The Snow Bunnies are back home

Joe and the girls got home Saturday evening late. They left Colorado Friday afternoon and drove to somewhere in Kansas. They slept late and got up to come home on Saturday but had car trouble outside of Salina. The fuel pump went out in the Yukon and they had to call AAA to tow them into town and take them to a service place. They were extremely lucky for several reasons: 1) it didn't happen the night before out on a desolate part of the highway in Kansas where it started snowing, 2) they were close to a semi-largely populated area where there was service, 3) the garage they were taken to was AAA affiliated and were very nice. They even took the girls and Joe to a local shopping mall and dropped them off (for 4 hours) while they fixed the car and then went and picked them up and brought them back. 4) the workers at the garage voluntarily stayed late that day to work on the car (they normally left at 2 PM). What should have been a 5-hour drive home from Kansas that day turned into about 9 hours. But they arrived unscathed and with their nails done! They had to do something to burn up time while in the mall, right? Hopefully, I'll have some pictures to post from their trip. Joe said the girls reluctantly let him get 1 or 2 pictures while they were gone.

Christmas Eve

Today I'm working for half a day, then tonight I'm going to Joe's Aunt Cindy's house for dinner and mingling with her family and friends. Then I'm going to the Christmas Eve Candlelight Service at my church which I really love going to. I remember last year I was at mom and dad's and we went to their church together. I enjoyed that so much. Joe and the girls are in Winter Park, CO on their annual Christmas ski trip. I spoke to them yesterday morning and they said it had snowed a foot overnight. They were eager to ski in some deep powder. They will be home sometime Saturday and we will celebrate Christmas when they return. Hopefully, Joe will bring back some great pictures I can post. I hope all of you have a wonderful Christmas.

Pictures from State Dance Team Competition

Here are a couple of pictures that were taken by an action photographer last weekend at the State Dance Team (Pom) competition. This is from the Jazz routine.
This is from the hip-hop routine. Kaitlyn is the one standing up on the right.

And the last one is also from the Jazz routine. She definitely has the split leap down to perfection. Of course it helps when you're used to doing it on ice with heavy ice skates on your feet. You can REALLY leap when you don't have that extra weight on.

Feelings of Empty Nest Coming On

The other day we received two brochures from OU. One was for Kaitlyn and one was for the "Parents of Kaitlyn Jondahl." I glanced over the one for the parents and then I opened up the one for Kaitlyn. For some strange reason, I busted out crying. I think the reality hit me, right then, that my "baby" will be going to college next fall. I'm glad no one was at home at that moment so I could get it all out with no one there to point their fingers and say, "Mom, that's so gay!!!!" I had one of these moments when Kristen was a senior and it was when I placed her senior picture in the picture frame where there is a slot for all 12 years. The frame was complete and it really got to me. I know all mothers go thru this, I just thought I was immune and because Kaitlyn is going to college up the street (literally, up the street!) I would sort of phase myself into this without a scene. The funny part is, the very next day, we had a rare moment when I cooked dinner and Kaitlyn was the only one home to eat it so she and I got to eat at the table by ourselves. SHE said to me, "It hit me today, I've only got one semester to go and I'll be graduating. Time is going by so fast. I can't believe I'm a senior and will be at college next year." So, I guess we're both thinking about it. Time does fly when you're having fun!

Decorating the Tree

I finally finished putting up my tree and decorating it. I didn't put as many ornaments on it as I usually do and I think I like it better. I like to put ornaments on the tree that remind me of something, like a trip or an activity the girls were involved in.

This is a little cheerleader I found a couple of years ago. Now I call it an OU Pom girl because of the red & white uniform.

Here is a little girl playing soccer (Kristen and Kaitlyn both played) along with one of the many pairs of ice skates I have on the tree.

Here is the most expensive pair (and most realistic pair) of ice skates I have. They are heavy and they have actual toe picks, too.

And, of course, we have a Nutcracker. (see my comment a few posts back)

One of the three little ice skating girls I have on the tree. This one looks like Kaitlyn when she was little.

This one is a Junior Girl Scout carrying a box of cookies (which Kristen, Kaitlyn, and myself when I was a girl, all did) along with another pair of ice skates.

An ornament I purchased one year when we went to Crested Butte, CO. It's a chair lift with a pair of skis behind it. It says Crested Butte on it.

I purchased this next ornament at Silver Dollar City in their Christmas shoppe. It's a tiny violin carved from wood. It's beautiful and it reminds me of all the concerts I've gone to when Kristen and Kaitlyn were playing their violins in the orchestra.

