Baking Extravaganza

I cant believe that Christmas is already here! Whitney and I having been baking up a storm over the past three days. We are headed to Smithville to spend Christmas with my side of the family. I think I heard that there will be 38 people there!! Whew! I think there are plenty of goodies to go around. Ray's about to get the chex mix finished and then we'll be loading up the car and getting on the road! God's blessings and safe travels to everyone!

Sausage Cheese Bites:

Bakerella's Cake Pops:



Cream Cheese Cookies:


Sugar Cookies:


Whitney and Ben decorating

Merry Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Time to do the Baking!!!

I think Whitney and I pretty much finished our Christmas shopping today! Yay!!! I'm sure we'll think of a few more things we need to run to Target for, but it sure is a good feeling to kind of be finished! Now it's time to get busy in the kitchen!

First I'm going to make sausage/cheese balls. It's one of the things Mom always made. They're really yummy, and the recipe makes a ton so I don't have to worry that we'll eat them up before we head out of town for the big day! Next I'll do some cream cheese cookies. Have you ever had anything with cream cheese in it that was not delicious? Lynn gave me this recipe years ago, and last year I discovered the dough was a pretty good consistency to go in the cookie press. So now I add a few drops of green food coloring and start shooting Christmas trees onto the cookie sheet! Makes a lot and they're really good with a cup of coffee! Then we'll make a batch of chex mix! Ray likes to use his mom's recipe and most years he makes it! His annual cooking event. Ha! It doesn't hurt that it's his favorite snack either! I usually save the sugar cookies for last because they are the ones we have the most trouble not eating up as quick as we can! Whitney has turned into a gourmet chef. She amazes me in the kitchen, and loves to cook. She has some really cute cake pops picked out to make! Here we go! Recipes to come!

Next month we'll work on diet plans!

We Wish you a Merry Christmas!!!

Maybe we'll dine in here. Usually Pokey is the only one who brings her food in this room!

The living room. A good spot to read by the fire. Nana you need to come back, your chair is waiting!

The big tree. Tried to copy a tree I found on Traditional Homes.com.

Whitney helped me do the snowman room when she was home. My little girl has turned into Martha Stewart.

God bless you with a Merry Christmas, a Happy New Year, and remind you of the hope we have Him!

Hello Again!

Wow! It's been a long time since I sat down to write a blog! I still read yours tho! I love to read them, even tho most of us spend way more time connecting on facebook these days. It's fun to follow my nieces and nephews. To see what great parents they are, and watch their kiddos grow up! I get inspired to read how many of you walk thru hard times with such a strong faith, and how God carries you! It's fun to read the decorating blogs and see how people decorate their homes - something I've always loved to attempt even tho I'm a little hit and miss in my own efforts. Its always fun to run across a new blog!

I think one of the main reasons I haven't updated in so long is because I really felt like it needed to be an amazing tribute to my Daddy. My precious daddy passed away shortly after I wrote my last blog. I never felt like I could write a tribute to do him justice, (it's not possible!) and to find the words to try always made me realize how much I missed him. My blogging kinda froze, so now I am going to attempt to revive it. It might be a little tear-stained if it were on paper, and I hope if anyone reads it, it will not make them sad but only grateful for the love God allows us to share while we are on this earth. A love that will only be sweeter in eternity!

