That's right; Santa brought her a trantula & she named her new Texas Brown Tarantula, Guess.
"What is your Tarantula’s name?"
"Guess"
"Ummm, I don't know Leo?"
"NO, Guess."
"Jack?"
"No, Guess."
"Come on, I don't know, I'm no good at guessing, what is his name?"
"Guess."
"I told you I don't want to guess anymore, tell me his name."
"I've been telling you his name, Guess, Guess is his name" 
Bahahahaha....and Girl just laughs and laughs!!


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Guess is about 1 year old, he has lots of hair on his bottom - this shows that he is a healthy and happy spider.  Guess eats crickets, about 2 a week for now, as he grows he will eat more.  Girl has a cage just for crickets.  Guess will grow at least twice his size in years to come.  Male tarantulas typically live 2-10 years.  Females live 20-30 years.   I hope Guess is a boy.  We will find out what sex Guess is once he/she molts.  I will take the molt to the guy at Chameleon Counters in Coppers Cove where he will sex the spider.  I have a sneaky feeling this is where Santa bought Guess.  I really hope to God that none of my kids ask Santa for a snake in years to come…

 
As I mentioned in the previous post, we had so much going on in December it was hard to keep it all straight.  We had numerous parties, 2 balls and we baked up a storm.  Here is a small sampling of what we did in December…..

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Only in the CAV does Santa wear a Stetson...
Second Ball, 2 nights in a row....
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School parties....
We did lots & lots of baking, here are just  a couple of pictures with my little helpers.... (I'll *might* post recipes later. ;)
 
I've committed to removing 2011 items from my house in 2011 - that is 5.5 items a day for 365 days.  I was going to wait till Jan 1, 2011 to start, but I just couldn't wait that long I started on 3 Dec 2010 and I will go till 3 Dec 2011.  I want to be clutter free and I want to be clutter free now <<Insert foot stomping here>>.  (I feel like Veronica from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory)  I know it will take much longer than that to make this happen, but I'm on a mission & would love to have friends, family and YOU join me on my 2011 declutter challenge.
 
I am keeping track of my progress in an excel spreadsheet.  I have 3 columns -  a date column -  # of items column and an item name column. I have the spreadsheet so I can WATCH my progress.  I need the visual plus it calculates for me. Here is an example of what I have so far....

14-Dec    1 old towel
               1  20 pieces of old mail
16-Dec   1  cracked wooden rolling pin 
17-Dec   1 broken hand mirror
18-Dec   3 formal dresses
             2 pair boys shorts 
            13 boy shirts
19-Dec   2 tank tops 
             1 shirt
             5 capri pants
             4 jeans 

You can do this anyway you would like, but I have set some rules up as a guideline for myself.  I'm pretty sure I will have to add to my list of rules as time goes on, but this will help you get started!

1. 10 sheets of hard to get rid of paper (kids art work, old cards I have a problem with collecting Christmas cards & birthday cards from years past) = 1 item
2. Paper clutter, 20 sheets = 1 item
3. If replacing an item, you cannot count the old that is going out - example, I just got a new vacuum cleaner, I cannot count the old vacuum cleaner even though I am giving it away.
4. Consumable items DO NOT count in the purge - newspapers, shopping bags, empty shampoo bottles & so on.
5. Consumable items that you do not use and that have been sitting around your house for years DO count - example - that nasty bottle of perfume that Aunt Sue gave you for Christmas 3 years ago & you NEVER use, but haven't had the heart to toss it, well now is the time, it counts as one item! 
6. If it comes in as one item, it goes out as one item.  Shoes, you cannot count a pair of shoes as 2 items.  They came in as a pair; they go out as a pair - 1 item.  EXCEPTION: if your pet alligator ate one shoe and you have been holding onto the other shoe just in case you break your foot and you only have one foot to dress...give it up, throw out the single shoe and you can count it as one item.
7.  Items that come in and go out on the same day do not count, example, mail, shopping bags, kids daily school work etc.  I have WAY too much of this clutter around my house. Starting today you (I) need to look at it and throw it out same day.  It does not count.
8.  You CANNOT bring something into the house JUST so you can count it as an item to get rid of.  EXAMPLE - when the school is giving away magazines and you take one just so you can throw it out later - that is a NO, NO.  (Hummm....I wonder who I am talking about here...)
9.  If you borrow something, you cannot count the item when returning it to its rightful owner.
10.  Yes, magazines count - 1 magazine counts as one item.
11. 1 book – 1 item, no matter the size

Happy decluttering!!!  Since Dec 3rd, I have removed 306 items from our house!!


 
The weeks leading up to Christmas are all a blur!    We had so many activities to attend I couldn't keep them all straight!  Here is a slide show of pictures from the ball put on by Hubby's battalion.  Enjoy!
 
Dear Cedar,

Please leave me alone. I have tried defriending you, but you always manage to wiggle yourself back into my life. My friend Mr. Steroid has kicked your ass several times, but you always bounce back stronger than the time before. I've shut my windows & stayed inside hoping you will leave me alone but somehow you figure out a way to get back in. I've never had anyone stalk me like you have.  Please leave & don't come back. Soon I will be forced to get a restraining order against you...

Sincerely,
Trish


 
5 oz vodka (Grey Goose)
2 oz Creme de Menthe (Dekuyper)
1/2 oz Peppermint Schnapps (RumpleMinze)

Frozen martini glass
Crushed peppermint on the rim
Serve while wearing a Santa hat

Hello Christmas!!!

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Merry Christmas!
 
The "Tour Of Homes" is a holiday tradition on military instillations across the world. This year we were ask to be a part of this fun tradition.  Here are LOTS pictures from our home on the night of the festival, so grab a nice cup of java or a cocktail (depending on what time you are reading this), sit back and enjoy as you stroll through our home.....

