Necessity is the Mama of invention

by Mama Mabel

Our church is having a big New Year's Eve shindig tonight.  Every year they bring in a band and have door prizes and more food than people can eat.  Last year they had around 80 people show up.  That's huge for a church that has around 20-30 people at a regular service. 

This will be our first year to go so Sunday after the service, I gathered with the ladies to find out what I needed to bring.  The church is providing hot dogs and corn chips and the ladies will potluck the rest.  At first, the plan was to bring a crockpot of something as well as some sandwiches.  I asked if the church would be providing chili for the corndogs or if we were making it.  It turns out that some women would make chili and some soup.  Then one industrious soul said she was planning to bring a crock pot of chili as well as one of soup.  What a great idea!  Then we'd be sure to have enough.  In fact, it was decided that since there will only be around 10 women bringing the food, all of us should do that.  So now I was on the hook for a soup, a chili, and sandwiches.  To top it off, there has to be dessert so each woman will bring one of those as well. 

This is all well and good, even exciting for the attendees because the ladies in my church can COOK!  Pretty much everything they make is scrumptious.  Unfortunately, as much as I love to cook, I don't have many crock pot soup recipes and didn't have time to test new ones.  I had from Sunday afternoon until tonight to plan and execute 4 church worthy dishes.  Not that anyone would get upset or be rude if I didn't bring as much as everyone else, but I would like to prove myself to be one of them.  This week, that means kitchen magic.  Good thing I thrive on cooking challenges.

I have a white chicken chili recipe that has been a hit in the past.  It's kind of cheating because they meant chilis that can be used for hotdogs and Frito pie but I think there will be plenty of those so something a little different will be a welcome change.  My sweet MIL Honey gave me a chocolate chip cookie mix as well as peanut butter and jelly as part of a larger Christmas gift (sounds strange but it was a great present!) so I'm set for dessert and sandwiches.  The kicker was the soup.  There will already be at least 2 veggie soups (the only kind of soup I have successfully made in a slow cooker) and a potato soup that I know of.  What's left to make? 

Coondog and I decided that someone needs to bring black eyed peas because it's New Year's Eve and that's a traditional food.  I didn't want to just bring a big batch of BEPs though.  How lame is that?  After some brainstorming and calls to both Granny Girl and Honey, Hoppin' John soup was invented.  Since I spent last night after work making dinner, deboning the chicken thighs for the white chili, and making cookies while convincing Ladybug that she should pick her dad's nose instead of mine and she didn't need to eat a plate of cookies, I didn't get the soup made before bed.  This morning, I frantically diced 1/2 each of a red, yellow and green bell pepper, threw in a pound of dried BEPs, some dried minced onion (no time to chop the real thing), some leftover ham, and salt and pepper in a crock.  I added a box of vegetable broth and stirred it all together then threw in a 1/4 package of bacon from my freezer for extra flavor and added more water to finish it off.  Thanks to my Green Acres style kitchen setup, I had to plug the crock pot base in by my dining room table.  I flipped a chair to have the front of it face the wall and the back fill the space between the wall and my round table so it won't be easy for it to get accidentally bumped.  Ladybug assured me that she knew it was hot and wouldn't touch it but she's 2 so I don't trust her 100% to not get curious.  So now I have white chili and Hoppin' John soup slow cooking their way to what it hopefully potluck worthy deliciousness.  Thankfully Coondog is home to keep an eye on water levels.  I'll let you know how it turns out. 

A tale of two Christmases

by Mama Mabel

We're fresh off our big Christmas trip to see all 4 of Ladybug's grandparents.  Our first stop was at Coondog's parents' in Oklahoma.   Ladybug is the only grandkid on that side and Honey keeps a toybox of age appropriate toys and special baby dolls that Ladybug looks forward to seeing each time.  Coondog's sister and her fiance came over around lunchtime on Sunday to exchange gifts.  When we opened presents, we did it one at a time in rounds from youngest to oldest.  Ladybug got to carry each person's presents to them because she was a big time helper.  Then she helped everyone open theirs except for my future brother-in-law whom she refused to help.  I'm not sure why because she's flirted with him as long as she's known him.  It was a very fun Christmas!

After that we went to see my parents in Texas.  My dad was at his mom's house so we stopped there on the way to Granny Girl's.  My dad hasn't seen Ladybug since she was born and his mom hasn't met her at all so it was a big visit.  Ladybug took an instant liking to her great-grandmother but wasn't too sure about my dad.  When we got to my mom's house, she wasn't too sure about my brothers either so I think she's just more shy around men. Strange for a girl who loves her stay at home dad more than anything but kids are fickle creatures.

