"Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow"

but only on stage...please stop snowing in the real world...we've had enough of the messy white stuff, thankyouverymuch. I however cannot get enough of the sweet liddle dancing snowflake in the video below...

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

What in the world has Grace so "de-cited"? Why, all the fun we had over Christmas of course! But...there's something else...
Can you spot "it" in the picture??

Christmas is upon us...

And I have MANY things to blog about...so many it is overwhelming to me. Dance recitals, girl's night out at the Nutcracker ballet, birthday parties with Cinderella, school Christmas programs...is your head spinning yet? Mine sure is...but don't worry...I'll get around to it all. And I have pictures...boy howdy do I have pictures. But right now? At this very second? Blogging can wait...because I have a very cuddly, very warm, very sweet baby boy that is willing to curl up in my arms and snuggle. Lately he doesn't sit still for very long. So blogging can wait.

God Bless Texas

So...you already know that we went to Texas to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday. We boarded a plane at 6am on Thanksgiving day and arrived in Dallas less than 2 hours later. We were at Grandma's house by breakfast time. Flying was the best idea Earl and I have had in a long time. No more 10 hour car drive, no more wailing from the backseat "Are we there yet!?", no more stopping for bathroom breaks every 30 miles...yep, flying was fantabulous. And oh so easy with two parents to juggle kids and luggage and sippy cups. I would totally recommend flying...hands down.



The weather in Texas was beautiful, the food was plentiful, and we had three relaxing days with Earl's parents, big brother, and niece. Like I said in a previous post and as you can see from the pictures above, Grace and Sam had some SERIOUS Grandma/Paw-paw quality time (except for the small bump in the holiday "road" when Earl flushed a baby wipe down the potty and the plumber had to come...but it was fixed fairly quickly and we were back to free flushing for one and all. Potty's are an important fixture in the life of a 4 year old, esp. the day after Thanksgiving! I've never been so thankful for indoor plumbing and Grandma and Paw-paw's second working bathroom!) We didn't take many pictures...we just played and chatted and ate...mostly ate. You never starve at Grandma's house...and there is never lack of fritos and bean dip and yummy chocolate treats (including the chocolate cream pie that I think I ate 3/4's of...but that's beside the point). We did manage to whip out the camera and snap a few pics though, including pictures of these:

Singing and dancing Santa's...LOUD, obnoxious singing and dancing Santa's. You see Grandma has a problem. And it's not a small problem either. Grandma loves singing and dancing stuffed anything--dogs, cats, Santa's, gorillas...add sunglasses and it makes the experience that much better...if it has an "on/off" button attached to it, and it has the ability to drive a person mad in less than 2 minutes, Grandma loves it...and she buys one for her collection and one to send to each beloved grandchild. The three Santa's you see above are just the tippy top of the iceburg in her singing/dancing stuffed figurine choir. And Sam adores them. He esp. adores them when all three are singing and dancing at. the. same. time. Did I mention how LOUD these things are?? He played with them all weekend...endlessly...he never grew tired of their Christmas cheer. Which is very uncharacteristic of Sam...he's an on the go sort of kid, moving here and there from one minute to the next. He doesn't sit still for anything...well anything except three very LOUD singing Santa's
Grandma said she'd be more than happy to send them to us...you know, since the boy loved them so very much. I told her that was an oh so nice offer...but I wouldn't want them to get mishandled during shipping, and you know...get broken or something awful like that....
Thanks for such a wonderful, relaxing Thanksgiving Grandma and Paw-paw! We will see you very soon!

Real quick...before I forget...sorry no pics...

Earl is traveling...he left early yesterday morning before the kids were awake. Both questioned his absence almost as soon as they woke up. Grace was content after I told her that Daddy went on an airplane for work and that he would be back before she got home from school on Wednesday. Sam however kept asking about "dada" throughout the day. He'd look up from whatever it was that he was doing that minute--I tell you this kid is minute to minute...he never stays in one spot very long--pop out his chou-chou*, look at me questioningly, and say "da-da?"
*"chou-chou" is our family word for pacifier...rhymes with "bow"

