Grab Your Dauber

Tonight you brought a little extra cash, purchased a dauber, and got ready to win, because it's girls night and you're playing BINGO! This is the dauber you need—it says "The Winners Ink" and you're a winner for sure.

Buy one sheet—because daubing two sheets is a mega stressful for a newbie like you—and try not to talk, or laugh too loud or the BINGO lifers on both sides of you will politely shush you as you try to stifle your stressed out giggles that come out as snorts instead. The announcer is going so fast you feel the rush of adrenaline. What if someone takes your win because you're not fast enough!? What sheet are we on? What number did he just call?!?

You daub, daub, daub away. BINGO isn't like it used to be. All ones are wild? You have to get two rows to win plus a full corner? What? You accidentally got daub happy and marked the wrong space! NOOOOOOOO!!!

Alas, your dauber lied to you. It was not the winner's ink. All that craziness amounted to nothing on paper.

But that's perfectly fine with you…time spent talking and laughing with the girls is all a winner needs from time to time and you totally scored on that count!

Thanksgiving in Texas

The day was a little crazy. Adam's brother, Nathan picked up their sister and arrived in the afternoon. We had enough time to play one hand of cards, then Nathan had to leave to help a friend. Then as soon as he got back we had a VERY quick dinner so Nathan could get their sister back for work. And that was it!

Cooking started to Christmas music around 12:00 on Wednesday and didn't end until we sat down to eat the next day (well, we did sleep). A million versions of Chestnuts Roasting, four desserts, five sides, and one main dish later we were stuffed. Now we have leftovers for eternity.
Would you like to know how much butter I used? No. That should be your answer. No you don't. I don't want to know either. Heavens.

In columns:
Pecan Pie from The Pioneer Woman I don't like pecan pie. But after having this one, I LOVE IT. That's how awesome her recipe is.
Rolls with Honey Butter—20 minute rolls from an Anna family recipe, Adam's request. We munch on these all day.
Strawberry Pretzel Salad — his side, family favorite.
Cherry Raspberry Hand Pies
Cesar Salad—gotta have green in there somewhere right?
Sweet potato pie bites—pie filling piped onto gingersnap cookies, topped with maple whipped cream and cinnamon.
English Apple Pie
Sweet Potato Mashed Potatoes
Honey Tamarind Ribs—from the hog Adam personally stabbed to death.
Stuffing—my only recipe fail. It was an inedible, clumpy soup. Don't worry. It won't happen again.

Preparing for Thanksgiving ALWAYS makes me lonely for my family. So, I am glad some of Adam's siblings could at least be together.

I am grateful for so much that I don't want to make a list because it will break the internet. So…let's just say…I AM thankful everyday for a lot.

An Evening in Excellence Tea Party

Our 16 and 17 year old girls were in charge of Young Women in Excellence this year, so picked an Alice in Wonderland theme.  I went on an exploring expedition for ways to tie it into Personal Progress. I found this perfectly fitting quote by President Monson:

Let us not find ourselves as indecisive as Alice. You will remember that she comes to a crossroads with two paths before her, each stretching onward but in opposite directions. She is confronted by the Cheshire cat, of whom Alice asks, "Which path shall I follow"
The cat answers, “That depends where you want to go. If you do not know where you want to go, it doesn’t matter which path you take.”⁷Unlike Alice, we all know where we want to go, and it does matter which way we go, for by choosing our path, we choose our destination.

So we had our tie in! Personal progress helps us choose the right path. One of our speakers used it as her topic. Our second speaker used a quote from the Doorknob character (see further down) as his.

I suppose you can't have an Alice in Wonderland meeting without transforming it into a tea party. Squeal! Of course THAT idea was a hit with the girls. A week before the event they cut out the decorations. Then on the night of the meeting one of them came early to help set and decorate the tables, another brought floral arrangements she had made herself. Also one of them dressed up like Alice! It pleases me so much to help the girls find unique ways to participate, contribute and enjoy themselves.

I didn't get a good picture because let's face it, I was setting up and decorating right up until the meeting started….so I illustrated it instead.
We hung decorations to make them look like they were "falling down the rabbit hole." And I was excited to use my snack set collection! (I almost had enough…I borrowed some from my mother-in-law.)

Other decorations included signs pointing in all directions on the walls. And I put this quote on the programs:

I enjoy doing this for the girls—especially when one of them says "I thought it was going to be boring like all the other ones, but this was WAAAAY better than I thought it was going to be. This was my favorite one!" Hah hah. I can always count on her to speak her mind. Plus she was very involved this time, and that makes a huge difference in attitude.

But every year I am glad when it's over. Its takes preparation (for all of us adults, not just me, there's no way I could do it on my own) and I tend to worry and think a lot about it, so much that I loose sleep over it. Ugh. So check mark for the year 2015! (Now how are we going to top it next year….?)

Click here for the pinable post with a downloadable link for the cutouts