Tying up 2015 with a bow

As we wind down 2015, we have so many things to remember ..

DisneyWorld
Disneyland
Saratoga Summer
2015 Burger Challenge
New Friends
Living Texas-style
Pink Sprinkles Soccer
Our 13th wedding Anniversary
The return of Blue Bell
Trips to Houston
Starting 4th grade

So I put together this #2015BestNine photo shot to celebrate all the great things we've done and seen this year.

Which is why we're tired and going to bed before midnight tonight!

2015 Burger Challenge

This week Ellie had her first cavity filled.  It was very small, in a baby tooth but the dentist said since she'd have that tooth another two years he didn't want to take the chance.  So she experienced getting a filling for the first time.

She'll tell you that she was anxious going into it, but afterward told the hygienist, "that wasn't as bad as I thought it would be!"  Which is much better than the reverse.

Afterward we went to the library and left a message for Bill to tell him how the visit went.  When he called back we asked if we could take him to lunch.  And lucky us, he accepted!

We picked him up and took him to LA Burger - one of our top picks in the 2015 Burger Challenge!

I'm wondering to we continue to search for the best burger - believe me there are SO MANY more places in Dallas we haven't tried, or do we move on to say ..... finding the best Taco, the beset Tex-Mex or the best BBQ?

Winter arrives in Texas

So glad that Ellie had a new winter coat under the Christmas tree this year, as the two coats in the closet are now too small.  This awesome, lightweight (yet warm!) Lands' End coat was a welcome treat at we ushered in winter weather!

The polka-dot hat and gloves were also a hit.  She loves the jacket because she can move around in it, yet keeps her warm even when the temperature dips to zero!

What a cutie!

Hot Cocoa

One of the gifts I got from someone on my team was a Ghirardelli hot cocoa set complete with ceramic pot, frother and cocoa mix.  What better time to try it out than a rainy Sunday afternoon.  So we managed to also use left over heavy cream to whip for whipped cream in order to make it a real treat!

Ellie was thrilled by that process - watching it turn from liquid to whipped cream!

You can see from the picture she's fascinated!

It was a quiet day of putting away our Christmas presents, and eating turkey dinner leftovers.

This week we'll put at end to the year and make plans for a wonderful 2016!

who knew whipped cream was so delightful!?

Texas Tornado

On Saturday, December 26th, 2015 we experienced our first tornado nearby since moving to Dallas.  It hit the areas of Garland and Rowlett which are both the next towns over from us.

We heard the sirens about 6:30pm and took shelter.  Which means the little space under the stairs.  I keep that area relatively cleared out after hearing a story from the Red Cross about having that area full.  We all fit in for just a bit.  Pillows, blankets, and our iPads and iPhones with us.

We were scared and uncertain as we waited for it to pass.  Ellie asked, 'how do you know when it's over?"  We told her it's a good sign that the siren has gone off, the wind has died down and the power is still on.  We waited just a bit more before we ventured back into the family room.

Happy to find the power on, television had satellite coverage and we had suffered no damage.

We were luckier than so many.  From these pictures you will see the damage and fright that many of our nearby Texas neighbors suffered Saturday night.

Christmas Eve

Liberty Burger in Richardson for her favorite!

On Christmas Eve during the day Ellie and I set out to complete our errands - mainly the fresh food market for the best selection for our holiday meals.

We visited Central Market for artichokes, red snapper, shrimp and prosciutto.  It opened at 7am.  We were in inside by 7:04 and by 7:15 it was jammed.  And by that I mean filled with women in sweat suits.  Nice sweat suits.  With lists the length of their arm and a determined look on their face.

There was no holiday spirit.  No, excuse me, please, thank you or even a happy holiday ... until we reached the deli, fish and check out lanes.  Those people were wonderfully helpful and nice.  And we got exactly what we needed.

Then we were off to Trader Joe's - nearly empty at 8:15am - so we quickly finished our list and we were off again.  We unloaded our packages at home before making a special trip to Bill's office to drop off his boss' gift.  From there is was a quick trip to Liberty Burger for lunch - one of my girl's all-time favorites!

