right there on my sofa

Tonight, as I was watching Texas get slaughtered by Bama Jarom decided he wanted to cuddle with me. And with those beautiful little eyes of his, he looked up at me, kissed my cheek and said, "mama, you're a good mom!".

And right there on my sofa...I melted.

I'm loving it

The kids went back to school today.
I'm loving it!! (sung like the McDonalds commercials)

effulgent

Last Sunday, while being ever so attentive at church, I took notice of the song we were singing. There within the lyrics of that hymn lied a word that I was unfamiliar with. Now I know some of you may think less of me when I tell you what the word is but at that point I decided I would write down at least one word a week during my Sunday meetings and get the proper definition. I actually wrote 3 down last Sunday but tonight I will share with you the word that started it all. And that word is:
effulgent - shining, resplendent, with radiant splendor.

What did you learn last week?

I resolve to

Here I am on this 1st day of the first month of the new decade trying to come up with some sensible resolutions. I usually do pretty well...til about March. So tonight as I sit here listening to my hubby snore, I resolve to:

~go to bed earlier...especially on school nights...by midnight for sure.

~drink less soda (to help w/ prior resolution) and eventually wean myself from my daily addiction.

~drink more water...it does a body good

~read at least 8 books this year...I know that doesn't sound like a lot to some but for me it's plenty...I read 6 last year and was feeling quite accomplished and rather "smart".

~and finally, to blog at least 4 times a week...even if it is rambling that no one but myself cares about.

And you...How many books did you read last year? You thought I was going to ask what your resolution was, didn't you?

Our December Diet

All we did for the month of December was EAT! Apparently, we have friends and neighbors who love us just the way we are (veluptuous) and want to keep us that way. This cute cookie jar was delivered to our door with THE BEST Pumpkin cookies I've ever had...the tin next to it was filled with the best sugar cookies EV-ER. The Snowman platter with candies in it was filled with Scrumptuous homemade fudge and the polka dot and striped candy dish was filled with almond M&M's which were pretty Diddly arn delicious.

These cinnamon rolls were DA Bomb!!

and so was the tiramisu!

Some sort of streussel cake...I didn't even get a piece of this stuff.

I did, however, eat ALL of these!! I love nuts! If you've got nuts, you're my best friend!! And I will eat them!! (that sounded horrible)

one of my favs was this homemade fudge...she tried to wrap it all up in name brand paper but I swear, we could taste the LOVE in it! There's no foolin' us Jolene!Sarinah's candy didn't last long enough for me to even get the camera out...they had it eaten before I could say "wait!!".

This cranberry nut bread sits on my counter tonight...enjoy yourself little loaf...for tomorrow you will be no more!!

Of course, we washed it all down with a little bit this...
and a little bit of that...And, this, my friends, is why mama needs a new pair of running shoes!!
My apologies to those whose treats were not shown here...I didn't think of taking the pics until the day before Christmas...or somewhere around there.

Candy-licious

The 3 year old got to hang the candy canes this year. but everyone took turns eating 'em...

and there were tons to be eaten!!

Thank goodness for strong branches...

And toothbrushes!!

Christmas Memories

Wow!! Time sure has flown by!! I just logged on to write a new post and saw that I hadn't blogged in a month. Guess that's what happens when you're making 8 million tamales!! I never thought I would be as busy as I was. I decided that I would only commit 2 - 3 days a week to my tamale work and the rest of the week was for family and Christmas stuff!! I stuck to my 2 days a week but it seems I just never got around to the Christmas stuff. I checked my calendar and it was suddenly December 20th....and I'd done absolutely NO shopping!! I'm not quite sure what it was but I just couldn't get with it this year. We didn't even get the tree up until the 16th. Anyways, Christmas came wheter I wanted it to or not and with that came lots of wonderful memories. Like...Jareds birthday.. parties with Santa..and a surprise visit from Josh.. Then of course we had Steve's company Christmas picnic..stubborn children...and unsuccessful family pictures.. (guess that's what I get for trying at the picnic) We taught our kids about crack and how unattractive it can make you...beat eachother up...spent time with old friends... and said our goodbyes...

Another great year with family and friends...It's a wonderful life!!