Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!!!

Hello!!! We hope everyone had a very happy Turkey Day! We are so thankful that you are apart of our lives. We have been blessed with wonderful friends and family. Not a day goes by that we do not realize how lucky we are!!! On Thanksgiving day, we were fortunate to spend the day with our friend Steve. Steve went to high school with us and worked at Moreno Valley Ranch with me years ago. He grew up in Moreno Valley and was transferred to Indianapolis for work 2 years ago. All of his family, like ours live on the west coast...
My co-worker Alissa and son Tyler were supposed to join us to- but her sister changed their dinner back to Thursday instead of Friday. That was kind of a bummer, but we still had a great day!

Here is our table...my mama sent us the flowers in the center of the table. Thanks mom- I love you!!!! xo

Steve brought over 7-Layer Dip as an appetizer. It was delicious!!! Here is Ryan prepping the bird. He soaked it in a brine that he got off the internet from the Food Channel show, "Good Eats." He is obsessed with that program.
He had to cook the bird at 500 degrees the first 30 minutes and then 350 the rest of the time...
He stuffed the bird with apples, rosemary, sage, onions and a cinnamon stick. Here is the finished product. TA-DA!!! It looked so good, Steve couldn't control himself...
I cooked too- stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn casserole, green bean casserole, crescent rolls, cranberry sauce, yams, and Aunt Karen's homemade mac and cheese. Everything turned out fantastic- Apparently I am a better cook than I thought...

Here we are posing with Steve's favorite- green bean casserole. It was good...but not as good as my mom's. It wasn't nearly as creamy. I wonder what she does different....hmmmm????

The boys liked it....we were all stuffed to the gills!!!! We had to wait a couple of hours before indulging in that pumpkin and apple pie!

We still have left-overs. I made wayyyyyyyy toooooooo much!!!! That's okay though, I hate cooking and LOVE to eat (especially fattening, carb-loaded) food like this. Yes- we are cheating on our diet....we have been so good and are back down to our CA weights at the current moment.
We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! On Saturday, our neighbor Sabrina offered to take pictures for our Christmas card. We went to Potter's Woods to "strike a pose."

Here are some of the REJECTS...the rest made the annual Holiday Card (which will be coming to a mail box near you):
After the pictures, we drove to the outdoor mall, Clay Terrace in Carmel to check out the Christmas decorations.Here is Santa's Village. So cute!!!I got all excited and convinced my hubby to help me decorate our casa. We turned up the Christmas music and got to work. We were going to get a real tree- but decided to save money and bust out the tiny artificial one I 've had since college. Here is the finished product. Next year, my goal is to get a real, big, color-coordinated tree to go with my non-existent dining room furniture.

I LOVE table decor. Here is our kitchen table....topped with the snowflake placemats Grandma Genie made me and the napkin rings my Aunt Heidi and cousins Cori and Tommy bought me years ago... And what good is a Christmas table without a Christmas kitchen??? Many of my holiday decorations were gifts from former students. That is just one of the many perks of being a schoolteacher.
Ryan hates it...he says it looks like a Christmas store "threw up" in our house...Where is his sense of holiday spirit??? BAH-HUMBUG!!!!


I put out my two nativity sets and stole some straw from the green belt across the street to complete my decor. The gardeners in our home development lay down straw so the geese don't eat the grass.

Here is my village and the two stockings Ryan's Grandma Barbara made us. The tiny stockings are for our baby boys- Frodo and Sammy.

The quilt on our couch was a wedding gift from my old school secretary at Bear Valley, Diane. It is so cute- it has Christmas trees and moose on it.

The 3 stockings hung from the mantle are for me, Ryan and Steve....Steve is going to spend Christmas with us too. :)

We got so caught up in the decorating that we ran out of time!!! We had EVERY intention of driving to downtown Indianapolis to see the "Circle of Lights." Each year there is a celebration/countdown the Friday after Thanksgiving to celebrate the lighting of the War Monument . Here are some pics I uploaded from Google, so you can see. We'll try to go downtown in the next few weeks and take some pics in person...

Ryan put up our Christmas lights this weekend. We didn't want to buy any new ones, so we made do with what we had from our old house in Beaumont...Here is the finished product...next year, we might go BIG and add some on to the 2nd story...We did go to Wal-Greens and splurge on some bows for the railing and a Santa sign...It's a good thing Ryan hung the lights when he did, because in the morning, we woke up to this!!!It's a WINTER WONDERLAND!!!Here's our backyard... The dogs were so cute- they didn't know what to do...
We ran out in the snow with them and they got the hang of it...
Maybe we will have a "White Christmas" afterall....

It is sooooooooo BEAUTIFUL!!!! Wish you were here to see!!!

Of course- you don't have to drive in this on your way to work tomorrow morning!!!! Wish us luck!!!

