his school to have lunch with since we are off and he has school. Something we rarely get to do. Then after school we are going to the movies and then a family dinner with my parents and sister's family.

Have a great day tomorrow!

Monday, November 19, 2007

Soccer Season

Soccer season is coming to an end! My sons team, the Orange Crush, is undefeated. We have made it through the pre-season game, regular season games and the play-off games by winning every single one. We have had some close calls. One game in particular my son was the goalie and he let two balls into the goal. Needless to say the coach pulled him from goalie and he has been playing defender. He is liking it. He is able to run around and get more ball action. I am not a crazy soccer mom but I do enjoy cheering on the team and shouting encouraging words, something I have done since high school, cheering on my player! We are headed to the Championship game on Thursday, November 29. You know the Houston Dynamo's, professional soccer team, won Sunday and we are the same color so we are hoping for the win! A couple of pictures from some games this year.
My DS getting ready to defend the goal.My DS stopping the ball.Lining up to shake the other teams hands.The meeting after the game with the coaches to receive recognition for a game well played.

Sunday, November 18, 2007

Thrifty Finds~Pyrex

This weekend I scored some great finds at the thrift stores.
Pyrex Americana divided dish with lid for $5.00.
Pyrex Woodland small dish for $2.00

This is going in my scrapbook room filled with treats after I clean it real good! People feeder $2.00. Thanks for looking!

Saturday, November 17, 2007

Pay It Forward Book Exchange Winner



Congratulations to Overwhelmed! She is the winner of Mary Higgins Clark's Let Me Call You Sweetheart. I put the numbers 1 to 6 in a large bowl and my DS drew the lucky number 1. Please send me your mailing address so that I can get the book in the mail to you this week.
Thank you all for playing along. There are many more books up for grabs over at Overwhelmed with Joy. Please be sure to check it out!
Enjoy your weekend!

Friday, November 16, 2007

Thursday Thirteen~November Decorations

I love to decorate our cottage each month. I have purchased the below decorations from either, Hobby Lobby, Michael's, Marshall's or craft shows. Here is a peek into our cottage.

Thanks for looking!