How Many 8 Year Olds Do You Know Like Samantha?

How many 8 year olds do you know who wanted baking and cooking gifts for Christmas.  Here is Samantha with just a few of what she wanted for me and her.  She also has a cake pop maker, etc that she left at her house.  We are getting ready to try all this out!  Yum-Yum!

 

Thank you Aunt Christy for the mixer, Mrs. Darla for the bowls, Aunt Cindy for the cake decorator and the piggy spoons and spatulas, etc, and Mommy and Daddy for the 3 tier wire racks!

Dustin, Carlos, Isabell, and Samantha

Dustin gave Chad's kids one of his old game systems he doesn't use anymore.  They were excited to get a game cube.

 

 

(Another nice gesture by this 20-year-old autistic spectrum, ADHD, kid)

FYI STONEWARE BAKERS

Just wanted to let you know if you are interested in the 2-piece stoneware bakers I have been talking about, I just went to order the red set and they are sold out. The sale goes thru tomorrow and they still had the orange set and the blue set available. If you are truly interested, don't wait until tomorrow but order today. There is a link in the right-hand column that will connect you. When you click on the link scoll to the bottom of the page to find them.

The blue set.

LOVE THE SNOW

I love seeing all the snow pictures my Indiana family and friends have posted.  I don't think there is anything any prettier than a fresh snow on the trees.  But I am so thankful I am enjoying the snow from my computer screen and not in person.  I have been away too long to go back to cold snowy winters.  Having lived much of my life in Indiana and one winter in NYC, I think I'll stay put where I am.  That said, I love the pictures.  These pictures of Spring Mill State Park have brought back lots of happy memories.  Sowders family picnics and birthday celebrations when I was a kid.  Grandpa Sowders loved that place!  School trips with my Needmore buddies, Junior Prom at the inn, etc.  After we moved back to Indiana after our Air Force years, I enjoyed taking my children there.  Cindy even asked to have one of her birthday parties there.  So thanks, Hoosier family and friends for sharing your pictures with me.  I have friends here who are fascinated by them which is why I have shared so many of them.  Just know that I love you all but I think I'll stay put and see the snow through your pictures!

Dustin in Front of the Remaining Few Presents

Dustin called yesterday and wanted to know if he could come back over.  With Christy working so many hours I guess he got bored.  Probably he just wanted to get back over here and check out the new microwave!  It is very nice and we used it last night.  My little tree would have really looked small if he had stood!

Thank You Dustin

I had a very good Christmas with family and friends.  I got some nice surprises but the biggest, in more ways than one, was my gift from Dustin.  I think I mentioned on here before that my microwave quit a few weeks ago.  When they passed out presents yesterday we all laughed about me having the biggest present of all.  When I found out it was from Dustin, I had no idea what it might be.  Imagine my surprise when I opened it and found a microwave!  He picked it out and paid for it from his money.  I was amazed and so proud of him.  I am sharing this to let everyone know that not all 20-year-old autistic spectrum, ADHD kids are problems.  They can be as sweet, loving, and kind as anyone else.  Dustin is a college student whose money is hard to come by; it is not like he has lots of money laying around.  Thank you, Dustin.  Grandma loves you!

My new microwave.

 

A White Christmas!

We got to experience a rare phenominom here in North Texas today.  We actually had a White Christmas.  Here are some pictures of our special Christmas.  Okay Mother Nature, we've had our special day.  Let's go back to Texas weather now! 

Christy, Bruce and Dustin leaving Cindy's house.

 



The palm tree beside Cindy's pool dressed in white!

 



This pool is not used to seeing snow!

CARLOS, SAMANTHA, AND ISABELL CHRISTMAS EVE

Enjoyed some time with Chad, Mary, Carlos, Samantha, and Isabell but missed Steffinee very much.  Here is a picture of the kids as they started on their presents.

Sunday Before Christmas

Today is the last Sunday before Christmas.  What a great opportunity to stop and reflect on the true reason for the season!  I hope you will find a place of worship today where you can worship the greatest gift ever given.  If you can't make it to a church, worship Him wherever you are!

