Five on Friday

Unlike a whole lot of folks, I'm right here at home this morning enjoying the peace and quiet.  It will be no "shop till you drop"  for me today.  I have yet to know of a sale that I would fight the crowds to be a part of.  I'm all about online shopping right here in the comforts of home.  But, for now, it's time for "Five on Friday."

1. Hubby is the Master Carver when it comes to turkeys. 

He is very meticulous and does it to perfection and there's little to no mess when he is finished.  That is always his contribution to our Thanksgiving meal.

2. My SIL, nephew, niece and her husband came in on Monday from DesMoines. Work got in the way of my brother joining us. ~boo, hiss~

We gathered around the table for games several times during their less than 48 hour stay.  You would have thought that there were at least 15 people playing by the noise level. ~really loud and fun~

3. Who would have ever thought that Glow Sticks could be so much fun?

My nephew was so sweet to entertain The Princess by making different objects with them.  It was pretty mesmerizing for all of us.  A really inexpensive way to have creative fun!

4.  My Step-Mom is a wonderful cook and contributed a Sweet Potato Casserole and Pecan Pie to our feast.

That, along with the turkey, dressing, gravy, fruit salad, broccoli and rice casserole, and rolls made for a delicious meal.

5. It was so good that my Dad was able to join us and he actually seemed to really enjoy himself.

My niece and nephew had not seen him in 2 years and my nieces' husband had never met Dad, so it was a very special occasion.

It was a special Thanksgiving shared with family.  Now, I will begin decorating for Christmas since it's only 26 days away.  Special blessings to you!

Miscellany Monday

The Monday before Thanksgiving and things are hopping here at the Culp household.  We'll be celebrating Thanksgiving on Tuesday because our DesMoines family will be here then.  So, it's all hands on deck for now.  But, had to make a little time for MM first...........

Decking the halls......

Clancy had good time helping Bridget decorate their tree on Saturday.  She told me that he was beside himself with excitement.  At 5 years old he's all "into" it and he cannot wait for the elf to arrive and the daily fun with him.  Bridget said she may wait a little longer before "he" makes his appearance because she's not sure she can come up with something cute to do that many days.  While the "Elf on the Shelve" is so, so cute, it can put a whole lot of pressure on Moms.  I've never seen anything like what some Moms do with him. Clancy wears his Santa hat almost as well as his cowboy hat. ~such a cutie~

Let the holiday fun begin......

Our son and DIL took the Princess on a little holiday road trip this past weekend. The strolled through a shopping area that was decked out and since it is not a mall and you are outside a lot, they took her stroller so she could ride and be bundled up as well.  Did I mention that it was literally freezing cold here this weekend and on Saturday we had drizzling rain all day. Bur-r-r-r! Then they took her to the Bass Pro Shop to visit Santa.  Bass Pro Shops always have the most realistic Santa's and it was the first time that Hanna Beth willingly got in his lap.  But, he was such a jolly looking soul that I'm sure that helped her willingness. They then took her yesterday afternoon to ride The Polar Express in Tyler, Texas.  So, she is definitely in the holiday spirit!

Busy in the kitchen........

As I mentioned above our DesMoines family will be arriving later today for a very quick trip.  My niece loves all things pumpkin, so I decided that I would make her some Pumpkin Bread to enjoy.  You may be wondering what recipe I used.  Well, I have to confess, I didn't.  A couple of years ago I bought the Krusteaz mix at Sam's and gave it a try.  It was so, so good that I have used it ever since.  The only thing I add to it is walnuts.  To me, everything is better with a few nuts thrown in. ~smile~

Saturday was so cold and dreary that I decided it would be a good day to make a big batch of pralines.~not sure what the weather has to do with that~  I quadrupled the recipe and I had pralines for days.  But, they freeze well and I love having a stash of that type goodie during the holidays.  They always make for a very nice "happy" for someone.  Added note:  the recipe for these pralines can be found by clicking on the recipe tab at the top of my blog.  Scroll through until you see Georgia Pralines.  They are so,so easy and so, so good!

 This will be my last entry before Thanksgiving so may you all enjoy a day of thankfulness with your families and those you hold dear. No matter how dreary the way may get, there is always, always something to be thankful for.  Abundant blessings my friends!     

Lea's Daybook - November 22, 2013

FOR TODAY
Outside my window... it's a rainy, wintery morning here and I'm thinking that means it's a great day to stay inside.  Looks like no possibility of sun today and I certainly don't like that, but.........

I am thinking... if I hear the word Obamacare one more time, I may SCREAM!

