Happy New Year!

We are staying low key tonight. Just hanging around the house with our 22 year old son. We just finished playing Risk (which unfortunately, I was the first to go out - I'm the pink armies) and getting ready to watch Ratatouille. We may even get to bed before midnight! We want to be up early tomorrow to be ready for the Cotton Bowl. University of Missouri is playing University of Arkansas. Go MIZZOU! Some friends are having us over to brunch and then watch the 10:30 a.m. game -- boy that is sure early for New Year's Day!

Hope you have a wonderful 2008. I'm looking forward to this year and besides the normal exercise more, eat less, pray and read your bible more resolutions, I'm going to work at being the best Grandma ever!

100th Post!

How time flies! I need to look back over all my entries and remind myself what has been going on in my life!

For my 100th post - I give you 100 facts about me!

100. My spiritual gifts are service and exhortation.
99. I MUST check my e-mail every day.
98. I have a borderline obsession with yard sales.
97. I lived in Indiana for 10 years.
96. I wanted to be an OB nurse after I had my first child.
95. I have osteoporosis but am medicating, so hopefully my bones will get better.
94. My favorite Christmas movie is White Christmas.
93. I cannot stand the taste of artificial sweeteners.
92. I volunteer at a local hospital in the OB Unit.
91. I was very thin until about 30!
90. I have auburn colored hair but it is quickly fading to brown.
89. I pray before I go to sleep but sometimes fall asleep doing so.
88. I have an unhealthy addiction to the TV.
87. My favorite color is yellow.
86. I really like my ipod. Listening to Eagles, Carpenters, Beatles, Third Day and more
85. Is the year my second child was born.
84. I love the smell of coffee, but I don't drink it.
83. My Bath and Body Works scent is Japanese Cherry Blossom.
82. Is the year my first child was born.
81. My favorite number is 7.
80. Is the year I married.
79. The only diet soda I like is Orange Sunkist. Diet Pepsi isn't too bad.
78. Is the year I graduated High School!
77. I couldn't remember my husband's name when we first met.
76. I make lists for everything.
75. My wedding color scheme was rainbow with an emphasis on yellow.
74. I am VERY family oriented. I keep in touch with 3rd cousins and great aunts.
73. I cry easily. Sad movies, touching stories, injustices, meanness, etc.
72. I hate snakes.
71. I worked half a day my Senior year of High School.
70. I am a planner.
69. I DVR Oprah, the View, The Closer, Survivor, and the Medium.
68. I have four labs. Belle, Cocoa, Luke and Scout.
67. I walked down the aisle to “Time in a Bottle.”
66. I love sewing, crocheting and cross stitch.
65. I love the smell of gasoline.
64. I love warm weather. I could live in Hawaii for sure.
63. I was the "Most Likely to Succeed" in 8th grade.
62. I worked at two steel mills in Northwest Indiana.
61. I drive a Honda Accord.
60. Once in awhile, I watch Lifetime or Hallmark TV all day.
59. Was the year I was born.
58. I love to nap on Sunday afternoons.
57. I learned how to whistle watching the Bridge On the River Kwai and Andy Griffith.
56. I played volleyball in 7th-8th but wasn't very good!
55. Red Lobster was my first date with my husband. I dislike fish.
54. I like watching chic-flick movies when my husband is out of town.
53. I read CNN, MSNBC and Fox daily.
52. I smoked a cigarette at church camp. Never smoked again.
51. I hate being late.
50. I love to sleep in. But it is not much past 8 a.m. anymore.
49. My favorite author is Jodi Picoult.
48. I love listening to the Eagles!
47. I have a hard time going to bed. I'm a night person.
46. I love watching sport teams play that I root for.
45. I enjoy making gifts for people.
44. My husband makes me laugh. He's my best friend.
43. I love to rock a baby.
42. I miss my grandparents.
41. I was on the yearbook staff in High School.
40. I talk too much and need to listen more.
39. I like to eat chocolate chips and cookie dough.
38. I've been in every state but two (Delaware and Alaska).
37. I enjoy baking.
36. I would like to reconnect with childhood friends.
35. I hold my nose when swimming underwater!
34. My dream is to travel abroad.
33. I stink at playing Trivia Pursuit! I only get the Entertainment questions.
32. I enjoy playing cards and other games with my family and friends.
31. My memory is not what it used to be.
30. M&M's are my weakness.
29. I love to take pictures. My digital camera is great!
28. I took easy classes in High School because I was afraid of not getting A's.
27. I attended a country elementary school.
26. I'm so very proud of my children.
25. I love to go antiquing with my friends and daughter.
24. I made concert choir my Freshman year of High School.
23. Nichole Nordeman is my favorite Christian singer.
22. My feelings get hurt easily.
21. I love doing crafts. Seeing something get completed is a good thing!
20. Is how old I was when I got married.
19. Dirty Dancing is my favorite movie. No one puts Baby in the Corner!
18. I use to bite my nails but now they are long and polished.
17. I love chocolate!
16. I sang "All I Want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth" at a school program.
15. I've been married 27 years. Met my husband in college.
14. I only went one year to college. But it was a great year!
13. I am a peacemaker.
12. I am the least competitive person in my family.
11. I'm a St. Louis Cardinal fan.
10. I am the youngest child of three. The only girl.
9. I'm working on coming up with 100 goals for my life and only have 43.
8. I like sending cards to people but don't do it enough.
7. I fell and hit a coffee table when young and have a scar on my forehead.
6. Is how old I was when I was saved and baptized.
5. I was a cheerleader in 7th-8th grade!
4. I hate it when people are not respectful.
3. I'm excited about being Grandma!
2. Pregnancy was easy for me.
1. I love technology! New gadgets.

