The Wood Family

Please pray for my close friend, Angela's husband. My heart is heavy tonight. They need our prayers for peace and strength.

80th Bday Pics

Here are the last of Nana's bday pics......


Her invitations turned out really cute-we were proud of them. A lady that we found on the internet designed them and we printed them at Sam's.

Family shot. We had really cute shirts made that had an old photo of Nana on the front and said, "Vintage 1930". The back had the word NANA in block letters with all of our names inside the letters and then said, "Eighty years of Excellence".

Nana cutting her cake. Oh, and btw, 80 is the new 65.

The Smart Bunch-Slade looks disgruntled. Finley was feeling puny that day, but pulled through.

The snack table. We had tortilla roll-ups, melt away cookies, nuts, pinwheels, baby quiche, and spinach dip.

Just doing some visiting.

The Womack boys

Nana and her sister

Finley gave in to a rare nap with Aunt Cindy. The lady on the right was my kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Jernigan. In the back you can see the slide show that was running during the party. Brandi made a cool show with some great old tunes.

Beeler Bunch-now Campbell looks disgruntled.

One of the collage photos I did at Walgreens. They all had a different colored border.

Our centerpieces turned out pretty cute. These are jars from Brandi's wedding. We filled them with jelly beans and a candle.

Here is a closer pic of the front of the Nana shirts.

I woke up this morning to several inches of snow. Again. I love the beauty of white everywhere. The peacefulness and sparkle of fresh fallen snow. Especially when I get to stay indoors. But man, it's hard for Kyle to make a living with it snowing every. single. week.


Dear Snow,
I have enjoyed you immensely this year. You made us really have a "White Christmas" for the first time in a long time. It was fun and I got great photos for my scrapbook and blog. You are very beautiful. I got to make stew and chili and all those winter foods that make your pants too tight. You cover all the imperfections of the earth and make everything look serene and lovely. I was able to wear all my favorite scarves and gloves this year. And I do love my scarves. I'm a scarf girl. I got to make hot chocolate for the kids and cook late breakfast on the days you arrived. You made it feel very wintry this year and I do appreciate that. You are loved. But I'm beginning to think you might be overextending your stay. You are like a relative that has worn out it's welcome. Fun in the beginning, but now you are just getting on people's nerves. Are you ready to pay South Plains Electric or Wells Fargo? Just wondering since you are making it very very difficult to mow lawns, trim hedges, and dig in the ground for irrigation systems. If my husband worked in a bank or office building, then I would have no problem with you. But he doesn't. You also made my windshield crack. It started out as a small little nick in the windshield and has now spread into a foot long crack. Shame on you. You also have made our Chihuahua's life miserable, not to mention mine. I really don't enjoy bringing the dog indoors every night because it's snowing or freezing. It's hard for a five pound dog to do it's business in the snow without loosing it's extremities due to the elements. I'm super happy we got a dog in the "Year of the Snow" in Lubbock. Did the Chinese Almanac predict this year to be just that or did I miss it??? You are wreaking havoc on school hours, businesses, sidewalks, tires, and making so many potholes in the asphalt. Poor Texas Department of Transportation. They won't get all the holes filled till July at this rate and then the state will just raise our taxes to help pay for it. I'm just saying it's time to lighten up. Spring is just around the corner and we really don't want to find our Easter eggs in the snow this year. The pansies have seen better days. Tulips should now get their time to shine in a month or two. Please pack you bags and continue your travels northward. And take your cousins, Ice and Sleet with you. We don't need you anymore till say, December. You can even come in November if you wish.

(Please see the above photo) Thanks for everything, Snow. We have some great memories. I will never forget you.
Sincerely,
All Snowed Out in Lubbock

PS If you wait till November to reappear, I will even buy a new scarf...

Don't You Wish......

that you had the nerve to stick this on the buttocks of certain people in your life? Let's just be real for a minute......

