Spring?!! Break

Snow began falling mid-morning on February 27. By noon, the area schools opted for early dismissal. 

 These two look really upset about having to miss their afternoon classes. Not!

We had a Thompson family wedding in Waco to attend, and Liesey's flight from LAX was due in at midnight. This storm was really not very considerate of our travel schedule.

This was the first snowfall of significant accumulation, so I had to go around the yard capturing the winter beauty. This will likely be the last dusting of the season.

A few days later, we got hit again with a little less ice and more snow.

 I like how this picture of the front walkway turned out.

 Icicles of all colors

 As quickly as it came, it all melted.

What a week for "Malibu Lou" to be home on spring break from her classes at Pepperdine. There were two days where we simply could not leave the house. We found plenty of other things to do -- like reading and napping!

Millie and Morgan's respective spring breaks started when Liesey's ended. 

I had to get a picture of my three Smithlings together before the youngest one took off for a week in Branson, Missouri.

Love these three!!!

 This pic pretty much sums up their personalities. Yup.

I think they are saying:
"I am the oldest; I make the rules.
I'm in the middle; I'm the reason we had rules.
I'm the youngest. The rules don't apply to me."

Ha! Ha! Ha!

I saved a Snap Chat from Day One of the Branson-bound road trippers. While they headed east, the middle child got ready to head back west. The oldest one stayed put in the Metroplex for his break. (He worked over his break!)

Our kids may all be going different directions, but they are enjoying the journey. And we are enjoying seeing what's in store for each of them.

Dancing and Flying High

When the school year started, our dancer girl auditioned for a dance company at Pepperdine, Dance in Flight. 

"DIF" has been in existence for 22 years. Apparently, it is one of the largest, most beloved, and well-attended events at Pepperdine. :-) The performance spotlights Pepperdine students, of all majors and backgrounds, performing a variety of dance principles from jazz, hip hop, tap, ballet, modern, theatrical, ballroom and world dance.

I suppose that all of those years hanging out at the barre paid off. After two long days of auditions, Liesey made the cut from 90 to 30 dancers. She then spent September through January dancing and rehearsing. 

This photo was taken during one of the rehearsals.  Love those smiles; one more than the others.

The cover of the school paper was graced with DIF dancers. My favorite is next to the "C" in Graphic.

Obviously, they are having a ball.

On the cover of the program, the letter "D" is brought to you by my daughter.
(I just realized that where DIF is concerned, Liesey is all about the Cs and Ds -- good thing her academic grades are nowhere near these letters!) :-P

The stage is all set. The artwork is ready to come to life. Let the dancing begin.

The DIF performances were held the weekend of Valentine's Day, and I would have LOVED to have been there. Thankfully, my seester arranged to be in Malibu for one of the shows. What a good auntie!

When the auditions roll around this fall, I know of a dancer who plans to be there for tryouts. If our ballerina girl makes it "in" again, I will be booking my flight for Dance in Flight plenty early.

Feeling the Love

Valentine's Day looked pretty lovely at our house. 

I always try to do seasonal chalkboard art. This one was simple, but the message is sweet... Awwww.

My sweet neighbor girlie has a "Cookie of the Month" club, so I had to buy February's extra-special, extra-soft, heart-shaped, extra-sugary, sugar cookies. Never mind the gluten and all that sugar. That girl can bake! And with free, home delivery, I couldn't let this deal pass by.

Jemima is posing with our collection of decorative Valentine's Day boxes. These relics are from homeschool parties from a realllly long time ago -- back when we used to have contests for the best decorated box. I'm sure there's at least one winner in the mix. I just didn't have the heart to toss them in the trash. I'm a sentimental fool... I wish that I would have kept some of the V-day boxes that my mother made for me when I was in elementary school. There were some classic ones. I was always very proud to "show off" her creativity.

Bart has his own V-day box and a purrty pink ribbon 'round his neck. As you can imagine, this was not his idea.

I cannot believe that a pair of Bart and Jemima's Instagram kitty friends sent them a card and cat toys for the special day. Riley and Eli are two classy cats from Atlanta. 

My husband and I did not exchange v-day cards, but my cats are receiving messages of love (and gifts) from their friends. Wow. Is this a crazy world, or what?!

