"The Best Night Ever!"

This weekend has been pretty relaxing and just what we needed. Friday night the kids had their best friends come over after school. The girls got busy making Christmas cut out cookies and quickly got covered in flour. The boys, meanwhile, alternated between Wii Mario Super Sluggers and baseball in the backyard. I had book club Friday night and had a great evening. This months book was, "A dog named Christmas". Cute story.

Saturday I woke up with a head cold so the kids and I stayed home all day while John worked. After a week of school the kids love to just hang out at home and it ended up being extremely necessary and fun. We were originally supposed to go to a birthday party, but so much for that.

Sunday we stayed home as well. John had to work and Pete woke up with a cold. After John got home in the afternoon we piled into the car and drove the one mile from our house to the beach. It was so much fun. The sky was a beautiful blue, the waves were crashing and the temperature felt like a spring evening. The kids ran around climbing up and down the sand dunes. Then we drove over five miles down the beach towards the National Seashore in an attempt to get a view of a raging fire that's been burning the past several days in the grassy area. We couldn't get too close but could see the smoke billowing in the sky. Last night we watched from our deck the orange flames in the distance. On our drive back we found these sand dunes back away that were 20-30 feet high. The kids kept running up and down the dunes and rolling down them. Once after Pete came down he yelled, "This is totally awesome!" Jack and Ellie both said it was, "The best night EVER!" I have to agree. We had so much fun yelling and laughing and running in the sand. We finally drove home when it was dark out and we were completely covered in sand. After baths and dinner we spent the rest of the evening playing board games: Guess Who, Candyland and Jr. Monopoly. Who could ask for more? I feel blessed and grateful and don't take for granted for one minute fun family evenings.

Take care,
Julie

Friday's Favorites

Yes, I am back with Friday's Favorites! If you are new to this you can read about it here.

Last week my husband and I went on a date, a real date that included dinner and live music. Jon McLaughlin was in town and I jumped at the chance to listen to him live. He's on tour to promote his recently released second album. (If you've never heard of him you can check him out at www.myspace.com/jonmclaughlin. Some people know him b/c one of his songs was featured in the movie "Enchanted" and he performed it in the movie as well) His first album, "Indiana" has been on almost constant rotation on my ipod this past year. He is an amazing piano player, but not only that, he managed to make the concert rock while playing the piano along with the rest of the band. He ended the concert with "Industry" and for his encore did "Human" and "Beautiful Disaster" which are all off his first album and were by far my favorite songs, along with "Beating my Heart". He played at a place here in town called Brewster Street which has a restaurant and an outside open patio with picnic tables and a stage. Thinking about this concert made me think of other concerts I have been to, so today's Friday Favorites is a list of some of my all time favorite concerts, in no particular order:

1. Over the Rhine: This was the first date and concert my husband and I went to. Over the Rhine was playing in Cincinnati, Ohio (which is where they are from) at a place called "Sudsy Malone's". Sudsy's was a bar/laundromat and if you brought in a load of laundry to do they would waive the cover charge. I remember the concert was so good and I was in heaven just being there with John, great, great memories.

2. John Prine: I saw John Prine with my husband in Des Moines, Iowa probably 10+ years ago. I remember Todd Snider opened up for him. John Prine is such an amazing story teller through his songs. I remember yelling out "Lake Marie" (which is one of my top 10 songs of all time) after every song and yes, he did do the song and it was just amazing.

3. Nanci Griffith: John and I saw Nanci in Ohio a long ago. I remember this concert as just being fun. I love her voice, love her music and the crowd was into it as well. It was a bit of a smaller venue and it just felt pretty intimate.

4. Counting Crows: I saw them at Polaris in Columbus, Ohio. Polaris is an outdoor place. It was a beautiful night and my sister came with John and I. We were on the grassy area where you just sit down on blankets. I remember two things about this concert, Adam Duritz, the lead singer was just mesmerizing...he did this probably 10 minute version of "Round Here" that was incredible. The second thing I remember is that this couple came around and asked if they could sit on our blanket with us. We said sure, so they sat for awhile and right away it became apparent that they were completely drunk. After a few minutes the girl just leaned over and puked all over the corner of our blanket! They both apologized and then got up to leave. My husband pulled out his swiss army knife, cut off the stinky puke part, threw it away and Voila! we continued to enjoy the rest of the concert!

5. Jars of Clay: This group is one of my favorite bands. I saw them in Iowa last summer. It was an outside concert and it was fun. I saw them last December when they were on their Christmas tour with Third Day. My friend Yvonne and I waited in line to meet them. They were a group of guys that I could picture my husband and I hanging out with and having over to dinner.

Other great concerts...

REM: Saw them in Ames, Iowa and I remember Michael Stipe stood with his back to the audience. I say it was almost the entire concert, my husband says it was not that long. Any way, the concert was good.

Chris Rice: Saw him at a fair and he performed outside. It was a perfect summer night and it was lots of fun!

Chris Tomlin, Jeremy Camp, etc. Lots of great times

Well, that's it for now. What about you? Do you like going to concerts? Any favorites or good memories? Tell me about it, I'd love to hear!

Take care,

Julie

P.S. I asked my husband his favorites and he seconded the Over the Rhine, REM, Jars of Clay and added: Lenny Kravitz, The Rolling Stones, Bare Naked Ladies and the Ichthus festival.

Update

Just wanted to let you know we are now down to 49 days until the premiere of LOST. Not that I am counting or anything. You can do a google search of "LOST season 5 trailers" and watch several of the new trailers for the upcoming season. Did you read the article last week about which dead LOST characters are coming back this season? Could it be Claire or Charlie or Jack's dad? I don't know and I can't wait to find out. Is there anyone you would like to see come back? Personally, I wouldn't mind to have Charlie back.

