Pre-Christmas FUN!

I'm sitting here with my daughter watching the Bachelor - her favorite show, well, she's 20-something, what do you expect...  new season and new girls and cute hunky guy.  And if you aren't watching, I'm serious, there's a girl on here that's into "vampire-ism" and she has fangs.  This is going TOO far.  This is making me gag... Blech. 

Lots going on around Sand Flat Farm this holiday season.  I guess I should catch y'all up.  First off, my middle son J GRADUATED FROM COLLEGE!  He actually graduated in August, but the ceremony was right before Christmas!  We were so proud of him - 6 years it took- course he changed his major a time or two, but he's OUT!  Here he is walking across the stage to accept his diploma at the University of Texas at Tyler.

And a pic after the graduation with his family!  We are thrilled to have one more kid off our payroll!!! One year closer to me quitting work! 

And of course, have to have one with the proud fiancee, too!  They are both SO happy! 

Then, we were so sick of holiday food in between that I busted loose and fried up some chicken fried steak, mashed taters, gravy and purple hull peas - which we all gorged ourselves on and later had some Tums for dessert...

Josh and Lindsey at our home in an artistic shot by Princess... 

Of course, we had to celebrate Josh's birthday a few days later.  We had chocolate cake with the good ole orange & white University of Texas colors on it! 

THEN,  me and Princess took off to Fort Worth and met up with my sister and her daughter, Erin, for a fun day at the Gaylord Texan Hotel.  If you've ever been to a Gaylord Hotel, you know how huge and fancy they are and how they go all out on decor and architecture.  At the Texan, they were having the Ice Show "A Charlie Brown Christmas" there and we were taking that in.  While we waited for the show, we spent time browsing in shops, having ice cream and designer coffees and touring the hotel and enjoying all the Christmas decorations.  It was SO over the TOP!

Since it was the "TEXAN", the hotel was all decked out in Texan stuff - a Riverwalk like in San Antonio, Oil wells, mission style shops, Texas style landscapes and vegetation - nothing was left out.  It was great. We took a hundred pictures, me and Erin. 'Course she has a new fancy 35 mm digital camera and my pics do not compare with hers, but I wanted to show you some of what we saw anyway. Thanks for your tolerance.

Here's our girlies in a sleigh - perfect photo op! Aren't they cute!

And me and my sister!

The interior of the Hotel upon first entering.  It was truly breathtaking...

There's no tellin' how much $$$$$$ they spent on Christmas decor...

This is a Gingerbread House replica of the Gaylord Texan Hotel!  WOW!!!

This guy was a NUT - but he was keeping the kiddoes laughing and running around crazy!

Are you in San Antonio at the Theater on the River?  Or are you still in the Gaylord Texan?  Enquiring minds want to know!!! 

Now, I'll tell you a bit about the Ice Show.  The Hotel invited 40+ Chinese ice sculptors and they came over and transformed 2 million 2,000,000 pounds of solid ICE into all the sets of the "Charlie Brown Christmas".  They were spot-ON!  The ice characters were so life-like.  We entered the Ice Show and they provided us heavy knee-length parkas to wear.  They keep the temperatures in there at 9 degrees to keep the ice solid.  They told some scientific reasons why 9 degrees is perfect, but I couldn't begin to explain it to you. 

Anyway, there were quite a few folks there that day, 23rd day of December right before Christmas, so the hotel was pretty full.  But it makes it so much more fun, don't you think!!!  It wouldn't have been nearly so much fun if there were nobody there.  We wove through the maze and visited all of the sets, took tons of pictures, and froze our BUNS off!  Our toes were numb, our fingertips were numb, and our mouths were stiff so we could barely talk!  Man, it made me think about all you folks that live up in the north and have to deal with the frigid temps all winter long!

I'll let you stroll through the scenes with us...

Two Ice Maidens....(below)

And me and seester huddling to stay warm!

Got a little free counseling while we were in there!!!

These were the ICE Slides - talk about freezing your tokey off!

Now actually my favorite sculptures were the angel announcing the birth of Christ, and the whole Nativity Scene - they were so realistic, and they were bigger than lifesize - they were amazing!

It was beautiful and the colors were awesome.  You can kinda see baby Jesus laying there in the manger...

Gotta have a little Alamo in there, too...

And oil wells for Texas...

Gorgeous!

