The Divine Miss V . . .

J is so excited about Christmas.

V poses in front of the family tree.

December began with GP and myself making a trip to watch Miss V sing and play bells with her choir in their church's annual Hanging of the Green. Needless to say, she was beautiful AND quite talented as you can see from the photos and video.

She is just too cute!!!!!

A BELATED MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Tate, Roxie, GP (who took the pic), and I all wish each of you a somewhat

belated yet very Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year!

NEWS FLASH . . . I'M BLOGGING AGAIN!

After much criticism from my children (because I was the one who suggested we all blog to keep in touch), I am now back in the blogging business. Now that the Christmas rush is over and school is out for a while, maybe I can at least get a few pictures up for viewing.

Expensive Cookies

Have you ever owned cookies that were so valuable you felt like taking out an insurance policy on them? Well, I have. They are currently in my possession.

Yesterday, I asked GP to run an errand while he was out--I need two dozen cookies for a wedding shower I am helping to host on Sunday afternoon. Because I was in a hurry to get to my VERY early morning duty at Wheat, I didn't take time to explain the entire concept of "dainty shower cookies" to him. I also failed to explain that you buy cookies like that by the DOZEN and not APIECE. It's just like Stuart Bell always used to tell us at church--"Don't assume nothin'."

I got a call from him on his way home assuring me that he had purchased my cookies. He stopped at Panera Bread in Waco--great place, by the way, and actually is where I suggested he stop. However, it is not a great place to buy shower cookies. Anyway, he said they had a really hard time finding 24 cookies for him, but he did have them, and they were assorted: chocolate macadamia nut, chocolate chip, shortbread, etc. I asked how much he paid per dozen, thinking that he would ask first before buying, just like I would. HA!

He said, "Well, the total came to $36.00."

Seems he paid $1.49 per cookie. And these aren't cookies, by the way. They are
C-O-O-K-I-E-S! No self-respecting woman would dare eat one of these honking things at a shower in front of other ladies. They might in the privacy of their own kitchens, but not in a public place.

Anyway, tomorrow at the shower, I may not have the BEST cookies there, but I know I will have the MOST EXPENSIVE!

My Cutie Patooties . . .

In July, GP and I had the pleasure of meeting S and Big D and their little guys, V and J, for a week's vacation in Las Vegas. What an exciting place! Surprisingly, I took almost 400 pictures while there and was even accused by our gondoleer at The Venetian of being the papparazi. My family thinks I'm part Japanese. Anyway, I just have a new camera and don't know when enough is enough.

I did learn a couple of things while there--V is always ready to have her picture taken; but poor J, even though he is smiling one second, by the time the picture is taken, he has an expression like his dog just died. Therefore, most of the really good pics are of V.

More Vegas Vacation Pics

MMMMMM . . .

M & M World

Sometimes they really do love each other!

V wears a French Fry Mustache.

Eating is everything!

Thumbsucking at MGM (notice they

are only sucking left thumbs!)

V poses at The Mirage

J looking down from the Stratosphere.

AND WE'RE OFF . . .

The new school year has begun, but this year is different. My friends and I were fortunate enough to escape the Evil Queen and her Kingdom, and we are now with a different administration. We pinch ourselves daily to be sure that we aren't just dreaming. Life in the Wheat Field is just dreamy, and I expect a really good crop this year.

Of course, every year I am determined to have the "perfect school year," and this first week was near-perfect. It's just that Friday afternoon, things started to slide a litte. For example, Girl #1 reported that Girl #2 was threatening to fight her, had accused her of calling her the "N" word, saying she had been talking about her dead mama (sad). So, being the proactive teacher that I am, I head to the counselor with all of this info so I can head off the inevitable Fight. However, when I report this to the counselor, she says that Girl #2 has been in her office telling her that Girl #1 was threatening to fight HER, yadda, yadda, yadda. Same song, second verse.

And then in my 6th period class, as we are working on analogies (ex: dog is to bark as cat is to meow), a kid needs to know what the word dwindle means. So I begin to explain how when my paycheck first goes into the bank it is THIS BIG; however, as I begin to spend my money, the amount dwindles. Then this red-haired kid that is already making me cringe says, "So what you are saying is that you are a spendthrift--you can't control your spending." Basically, the kid is accusing me of uncontrollably going out and maxing out dozens of credit cards--I can only imagine what he told his parents. And this is really making me mad since I take pride in either paying cash for everything or paying off everything at the end of the month. Anyway, as my eyes began to twitch and my head began to spin, I explained that no--this is certainly not what I meant. I do not feel the need to go out and spend all of my money. About the time I spit pea soup, I realize that I'd better just suck it up and get used to the little red-haired kid 'cause he'll be pushing my button at least once a day now for the next nine months.

And we're off . . .