Our youngest went shopping to get her baseball playing beau a bear. Meet Bearron the Bear. Kinda catchy... considering B's last name is Barron. And he's a catcher; B's a catcher, that is, not the bear! And B's got quite a catch when it comes to girlfriends, in my humble and oh, so honest opinion. :-) 

Platitudinous V-Day PUNishment

There's just something about vintage Valentine's Day cards from the 1950s-60s that I enjoy. It must be my love of the pun that makes these classic cards so near and dear to my heart. I don't care if these are hackneyed old sayings that are "so old they've got whiskers," there is an innocence that goes along with the much simpler time period in which these types of cards were produced. 

Cupid can draw back his bow and shoot puns at me any time. Here are a few of my favs.

 Out of the frying pan and into the fire?

These two are sunny side up?

They have egg on their face?

I'm cracking up at these bad yolks...Not really.

 Food puns are always in good taste.

Cats and puns make fur a good pairing.

Is this one is a bit edgy? Hmmm... 

I think it was a much more wholesome era when this card would have been sold. Call me naïve, I'm going with the "age of innocence" thing here. This kind of card certainly would not be sold to elementary aged children today. I'm sure some people would be "fit to be tied" over this kind of message. 

I could see myself giving out this kind of card. It's a-maize-ing.

And if everything went accordion to plan, this would be the card for my beloved to give to me. I'll end it here, before we hit a sour note.

No More Backseat Driving

This gal has moved on up, taken the wheel, and is safely buckled in the driver's seat! 

Millie Girl can now check the TX driving examination off of her to-do list. There are many steps to complete in order to be granted a Texas driver's license. 

Classroom instruction, the written knowledge exam, and hours and hours of driving lessons were completed a long time ago. A log of all practice hours was filled out and submitted. All of the necessary paperwork (countless forms and documentation) was submitted to the Department of Public Safety a couple of weeks before Christmas. There was only one final hurdle: the actual driving exam. 

Walk-in appointments at the DPS are not allowed, as the driving exam is done by appointment only. Appointments for this test are only scheduled on-line, and the exam slots are booked solid for weeks. HOWEVER, as of yesterday, the dreaded driving test portion of the process is in the rearview mirror. A freshly printed, temporary driver's license is in her hand. And there's a big smile on that pretty face.

 Congrats, Millie Girl!

Call us crazy, but we actually allowed our teen to make a solo trip to Starbucks, on day #2 of being a new driver. 

Don't fret -- Millie took to the streets with adequate prayer coverage. And yes, I did remember to call our "good neighbor" to make sure that she also had adequate insurance coverage. That sounded like a good policy to me.

She was not travelin' solo for long. Millie stopped to pick up a certain young man before going to get java. We had reminded our daughter that drinking too much coffee can cause a latte problems, so she is not allowed to drink and drive. We wouldn't want her to have a brewed awakening.

Oh!!! Before you have a chance to ask, yes, we knew she was going to pick up Braxton for a coffee date, so we are not steamed, and she's not grounded. 

This girlie is definitely on the road to being an independent young woman. We certainly hope and pray that there will be no detours or tickets along the way. We are not worried; Millie is pretty good at steering clear of trouble. 

As I watched our youngest drive away, the phrase "a wing and a prayer" came to mind. And I don't mean that in a negative way. The "traditional" meaning of that phrase implies that a person does something, hoping to succeed, although not prepared enough for it. "A wing and a prayer" means something entirely different in this instance: Millie Girl now has wings, and there will definitely be prayer for her safety -- lots of prayer! I'm ready for her to soar.

I have a feeling that this will become a familiar view -- the parting shot.  It's just going to take some getting used to seeing my youngest flying solo. 

Loose Ends and New Beginnings

Somehow I made it to the end of 2014 and neglected to blog about a few things. Imagine that! 

The pictures contained in this entry are solo shots that are relatively unrelated to any of my earlier posts. These are the Lone Rangers, if you will.

I feel that all these loose ends must be tied up before we move tooo far into 2015. Although this tidying up process is more for me than it is for you, I hope you will enjoy seeing these five pictures and reading the story associated with each one.

1. My only remaining teenager rarely ever likes any clothing that I think is cute. She's really not much into vintage duds or repurposed threads. And she's not terribly keen on scratchy woolen garments.

Knowing these details, I thought it was a safe bet that our youngest would not EVEN consider wearing my (circa 1984) Susan Bristol cat sweater to school. I boldly put fifty bucks on the line. 