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**Picture taken by Strike a Pose Photography
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**Picture taken by Strike a Pose Photography
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Welcome to our home!
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Me with my lovely docents. (Google it, I had to.)
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In the entry way. **Picture taken by Strike a Pose Photography
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More entry way
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Every year I wrap most of the art work in our house.
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This year it took a little longer since we have our wall of memories. **Picture taken by Strike a Pose Photography
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More in the dining room. **Picture taken by Strike a Pose Photography
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dining room again...
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Yes, you are still in the dining room...
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Entering the kitchen...**Picture taken by Strike a Pose Photography
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Kitchen tree (on top of fridge)
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Cranberries with floating candles.**Picture taken by Strike a Pose Photography
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Top of cabinets in kitchen
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In the living room you will find our main Christmas tree.
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Starfish Santa from Aruba
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Tuk-tuk made from Singha beer can - from Thailand
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Our stocking hanger, hand painted by my MIL.**Picture taken by Strike a Pose Photography
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Our small tribute to Santa.
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We bought this Santa at the Sunday market in Chiang Mai, Thailand
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These guys are from the flower market in Seoul, South Korea.
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From Hubby's childhood
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Santa's little helpers. **Picture taken by Strike a Pose Photography
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The snowman bathroom was a new addition this year. **Picture taken by Strike a Pose Photography
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Tree in master bedroom
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Master bathroom
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Tree in little boys room
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Tree in girls room
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Outside snowflakes (this is most likely the ONLY snow we will get in Texas)
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CAV tree, complete with sand bags and boots under the tree.
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Ornament on the CAV tree outside.
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We hope you enjoyed your tour of our home! Merry Christmas from our house to yours!
 
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There is always next year.
I know I'm a week behind, BUT I couldn't let the Army/Navy football game go unnoticed, especially since there was so much hype before the game!  Here are a few things my Navy friends said….

"This just might be the first football game I ever watch. Especially since I heard 'we' have a great chance at winning."

"Well done, now put the goat down gently."
"How outnumbered do you think we are here at Trish's site? I could try to retaliate.....I think I have a horse around here somewhere....."(ME – A horse?  Really?  It’s a donkey people, the Navy has more brawn than brains.)
"Yeah, don't be fooled, she has got a soft, gooy, middle."
"I'm guessing...goat is what's for dinner????"
"How many in a row is it now? 6? 7? 27? It's just so many I've lost track!!!! Bring it!"
"For gosh sakes Trish, no one can take your profile pix seriously with those stockings in the background (probably homemade) and i think i see the remnants of something yummy your just whipped up on that knife - YOU ARE NOT SCARY! GO NAVY!"
 

Here we are hanging out during the game...
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Everyone looks SO excited....we were already down, but hoping to come back.
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At least our cadet from West Point had enough to eat!
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He also got a little sweet lovin' from Staci!
 We stuck it out, watched the whole game, but as luck would have it, another year has come and gone and that stinkin' Navy did it again.  What has Army/Navy football come to?  Navy/Navy football?  I love Army, but come on....9 times in a row?!?  At least we looked better than we did last year AND the bantering was fun back and forth between us Army & Navy fans.  Jefanna, Tim, Kathy, Kristi, Suzy, all hail to you guys!  Your boat boys did it again.  I can’t wait till next year as next year will be the year Army takes Navy down! No, really.
 
Can you guys believe it is almost 2011?! When did that happen? I remember when the song '1999' by Prince, (or the artist formally known as Prince, or whoever he is) came out in the early 80's! 1999 sounded so far away, now once again in (almost 2011) it sounds so far away!  Crap, did I just date myself?

Anyway, every year I try to improve upon myself in some way - sometimes these ‘improvements’ work out and sometimes they don’t, but I always TRY.  So this year I got a great idea from my friend Mary.  DECLUTTER. Mind, body, soul and house.  I was going to wait until 2011 to start, but this past Saturday was a BEAUTIFUL day here in Central Texas (only about 80 degrees F) and our village here on post was having yard sales.  I wasn't going to participate because really who goes to garage sales in December when Christmas is right around the corner?  I thought this was an insane idea, but whatever, I decided to go with it as it would be a great excuse to clean out the garage!  You see for the past 7 months it has been a dream of mine (really a dream of Hubby’s for me) to clean out the garage so we could park BOTH cars in the garage.  As it turns out, doing the yard sale was a win/win.  My garage is clean enough to park BOTH cars in it and I have some extra cash in my pocket! 

So, this year for the decluttering of the house I am going to TRY to remove 2011 items from our home (I'm betting I could do this in Girl's room alone).  That is 5.5 items a day for the entire year.  AND since I started early I am a little ahead of the game with 245 items already GONE!  I will keep you guys updated on this little adventure, as it will make me more accountable.   I’m documenting all items that are being removed from our house & will give you guys a list of my rules as I finalize them all.  (I’m sure this rule list will be a work in progress for about the next 12 months.)   Wish me luck, and if you are up for a challenge please feel free to join me on this adventure!

 
Most kids go to the mall to see Santa, but not the CAV kids.  Cav kids go to Cooper Field where there is warm hot chocolate & fresh store bought cookies!  The kids did have to wait around for the Commanding General and the CSM to light the Christmas tree, then we sang Christmas carols AND THEN in true Cav form the cannons were fired and in came the Horse Detachment pulling the wagon with good Ol' Saint Nick in the passenger’s seat! 

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Boy 3 excited as he is just seeing Santa in the wagon!
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Waiting in line....so excited!
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Santa has Boy 3's number!
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Merry Christmas!