I am thankful... for so many things but recently I have been so very thankful for the good health of me and my immediate family.  It seems that daily I hear of someone diagnosed with cancer or some debilitating condition. We just never know when it might be us.

In the kitchen... well, the kitchen is about to be busy, busy here.  My SIL, niece and her husband and my nephew are coming in on Monday and we'll be celebrating our Thanksgiving at Tuesday dinner. It will be a traditional Thanksgiving meal.  I've had some of it catered, my step Mom is doing some and I'm doing some.  It works!

I am wearing...

well, for lack of a better term, a "jogging suit."  But, please know it's not a sweat suit.  My goodness, I might wear that around the house, but NOT out!  Now, if you do, that's fine, but it's sort of like makeup, I don't leave the house without it and I don't wear sweat suits outside the house.  In fact, right now, I do not own a so-called sweat suit. ~like you even cared~

I am going... to Florida the end of January. More details later.......

I am wondering...

if it will all eventually "come together."  You know you sometimes just hope that you will live long enough to see some things work out. ~ah, such is life!~ 

I am reading... Advancing Through Adversity by Charles Stanley.  I guess one of the most profound truths of the book is that, in the lives of Christians, God always uses adversity for our good.  Wow! that's not easy to understand is it? It's a wonderful, wonderful book!

I am hoping... that my Dad will respond to the mediation he just started for Lymphocytic Colitis.  He was just diagnosed with this condition on Wed.  It is an intensive treatment and just one of the drugs that he has to take is $550 for 4 weeks (and that's his co-pay). He's on it for 8 weeks and then will be reassessed.  It could possibly be that he will have to be treated for it the rest of his life.  It seems that he cannot win for losing.  Did I just say something about "adversity?"

I am looking forward to... to the arrival of our DesMoines family on Monday

I am learning.... to find balance in my life. It's so easy to become consumed.

Around the house... the ironing is piled sky high but I do plan to remedy that today.  And, ready all the guest bedrooms for company.  I'll busy myself with Christmas decorating after our company leaves.

I am pondering... way more than the law allows. ~big smile~  I think I've said it before, I ponder a lot.

A favorite quote for today... Mae West said, "you only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough."  I want to do it right!!!

One of my favorite things... is a clean sheets.  If it was feasible, I would change our sheets everyday.  There's just nothing like crawling in a fresh bed every night.  I get plum excited about going to bed on the days that I change the sheets. ~so, so silly~

A few plans for the rest of the week... is preparations for company, organizing my Christmas decor so I'll be ready to roll when I start pulling it out and beginning to work on the addressing, stuffing and stamping of our Christmas cards.

A peek into my day...

to tackle this pile of ironing staring at me, probably make some Pumpkin Bread (my niece loves anything pumpkin) and make one more batch of fudge.  I've made about 35# and think 5 more pounds will finish it off.

 A picture worth sharing...

These were taken yesterday from our front yard.  I am so amazed at how much color we are still enjoying in our trees.  It has really been a beautiful fall here in NE Louisiana.

  

Wednesday Hodgepodge

If last week was the 150th "episode" of Hodgepodge, then that means that this week is "episode" #151.  Wow, that's a lot of questions for Joyce to come up with.  Good job Joyce!!

1. What lesson has failure taught you?

That you pick yourself up and try, try again.  Some of the most successful people have picked themselves up time and time again from failures.

2. What decision are you glad you made?
The decision to accept Christ as my Savior when I was 6 years old.  There is no more important decision in our life than that.  Having Christ in my life has been the difference in so many, many situations I have faced.  Yes, it is what keeps the joy, joy, joy down in my heart.  Down in my heart to stay!

3. I've been a little bit surprised to see fully lit and decorated Christmas trees popping up for the past several weeks in friend's Instagram feeds. So tell the truth-is your tree up and decorated, and if so when did that happen? If not, when will you be decking the halls?
No, my tree is NOT up and will not be until the weekend after Thanksgiving.  I had "toyed" with the idea of decorating before Thanksgiving, but talked myself right out of it. ~chuckle~

4. Solitaire-Poker-Rummy-Hearts-Go Fish-Old Maid...which game of cards would you most like to join? 

I had never played Solitaire until I got my IPad and now I really enjoy it.  I usually play it when I am waiting at Drs. offices or sometimes when traveling.  It helps to pass the time and is fun.

