Merry Christmas to You and Yours!

Staff Christmas Party!

My staff Christmas party was Friday and it was good times! We ate Moe's, played a hilarious game, had door prizes (I won a real tree from Lowe's that I hope to actually keep alive), and just visited. We have a new principal this year who is just awesome. I love, love, love her, and I love the rejuvenation her presence has given all of our staff.

I WISH I had gotten a picture of the hilarious game we played, but again...too busy talking. :)

Each table was given a baggie of ballons and a pair of pantyhose. The object of the game was to see what table could blow up their balloons, stuff them into the legs of the pantyhose, and wear the pantyhose as antlers on their head the fastest. It was pretty funny, and the people wearing the antlers were pretty funny lookin'! It reminded me of a line in the movie, Raising Arizona: "Son, you got panty on your head!" Anywho...it was an entertaining game for anyone throwing a party who needs an idea.

I leave ya with a picture of me and my 4th grade team with our Christmas presents -

mathematicians in the back, literacy folk in the front.

I love my team and my school! Merry Christmas, y'all!

Mom and Johnny Came and Our Baby Boy Turned 1!

The Dukester turned one last weekend on December 11th. My mom and Johnny came to stay with us for the weekend (not necessarily because it was Duke's birthday) and we enjoyed every minute of having them visit. We ate so good, going to Cajun's on Friday and Sonny William's on Saturday. We hadn't been to Sonny William's before and it was soooo good. Saying it was "soooo good" seems like such an understatement. It was music to my mouth!

We headed out into the masses to shop Saturday afternoon and it was a little crowded to say the least, but we shopped til we dropped nonetheless, and the boys even joined us on our shopping adventure. Dustin and I normally don't shop together. Frankly, I love him, but he just gets on my nerves when I shop. He's always rushing me and complaining and it just makes me feel on edge...but with Johnny there, he was quite pleasant.

I am a horrible picture taker when we have company. I am too busy talking to remember to take pictures. So, no pictures of us out to eat or anything, but I did get a picture of our baby boy on his birthday!

Mom and Johnny brought him an "indestructible" toy that he promptly destroyed Friday night before I ever got a picture of it, and we got him a special bacon bone with icing. He wuved it!

Duke One Year Stats:

-110 pounds

-34" tall at the shoulders

-He still stays in his crate (which he's grown out of and we need to buy a bigger one) because his mouth can't be trusted! We're working on this! He seems to now understand that he can't eat our furniture, but thinks everyone else's is fair game.

-He has lots of neighborhood and family dog friends.

-He's walking much better on a leash - which means I'm now walking him instead of the other way around.

-He has a secret admirer who is 3 years old, lives next door, comes over for frequent visits, and wanted to take him to show and tell (a picture had to due!). At preschool, when she had to write what she was most thankful for she wrote, in this order: "Duke, my kitties, Dustin, Carly, Mommy, Daddy". Poor Nana and Papa didn't make the cut and Daddy got the short end of the stick. The girl loves her some Duke!

Sorry I'm behind on the blogging! It's been a busy week getting ready for the holidays! And we started to work out, so that's one more thing that keeps us busy! Hope everyone has a great week! Please pray that I make it through the last 3 days of school without harming myself! :)

White Chili

My mom made a great white chili when we were home over Thanksgiving. I made it for a potluck at school today and everyone loved it. It is super yum...thought I'd share my mom's recipe.

Ingredients:

Olive oil

8 medium size boneless chicken breasts

1 large onion

5 ribs celery

2 tablespoons chopped garlic

3 cans chicken broth

5 cans white beans (navy, great northern)

2 4.5 oz cans chopped green chilis

1/2 teaspoon celery salt

1 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon white pepper

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon salt

1 package country gravy mix

Directions:

1. Cube chicken breasts and cook in 2 tablespoons olive oil.

2. Add chopped onion, chopped celery, garlic and 2 more tablespoons olive oil. Cook until onion is transparent.

3. Add 3 cans chicken broth and 3 cans of white beans (with liquid).

4. Then add 2 cans white beans that have been mashed, the chopped green chilis and all of the seasonings.

5. Bring all of that to a boil, and then reduce heat to a simmer and cover. Stir frequently so that it does not stick.

*Simmer at least an hour - can cook for several hours.

**Serve with shredded mozzarella cheese and sour cream (and jalepenos, if you have hot lovers).

Date Night

So here are some pictures of me with my hot date on our Hot Springs date night I told you about on my last blog post.