Daddy was almost 87. He was on a ladder when he fell. High on a ladder. Why? Because he saw a job that needed to be done. My daddy never saw a job that needed to be done that he didn't feel like he should take it on himself to get it done. He lived by that philosophy. It was a mission that often caused those of us who loved him to worry. It took him into bad neighborhoods, to prisons, to help hundreds of people we won't know this side of heaven that he helped. We won't be surprised. It was his life. It was the Spirit of Christ living in him. He didn't know what it meant to retire. He retired from a 21 year military career, one that spanned thru 4 wars, lots of moves, many awards and promotions, always done with the strength and dignity that he modeled for us. That retirement led him to career number two. He went back to school (ACU) for 4 years and got his teaching degree. Summa cum laude of course. With three little girls and a wife to provide for, which as an adult I find amazing. They did it with such grace that I didn't realize when I was young what an amazing feat it was. I say they, because he couldn't have done it without my mom's full time help and support. She worked at ACU to provide for his tuition, came home in the evening to take care of her babies, and after we were fast asleep she sat up and typed his papers while he went to work at his night job at Gibsons Department Store. If you knew my Dad, you know those papers had to be typed to perfection, in a day before computers made it as easy as a backspace! How did they do that? They did it in such a way that the years we lived in Abilene were some of the favorite years of my childhood. Only as a parent did I come to realize how hard it must've been! Then the teaching years began, with a move to Smithville and I think 15 or so years teaching high school there. Yes, he taught while we attended there. Usually that was a good thing, and it certainly made me try a little harder to stay out of trouble and be on good terms with my teachers! He started the distributive education program there, and later switched to teaching special ed. He helped and encouraged a lot of students that others would've given up on. He always felt rewarded with each step they took towards being able to lead the most independent lives possible. I know he also took their struggles to heart. He had a weakness for caring too much!!! I think that was also one of his greatest strengths! Retiring from teaching only led him to find a new career! He did not believe in retiring to sit on his laurels! He spent the next phase of his working years as a baliff for Bastrop county. I think he loved that job as much or more than any of his previous ones. Loved serving, loved the people he worked with, loved still being able to work which he continued until he was 85! I would have to say that he had a fourth career as an elder in the church in Smithville. He served in that role for over 40 years. He carried burdens and made difficult decisions. He made sure odd jobs around the "church-house" were taken care of which is what he was doing when he fell. Changing the filters in the churches air conditioner. I can't think of anything he would've rather been doing than serving at church. He reached out to families in crisis that we won't know about because he kept their confidences. There were usually only two elders because the church is small. That means the weightiness of that job was not carried by very many. But God helped him. Anytime you went in to tell him goodnight he would be reading his bible, or having already read it it would still be laying on top of him. He knew where his strength came from, and taught us where ours comes from as well. He was an inspirational man of God! He lived a life to be honored and modeled.

One of my favorite things about him, and one of the things I miss the most, was his humor. He was the funniest person ever. Some people might be surprised by this, I think he often saved it for those he was closest to. He had a comeback or a one liner for everything! I wish we could remember them all, but the ones we do remember always make us smile! He always reminded me of a Christian version of Johnny Carson. He never lost his sharp wit!

I am grateful to God for the sweet Christian parents He gave me. Momma, I'm sorry if this made you cry! Love you and I know that you miss him more than anyone! You are the best wife and mother God ever made!

If he was here to proof read this, he would be embarrassed that I would think about publishing it. But for sure it would have more than a few red circles on mistakes that needed to be corrected. Wish I didn't have to settle for spell check! I love you Daddy! I am so thankful to know that our separation is a temporary one!

I will try to do better on my blogging now! Maybe get a few in before the pictures are of Whitney's college graduation!

Graduating...

This was actually at bacculeareate. So glad I took it because my camera conked out at graduation! It's had a busy year! Looking for a good camera repair shop!
Here are some other graduates! Kyle with his masters & Sam from the nursery!
They came to celebrate this night with the Whit, tho!

My babies! Matt ran upstairs to his office & let us borrow the camera he uses for his work at church. Yea for a few pictures after all!

Jack & Aunt Whitney! He'll be wearing one of these before you know it! He's going to be getting ready for pre-K for now, tho!

The family!

We had a full weekend! Graduation was followed by her class's project graduation. They had so much fun spending the night at Texas Motor Speedway, even getting to ride a few laps in a speedway car going about 120 mph! Don't worry, the pro's that work there were at the wheel. The rest of the night was all games & prizes. They had so much fun!

Almost Summer!

Senior Sunday

Richland Prom
Why are these so little???

Will the water ever get warm enough???