BRRR!! It's Freaking Cold!

Today the high is 19 degrees as compared to yesterday when it was 73. But it feels much colder since the wind is blowing. It's supposed to stay this way for several days.

Update on the State Dance Team Competition: Kaitlyn's group got 4th place in Jazz and runner-up in Hip-Hop. Oh well. It's practice, practice, practice until Nationals in Fort Worth in February. Kaitlyn will be doing a solo there in addition to the two routines.

State Competition #2

This is the Norman High Varsity Pom Squad's hip-hop routine for the State Competition this weekend. (which I won't get to attend, thanks, Kohl's) Kaitlyn is farthest blonde on the right for a lot of the dance, then she sort of moves in toward the middle. This was as far in as I could zoom to follow her. They are wearing white tux-type shirts, a black vest with diamonds on the pockets and a red tie with red diamonds on it, black bootie shorts and black fake-UGGs.

The next routine is the jazz routine (which some of you have seen on here before). She is out in front of the group for the whole dance on the left side (the skinny blonde) after they walk out and get in their formation. They are wearing pleather black dresses with some fake jewels on the criss-cross part in front with black fishnets and black dance shoes.

Decorating for Christmas

Last Friday night, Joe and I went to Cracker Barrel to eat dinner and as usual had to browse in the gift shop. We found this lovely nativity scene for 40% off so we bought it. We brought it home and covered a board with burlap so the figurines would set on the hearth without falling over on the uneven brick. Then it made us want to decorate the rest of the house. We're just beginning.....

Here's the outside, partially done.

A closeup of the things we like to do best at Christmas, ski, skate, wish for snow, sled and go the Nutcracker (but only if they have a live orchestra!).

I visited Kohl's and got some cute placemats for the table.

Along with a new runner for the Hoosier cabinet and a new pillow for the chair.

I replaced the mums in the planter on the hearth and put in poinsettias. Along with another nutcracker. For those of you who have seen the infamous "The Nutcracker - Jondahl Style" video, you know why we cherish nutcrackers.

And Joe got the tree down from the attic and it's still sitting in the living room floor. Just waiting for someone to put it up. Of course there are about 15 more Christmas boxes up in the attic just waiting for someone to go up there and bring them down so we can finish decorating. Maybe this weekend....

Flashback Friday - 1998

This morning I was digging through the drawers getting all my Christmas card stuff out and I found this picture. It was sent in our Christmas cards in 1998. Kristen was 10 and Kaitlyn was 7. That previous summer we took a vacation and went to Dubois, Wyoming to stay with some friends that Joe had worked with years before. The cabins are part of land that the man's grandfather had homesteaded a long time ago. It is on the only privately owned lake in Wyoming. On the way home, we went to Yellowstone, Devil's tower, Mount Rushmore and to the Cabela's flagship store in Kearney, Nebraska. Kristen and Kaitlyn caught their first rainbow trouts (they were about 20 inches long). This was "back in the day" when I could still get the girls to occasionally dress alike. Fun times!

Saltimbanco!

Last night we went to see Cirque de Soleil's Saltimbanco show. It was good, some parts of it kind of dragged, especially the mime/clown who made the noises. He was funny, I just think they drug it out too long. The music was outstanding and all the acrobatic stuff was wonderful. Most of the stuff they did was riveting; I couldn't take my eyes off of them. That was the first Cirque show I've ever seen live. When we went to Las Vegas last year, we didn't go to any shows and I think they have 3 or 4 there.

Black Friday

Well, it's "Black Friday" but I'm not going shopping today. I have to work at Kohl's tonight so I'm not interested in getting in the throngs of people. We had a nice Thanksgiving yesterday with family and not much leftovers, which is good for my weightwatcher's diet. Today, I'm just relaxing. Tomorrow and Sunday I work too so I'm going to take advantage of the little free time I have. Kristen had to go in today at 5:30 AM at Victoria's Secret. She gets off at noon and she said she was going home to sleep. I took the picture above yesterday, both girls were dressed up for Thanksgiving.

I'm gonna party cuz It's My Burfday!

Last night we went to the OKC Thunder game. Joe had the suite so he had all his brothers and a couple of friends there. This is a picture of his brother Drew Smith (on the right), and his half-brother, Jason Smith.

Here's a picture of the Smith brothers (from the left) Drew, Joe, Steven (Drew's son) and Jason. The only one missing is Christopher. He is currently living in Colorado and did not come to Oklahoma for Thanksgiving.

