Merry Christmas!!

Joy - Joy - Joy !!!

Today is Jesus's Birthday!!! Happy Birthday Jesus!! Blessed be the Lord!!

Blessings to you and yours!!

Love,

MA, John, Rachel & Stephen

Christmas Busy but Happy!!

Catching up a bit on the blog for the Christmas Holiday season. We've been busy little elfs down here. There have been holiday concerts, holiday parties, finals and tests, holiday movies, finding, setting up and decorating the Christmas Tree, Christmas shopping, Christmas puzzles to put together, Christmas cookie and other yummy things to bake and Christmas present wrapping to tackle!! Well... I'm still tackling that one. My trusty Helper Rachel can't really HELP this Christmas with one arm to offer, so most of it falls to me. I believe John had Stephen help wrap the presents for me. LOL...

Kids are out of school for two weeks and are thrilled to be sleeping late!! Last day of work pretty much for the 2009 year is behind me from yesterday so I will be able to catch up on my snoozing as well!!

Oh - before I forget, one tidbit of interesting Christmas knowledge about my 12 year old son this year. He has a fascination with a Christmas Song this year - We wish you a Merry Christmas -musically arranged with farting. Yes, farting. It has begun. The strange fascination that boys/men have with bodily noises. It has been very comical to watch him this year!!

Off to wrap (more)!!

MA

Christmas Trivia 2009

Thought I'd take a moment to update the blog with a trivia exercise!!

CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS TRIVIA

Did you shop early this Christmas? ummm... not unless you count 12/6 as early. :-) I wish I could get myself into gear and get it done earlier, but it just happens this way almost every year. Maybe someday....

Are you using wrapping paper or gift bags this year? I use a combination of both depending on the size/type of gift... and what I have on hand.

Plans for your Christmas Table colour-scheme? Typically, my table is red and green.

When do you put up the tree? Usually, I try to put the tree up the first weekend in December. BUT.... this year, it'll be the second weekend! :-) Sometimes, if I'm really rockin the Christmas spirit, there will be TWO trees~!! Doesn't even match my friend Betsy who has 10 (YES, TEN) trees in her house.

Is your tree different each year or is it always the same? Pretty much always the same.

Does it have a particular colour scheme or theme? The main tree is always decorated similarly each year... lots of white lights (becoming less and less each year because it's my least favorite part of the tree decorating. We just put lots of our ornaments on the tree --- eclectic bunch of ornaments gathered over the years with no theme.

On those very rocking Christmas seasons when I put up the second tree, it's a Texas Western themed tree with all the Texas and cowboy ornaments. Very cute...

When do you think you’ll take it down? Really hope it's before February 1st this year. :-) ha ha ha.... now that it's a real one, it'll be down by then, but one year long ago when we had an artificial tree, it was still there on my birthday in February. LOL... yea.... i like taking the lights off it worse than putting them on the tree!

A real tree or an artificial one? It's been real ones for the last couple of years. Before then, it was artificial trees until it just couldn't be recovered and reshaped into a normal looking tree again! I like the real ones and the smell the best! No one is sneezing yet, so I guess we can keep doing the real ones for awhile!

Can you remember your favourite Christmas present you received as a child? A little red car

What’s on the menu for Christmas dinner? Not sure yet this year. My mom is cooking and all I know so far is the main entree is beef tenderloin! YUM YUM!!

What’s your favourite Christmas song/carol? Traditional Carol - O Holy Night by many artists, Pavarotti & Linda Eder are two of my favorites. More Modern Christmas Song - I Believe by Natalie Grant

What is your favourite ornament on your tree? I have many favorites... any that bring back great memories.

Have you got an unusual ornament? Not really... they are all pretty normal.

Do you hang lights up outside your house? Yes, we usually put some lights out around the trees and along the sidewalk. Occasionally, I get motivated to put them up along the actual roof line.

What’s your favourite part about Christmas time? Fun times spent with family playing games, putting together puzzles, and hanging out with each other over great meals!

What’s your worst part about Christmas time? The race to get everything done and bought.

Will there be snow or shine? Oh.. how I wish there would be snow on Christmas here. We're more likely to have the shine though. HOWEVER.... I just read on the Sci Guy's Blog at Chron.com that there is a little glimmer of potential hope that could bring cold and snow to Houston on or near Christmas!! That would be pretty cool!!

What would you like for Christmas? Not a lot this year... I've asked for an Epson Photo Scanner and a few other scrapbooking related items. I am so very blessed and really don't have a lot on my wish list this year other then time with my family.

