I'm sorry I have been so inactive lately. I would try to blame it on Christmas, but mostly I've just been lazy. Once Laura and the kids left I just quit doing anything mostly, which makes for a really boring blog.

Well, to come up with an idea I'm stealing this idea from Susan who stole it from Kay's and Carolyn's blogs. Well, maybe not stole..... Yeah pretty much.

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot Chocolate pretty much all year long. I usually drink it instead of coffee, unless I'm at Starbucks where I get a venti mocha. Wait, that's pretty much hot chocolate. During the Christmas season I love to drink egg nog. The problem is that if I buy some (I haven't made any for years) I'll drink the whole thing in one sitting, and since Kathy has decided that we need to lose weight I've tried to stay away from it this year.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just leave them under the tree? When I was growing up and when my kids were growing up anything wrapped was from a family member. Santa's presents were unwrapped. We did the same thing when my kids were small.

3. Colored or white lights on the tree? Colored, colored, colored!

4. Do you hang mistletoe? Sometimes I do and sometimes I don't.

5. When do you put your decorations up? Decorations are mostly Kathy's thing. So I put up whatever she can get me to help with whenever she can get me to help.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish? Turkey and (Kathy's, only Kathy's) dressing. With plenty of turkey I don't really care what else there is.

7. Favorite holiday memory as a child. Sneaking down before everyone else was awake and looking at all the presents.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? My brother and sister blew the story when I was 8 or 9. I pretended to believe for a while because I'm no dummy, if you don't believe in Santa you don't get any presents.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? Nope, had to wait till Christmas morning and even then usually after church.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? However Kathy makes me decorate it.

11. Snow! Love it or leave it? Love it in pictures, hate it when I'm trying to get anywhere. I thought for years that I hated cold. One winter in St Louis I realized that I just hate wind.

12. Can you ice skate? I can fall on my butt.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? A Dick Tracy Junior Detective Set. It came with a badge, a wrist radio (that I never could get Dick Tracy to answer) and a gun that shot out little plastic bullets. Yeah, Mom got rid of the bullets fairly soon.

14. What is your favorite thing about the holidays? The thought that Jesus came to this world just for me!

15. What is your favorite holiday dessert? My absolute favorite is my mother's buttermilk chess pie, however I am the only person in the entire world that actually loves fruitcake.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? The new tradition (well, it's a few years old now) of watching my grandchildren rip open presents.

17. What do you prefer, giving or receiving? Receiving, but not big things. I like lots of little things that show that the person thought of me when they got them. I love giving the perfect gift but with the adults I know the perfect thing isn't usually perfect. Of course, with grandchildren, as long as it makes noise and flashes lights, it's perfect.

18. What tops your tree? A star that Kathy and I got a few years after we were married.

19. What is your favorite Christmas song? By the time Christmas comes I am usually so sick of Christmas songs because they've been playing them in Wal-Mart since St Patrick's Day. But during a candlelight service Silent Night can make me tear up and I love Eartha Kitt's Santa Baby, actually it stays on my mp3 all year.

20. Candy canes, yuck or yum? The fruit ones are pretty tasty, although they are a sin against nature. The peppermint ones should only be hung on the tree and look pretty.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Christmas. Remember that Jesus came for us.

Just in case you need an extra Christmas present.

May God bless each of you.

Wayne

Baby, it's cold outside!

Ok, I'll admit it. I am a wimp when it comes to cold. Actually, I can stand the cold, it is the wind I absolutely hate. I think I'm living in the wrong place, considering that Oklahoma gets more wind on a daily basis than Chicago. The weathermen (those never erring prognosticators) said that the wind today would be light, 10 to 20 miles an hour. That doesn't seem all that light to me. But I guess since it is supposed to be blowing 15 to 35 miles an hour tomorrow I'll try to enjoy this.

