Apologies

Yep, I must agree with Baby Kay and offer my apologies. There will be new posts soon. The Sassy Sows will be back in the BBQ mode as of March 6-7. I'll be sure to have some photos and stories from that weekend. If anyone is interested, the contest will be in Newton, MS - come on out, we'd love to see ya!

For now, here's a couple of photos:

This is the meal I cooked Caroline on New Year's Day - couldn't have her starting the year off without some good ole blackeyed peas, cole slaw and baked ham.

This is from her 18th birthday party. She had choir practice that night and wouldn't miss it so I took 2 cakes (courtesy of my Mom) to the church and surprised her - it worked! I forgot my camera though so we had to re-inact the blowing out of the candles once we got home.

We Suck !!!

Yes folks. Linder and I suck at blogging.....it started out so exciting, so witty, so fun to take pictures and write up cute antidotes to go along....and then something happened. WE BOTH HAD KIDS COME INTO OUR LIVES........now there is no time for road trips, bar hopping, girl weekends of spa and food and music.....we only have homework, reports, dentist appointments, boy scout meetings, choir practice, more homework and castle projects, church groups, cooking, cleaning and the ever popular.......LAUNDRY !!!!!!!!!!!!!

So our cute stories and fun are a thing of the past....but lo........spring is coming and like the flowers and trees that bloom and bud, Linder and I will blossom back and get to having some fun to share with the world !!!! So don't give up on us yet.........stay tuned..........

Motherhood

It has been a month since Caroline moved in so I thought I'd give you an update. Our first outing was to Brian & Vivian's 14th annual bonfire/Christmas party. I had let her go to a party the night before with a friend's son so she got to experience her first bonfire then but at Brian's she got to see how a whole hog is cooked. She also got to stand at the grill and sample the hog (which was mighty fine I might add). Being a BBQ judge I would give him a 10 for flavor and tenderness but he definitely got a 5 for appearance (guess we should have gotten there before it everybody attacked the pig). Now Brian usually has a good bonfire but a few days before the party we had some snow (yes, I said snow in MS - can you believe it???) so the wood got wet and it took quite some time (and chemicals) to get the fire going but it was well worth the wait.

The next thing on our agenda was Christmas. My cousin Kay & I have finally grown up and have taken over the responsibility of cooking for the family. Mom & Aunt Margaret finally get to take a break after all these years. Since Kay had Thanksgiving at her house I did Christmas at mine. We had pork loin on the grill, scalloped potatoes, green bean bundles, rolls and Caroline whipped up some chocolate mousse (I don't know the German name for it). After the others left Mom, Dad, Caroline & I opened our Christmas presents. I got the most wonderful thing from my parents - a Kitchenaide mixer!!! Betty Crocker look out! I think Caroline liked everything she got and she didn't seem homesick at all. It was so much fun to have a kid to shop for this year.

I found out last week that her mom, Bianka and Bianka's boyfriend are coming to visit April 6th. They will be here for 11 days and will be staying at my house. Not sure where I'll take them but I've got plenty of time to decide. I'm sure we'll venture down to New Orleans but if anyone knows of anything going on then please let me know.

All in all "motherhood" is great. I take her to school every morning. I have someone to cook for every day. She likes the same kind of music I like. She loves movies and basketball and I've been teaching her about football. I wish that she had been here from the beginning.

Holiday Greetings

Kay did a fine job on her Merry Christmas greeting. I wanted to add my greetings to you all as well. I hope that each of you had a very Merry Christmas and that you never forget the reason for the season. I also want to wish you a Happy New Year. May 2009 be the best year ever! Love to all.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to everyone and I hope 2009 brings us Peace , Love and Goodwill towards men and women....... Happy Birthday to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,

Luke 2
The Birth of Jesus

1In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2(This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3And everyone went to his own town to register.
4So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
The Shepherds and the Angels

8And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ[a] the Lord. 12This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."
13Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 14"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."
15When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."
16So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

On a happier note.....