Christmas at my mom's house was the polar opposite of Christmas at Pawpaw and Honey's house.  The kids set an alarm and wake the adults up no earlier than 6 am by running through the house and jumping on beds and generally creating a ruckus until we get up.  Then (after the adults get some caffeine), Granny Girl throws everyone's presents to them and we all tear them open at once creating a giant pile of wrapping paper and toys amid squeals of delight.  Ladybug wasn't sure what to think about the 4 other kids and 6 adults including me and Coondog all being busy at once.  She did enjoy opening both my gifts and hers since she sat on my lap.  Then she started playing catch with Granny Girl and some cousins and watch a foam sword fight and decided everything was okay.  Another fun Christmas!  I loved seeing the differences between our two traditions and how much each family still thoroughly enjoyed the day.  It was a wonderful experience.

The cow that stole Christmas

by Mama Mabel

Ladybug got her 15 seconds of fame yesterday when she debuted as a cow in the nativity scene at the end of the church kids' Christmas play.  I made her a cow costume (read tunic worn backward and safety pinned on) out of black and white felt to match the cute black and white cow face hat the church already had.

The kids didn't practice all together until yesterday morning so we put her on stage with them to help prepare her for what would happen.  I stood to the side behind the curtain while the two slightly older girls she adores held her hands and walked her up to stand between them.  They were angels, both in behavior and costume, which made it especially funny to me for them to walk my silly little cow out.  All was going well until she spotted the manger.  I couldn't see much from where I stood but one minute I heard the sounds of a Christmas song and the next I heard Ladybug's gleeful cry of "Baby!"  I knew we were sunk.  She took Baby Jesus out of the manger and held him adoringly.  She wouldn't let any of the other kids have him.  Fortunately, everyone there thought it was hilarious. 

Now that I knew what to expect, I did a lot of coaching.  Ladybug and I talked about how the baby in the bed (manger) on stage was for looking at with your eyes but not for touching.  We made cow(ish) costumes for her two favorite baby dolls so they could stay with her and keep her arms full while not being too obvious from a distance.  I was so proud of her as I helped wrangle the kids backstage.  She was very good about staying behind while the other kids went on and off stage.  She was quieter than a lot of the older kids.  She even let me put her costume on when it was time.  She only wanted to hold one of her babies but that let her hold hands more easily with the angels.  We had a last minute discussion about how the baby in the bed is just for looking at and she pointed to her eyes to show she understood.  Finally the big moment arrived and she walked out to a collective "awww" from the audience.  It made my mama heart proud. 

I was sent to stand just behind the curtain so I could watch her and she was so cute!  Then she realized how many people were looking at her and started to get nervous.  She looked like she wanted to bolt and saw me so I waved her over since no one expected her to stay up the whole time.  Then she had second thoughts and froze so I waved at her to stay in place.  Then she remembered baby Jesus and headed that direction.  The angels were quick enough to stop her and I was told to sit on the edge of the stage and hold her hand for the last few seconds.  I did NOT want to be on stage but I was so thrown off I just obeyed.  Once I held her hand she was comfortable staying close to the other kids and made it to the end.  The other kids were so flustered that they forgot to bow and just rushed off stage laughing and excited that they had done so well.  Ladybug and I went back with them to take her costume off and she wouldn't quit asking for "baby!" so one of the directors said she could carry the baby Jesus doll around which she did for the rest of the night.  She showed it off with pride to everyone who talked to her and doted on it like a mother hen.  No one else was allowed to hold it.  I guess she took the idea of Jesus being her personal Savior very seriously.

This Girl

by Mama Mabel

I drove to Branson, Missouri, to spend Thanksgiving with my parents. This year my niece, Robin, from Florida came with her husband and little girl. I'm so glad I got to spend time with them! When Robin's mama, my sister Julie, was alive she often called Robin by my name because we're so much alike. She's smart and funny just like her Aunt Granny Girl! And that baby girl of hers is smarter than the both of us! It's been a week (I'm still here because of icy roads) and my mom and I are still talking about that amazing child. Little Julie is 23 months old.

One of her favorite things was riding with Granddaddy on his wheelchair. She also watched him being lifted from his chair in a sling on his rolling lift and wheeled to his bed where he was lowered. Once the process was completed she piped up, "My turn!" So she got a ride on the lift. :-)

This girl can draw like a big girl! Here's one of her drawings. She said it was her friend Skylar. I've never known a child this age who could not only draw a completed circle, but could also add discernible features to a face. I'm taking this one home and adding it to my collection of chilren's drawings. I think it's absolutely amazing!