Just to let you know....I will be back with Friday's Favorites beginning tomorrow. Hope you can stop by.

Take care,
Julie

December Advent

Kristin at http://www.wearethatfamily.com/ posted recently about a family advent calendar for December she created full of meaningful and fun activities her family will do during this month. It's a great idea and you can read about it here.



I have adapted it for our family and it has been a lot of fun in the few days we've participated. What about you? Do you have any kind of advent calendar or some other way to count down until Christmas? I would love to hear about it.

Take care,

Julie

My Dilemma

Around this time of year my husband and I have what can be classified as one of our biggest "discussions" of the year. It's not about money or santa or where to spend the holidays but rather it concerns a somewhat "family tradition".

The Christmas family newsletter.

Do we write it this year or skip? If we've moved during the year or had a baby then yes, which for a while was an every year occurence since we moved and had a new child pretty often. If we are going to do a letter, who is going to write it? My husband says I use too many exclamation marks in my letters! And that I make our letters sound sooooo dramatic! Imagine that!! I say that my husbands version makes us sound dull like we could be a page out of one of his medical journals. (DISCLAIMER: Not all medical journals are dull. Some are in fact rather interesting and gross with their pictures, just ask my kids and myself)

What to do what to do? I don't mind writing the letter, I just don't want to address all the envelopes. Also, since I blog I don't feel the need to condense our last year into a letter. If you want to know about our lives this past year, just read my blog. We may skip the family newsletter this year. I will keep you informed concerning our newsletter dilemma. What about you? Do you write a letter, send cards, email a letter, do nothing or call people? Let me know.
Take care,
Julie

Getting a Christmas Tree, South Texas Style

When I was a kid my family never had a real Christmas tree. For whatever reason we always had a fake tree. Do not get me wrong, it was still a big deal, to get it out and decorate it, make the paper chains and put on a popcorn and cranberry chain.

When I got married however, I insisted on getting a real Christmas tree, which was fine with my husband since that is what he grew up doing. There is just something about the smell of a real Christmas tree. (I won't bore you with the details of how I ruined our first vacuum cleaner by assuming the needles could easily be swept up. Let's just say I was wrong.)

In Iowa where we lived after we were first married, we went to a Christmas tree farm and cut down our own tree.

In the Bronx we bought a tree from one of the corner lots selling them. Another year we lived in the Bronx, we brought a tree home from Vermont after we had gone skiing. I can't help but rabbit trail for a minute as I remember that trip and tree because of a speeding ticket my husband got in Vermont. It was absolutely crazy. We were driving a Subaru wagon loaded down with skies on top, suitcases inside, our son who was 5 months old at the time and a huge Christmas tree tied to the top of the Subaru. We were not a vision of speed. Yet we were pulled over. I am still convinced it was because of our NY license plates, but that is another story.

When we moved to Ohio we began again the tradition of chopping down our tree at a nearby Christmas farm. It always seemed like it was the coldest day of the year on whatever day we went to get our tree, which is partly why I don't have too many pictures documenting our tree excursions. That and the fact that up until this past summer I have been horrible about taking pictures. It just was not a habit of mine. It would be difficult to get the kids in the same picture or I'd forget our camera completely. It's not just me, my husband is just as bad as I am. My dear friend Yvonne had to take pictures of our son's 7th birthday party last year with her phone and email them to me because we did not bring any kind of camera to the party.

Anyway, moving to Texas has been a big adjustment, particularly around the holidays. For us it means buying a real tree from a corner lot in town, while we are wearing shorts, unless of course we wanted to drive 14 hours to New Mexico. My mind still can't reconcile hearing songs like, "White Christmas" and "The Christmas Song" with the fact that it will be warm and no snow. In fact, on Friday night when we got our tree it was 77 degrees out.

I am looking forward to experiencing some winter weather when we head to Iowa for Christmas. Until then the only cold or snow I am going to experience is in my dreams, or maybe at HEB grocery since I think their thermostat must be set at 42 degrees.

What about you? Real or fake or no Christmas tree? Let me know!

Take care,

Julie

Happy Thanksgiving! Gobble, Gobble!

I have two jokes for your amusement today, brought to you by our 8 year old son Jack:

1. "What did the bird say when it found a good bargain?"
Cheap! Cheap!

2. "What does the Pasta family say when they go away?"
Pasta la vista!


I think our son has a future in writing jokes, don't you think?!

Moving on in our Thanksgiving entertainment...let me give you some quotes from my husband, as published on the front page of our local paper, concerning potential medical emergencies you might face on this dangerous holiday:*
"Minor burns from cooking the turkey. More serious burns can result from cooking on the stove...." ( Would you care for a side of blisters with your turkey?)
"Abdominal pain, often from overeating, which can mimic symptoms of a heart attack" (Help! I think Uncle Joe ate too much turkey and his gut is going to explode!)
"Football injuries such as sprained ankles..." (Just let the professionals play football, ok?)
"Car accidents injuries..." (Don't eat turkey and drive)

*Everything in "( )" are my quotes, not the newspaper or my husband, just so we are clear!


I think they left out a few things like all the domestic cases that come in from loved ones who never see each other and decide to get together on this day of thanks and let by gones be by gones until someone drinks too much and starts saying ugly things and the fists start swinging!

On a more serious note, I do have many things to be grateful for today and everyday, my faith in God and salvation which gives me hope, my husband and kids who love me faithfully, friends to laugh and spend time with, a place to live, good health and the freedoms we enjoy thanks to those who diligently serve in the military and place their lives in danger on a daily basis so I can go about my daily life with out fear. I am grateful.

Have a great day, just don't eat too much and end up in the emergency room!

Take care,
Julie