Little Shop of Horrors

Last night was opening night of the musical Little Shop of Horrors at Jacque's school. She plays the part of Ronette and she did an awesome job! Actually, everyone did! Our Seymour and Audrey are great, the dentist was hilarious, the musicians were terrific and our choir director, Mr. Ponce was amazing as the voice of Audrey II. Everyone just did a super job! I can't wait to go and see it again tonight and Saturday. When I was getting ready to head out my oldest, Cameron, asked me, "Mom, how can you go and sit through the same show three nights in a row." I told her, "That's just what mommies do!" Yes, mommies sit and watch and beam with pride and there were a lot of us in the audience last night. Daddies too! Come out and watch the show! You won't be disappointed!

From Heifers to Steers

We are about to embark on ANOTHER animal journey! When Little Man returned to school after the holidays he was told of an incredible opportunity. Mr. Rountree and the GPISD Education Foundation were sponsoring two students for a steer project in FFA. When Leighton first told me about the opportunity I told him that I didn't think he should apply. We have kind of stuck to pigs and goats in the past...and with good reason. As you know, I have that affliction of being struck by cupid's arrow when it comes to our animals. But then I thought it was just too good of an opportunity to pass on and perfect timing as well. Leighton won't have a heifer until he is a junior in high school and so I encouraged him to fill out the application. He and another student from GP were selected for the interview process. He was interviewed by two of the ag teachers and a GPISD administrator. Quite intimidating but he did very well! Friday we were told he was selected to receive the steer which will arrive sometime around February 10th! So, we are excited but a little scared too (at least I am!) Leighton isn't afraid of anything that I know of (unfortunately!) Here he is all dressed up for the interview.



One of the requirements of the project is to scrapbook the experience so I started with the interview!

Wish us luck!

Free Day at the Zoo

Lions and Tigers and Bears and Humans, OH MY! Yesterday was the annual choir field trip to the zoo. Jacque asked me to chaperone and reluctantly I agreed. You see, she adores the zoo. I do too...most days...except when it is FREE ADMISSION! Free admission equals scads and scads of people. I don't do crowds very well. Never really have. Avoid them at all costs. That may sound mean but it's really that it's harder to have things your own way when there are lots of people around. Especially at the zoo. You know, I like having my way. I like being able to stand AT the rail to watch the sea lions for as long as I please. Not standing on my tippie toes and weaving back and forth just trying to catch a glimpse. And then there are the people who do just that. Stand at the rail for as long as they please, like they don't see me in their peripheral vision weaving back behind them. The audacity! Grrrr....!!! Anyway, the rhinocerus died, the hippo is gone...so many things have changed. Well, with all the people there it didn't take me long to start thinking about how I really hate big crowds. Heck we had to park in the medical center by TIRR for pete's sake! So when I start thinking about my distaste for crowds it always brings to mind a book my mom and dad used to read to my sister and I. The name of it is "The Three Billys Go to Town" by Nancy Howard. I love that book! I think it is out of print now but it was our absolute favorite. It's a story about three country possums. "They were all named Billy because they looked so much alike that almost nobody could tell them apart. They almost couldn't tell each other apart. Inside they were different, but only their mother knew that." One day their mother decides that they are going in to town. "Won't that be exicting?" she asks her boys? "She watched her boys to see how they would act." One of the Billy possums is so excited. He can't wait to go to town and see the "wonderful, wonderful world!" The second Billy possum just wants to stay home and play with his tractor. He likes to build things and take things apart and put them back together again. The third Billy possum ran and hid in a corner because he was afraid that the people in town might have "purple feet and rings in their noses. And maybe they dance on their toes all day and maybe there was nothing to do there." Mother loads her three Billys in their old jalopy and they head off. I won't bore you with the entire story but I bet you can guess by now which Billy possum I identified with as a child. I didn't realize that until I pulled this old book off the shelf when our children were young and I read it to them. I was always the shy one. People who know me now would probably never think that, but back when I was young, boy, was I shy! I even had to go to kindergarten! Imagine that! I remember one day my mom dropped me off for school at the sidewalk that lead to our classroom. It was a cold winter day and I was very susceptible to ear infections. She had bought me a white hat that had a white braided yarn ponytail hanging off the back. Maybe some of you remember those hats? You know the ones that had the wire in the front and looked kind of like a bonnet instead of a winter hat. And then there was that hideous ponytail hanging off the back. I hated it! I didn't want to wear it! But my mommy made me! Reluctantly, I got out of the car and walked towards my class. I decided right then and there that I would just stay outside all day. I huddled up against the wall in a little alcove and put my hands over my face. I wasn't about to walk into my classroom where I just knew everyone was waiting to make fun of me in my new hat! I would just stand outside all day and blend into the scenery I thought. Well, my mom looked in her rear view mirror and saw me and she came back to rescue me! Needless to say she wasn't happy but she did let me take that hat off! My sister? She's the first Billy possum. She wants to see the wonderful, wide world...and she has! Maybe not all of it but she's been to more places in her lifetime than I probably ever will. The second Billy possum? That would be David. I guess that's why I married him. HA! HE is the missing Billy! That's what I call him sometimes...Billy! He likes to fix things and take them apart. He'd probably rather stay at home and play with tractors than go on a trip too. Well, maybe not, but he is the mechanical one of the bunch. I see a little of my kids in all three of those Billys and it just makes me laugh. I guess that's why I like that silly book so much.

