Baking day

The shopping is all done.

The wrapping isn't,

but today we took the day,

to bake goodies we reserve for Christmas.

We made fudge, magic bars,

banana chocolate chip muffins and

peanut butter blossoms.

The girls were more involved this year

than ever before.

It's nice to have them in the kitchen,

all of us together.

It makes the Holiday ever more special.

Brings a smile to my heart.......

my first e-Christmas card

Here is my first attempt at sending an ecard for Christmas.
I do believe it will get more and more popular.
The delivery is instant,and there is no cost involved.
I can't imagine the post office beating that deal!!
Just click on the play button to view it.
Let me know what you think!

Make a Smilebox invite

May you all enjoy a heartwarming
Holiday season, a very Merry Christmas
And a blessed 2010.
More then anything I hope this year
brings you endless smiles......

Again.....Better late than never

December 20th.

5 days before Christmas.....

I have NEVER been this late

putting up the tree.

This has been a strange year.....

But we rectified all that today.

All of us got together

and decorated the tree this afternoon.

I always love this part.

Like memories on a hook.

Each and every ornament

representing a place or event

we have enjoyed together.

The stockings were hung as well.

These are the REAL stocking.

Not the decorative ones

we hang upstairs.

These hold all the goodies.

There are more and more each year.

For now it's pets we are adding.

Soon enough it will be

Husbands then grand children......

Until then we cherish every smile...............

better late than never

Saturday was busy.

The weather people has forcasted

2 to 4 inches of snow.

This is what we got.....

I don't even think you can measure that in inches.

I don't mind the snow this time of year.

This was disappointing.

We piled up in the car

and went Christmas shopping.

That proved futile.

We had little to show for our efforts.

After dinner we went to our local theater

for this year's Christmas play.

It was excellent.....

Funny and chuck full of

incredibly talented people.

3 or 4 of the girl's classmates

were in the play

as well as 3 or 4 actors

who were in the play the girl
were in 3years ago.
It's a terrific small theater.
We always leave there
with a smile..................

What a treat

Today was a great day

from beginning to end.

After volunteering at the Middle School

(I use the term loosely, there wasn't much to do)

I finally got to go Christmas shopping

and got 98% of it done.

Fantastic!

Then tonight we went to Jonathan's for dinner.

It was Julia's last night in America.

She is off to Germany in the morning

and back home to parents and siblings

who are anxiously awaiting her return.

The rain hasn't turn to snow yet

but we are still hoping........

Days like today put a smile on my face........

It was right there on the menu......

Lisa, Missy,Laurie and I
went for our annual Christmas lunch today.
We went to Cheddar's in Lexington.

The food was overabundant and the service was......
well suffice it to say that
I am grateful to our waiter, who didn't know
when to stop talking and walk away,
for supplying me with the title
of today's blog and good laughs,
I'm sure, for years to come.
Oh....and free dessert......
Lisa and Missy had a HUGE piece
of fudge brownie cake

and Laurie and I had a HUGE piece
of apple pie a la mode.

Great friends, good food, good times.
How can you not drive back home
with a smile.......

Happy Birthday !

50

Half a century.

Older than you thought you'd ever get.....

Some days, older than you feel....

Today's the big day.

The celebration was this week end.

Today was quiet but nice.

Phone calls, text messages,

and emails from friends and family.

Dinner out with the girls.

A nice day in health .....

smiles all around........

Christmas Serenade

The Middle School had their

annual Christmas Choir concert tonight.

The opening act was the choir

from Simmons Elementary.
Then the Middle School students

serenaded us by grades.

First came Ashley's grade

Then the seventh graders

and finally Emily's grade.

The students sounded great.

there were some Christmas classics,

and some lesser known songs,

but all were very enjoyable.

It was a great evening.

It always makes a parent proud

to see their children performing

in front of a couple hundred people.

Not an easy thing to do.

We all left the school smiling.......

One more thing off the list

Every year, for as long as I can remember,

the girls go out on Christmas Eve

and distribute homemade presents

to each one of our neighbors.

The gifts can be edible, and have often been,

but some years they have been keepsakes

instead of food.

Today I worked on this year's project.

I made my "stain glass" ornaments

using a picture of the sign

at the entrance to our neighborhood.

I made different ones for friends

and will be making one with an updated photo

of the girls in their Christmas Pyjamas

like the one I made several years ago.

These are different and I enjoy making them.

Looking back at those tiny faces

from years ago

always makes me smile.......

A special Sunday

Although Dennis' birthday

isn't until Wednesday,

we celebrated today,

since Stephen was here.

We spent a lazy Sunday morning

and then opened gifts.

Dennis' favorite gift

was probably the "movie sunglasses"

to wear on the planes.

You can plug them into your Itouch

and watch a movie

as if it were on a 55" screen

seen from 10 feet away.

