Friday, December 31, 2010

The obligatory end-of-year post.

I think I'm supposed to write an end-of-the-year post, but instead I've been sitting here rearranging music on iTunes and re-synching my iPod. And really, who at Apple had the brilliant idea to start everything with an "i"? And a lowercase one at that? It's like ordering a McRib with McFries and a large McCoke at McDonald's.

Anyway, aside from editing an E-Book, a trip to the airport to return Mike to Texas, and buying groceries at the commissary along with 8000 other military families on the Friday of a holiday weekend, I had an uneventful day. I started with my last Strive class of the year, which is always fun. Honestly, I wake up every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday knowing it's going to hurt and I'm going to come seriously close to hyperventilating on the stupid elliptical machines, and yet I look forward to it. Is there a pill for this?

So since I have no throw-out-the-old-bring-in-the-new wisdom, I'll stick with my tradition (which is exactly one year old) and share just a few of my favorite photos from 2010.

The awesome snowstorm in January. Eighteen inches of snow, no power for four days, cooking hot dogs on the woodstove, cutting trees out of the road. I hope I never see another one like that.


A visit from Bean:


Conqueror's soccer (check out #21—he's why I love this photo):


Pete loving the woodstove:


Man-boy and Abbie:


Princess P:

I realize this is pretty blurry, but don't you just love the exhuberance on Bailor's face?


My beautiful daughters:


Cutting up. This might be one of my favorite pictures of them.


Mike graduating from Air Force Basic Training:


My favorite place: Destin, Florida. Mike is going to be stationed close to Destin. I believe he'll need a visit. Or ten.


Thanks so much for hanging out with me here. Let's make it a good 2011.

Be thankful ~

Karen

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

We need the gift of interpretation.

While Bean and his family were here, we all marvelled at how expressive he is. Unfortunately, he hasn't learned to talk much yet, so we were stuck trying to guess what he meant by how he looked.

Like this one, when he and Princess P were learning to share the LEGOs.


What do you suppose he was thinking?

Be thankful ~

Karen

Monday, December 27, 2010

It's the big four-oh!

I logged in today and was greeted with the news that I have my 40th follower! You have no idea how exciting that is to me! (I love nice even numbers, not that y'all are just numbers, but that 40 up there where the 39 used to be is just so . . . right.) I love the fact that someone . . . anyone . . . comes to read the stuff I put up here. So thank you. You've been a blessing to me today.

Deb and her family left this morning very early, and after they were gone, all the other kids went back to bed. Ben and I got our computers out and worked a few hours, and then I left for the gym, determined not to turn into the Michelin woman over these two weeks. In his defense, Ben would have gone too, but he's been attacked by a plague that causes him to cough up his toes, and he prefers to do that at home.

I got there a little early, so I rode a mile on the bike before Strive started. Then I did another two miles during the class, plus all the weightlifting and ellipticalling. I've spent the rest of the day being exhausted.

Do you sense a pattern? I have a hard time breaking a pattern.

I did get another two hours of work in, helped Abbie put together a dress she's sewing, made some dinner, and did some laundry. And now I fear I'm driving my 40th follower to the delete button with my lame play-by-play of my boring day.

Please stay! I'll stop!


See? When all else fails, stick a picture of a cute baby up there and it's all good.


Bean will be two years old next time I see him. *sigh*

Be thankful ~

Karen

Sunday, December 26, 2010

Rounding out the exhaustion with more exhaustion. And cookies.

I do realize I have a blog, and I apologize for neglecting it. We've had all five kids (and spouse and grandbaby) home this week and it's been hectic, to say the least. We spent the day Friday with extended family, and then Saturday was busy from start (hauling giant logs out of the woods because that's what we do on Christmas) to finish (frying three turkeys and making all the stuff to go with them).

And then it snowed, and you know how I love that. And of course that was when I realized we were on the last quart of milk and 3 eggs.

So this morning Ben dug a car out and headed to Wal-Mart. He came home with four gallons of milk, six dozen eggs, and the biggest loaf of rye bread I've ever seen from Panera. After church we had turkey sandwiches and the football marathon commenced.

The girls went to Joann's for patterns and fabric, and then to Target because we haven't bought enough food in the last seven days.

After supper we finally got around to finishing the Rugelach (I'll post the recipe with photos soon) and Maple Nut Refrigerator Cookies. And now that I am sufficiently stuffed and once again exhausted (it's my theme for the week), I'm going to take a bath and get in my jammies.

I hope to resurface to melting snow tomorrow.