Sometime around mid-morning on Monday, Earl called to check in...he had a few hours free and had stopped to visit Mount Vernon (the home of George Washington)...as he was talking to me, he said "Well...whaddya know, there's a camel here...hey buddy!" I replied, "A camel? At Mt. Vernon? Really? Well, watch out...they spit." Then we hung up...it was a short phone call, they mostly are when he travels...just a check-in here and there, then he either has to go back to whatever it is he was doing or the kids start beating up on each other and I have to go and go pull them off of each other. As soon as I hung up, Grace asked about the camel (she pays close attention to the conversations of grown-ups, particularly the conversations of her grown-up parents...we must be careful what we say around such little ears)..."Daddy saw a camel?...wow...cool..."
We continued our day...lunch, naps, snack, sibling WWF, laundry...and Sam continued to ask about "da-da?"...Each time he would ask I would say "He'll be back buddy, he flew on an airplane and went to work." I finally loaded the kids up and took 'em to Wal-mart...sometimes when you're flying solo at this parenting thing, it is not smart to stay in the house. Sometimes it is best to get out there and share your crazy children with the general public. As I was unloading and putting on coats and strapping in Sam to the shopping cart, little baby man looked up yet again, popped out his chou-chou, and said "da-da?" And before I could answer, big sister piped up...."SAaaaaM! Daddy flew away on an airplane to go see a camel..." Well, folks there ya go...plain and simple...I couldn't have said it better myself. And ya know what? Sam stopped asking...I guess Grace cleared up any doubt about the where-abouts of his beloved "da-da"

Today is someone's BIRTHDAY...

but shhh...act like I didn't tell you. How about I let you guess? :)

And I won't tell you how old he is either...cause he's OLD. In fact, he's 5 1/2 years older than me...sheesh! But he's really just a 12 year old little boy in a big man body (as I type this he's killing "bad guys" in some video game). And that's one of the many, many things I love about him.

He is my rock. My voice of reason. The best way I can describe our reletionship is to tell you that I make him crazy and he makes me sane. Happy Birthday Earl...I love you so good.

Luke 2
"And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed....And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem....To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child...."

(I'm certain you can figure out the "cast members" here, but just in case you need a little help...Grace is "Mary" and Danny is "Joseph"...the "stable" is built out of two kitchen chairs draped with a blanket, and the "manger" is an empty toy basket. "Baby Jesus" is a baby doll Grace received from her daddy and the "swaddling clothes" are dish rags. Grace staged the entire scene and bossed, err, directed the entire household--including the dogs--in the retelling of the Christmas story. Grace is NOT smiling in the above story because she is still "great with child" and that is serious business people. Danny...err...Joseph IS smiling. Perhaps he's just happy he found a place for them to sleep .)

"And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered...And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn."

(Ahh, that's better...she's smiling now. Baby Jesus is here...He makes me smile too.)

"....And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger...."

(Sam is a shepherd in this photo...but pay attention...his role changes according to his behavior. And Joseph isn't smiling anymore...sitting on that hard floor makes a boy's back ache)

(Harry and Simon are sheep...or maybe donkeys....or cattle...I'm not sure. All I know is that they are, in fact, livestock. And they will sit VERY still if you tempt them with "people food")

"And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child."

(THIS is the instant that our sweet little "shepherd" became "Herod" the evil king...per the bossy director, err, "Mary". Sam got silly...and he started pulling down the stable and trying to throw baby Jesus across the room. Grace looked at me and said "Mom...Sam is HEROD!!! Get him outta here!!!")

(And did you know??..."Herod" likes Fritos! No joke! This pint sized evil ruler was tamed by a bowl full of salty snacks. And the "holy family" was able avoid his wrath. Wonder how history woulda been different if Frito Lay had been in business??)

"But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart..."

(She's a sight...this one. And life is never dull. Never. Thanks Grace. For helping us remember what Christmas is really about)

We're baaaaack...

hahahahaha!
That's right...we've returned from a wonderful whirlwind trip to the great state of Texas. We had a fantastic time, and the kids logged some serious Grandma/Pawpaw quality time. I'll post more later, but right now Sam is intent on sabotaging my typing...

I have much to blog about...

