Sports...explained finally...

So THAT'S what it's all about.

Seen on Christmas Day...

We sincerely hope no one was hurt. Freakish accident. Always at the holidays.

(Please note: no plastic animals were harmed in the making of this post.)

The Rigors of Christmas...

Every year, there are so many things that have to be done to properly prepare for Christmas.

Bills have to be paid.

Gifts must be purchased. And what good deals were online this year!

Parents still have to commute to work.

Housework needs to be done.

And gifts have to be wrapped.

It takes a lot of seasonal choreography to get it all done.

But it is so worthwhile when Christmas morning comes and we get to witness the joy and glee on those sweet faces as they see what Santa has left under the tree.










I hope you got what you wanted from Santa and that you as much fun as we did this year!

"Haul Back the Holly! Put up the..."

And how cute is THIS???
top row - Ben and Kennedy
bottom row - Luke, Mirai and Lleyton (well, the back of his head anyway...)

I've been noticeably absent lately. There's a good reason for this - several actually.

First and foremost, Christmas so was just SO MUCH FUN this year, that the fact of it being over and the kids/grands having all departed was still very much on my mind. We "Wii'd" until the wee hours of the a.m. We ate caramel corn and snickerdoodles and chocolate chip tollhouse cookies and cheesecake (well, THEY did...although I will admit to flirting with the snickerdoodles and caramel corn). We watched all the grands/cousins interact with each other and enjoyed (laughed sometimes at) their banter with each other and with us. The house was teeming with people - 13 in fact, 14 on the day WE had Christmas (Saturday) with my mom as well. So much fun. So little time. So sad to see it end.

Secondly, Mike has been ill. I did my best nag-a-thon for about a week to go to the doctor. Finally, feeling like he was on death's door, he went on New Year's Eve to the Urgent Care Clinic. Seeing as how Kennedy and Lleyton had been sick with bronchitis BEFORE Christmas and now Mike was ailing, I decided to be seen myself. One hour and $60 later, we had matching prescriptions and care sheets. Isn't that just the cutest thing? :) Matchy, matchy after all these years...but I digress. We will live. I evidently will get to live sooner since I came in within 3 days of symptoms. Mike, however, is looking at 2 more weeks minimum of "discomfort" (a fancy term doctors like to use for "I'm freaking dying here! Put me out of my misery!!! When will this be OVER!!!! - similar to the other fancy phrase they use, "Now, you might feel a twinge here) since he didn't come in till 7 days after symptoms.

AHA! I was RIGHT!! But he's been so miserable that my jubilation is downgraded considerably to pity and compassion.

I am a humanitarian after all. Yes, shocking, I know.

Thirdly (is that a word?) I have been disemboweling the living room, taking down all the decor from all the rooms (anyone who's ever been to my house at Christmas knows that I decorate with, shall we say, "gusto"?) and packing them away. I decided it was high time to organize, clean and clear out the "Texas Basement" (an large attic room that has been drywalled and connected to the HVAC system - we can't have basements in Houston as they would flood). I found boxes that had not even been unpacked when we moved back from the UK three years ago!


So now all the decor is put away properly. The sheets and linens all washed and changed. The playroom is tidy and in order. The living room is in a new arrangement which is more pleasing visually and convenient to room flow. The house is a picture of calm and tidiness with everything in it's place.


I'd rather it be full of people and all the resultant mess of having scores of family roaming the premises.


Sigh. It was the BEST of times....

...and to all a good night!

Christmas Eve. How ever did it get here so quickly? Wasn't Thanksgiving just last week?

We are in Austin (Pflugerville, actually, having a pfantastic and pfun time...) visiting Tim and Megan, Kennedy and Lleyton. And waiting for Santa to come. Although he will come only for Lleyton and Kennedy.

You see, I had to call the North Pole earlier in the season to put in an official "hold delivery" request for us. And it took me forever to get an actual person! (elf?) Automated systems abound and let me tell you, I think I actually got someone in India at ONE point. I think this outsourcing thing is really getting out of hand.

But I finally got through and was able to get my request to delay delivery till Saturday as all five of my grandchildren will be there to wake up and have Christmas at Gramma and Papa's. And we need Santa to visit.

It totally pays to have friends in high places.

So while it may be Christmas Eve technically it will be Christmas Eve for us on the 27th. But for the rest of you, have a restful and joyous Christmas Eve.

May you have been good enough to get lots from Santa. And may you be surrounded by those you love and who, in turn, love you.

To my adorable canines...

Izzie: "Yes, you needed something?"

It's a dog's life...literally.

Yup, this is definitely the life.

Nothing special here. Just a shout-out to Shelby and Izzie who have followed me around with perplexed looks on their faces the past couple of weeks as I've gone "to and fro" with boxes of decorations, wrapping supplies, trips to the attic, up and down the stairs. And then we had cold enough weather that it actually SNOWED in HOUSTON! Nope, didn't stick, but hey, it snows here about once a decade so it makes the news. And Izzie was wondering WHAT was with the cold fluff stuff. Plus it was super cold outside.

So I put on the fire and they have been comatose lying on their special pillow, soaking in the ambiance ("the holiday spirit" combined with a real fire = Doggie Heaven).

Merry Christmas, mutts. I love you guys.

Shoes for kids...

I like Robeez shoes - I've bought them for my grandkids since Day 1. They are soft, washable, lasting and according to my sources, when outgrown do well on eBay! So I get emails from them throughout the year. Well, they sent one today about a program where you send (free) eCard wishes and for EVERY eCard you send, they donate $5 to Kids in Distressed Situations (K.I.D.S.) We don't get anything out of it except warm fuzzies for doing something so easy and simple that enables another party (Robeez) to make a donation. Okay, it's perhaps "shameless" product placement on the part of Robeez but, hey, I'm OKAY with that! They DO make a GREAT product, my grands have been wearing them long before I heard of this donation program and I'm more than happy to give them a product quality shout out!

So go ahead and start emailing. And don't forget to have a look at the cute shoes - especially their latest "invention", a soled shoe line called "Tredz" which a very cute! And I have the grandchildren to prove it...

Deck them halls, ya'll...

I've spent my time recooperating productively I'll have you know. The house is now decorated to the "nines" and today I finished wrapping gifts (at least the ones I have so far...hurry up, Amazon, time's a-waistin'!) Still have cards to get out but that's small potatoes compared to getting the halls decked and the gifts wrapped! So, for your "viewing enjoyment", I present Christmas 2008 at the Drennon house...

And now I have a CTD...

Luke discovers Gramma Cheri's Famous Apple Pie on Thanksgiving Day

...which stands for "child transmitted disease". I have to make an appointment and go see my physician posthaste on the morrow as I am miserable right now. I want to take my nose off and put it in the freezer for awhile.

As if.

But I do not for a minute regret HOW I got this "lovely" sinus infection and head cold. Who can resist the chubby arms held up to you by your grandson who has JUST learned to say 'gramma, hold you?'

And the kisses. He gives kisses. Big, sloppy, wet kisses. Melt your heart, make you float kisses.

So now I'm paying the piper. But it was SO totally worth it.

I miss you, Lukey-Luke. And I hope YOUR cold is better.

A long time ago, on a planet far, far away...

I love facebook. I've found friend there that I haven't been able to find on classmates.com or through other avenues. And in reading the "walls" of those friends, have discovered many wondrous things not the least of which is this wonderful tribute to Star Wars and John Williams. It brought a tear to my eye...through laughing so hard! :)

But seriously, it's seriously CLEVER and definitely worth watching and hearing.
And thanks to Mark Charles who had it on his facebook wall.