5. This question comes to you courtesy of a Facebook friend, who once upon a time had a blog...When you're feeling stressed do you snack a lot or are you more the 'can't eat' type?
I do eat when I am stressed but not a whole lot.  Thank goodness, because with the stress I have had in recent years, if it caused me to eat, I'd likely weigh 300 lbs. ~not so funny~

6.  Have you ever reviewed a product or service on line? Was your review favorable or less than favorable? 

I have never reviewed a product or service online, but if I were to, I think it would be Reynolds SlowCooker Liners.  Anyone that use a crockpot should NOT be without them.  They are a simple heat resistance plastic liner that makes the clean up a "snap!"  Now, if you do not have any, go put them on your list right now.  You will be so glad you did!

7. What was the best conversation you had yesterday? 

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, Hubby and I take turns taking and picking up the Princess from Mother's Day Out.  We meet our son at our office, I fix her hair and then one of us is off to take her.  Yesterday I did both the taking and the picking up.  It is such a special time of uninterrupted time with her and she talks our ears off.  This afternoon she told me about what mixing colors does and the colors you mix to get certain colors.  I was more than impressed with her knowledge on that.  I don't know if that was discussed at MDO today or if she's just picked it up along the way.  Her little 4 year old mind is absolutely a sponge and we are all working hard to fill that sponge with good, good stuff.

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

This was our little Pilgrim about 29 years ago.  Bridget was all dressed in her outfit for her Thanksgiving lunch in Kindergarten.  Isn't she the cutest? Talk about memories!

Miscellany Mondays

Okay, folks we only have 5 more Mondays until Christmas. Is that not insane?  How can it be?  Yes, 5 weeks from this Wednesday is Christmas Day.  Okay, enough on that..........it's on to miscellaneous thoughts with Carissa......

On that note........
This past Saturday a church in our area had what they call "A Christmas Gathering."  It is sponsored by their Women's Ministry and was an afternoon event.

 A group of ladies from our church went and we had an enjoyable time.  They had vendors selling their wares an hour before and an hour after the program started.  We browsed, visited and then went into their sanctuary where the program was to be held.

They had a segment on gift wrapping, holiday traditions and holiday decor.  Everything was nicely orchestrated and it was obvious that a whole lot of work had gone into the planning of an event such as this.

 

 There were around 500 ladies in attendance and everyone of us were given 4 very nice gifts throughout the afternoon.  The men of the church had dressed as Santa's helpers and at the appointed time handed out each gift to us.  That in itself, was no small feat.
It was the perfect start to the holiday season!

Who comes up with these????

One of the vendors at this show had tee shirts of every description under the sun.  I don't know who comes up with the sayings you see on tee shirts these days, but some of them are so, so cute!  And, of course, there are also those that are most distasteful.  I'm not really a tee shirt kinda gal, except when I'm walking on my treadmill, but I have a daughter and DIL that absolutely loves them.  They always make for a great stocking stuffer for them. Don't you just love the one about the wife???~so cute~

Be still my heart....

 I'm not sure this picture needs any words..........our Princess is growing up and I thought when I saw her in these boots that my heart would burst.  I'm just not sure I have ever seen anything cuter!  Of course, you do understand, this is a Grandmother talking.  But, it's just the plain truth!!!!

And, I leave you with this...... 

  

Friday Fragments

It's been a while since I joined in Friday Fragments, but decided today was the perfect day to share some fragments of this past week with all my "faithful" readers.  Yea! for Mrs. 4444 for hosting FF each week.
~~~~~
ONE. This past Sunday afternoon, myself and 3 others of The Formidible Women took off to one of our members lake house.  If you recall, The Formidible Women is a group of 7 women (myself included) that celebrate each other's birthday by generally going on a day trip.  This time was a bit different.  We went for an overnighter.  And, it was a bit different in that 3 of our sistas could not go, so there were just 4 of us.  But, nonetheless, we had a wonderful time.

 Beth,pictured above on the far right, wanted to fix us breakfast on Monday morning and what a treat!

 It consisted of orange scones with an orange glaze, morning pie and egg white omelets.  The morning pie was something very new to us and it is cold dish.  I took a big bite and was expecting something hot and what a surprise!  But, it was very good and I really don't know how to describe it to you, but it was just perfect with the scones and omelets.  Of course, cups and cups of coffee were enjoyed along with it.

After the delicious breakfast, we got ready, loaded up and on our way home stopped in the small town of Delhi, Louisiana.  It is so amazing to me what great shopping one can find in these type places.  All of the shops were decked out for Christmas and we thoroughly enjoyed browsing and of course, definitely left with a few items.  After all, their economy is dependent upon it! ~chuckle~


It was another fun Formidible Women outing. And, this gorgeous view certainly made it all the more enjoyable.
~~~~
TWO. It has turned to all out winter here in NE Louisiana this week.  And, Rhett and Roscoe have welcomed coming inside the house for a while each evening.