Wow...I took a look at my camera last night and realized I haven't downloaded pics in quite awhile. Which means I haven't blogged in quite awhile. Downloading makes me think of blogging...and boy howdy, do I have a lot to blog about. Grace is home sick from school today (a puking 4 1/2 year old is quite a site to behold...poor thing didn't really understand what her tiny body was doing) and the weather is kinda gross. No snow...just cold..yesterday I had the windows open, we even turned the A/C on. But today? Oh my...it's definitely November today. So it's perfect blogging conditions...and the coffee is hot and oh so good.
Where to begin? Well, we had family pictures taken by a rockstar photographer friend of ours. If ya'll don't have a friend that is a photographer...GIT one! She captured the spirit of our family in ways I've only imagined before, I think it was due in part to the fact that she knew us (Well and prolly also the fact that she is crazy talented!) Here's the link to her blog. There are a few "teasers" on there. She took over 60 photos...and I have the entire CD of them! So if you wanna see more...come on over and take a look, the coffee is--you guessed it--hot. Thanks Karyn! Below is a photo of Grace getting her hair hot rolled the morning before the photo session. I remember my mom doing this EXACT type of "torture" to me...I also remember crying that the rollers were "HOT and burning my ears, mama!!" just like Grace cried to me. Ah, the memories we make for our children.


Do ya'll know that Grace is my songbird?? She is. She sings all. the. time. About everything. She sings her way through Wal-mart. Belting out tunes at the top of her teeny tiny lungs. People stop in the aisles...they grin at me...they grin at her. Lemme tell ya, this kid can spread some joy when she sets her mind to it...other times she spreads other things, but let's focus on singing and joy...ya know, the good stuff. But really...she loves to sing. And she's pretty good at it. So I got her involved in a program at our church on Friday mornings called "Kids Praise". It's a group of 3 1/2-5 year old kiddos lead by two ladies from our church...the kids have met for the past 8 weeks and learned 4 songs about God's love. Then they preformed the songs at a nearby nursing home. It was big fun for the kids, and the residents in the Alzheimer's unit seemed to enjoy the presence of children. Here is a pic of Grace at dress rehearsal. I couldn't take pics of the actual performance or the residents or the nursing home. Something about privacy and HIPPA and blah, blah, blah. Just take my word on this one...there was some serious kid sized joy being spread around.


And lastly...baby brother. Oh baby brother. He is naughty. And when he is very naughty, he gets very quiet. One morning, I was in the back folding laundry and I realized I hadn't heard a peep out of the boy in at least 5 minutes. I'm sure that you're thinking "5 minutes? What can a kid do in 5 minutes?"...the answer?? A lot. I came into the living room to find him like this...


He found the cord to my camera. The one that connects it to the computer to download pics and also connects it to the TV to display pictures on the big screen. We have never connected the camera to the TV...heck, I have a hard enough time getting it connected to the computer! But Sam...oh Sam....he discovered that the cord does in fact fit perfectly in the video plug ins on the side of the TV. Which amazingly enough, is right where we would plug the cord in...that is, if we plugged it in.


And not only did he figure out where the cord was supposed to go...he actually got it plugged in correctly. I was so amazed at my little dude, that instead of immediate discipline measures for, you know, stealing my camera cord, climbing on a toy, and plugging random things into our TV...I grabbed my camera and took pictures to prove to Danny exactly what Sam was doing. He was so entranced in his task that he didn't notice me until I had snapped a few incriminating photos. Then he noticed me...and like he always does when he has done something naughty, he looked over his shoulder and said "Hi Mama"...BIG grin...."uh-oh"...Yes, Sam "uh-oh" indeed...this one is gonna give us a run for our money....
And...just so you can sleep peacefully tonight...we moved that toy Sam used to climb up on...but it really doesn't matter. He'll find something else to use to get him what he wants...like a stack of books, or pillows, or a dog...


So that's it...for now...there's more...there's always more. But I need more coffee...you know, while it's still hot.

OH...and no one ever told me how to draw a line through a word...can you help a girl out here people??