The lights were so beautiful and dreamy. I could've sat there forever.

You should so go to Garvin Gardens if you're in the area over the Holidays! There are people caroling at one point during the tour through the landscaping, and then there's complimentary hot chocolate at the end with the neatest, biggest toy train display. I know my nephew Drew could've stared at that alone for hours! It was well worth the short drive for us!

Bryant Christmas Parade

The Bryant Christmas parade was Saturday morning. Our school always participates by building a float. Usually, it is the "Parade of Lights" and takes place at night, but this year it was in the morning...so no lights...no sparkle...no magic.

I didn't like it, can ya tell?

We took Duke-a-lukie with us. The woman who took this picture took a picture of Duke with her grandkids. It is amazing how many people want his picture as if he is some freak show. We should start charging. $5 for a picture with the dog horse! I guess he does look really big to other people, but to us, he's just normal. Other dogs look weird and dwarf like.

Duke and D

Duke didn't like the incessant sirens. He was rather perturbed by them.

There were two people in these little mini carriages with mini-horses. They were so cute! The lady rode over toward us and shouted, "Your dog is bigger than my horses! We should put the reins on him!"

Our school's principal, one of our secretaries, and one of our secretaries' sons leading the HCE float!

There's the #1 Stunner! HCE Float 2010

Our Grinch was better than Santa...no exaggeration here. The Santa was dingy and so not real looking. He wouldn't looked better at night, perhaps...another reason to go back to the night time parade.

Our Dr. Seuss theme...

Welcome to Whoville!

She's a beaut!

These old men were shouting to get Duke on the fire truck....guess they thought he was a huge Dalmatian.

The parade was short and sweet this year! A lot of people that usually participate didn't because of the change to daytime. We didn't have much competition this year at all, but I think our first place trophy was still well deserved! I didn't work on it near as much as I have in years past, so I can't take much credit at all...I only helped the Friday night before to put everything together. I'm more of a hard worker than creative worker anyways, so it worked out well!

After the parade, D and I went to lunch and then Christmas shopping. Saturday night, we went to Hot Springs for a date. We went to Garvin Gardens to look at their light display (over 1.8 million lights) and it was absolutely amazing! We'll definitely go back next year! After that, we went to Cajun Boilers, one of our favorite restaurants in Hot Springs, for some grub. We got some chocolate cake to go, came home to our puppy and kitty to cuddle on the couch and eat our cake...and we ended up falling asleep to a movie. It was the best day we've had in a long time, and the quality time along together was much needed. I got a little emotional (possibly from the PMS) at the end of the night. I was just so happy I got teary eyed. Just one of those moments that I felt so thankful and blessed for everything we have.

Hope everyone else had a great and restful weekend as well. Tis the season to be thankful! Remember your blessings!

Thanksgiving with the Fam

Here's some of our Thanksgiving the Collyge's. Everyone made it this year and it was our first Thanksgiving with four little ones running around.

Here's Corky doing his thing.

Dustoni getting some practice in with Braelyn.

Dustin and his ornament from when he was a little boy. I had to get a picture to show you because he looks exactly the same. Chubby cheeks...check. Crooked grin...check.

Braelyn and Emilee....and Braelyn doing what she does best, pulling hair!

Morgan, Braelyn, Emilee, and Drew

Gosh! It is so hard to believe we have 4 nieces and newphews on Dustin's side of the family now! They doubled so quickly!

Morgan and Drew putting out the place cards they made.

Our seats...too cute!

Thanksgiving with my family was a little different this year. We had a seafood feast and it was sooo yum. We had crab legs, boiled shrimp, grilled shrimp, scallops, and cheesy potato casserole. My step-sister, Whitney, and her husband made it with their new son, Easton who was born the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Whitney looked great and Easton was such a cutie. See for yourself...

Nana, Easton, and his mommy, my step-sister, Whitney

Love this sweet picture.

Dustin got some more practice...

On Saturday, Playing some Baggo before the big game...

Addi had to have a picture cheesing by her Daddy, who was cooking the grilled shrimp.

And to top it off, Mom found a Red Lobster recipe for cheddar biscuits. YUM!

Sassy.

So precious...yet so devious.

Mom's pretty front door...now we just need to get her some big ornaments!

Hope everyone had a great Turkey Day! I definitely enjoyed the break from school and some extra time with the family. It was just what I needed to get through these next few weeks of absolute mania at school until Christmas! Let the countdown begin!