Sweet Sam, running the bubble mower over the concrete!

Such a helper!

Can't believe there are only a few more days of school! We've had a busy, busy spring! Whitney will graduate on the 29th! May is a busy time for seniors! Proms, parties, banquets, awards assemblies, bacculareate, graduation, project graduation.... Fun, but busy! Not to mention her senior scrapbook presentation & ring turning ceremony in less than a week! I'm learning to be a pretty fast scrapbooker!

Kyle completed his master's degree & is currently on the job hunt! We are so proud of him. He could teach us all a lesson in perseverence! God has great plans for him!

Matt & Christine & the boys got to go on a wonderful vacation with some of their best friends to Destin, Florida. They had a great time. So thankful Tine has been feeling better & so thankful for such sweet friends to share their vacation with! We love the Critz family! 

Mom is doing great after having open heart surgery on April 7, her 85th birthday! They were able to successfully repair a valve. It hasn't been an easy recovery, but she is amazing me with her progress! Thanks to all who sent up a prayer for her! We are thankful! She's quite a lady & I'm proud & thankful she's my mom! Dad's been a pretty good trooper too!

Praying...

I've been so blessed this semester by a ladies Bible study at church called "Live a Praying Life". It really stresses that our prayers have power when they are from the heart of God. There's no manipulating God with a formula, but when our prayers come from His heart we have it right. Wow. Doesn't that seem like common sense, but for 50 years I've just been praying my heart & thoughts thinking that praying was my talking to Him, and reading the Bible was the main way He talks to me. I hadn't really realized that He might have a prayer that He wants to put on my heart. It is a communing thing, and I'm really remedial!!! I've often been guilty of throwing my will out there first, and then saying half-heartedly "If it's Your will". This study has really been a blessing to me, and helped me grow a little more in my understanding of the importance of prayer. I haven't explained it very well, but if your looking for a Bible study to do, check it out. It's always better with a group, but very doable on your own as well.

My prayer list is long at the present. In fact, I'm beginning to feel a little like we are the bullseye of a target. Satan is attacking. Yes, there's a battle going on. But greater is He who is in us then he who is in the world! (I John 4:4) So my prayers are for God to bless & protect His children. I know His children are always on His heart & He never stops working in us, through us & on us! So I'm praying for our sweet Christine, today being two full weeks in the hospital. Yuck. Four white walls, an ipod, a tv & long days of feeling crummy & missing the people she wants to be home with. My precious, precious, precious Mom struggling with heart problems, recovering from a heart attack we didn't even know she had had & going in for a cath on Thursday. Sweet Sharon, who's my favorite "chemo diva" and an inspiration of how to go through trials praising God all the say. I've always looked up to her, and now am truly amazed by her. Rick & Amy and your sweet girls. If you read this, I hope you know I think you're amazing. I love your humor and your faith. The sick list of family, friends, and church family has never been so long . So many struggling in other ways, too. Jobs, finances, family... Life.... You are all on my heart. But more importantly, you are on God's heart. So, if your faith has gone out for a test-drive, hang on. Things are happening that we don't yet see, and in faith we can be certain of what we don't yet see. (Heb. 11:1)

Sorry to be all preachy. Well, I'm really not. But I am praying HARD!

Spring Breakin'

Gotta love Ashley Allen Photography

The Lady Cards grand finale!

We are already over half way through with spring break. Whitney & I spent Tuesday doing some marathon shopping looking for & finally finding a prom dress. My feet are honestly still throbbing! Today she is off to Abilene with Elliott & his family checking out ACU & taking the ACT test they offer there. They will have lots of fun, & I can't believe in 5 months they will be there for school! Wow, that just doesn't seem at all possible.

We are enjoying life after basketball! It seems like that is pretty much all we did for a few months! The Lady Cards made it all the way to the final four. Whitney played her last game with a pretty bad case of the flu. I was so worried about her, but what do you do when it's your senior year & you get to go to the state tournament. She wasn't about to miss it! She spent a few days in bed after that & got well just in time to go with her senior class on their trip to Disney World! They had so much fun!