It has been...

an especially bad day. If I were going to pick a book off the bookshelf to describe my day to you, that book would be Alexander and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day...because that is what it has been. A terrible horrible no good very bad day. And not for any particularly big, monumental reason. I honestly couldn't tell you where exactly it all went wrong...but it did go wrong. And I am ready to get a one way ticket to a sandy beach under a Caribbean blue sky. I shoulda figured it out this morning when Sam took a pen and "decorated" my recliner. My leather recliner. This pen does not come off of leather recliners. Just FYI for those of you with 19 month olds armed with ink pens hanging around your house. (Yes Emily...I tried the Magic Eraser...it has no love for pen marks on leather recliners.) Or maybe I shoulda known when the weather man reported "sleet possibly turning to snow"...or perhaps the green snot pouring out of my children's noses might have forewarned me of my terrible horrible no good very bad day...but alas, no...I didn't even see it coming. Much like the Christmas ornament the baby just threw at my head. Didn't even have a chance to so much as duck to try and miss what was headed my way. It has been a terrible horrible no good very bad day...yes, that is what it has been because when Grace woke up from nap and asked for a snack, I told her "Sure! Let's have popcorn"!! But apparently popcorn was NOT what was on the menu...nope, crying was on the menu because "Moooooommmmmmeeeeee! I don't like popcorn!!!!!" In fact, Grace dislikes popcorn so much that she carried on for over 30 minutes about how much she hates popcorn...It started with crying, turned to wailing, and then wrapped up with a rousing finale of screaming at. the. top. of. her. lungs. It was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. I lost it, Sam lost it...even the dogs lost it. And then...she stopped...and the house was very quiet. Eerily quiet. There we sat--Grace, Sam, Harry the dog, Simon the extremely worried dog, and me--in the thresh hold of Grace's room. We all looked at each other...someone coughed...someone laughed...the baby squealed and threw a Christmas ornament. Grace looked up at me (she has the most amazing blue eyes, like marbles) with all the seriousness of a 4 1/2 year old, reached out to me and fell into my lap and said "I'm just not having a bery good day." Then she handed me a little porcelain box. You know the kind. Bought from Dollar Tree last year during Christmas time. It has Mary/Joseph/baby Jesus figurines glued on the top, made in China, made to look expensive but only costs $1 ??...Yup, that's the one. She claimed this box as her own when we pulled out the Christmas decor this weekend (yes, early I KNOW...I have my reasons. I may even blog about them, if you're lucky...but back to my original post)...she worried and worried over what to put in the tiny treasure box. Her costume jewelry was too big...her Barbie shoes not fancy enough...what to put in that box?? I never asked her what she put in there, I assumed she had found the appropriate treasure because she stopped talking about the fact that the box was empty. As she handed it to me, she opened the clasp with her delicate fingers, it was almost a reverent moment--"It's my Jesus box, Mama", and revealed the contents. A quarter...and a feather. A feather she found weeks ago, when the weather was not "sleet and possible snow". I remember when she found it. I didn't think she kept it. And a quarter--the very biggest of her coins. It was a moment. A time in my life when I was forced to stop and remember that life is bigger than a terrible horrible no good very bad day. It is bigger than pen marks on a chair. And bigger than a 4 1/2 year old and her hatred for popcorn. We must bring out treasures to Jesus, no matter how small and insignificant they are...how forgotten they may be. This is after all the reason we give gifts at Christmas...so that we may remember the greatest Gift of all. Even if it is only a forgotten feather and a quarter. My day got better...sure it was already 5pm and I had spent most of the daylight hours trying not to explode, but it did get better. Funny how one child can drive you mad and drive you into the arms of Jesus all in the same breath. And I can assure you, without a doubt, that we will NOT be reading about Alexander and his "terrible horrible no good very bad day" before bed tonight. Nope...we're reading the Christmas story.

Hang with me here...

I'm trying something...

I want to see if this works...

underline

Suwheeeet!! It worked!! ...now how do I draw a line through a word?? Anyone??


Oh and just so this post isn't completely pointless...
Grace was playing with her nativity scene yesterday and said "Hey Dad! Will you hand me the wise man with the mushbeard?" Bwahahahaha! I think it makes perfect sense...not a mustache, yet not a beard...a "mushbeard"....

This little apple...

didn't fall very far from the tree...

The Great Pumpkin

"Scoop out the inside of a pumpkin,



(Note Sam's grin in this picture. Danny has coined name for this "signature smile" of our sweet Sam. I cannot type it hear, as we have little eyes reading...catch my drift?)



(Please, try your very best to ignore the fact that the baby is sitting on the table...)

(I got the glamorous job of scooping out the "guts"...but then I baked the pumpkin seeds. YUM! One of my absolute favorite traditions from when I was a child. The smell of those seeds, seasoned and roasting, rushes in a wave of delicious memories for me.)