Pretty cool.......

The look is a little strange

but it works really well.

The most important thing

is that it made Dennis smile

which made me smile.......

Bright and Early

The Middle School hosted

an archery tournament today.

I volunteered to help score the shooters.

I was at the school at 7:10 this morning.

Not sure what possessed me to agree to this,

except I love the sport as much as the girls do.

I signed up the girls for the third flight,

which shot around 9:30,

so they didn't have to get up

at the crack of dawn.

They shot with their friends Jordan and Ryan.

All shooters did well.

We were back home by 10:30

with the whole day ahead of us.

We went to lunch, ran errands

and had a wonderful dinner with Stephen.

Days like today make me smile.......

Company's coming

Stephen arrives tonight.

He has never visited us.

Ever.

But this week is Dennis' 50th birthday.

So we cleaned and polished

and decorated and got ready

for a very important visitor.

The weather is a little better here

than the weather he left behind

in Calgary.

But mostly the company is light years better......

So surely, while he is here,

we will all be smiling.....

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas.....

It was cold today.

Cold, but beautiful, with great big

snow flakes falling gently

and at times more forcefully.

It was a good day to finish the decorating.

It's taken me forever this year.

The energy level is slow to return.

Today, the stocking were hung

by the chimney (well, ventless fireplace)

with care, and the mantle got dressed up too.

But my favorite decoration

is this skinny tree I set up

in the family room.

On it, are all the ornaments the girls

have made, from pre-school on.

Most of them have their pictures on it.

It's a wonderful tree,

filled with memories

and it never fails to make me smile........

Repurposing

If you look carefully

you can see the spikes

that adorn the top of the door

of one of our municipal buildings.

I believe they are meant

to keep pigeons away.

Funny thing is, we don't really have

a pigeons problem downtown Versailles.

Does that mean the spikes are working?

Anyway, I thought it was a wonderful way

to turn a negative into a positive......

Use the spikes to hang Christmas ornaments......

Everyday I see this and

it makes me smile.......

Queen for a day.....well for an hour

I was privileged to attend
The first ever Christmas tour
at Castle Post.

The proceeds went to the Salvation Army.
Eight local designers decorated
the public rooms.




We were permitted to visit at our leisure.
The place is quite impressive.

In side and out.

For more pictures click on the
"my life in pictures" link.
It wasn't easy to take pictures
with everyone walking around.
I am grateful for Tom Post's generosity.
The Salvation Army was playing Christmas Carols

Everyone was wearing their very best smiles.....

there's good news and bad news....

Yesterday was a very bad day.

First time ever I didn't write my blog.

Really bad migraine (as if there were real good ones)

Anyhow, today is another day.

So I finally went to the doctor.

What she said was.....

There is good news and bad news......

The good news, I am fine.....

Just some post flu residual discomfort.

No problem, a couple of prescriptions

and I should feel better.

The bad news.......it could last for up to 6 weeks.

6 weeks?...... are you kidding?

Oh well, this too shall pass........

of course it will be 2010 by then......

Getting rid of the nausea today

now that made me smile......

And so it begins....

Ordinarily I don't enjoy snow.

But this time of year,

I almost need to have some around

for it to really seem like Christmas.

Maybe it's the Canadian in me......

Today we had our first snow fall of the season.

More like a dusting, as you can see.

still it was enough

to make everyone smile.....

Hair's the thing.....

Kayla has been unhappy with her hair

for some time now

but wasn't sure what she wanted.

All we knew was that her hair was in bad shape

and it was driving her crazy.

A few weeks ago, she found a picture

in a magazine that she thought would look nice.

So this afternoon we went

to the hairdresser and got her hair cut.

They took a good 5 or 6 inches off.

Beside the fact that her hair

is much healthier

She also looks very sophisticated

I think she made a great choice.

It will take a little while

to get used to her new look

but every time I look at her

I smile.....

And we're back......!

Two days ago I wrote about

our town Christmas Tree.

I alluded then to the fact that,

in the past, they have had a hard time

keeping all the lights lit at the same time.

I rounded the corner today and.....

Now it looks like Versailles' Christmas Tree!

I don't know what it is,

but this town has a hard time with lights.

Today is Thursday, the parade is Saturday.

It will be interesting to see

If they get the lights fixed in time.

Either way, it made me smile.....

Break in the clouds......?

Ok......Anyone who lives here

know this picture was not taken today.

I try to take a photograph of

whatever made me smile that day

but today I had to go into the archives

for two reasons.....

One, I'm still sick and was nauseous all day,

(nothing to take a picture of...!)

and two, there were NO breaks in the clouds today....

NONE.

I used to see these rays of light

and it always reminded me

of all the Biblical pictures we were shown

when we were kids, with the light of God

shining upon us........

But now we watch "V"......

