What Movie is your Christmas most like?

Now I am big on this one. I watch It's a Wonderful Life every year and cry. I also watch White Christmas every year and swear that one year I am buying Dan a night on a white horse as a gift. However, I doubt he would get it. I love the songs and sing them loud during the movie. So what did mine turn out...

Your Christmas is Most Like: The Muppet Christmas Carol
You tend to reflect on Christmas past, present, and future...And you also do a little singing.

I guess this kind of fits, but I collect things now that say, "It's a Wonderful Life".

Check this one out. http://www.blogthings.com/whatmovieisyourchristmasmostlikequiz/

PS. You know your best friend was meant to be your best friend when you say, "I'm so upset, I didn't know that they were doing White Christmas at the Fox this year." And she says, "I love that movie, I watch it every year."

What Holiday Food Are you?

This was a little sad on the last part.

You Are Eggnog
Rich, sweet, and probably a little drunk. Everyone who knows you tends to get a little fatter.

If you want to try this:

http://www.blogthings.com/whatholidayfoodareyouquiz/

Where's the beef!

Well yesterday was very eventful in a bad turned good type of way. First, I cleaned the bedroom, that was very needed. Then I made the fatal mistake of calling Matt, I was asking a stupid question like - what do you want for Christmas.

Matt: "We are busy. Dad's lost seven cows."

Me: "What do you mean lost. They got out?"

Matt: "Yes."

Me: "Is there a hole in the fence? How long have they been out?"

Matt: "I gotta go."

Now in case you don't understand cattle, the thought of about $6,000 walking around out in the big unknown can make you sick. I'm here wondering, how is no one noticing these cows out walking around. Has someone stole them (that happened once in Colorado). [Also, it is important to know that the men in my life do not say much in a time of crisis.]

Hours pass. I can't think. I want to be physically sick. I pray. I call every hour - is there any word. No word. How do seven cows walk away? Well about 5:30 last night Dan calls and says we found them, they are okay. They had gone the opposite direction than what a neighbor had told them. Seems like she had seen another neighbors cows that were on the loose.

Today, they will move the escaped cattle back to their home. Thanking Jesus every step of the way. I am going to the chiropractor.

Happy Thanksgiving!

What a day! We had a feast to say the least, even Pioneer Woman would have been envious. Here was our menu:

Smoked Turkey w/cranberry sauce

squash dressing

deviled eggs

mashed potatoes

black-eyed peas

broccoli, rice, and cheese casserole (double)

steamed green beans

Mediterranean Orzo Salad

Strawberry Pretzel Salad

Yum-Yum cake

Garlic rolls

I think I may have fixed too much food. We always use my Grandmother's pottery dishes. This year I think it became apparent that it was time to add to the set. I have 5 plates (and they are small by today's standards) and 1 platter (also small by today's standards). So I will be stalking the antique stores and ebay for the next year. We have lots of leftovers.

The kids we all here. Gabe is starting to outgrow Nicole. I told her today we would have to get Matt to find a short woman too!

Then we spent the afternoon playing a card game called Phase 10. Now, Dan and I are not game players and Nicole is from a family of game players. We are eat and lay around and watch movie people. But we played all afternoon, even Dan.

I'm loving the cool weather and excited to see it come. Tomorrow it is clean the bedroom, get some of my school (job) work done, and then do school (Dr.) work done. I still would like to go scope out the antique mall in Covington.

All in all we have a lot to be thankful for:

1. Married to the same man for 23 3/4 years
2. Three healthy children
3. One daughter-in-law
4. lots of good friends
5. the ability to cook for them every year!

Vacation Day 3

On the day of my funeral do not be surprised if I jump up out of the casket and say, "Hold that thought, I've got laundry to do and a house to clean."

Yesterday was spent cleaning, but not the kind I wanted (the bedroom). No, I rearranged the living room, to get it Christmas ready. The 20 minutes I sat down with the torture devise on, I watched Paula Deen and then ended up having to make a Gooey Butter Cake!! Drew and Nicole are coming over tomorrow and you'd think the President was dining here! I've cleaned and planned. There will be enough food for an army. Yet, every time I try to leave something out, something new comes in. There are several staples that have to be cooked and several new additions. Alas, the price of having no family and wanting to make everything special for my children as they grew up. (Why didn't I start the let's order pizza in tradition?!)

So much for a vacation, But....if I did rest and vacation this week what would I do. I would go to Sarah's little shop in McDonough (maybe Saturday), I would go to the antique mall in Covington, and I would read. Seems simple enough.

Then somebody tell me why F and I didn't know that Oprah was doing a show in Macon, Georgia and it was her favorites of 2007. I'd of been happy with the watch. F and I kept calling each other in disbelief at all the stuff. I still can't believe that there are people who spend that kind of money on one person during the holidays.

Vacation Day 2

I got up early this morning to spend 20 minutes with the torture devise! It is tough, but must be done.

Last night I cooked the most wonderful recipe.

Chicken Layered Mexican Salad

3 cups cooked, diced chicken breast

1 pkg taco seasoning mix

1 can refried beans

1 cup mayo

1 cup sour cream

3 cups shredded lettuce

2 large tomatoes, diced

3 cups shredded cheddar cheese

salsa

tortilla chips

1. mix chicken, 1/2 of the taco mix, and whole can of refried beans

2. Layer in a 9x13 casserole dish

3. combine mayo, sour cream, and remaining taco mix in a separate bowl.

