Christmas Eve at Grandma G's

Courtney's first Christmas... and what fun having a little one around again for the celebration! Of course everything seemed to center around her, including photos. :-) Here she is all decked out in her pretty Christmas outfit with Uncle Alex and Auntie Jess:

Sure is tough crawling in a dress, though!

So later she got her jammies on... not so much for "crawlability" as in anticipation of her getting tired and ready to sleep. Here she seems to be just about out of energy as she pulls things out of her stocking. ("Yeah, right, Mom and Dad... I'm only resting up here... conserving my energy in my own anticipation!")

Yep, the second wind took hold quickly!

She loves having things in both hands at once, especially if they rattle. She also likes to crawl with things in both hands.

And here she's checking out Auntie Jess's new "toys".

Her energy lasted well into the evening... WAY past bedtime! Check out her energetic present-opening demonstration:

She held out very well and only got fussy AFTER she was tucked into bed. But she did eventually give up. A little girl's gotta get her rest... after all, there was more celebrating and gifts to be taken care of the next day, too!

Willow 'n Wispy did their resting through the entire gift-opening. :-)

Our Christmas project

Jess and I decided some time ago that our family needed new Christmas stockings, since our old ones were just kind of a hodge-podge of el-cheapos. Long story short, we ended up making new stockings this past weekend, hoping we could get them done in the couple of days that Jess was here before Christmas Day. Suzi (Courtney's mommy) came over, too, and we set to work. Even Pa helped cut a few circles.

We didn't get them all finished in time for Christmas, but we did manage to finish them before Jess 'n Alex left this afternoon, so they'll be ready to go for next year! We had tons of fun, and here's a picture of our creations:

Aren't they lovely? We're pretty proud of them! And Jess gets most of the credit for their designs! :-)

BTW... no, there aren't 10 in our family... yet... but we made 3 extras in anticipation of additions down the road (and no, none on the way... yet!). :-)

Poll Results

Our last poll, "Are you able to crack eggs into a bowl singlehandedly?", resulted in a 3-way tie: 2 votes each for Yes!!, No., and No, but I want to learn. Not so many voters this time. I guess everyone was busy trying to see if they could crack those eggs singlehandedly... or possibly just baking... or the many other things associated with the holidays. Yeah, I missed a few days here myself... and not for cracking eggs! ;-)

I had a terrific Christmas, and I hope all of you did, too!

Stay tuned for my next post to see what I did spend a considerable amount of time on over the weekend!

First visit with Santa

"Mom, do I have to?"

"Pretty fake beard, if you ask me."

"This isn't the real one! Let me outta here!!!"

Daddy's little girl

"I just need to touch that tree."

"See my nice teeth?"

"I have jeans like Daddy's!"

Poll Results

The results of the poll "How far will you be traveling for Christmas?" are: 2 voters will be traveling 1-100 miles; 2 will go 101-500; 3 will go 500-1,000; and 4 will not be travelling. And no one will be traveling exactly 500 miles. :-)

Thanks for voting... and I hope your travels are safe and happy!!

It's a white world today

Fortunately it's just fog and frost... not new snow! Not much contrast in these dreary photos. *yawn*

I added this last photo later this evening. I'd been outside and noticed that as the frost was falling off, it left a sort of "popcorny" appearance.

Bluejays

These pics are from before it snowed, but the bluejays are still around. They don't stay in one spot very long so are hard to photograph, but I got lucky that day.
Here he is at the very top of the evergreen tree. (Photos taken through my kitchen window.)

Pink camo

Betcha can't even see her, right? ;-)

Great coordination... one hand... other hand... feet!

Frosty winter photos

Okay, Grace... here are your requested frosty photos! They don't get much frostier than this! I wasn't going to bring the camera with me, because it was so cold out, but after I'd been out a bit, I just had to run back in and get it (and I won't even tell you how numb my fingers got while taking these pics for you!). It was so pretty! And it sure beats the ice storms that some places in the Midwest had!

HO! HO! HO!

Poll Results

The results of the poll "Do you put up a real Christmas tree or an artificial one?" are 2 votes for Real and 3 votes for Artificial. I guess all the rest of the voters were busy out shopping or baking cookies, etc. ;-) I know, it's a really hectic time of year, and there's simply not time for 'everything' these days. Thanks to those of you who have stopped by and voted or just taken a look around. I hope my photos have helped to take your mind off the "busyness", if only for a few seconds.

Wispy's turn

Of my two cats, Willow usually gets all the attention. She's beautiful and very photogenic, very active and fun-loving and usually "demands" attention. Wispy, on the other hand is a much quieter, less attractive, fat little cat. In fact, she's often somewhat aloof, only allowing someone to pet her at certain (rather peculiar) times. However, she's very sweet, well-behaved, extremely loyal... and she has her own little quirks and rituals.

A couple of days ago, I was sitting at the computer, and I could feel Wispy moving around by my ankles. She walked away, and I looked down to where she'd been, and this is what I saw.

The yellow plastic spring is a new toy I'd given them recently. She had ever-so-carefully placed it on my shoe! She's done this type of thing before, often putting a favorite toy inside a pair of shoes I've recently taken off that are close by me, or carefully placing it so it balances in between the two shoes, on the edge of each. I never quite know her purpose in doing this, whether it's to give me a gift... or to entice me to toss it for her to chase... or for me to protect it from Willow for her! She's usually very subtle about doing it, too, so I'm often quite surprised when I find things. I think I shall choose to accept them as gifts, since she uses such care in placing them 'just so'... and I am touched by her gifts!