Merry Christmas

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas. Ours was busy, like many of yours, but once all the planning and preparing was done, we could sit down and enjoy the festivities.

We had our immediate family's Christmas on the Saturday before due to schedules. We traveled to our daughter's home because she is 9 months pregnant and not traveling. We had a great time, great food and fun presents. I also was able to help with getting the baby's nursery ready for her -- that was fun. One of the gifts I received was an Ipod Nano. I'm pretty excited about playing with this new toy. I've already put more than 300 songs on it and looking for more CDs to add to it. My son also got me a set of speakers so I won't have to use the earbuds all of the time.

My daughter and SIL bought me a beautiful necklace with my initial on it. I've been wanting one like this for some time. The initials are similar to the picture on the left. I don't have a picture of the actual necklace. They also gave me silver ice bucket that is very chic.

Monday, Christmas Eve, we hosted my husband's family at our house. We take turns around the family and this year was us. We had 13 family members and served brisket and turkey along with mashed potatoes and then family members brought vegetables, salad, appetizers and goodies. I prepared a punch that was very popular. I used 1 quart cranberry juice, 1 c. sugar, 2 c. orange juice, 1 c. pineapple juice, 3/4 c. lemon juice, and 2 c. ginger ale. I substituted the sugar with Splenda and only added to taste.

For the place settings, I sewed a Christmas stocking for the silverware and a quilt square for table decoration using the same material. For the nameplate I scanned a piece of the material and then created a name tag in Word. Everyone really liked how all three coordinated.

Now it is time to rest for a week or so before the grandbaby comes. Our daughter just found out that she will need to have a C-Section because the baby is breech, so our calendars are marked for January 9.

This has been a rather long post, but before I sign off, I wanted to introduce a new blog. My daughter and SIL started a new blog entitled Continue the Conversation. Check it out -- they list many ways where you can give back to the community and the world.

Christmas Carol Trivia

Check out this trivia quiz on Christmas Carols. Have fun!

http://www.chicagotribune.com/carolquiz,0,4932856.triviaquiz

Prayer

I read this recently, probably on someone's blog - but just cannot remember where (so it goes these days!). Great prayer.

Please Lord bring me closer to you during this special season of your son's birth.

Dear God,
I bless Your name.
Thank you for loving me.
Thank you for blessing me,
with the hope and fullness of a life in Christ.
I put my heart’s desires in Your hands;
please bring water to the arid land of my soul.
Set Me free from expecting You
to look like I think You should look,
to act like I think You should act.
Let me relax in Your strong love
and trust You to care for me
as You deem best.
Because You love me.
I can trust you.
- Louis Evans, Stones of Rememberance

Baby Bonnet

I crocheted this bonnet for my granddaughter due in January. It is thick yarn so it makes a cute bulky bonnet. Now I need to find a pattern to make booties. I already crocheted a couple of baby afghans for her. It is fun to have a reason to have crocheting projects.

