Merry and Bright

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

All of the decorating was done under Jemima's watchful. Around our house we say that "Maine Coons are helpurrs." And it's true. 

The cards were hung on the baker's rack with care... 

Our cats received Christmas cards this year from several of their Instagram friends. What is sad is that the number of cards that Bart and 'Mima received exceeded the number we humans received by one. (It wouldn't be so bad, except for the fact that they have smug expressions on their fluffy little faces.) They are loved. They even received cat toys and cat treats from friends in Canada and the UK.

There were no cat's pajamas for Bart and Jemima, but everyone else received the traditional and customary Christmas Eve jammies. I even got a pair of plaid Victoria's Secret PJs to match the girlies. No, the boys didn't get the same kind of pajamas as the girls, but their navy and grey "comfy-wear" coordinates nicely with ours. Let it be noted that we are a well-coordinated fam.

Building/decorating a gingerbread casa is yet another tradition that had to be checked off of the "must-do" holiday list. Never mind that there is one even TON of glutenous material in this Home Sweet Home, as well as tons of sugar. We built it, enjoyed looking at it, then tossed it in the trash without tasting one bite.

Bart and Jemima are getting a lot of "air time" on this post, but before I wrap things up, I have to share a video of our Maine Coonies shaking paws. They are all decked out in their festive finery. (Yes, I truly am a crazy cat lady. I'm comfortable with that title -- really, I am!)

Jingle paws

Jingle paws

Jingle all the way

Oh, what fun it is to shake

Then get a cat treat right away...

The Annual Family Photoshoot

 It's difficult to get a family picture. Silliness ensues. Eyes blink. Stuff happens.

Here are a few shots that were fired with my Canon for our Christmas card photo.

It's hard enough to get all five humans to cooperate, but then we had to add a new level of difficulty in the form of two fluffy (yet festive) Maine Coons.

Once again, everyone is looking at the camera, except for Bartholomew and Jemima.
It'll have to do.

 I love this trio!

One of our son's friends had a little fun editing this picture.

Can you see the family resemblance?

It's all in the eyes... 

Giving Thanks!

The chalkboard pretty much says it all. 

 Family. Love. Togetherness.

(And lots of yummy food!)

 As a bonus, we got to help the "Birds" celebrate five years of wedded bliss.

We are blessed.

And thankful.

Cruising in Blonde Millie's Wheels

Grandpa wanted to take a spin in a convertible with a pretty girlie. It's a good thing that our temps were in the 70s while he was visiting. And there was no rain in the forecast. 

Millie added a couple more victims... er, uh.. I mean PASSENGERS, and they were off.

Wheeeee!

Forecast: Gourd-geous Weather

It was a picture perfect day for visiting the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Gardens. Even though my camera can get heavy to lug around, I am glad we brought it to preserve the day with our youngest Smithling.

This is one of the buildings in Pumpkin Village. More than 75,000 pumpkins, gourds and squash are used to make up the village.

 I made her do it...

 I captured a statuesque blonde and her statuesque friend.

We are a bit self(ie)-absorbed.

We hiked around all of the gardens, visited Pumpkin Village, and toured the "12 Days of Christmas" displays -- all under glorious sunshiny skies.  By the end of our outing, we had seen many beautiful plants, taken "one or two" pictures, encountered countless 15-year-old Mexican girls and their entourages out taking Quinceañera photoshoots, and walked more than fives miles. But best of all, we tallied up countless smiles. We will be back...

Fall Catch Up

Over the past weeks, I have had more than one friend comment on my inability to get any blog entries posted. You know who you are! (Thank you for your gentle promptings and nudges.)

Yes, I have neglected INOKWACA. To be honest, I write things that never see the light of day. I am currently looking at a little button on this Blogger.com page that says "Publish," but more often than not, I don't hit it. I write things. Honest! I just opt to keep things saved as my own personal journal. I fear that you might not find some of these random entries very interesting. 

In an effort to catch up a bit, I will share pictures and offer up minimal explanations as to what each photo represents. Deal?

Can you tell that Jemima disapproves of my lackadaisical approach to blogging? She shouldn't be too grumpy; she gets her fair share of posts/exposure on Instagram. She likes attention, I guess.