Nativity on Main Street in Grapevine

 

"Oh Come Let Us Adore Him, Christ the Lord"

To All My Friends Outside Texas

To all you who aren't lucky enough to live in Texas but think I live close to every major city in Texas - yeah, right!  And this sign is from the Houston area, hundreds of miles and hours from Grapevine!

Papaw, Samantha, and Dustin Enjoy Christmas Activites at Bass Pro Shop

 

Papaw, Dustin, and Samantha enjoying the festivities at the Bass Pro Shop

 

 Samantha thought it would be fun to have Dustin ride a reindeer with her.

Love the pink rifle

 Enjoying the Fire

 

Papaw found him a spot for watching the activity.

 

 

Thanks, Traci!

Thanks to Traci for making it look like I have hair when I really only have a handful!

By the way, for all you locals, Traci is now at Duvall's Salon at the corner of Harwood and Hurstview.  Go see her and tell her I sent you!

PS Yes, I know my glasses are crooked.  I sat on them.  Not a good idea with bifocals!

Baking Healthy Goodies

Last night I made these muffins for a friend whose mother-in-law is coming to visit her during the Christmas holiday.  The mother-in-law was hospitalized last month and has been placed on a more restrictive diet so Melissa asked me if I could make her some snacks to have on hand.  I had bananas in the freezer so thawed them and made what I am calling some Banana-Spice-Nut muffins.  I never send out one of my concoctions without trying them first.  I had one for breakfast and it was pretty good. 

I am only posting about this to tell my family and friends that it is possible to eat healthy yet tasty foods.  If you are interested in recipes like this, I have a blog where I post them.  In fact, I will be posting this recipe today.  The blog link is http://diabeticenjoyingfood.blogspot.com Since I am a diabetic, the recipes are all ones diabetics can enjoy.  They are, however, tasty and healthy recipes for anyone.

I Love These Stoneware Bakers

I wanted to share this good deal with you.  Love these bakers and think you would, too.

 

Click on the link to the right to check out these stoneware bakers that are currently on sale for 19.99 a set.  If you enjoy baking, you need a set of these bakers.  Love them and I think they are also available in blue, etc.

Wishing All Our Family and Friends a Merry Christmas

Dragging around as always in December has really slowed me down.  Way behind on Christmas cards plus I have many facebook friends whose home addresses I do not have.  In order not to miss any of you, let me say to all, "The Wilson Family wishes you a MERRY CHRISTMAS and a great 2013!  So to one and all, Merry Christmas from Grapevine, Texas!

Samantha and Dustin at the Grapevine Railroad Station.

Main Street Nativity

So thankful my hometown has a large nativity display on Main Street.  Here are Dustin and Samantha visiting with Joseph and Mary!

Christmastime At the Great Wolf Lodge, Grapevine

Samantha in the ice chair

 

Grandma and Samantha in the ice chair

 

Dustin and Samantha in the ice chair

Papaw and Samantha taking a rest

 





Dustin & Samantha Enjoying Christmas Festivities

A week ago Steve and I took the oldest and the youngest granchildren out and about in Grapevine to enjoy some of the Christmas festivites.  I'm not a very good photographer but I got some decent pictures of them enjoying themselves.  Dustin is 20, Samantha is 8, there are 5 more in between them.

 

 

Remember Santa Coke Trays?

This morning as I was posting a recipe on one of my recipe blogs for a Coca Cola Steak, my mind wandered back to the coke trays of my childhood.  Does anyone else remember looking forward to seeing the new Santa tray coke came out with each year?  Maybe I remember them because I grew up next door to a country general store and the family grocery business.  We loved these trays and I wish I still had them.  Here is an example:

My Dad, Christmas 1986

I guess this is nostalgia day.  Steve just handed me a small album he found of Dad and Christmas 1986.  These were taken a little less than 3 years before his death.  Looking at this, I can't believe how much his health went downhill over the next couple of years.  Loved him so much and have so many wonderful Christmas memories of him.

Grandpa's Funeral A Year Before He Died

Just saw this again this morning and I chuckle everytime I see it.  You know how hard it is to remember to change the year when you write the date in January.  My grandpa died in the first week of the new year and guess what.  Yes, you guessed it.  His funeral was the year before he was born!