4. Layer this on top of chicken and bean mixture

5. complete the layering with lettuce, tomatoes, and cheese

6. serve with salsa and chips

I added guacamole' to mine and left off the tomatoes. I used fat free beans, mayo and sour cream and only 1 1/2 cups of cheese. No one noticed the difference. Matt wouldn't even try it. Gabe loved it and so did Dan. Definitely worth a try.

Today's plans include: cleaning bedroom and bathroom, more laundry, grocery shopping, supper cooking, and finishing Gabe's school project that was lost and now has to be turned in on Monday!

Vacation Day 1

Well, I'm loving this already. I got up had a leasurely cup of coffee, fixed breakfast and two men left, I'm down to one. I plan to clean my bedroom today (not done), go to the foot doctor (I now have a torture devise that has to stay on for an hour per day, at twenty minute sittings), the chiropractor (this brought some relief to my achy back-returning on Saturday), run by school and pick up some data I need to write a grant Freda brought it by), and plan Thanksgiving dinner (I've made some progress). Seems a bit agressive for day one, but we shall see.

There is also the football book to finish reading and a large book on creating writers through assessments. I can't wait!

I would like to take the boys on a day out this week at some point. This will take money, so who knows.

Georgia Aquarium Trip

The sea turtle was pretty cool!











I found the jellyfish to be very relaxing!








Then there was this crab. Hikendrea said, "Boy, I'm wantin' some crab legs now." I told her I thought he might be more grab than she could handle!



My other pictures are full of children. They turned out pretty good. I really enjoyed the trip.

Weight Loss Update 3

Well I didn't think this would be a good week for me, but I lost 3.6 pounds. This brings me to the magical 22.2 pounds of weight lost. I'm pretty pumped. F. who usually runs off and leaves me is at 23 pounds gone. Between us we've nearly lost a 50 pound sack of feed.

Monkey Envy! and miscellaneous musings from the playground

I have a bad case of Monkey envy going on. Everytime I go take a gander at her blog and see the beautiful pictures, I want to go to that spot! I want to read Celestine Sibley! I want to sit on a front porch and take in the beauty!

Monkey isn't feeling well either. I think we have both caught it from the munchkins! I feel a little better today. I just wished there was more time in my day.

I am doing eyeq with a child after school (one that I suspect has a visual tracking issue). Today we started out at 58 words per minute, after exercises we moved to 81 wpm. I was impressed, we did another fluency trick up my sleeve and read 83 wpm in 54 seconds before stopping. I followed this up with some cause and effect activities and all went well. Sadly, my Clarence isn't enrolled in this program yet!

Today, I had fun with my kids at school. I love discussions that make them think and use their heads. D. didn't want to write today and decided to kick desks and carry on. In my calmest voice I said, "Well that's okay, but you can't read another book today until I have a good paragraph from you." More carrying on from D. so I walked to my desk and pulled out a 15 minutes of library time pass. I said, "This is simple, you can have 15 minutes of free time to stay in the QUIET library if you do my paragraph. But remember no paragraph, no more reading today." It only took two hours to get my paper, but I got a pretty good paragraph!
This afternoon he didn't like all the screaming going on with the DARE officer, so I said we will go inside. He and I went inside and he took AR test and talked to me about books. It was all good! Personally, I like the kid even with all his quirks.

I had another kid on the playground say a cuss word today. Two girls came to tattle. I called him over and in perfect innocence he looks at me and says, "I didn't mean to say f---." Well I looked at him and said, "Your honesty in this matter is refreshing. Do you understand why we don't talk like that." We discussed the reasons why we should use good speech and the fact that it would be horrible to have your mouth washed out with soap. Then I let him go! That's right no fence time, no yelling. Hey, we all slip up sometime! It was nice to have someone be honest about it!

It's Almost Monday--BaHumBug

I can't believe that here we are the week before a break and I'm getting sick! I fell like crap! But have no fear, tomorrow those who are over me will more than likely have another intervention that must be put into place! I am honored.

Between the leg cramps and now the cold, I am not sleeping well at all. So that makes it worse. Dan helped again today and we knocked out another week of statistics! Matt has One Act Play dessert theatre this week on Thursday. Tickets are $8 in advance and they did win first or second at state. In an effort not to offend there is no longer a winner, there are two superiors. WHATEVER!!!! I hate to tell people but in life somebody will lose.

Dan and I need to get all our work done by Friday, because the prof is holding and open chat room. I don't know enough to chat to anyone. My mind is actively going places other than here...so it is a swig of Nyquil and off to bed for me!

Weight Loss Update 2

Well today I lost 4 pounds. This brings the total up to 18.6 pounds, not bad for a chick with a thyroid problem. Also, F. has now lost 20 pounds. We've nearly lost a 50 pound bag of feed between us.

Statistics Week 1

What did Lennye do all weekend? She sat at a computer trying to figure out her new computer program called SPSS. She knows more about independant and dependant variables than she ever wants to know. I haven't screamed or cussed, but Dan has spent numerous hours also at the computer. It is now painfully obvious that I will have to do homework every night at least for an hour or two. I can not wait until the weekend this semester. I haven't cried. I have failed to answer the telephone a time or two.

Today the newlyweds came for lunch. We had chicken, rice/broccoli/cheese casserole, green beans, deviled eggs, twice baked potatoes, and upside down apple pie.

Weight Loss To Date!

I was pleasantly shocked that I lost a little over 2 pounds today. This brings my total to 14.6.