Be thankful ~

Karen

Friday, December 24, 2010

Giving exhaustion a new name.

Did I say I was exhausted yesterday? Oh, ha ha! I didn't know the meaning of it yesterday.

Today we visited the relatives and had a great time, with the exception of Ben, who stayed home and vegetated with his coughing and sneezing on the couch. And since I'm now doubly wiped out, I'll leave you with a few photos of the day.








Tomorrow I sleep.

And fry turkeys and make mashed potatoes and stuffing and green bean casserole and cookies and rugelach (I'll share the recipe).

Or maybe I'll just sleep.

Be thankful ~

Karen

Thursday, December 23, 2010

It's official.

I'm exhausted, and it only took until 8:30 pm.

I won't bore you with the gory details (and some really were gory—photos to come), which included a lot of cooking, laundry, sweeping the entire house in four minutes, a tea party, and going to the mall two days before Christmas, but I may have a picture or two tomorrow if I can find my camera.

Tomorrow we go see the relatives, which reminds me of a really good children's story called The Relatives Came. If you have kids who still like to be read to, please go find it. It's one of my favorites.

Be thankful ~

Karen

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Exhaustion is creeping in.

I can tell because we're laughing about really stupid things like "obnorxious boys" and "rheumatard arthritis." Because we're mature that way.

Ahem.

Bean has spent the day being cuddled and coddled. He watched soccer with Uncle Man-boy


Snuggled on the couch with Aunt Abbie


when he was supposed to be staying awake.


And the last of the five children finally got home. Here's a really bad, blurry picture of Leah and Deb. Check out what Deb's shirt says.


I'm heading to bed at 8:17. These people wear me out.

Be thankful ~

Karen

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

The last 24 hours in photos.

Princess P and her two brothers came for a visit yesterday. P was not happy about it.


Abbie got the toys out and began the distraction process. It totally worked and within ten minutes she was stomping around the house, chasing Pete in her little pink boots.


After dinner, P was tired and getting fussy, so Abbie played Twister with her.


Bailor did the calling. He's having a little trouble with the y sound, so he says, "Yuh, yuh, lellow!"


 Then today my new industrial-sized dust mop came in the mail. I was all disappointed when I first put it together because it didn't swivel. But then Ben came and saved the day and figured out how to make it work right. Three swipes and the kitchen is clean.


 Yes, I am intentionally putting a picture of me up here wearing yoga pants and fuzzy slippers. It's my uniform.


Then the box came from Nana (Ben's mom) and we opened our treat of no-bake cookies (the kind with chocolate and chow mein noodles. Unfortunately, the box had been sitting on the porch for an unknown length of time, and it's about 25 degrees. Frozen chocolate is hard to eat.


There was lots of playing with Bean.


And Button.


And Pete, the subject of every child's fascination.


Tomorrow the last of the five children comes home. That would be the one who has a 4.0 in her first semester of grad school. Go, Leah!

Be thankful ~

Karen

Monday, December 20, 2010

This is the week in which you will get tired of grandbaby pictures.

I have only been in the presence of the grandbaby for four hours and the family is already threatening to take the battery out of my camera. But I will not apologize. This is what we raise children for . . . to get to the grandchildren.


The guys were hanging the flat-screen TV on the wall, and Bean was right in there helping.


It is just about impossible to get a photo of Bean facing the camera. Just doesn't happen. Now I understand why they say use a fast shutter speed with children.


The favorite truck, with Bunny. Bean walks around biting Bunny's nose. He's a compassionate sort.


See? I do have a picture of someone other than a grandchild.


More to come, ad nauseam.

Be thankful ~

Karen

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Let me just tell you how exciting my life is.

I heard a piece on the radio yesterday that talked about the new trend of "self-gifting." First off, when did "gift" become a verb? Is it transitive or intransitive? And secondly, if I buy myself something in July, is it still considered self-gifting? And what makes it a gift as opposed to just something I buy because I feel like it? Don't we have enough trouble with English without making up new terms that are unnecessary?

Anyway, we came home from church today and I spent a few minutes searching the Internet for and then ordering a 3-foot wide dust mop. Try to contain yourself.

A few days ago, realizing that I had no idea how to clean finished wood floors, I stopped in Lowe's and bought a dust mop, because that's what I remember using as a kid. When I got it home and compared it to the amount of wood floor in the house, I knew immediately it wasn't going to work. It was no more than 12 inches wide. So I took it back and ordered a commercial one. And get this: I ordered it Sunday, it will ship Monday, and I'll have it Tuesday!