Julie also loved her Aunt Amy who came in from Nashville. And Aunt Amy was totally smitten with her! They had so much fun playing and singing.

Friday evening Julie was sitting on a barstool at the counter and her mama asked her what she wanted to eat. Julie replied, "Crispris." Robin said, "Christmas?" This was repeated a couple of times and a frustrated Julie said, "I get down." Her mama helped her down and she went over to the bag of food I had brought and pulled out a box of Crisp Rice cereal. "Crispris!" she said. Now either she read it or she remembered it from early that morning when her mama had told her the name of the cereal she had poured for her. Either way, she's one smart cookie!

While she was eating her "Crispris" she started singing "All night, all day, angels watching over me." How does a one year old even know that song?

Since the weather was mild we took a walk. We saw a train parked on some tracks and asked Julie what the choo-choo train says. She said, "All aboard!" 

We celebrated her second birthday a little early. She had spilled something on her shirt so she opened her gifts shirtless. We all bought her things that made noise. (hehehe!) 

Ok, I'll wind it down now. It's hard to quit bragging on this little sweetheart, but I'll try to contain myself. Here she is on the newly installed porch swing with her great grandmama.

Here's her daddy finishing up the installation of the swing, and her mama being her usual ornery self.

These two packed up their little car and that sweet baby and went back to Florida. After they left, my dad said to my mom, "Little Julie takes up some of the slack that Julie left when she died." 

She really does. 

Baby, it's cold outside!

By Mama Mabel

The temperature is dropping.  The rain is falling.  The grocery store shelves are emptying.  The space heaters are coming out.  Winter has begun! 

I didn't realize winter storms were named but apparently they do and Cleon is overtaking us.  I have lots of plans for if we get iced in, assuming we have electricity.  I need to sew a cow costume for Ladybug to be in the Nativity scene of the Christmas play.  I'm going to sew a bone shaped stocking for the dogs since the cats have one and I don't want them to be jealous.  Plus I have an abundance of white fleece.  We have decorations to put up and I may even start on the presents I'm making for everyone.  If we're not iced in, I'll probably stay home anyway.  Who want to go outside just to be cold when they could be inside drinking hot chocolate?  Not me.

Christmas is coming!

by Granny Girl

I came to Branson for Thanksgiving and decided to just stay a spell. There's no urgency to get back home, so I'll just chillax here with my mom and dad. Today we prepared for the predicted winter storm that's supposed to arrive tomorrow morning. We've stocked the fridge and the pantry (easy job because it's right after Thanksgiving) and we bought a propane heater in case the electricity gets cut off here. We planted tulip bulbs and swept off the deck. We're ready. Bring it on!

That's just the necessary stuff. We've also been doing Christmas things! We've bought and wrapped all of Mama's gifts for her grandkids and great-grandkids. But more fun than that, we've decorated Mama's lovely home. She has never been one to spend big bucks on Christmas decorations so much of it has been with her for many years.  See this little piece of driftwood?

Mama found it 47 years ago. Every Christmas she decorates it a little differently. This year's addition is the white bird sitting on top. Mama uses the driftwood as a porch decoration when it's not being used for Christmas. 

The big expenditure this year was a six foot tall tree. They've used a four foot tall one for awhile, but this nice big house requires a nice big tree. We found the perfect tree at Wally World for $20.00! 

I 

I don't have a close-up of the tree, but it contains a motley assortment of ornaments. They all mean something to Mama. Some were her mother's and some were made with her grandchildren's names on them. The kind of ornaments every family has that makes their tree the perfect tree for them. The tree fits the space just right!

And then Mama put the finishing touches on the rest of the house. She hung a beautiful wreath on the door.

She decorated the entry table with her crocheted candles and a green Christmas table runner.

All her snowmen got together.

The kitchen and dining room got all Christmasy.

Armadillo got gussied up.

Little Miss Elf got put on a shelf.

It all came together in a postcard perfect look.

Ahhh. A job well done! Mrs. Claus can just sit back and enjoy.

And the Mister can just sit back and enjoy the pretty sights. (If you look really hard, you can see him through the window.)

A mama by any other name

By Mama Mabel

I just received the best phone call I've had in a long time.  Ladybug called me Mama instead of Dada.  It's been a long time coming and it was beautiful.