Kyle was home for a few days last week for his spring break. He will graduate in May with his masters, & still hoping to get a job teaching in Japan. If not, he'll be doing some serious job searching this summer, & maybe we'll get to have him a little closer by! We are just praying & trusting God to put him in the place where he should be!

Christine is still having lots of health struggles. In fact, as I write this she has been in the hospital for a few days. Keep her, Matt, & the boys in your prayers. And pray for Giggi to have a big burst of energy to keep up with two little sparks of energy! I try to just have fun with them when I have them (they are easy to have fun with!) and don't really attempt to accomplish much else. That's one of those things you finally figure out when you're the grandma. Also, I know they really want their Mommy & Daddy & home and wouldn't do anything to rock their boat! OK, yes, they have things going their way here. But I give them credit because they are such little troopers & just adjust to whatever we need them to do. I hate that Christine & Matt have had this seemingly long, drawn out health battle to deal with, but have also been blessed by the many ways the Lord has carried them along. What seems long & overwhelming to us is just a blink in relation to eternity. So we press on & we trust that God will provide all of our needs, just as He promises in His Word.

Be blessed!

On The Road Again

Pregame -" Oh Say Can You See" -- it's a little blurry but these are our girls!

Whitney warming up.

Giggi's cooking baking helpers - yummy!

Sam can play ball & bake cookies at the same time. So talented.

Fresh out of the bathtub in their super jammies -
Sam loves to yank Jack's cape off & go running! I don't think

he's going to get it this time!

I've covered a few miles since my last post. I finally made it down to Smithville to spend a few days with my mom & dad, and am so thankful that they are doing much better! It was great to see them and all the family down there. I made it back just in time to see Whitney and the Lady Cards win their 2nd playoff game against Trinity Cedar Hill. After a quiet weekend, Matt woke me up around 4 am Monday as he was on his way to take Christine to the ER and was dropping the boys by. She ended up spending the week in the hospital, but got to go home Saturday night. Please keep her in your prayers! I had my sweet little grandsons for the week, and we had a lot of fun. Busy, busy, busy! Their Aunt Emily picked them up for the weekend, and Ray & I headed to San Antonio for the regional playoff game. The Lady Cards beat Brentwood Christian School, and next will play in the state tournament this next weekend. They will play Liberty again (our third match up this year!) on Friday night, and the winner of that game will play in the State Championship game Saturday. Go Lady Cardinals! I'm so proud of our girls, how hard they've worked, how far they've come this season, and the great team spirit and attitude they've shown this year. No one has tried to be the stand out & they have worked together like a team is supposed to, and that's made all the difference. It's been fun, and this weekend it will all wrap up. I'm proud they have made it to the final four no matter what happens next. Go Cards!

Pressing On...

Senior night ~

Mom, take the flower.

Super stressful game!


Jack knows whats fun about a ballgame.

Sam just wants the basketball!

The last week has been quite a roller coaster ride! As you can see, we've spent a lot of time watching Whitney and the Lady Cards play some basketball. Since one of our games last week was postponed because of icy roads, we ended up playing Friday night, Saturday afternoon, Monday night, Tuesday night, & will play our last district game tomorrow night! Whew! We lost to Lubbock by one point! But then we turned around and beat Liberty (who was undefeated in district) by one point. Honestly, I didn't know we had won until I managed to pry one eye open and see our girls jumping up a down! Next, we beat Southwest Christian by four points! We have to play Liberty again tomorrow night. If we win, there will by a three way tie for first place, and if we lose I think we will either be 2nd or 3rd. Either way, that means we will move on to playoffs. It's been way too exciting for me!

