New Year's Eve!

How did you spend New Year's Eve? Bob, Ashley, Eric and I headed to downtown Columbia to eat at Sake's, a local sushi favorite. We love their Big O roll, which is tempura fried and has cream cheese in it, what's not to like? Afterwards, we headed to the Rag Tag Theater to watch Milk starring Sean Penn. An incredible movie! We are finishing up the evening playing games, watching the ball drop in New York and eating some snacks! Hope you are having a wonderful evening!

Mizzou Won!

Missouri beat Northwestern in the Alamo Bowl 30-23 in overtime. It was a nailbiting experience, for sure! We participated in an Alamo Bowl Watch Party at the University Club where we are members. We enjoyed a bottle of wine and a bottle of champagne from our wine cellar there. The Club provided chili, brats, macaroni and cheese, cole slaw, potato salad and Tiger Stripe Ice Cream. There were door prizes (which we did not win) and little souvenirs given out. It was a lot of fun!

A Year in Review 2008

from left to right, Ashley's wedding, Kansas City at Christmas, Bob and Terri, Missouri wins a bowl game! second row, Christmas, my 50th birthday, Bob and Terri, two new puppies! third row, a newly painted door, family reunions, our summer herb garden

Christmas Cards

(from my friend Zoe in St Louis--a Performing Arts card with 3D jewels on it!) I absolutely love Christmas cards. I love sending them and receiving them. I save them, too, to use in my scrapbooking and card making. Here are some of my favorites from 2008 (excluding photo cards, which are my all time favorites!) (from my friend Tammy in California... this is a Carol Wilson card. It is a cut out card, a craft that has been lost lately) The card below is a handmade card by my friend Linda. I didn't get many of these this year but I adore the paper selection and the sleigh stamp. This card is from my friend Jenny in Arizona. It is a Carlton Card, with a real ribbon and 3D embellishment across the ribbon. This card is so beautiful in person! It is from my friend Denise and is a Brother and Sister Card out of Oklahoma City. It is 3D all over. This Lang card is from my friend Marion who lives in Maine. I love Lang's work and this artist, Susan Winget, is very good.

Is it really over?

Today Bob got up early to take advantage of some after Christmas specials. He came home disappointed, though. We headed into Columbia to meet up with Ashley and take a printer to her that was too big for her car. We shopped at Macy's, who did have good sales, and we had lunch at a local favorite, Booches . They have won Columbia's Best Burger for ages.

Merry Christmas to All!

It's Christmas Eve!

(last year's photo, with Dakota, our Westie that passed away last spring) Now, how did THAT happen? Doesn't it seem like we were eating Thanksgiving just last week?? On Christmas Eve we have a tradition of attending our church services, then coming home to watch a Christmas movie, eat "snacks", and play a Christmas game. We have the Santa bag to open, that Santa leaves under the tree downstairs, that will have our game and our new Christmas pajamas in. We track Santa on the computer, and make calls to our family and friends. Everyone got to choose one snack and one sweet to have on the table downstairs: I chose shrimp cocktail and sugar cookies, Ashley wants bruschetta and chocolate fondue, Eric chose quesadillas and brownies and Bob chose humus, sausage and cheese and no sweets. Quite the assortment! I hope each of you has a wonderful day! God's blessings to all!

Winter Landscape

Winter has us held tightly in her icy grip here in Missouri. When we went to north Missouri this weekend, here is what waited for us. It had snowed, then iced over, creating this glossy winter landscape. If you squint, look to the left, and then kinda glaze your eyes over, you can see the "shiny" slick snow, which is what motivated me to take these photos in the first place!

Busy Weekend!

Like most of you, we had a busy weekend! Jeanne' graduated from Columbia College on Saturday and then we celebrated with lunch at Ski Hi afterwards. We headed back to JC to finish up our packing for Sunday, when we would be heading to Marceline/Wein for our family Christmases. On Saturday night, though, Bob, Eric, Ashley and I all packed into the car to look at the Christmas lights. This is an annual event. We had dinner at Prison Brews and then toured JC with Christmas cookies to munch on. It is always a nightmare to plan the trip but this year we had Eric's Google maps to guide us. We headed to north Missouri early on Sunday. We started Christmas in Wien...by opening gifts to individuals first, then our annual themed gift exchange. This year our theme was "$25 of Dollar General". It was fun to see what people came up with. There was "A Night at Home" with cookies, hot cocoa, a throw and a game, "An Italian Dinner Party" complete wi

Sixth picture in my sixth folder...

I was tagged by Becky to do this unusual little meme. It was to find my sixth folder and to choose the sixth picture in it and post and blog about it. Here you are! So, this is a picture of a car window that was busted by a rock thrown by one of my custodians when he was mowing the grass at school. I touched the glass right after the picture and the whole thing fell out. We are to tag six people to do this... and so I would like to see... 1. Jeanne's 2. Ashley's 3. EE's 4. Kat's 5. Susan's 6. and anyone else who would like to do this!

Is there anything sweeter at Christmas than....

children singing at their school Christmas program?? Our school held theirs last night, with first grade putting on the show. The director is fabulous, keeps the programs within 30 minutes, features lots of children with singing or speaking parts and has songs for the chorus that are new and fun. This photo shows the center section of our singers. We have 80 students in the first grade this year, a smaller class than normal by at least 20 kids. Typically I hang around and talk to kids and parents but the weather was turning bad and I have a 30 minute commute home. So I skedaddled my way back to Jefferson City.

Goodie Exchange!

Aren't these adorable! I was down because my family couldn't do their annual cookie swap this year due to a variety of reasons but then one of my coworkers thought of doing one at school. This year I was able to participate in a goodie exchange at school! We called it a Goodie Exchange so that people could bring fudge, cookies, candies, etc... and I think I like it even better than our Cookie Exchange!

Trim the Tree Thursday!

Take a look at the slide show to see our dining room and living room decor!

A Winter Right Hook

(News Tribune photo) Jefferson City and most of Missouri received a winter "right hook" yesterday with about two inches of snow and under that, a half an inch of ice. In the midst of all the chaos, Jefferson City Schools called off classes. For the first time in Bob's thirty years of education, HE didn't have to go to school, but I did! Yes, California (Missouri) had school. I drove thirty some miles in terrible conditions. Now that it is over, I am grateful we had school, as we are off for two weeks anyway. I hope each of you are safe at home, warm by your fire, and sipping hot cocoa with someone you love!

A Butcher, A Baker, A Candlestick Maker

Which one do you think I was? Spritz cookies... a family favorite and so much fun to make! Gumdrop Loaf Thank you Tanya! Lemon Cranberry Tea Bread Thank you Alice! Strawberry White Chocolate Chip Cookies... Thank you Otis Spunkmeyer! Dipped Pretzel Rods... wow, you can have a ball with these things!! Tipsy Cherries Christmas Rum Cake Thank you Ree! Crock Pot Candy Thank you Aunt Patsy!