Until next time...xo

Museum Madness-Holiday Happiness

Okay, before I begin telling you about our adventures this week, I just have to comment on the gas prices....INSANE!!! I know gas prices have dropped significantly everywhere due to the lovely economy, but I remember paying $4.67 a gallon the day we left California...now I can fill my SUV up for 22 dollars...CRAZY!!! I can't remember the last time gas was in the $1.60's...Can you???Okay, so a while back I sent out an e-mail to some of you about the "Learning Packets" I made for my ESL students making an article in the IndyStar newspaper...After spending a couple hundred dollars out of my pocket, I got smart and decided to write a grant to fund this intervention...Writing a grant is such a PAIN!!! I felt like I was back in college writing a term paper...it ended up being 12 pages typed...I turned it in about a month ago, and have been waiting anxiously to see if it would be approved. On Friday, at the end of the work day, I found out the good news!!! Yay!!!
I was awarded 500 dollars to continue the funding of the "Learning Packets" I have created. Below is a picture of me, my co-worker Regina (she applied for a grant too) and a representative from the foundation who awarded us the monies.

On Saturday, Ryan and I went to the Indianapolis Children's Museum...I know, I know- as if we aren't around kiddos enough!!!It was FREEZING!!!! This past week, we had the pleasure of experiencing weather in the teens...Not too bad if you have on the right clothing- MISERABLE if you are not prepared. We had to take a trip to Meijer to buy some extra winter essentials- a winter coat and gloves for Ryan, and extra scarves and ear-warmers for yours truly. Black trench coat look familiar??? It is the one I bought at Goodwill for 10 bucks- STINGY CHICK ROCKS!!!

Ryan was tougher than the wifey- he left his new, warmer jacket in the car.

Here is the entryway of the museum...The snowflakes made it feel like a "Winter Wonderland!"The museum had TONS of exhibits...this one was on Comic Book Heroes-

Heroes in a Half-Shell...TURTLE POWER!!!! Who was your favorite Ninja Turtle? I liked Leonardo because he had the blue headband...Ryan liked Donatello, because his weapon of choice was the staff. I know, we are DORKS!!!

There was an awesome glass sculpture running through all four stories of the museum- SPECTACULAR!!!Another cool exhibit was "The Power of Children: Making a Difference." The focus was on 3 children- Anne Frank (Holocaust Victim), Ryan White (Indiana boy discriminated against after being diagnosed with AIDS) and Ruby Bridges (first African-American to attend an all white school in the South). The Ruby Bridges section focused a lot on "Brown vs. Board of Education." Imagine our surprise when we found several artifacts pertaining to Crispus Attucks- the high school Ryan teaches at.

The high school Ryan works at has been around since the 1920's. It has a ton of history...Crispus Attucks used to be an "all black" high school until segregation was abolished. It really is an eye-opener to connect a significant moment in history to the halls of your workplace.

The United States is slowly, but surely paving the way for all of its people, but it is important to always be mindful of these injustices to so that they never happen again.

We also had to make a stop at what else???? The ScienceWorks exhibit!!!Here is Ryan standing in front of a "water clock." It was made out of glass, but ran on water!!!
Oh, and of course, Ryan had to play with the pulley...
We stopped in the Dow Center to participate in a make-and-take experiment...

I know you are DYING to know what we made!!! Drum roll please......TA-DA-non-toxic window cleaner!!! (I know, not that exciting- we were disappointed too).

Something that did not disappoint was the dinosaur exhibit. Awesome!!!!The museum was getting ready for Christmas- Santa makes his first appearance on the 28th of November!!!

On our way home from church this morning, we drove through downtown Noblesville, and holiday decor made its debut...
I love it- small town charm and Christmas cheer!!!

I got all excited and begged Ryan to let me put up our Christmas decorations too...Of course he said, "NO!!! You weirdo, it is not even Thanksgiving yet!"

I have to stick to the original plan of the day after Thanksgiving (which is still too early for Ryan, but I have to draw the line somewhere!!!!) My Christmas decorations sit in the spare room closet calling my name...."Brooke....Oh, Brooke!!!"
I am so excited!!! Maybe we will actually get to experience a "White Christmas" this year!!! How cool would that be? Oh, if any of you were curious- still no snow. Two days of flurries, but nothing stuck!!! It has been chilly, but don't worry, I have my man to keep me warm. :)We stopped by the grocery store today to pick up all our goodies for Thursday! It will be the first Thanksgiving dinner I have ever made all by myself!!! Say a prayer- those that know me well, know what a fantastic cook I am (NOT!!!). Oh well, at least the turkey will be yummy- Ryan is in charge of that!

Our friend Steve, and my co-worker Alissa and her son Tyler will be joining us. Aunt Karen, I am going to make your homemade mac and cheese as one of the sides- I will do my best to make you proud!!!

We love and miss all of you! Have a blessed Thanksgiving!!!!!

Until next time...xo