While I watch all this excitement unfold, my heart is in Smithville where my mom has been in and out of the hospital a couple of times recently with complications related to her congestive heart failure. I am planning to get down there soon & love on her a little bit. If you're reading this, please say a little prayer for her! I am so thankful for my sister, Lynn who lives nearby & takes such good care of things & assures me I'm where I need to be right now. And for my other sister, Jody who gets a sub for her kindergartner's and heads that way to help out. But still, I just can't wait to get there myself! I could not be more thankful for my family! I am blessed beyond measure from one generation to the next!

To add to the excitement I've been having a few dental problems. The dentist thinks I may be getting TMJ. "Have you been clinching your teeth a lot?" Well, as a matter of fact... maybe just a little! I hope our next exciting adventure is a vacation!

Time is Flying!

It's hard to believe that Whitney's senior year is already over half over! I'm happy to say that I have officially begun her senior scrapbook, have finished 5 or 6 pages, and sorted through a ton of pictures! What a trip down memory lane! We've all changed a bit in her 18 years! Too bad I don't have a scanner, or I would share a few of those with you! I have a few more months to get it all together, and may have to plan a scrapbook trip with some of the other senior moms. I think that would be a fun way to get it done! After basketball season is over!

The Lady Cardinals are currently 6 wins, 1 loss in district play. This next week we'll have 3 home games, and two of them are really hard! Little stress! Say a little prayer that they'll do their best and not get hurt! I'm telling you this game gets rough! After that we'll have just a couple of away games and the regular season will be over. We'll see what happens next! They have worked so hard! It is so hard to believe that after all these years at the Cardinal gym, this will be our last week to have a child playing in it! Hope it ends on a high note! I'll keep all of my 3 readers posted!

Tagged

My dear friend Mindy tagged me, so here it goes:

4 things I did yesterday - Lots of laundry (almost got to the bottom of it!), worked on getting my house back to its non-holiday look (why can't I remember where things were before?), cleaned my utility room good (can you tell I have an exciting life?), Jack & Sam came over for a little while (the best way way to liven things up!).

4 things on my wish list - to do better this year with those big priorities (time with God, family, better care of ourselves, yeah, yeah....but really, I mean it!), to see my kids & grand kids grow in the Lord, and to be happy, healthy, safe, and watch their hopes & dreams come true (is that too much to expect?), scrapbook lovers to come to my aid (yes, I have a senior & a May deadline!), to enjoy this last Pinson child playing Cardinal's basketball & quit wringing my hands over it (why is this so stressful?).

4 favorite restaurants - El Rancho Grande, La Hacienda Ranch, Reposados, & I still love good old El Chico's. Could this have anything to do with my cholesterol? At least guacamole has some good cholesterol to add to the mix! These are 4 reasons those resolutions are so hard to keep! These and chocolate. I feel sabatoged.

4 favorite TV shows - I am an HGTV addict so I will count that as one huge show that could easily wreck your whole day, there's nothing better in the morning than the Today show & a big cup of coffee or two, The Office is always good for a laugh, and I'm ashamed to admit how many times a day I watch the news. Why? I can't explain it. I'm boring but I can't think of any more shows I'm that sure to watch.

4 people I tag - Heather, Ashley A., Ashley B., Allison. You go girls!

Merry, Merry Christmas!

Four generations of Christmas under one roof!
Macy

Reid, Riley, & Nana

Jaxon

Jenna & Reese

Avery & Macy

Brooks

Jack - the incredible hulk

Jaxon & Sam, very interested in each other's stuff!

Eyes on the ball, Sam!

Jack, finally got his light sabers!

Tine & Sam

Kyle - with our high fivin' snowmen.

Here are a few photos for my family and friends of our fun and crazy Christmas. I'm not even sure how many of us were there, but for sure a house full (a couple of house fulls and 4 rooms at the bed and breakfast to be exact!). Everyone was able to be there, including our fabulous five, now one year olds! I got a picture of each of them, but we gave up getting them all in one picture at the same time!!! They were a little busy for that! Santa was good to all the kiddos, but mostly the good Lord has given us all soooo much to be thankful for! We had a blessed Christmas and hope you did, too!