And on that note, smile, you just made it through Monday. Have a great week!

To Curl or Not to Curl?

A good portion of my childhood recollection involves spongy pink rollers. I spent many a night sleeping in rollers. How did I actually sleep in those you ask? I was tough as nails? A heavy sleeper? It was done all in the name of beauty? Perhaps all three. You see, I was blessed with straight hair. Really straight hair. My hair doesn't hold a curling iron curl to this day unless my hair stylist performs an Indian rain dance and sticks pins in a voodoo doll's head. And whether or not those curls stay in is still questionable. You should have seen the lengths I went to at prom. I don't blow dry when I get out of the shower at night. I go to bed with wet hair and wake up and it's straight. So maybe my mother wanted a Shirley Temple daughter or she really liked Annie. Or maybe that's just something you do with little girls like black patent leather shoes or gingham dresses or dance lessons. Whatever the reason, I did my time with the spongy rollers. And now it is time I pass the torch. My daughter was blessed with my straight hair genes. Finley-meet Miss Sponge Roller. Now they come in a lovely shade of baby blue.

She was really up for the challenge. She loves hair bows, lip gloss, fingernail polish, shoes, jewelry, makeup. So she was super into the roller thing.

She is major excited at this point. Can hardly wait to see what will happen. Really early on in the process at this point.

I think they were strategically placed in just the right spots.

And kazaam-CURLS! Super cute curls all over.

Those spongy rollers still do the trick after all these years.

At this point, she is thinking that it's really not floating her boat.

She is wondering who the girl with the fro is. What happened to me? And why do I have straight bangs in the front and curls in the back like a crazed New Kids on the Block fan? Didn't that style go out with Aqua Net?

And as Kyle says, "She snapped." It all went downhill. She does NOT like the curls at all. They are very strange and foreign.

So the boys tickled her till she laughed to try to take away the pain. The pain of beauty gone wrong in her eyes.

So, Finley, welcome to the world of hair products. Curling irons, perms, hot rollers. Been there done that. They will work-they will make you curly with much time and blood and sweat and sometimes tears. Or you could just be happy with straight hair. I kinda like my straight locks. I can jump into bed with a wet head and still wake up straight with no extra effort. And that's the card you drew, too, Miss Finley. I love your hair straight in piggies or if you want to try to curl it again someday in the distant future, I will love it that way, too. But for now, this whole experiment taught us one thing.......

It's all fun and games till someone gets curled.

Love

I LOVE snow


the smell of Downy


black & white photos


wedding registries


peach roses


rainy days


baby feet


Sharpies


chocolate chips


down blankets


Sonic ice


rivers/creeks


facials


paint colors


chai tea


Fall


my kids


addressing envelopes


Wikipedia


feta


Kyle's clean shaven face


lipgloss


picnics


Rascal Flatts


weeping willows


Ruidoso nights


snow globes


recipes


moss on rocks


National Treasure


cards in the mail


ginger ale


mint gum


(this blog was totally swiped from Pioneer Woman-but I just thought I wanted to post one for myself :)

Conversation

I'm so sorry, Brandi, but I have to do it. It's just too good not to document. Love you.

So Brandi goes to the bank to withdraw some cash last week. She was posting bail. Just kidding.

Brandi, "I need to take out such and such amount in cash."

Teller - "How would you like that?"

Brandi - "Give me two 500 dollar bills and the rest in hundreds."

Teller - "Well, we don't have a 500 dollar bill."

Brandi(embarrassed) - "Oh. Ok. Can I have a thousand dollar bill?"

Teller(smiling) - "We don't have those either."

Brandi(really embarrassed) - "There really aren't thousand dollar bills?"

Teller - "Well, I've been banking since 1983 and they've been out of print since then."

Brandi(curious) - "So if someone comes in and wants $10,000 in cash, you have to give it to them in hundreds." (I'm picturing a brief case full of money, bundled together with white wrappers)

Teller - "Yep."