And finally, here's a photo of the whole Gaylord Texan Hotel.  The Gaylord in Nashville is just as luxurious - if you ever get to visit one of these, jump on that chance - it's well worth the effort.  We 4 had a blast all day long - but more than being at the hotel and Ice Show, just being together - just us girls and making some new memories! 

http://dbeckdesigns.com/final_project/links.html

AND I HAVEN'T EVEN GOTTEN TO CHRISTMAS YET!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Happy New Year, Everybody!!!  May the Lord bless you and keep you and may He shower His goodness and grace on each one of you!  And may I say that I treasure your friendship and I am daily thankful for the good friends I've made here.  Thank you for your kindnesses and your comments and I'm looking forward to another year of getting to know you all better!  You've all truly touched my life in ways that I can never repay, and have blessed me more than you know!

I've got lots to tell you and I'll be back as soon as possible. And I've got pictures to show you.  We've had a busy, busy Christmas season.  One son left today and daughter will be home for a couple of weeks more, but I promise to be back soon!  Please take care of yourselves and give yourselves a big ole hug from me!!!

Merry Christmas to All My Blog Buddies!!!

We'll be Christmasing for the next few days at least, but I wanted to check in and wish you all a wonderful season of home, family, friends, giving, peace, joy and love for the Savior as we remember His Holy Birth. God gave us the best gift of all - His precious Son, and this gift was totally free - just because of His great love while we were still sinners!  It's almost too much to comprehend!  Rejoice, Rejoice and praise His Holy Name!!!  Sending my love and best wishes to you all for a spectacular Christmas and a Happy New Year!

And Merry Christmas from Alice, the washing machine cat!!!

And it's a chilly 78 degrees here today!!!

PS - Edited to add - NOPE IT'S 81 DEGREES HERE!!!

Cats, Christmas and Tractor Girl

Guess what I did Saturday afternoon?  You'll never guess.  It won't be that exciting to you, but I had fun.  We had cleared some big piles of old rusted hay rings, old fencing and aluminum gates, etc., hauled all that off to the bulk metal place and gotten our little pile of money.  Then what was left was a jagged, holey and hilly landscape behind the barn - not huge, but unsightly and you couldn't drive on it easily.  So, hubby was manning the burning pile, and me?  Well, ME was manning the tractor and doing some leveling.  Moving dirt from here to there - there's a trick to handling the bucket and I think I've got it!  It's sorta fun!

None of my friends know how to run a tractor and bucket and brush hog and box blade but I do. I'm sure alot of you people do, too, especially those of you that have a farm or ranch. Imagine this - It was 65 degrees and the wind was blowing. The husband was cleaning up and piling up stuff for the burning pile (and there was alot of stuff), loading metal onto the big trailer, and here I am in my capris and flip-flops and a cap driving the tractor around dragging the bucket across big mounds of dirt to level it, picking up big loads of dirt and dropping it in the gulleys. Husband said I did a good job. Sorry I don't have a picture.

Guess I'm a farm girl now - cuz I can man the tractor  AND  I can operate that tractor in capris and flip-flops! Now how's that!  Actually, I think probably some of my friends and family think I've absolutely lost my mind, but that's okay - I'm doing exactly what I've wanted to do since I was a small kid. I'm still plotting when I'm gonna get my chickens.  I'm determined to have chickens in the spring. I'm gonna get my dad and me and him are going to get my coop built. I think I've about worn the husband down into letting me get some.

Went to the Farm/Ranch/Feed store Saturday, too, to pick up some more gopher traps. It was customer appreciation day, and Joe Bob had cooked two huge cauldrons of beef stew! Hot and mild - with big man-sized chunks of beef and vegetables, and a good seasoned broth with jalapenos and a touch of chili pepper.  MMMMMAAAAAANNNNN!  I think Joe Bob makes the best stew I've ever eaten!  I ate two bowls full! With crackers and cookies and soft drinks!  I love customer appreciation day at the Feed Store! And Joe Bob's stew!

Wanna see sumpin' purdy?

My roses are popping! They look great right now.  Thought you folks in the blizzard zone might like to see some flowers right about now...  It's just now starting to get cold. We've had only a couple of freezing nights or just below and the flowers are still thriving.  Here's another...

The window box is full of petunias.  The flower beds could use some attention, and the yard actually needs mowing one more time before real winter sets in.  Cain't even see the edge of the bed right now! The dadgum clover junk starts growing when it gets cool and tries to take over.  Gotta squash that quick!

I've done a good raking once already, but will have to do it again. The catawba trees are dropping their foot long bean pods and they ARE messy.  And they'll keep adroppin' 'em til spring.