Pat-a-cake?

Time for something a little brighter than snowstorms!

Tuesdays are my regular Courtney-and-Grandma days. We have lots of fun while Mommy's at work. It's so incredible to see the changes Courtney makes from week to week! And she develops a little more of her own personality all the time. She's such a sweetie! And I'm not a bit prejudiced. ;-) And then again, there can be those times...

Does anyone detect just a teensie bit of defiance there? ;-)

Poll Results

Our voter turnout is growing... we had 9 this time! :-) The results for "How do you feel about surveys?" are 6 who "LOVE surveys" and 3 who "Think they're sorta fun". Nobody was neutral or even disliked them (then again, those were probably the ones who didn't vote). Anyway, I'd say it's pretty positive, so I shall keep posting them!

Thanks to everybody who voted... keep it up!

Not too bad

It's over. And it's a white world out there. We got several inches... maybe 6(?)... hard to measure when it's drifted. At least there was no ice. And it's looking like we no longer have to "dream" of a white Christmas, because ours isn't melting like ALEX's!

Storm update

We're getting HUGE snowflakes right now... so big they 'crash' when they hit the cement! Here's the latest video.



Actually, looking at the radar, I think the worst is over, but the warning remains in effect.

It's beginning to look a lot like...

...well... WINTER, if not Christmas! We're under a WINTER STORM WARNING now. I don't know how well you can see the snow on this little video, but I assure you, it's coming down. It's already building a drift in front of the garage (of course).

Stay tuned for updates...

Here it comes...

I knew I shouldn't have mentioned our nice weather last night! We had a dusting of snow tonight, and now all of a sudden we're under a WINTER STORM WATCH for Saturday. 4-10" of snow possible... maybe preceded by ice. Ack. I guess I'll be having more pics for your viewing pleasure, Grace. Here's a start that I took this morning. (Note that the grass is still green at this point!)

Even storms can produce pretties

These pics were taken just a couple days before Christmas last year. Ice storms aren't pleasant, but yes, Grace, they do make for pretty pictures! So far this year we haven't had anything more than a few flurries, and I wouldn't mind if we didn't get any more than that all winter! It definitely is getting colder out, though, and I suspect I'll have more pretty scenes to photograph.

Willow wants equal time!

Okay, Willow... you're cute, too!

"All I need for Christmas is a longer tongue!"

Poll Results

We had a huge voter turnout for the poll "Given your choice of a house pet, what would it be?"! Okay, so it was only 4 voters. I guess people don't care for polls. (?) Or maybe it doesn't get noticed down there on the left side. Anyway, the results were 2 votes for Cats and 2 votes for Other. Would you who voted for Other care to 'fess up and tell us what other pet you would prefer? You can even comment anonymously if you want. I'm just curious to know what the pets are. :)

Prepare to smile...

I thought I'd try uploading a little video for you, so you can see Courtney in action. She was very interested in the "new" toy Grandma found for her last Tuesday, but she never fails to notice Willow going by. Gotta love the facial expressions... and the sounds! ;-)

Wildflowers, Part 3

I hope I have these next flowers identified correctly. They all are of the same variety, just a little different coloring for each one. I think they are Godetia. However, I've also found in my searches a plant (weed?) called Mallow, which looks very similar. But since the seed package listed Godetia, I will assume that's what these are. Regardless of what they are, I thought they were very pretty! There was also a white one, but the photo didn't show it very well.

Poll Results

The results for the last poll "What's your favorite time of year?" are:

• Spring (1 vote) 12½%
• Summer (1 vote) 12½%
• Autumn (5 votes) 62½%
• Winter (1 vote) 12½%

My favorite time of year has always been autumn. I love the colors, the drier air, and even the smells (well, except for when the farmers are emptying their lagoons)! The last few years have been marred, though, by the Asian beetles and no-see-ums which make going outdoors much less pleasant. But once the weather has cooled down enough to get rid of them, it's great out there again! And it means that the outdoor work is winding down for a little bit less busy time of year.

Thanks to everyone who voted! EVERYONE is welcome to vote! It only takes a second, and it's just for fun!

Wildflowers, Part 2

Yellow Phlox

Red Phlox

Lance-leaved Coreopsis

Plains Coreopsis

The little white flowers surrounding all the others are Baby's Breath. There was also some pink Baby's Breath, which is pictured below.

Pink Baby's Breath

Wildflowers, part 1

I have a section of my garden that I like to plant to wildflowers. This year I got some new seeds, and though the seed packages always tell what kinds of seeds are inside, there are always some I've never heard of, so it's fun to watch and see what kinds of blooms I'm going to get.

I thought you might enjoy taking a "walk" with me through my wildflowers, so the next few posts will show you what I ended up with this year. And please, if you see any that I've identified incorrectly, let me know! I've had to do some Google searching to try to figure out what some of them were, and I'm not 100% sure I have them all right.

Okay, this first one isn't a wildflower... rather, it's from a row of sunflowers I planted as a background.

Vanilla Ice Sunflower

(plus a nice little bee)

Bachelor Buttons

Clarkia

Another Clarkia