Tamaranukkah...live it, love it

So the time has come again for "Tamaranukkah!!" What is that you might ask? Well for those of you who don't know... every 8 years my husband celebrates my birthday for 8 days. He calls it Tamaranukkah. Last time he gave me a gift every day for eight days, the last day being my actual birthday. This year, we are leaving on my birthday and are celebrating by ourselves in FL for the duration of Tamaranukkah. YEAH!! I love my thoughtful dodo. (Don't ask, it's a pet name.)

Anyway, I know it has been awhile since I last posted. Really, nothing too exciting has happened. I have tried to find the exciting in the mundane, but that really isn't doing it for me. So I have decided to only post when I have something in particular to say or record. Love me, love my inconsistent blogging. Here is a quick list of what I have been up to:

1) Family (I signed Lucas up for Kindergarten yesterday.)

2) Gardening (Trying to grow food and fighting the epic battle to keep other things from eating it before I do.)

3) Reading (I am currently hooked on all things fantasy oriented.)

4) Church, Church, Church

5) Roof, Roof, Roof (Hail damage facilitates the need to get it replaced.)

Here are some pics of the kiddos for those relatives out there who what to see them and are mad at me for not getting skype and posting more. :)

You know your kids are Texans when...

you hear yelling and screaming as they scurry under your covers, playing "Run from the Tornado."

Brrrrrr.....Austin Rodeo

So we went to Austin's rodeo today and it was really fun. It was really cold, frigid really, but the upside was that no one was there.

We saw the Swine Races...






The kids got to ride the ponies, pet some deer and goats, and then settled down to eat their carnival food on a stick...Yummy.

A little personal...

So, I usually try to not get super personal on my blog, cause, you know, stuff is personal. So sorry if I share too much, but everyone needs an outlet. A couple of days ago I found out that an essential part of my anatomy, has decided to let gravity win out over all the kegels I do and has fallen/slipped/whatever out of its proper place. I was a little disconcerted to hear it. Granted, for various reasons we have decided that our two little kiddos, were all that we were going to have, but to have the decision or opportunity to have more literally falling/slipping/whatevering away is a little sad. So what to do? I could either have it temporarily hitched back up or removed. I have learned that if I get it tacked up it will fall again shortly and I would have to get a hysterectomy anyway...sigh. Plus, then I get freaked out thinking about being in the hospital for something like this. A 33 year old shouldn't have to think about this kind of junk.

Hello, again, hello....

Dear Blog-


So, here is a brief but pic filled recap of what has been going on while I was out of touch...

I went to Winter Park, Co., and had lots of fun with the fam skiing...

We had a great time on the road staying in various hotel rooms....notice where Lucas' hand is resting...I mean gripping.








The kids took lessons. (Linley center in blue. Lucas in red on the bottom of the pic on right.)



Lucas and Linley played "beauty shop" and had some fun with Linley's hair. Above is the before and after...







We saw many things along the way back home, including the US Airforce Academy, The Science Place in Dallas, and a broken down dino in Clayton, NM.







Linley had a Strawberry Shortcake B-day recently with some gal pals... I made strawberry PB&Js that I thought were cute and yummy...




Then last weekend we went to the Austin Kite Festival...thousands of kites and people trying to keep out of each others way. There were a few very large (hundreds of feet long) kites, Miss Betty the octopus was the most successfully flown.

That is it, my friend blog. I hope to be better at keeping up with you. I hope you will forgive any lapses, sometimes keeping up with you becomes (no offense) a bit of a chore. So, I take a break to be able to enjoy you again.



XOXOXO



Tam

Slacker Life...

Dear Blog, I am sorry I have been neglecting you. I feel a significant amount of guilt. Hope to catch you up on everything as soon as I get back into town.

XOXOX

Tamara

Food Comas and Undecking the Halls...

So, I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas with friends and family. We did. I will blog in a bit about the extravaganza that was our Christmas, but I wanted to write quickly about food during Christmas, since I am currently wrapping up everything and sticking it in my freezer.

What did you have for your holiday dinner? Traditionally we always have had turkey or ham or both, usually at one of our families' houses. This year was my year to cook. (My first time ever!) So, I was determined to do things differently. I wanted yummy and gluten-free, so I dug up the following menu:

Appetizer:
Spinach Salad with Red Onions, Feta Cheese, Walnuts and Cranberries

Entree:
Slow Cooked Beef in a Pomegranate sauce
Whipped Mashed Potatoes
Roasted Green Beans
Sweet Potato Cornbread

Dessert:
Mixed Berry Crisp
Nirvana Bars (chocolate, coconut and almonds melted together with a good dose of sweetened condensed milk)
Blue Bell Ice Cream (of course)

It was nothing short of a miracle that everything turned out and was more than just edible, (if I say so myself.) If anything sounds like something you would like to try out, I would be happy to send out the recipes.

The second thing I wanted to address was when do you undeck your halls? My mom, and Jennie my sis-in-law could attest to this, leaves everything up as long as possible. One year she left the tree up until February...I suggested she could just leave it up year round and decorate it for the different holidays. Can you see it? Shamrocks would grace it for St. Patty's, flags for the 4th, turkeys and cornicopias for Thanksgiving, etc.

In contrast, I tend to be a get it up early, take it down early kind of gal.

P.S. Ray-Ray, here is a pic of some of the decorations we did this year, since you asked...missed you.