So if you're in need of a last-minute gift for someone on your list, know that you can "gift" them with a man-size dust mop before Saturday.

In other news, Mike is on his way here right now, flying from Monterey to LA to Houston to DC. In two weeks he will then fly from DC to Houston to LA to Monterey back to LA and then to San Antonio because the Air Force couldn't figure out how to change his ticket and get him from DC to San Antonio. And we used to complain about the Navy . . .

We think Deb and David and Sticky Bean and Button are on their way here too, but there's no telling because they're not answering text messages. I guess we'll find out at 2 am when Pete starts his incessant barking.

What about you? Do you have people coming for the holidays?

And on that note, I'll go continue the cleaning and rearranging of bedrooms.

Be thankful ~

Karen

Saturday, December 18, 2010

PhotoHunt: Male

This one made me laugh. I was scrolling through my pictures looking what I thought represented the essence of "male."

I thought about this one:


But then I found this one. At my house, nothing says male like a huge pile of firewood.


For reference, that's an F-150 parked behind the pile.

For more PhotoHunt, go here.

Be thankful ~

Karen

Friday, December 17, 2010

Bringing photography to new lows.

Did you know you can get the bokeh effect with the woodstove dust on your end tables?

I keep repeating, "It's nice cozy heat. It's nice cozy heat."

Be thankful ~

Karen

More of Abbie's art.

Someone in this family is very artistic, and the rest of us are not. Where she got her artsy gene is a mystery to us all.

This last semester Abbie took her first painting class, and while she learned a lot, she says she is NOT a painter. At the beginning of the semester each person in the class wrote a list of words that described him/her self. Abbie is fun, different, not peer-dependent (there's a word for that . . . I just can't think of it right now), and fashion-forward, among other things. Then later on they had to write a fictional story or poem using those words. And finally they painted a painting describing themselves.

Here's Abbie's:


Do you see what this is a picture of? Those are all articles of clothing she owns and wears. My word, what must her professor think of me? That I bought my kid green and blue plaid heels and taught her how to balance herself on the edge of a dumpster?

I can't wait to frame this! Yes, I'm serious. I am going to frame this and hang it in my house. It makes me smile and speaks volumes about my awesome daughter.

Be thankful ~

Karen

Thursday, December 16, 2010

It starts again.

*sigh*

Every time I hear the word "snow" I'm reminded of last winter, which I would very much like never to re-live.

But today we were blessed with a mere inch or two, so it's not nearly as bad as it could have been.


And we remembered to cover the mower and splitter and the sofa that's still on the deck. I think the rule of thumb is that if you have inside furnishings on the porch (or deck) longer than three days, you're a redneck. Just sayin'.

Elijah was going crazy cooped up at home, so Abbie dragged him out to play in what little snow there was. We tried to get Elijah to smile and he gave us this fake one. You know, the old "smiling with my mouth but not with my eyes" kind of smile.


Abbie requested a second shot. I told Elijah to smile better this time. An instant before I snapped this, he grabbed a handful of powdery snow and threw it in Abbie's face.


Now he's smiling.

Be thankful ~

Karen

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

As long as we're both miserable, it's okay.

I went out to run a few errands before church tonight and while I was driving around listening to the news on the radio, I heard the weather forecast. 

Snow. Two to four inches.

I started to get mad and compose a rant against my husband Ben, because every time he goes on business travel, it snows at home. Last year he went to Kuwait for two weeks and we got eighteen inches. Years ago when we lived in Memphis, he was flying to Japan via Hawaii and Guam, but there was a nasty storm in Guam so he and his buddies got "stuck" in Hawaii. We had an ice storm. In Memphis.

Clearly, it's his fault. So I was ready to let him have it, until I heard the forecast for where he is.

Six inches followed by a layer of ice.

I repent, dear. Stay safe.

Be thankful ~

Karen

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Pet Faces: Guess who.





This week's contest is Pet Faces. Here's Pete getting dopey in front of the woodstove:


Be thankful ~

Karen

Pete's opinion.

Pete hates the new floors. They're smooth, which means no traction. When he tries to sit, his legs slide out from under him until he's splayed in all four directions.

And there's no rug. He spent most of the day pacing around the house looking for something soft to lie down on. Finally Man-boy got a towel out and threw it on the floor in front of the woodstove, every dog's favorite spot. It took Pete all of half a nanosecond to do three circles and curl up.


And another half to get dopey.


He's snoring already.

Be thankful ~

Karen