Yes, those are fuzzy, angora kitties.

 I lost the bet. 

This girl proudly donned the sweater and even garnered a few compliments. I promptly paid my debt, in full, upon her return from school. (It's a good thing I had spare "dead presidents" tucked away.) 

I still can't believe she wore it. It wasn't even ugly sweater day. She actually likes it!

2. I am soooo proud of Millie...not because she actually wore my old sweater. I'm proud of her artsy-fartsy creativity! 

This is a painting that she created for her mostest favorite baseball player, Braxton. This artwork was part of her Christmas gift for her boyfriend, and it had to be just perfect. She certainly didn't want to strike out.

Needless to say, it was a hit. 

3. Three of our four vehicles are due for vehicle registration renewal each December. I was struck by the realization that our state is likely the only one in the U.S. that has envelopes with this message printed on the flap.

I love Texas!

4. We spent our honeymoon in Kauai and fondly remember eating breakfast several mornings at a hole-in-the-wall place called The Shell House. Sadly, in 1992, Hurricane Iniki permanently shut down (wiped out) this restaurant; five years after our trip to Hawaii.

Mr. Smith and I recall having the most excellent p-cakes at this place. The Shell House's signature pancakes were topped with banana slices, shredded coconut, and drizzled with homemade coconut syrup.

On this New Year's Day, we attempted to recreate those pancakes. Mr. Smith even concocted a delicious homemade coconut syrup that tasted similar to what we remember. 

We did a pretty darn good job. My 'cakes were gluten free, but no one would've ever known. 

They look good enough to eat, huh?

What a fun and tasty walk down memory lane!

4. The Un-decorating Committee prefers to remain in the shadows as they toil. 

Thankfully, it was a sunny day when we took down all the exterior Christmas decor. And all hands were needed to help transport everything back to the attic. I'm happy to report that there were no broken ornaments. And no broken bones.

5. All blog entries are simply more fun if they include a pic of a laughing cat. That's why this picture is inserted here:

Jemima is pretty excited for the new year, and so are we! 

Happy 2015!

One Score and Seven Years Ago...

Mr. Smith and I celebrated twenty-seven years of wedded bliss on the 27th! 

So if a "golden birthday" is the birthday on which the b-day celebrant turns the same age as his/her birthdate, why isn't the wedding anniversary that matches the date on which the bride and groom were wed called a "golden" anniversary?! Inquiring minds want to know.

Since the same naming conventions for "golden" b-days apparently does NOT apply to anniversaries, I guess that we will have to wait 23 more years before we can deem this union truly golden. Gee. I hope we can make it that long.

Our son gave us these cool mugs as part of our Christmas gift. With our anniversary two days after CHRISTmas, this is really an appropriate gift. They are perfect. For those of you who do not know, these are quotes from a scene in The Princess Bride, which also happens to be the second best thing that happened in 1987. Hint: 1987 was 27 years ago. 

These mugs are not really cool at all. I lied. When the picture was taken, they were quite hot. The glaze changes color from brown to cream as the temperature increases, which makes it possible to easily read the text on the mugs. Now, isn't that cool?

 We are keeping that flame o' love burning...

Our love burns eternal.

Mr. Smith and I are a hot match.

Our love will never burn out.

Sorry. I just had to use at least one bad pun in this entry. It's expected; possibly even required, so in honor of this momentous occasion, I exceeded the expectation. 

I think puns must be the secret to our happy marriage. 

Yeah, that's it.

So what wildly romantic thing did we do to celebrate our anniversary? We went out to eat. 

The best part is that we took our kids with us. We actually wanted them with us to help us celebrate. True story.

Although this picture was taken several days before the 27th, I want to share it here to officially commemorate our golden-but-not-really-golden anniversary. 

Twenty-seven years ago, we had an engagement picture taken before the wedding. This pic is sort of like that. It's the pre-Christmas/pre-anniversary "we-sort-of-got-cleaned-up-so-we-could-take-pictures" picture. 

I won't be submitting any pictures to the social pages of the local paper this time around, although I feel that celebrating a happy, committed, healthy, albeit pun-laden marriage IS pretty newsworthy stuff. 

I'll just publish our anniversary news here. It's MY column. I'm the editor. Roll the presses. :-P


Happiest Anniversary, Schnookums, a.k.a. Mr. Smith!