Is your tree topper an angel or a star? Neither actually!! I put some pretty poinsettia's sticks up there. I never have found an angel or a star that I really loved.

OK - Who's NEXT?? I would love to hear from you.

Happy Weekend,

MA

December 5, 2009

It's certainly Christmas time!! We've even had the cold weather and SNOW to show for it!! More to come on the Historic Snowfall in Houston, TX in a moment....

Yesterday, 12/4 - Rachel had surgery to correct the socket gap problem in her shoulder - this time her right shoulder. If you remember, she had surgery last May to correct the same problem in her left shoulder. I took a lot more pictures then. This time... just one!

Just wasn't in the snapping mode I guess. We made our way up to the hospital at 6 am yesterday and she was home snoozing on pain pills by 10:00 am! She slept most all of yesterday and will be again today I would guess. The doctor said the gap on this shoulder was even larger then the gap on the left shoulder. She's such a trooper though and I'd love to have her pain threshold. She didn't have the nerve block (she didn't last time either). A shot for pain afterwards - not morphine as we found out she was allergic to it last time. Something the nurse said was better with not as many side effects. Wonder why the go to morphine first then? Anyway.... Looks like just oral pain meds are doing the trick and keeping her comfortable right now.

Now... on to the Historic Snow of December 4th in Houston, TX

Wow... we had some snow. Not just a little flurry, but real a real snowfall. It started early on our side of town (South of Houston) and stuck around until about noon and then melted. We had another little snow band come through in the afternoon which dropped a bunch of snow, but none of it stuck around that time. Schools all let out early (not Friendswood!). Companies/cities let employees go early. Not that there was really any need to until later last night when all that wetness on the roads froze over with our 25 degree night.

Amazing for there to be snow in Houston and then even more amazing for it to come this early. First time ever for it to happen.

Check out these pictures.

Our House with Snow

Neighborhood Playground


My Favorite place - Starbucks....


See... we really were getting a good snowfall!! If the ground had been cooler than 70 degrees, we might have actually had some good accumulation!!

Not sure what we're doing today... but it might involve a few things.

FRIENDSWOOD faces DAWSON (our Pearland friends) again today in Football, but this time for the Quarterfinals on the Path to State!! We probably won't go with Rachel's recovery, but we'll be thinking about them and anxious to hear the outcome!!

UT faces Nebraska this evening for the Big 12 Championship on the way to the National Championships!! HOOK EM HORNS!!! Will definitely be watching this one.

Christmas Decorations - need to get them up in the house and perhaps get a tree decorated soon.

Have a great Weekend!!
MA

December 1, 2009

Happy Holidays everyone!! Hard to believe it's already December!! The next 24 days before Christmas are filled with decorating, great christmas music, events, concerts, and all sorts of other festivities!

My first task of the holiday season was to give my blog a festive holiday update! Let it Snow!! Not that we get a whole lot of snow here in Houston, TX, but we've seen a bit here and there the last few years. The forecasters here today are even saying we might see some snow on Friday! We'll have to wait and see if it actually happens!! I like seeing a little bit of snow. Not sure if I'd want to really have to actually live and work in it regularly though.

Our weather here is so wacky though so we'll be looking at potential snow on Friday and back into the 70's soon thereafter. That's why we always have to have both seasons of clothes in our closets and flip flops nearby. It just doesn't stay one way or another for us in the "winter"!! LOL

Here's the lyrics for a song that gets played here in Houston during this time of year by our wonderful Christian radio station - KSBJ.

http://www.myspace.com/brandedtheduo for the link to the music; look on the right side in the box, may have to scroll down

White Christmases in Houston by Branded

If you dream of horse-drawn carriages
Dashing through the snow;
Before you move to Texas
There's something you should know...

That they don't have White Christmases in Houston.
I've lived here most my life and I should know.
I've prayed and I've pleaded for way too many years
But they just don't have White Christmases down here.

I've heard of winter carnivals in Aspen.
It looks just like a winter wonderland.
But remember while you're freezin' throughout this Christmas season
We'll be down here with Christmas cheer and flip-flops in the sand.

I've seen all those Christmas shows on TV.
Blankets of white powder; my, how grand!
But while you've got snow and holly, I'm feastin' on tamales;
Sittin' on my back porch with an iced tea in my hand.

That they don't have White Christmases in Houston.
I've lived here most my life and I should know.
I've prayed and I've pleaded for way too many years
But they just don't have White Christmases down here.

Hope your December 1st has been happy!

MA