So many titles I can't decide . . .

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These two!

Are someday . . . 

going to be . . . 

Great buddies!

Someday...

But for now, they're good buddies once in a while and fellow basketball players on Tuesdays and Saturdays.  What fun to watch them both play their first game of this league's season today.  Especially, oh my goodness, 3rd & 4th graders just learning the game, very cute (William doesn't read the ol' blog, I can call it cute...(-:). Harrison meanwhile just came off an entire season at his school, in addition to being one of the tallest two kids on his team, so he could dominate if he wanted to...but he got special accolades from his coach at the after-game meeting today for his willingness to pass the ball around to his team mates, set up plays and not just run for the lay-ups. Atta boy, Harris! Harrison's team had a nice win today and William's team only lost by two points (why, by the way, is one basket, two points...is there any other sport where you can score one time and get two points? Hockey, no...Baseball, no...Soccer, no...Football...oh...hmmmm...forget it...(-:)

Oh, Yeah!...our William had to guard that guy there and that guy had to guard our William.  That guy was fast and he was good! In this league the kids get a color strip on their shirt and they guard the kid with the matching color strip.  When William was on defense he was on that guy like glue...or a gnat...he was buzzin' all around him, in front, chasing him around the court, wherever that guy went, there was William, hopping right at his side/front/back...it was really cute...he's going to probably hate that I keep saying that some day, but it was really...so cute! (-;

However . . . 

There ain't no stoppin' our Sweet William!

(-:

Oh, Yeah!

One set of Easter clothes, CHECK! . . .

Secondary working title:

Hello, Henry Ford!

It was dress like your auto-biography book report night at the school this week.  So, after a facebook plea for a bowler hat and a quick trip to our favorite resale shop, we pulled our little Henry Ford together and then promptly hung all items together on a hanger waiting for Easter's arrival...minus the bowler hat. ;-)

 Here we see Henry informing some folks about his favorite invention, the Model T. This great guy was really fun to watch interacting with people.  He's a bit more on the reserved side (outside of our family), but he was so proud of his outfit and Mr. Ford, that he was able to shine himself through the tough part of talking with all these people he usually doesn't converse with. Cool!

So, yeah...the bowler hat's back with it's owner and we're set for Easter. Double bonus.

P.S. I am well aware that those pants totally look like floods in this pic, but they sure don't in the previous one, so I'm going with the fact that his hands are in his pockets and have slightly lifted the pants.  Because...I AM set with one Easter outfit and that's that!

(-:

"Oh, what a beautiful morning . . . "

Oh, what a BEAUTIFUL day!"

Pics taken after driving the boy down the street to school...

Yes, you read that correctly...the boy down the street...

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Cause I have time on my hands for things like that...

Hahaha!

Actually, today was our middle school carpool day and at 7:20a.m. Ben announced to me that his stomach was stinging and he felt like throwing up. Ugh! So, I thought it was too late to call his carpool friend's mom and say we're not going to school today, (which it was, she had left by the time I got to her son) so I went and picked up Kevin and brought him to school.

But, my oh my...can you even believe that sunrise????

It's all about you babe . . .

That's just the way it goes when you turn

16!

I have no words!

(-:

One evening, a couple years ago...and I may have blogged about this, who knows...the boys were all gone and Lara and I watched about 10, maybe 15 episodes of Cake Boss...straight. So, tonight, since it's been one of those months and a homemade cake just didn't happen...we had a Cake Boss cake!  Yumm-o. (They ship them to Kroger, fyi (-;)

And yesterday, on birthday eve, this gal had her first full dress rehearsal for the competitive drum line show she's in this winter. First competition of the season is next weekend but it sounds like that's a dry run type of show to get the kinks out and the bulk of the competitions are in March. The parents were asked to come watch this first "performance" rehearsal and Lara memorized her music the night before and early Saturday morning before the 10a.m.-5:00p.m. rehearsal started because she'd just been bogged down with finals the previous weeks. She will definitely be all over that part come March!

After church this morning she opened our gifts. I love her little look on this one as everyone's yelling out, "She got a violin, she got a violin." I was just thinking to myself, she plays piano and percussion, there is no way she's starting to learn violin at age 16, haha.

Oh my gosh do I lOVE this shot!

She's just figured out that she got a . . . 

Ukulele!

Yes, my friends, you have read that correctly...a ukulele! It seems there is a ukulele craze going on amongst the youth of society these days, and this gal kind of subtly asked for a Uke (that's what we in the know call them...after researching them online...) for Christmas but that set of gifts was already all set. Tucked that away for a month later when another gift was needed, yay! Isn't that a gorgeous ukulele? The pattern is carved into the mahogany wood and it has such a warm sound, it's the tiniest, soprano ukuleles that have that high pitched funnier sound that I think a lot of people remember. Ukuleles are being used by a lot of pop/folk performers these days, thus their resurgence. As a matter of fact, I was texting a friend of mine with another soon to be 16 year old and low and behold...her daughter too, has a uke!!!