When I pulled up this photograph tonight

it looked more to me like a well camouflaged

"V" ship.....

Maybe it's the meds.....either way

If I felt better, I would have smiled.....

Gee I hope it's not finished!!

The city put up our Christmas Tree

a few days ago.

First there was the tree

then came the lights.

(Almost all the lights worked this year....)

Today as I drove by,

I noticed the addition of ornaments.

Well some ornaments.....

They go from the bottom

to about four feet off the ground.

A few big balls are scattered about

but the lion's share is all at the bottom.

I'd like to think some pre-school came by

and did a marvelous job with homemade

and store bought ornaments.

I'd also like to think it's not done.....

Either way, seeing it this morning

made me smile.......

no improvement to report

I really hate being sick.

So much wasted time.

Our kitchen counter looks like

a pharmacy delivery truck

got lost and dumped it's load

in our kitchen.

We have day stuff, night stuff,

stuff to dry you up, stuff to stop your cough.

Enough...................

The fact that Dennis was in town

and able to take the girls to school

and pick them up this afternoon,

Was the only thing all day

that made me smile.......

A kiss to make me better

I'm sick AGAIN.

The last time I remember

being this sick this often,

was almost 12 years ago,

when I was pregnant with Ashley.

I spent the day on the couch

with a fever ranging from 103.3

to 100.7 depending on how long ago

I had taken the three Tylenols

that kept me relatively comfortable.

So the animals gathered around me.

Even the dogs spent some time

lying in front of the couch.
They always make you feel they care,

no matter what.

As rotten as i felt

it still made me smile.....

Yearly pilgrimage

Today was clear and sunny,albeit cold.

Perfect day for a drive.

Thanks to our wonderful neighbor,Sara,

who takes care of letting the dogs out

so we can venture away from home

for more than a few hours at a time,

we took our yearly pilgrimage to Cincinnati.

It is now part of our Thanksgiving weekend tradition.

We enjoy going to Kenwood Towne Center

and the surrounding stores.

Different stores than we have here in Lexington.

One of the treats is having lunch at The Cheesecake Factory.

Lunch there is always enjoyable and today

we topped it all off with a piece of

Peppermint bark cheesecake.

Delicious......

On the way home we always stop

at the same restaurant....

LaRosa's Pizzeria in Florence.

It's a small family run restaurant

with the best pizza in Kentucky.

What a wonderful day.

We are indeed blessed.

How can we help but smile.....

Day after casserole

The day after Thanksgiving

means different things

to different people.

For some it means shopping at 5 A.M.

For us it means "day after casserole".

It's another Lawrence tradition,

a kind of Holiday Sheppard's pie.

We take all the left overs

from yesterday's feast

and make the most delicious casserole.

This year Emily helped make dinner

with Dennis instructing her.

The smell and taste of this wonderful meal

will surely make you smile....

So much to be Thankful for

Twice a year, I am banished

from the kitchen.

Today was one of those days.

Dennis and the girls take care

of Thanksgiving dinner

from soup to nuts.

They start mid morning

making the "Lawrence " stuffing.

Then the bird is "dressed"

and put in the oven for about 5 hours.

This year we tried our first fresh turkey.

It was absolutely delicious.

The table is set with care

using Dennis' grandmother's antique dishes.

The aroma of the turkey baking

permeates throughout the house

all day, until it finally comes out of the oven

golden, juicy and so appetizing..

By the time we sit at the table

there is enough food for about 20 people.....

peas, carrots, corn, asparagus,

two kind of mashed potatoes,

rolls, cranberries, stuffing and of course turkey.

Wine and Sparkling Apple Cider are also served.

Since , of course, we are still hungry after all this (!)

dinner is followed by blueberry and pecan pies.

After dinner we write on the the table cloth

the things we are most thankful for

for this year.

We have been doing this since 2000.

It's fun to revisit the entries every year.

Seeing the names of friends and teachers past,

remembering pets, come and gone,

braces, come and gone,

moves to new states and trips to far away places.

And when everything is said and done

one of the things I'm most grateful for

is that the girls clean everything up........

If that doesn't put a smile on your face

nothing will..........

Spicy hot

The girls have started their Thanksgiving break.
After cleaning the house, and starting the laundry,
we made spicy-hot cinnamon hard candy.
This is Kayla's favorite, although everyone likes it too.
So we boiled sugar, corn syrup and a little water.



When it got to temperature,
we added cinnamon oil.
We were supposed to add the colour
at this juncture, but we thought
we would be a little more creative.
So we poured the melted mixture
onto a sugared and foiled tray
and only added the food coloring then.



We crisscrossed, swirled and marbled.



It looked like a work of art.
Almost too pretty to eat.....
But we broke it up



and it was delicious....and spicy-hot!
Then we went shopping.
There were smiles all around!