Give it a mouth,

(Sam was totally into the entire process. From scooping out the guts, to "helping" Danny carve the design. I think it was because it involved tools...this kid LOVES tools)

(Grace, however, wanted NOTHING to do with the carving of the celebratory squash, and after the obligatory pictures, recruited Paw-paw to help her with a puzzle.)

A nose,

(SUCH concentration!!! I love this expression on Danny's face. This is serious business!)

and two big eyes.

(Sweet, strong hands of the men I love. And NO! That is not a knife in Sam's hand...again, please pretend not to notice!...But for the record, he actually knew what to do with the knife....which is cool and scary all at once)

Put a light inside the pumpkin...Wheee!

A Halloween surprise!"

(Okay, okay...so it's not a "mouth, a nose, and two big eyes" like the song says...but I think it's way better!!)

Wanna see God this morning??

Go to MckMama's blog on my sidebar or you can go to this link...but before you do...go pee, get a cup of coffee, and sit down somewhere comfortable...you're gonna be Addicted...with a capital "A"

God is SO awesome....

You gotta love a man that is secure in his masculinity....

Even if said "man" is just a little baby and doesn't even know what masculinity is yet...

So...blogger tells me this is my 100th post...

I've been anticipating my "100th post"...I've seen others post about in on their blogs (I'm a blog stalker...I have a problem...don't. say. a. word.) I thought when I clicked on "new post" at the top of my screen to begin composing my 100th blog entry, something big would happen. A pop-up perhaps (I'd welcome a pop-up in this case), or perhaps big lettering that announced "Congratulations, this is your 100th post!!!!!!!!!!!!!"...but...alas...nothing. Absolutely nothing. In fact I wouldn't have known I was on my century post if I hadn't been keeping a close eye on my blog list. But, despite the underwhelming lack of fanfare, we're gonna celebrate! Are you ready?

I could celebrate by telling you that I had 10 1/4 inches cut off my hair...because that is a lot of hair and more than enough "life" material to type about in my celebratory 100th post. 10 1/4 inches I am donating to Locks of Love. I started consciously growing it out in February of this year. And let me just say...as pretty as long hair is, it is a royal pain to fix properly. I am rid of my ponytail and I couldn't be happier. This short do is freeing!!! I did this in honor of a dear friend and her daughter...both in heaven...both missed greatly. I rejoice in the day I get to see them again. But in the meantime, I can honor them with my hair...which as I found out, was a fantastic daily reminder of those loved and lost.


OR I could celebrate my 100th post by telling you that the linoleum in my kitchen is GONE!...that's right! This weekend, with the patient help of our parents, Danny and I installed a little under 180 square feet of Pergo laminate flooring. It. looks. beautiful. It is everything I dreamed it would be and more! And it was fairly easy to install, although my legs, hips, and back would tell a different story. So please, come over, sit at my kitchen table...I'll make you a warm cup of coffee (I got a new coffee pot...doesn't that entice you even more?) and let's enjoy the new flooring together.


These things above are wonderful...they're fun...but they're not how I'm going to celebrate my 100th blog entry. Nope. I'm going to celebrate by leaving you with this....
My two sweet goblins on Halloween...that's right...I'm going to leave you with a "teaser" of posts to come...a promise that this 100th post is certainly NOT my last.

*************************************
I gotta add a small prayer request...can I do that?? I hope ya'll don't mind...it's something very small and probably very insignificant to most of you, but...we can't find our cat. His name is Lance. He comes and goes, inside and outside, as he pleases. He usually comes home each night for food and snuggling. But we haven't seen him in about 3 days. Could you send up a few prayers for our cat? He's a great cat...and we really are starting to worry about him. Plus, one shouldn't go through these cold, snowy Missouri winters without a cat.

