More Thanksgiving Day Photos

Papa catches the last of the great-grandkids to hand out the traditional
twenty dollar bills from him for Christmas.

The Beach Bunch
Cortny, Diane, Kelly, Carter, and Jordan

Jake & Andrew (second cousins) are a pair - they enjoy the time playing outside together.

In the early evening everyone here either went home or ventured outside and Rudy, Nathan, and I were left alone. Since I can't lift anything heavier than a gallon of milk, I had to call Rudy away from the computer to get Nathan.....he (Nate not Rudy) was crying. Anyway, Rudy just took Nathan to the computer with him and you can see that the baby was content and captivated.

Our son and family
Christy, Rudy, Gillan and Gracie

Lexi and Gracie are 2nd cousins, but we all see a resemblance in the two. They both have beautiful blue eyes. They are close to the same age and have so much fun together.

The Littlefields
Roger, Kasey, Jake, Lexi, and Will

Papa, age 90 and his eleven great-grandkids
Four girls and seven boys
Ages - 2 months to 19 years

Thanksgiving Reflections and Leftovers

I know, Thanksgiving is over and I have moved on with a new Christmas layout ....Katie's selection and I like it. I still have not discussed my "back" situation much here, and I will be brief about it. I had surgery to correct my problem of deteriorated vertebrae (L4-L5) and a bulging disc November 19th. I just wanted to be in bed for about five days, but I am now doing much better. However, I have to continue to wear the back brace and basically do NOTHING, and GO NO WHERE.......not what I was wired to do. Anyway, this too shall pass. We had all of my side of the family for Thanksgiving and it just could not have happened without everyone being so helpful. I can't thank you enough family for all you did. I think everyone had a good time. I know the children especially enjoyed being together.....I will post more on that later.

I was able to help Katie a little on Wednesday as we started the food preparation...she did most of it...I was just there to cheer her on. Below, is the beginning of one of our traditional dishes....Hominy Casserole.

This is Katie, a.k.a. Martha Stewart's 1st Roasted Turkey
Beautiful job!

Rudy had the honor of carving the turkey..hum, he might not have seen it as such.

You were very helpful too, Rudy. My daughter-in-law Christy did so much and is still here continuing to clean, cook, and care for the kids, etc., etc. -- Thank you so much Christy, I love you and appreciate you. My sister/brother-in-law, daughter-in-law, nieces and great nieces all brought additional favorite dishes and did clean up and more. Once again, thank you all. I am blessed and thankful for each one of you. For the first time in my adult life, I sat in a chair and watched them work......oh, I am so not used to doing that. They did a perfect job of everything and this house and the world will continue to work without my input...shocking revelation! Oh, didn't I mention leftovers in the title of this post? Yes, .....we do still have plenty of them.

Sulphur Springs City Championship Winner

There was excitement in Sulphur Springs yesterday. The team of girls who Rudy coaches won the City Championship in Soccer! Our girl Gracie in the center front row (white shirt) pictured below had a great deal to do with the win. Go Gracie! I am sure the coach was a great part of it too! Okay, so maybe the other girls helped some too...does that sound at all prejudice? Posted above is the opposing team showing their enthusiasm or lack their of. Kids sports are tough.

Gillan & Gracie sporting the trophies

Third Post Today - WOW!

I was all set today to take several pictures of Nathan, because it was the first day I have seen him smiling so much......he is starting to make those cooing "baby talk" sounds....love it. This is the only picture I was able to get, because for the first time my camera battery went totally dead and would not do a thing. I am charged up and running again with the camera. I am so anxious for Thanksgiving when I can see all of the grandkids....be ready for pictures kids. Even though in pain, I am trying to enjoy every minute before my back surgery. If you didn't know about that....(I have not wanted to spoil this blog with those details), but I will probably address it some here tomorrow. I have struggled with discouragement and the blog is an uplifter (is that a word) for me.

P.S. - Nathan was 7 weeks old Thursday.

Checking Things Outside

Yesterday, I spent some time with Josh. He did his desk work for school and then he read to me. He is an amazing reader. We were needing a "little break" as he calls it.....so we went outside and I showed him the bird nest below. We had a real chuckle about the colorful silk flower pedals weaved into the nest...the nest seems to be abandoned...no eggs, no birds found.

We checked out the green house next and then on to the front to see the little flowers that came up voluntary from the pot I had on the porch... he had just been reading about seeds, seedling, sprouts, etc.........and how a seed becomes a plant...seemed timely and appropriate to advance the lesson.

It was chilly out, but we still enjoyed the sunshine and our talk. He teaches me a lot, or at least reminds me of things learned but long forgotten. Josh has grown up so much and he is really a sweet kid.

Catching Up

I just downloaded a few pictures from my camera. I wanted to share some of them tonight. I guess this one is self-explanatory. Our Daddy is amazing. He has lived a life of excesses....alcohol, tobacco, everything fried in "grease".......he even adds grease to his sausage...can you imagine?.....he has NO major health problems... of course, he does not get around as well as he used to, and he has some arthritis and the usual aches and pains, but all in all he has been pretty healthy. He always worked hard and provided for our family. He continues to live alone and still drives. How many people can do that at "90"?

He still takes a pretty good picture too!

Oh So Good ....Chocolate Chip Pecan Pie

I thought I would add this easy pie recipe. It is so good and would even be a great dessert to follow the soup listed in the previous post. This pie is very sweet and rich....made one today!

Make a Smilebox recipe

Ahhh.....Soup Weather!

My good friend Sandy just called and requested this recipe. I thought I would just post it here...thinking others might enjoy this great fall/winter soup, as well.

*NOTE: Just in case you viewed this recipe earlier....I failed to list the one can of cream of chicken soup to the recipe..........I hope your soup was still good if you made it without it....so sorry. I have wondered if people leave out ingredients so that others will not make it as well as they do.....but, I promise it was an honest mistake.

Make a Smilebox recipe

Punkin' Time

I have a couple of cutie "Chunky Monkey" Pumpkin doll baby pictures too. Do you believe those little fat cheeks? Of course, you know I mean that chunky monkey thing in the most loving way.

I couldn't keep from taking Katie's picture while she was taking Nathan's picture outside the window.