Ice, Baby, Ice

We have been having really bad weather here since Sunday. Our electricity has been on again, off again (mostly off) due to this ice storm. I'm not sure how many trees in our yard we will be able to save. We have branches all over our yard. We stayed with my MIL the last two nights. Just glad we had somewhere warm to go. Electricity is my friend -- the Amish lifestyle is definitely not for me.

The tree to the left is a cedar tree that was like a big Christmas tree close to our house. I'm not sure we are going to be able to save it. The top broke off and several other branches.

The tree on the right is a large tree in our front yard. It has broken several large branches. Sad to see them hurt so badly.

The temperature has remained above freezing today and suppose to stay that way for a few days. We may get snow in a couple days but no more rain. Of course, this is always subject to change.

Surrounding states like Kansas, Iowa and Oklahoma have been hit really hard by ice as well and seem to be worse than Missouri.

My parents winter in Florida and they have had 85 degree weather this week. They are getting a cold spell this weekend and will have 60 degree weather. I don't think they will be getting any ice! Maybe I need a vacation to Florida!

Christmas Music

I'm already enjoying the Christmas music being played on the radio stations. I have many that I enjoy singing along with. Do you have a favorite? "O Holy Night" used to be my favorite when I was growing up. When I was in 3rd grade I sang a solo of "All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth" for the school program. I had my two front teeth so I put black gum around them so it looked like I didn't have any!

This is one of my favorite Christmas songs now:

"Mary Did You Know" by Mark Lowry

Mary did you know that your baby boy would one day walk on water?
Mary did you know that your baby boy would save our sons and daughters?
Did you know that your baby boy has come to make you new?
This child that you've delivered, will soon deliver you.

Mary did you know that your baby boy would give sight to a blind man?
Mary did you know that your baby boy would calm a storm with his hand?
Did you know that your baby boy has walked where angels trod?
And when you kiss your little baby, you have kissed the face of God.

Oh Mary did you know
The blind will see, the deaf will hear, the dead will live again.
The lame will leap, the dumb will speak, the praises of the lamb.

Mary did you know that your baby boy is Lord of all creation?
Mary did you know that your baby boy would one day rule the nations?
Did you know that your baby boy is heaven's perfect Lamb?
This sleeping child you're holding is the great I am.

White Christmas

It snowed yesterday! Not too much but enough to stick on the ground. So pretty.

Check out this White Christmas song sang by santa and his elves.

http://badaboo.free.fr/merryxmas.swf

Hot Wings Recipe

This is the recipe I used for Hot Wings for our latest party. They were exceptionally good.

INGREDIENTS:
4 lb. bag party chicken wings (bought at Aldi's already cut up)
1 1/2 bottles Louisiana Hot Sauce (or any hot sauce you have around that you like)
4 pkgs Good Seasons Italian Dressing Mix
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/2 stick butter, melted

PREPARATION:
Spread wings in the bottom of a baking dish. Mix all other ingredients in a bowl and pour over wings. Bake at 400 F for an hour or until meat falls off the bone.

"Tis the Season"

I love Christmas decorations. We have a tree upstairs and downstairs. The upstairs tree currently has baby gifts all around the tree from the showers. The downstairs tree has the family gifts around it and is decorated with pine cones and hunting motif decorations. The downstairs family room is decorated that same way (dogs, moose, deer, elk, etc.).

The kitchen table is decorated with this snowman. He's so cute!

I have a few more decorations to put out and a few more gifts to buy. I haven't baked Christmas goodies yet or wrote my Christmas newsletter. I'm thinking about sending out a newsletter after the New Year instead so that it can include information about the new grand baby. Two birds with one stone sort of thing.

We are possibly getting snow tonight or tomorrow so that should really put me in the Christmas spirit. Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow!

Pseudo Grandchild

My daughter had two baby showers this weekend. She received a lot of precious and fun items. They have so much more these days to help the parents. This picture is a cute stuffed cow for the baby. It was used as the pseudo baby at the shower, so we strapped it into the stroller. My niece bought the stuffed cow and it provided the entertainment for the day!

Countdown: 42 days until due date

Next Time

Well Mizzou didn't pull it off. They lost to the same team twice this season - Oklahoma! This team is actually the only team they have lost to this year. But we are Cotton Bowl bound, playing on New Year's Day. What a great team this year.

I've been super busy lately with preparing for my football party and attending two baby showers that were thrown for my daughter. I will post a picture soon from one of the baby showers and list a few things that she received. There are amazing things now being used by the new moms.