Christmas 2014

Merry Christmas!!!  

Ok, so it's a few days past Christmas.  I'm having fun trying to keep up on the blogging.

Veggie Pizzas was some of the goodies I made, (back by popular demand). I made the coleslaw just because I happened to have the ingredients on hand, and it went over well too.
 

Before heading over to Mom's to celebrate Christmas, I had to snap this pic of  Tommy and Snowball:

Notice the window cling cardinals?  Real cardinals have tried to chase them away-- silly birds!

Blogging has been a hobby of mine for roughly a year and half now.  My very first post was back in August of 2012.

Looking back, I started my blog to help myself and others.  I wanted accountability and to motivate my readers.

I still enjoy those aspects of blogging, but due to a series of injuries, my focus has shifted.

Now, my blog is less about exercise and diet.

More about family and day to day life.

I have plans to get back into running.

Anyone who knows me, knows-- I really, really need to run!

The cool thing about writing a blog is, over time, it serves as a track record for progress as well as set backs.

Now, as I look back and reflect on the year, I feel so incredibly blessed. 

Christmas morning was full of excitement as the kids opened gifts from Santa (no lumps of coal)!

I don't have the details of how I am going to get back into running worked out yet, all I know is I am excited about it.

Santa brought the pets goodies.

For those of you that read this, I hope you are encouraged, as I am, by the year coming to an end.

We can conspire to move forward and face the obstacles in our path.  Bring on the NEW YEAR! :)

Catch those FISH! :)

Dream those dreams! :)

Set new GOALS!

As for me, my new goal is to get a plan together to run without injury.

It may be hard to do and I'm going to blog about it.

God willing, I'll show everyone it can be done and motivate zillions of readers to reach their goals! :)

Being focused and having goals is like a really great gift!

We all need a "do over", or twenty, or a few hundred.  ;)

 And when ya think about it, that's a part of Christmas.

We can all have "do overs" thanks to the GRACE of God.

Christmas is a great time to reflect on how we want to live.

Let's make those changes in our lives that honor God! 

Everyone that watched the Peanuts special knows the true meaning of Christmas is...

To give GLORY to GOD in the HIGHEST, with PEACE on EARTH, and GOODWILL toward men! 

Baked Alaska

Gas prices in central Indiana right before Christmas Day:

 

Wow, a $1.89 is the lowest I've seen it in a long time.  Ya know what is funny? For years, I never traveled on 65 to Indianapolis, and now I frequently take that route to Indy.  I still prefer the 421 route, though.  I just find it funny, how all of the sudden, life puts you on a completely different path.

We arrived back at home right before Santa.  In just enough time for the kiddies to make a few homemade gifts, and set out goodies for Santa.

The kids were excited to give homemade stepping stones, but even more excited to see Grandmas reaction to Chocolate Covered Potato Chips!  Grandma, it was either the chips or crickets-- you can thank me later.  ;)

Mom, the kids, and I planned out a Christmas supper.  Dessert was to be a Baked Alaska which I prepared ahead of time.

A fudgy brownie recipe made for a nice base.

The only trouble was the bowl I had first picked was too big and I didn't have enough brownie left for the lid.

No worries though, I just transferred everything to a smaller dish.

After filling the brownie-lined dish with ice cream (two flavors, chocolate and strawberry), I placed the top on and it was ready for the freezer.

 

The concoction was froze overnight and turned out at Mom's house.

Then the meringue (1 cup sugar, 4 egg whites and 1/4 cup water) was whipped, and whipped... and whipped some more... and finally spread over the brownie.

Thus, I had a nice neat igloo cake looking dessert:

Until I realized Mom's oven is small and the pan didn't fit inside!  So, it all got transferred to a smaller pan.

And then Baked!

The dessert came out great and was a BIG hit!

The pictures, well they are not so great.  Let me just say that the ice cream in the center was melted just right; not to much and not to little.

Even the kitties were excited about Christmas.  They played a few rounds of Slap Each Other Silly, over who gets to sniff the gifts.  :)

Zipping for Christmas

While I was in Kentucky at the Creation Museum, Gladys and Glenn tried out the zip line.

Glenn went first.  He is a daredevil.

Troy and I were standing on a balcony, observing and rooting for them.

The zip line course consisted of three lines.  Glenn made it without any help.

Gladys, on the other hand, didn't make the first leg.

She seemed to be cruising along okay.

All of the sudden, she just came to a complete stop-- BEFORE REACHING THE END!

No biggie though, she just had to be rescued, that's all.  

The worker man, went out and pulled her into the landing.

At least no one fell.  The water below contained a sea serpent!

After the zipping, we all checked out the gardens on our walk to the petting zoo.

I knew I shoulda brought a flyrod!

The garden did contain some interesting plants.

Which I no doubt would have got the line caught up in; amiright?  :)

A pretty Cardinal was busy bathing in the koi pond stream.

I could see me coming to my child's aid and rescuing her from being stuck on the zip line.

All I would have to do is accidentally hook her and reel her in toward the landing. Piece of CAKE!

The petting zoo brought back memories of a Polish rooster named Snowy Top.

And a little pygmy goat named Olivia.

The animals seemed happy to see us.

I could have brought em all home!

The Zonkey was especially delightful.

I could tell the Zonkey was very good natured.  The Zorse just wanted food.

They made a cute pair.

Smile, Ima takin your pic!  :)

The alpacas were not going to have anything to do with us.

The little Eeyore burrow was friendly though.

As were the camels.

The peacock put on a show for us and was shaking his booty so much that he made ME blush!

This peahen, paid him NO attention whatsoever.  I got the feeling he used that pick-up method on her before.

This critter is a Wallaby:

I want a few of these too.  SO stinkin adorable!

We took our time walking back to the museum and enjoyed the sights.

Back inside, a baby spotted gar was posing for a pic near the glass:

The displays were cool.  I like how some of them included live animals.

This turtle was just out of arms reach and he knew it!  :)

A person may think that this is a display of turtle food:

It was actually for HUMAN CONSUMPTION!  I passed on the insect snacks and went to McAlister's Deli for supper.

This was Gladdie's reaction when she was informed the mac and cheese was made from wax worms:

Yuck!  JK  :)