The Gracefulness of Garret

Cary and Garret, after Garret had surgery on his wrist, well, he didn't have to have surgery, but got his wrist set while under anesthetic. Poor baby.
Garret with Aunt Christine after he got home from the hospital. No one knows how it happened, he just came out of his room crying to aunt Christine, who happened to be there, and she saw his wrist and told Cary Garret's arm wasn't "right"...
Garret got a cool Christmas cast, so Christine made up this song to go along with the holidays:
O Christmas cast,
O Christmas cast,
I have you 'cause I'm graceful.......

And, Lucas is always entertaining, no matter what is going on.
Trying to be cute, isn't he?
Garret got a new Mickey mouse snow globe.
Checking out the Christmas tree, so I guess everything is more of less back to normal.

Preson and Amanda's Thanksgiving

Preston, Amanda and family went to Kentucky to meet Amanda's family for Thanksgiving, looks like they had a great time. These pictures are from The Car Museum.






The grandkids and their cousins.

Blue Jays gathering acorns for winter

Most people don't realize that Bluejays are very organized with the way they gather their food for winter. They will gather in groups of 30 to 40 birds, gather acorns from pin oaks and store them all together in nearby trees. This is just a short video, but we watched them for hours and it was amazing!

The many faces of Molly

The Lonely Pumpkin

Once upon a time there was a whole patch of pumpkins growing happily in a garden in Kinmundy, Illinois. One day the gardener noticed that ALL of her pumpkins had been growing in soil that was too wet for too long, because it wouldn't stop raining. So, she picked ALL of the pumpkins and set them on the deck to dry in the sun. Slowly each and every pumpkin died, except for two. One of the pumpkins that survived was used to make a delicious pumpkin pie, the other one sat in the greenhouse waiting patiently for something to happen. So, finally on Halloween this very small pumpkin was carved to celebrate this wonderful holiday. He sat proudly on the mantle, the lone survivor of the summer of 2009.

New green kitchen, no, it's REALLY Green...not saving the planet green.

I'm only half done, but I love my new green kitchen. Yes, I painted it and also got rid of lots of stuff on the walls. It's very cheerful and calming. The coffee's always ready, come on over.

A few more pictures of the South Carolina grandkids

Honey, I shrunk my head....

I was just watching National Geographic's search for the Headshrinkers in Ecuador, Amazon. Kind of creepy, but extremely interesting...so....I SHRUNK MY HEAD...I don't think I've ever looked better.... :-)

My Head
http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/expedition-week-headshrinker/?mid=ngc4b06234128899&source=e-mail-headshrinker

Friday the 13th...and nothing happened

I have been gone all day, went with Bill and my mother-in-law to Mt. Vernon, where we met my nephew, Brad and his girl friend for lunch at Arby's, then on to Lowes, where MIL bought a natural gas stove like ours, then back home and a quick stop at the German Bakery for some treats, then we walked the dog and now I'm ready for some coffee and a cinnamon roll...

A Surprise in the sky

My dog kept barking, it's almost 2:00 am now, about 1:30 I went outside to yell at her, because she's lame, anyway something caught my eye, I saw a HUGE meteor zooming across the sky, it left a blue streak behind it. Bill is asleep and now I'm too excited to sleep myself, so thought I would share with you, but no one's on here either....anyway..it was way cool!

That's what I posted on Facebook early this morning, but there was one friend on there, Dave Farley and so I got to share my meteor moment with him, lots of comments from friends on there, I wish I could have videoed it, but it was just too fast., just beautiful though. It would have been even cooler if it had been a UFO!...hee

Town Meeting in Salem on Veteran's Day

Josephine's Tea room

Me, Sandie, Jenny and Carol.
Look at this dessert tray!!!


The 3 of us took off for Josephine's Tearoom, in Godfrey, IL on Tuesday morning. We had a wonderful time. Sandie met us there as she was taking her husband to the airport that morning. The food was wonderful, we all had a kind of salmon melt in puff pastry, it was delicious! It was served with soup (I had lobster bisque) , apple slices and grapes. We just relaxed and ate and then shared some desserts....yum. We then toured the many rooms full of gifts, and most of the gifts were Christmas items, but they were beautiful. Then we headed to Fairview Heights where we went to Gordman's and spent some more money. I enjoyed seeing my old buds and we swore to make it more often, next though is our Christmas party...

Prize Winning Orchid

Ooopsy....
Barb with her prize winning orchid.

Mom and I went to visit Milo and Barb today. We had the usual donuts and coffee, and had the best time, as always. Barb was bragging about her "prize winning orchid", and she brought it into show us and then we found out she got it at Aldi's grocery store, for 99 cents!...she is such a hoot! It is really pretty though..

A couple of new food discoveries..

MEXICAN MEATLOAF

2 lbs. ground beef
2 cups crushed corn or tortilla chips
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
2/3 cup salsa
2 beaten eggs
4 TBsp. taco seasoning

Combine all ingredients and shape into loaf, place into slow cooker and cook on low for 8 to 10 hrs, or high for 4 to 6 hrs. OR, bake in 350 degree oven for 45mins to 1 hour or until done in center.

Glaze for top, 1/2 cup ketchup, 2 TBsp brown sugar, 1 teas dry mustard, combine all ingredients, spread on top of meatloaf during last 15 minutes of cooking. Serves 6.

KILLER BEE COCKTAIL

2 TBsp. honey
1/2 cup rum
1/2 c. passion fruit juice
1/4 cup orange juice
1/4 teas. black pepper
1/4 cup club soda
Garnish: nutmeg, lime slices

In microwave-safe bowl, combine honey, with 1 TBsp. water, microwave for 30 seconds or until honey is dissolved. Stir in rum, juices and pepper, divide evenly between 2 glasses with ice. Top with club soda, garnish with nutmeg and lime slice.
Makes 2 drinks

Patsy Cline Tribute at the Rosebud Theater

The Patsy Cline Tribute was fantastic. I felt like I was seeing her in person for real. Very fun with some very entertaining audience participation. Teresa, Brenda and I had a fun time catching up on our lives whilst drinking gingerbread lattes at Starbucks...yum! What a fun evening!

Shelley and mom's Birthday celebration

Had a good time at Shelleys today, I made her and mom wear birthday tierras and birthday buttons, we ate at DQ so Garret could play in the giant pipe maze, and the most important thing, get an ice cream cake! I forgot my camera tho....whaaaa! Took some pix with Shell's camera

Mom's Birthday

Mom and I had a delicious lunch at Applebees, then went to the Rusty Nail where we bought some Lavender potpourri, and finally to mom's for some coffee and dessert. It was a beautiful day to celebrate mom's 82nd birthday. Happy Birthday , mom!