I'm home!
It was a good vacation despite everyone being sick. We all have colds, strep throat or pink eye. Take your pick.

But my kids are not big complainers so they continued on with the fun. Thank heavens for a pediatrician who will call in a prescription cross country for you and a walk-in clinic who accepts your insurance!

I was hoping to keep the illness at bay for myself and Jon but it finally caught up to us. We drove all night to make it home on Friday but a string of bad weather and not feeling well forced us to stop early. We arrived home around 5 pm on Saturday and I found out that I was scheduled to work so I was able to get in a quick nap before I headed in at 10 pm. It made for a long night so I was thankful to meet my nice, warm fluffy bed this morning.

We had many memorable moments, side-splitting laughter and all-around thankfulness for family. Of course, no vacation is complete without a little shopping so I have some treasures to share this week.

I also saw the cutest thing ever that I will be sharing with you. If you have a pet, ever had a pet, are an animal lover or just like seeing something clever, cute and original - it's a MUST see. Stay tuned.

Now I am going to take two aspirin and will call you in the morning.

Have a great Sunday!
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Driving in the Smoky Mtns

Took the back roads and missed the traffic jam. Jon recalculated his "internal GPS."

(A joke between us.)

The cabin

Trae and I at the Aquarium while everyone else skied.

(a large fish had just swam by and he was shocked!)

At the trail ride where we all got free hats.

The only evidence I was on the ride.
My horse was the second from the right. Trae rode with me.

Welcome to Texas - entering the Hill country





Got a new necklace


Kids' waffles at the hotel



Funny sign in Johnson city - nearly 3 dozen sold.
(Johnson city is also the home of Lyndon B.)


Saying good-bye to grandpa in Kerrville, TX

Rest stop crazy


pictures sooc - straight out of the camera

Going here

Stopping here in Dallas on the way home. Yee-haw!

Tales from the road

We're enjoying the sunny weather here in the Lone Star State.

We arrived just in time to be on the fringe of that bad band of weather in Arkansas. At one point our visibility was just about 2 feet and the wind was blowing the rain sideways. It was like those storms in movies that you think are a little unrealistic. The kind where the person goes out in the storm to check on something they heard and you are thinking, why do they do that?? Like that, only we were driving.

A little scary for 3 am on the interstate in the middle of no where. All was well though.

We've been visiting with Jon's dad and he's taken us out to all kinds of good food including real Mexican food just the way my grandma made. I have not done P90 X all week and I can feel it. I was doing so well too!
But it has been great to see him and we get to see Jon's mom for a few minutes each day. She tires easily so our moments with her are precious. That has been emotional but sweet at the same time.

I'll expound on that as soon as I formulate my thoughts. It needs its own post.

We nixed driving up to Austin to visit other family because 3 kids are sick so we are resting tonight. Tomorrow I'll stop by Comfort, TX which is the greatest antiquing town and see what I find. We did bring a trailer after all! While in Tennessee, I stopped by a flea market and bought a couple of things - a vintage pyrex bowl in sunny yellow, a shop trouble light that I am going to test my rewiring skills on - that should be interesting.

I was stopped about 6 times by men wondering what it was since part of it was visible in my tote bag. They all liked it and said the same thing - I should rewire it and sell it to a garage. One even showed me how easy it would be to fix. Their approval reconfirmed that I knew it was cool. Not that I need anyone's approval but sometimes when people question your taste, you begin to question it -human nature I guess.

That's all for now...I'll be home soon but am still enjoying this 78 degree weather!

Road trip fun

I'll be blogging intermittently from the road for the next little while. We're enjoying a little time away as a family. We're breaking up a long road trip by staying in Gatlinburg, TN. for a few days up in the Smokey mountains. I think it is a well-kept secret. What a beautiful little town with friendly people.

Right now I am sitting in a warm and cozy cabin. The fire is crackling and my dog is curled up on the couch. She was out of sorts for a few days but has claimed a comfy spot so all is right in her world again.

Jon and the kids are in the hot tub relaxing their sore muscles after a day of skiing and snowboarding. I think Blair is hooked. She did a great job and only skied with Jon once. The rest of the time she went down the hill all by herself, beaming from ear to ear. Her instructor said she was the most mature 5 year-old she has ever taught. That made me more happy than her ability to ski.

While they were out, Trae and I enjoyed a day at the aquarium. He bought a toy laser gun and "shot" at the fish and got up close and personal to some penguins.