 

According to this, he died on January 2, 1979 and his funeral was on January 5, 1978!

 

I remember that January 5, 1979 quite well.  The weather turned really bad during the funeral and it was miles from Day and Carter Mortuary to Mt. Ebal Cemetary in Monroe County by Lake Monroe.

 

In a few weeks we will be in another year.  Remember to write, type, etc the right year!

Enjoyed Lauren's GHS Choir Concert

Tonight I enjoyed the Grapevine High School Choir Christmas Concert although it was bittersweet.  We have been enjoying seeing and hearing Lauren perform with these choirs for four years now.  Just knowing tonight would be her last GHS Christmas Choir performance made me a little sad.  It is hard on grandmas to see their grandbabies moving on sometimes!  The older I (and my grandchildren get!), the more I understand the old saying, "Time flies when you're having fun."

Lauren next to the mike.

 

Lauren and the A CAPPELA CHOIR

 

The entire choir.

 

Another great job Lauren, Mr. Antinone, and the entire choir.

 

Samantha Ready for Her Solo in the Church Christmas Program

Running a little late with this as I have had trouble getting the picture to load.  This is Samantha at the mike in full regalia ready for the song in which she had a solo part.  She is looking toward her director waiting for her cue.  Don't you just love the little Mary and Joseph, otherwise known as David and Samantha?

So Proud of Lindsay

Lindsay is such an amazing young lady.  As mentioned in my last post, we went to her band concert last night.  She is in the 8th grade Honors Band and they did a great job.  They closed with an excellent piece that is from high school material and it was amazing.  They just kept getting standing ovations.  Lindsay was up there smiling, bowing, and doing what she was supposed to do.  I leaned over to Cindy and said, "Look at Lindsay.  She is up there smiling, thinking, 'Enough already, I have to get out of here!"  Her concert was at 6:30 and she had volleyball practice in another city at 8.  I don't know how she does it all.  She left the concert just a few minutes before 8.  I was proud to notice on the program she was one of just a handful of students who had DRN after her name.  D = District Band, R = Regional Band, and N = National Honor Society.  Way to go, Lindsay!

I didn't take my camera last night since I am such a poor photographer.  Wouldn't you know I had a perfect spot for getting pictures.  Anyway, this is from her district concert a few weeks ago.

Steve in the GHS Student Newspaper

Lauren sent me a text this afternoon saying Steve's picture was on the back page of the December edition of The Mane, the GHS student newspaper.  I told Steve and he acted like he couldn't care less.  Tonight was Lindsay's middle school band concert and it was held at the GHS auditorium.  The concert started at 6:30 and at 5:40 he insisted we leave for the school.  Now we live directly across the street from the high school, less than 5 minutes from our door to theirs.  Anyway, we go ahead and go early.  When we got there the band directors, some of the students, and 1 parent were in the auditorium.  We found the seats he wanted and no sooner had my bottom end hit my seat until he said, "You know your way around here really well so why don't you go find us one of those newspapers."  Now I realized why we had to get there so early!  I went out by the office and saw the janitor getting ready to enter the main office area with her cleaning cart.  She was kind enough to go in and get me a newspaper.  I returned to my seat and showed it to Steve.  It was a very nice picture of him and three girls from the Senior leadership team talking to him in the library while I was getting our breakfast plates.  There was a nice caption about him discussing his "historic experiences" with the students.He was quite proud of it and said, "Maybe Lauren can get us another one.  Then we could send one to Indiana and keep one for ourselves."  Steve has always been one to just stay in the background and fade into the woodwork if possible.  He was so funny about this and it is so not like him.  Another example of the changes dementia brings about.  So far, thank you God, his changes have mostly been good ones.

Great Gifts

Click on the link at the upper left to check out the great gift ideas at Ink Garden.  Your first order is 50% off!  I get lots of great gifts from this site.  Love personalizing them with my own pictures and the prices are great!

One of My Favorite Places

 

The San Antonio Riverwalk

Everything At Once!

Why is it that out of 31 days in December, Lauren's choir concert, Isabell's choir concert, and Dustin's big algebra final are all within an hour of each other?  Thank goodness Lindsay's band concert is a couple days earlier!  This grandparent stuff is not easy sometimes!!