I love this picture of the "angry" sky. The weather this fall was unseasonably warm. To make it even more exciting, we had an occasional thunderstorm/tornado warning to contend with. 

My youngest was not pleased that I snapped this photo as the storm siren blared. I was looking for Jemima, who was eventually found asleep in a corner in the family room. The big fluff ball was oblivious to the impending danger of the approaching storm. Thankfully, Bartholomew & Millie were already safe inside our storm shelter (a.k.a. the windowless guest bathroom). As my cat and I made our way to the bathroom/shelter, I just had to take just one picture of the storm clouds. A small tornado did touch down in a neighboring community, so it was "exciting" to say the least. 

Texas does not get much fall color, but this red oak in our backyard surely put on a colorful show.

These two are pretty colorful, too!

We went with A&B to a nearby pumpkin patch.

Braxton picked a pretty punkin'.

And I picked this one.

More fall color...

Jemima was shell-shocked that we dressed her up as a Maine (Coon) Lobster for Halloween. This one is all about the treats, no tricks...

Millie and her friends decorated some ghoulishly delicious cupcakes. The spider web and the mummy are my faves.

On Halloween night, our neighborhood social committee sponsored a trunk or treat  gathering -- right outside our front door. They had games, a movie, and lots of food. 

Our friends, Rey and Julie, had the best display, as they turned the back of their pickup truck into a pumpkin patch. The Great Pumpkin and a farmer made the scene complete. Mr. Smith and I didn't decorate our car, so we just hung out with these two and handed out our treats to about 60 kids. Most years we only have 10 trick-or-treaters come to our door, but this was a well-advertised and heavily promoted event in the 'hood. I am glad that I had purchased plenty o' full-sized candy bars at Costco. We gave every last one of 'em away, so I didn't have to eat any. Ha ha!

If we start planning now, we might be able to come up with a creative trunk theme for next year's event. Hmmm... On second thought, I think we will just do the "come as you are" approach again. 

Meet Me in St. Louis

Mr. Smith and I packed an overnight bag, loaded up the car and traveled a little bit north and quite a distance east to get to "The Gateway to the West." This road trip was so we could attend our niece's wedding. None of the Smithlings were able to make the trip; however, somebody simply had to be there to represent the Smith fam. We love our niece to pieces, so we wouldn't have missed her special day!

Molly and Nate tied the knot on October 9th at the Third Degree Glass Factory in the 'Lou. This proved to be a lovely venue for a wedding.

It's quite apparent that we don't "selfie too good!" I simply had to try so I could send my kids Snapchat messages from their cousin's wedding. (They thought we were funny. Or odd. Or amusing. Or something like that.)

It was sooo good to see my daddy!

 The bride and her grandpa posed for my camera.

 The mother-of-the-bride and her daddy also smiled for me!

 I didn't even have to ask this very proud father-of-the-bride and his daughter to look happy. This joy just came naturally!

The desserts at the reception were all of Molly and Nate's favorite recipes that friends and family make.

 It was hard to choose just one thing, so I chose three! Little bites. Honest.

There were lots of "pretty no-nos" in the gallery. This is the kind of place that would make a mother of young children very uneasy.

 Rachel and Anne

 Mitchell and Sarah 

 Siblings! 

And we are in order of age. Our brother Jay couldn't make it...Maybe we should Photoshop him in!

 AJ and Mark

 The twins posed for an "almost birthday" photo.

 #1 Son and Dad

 Me and my road trippin' buddy

Nate's dad brewed up a special ale for the occasion, "I Thee Red."

Too bad I'm not a beer connoisseur. It looks good.

To cap off the evening, we got to see a glass blowing demonstration. It was either do this or go hit the dance floor. :-P

We all met for breakfast on Saturday morning, before the Texas contingent hit the road. We picked up two more passengers for the return trip -- well, baby-to-be makes three!

 We simply HAD to stop here. 

It's going to be a new tradition of places to stop along the I-44 corridor in Missouri.

Why did we cross the road?

To get to the chicken.

AND because it's so ridiculous.

And because we needed a potty break.

Road trips need to be packed with silliness and El Pollo Camino.

And clean restrooms!