Brandi - "I'm really embarrassed. Thank you for being so nice about it."

Teller - smiles

Brandi - walks out of the bank, but wishes she could sprint.

At this point, I'm pretty sure the whole teller area broke into hysterical laughter.

High School cap and graduation gown - $30

SAT prep courses, study guide, test fee - $400

Cost of college education and nursing school - $50,000

Finding out that our monetary system does not include the $500 or $1000 bill - PRICELESS!

Disclaimer: This blog is not intended to embarrass the main character. Please note that the main character is a college educated individual with a fabulous high paying job. She has won numerous awards and trips due to her dedication. This individual is also the person I go to for all my technology problems including printer issues, computer issues. ipod problems, and when we cannot find the correct button on the television to make the picture some back on. She is quite smart and resourceful. And she would tear someone up if they mess with me. Or her family. Or her friends. I really respect the main character of today's blog. And I'm sure I will pay for today's blog. Perhaps in $500's :)

Rilly Chilly

Just snapped these during our last little snow-and there have been several this winter!

I hate this weather for Kyle and our pocketbook, but I have to say, I do love the snow. It's just so beautiful. Makes everything look clean and crisp.

And this just looked neat. It was a tad bit cold. Now I need some hot chocolate and a scarf. And a fire. And some stew and cornbread. And a blanket. And for The Notebook to come on so I could curl up on the couch, all warm and snug.

What a Year It Was......

The Board. I made a little display for Nana's shindig especially for the guests' reading pleasure. And because I like organizing projects. And being the boss. And bulletin board trim. And using a paper cutter. And glue. Because I'm crafty like that. And I like to read online encyclopedias. And I love to look at Wikipedia for information. Because I'm a nerd like that. That's how I roll. (In the words my special friend, Tracy Glover) Tracy likes to say, "that's how I roll"-it just works for her. Anywho, this is the nifty board.

I tried to include lots of interesting info.

Of course, the food was important. And Slade wanted to tear the Twinkies off more than once. They ate Twinkies as I decorated. I can honestly say that is the first time I've ever bought my kids Twinkies.

Betty Boop appeared in 1930.

And who knew that Clint Eastwood is turning eighty this year? Or that Gene Hackman was born the day before Nana? I can't imagine a world without Hoosiers?!? I always tear up at the end of that movie when they show the photo in the gym of the Indiana State Champs, sniff sniff.

We are very lucky 3M decided to develop Scotch Tape. If I had a nickel for every piece of Scotch Tape I've used in my life..........

Where would we be without Del Monte tomato sauce? Thank you Mr. Del and Mr. Monte for doing this. Amen.

And who knew the billions upon billions of dollars a little mouse in a pair of red shorts would produce. Mickey, you changed the world. And thanks to you, my son looked very cute on his first Halloween in your costume.

And Pluto was discovered. Bread was 9 cents. And Stalin was the Russian leader. But best of all, a tiny baby girl was born in a little house on the last day in January of that year. And she has made every one's life that she has touched in her 80 years a better place. I know mine is.

P.S. Finley called and she wants her Mickey Mouse back.......

Nana's Cakes

Ok, so in the interest of people not wanting to look at 499 pictures, I've decided to split up the 80th birthday photos. I will do some each night. Plus, my photos load slowly because I have or had a really good camera that takes really good pics and have extraordinary photo taking skills and the photos take a little bit to load. So for my mental health, not having to load so many pics tonight, I give you the cake........Did I mention that I am soooo happy I had the Accidental Plan for my camera? And I don't really have extraordinary skills, but I try. Anywho, Nana had two cakes. And they were cute. And good. And cute.

This two stacker was straight before the "leaving Lubbock in the snow"ride. And yes, we didn't think we were going to get home that Friday because we were and still are having some darn cold weather. It was very snowy and very slick. They had even cancelled school in Lubbock the day we were supposed to leave. But once we hit Lamesa-boom-snow gone. No snow. Just cold air. It was really weird, actually. West Texas weather for you. We got the cakes and people and flowers and supplies here nonetheless.

