Thanksgiving....check! Christmas.....almost here!

Our Thanksgiving was very low key and stress free. That is not usually the case. I don't know how I managed to have such an easy day but I did and I am thankful that all went well. The girls and I spent Friday doing lots of nothing. We started decorating and continued to decorate a little here and there over the weekend. Needless to say it is now Monday and we still have boxes everywhere and decorating to finish. I just need to shape the tree (after a horrible experience of trying to find a place to put the tree this year) and get it decorated. Once that is done the boxes will be gone and everything will be in its place. I have 4 gold bells and some garland that needs to be hung but that is Gary's job. He is the only one that can reach to put it up there. I debate every year on whether or not to put the Christmas throw pillows on the couch. My family will just squish them down and sit on them and mess up my pretty arrangement on the couch. How dare them expect to sit on the furniture! I put them out along with my Santa Claus throw and they survive year after year. Hopefully this year will be no different. I have to finish the decorating this week because if I don't it will drive me crazy and it wont get done until after Nutcracker which is just totally unacceptable to me.

Speaking of Nutcracker, this is our final week of in-studio rehearsals and then the craziness of production week sets in and I am sent into a crazy woman tizzy!! I love the Nutcracker and all the joy it brings but man is it nuts!!! Funny, huh? Anyway, with working a full time job, teaching dance at night, being in the Nutcracker and also having two daughters in the production as well makes for one crazy week....all during the stupid COGAT testing. I apologize to all you teachers out there but just how accurate is a test given to a kid who is about to go on Christmas break and all they can think about are presents and being out of school???? Really????!!!!

Enough of my rambling....I could go on forever but who cares to read it. I will sign off for now and hope that you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and are gearing up for a Merry Merry Christmas!

Deer Camp

Everybody knows that it is deer season in Texas. My husband has been at the deer lease since Saturday and I am anxious to hear all about his adventure. He called me early Sunday morning and I just knew he was calling to tell me he shot a deer. He called to tell me that he had killed a deer but not THE deer. As you can see, this deer isn't a bad looking buck, but nontheless, it is not the deer he wanted. His hunt will continue....I guess that is why they call it HUNTING!

TGIF

My kids squeeled with excitement this morning as soon as their feet hit the floor. They are so excited that there is no school next week. I have to admit that I am glad too. I love Thanksgiving! If you keep up with our crazy life, you know that we rehearse for the Nutcracker every weekend and several times during the week. This weekend we put it all together for the first time. Can you say trainwreck?? I am anxious to see Ashlee & Courtnee do their parts. I haven't really had time this year to watch their rehearsals. I have seen one scene that Ash is in but nothing else. Hopefully I can learn how to post pictures and I will post some of the girls in their Nutcracker costumes during production week. Just a reminder - tickets are on sale now at www.eisemanncenter.org. Show dates are December 11-13. Make sure you look for Dallas Repertoire Ballet.

So today I have decided to make a short little post. My daughter (Ashlee) added a post on Monday as well as some pictures. There will be nothing spectacular about my post today. I just simply love this time of year. The weather has nothing to do with it because if you know me at all you know that my philosophy is that "if you can't wear a bikini, then the weather is too cold." I just love the smell of Thanksgiving dinner cooking in the kitchen, the joy of decorating the house and making the perfect place cards for our Thanksgiving feast. I truly love to spend the weekend after Thanksgiving decorating the entire house for Christmas. My daughters like to put their stamp on things as well. My favorite part is something near and dear to my heart - every year since I was a little girl, my grandmother took the time to make homemade teacakes (cookies) and wonderfully yummy Christmas candies with me. That is something I will never forget. Looking back I wonder how on Earth she had the patience to do all of that. I still enjoy spending time with her and making candy. We don't get to spend as much time doing it nowadays but it is a time that I will never forget. I guess the reason we don't have much time together is because my life (and the girls') is so hectic. Another reason I love this time of year is because I have spent my childhood and even my adult life (around this time of year) preparing and rehearsing for the Nutcracker Ballet. I started out as a soldier and worked my way up to Mrs. Stahlbaum. What a joy to perform!! So anyway, I hope you have happy memories of your childhood holiday festivities and traditions. I know I sure do!

Dress up

Courtnee loves to play dress up.Isn`t she cute!

meet the crew

I thought you might like to meet the whole gang. We have Jennifer (the mom) who keeps things running, Gary (the dad) who keeps everyone in line, Ashlee (the big sis) who loves talking on the phone and dancing, Courtnee ( the lil sis) who is spoiled rotten but we love her anyway, Lucy ( the diva doggy) who is more spoiled than Courtnee but as precious as gold, And Ozzie ( the dummy doggy) who has his heads in the clouds but is a sweetie.

First Ever Blog!!

So this is my attempt at a family blog. Sad isn't it? Since My Space, Face Book and all of these other means of networking came about, I have been telling everyone that I have a real life and I do not have time for a virtual life. BUT here I am! I have been pulled kicking and screaming into the world of networking and blogging. Who has time for this stuff? It just so happens that I am on my lunch hour and find myself with nothing to do and so I decided to write my first ever blog. Yippee!! (sarcasm added here)