Missed the Christmas Parade!

I am so upset I had to miss last night's Christmas Parade down Grapevine's Main Street.  The weather was beautiful and I was at home dealing with a messed up body.  I hate auto-immune diseases!  I heard on the news that last year the parade drew 25,000 people and it looked like this year would break that record.  Our Christmas parade and downtown celebrations has caused the Texas Legislature to name Grapevine the Official Christmas Capitol of Texas. 

I know that with the health problems I have, I should just be happy to be alive and doing well.  So I am, however, I reserve the right to be irritated at times!  Last night was one of those times!  Okay, I am done now and will be happy and quiet.

Last Day of Regular Classes!!

Thank you, God.  Another semester of college is almost behind us!  Today is Dustin's last day of classes with finals next week.  I am so looking forward to Christmas break!

TCC -NE Clock Tower

Say a Prayer for Rodney's Family Today

Remember our son-in-law Rodney and his family today as they bury his maternal grandma.  His grandparents were married for 67 years and his grandpa had been taking very good care of his grandma the past several months.  Today will be a tough day for him as well as all the family.  Granddaughters Lauren and Lindsay will be burying their last great-grandma today so say a prayer for them, too.

Proud to be an American

The world is attacking Christianity more and more every year.  As we celebrate Christmas, a holiday that is more and more under attack by a secular society/world, let us remember we still enjoy freedoms in this country because of the women and men of our military, both past and present.  I love this ornament I photographed last year at the VA in Ft. Worth.  As we celebrate Christmas, remember to say a prayer for the military personnel and their families who will be separated during the holidays.

The Joy of Giving

Every year we have a Christmas tree in the lobby at our church.  It is our own "Angel Tree."  We hang angels on the tree and each angel has the name of a child from the Pleasant Hills Children's Home.  On the back it has their age and what they would like.  This year we got a little girl Samantha's age who wanted clothes for her Barbie Doll. 

Today the children from the home were at our morning service.  At the end of the service, our Pastor passed out the gifts to them and as they got their gift they sat across the front of the church platform steps.  After the all the gifts were passed out, pastor did a count down and they opened the gifts.  It was such a joy to see how happy they were.  Samantha asked to meet the little girl who got the gift we took.  When we walked over to her she was ripping those Barbie clothes and accessories out of the package and putting them in a little bag she had.  She told Samantha that she had her Barbie doll in the car.  She said she had brought her so she could dress her on the way home.  Samantha was happy to see the other child's joy.

The church served pizza for the kids in the fellowship hall before they had to make the 2 hour drive back to their home.  I'm sure there was a Barbie doll getting dressed and dressed again several times after that pizza party.

I am thankful for a church that is so willing to share God's love with others.

Below is a picture of some of the excited children opening their gifts.

Christmas Is In The Air

With temperatures in the low 80s it sure doesn't feel like Christmas, especially to a gal who was raised in Indiana during the 1950s!  But the Christmas spirit was alive and well this morning at church.  We had children from the Children's Home our church helps to support travel about 2 hours to be with us in the morning service.  They did some skits for us that were really good.  Then our children's department did their Christmas program.  So proud of Samantha and Isabell for the great jobs they did!  Below is a picture of Isabell (in white) during the program, followed by a picture of the cast (Samantha is the last one on the right).

 

 

Busy Start to December

December got off to a busy start but we had a good day.  Dustin went with us to the Senior's lunch at church.  Here is his back in this picture; yes, he is the one with the head full of black hair!  None of the rest of us could say that! He enjoyed the meal and even won a gag gift prize that he loves.  He got a big red "Christmas Light" necklace that lights up so he is having fun with that.  Then we went to the college for his counseling appointment and that went well.  He is changing his major from accounting to computer programming, thankfully all his core classes transfer to the new major.

Looking at this picture I had to chuckle.  We had our Seniors lunch in the Children's Church Room.

After we got home, I watched a Gaither Homecoming and now I think it is time to put on the pjs and relax.  Steve was glad to get home and have some oxygen but he held up well today.  I am thankful he is able to do things like this now.