Well, Susan and Jim and Susan's mom and dad, Berle and Roy came over for dinner the other night. I think everyone had a good time, I know I had a great time. Everyone ate and talked and had a good time. Susan ate everything on her plate and even ate some of these really nasty cookies that Laura gets in southeast Missouri. I swear that they are made out of library paste with little fake chocolate chips mixed in. Susan had to eat around the chips but she could at least eat the cookie. One more dessert wins against steroids! Kathy told me after Thanksgiving that it was rude to take pictures while people are eating so I didn't get any shots of people with their mouths full and after everybody was finished I was to full to get up and get the camera. Here is a pic that Ryan took with his mother's camera. I still don't get why it is rude for me to take pictures but cute for a 5-year-old to do it (although his mother isn't looking like she thinks it's all that cute). Just to prove to you that artistic talent runs in the family here are some other shots Ryan took.






Notice that his focus is the princess castle instead of his sister. This gives an aura of mystery to the entire shot.







This is my personal favorite. Notice the importance given to the baby wipes container. Notice that it takes on almost gigantic proportions. Notice the thumb in the corner. I told you he took after his Papi. Actually I have been teasing his mother since his birth about how much he looks like me. It used to make her crazy but she has started to accept it.
This one is a masterwork of color and surrealism. I think that might be a belly button but I don't know for sure.











Ok, enough of his masterpieces. After all, he may be an artistic genius but he and his sister are also cute as the dickens. Here is Erin posing with her gingerbread house that she made (with a little bit of help from her mother).

And here's Ryan with his. He had a little less help from his mother. I personally think they both did a wonderful job!

And one last pic. Erin is finally used to me enough that she won't scream and yell when I pick her up or help her do something. She'll even call me Papi and tell me about her Polly Pockets. And trust me, there is a lot of stuff to tell about Polly Pocket.

Take care of yourselves, and take care of someone you love today.

Wayne

Let it snow.

Car horns honk are ya' listenin'
Pickups skid, ice is glistnin'

Good afternoon, I hope everyone has been having a great week. I know I have, even though the kids are wearing us out! So far the kids have been shopping and eating and playing and eating and decorating for Christmas and eating. They don't eat a lot at one time but they seem to need something every four or five minutes. Luckily their mom is usually around so I can always say "go ask mommy if I can get that for you."

Here's Erin putting an ornament on the tree. She worked on the tree for a while then she just started hoarding all the ornaments that Kathy would give her. I think she likes looking at the ornaments in her pile more than on the tree.








We had the whole crew over for the decorating, Jill and Maddox came over so Maddox could "help" that went over really well! But we got it all up and the house looks beautiful and it is amazing how Christmasy just having the tree and some garland around can make you feel.

We also had snow last Wednesday night-Thursday morning. Yes it was the Oklahoma special. Three or four inches of snow on top of two inches of sleet. Makes for fun driving. Not that anybody in this town can drive anyway! This was Erin's first snow ever and Ryan's first since he was about six months old (which he can't remember anyway) so they were pretty excited. Ok, not as excited as their mother, but still pretty excited.

Here they all are making a snowman. It was tough work since the snow didn't really want to stick but they finally got it all together.










I'm glad I got the picture of it since this morning someone knocked it down and swiped the scarf and hat. While they were out there freezing anyway Laura talked Ryan into making a snow-angel. It turned out much better than the picture did. Ryan was happy to be out in the snow and now that the snow is melting he is having ever so much fun playing in the slush!

Ok, believe it or not, there are things we need to do in the garden during December. Me, I mostly like to sit by the fire and read plant catalogs, but there is work to do.



December
* Continue mowing cool-season lawns on a regular basis.
* Remove leaves from cool-season grasses or mow with
a mulching mower.
*Continue to control broadleaf weeds in well established
warm or cool-season lawns with a post-emergent broadleaf
weed killer.
* If soil is dry, irrigate all plantings at least 24 hours before
hard-freezing weather.
* Review the years schedule and make plans for next
years improvements.