2 years ago

2 years ago yesterday...Oct. 27, 2007...we unloaded a moving van and started our life in a new home in a new city. It's not so new anymore. Over the past 2 years we have made it our own. Painted walls. Rearranged furniture. Burned through a couple of coffee pots. Grace has learned to ride a bicycle. Sam has "christened" the carpet...more than once. It feels like home most days...other days I wonder whose life I'm living exactly, I look around and wonder where the time went, and how it went so quickly. I moved here with a 2 1/2 year old...she is now 4 1/2 and quite an amazing little diva of a person. I had one child when we rolled our mini-van into the garage for the first time, one car seat in the back, one set of feet kicking the back of my seat. Now, there are two children...two car seats...two sets of liddle feet kicking the back of my seat. I didn't know a soul when I walked into a church on 96th and North Oak...now? Oh...now...I love walking into the lobby of MY church, smelling the rich smell of java, and seeing the faces of many smiling friends. I could blog all day about what has changed in two years...seriously, I could put you to sleep...but I won't...I'll just leave you with one more thing that has changed, grown, evolved....2 years ago, Earl and I set off an adventure together. Like Tom Petty says "into the great wide open...under the skies of blue" It was his idea to venture out like this. To change jobs. To change locations. To change our life. But I can honestly say, I'm really glad he had the idea. We've spent some (okay a lot) of time apart. We've learned to cherish the time together. We've been through the fire and come out stronger.

A little late...but as promised...

....What exactly I did with all those apples we picked a few weeks ago...

I made pie....

and apple butter...

As a child, I grew up alongside some of the best cooks in Cherokee county...the ladies I'm referring to were known throughout the small town that I grew up in as "the source" for great food--Beth and Mary Anne. You could smell the deliciousness brewing in their homes before you even walked in the door. Your mouth watered every time someone mentioned their name. These ladies are legends. Beth is best known for her light, flaky, melt-your-mouth pie crust, and the mere utterance of the name "Mary Anne" has me dreaming of creamy, sweet apple butter. I have Beth's pie crust recipe, so naturally when we came home with a FULL peck of apples, I knew exactly which pie crust I would make. But I don't have Mary Anne's apple butter recipe. So I called my momma...and she told me to go directly to the source and promptly gave me Mary Anne's phone number. I pulled out my pen and pencil, dialed the phone, and when she picked up the other end of the line, I introduced myself by my maiden name. I wasn't sure she would remember who I was if I used my married name. But she did know my married name and was more than happy to share her "recipe" for apple butter with me. As it turns out she doesn't really use standard measurements or even recipes. It's a "little of this" and a "little of that"...or "add Cinnamon to your tastes, but don't add too much cause it can overpower the apple butter"...oh, my! Can you imagine the toll this took on little ol' OCD me?? But after about 45 minutes on the phone with Mary Anne and many extensive questions on my part, I found myself smack dab in the middle of making apple butter. Which turns out to be quite easy and fun...albeit a lesson in patience, but I'm sure I'm due up for a lesson in patience. Did you know it takes 3 days to make apple butter?? 3 days! That's right. You leave it on the stove and let it simmer for about 1-2 hours each day, then after it simmers, you turn the burner off and let it sit...just sit...I had a bit of a problem with the germ factor considering that food was sitting on the stove for days on end. But Mary Anne assured me (more than once) that I was in the clear and that my apple butter would not turn into apple beer. So in 6 days...I made two batches...5 jars of delicious creamy apple butter...LOVE it!

But let's go back to the pie for a bit, shall we??

I borrowed this nifty little contraption from my friend Bryna. It peels, slices, and cores an apple in a little under 3 minutes. Seriously. I want to kiss the person who invented it.

See look it takes the peel off in one loooooong string...absolutely amazing...ah-ma-zing.

Here are the "guts" of my apple pie.

And here is the finished product right before I put it in the oven.

And 35 minutes later...ding...the pie was done. Boy did it smell delicious!

And it tasted fantastic! I even ran a couple of pieces over to my neighbor's house...even though it was 10pm! Had to share the bounty!!!

I was pleasantly surprised with the results of my apple en devours. I totally appreciate the cooking gurus of my past even more...and look upon them with the greatest respect! Thanks to Mary Anne and Beth for passing down your timeless recipes so that I might share them with my family. But if I see another apple in the next month or two, I might just throw it at someone...one peck of apples is enough for this girl.

Oh Sam...

Sweet...silly...Sam...



I had no idea...



Even if someone tried to tell me...I'd still have had no idea...

What joy you would bring to my life...

Sweet...

Silly...

Sam

"...She named him Samuel, saying, "Because I asked the LORD for him." 1 Samuel 1:20