And here's the Smith sisters-in law: me on the left and Cindy Smith (Jason's wife). It's unusual but Joe and his brother Jason are both married to Cindy's and they have an Aunt Cindy. How unusual is that? Cindy and I were sitting in the suite with the volume up on the TV as loud as it would go so we could see who won Dancing with the Stars. Unfortunately, the Thunder game was over before the winner was annnounced and the suite attendant ran us out of there. So I didn't find out who won until this morning.

This morning I went to the nail salon where Jann had paid for me to have a "deluxe" manicure and pedicure for my birthday. So I leaned back in the massaging chair and read a magazine for an hour enjoying every minute. This evening, we're going out to dinner (I want Mexican). Meanwhile, I'm baking pies and making my cranberry relish for tomorrow's feast this afternoon. Tomorrow we're having Drew and Steven, Jason and Cindy, Kristen and her boyfriend Kyle, Kaitlyn and her boyfriend Matt, Joe and me for Thanksgiving dinner along with anyone else that may stop by. I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving, I know I will.

Saturday and Sunday Pictures

Joe is having so much fun this week while his brother Drew and Drew's son Steven are here. He gets to do "manly" things like go to sporting events every day (sometimes more than one sport a day even). Here's a picture of Steven and Joe at the Blazers hockey game yesterday. Steven plays in a hockey league in Texas and loves it. Now if we could just get him a try-out for the OU team..... I love this picture.



Here's a copy of the final score from the OU vs Texas Tech game Saturday night. What a great game!

A picture of the press box after the game.

Joe's family pic. Top row is Jennifer (Joe's little sister), his brother, Drew. Bottom row is Eva, a friend of Jennifer's, Steven, Joe, and Joe's mother, Chris. They had a great time at the pre-game parties.

Here's a picture of Drew and me before they left for the game and I left for work. I thought we looked good together with our OU gear on.

Big Day in Sooner Nation

Today's the "big" day in Sooner Nation. OU plays Texas Tech in a HUGE game. ESPN Game Day was at the stadium this morning and Joe, Drew and Steven went up there and took some pictures. The Bloomin Onion Blimp from Outback has been flying over the stadium since yesterday. I can stand in my back yard and see it from there. Here's some pictures from this morning.

Lee Corso put on the Sooner Schooner hat and picked us to win. Go Sooners!

Here's a picture of my nephew Steven, and his Uncle Joey outside the stadium.

I've Been Tagged

Tagged !! It is that time again...RULES
1- Post Rules on Your Blog
2-Answer the Six "8" Items
3-Let Each Person Know They Have Been Tagged by Leaving Them A Comment

8 Favorite Shows
1. Dancing with the Stars
2. Family Guy
3. Oprah
4. Greek
5. Young and the Restless
6. Grey's Anatomy
7. Desperate Housewives
8. House Hunters

8 Things I did Yesterday (actually on Wednesday)
1. Changed sheets on Kristens bed for visiting company
2. Dusted tops of furniture in Kristen’s room
3. Vacuumed Kristen’s room
4. Dusted off the top of my dresser
5. Walked 2 miles
6. read Los Angeles Magazine
7. Watched OKC Thunder basketball game on TV
8. picked out my clothes to wear tomorrow


Eight things I look forward to
1. Spending the holidays with family and friends
2. Being off work for 5 days in a row
3. Walking as soon as I wake up every day while I’m off work
4. Manicure and pedicure
5. My birthday next week
6. Making Thanksgiving dinner and then eating it!
7. Going to the beach (CA or FL) or to Las Vegas again next summer
8. Kaitlyn trying out and then making the OU Pom squad

8 Favorite Restaurants
1. Chili’s - anywhere
2. Slogar, Crested Butte, CO (best Christmas Eve dinner ever!)
3. Uncle Julio’s (Mexican) – Dallas/Plano, TX
4. Dewey Destins (seafood) – Destin, FL (a dive on the docks)
5. Cracker Barrel for breakfast - anywhere
6. The Beacon Drive-In (chili cheese burger/rings/tea) Spartanburg, SC
7. Aunt Cindy’s (Joe’s Aunt) house – all food made from scratch – Norman, OK
8. Joe’s Steak (or so called by all of Kristen and Kaitlyn’s childhood friends) - my house, Norman, OK he does make the best steak, bar none

8 Things on My Wish List
1. To get a manicure and pedicure once a month
2. Have bookshelves and a window seat built in the living room around the big picture window
3. Have a circle driveway put in so everyone has a place to park and we don’t have to move cars every freaking morning
4. Get a lake house/cabin
5. Decorate the house the way I WANT IT
6. Get Kristen and Kaitlyn through college
7. See Kristen and Kaitlyn get married
8. Have some grandchildren

8 People to Tag (if you wanna play...)
1. Heather Nichols
2. Sorry, that’s all I have!! Not many people know I have a blog....yet

Preparing for the Thanksgiving Season

I am in the process of decorating my house for the upcoming Thanksgiving week. I went to Kohl's the other night (when I wasn't working) and picked up a few things to decorate around the house. I had already purchased the pilgrims before Halloween. Joe had gotten me the turkey salt and pepper shakers at Cracker Barrel last year. Cracker Barrel has great Thanksgiving stuff in their gift shop that we usually pick up cheap after Thanksgiving for the next year.