Today we are heading out to explore a few more places and then we'll be on the road tomorrow. We're exchanging ski gear for swim gear as we head into the Lone Star state to visit Jon's parents and hopefully I'll get to see my mom's family as well. There will be plenty of real Mexican food to enjoy and some real barbecue. It only happens once every couple of years so indulging isn't so bad.

I'll be back soon with scenes from San Antonio and maybe an antique shop or two along the way.

Enjoy the weekend!

*all pictures are SOOC - straight out of the camera

Winter's last hurrah

Last night just as I was heading out the door to go to a friend's house, Jon remarked that he received a text message from Belen's basketball team captain saying they would have their donut breakfast if there wasn't a 2 hour delay. A two-hour delay? I had no idea.

As I walked down the steps outside, I felt a snowflake on my face. I looked up and determined, yep - those were snow clouds. As I was making my way home there was a dusting of snow on the ground.

I paid no attention to the news yesterday since the kids were out of school and the tv was dominated by Nickelodeon. I don't watch much daytime tv anyway except for Nate.

So as I awoke to another Winter wonderland this morning, I had to question Punxsutawney Phil's eyesight. He is 125 years old after all.
I went to his website to see how accurate he has been over the years and they say he's been 100% right.
Sounds like groundhog propaganda to me.

Oh well, at least it looks pretty again for a moment. And it feels like a good day to relax with some chamomile tea and dream of warmer climates.
Anybody up for Hawaii or a cruise to the Bahamas?

Pictures from a youth dance

A month ago I was asked to take pictures for our church's Formal youth dance. I thought about what to do for them but determined that the best photos for teenagers would be something free form and not the staged backdrop type that I had at school dances.

Then I thought maybe I should have something and threw some ideas around in my head. But then I went back to my original thought. Those first thoughts are usually the right ones.
Maybe next time we'll look at a full backdrop but last night we took pictures "photo booth style" and let them dictate how their pictures would look. I brought a few things just for kicks and let them have fun. But it was I who had the fun. My spirit was renewed and I felt energetic. Being around teen-agers can do that to you.

Usually they stand for the pictures but I took my vintage couch as an option. Every single one of them opted to sit on the couch and some even dove on their friends who were sitting there. It's "springy-ness" surprised everyone which made them almost fall off and laugh right away so we were off to a good start.

They wanted hard copies so in between photos and dancing, we ran to Rite-Aid and printed off 100 pictures. I made it there just in time and when I returned to the dance, a crowd of kids were waiting. I loved hearing their laughter as they sifted through the pile of pictures. And then more kids came running in so we did another round.
100 down, 340 to go!

Here are a few -

Platter person

Today as I was doing a little cabinet reorganization, I pulled out all of my platters. There was a time when I never had enough serving pieces which resulted in me setting the table with cooking pans that were functional but not pretty. Some handles were loose and lids didn't fit. I don't like the look of pots and pans on the table. It's just too chaotic with handles sticking out every which way.

So I decided to get some more platters and got hooked on them. I put everything on 'em, from simple cinnamon toast for the kids to a heap of Chicken fettuccine Alfredo. Everything looks better on a platter.

It takes a little more work on my part to wash a few more dishes but it's worth the extra effort to make an otherwise ordinary meal a little less so.

Everytime I take them to a function of some sort, I am asked where I got them. So in case you're interested, I have all that info. You'd be surprised at some of the deals.

1. Lenox Butler's Pantry large rectangular platter- gift

(This line is a little spendy so it's taken me a while to gather.)

2. White, modern, clean lines, Wal-Mart - $9.00

3. Vintage, antique shop - $20.00 (It was a bit overpriced but I really wanted it.)

Good price, nice size.

All purchased from the thrift shop

Ironstone platters

1. .99 cents

2. $1.99

3. $3.99

4. Large wicker tray - $1.99

When I spied these large, heavy and insanely priced platters at the thrift store,

I immediately thought of this movie scene and inserted the words " a perfectly good white platter" haha...

Two of each

1. Lenox Butler's Pantry, dept. store

(I think this is the small platter and has since been redesigned.

It is also more expensive now go figure..)

In 2005, they were $40.00.

2. Marshall's - $7.99

3. Salvation Army thrift store - $2.99

As you can tell, I'm not opposed to looking at the thrift shop before I head to the department store or other retail store. I've had a little luck with it. So try that route first if you are in the market for some new platters and enjoy!