And speaking of purple feet...there wasn't any one at the zoo with purple feet but I did see these...who wears this?!?



I have another story about designer brands but I'll have to save that for another day!

Today's word to the wise? Don't go to the zoo on FREE day!

Cheers!

Praying for Baby Harper

and all the other little ones in NICU! Please read the story here and whisper a little prayer!

Bob Goes Bye-Bye!

Bob took a ride in the back of the truck today.



"Baaaaaa, Baaaaa," he said, the whole way to Baytown.



"What the hell?" said Bob, "wasn't Grand Champion good enough for you people?"



"Oh, forget it! I'm not talking to you anymore." Bob huffed!



Yes, Bob...Grand Champion was good enough. I will miss you and Leighton does too! I promise! I will miss you following me around the barn and feeding you hay and petting you. You were a good goat! The best evah! It's just that, well...you have to go be Grand Champion for someone else now! I know you can do it! We'll see you in May!

XOXO

A Little Bit of Christmas...DiStefano Style

Ever the procrastinator it should come as no surprise that it takes me until the new year to blog about our Christmas. This has been a very busy year for me and it also happened to be our year to host DiStefano Christmas. Acting as host comes seldom but is a task none of us particularly relish, only because our family has grown so large. David comes from a family of nine children and there are now many grandchildren and great grandchildren. Since our home is rather small we chose to have our gathering at a local church. My SIL Gwen added her special touch which helped make the fellowship hall feel more like a home. The food is always plentiful and delicious and it's always nice to see everyone.

This year, I had a bright idea...at least I thought it was a bright idea, lol! Before we said our blessing over the food I announced that I would like for everyone to share a favorite holiday memory after our meal. There were some groans and some naysayers. I explained that "back in the day" I remembered traveling to relatives and my parents would sit around the table, drink coffee and visit. With text messaging, e-mail and all of the other technology out there I felt that we didn't do enough "just sitting around and talking" and I wanted us to all gather around and do some sharing of our own over coffee and dessert. How else would we pass our history on to our children? There was a little more groaning but one of my SIL's spoke up and said, "hey, it's her year to host, she can do what she wants." "That's right," I said, "I can do what I want." As if they hadn't figured that out already! :-)

It took some coaxing but we all gathered around the table after dinner. There were still those who didn't want to participate ("that was okay," I said), a few good natured complainers, and even some who said they couldn't remember anything (an apparent DiStefano malady, it's contagious too!) We started our little round of stories with Grandma who told of her and Sam's first Christmas. They had little money, but Sam was determined to have a Christmas tree. He went out, cut one down, brought it home and nailed a stand to it. As they had no money for ornaments they folded candy wrappers and made their own decorations and placed them on the tree. Grandma said it was very pretty and I am sure that it was! What a wonderful beginning!