Hubby started this several years ago.  We are neither one "inside dog" people.  But, I bought this comforter and they walk about 5 steps in the front door and go and lay down on it and never move.  They go straight to sleep until Hubby is ready to take them out to their kennel for the night.  As you can see from the gray whiskers, they are getting old.  They are 7 and 8 years old and that is fairly old for labs.  It was never our intention to have either of them and they both had a rough start to life, that is, until they found us.  And, let me assure you, they have quite the life here and have counted their blessings ever since we took them in. ~lucky dogs~
~~~~

 THREE. As I've said before, I really "get into" doing Christmas cards.  In fact, I get rather amused at myself because I enjoy it so much.

I cannot stand a plain white envelope so I always buy either a red or green envelope to put them in.  I've been doing photo cards for the past several years and they always come with plain white envelopes.  No, just can't do that! ~wink~  Then I go to Etsy and find cute return address labels. I have everything ready to begin the "stuffing process" when the cards arrive tomorrow.  And, of course, I can only hope that the folks who receive them do more than take a glance and throw them in the trash. ~boo! hoo!~ But, regardless, I make a production out of them because I enjoy it and that's all that really matters. ~isn't it?~
~~~~
FOUR.

 My friends, my little Clancy has just joined a wrestling team. Yes, that's right!  My little cowboy turned wrestler.  And, at his age, it's boys and girls and as you can see in the above photo, one of his first practices was with a little girl.  How funny is that?  I do know that it will give Clancy a place to get rid of a lot of that "little boy" energy.

Happy weekend!

Wednesday Hodgepodge

 

It's Wednesday and Joyce has given us her usual through provoking questions. She

stretches our brains and our memory, both of which are good for us!

1. Describe a typical Sunday from your childhood.
Well, since my Dad was always the pastor of the church, Sundays were very "sacred days."  In those days members of the church usually always had the pastor and his family over for lunch. I loved it as it was usually families with children my age and we would eat and then go play.  AND, Sundays were truly a "day of rest."  We  did nothing outside of church and it's activities. 
~my, how times have changed!~

2. How comfortable are you with uncertainty? Explain.
I guess it would depend on what it concerned.  If it is something that involves me directly, then I am not comfortable with it at all. Sometimes there is something I can do about it, sometimes there is nothing I can do but "cool my jets" and just wait it out.  But, one thing for sure, much of life is filled with uncertainty.
 
3. What have you accomplished recently that might be described as crafty, as in 'arts and crafts' crafty?  If crafty doesn't work for you, how about handy? Or both?

I know it was just the other day that I did something that was really handy and I was quite proud of myself.  But, for the life of me, I cannot remember what it was.  I referred to it as "yankee ingenuity" when I did it.  Oh, well, if I think of it, I'll sure let you know.

4. Have you ever worked in a 'food place'? What did you take away from the experience?No, not a "food place" but my very first job as a 16 year old was as cashier at a Kroger's grocery store.  Not really a food place but I sure did check out a whole lot of food.  And, I did it all by punching in the numbers with my hot little fingers.  There was certainly nothing called "scanners" back then. ~big laugh~

5. Cold turkey, talk turkey, what a turkey...in recent days, which turkey phrase or idiom best applies to you and why? Click on the word turkey if you need to read more about the meaning behind each phrase. Humm.....have scratched my head, pondered and thought and cannot think of one that applies to me.  I'm quite sure I've been a turkey many times, I just cannot recall the last time right now.

6. If you could have any one guest join your Thanksgiving dinner table, who would it be?Now, this will likely be the most random answer of the day, but I'd love to have George Strait join our family.  And, perhaps he would bring his guitar and sing some for us afterwards.~be still my heart~  He seems like such a great guy and someone that would enjoy sitting around the table and being thankful to the Lord and His many blessings upon his life.  And, my family would be beside themselves if they thought he might show up.  We are big George fans and we were delighted that he won CMA's artist of the year.

7. What is one thing you must accomplish today? My Dad is having a test done at our local hospital this morning and I MUST get him there and then get him back to the assisted living facility where he resides.  Did I say that a care givers job never ends? 

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

The Formidible Women (our birthday group) went over to one of our group's lake house this past Sunday afternoon.  We spent the night and I guess you might say we had a "pallet party."  This was the sight we had awaiting us on Monday morning. It was a fun little getaway and there will be more about it in another blog post. ~stay tuned~