I got this cute pillow for the chair and a little table runner to go on my Hoosier cabinet.

I got these cute "gourd" placemats too. I also purchased a turkey that holds a tea candle to put in the bathroom, an acorn basket, a couple of towels to use in the bathroom/kitchen and some new flowers to use in my OU planter that I keep on my hearth in front of the fireplace that we never use. Anyway, it's coming around. This weekend, Joe's mother, sister and one of her friends are coming down from Tulsa for the OU-Texas Tech football game. Joe's brother Drew and his son Stephen will be coming up from McAllen, TX (way down at the tip of Texas on the border of Mexico) to the ballgame and will be staying with us through Thanksgiving.

Coldplay

Sunday evening our whole family went to see Coldplay (separately, of course). The band was supposed to have been in OKC in July but had to cancel due to illness or something. Kristen already had her tickets from this summer. She had tickets about 5 rows up from the side stage. Joe got Kaitlyn and Matt tickets to the suite where they sat up there. One of Joe's buddies bought tickets for 4 couples and we all sat together (about 6 rows up from Kristen and her boyfriend). The couples (not Kristen and Kaitlyn) all met at Toby Keith's "I Love This Bar & Grill" for dinner where we got to sit upstairs in Toby's private dining room/table that looks out over the whole restaurant. It was really cool. We had a good time, then we walked up the street for the concert. The concert was good; however 1) I'm not a huge concert fan and 2) the crowd was very much Kristen/Kaitlyn's age group. The other couples Joe and I were with are all Joe's age that he went to OU with. I did have a good time but the band didn't come on until 9:00 so we didn't get home and into bed until about midnight. I was really tired yesterday!

Wayback Wednesday - 2003/2004

Here are some pictures of Kristen and Kaitlyn when they used to ice skate. These pictures were taken in February 2003 in Tulsa, OK at the Sooner State Games. The first one is Kaitlyn, the 2nd one is Kristen.

These next pictures are from February 2004. This was at Heart of America in Kansas City, KS. This is Kaitlyn.
This is Kristen.

This is Kaitlyn at Heart of America in Kansas City, 2004 also; different event.

Performing at The Univ of OK Half-time

Last night the Norman HS pom squad got to perform their state routine during halftime of an exhibition game for the men's basketball team at OU. It was a last minute deal and we had seats on the wrong side of the arena (Kaitlyn was on the opposite side from us). Some of the time I focused the camera on the scoreboard screen because I could see Kaitlyn better. Anyway, here it is.

Autumn Leaves

Yesterday when I took my daily walk, I brought my camera with me. There are a couple of trees along my walk that are just brilliant with color. This one is two doors up from us. It looks like it's on fire.

This one is down the street from us a little further. It just shimmers with gold.
This is the same picture I took a week or so ago and posted but now it has colorful leaves.
This bright red leaf caught my eye because it looked like a starfish laying there on the sidewalk.

Senior Night - Football

Last night was senior night and the last home football game of the season. The senior band members were honored before the game. The senior football players were honored at halftime. The senior pom and cheer had a "shout-out" during 3rd quarter (while the band played over the announcer - I was pissed). But anyway, here are some pictures from last night. The seniors wore corsages and they received a rose from the football team (sent over by the booster club parents). These are senior pom squad members. Kaitlyn is the one with the skinny legs.

Here are the senior cheer (orange uniforms) and the senior pom squad members. All of the cheer girls were on the squad when Kaitlyn was. It's hard to believe she was as small as the two little ones when she was on JV. Her year on varsity saw a lot of growth and she became one of the tallest (but skinniest) on the squad.
Pretty scary for Halloween, huh? We had the colors right though. They wore yellow ribbons in their hair so they'd look like candy corn (who came up with that idea, anyway?).
Kaitlyn and her honey, Matt. He decided he'd better come to the last home game. He's a freshman at OU. They've been dating a little over 18 months.