Next, came one of the naysayers...David, my niece, Stephanie's husband. David told a hilarious story of one of their first Christmases after their son DJ was born. They had decided not to have a tree and decorations due to financial circumstances. One night while Stephanie left to run errands David decided he wasn't having Christmas without a tree and decorations! Because Steph is allergic, he couldn't just run out and buy a real one. He went to a local hardware store in the small Texas town they live and found an artificial tree still in the box but it was marked "BAD". He asked the salesman, "what's bad about this tree?" The salesman answered, "I don't know, it's bad." "Well, I can see that, it's written on the box...but what's bad about it?" David asked. "Uh, I don't know, it's just....uh, bad," the salesman answered again. Frustrated but determined, David asked to speak with a manager. The same question was asked of the manager and the same response was given, "I don't know, it's just bad." Now this story might not seem funny in the retelling but just imagine a 6 foot tall cowboy with a thick Texas twang telling it...well, trust me it was funny! The store manager ended up just giving the tree to David and it turns out that the "bad" was one branch missing. David then put lights on the house and was in the process of blowing up one of those huge yard Santas when Stephanie turned down their street. She drove right past their house...didn't even recognize it with all of the decorations! One of the sweetest stories I've ever heard!

My niece Lauren was ready with her story. Her story was one from her childhood and involved a certain Santa mishap. Her mom (my SIL Celeste) was an evening shift x-ray technician at a local hospital when she and her brothers were young. Mom had to leave to be at work by 11:30 on Christmas eve. Excited to see what Santa had left for them, she and her brother, Brian rose early on Christmas morn and ran down stairs to take a peek. To their surprise, there was nothing! They ran back upstairs to tell their older brother Matt who was still asleep. He assured them that they were just up too early. They should go back to bed and not worry he told them...Santa would come, he was just running late. Now you can imagine what they were thinking...had they really been that bad? Lauren said they were so sad and were sitting at the top of the stairs with their chins in their hands when the door opened and their mom came in. "Mom!" they cried, "Santa didn't come!" Celeste did a quick look and said in an angry voice, "Where's your dad?!?" Too funny!

Celeste went next with a very touching story. She and her husband, Russell, were high school sweethearts. One Christmas when they were dating she happened to be at his house when his dad was putting Christmas lights on their house. She commented on how beautiful they were and how she wished that they had lights on their house. Mr. Evans asked, "Y'all don't have lights on your house?" and she said, "Oh, no, sir...we could never have anything like that." Mr. Evans boxed up their lights and took them over to her house and told her, "well now you have lights." This story brought tears to some of our eyes. Of course, August began counting the crybabies!

One of my favorite holiday memories involves a similar theme. David had been one of the many casualties of Armco Steel closing. It was Cameron's first Christmas and he was still without a job. Jobs were very hard to come by. I had just gone to work and just two days before Christmas received my first pay check. I remember very vividly going to K-Mart by our house and buying Cameron's Santa toys. The toy department was so picked over and I remember buying her a yellow dump truck, a big headed baby, a top, and a few other small things. But we were so proud that we were able to buy these things! David and I use to say that our song was the old Anne Murray tune whose lyrics are, "even though we ain't got money, I'm so in love with you honey..." and we were...in love, not only with one another but also with the little family we had created. Good times!

It just goes to show you that some of the best memories come from some of the "not so best" times. It is the challenges and experiences we face in life that shape who we become. There were many other stories shared and I hope it is a tradition we will continue.

Picture time is always last. Why we save our photo ops until the end when we have all fattened up on so much good food is beyond me. In any event, here's our group. A few were missing this year. Hopefully we will all be there next year. I know for sure of three new little ones joining the crowd...two baby boys and a baby girl!



And I'm only sharing this one because we had a bit of a laugh. Notice the hold Grandma has on Lexi sitting next to her. She was hanging on a little tight to a few of the little ones only because some had gotten cranky and were trying to make a hasty getaway. Well, my boys were behind me saying, "look at the choke hold Grandma has on Lexi! Tap out, Lexi! Tap out!" I swear those boys crack me up!



I'll try to share Wille Christmas before the next new year!

Cheers!