And this is my absolute favorite cake. It actually might rate up there with my love for my wedding cake. We couldn't even cut into her photo we liked it so much. My uncle told her to freeze it like a wedding cake topper and we could eat it on her 81st birthday! I just love this photo of Nana. Wasn't she a dish! I think this might be her senior picture? She looks very "Allie Hamilton in the Notebook"-ish don't you think. Can't you just see her running around with Noah Calhoun or Amos Owens for that matter. People just don't look this regal anymore. They all looked so clean and fixed up and sassy. Like perhaps they cooked in a dress with a little apron and pearl earrings. I love it. Don't you sometimes wish you could have known your grandmother as a kid? I might have been jealous! I bet she looked like knock-out in a pair of fishnet stockings.

Good/Bad News

So the bad news is that I dropped my camera two days before Nana's birthday party. My precious, much adored, Nikon D60 that I just paid off. It was hanging on a hook and I grabbed my black sweatshirt to throw in the washing machine, not realizing that the camera was hanging on top to it! It fell face down on the lens. I cried. I really felt sick. I always leave it hanging there because I use it practically every day. Upon careful inspection, the lens just had some cracked plastic pieces, but was otherwise fine. But the body of the camera, not so much. There was a kink/crack-whatever you want to call it when you looked through the window to take the picture. It still took clear pics, but it wasn't sounding right when it clicked to take the photo. I got about six pics out of it in Iraan till it bit the dust.......I was just sick. You know my camera is like a third arm to me. I love my camera. Sighhhhhhh.


Now the good news is that I contacted the Best Buy Protection Plan 1-800 number this past Monday. The woman on the other end told me the most wonderful news! For once in my life, I purchased a most useful plan. I had purchased an Accidental Plan!!!! I was deliriously happy. Ecstatic. I wanted to scream for joy. Thank you, Lord! She told me to write the plan number down and take it with the camera into Best Buy!


I went into Best Buy on Wednesday and two hours later after my children had beat the drums to the Wii Rock Band to death, I left with a gift card for the total amount I paid for my D60. They don't carry my camera anymore-go figure, I only purchased it 16 months ago, but now they are on to bigger and better and more improved cameras. I had the kids with me running all over the store, so I couldn't even look at the cameras that day. But I had the money in my hot little hands at least!!!


And yesterday, I purchased a Nikon D5000! I was very, very close in price to the D60, but better. It is awesome! It has a revolving screen that turns all directions and it even records videos!!! So cool. And I can still use my extra Nikon lens that I had purchased with my old camera. Today it was on sale for $50 less in the Best Buy circular and they price matched it for me, so I got that money back!!! FYI-Best Buy price matches for 30 days after your purchase!


And here's a pic of my new baby. My third arm. My new family member...........
I love you, new and improved Nikon D5000. You will be with me through all my children's future activities, sports, holidays, parties, and what not.


And guess what, I purchased the 4-Year Accidental Protection Plan-just in case I feel the urge to wash my black sweatshirt again.

Cupcake Pops

Made these cool cupcake pops for Slade's Star Party at school last week, which are from the Bakerella blog.

They were cute. They were a lot of work. They took a lot of time. Bakerella didn't mention the time. Or work. They look all cute and easy and perfect on her page.

I can't say I am looking forward to making them again.

And to top it all off, the Star Party got postponed because of the snow and kids started leaving early. I had to take them up to the school anyways because they were not going to keep till Monday. Not everyone got one from his class but I did give the rest to the kiddos left in Finley's preschool class.

But they were cute-isn't that all that matters? Kinda like wearing a fancy high heeled shoe-they kill your feet, but they look good. Yep, they were cute.

And at midnight, I went to bed and left a big mess. But they were cute...