I am so thrilled to have a new "niece"......I'm excited for Linder and hope that Caroline knows what she has gotten herself into...... all kidding aside, I can't wait to meet her and look forward to some happy adventures while she is with us. I can't wait for our first road trip....I already know where we are going but I'm keeping it hush-hush for now !!!

Thanks be to God

I have felt terrible that Linder has been the only poster on T & B lately. It is not that I don't have any exciting stories to tell, it is just that I haven't had the time to tell them. But sometimes things make you slow down, take a look around and be thankful to God for his blessings. My dear friends Andy and Tacy and their daughters Anna Beth (6) and Alexis (12) got the scare of a lifetime this past Tuesday night. During the severe weather we had, an F2 tornado whipped through their neighborhood and did much damage. There were no human injuries, just downed trees, ripped roofs and shingles, water flowing, car & truck windows blown out, fences gone, the ski boat flipped around, but both dogs, all neighbors and my precious Overholsers are all well. Electric is back, gas hooked up and even cable and Internet in working order. Now just lots of fire wood to cut, mending to mend, and glass replaced and adjusting to be adjusted. Now the O's can always sit back and tell the tale of the family crammed in the bath tub as the sound of a freight train approached and ears popped and glass crashed and "in a flash" it was all quiet again. They said it was so quick that they didn't have time to really realize what all was happening......then you have to look around and see your precious home in shambles. But I bet they will remodel bigger and better and when it is all said and done, they will be stronger from it.....stronger in Faith, stronger in stamina and patience and stronger in family !!!

I'm a Mom!

This week I not only celebrated my birthday but I got the best present ever - a child. Yep, I said it - I have a child (thru the end of the school year). She is an exchange student from Germany. She has been here since August and has been in 3 different homes and 3 different schools prior to coming to live with me. Somehow the system failed her and she has had a terrible experience since she arrived in the USA but I intend on making it up to her and giving her a safe, fun place to live. Her name is Caroline and she is 17 years old. She is so cute and sweet. I think it is going to be fun having her around. She has already said that she likes to cook and wants to teach me about cooking German food and wants me to teach her about cooking American food. You all know how excited I am about that. She also sings, plays the piano and the trumbone, runs track and plays basketball. Stay tuned for stories of raising a teenager - I'm sure it will not be dull and boring! Is it scary to you all that Kay & I both have children now? Kinda freaks me out!

Coach

Word has it that MSU has a new coach - Chris Petersen from Boise State. It will not be officially announced until after his bowl game. He has only been BSU's head coach for 2 seasons, his record is 23-3 and he has taken his team to 2 bowl games. Pretty impressive if you ask me. Can't wait to see what he can do with the Bulldogs - can anyone say SEC Championship?????

Bad Friday

In true (as of late) Bulldog fashion they blew it Friday - and I mean BLEW IT!!! I don't think that MSU could have beaten Manchester Academy's football team. Ole Miss scored on their first possession and never let up. And as if that wasn't enough there was a very obnoxious Ole Miss fan about 5 rows up from us that in the 4th quarter was screaming at me to go home. I don't know why he was so upset - all I was doing was watching the game and his team was killing mine. I was not ringing my cowbell, in fact, I didn't even take it with me nor did I dress up in my usual MSU attire. I only had my MSU event cup and everyone knows that you do not travel anywhere without your event cup - what would you put your cocktails in??? My friends tell me that he acts like this at every game - he is the very kind of fan that makes you hate the school he is pulling for.

I guess I should thank Ole Miss for returning the favor to us this year. When we beat them last year their coach was fired - this year our coach quit. Now we have to wonder who will they get to replace him? Could Jeff Bower's name be on the list? What about Phil Fulmer - I'm not saying that I want him as our new coach but he is looking for a job. I hope whoever they get will be able to recruit and coach and take us to a national championship (hey, if you are going to dream, dream big!)