Not much Christmasing going on yet.  We are having some renovations done at our house and so it puts a damper on trying to decorate - we're getting a new roof and gutters due to hail damage.  We had the outside painted, and next is the inside... May be putting the tree up on Christmas eve!!!

New topic - I'm looking for a new home for my kitty, Alice.  I've tried every way I can think of to keep her. She's having to stay in the house all the time now due to Jasper.  He beats her up if she steps one little toe out of the door.  He's been neutered, and Alice spayed, but we think he's just being territorial and agressive towards her.  He beats her up and he's so mean to her.  Otherwise, he is the sweetest and nicest cat you'd ever meet.  The other reason is that my allergies to Alice are making me sick.  I thought I was gonna have two nice outside cats, but I can't let her out or...

THIS is where she stays!  Up on the roof!  And in this weather, I just can't let her up there.  Jasper can't follow her up the big oak tree - he's too heavy, but he CAN get on the roof and chase her.  I'm scared she's gonna fall off.  AND she's not being a mouser/gopherer.  Jasper catches mice and gophers all the time! He's such a great farm cat - and HE is what I was looking for.  He eats his kills - all except the heads - he leaves them around for us to find them.  Ugh.  I've contacted family and friends and hopefully I'll be able to find a good home for Alice.

Hope your holiday busy-ness is fun and Christmasy and cozy! I appreciate you all more than you know!

A Christmas Meme

A meme found at *Chocolatechic's:*  I'm joining in the fun - found this meme at Vee's place.  Should be fun to see what everyone's answers will be!  Be sure and go by their places and see their answers, too!

articlesbase.com

1. Hot Chocolate or apple cider?
        Apple Cider!
2. Turkey or Ham?
        Greenberg's Hickory Smoked Turkey  (and ham, too)
3. Do you get a fake or real-you-cut-it-yourself Christmas tree?
         We go back and forth actually...
4. Decorations on the outside of your house?
          You Bet!  Lights, vintage sled, ribbon - we have to, we never have Christmas snow!
5. Snowball fights or sleddin’?
           Snowball fights IF we had snow...  altho sleddin' would be so fun, too!
6. Do you enjoy going downtown shopping?
           Sorry, not much - unless I can get the family to go and we all just hang out, walk around & window shop and piddle during the  holidays & stop for coffee and dessert or something! Sometimes we go and look at Christmas lights together!          
7. Favorite Christmas song?
           "O Holy Night" - strikes absolute AWE in me and makes me weep  at the miracle of Jesus' birth and His holiness come down to man....  I can't even come up with a worth description of the image in my head. I only want to fall down before Him.  I'm utterly speechless....
8. How do you feel about Christmas movies?
            Mostly they're silly, except for the classics like "It's a Wonderful Life", the Bing movies, altho I do love both versions of "Miracle on 34th Street",
9. When is it too early to start listening to Christmas music?
             Wait til after Thanksgiving - Thanksgiving has it's own special blessings to be enjoyed - don't rush through it.
10. Stockings before or after presents?
             After - that's when all the goodies and gags send us into fits of laughter!
11. Go to someone else’s house or they come to you?
             Go to mom & dad's house (same town) until they're ready to let somebody else host it!
12. Do you read the Christmas Story? If so when?
             Christmas Eve - by candlelight and twinkle lights
13. What do you do after presents and dinner?
              Sack out on the couches, watch Christmas movies, reminisce with loved ones, visit friends, call loved ones that couldn't come that year.  Have another dessert!
14. What is your favorite holiday smell?
               Pies cooking, leaves and wood burning, the fresh cut evergreens, spice candles, my mama's perfume...
15. Ice skating or walking around the mall?
              Would rather be ice skating, but we have no ice and no skating rink...  ;(
16. Do you open a present or presents on Christmas Eve, or wait until Christmas day?
               Christmas day!  Maybe just oonnnnneeee little bitty one Christmas Eve! Just cuz we can't stand it!
17. Favorite Christmas memory?
               From my childhood - the year I got my new 'big-girl' bike!  More recently - My first Christmas with my new husband (we didn't have any money and we gave each other one small gift) and the early years of my babies' faces on Christmas morning!
18. Favorite Part about winter?
               Snuggling in and being with family & friends in a warm cozy house, having all my kids home
19. Ever been kissed under mistletoe?
               Of course, haven't you???

(It's an easy copy and paste.)  Be sure and let ChocolateChic and Vee know you participated!  And me, too! I wanna see your answers, too!  Have fun!!!