Happy, Happy, Day!

Sign of the times . . .

Such a quandary (funny, the spelling of "quandary"...I really think it should be "quandRy", no "a")...anyhoo...such a quandary, LIFE, eh?

Last night I took a little trip down memory lane by clicking on January 2008 in the ol' blog and the heart simultaneously breaks and cheers (but I found, last night at least, a little heavier on the breaks...) when looking back. I both miss having those little sweeties around the house when I look at the pictures of all our happening, yet at the same time I can pretty actively remember how draining and non-stop exhausting it was then too. Such a quandAry!

My next phase it seems has quiet nooks with desks prepped for working for one of my new little gigs, Music Admissions Counselor for a local university.  I even have an office outside the house, business cards appeared today and I'll be gone over night on business soon too.  Is that just crazy??!!

BUT...all is not lost, we still have ponies lunching in our living room!

And our little sweeties are still perfectly little enough! (-;

That's our guy there in the middle on his new basketball team. I was asking around to see if this was a 3rd/4th grade team or all 3rd grade because wowza...I never knew our guy was so small! Pretty sure I found our there are 3rd and 4ths, and double wowza...William runs circles around all of 'em! (-:

I really could have predicted this . . .

I mean, seriously...if one has the gaul to proclaim, even in a half-hearted jest, that this could possibly be the "Simplest, Easiest New Year Yet," what would one suspect would happen??? Well, imagine it, and it's happening and it's simply not easy.

SO...

How perfectly timely for my new shirt to have arrived today . . . 

Now...if it could simply be easy enough for me to get back to the pool for me to wear my newest, awesomest shirt! Soon enough...soon enough...

P.S. That shirt also represents a trip to the dark side as it was none other than my information gathering nemesis, facebook, that gathered enough data on me to know to run the ad to buy that shirt every day straight for one month and they got me, hook, line and sinker!

Hey, Aunt S. . . .

Do you think your 10 year old self would have ever imagined your grand niece would absolutely LOVE playing with your Barbies and their clothes in 2015??!!

Here is her most favorite Christmas present, Ariel "barbie" with a fin that swims, wearing a lovely, fur lined woolen sweater at bedtime tonight. 

Tricky getting the pics in a dark bedroom. But here's yet another example of one of Barbie's pieces of clothing that I actually want in real people size! Oh, funny enough, one of my favorite things to play at my friend's pool growing up was mermaids. Ok, moving on...

Here now is an example of one of Barbie's pieces of clothing that I would absolutely never want in real people size...um...can you even imagine??!! (-:

So, yes, Barbies and the never ending quest to change their outfits appears to be absolutely timeless. While Lara never got into them, they were a primary source of entertainment for me when I was growing up.  I would pack up a couple carriers of barbies and clothes many Saturdays and walk down the road to my friend's house (yep, the mermaid swimming one) and we'd play for hours.  I never did manage to get the incredible Barbie Dream House, but I managed to get through childhood nonetheless!

The Simplest and Easiest . . .

Happy New Year!

Today I have no pictures.

Today I made a turkey for the first time in over 15 years.

Today I decided to check into how to make a turkey, and if I had the proper equipment, at around noon...for a four 'clock (ish) meal.

Today at around noon:05 I almost had a panic attack and wondered if anyone had every roasted a 13.5# turkey on a cookie sheet before...

Today, around noon:10 a thought shot through my head, from out of no where..."check the garage, there might be a large roasting pan there."

Today, around noon:12, the day was saved.

And I came in and googled, "How to roast a 13# turkey."

I have a feeling...and yikes, maybe you don't type this kinda thing...but...this year just might be the simplest and Easiest yet!

Check my gem of a recipe that (due partially to my steady stream of basting with only melted butter I'm sure), turned out a very tasty turkey. 

http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-cook-a-turkey-the-simplest-easiest-method-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-160905

Then, a little later than we suspected, since someone that owns a convection oven gave me turkey roasting timing based off her 48 year history of making turkeys so I ignored all recipes timing advice...even though I do NOT have a convection oven...(insert throat clearing here, then a small chuckle, followed by an"Oy Vey!" (-:), then...we all enjoyed an amazing New Year Day meal that looked quite like a Thanksgiving meal, which was awesome because we didn't get one this year.

Here's to a Happy, Healthy, Simplest, Easiest New Year Yet!