And in the end we stopped at Barnes and Noble to use a 30% off coupon and have a hot cocoa.  What a wonderful day for us .. and then to spend the evening around the tree!

"Ellie" the Elephant picture book at Barnes and Noble

Texas!

Texans take their produce very seriously.  As you can see from this label on our mushrooms .. "From Texas. For Texans."  Wow!

No, they weren't any larger than normal.  Just made in the good ole state of Texas!

Christmas Cookies

Ellie sure does like making cut out sugar cookies to decorate at Christmas time.  We've perfected our frosting and now we're working on our decorating techniques!  Although this year we won't be leaving any out for Santa - I guess that means there's more for us!

We're wrapped and ready to go with days to spare .. What a fun week this will be putting finally touches on our Christmas Eve and Christmas Day menus.  And then a few days off to rest and relax!  No, there won't be snow - but that won't stop us from having fun!

Boys will be boys

Ellie and I joke all the time that I wouldn't have known what to do if I'd had a boy instead of a girl!  They're stinky and spastic - so unlike the wonderful helper, snuggler and super-cute girl I have!

When she came home from school recently and told me that one of the boys called her a name I was concerned and asked what he called her.

"Ellie Frappachino!" she said. "instead of Ellie Fricano!"

I asked if that bothered her and she said yes it made her cry.

I suggested next time he said this to her to come back with ..

"Frappachino!  I love Frappachinos!"

and she giggled.

I hope she zings him next time he says something to her.  Boys certainly will be boys.

Cinderella .. If the Shoe Fits!

Ellie got to play a part in the 4th grade school play this year.  Although it wasn't a leading role she didn't mind.  She played a "Gossip Girl' with a few friends and her speaking lines came to about six total.

She told me she was much happier behind the scenes as she had the opportunity to be a 'dresser' for a few lead characters.  She helped with their costumes and accessories between scenes.  THAT was her favorite part.

Although she did really like her own costume - complete with make up, hair and jewelry done at home.

And for the record, although she said she was nervous, she did her lines with great character!  She was a hoot!

ELF!

We had a nice Sunday afternoon with the Schuler's at Fair Park Music Hall in Dallas to enjoy the production of Elf on stage.  What a great Christmas treat for us to experience together.

The theater is nice - bigger than Homemade Theater in Saratoga, and really cool with lots of leather and even cushions that serve as booster seats for the kids.

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree

We sure do love our tree!  It's 9-feet tall and fills a wonderful corner in our family room.  We loved decorating it with all the ornaments we've collected over the years.  But that's not Ellie's favorite part.  Her favorite is the remote.  Of course it is.  Because it turns the lights on.  But not just on and off, but all white lights or all colored lights .. or even both colored and white at the same time!  Who knew!?

It is really beautiful.  And it is the year of the candy cane .. due to our trip to Disneyland at Thanksgiving.  We've saved two of the giant candy canes for Christmas Eve.  They are on the mantel, while lots and lots of smaller canes hang on the tree.

That also meant that when it came time to pick a bow for the tree topper, we couldn't resist the one that was red and white striped like a CANDY CANE!

Dumbo at Disneyland

Ellie wanted to wait in line for very few rides at Disneyland.  Although the line at Dumbo she was thrilled to wait her turn.  Just the two of us waiting in the serpentine, winding line to get in a big ole elephant and go a few rounds using the controls to go up and down.  She thought it was wonderful.  And when she's so happy .. that makes us happy too!

Christmas at Disneyland

The cool thing about being in Disneyland this time of year is that they were already decorated for Christmas!  Music and decorations everywhere.  This was outside our hotel ... poinsettias filled the plant boxes and colored lights brightened all the greenery!

And there she sits with her animal-print Mickey ears - ready and waiting to get going!

Thankful at Thanksgiving

Ellie's teacher this year is Shawna Freeman, and I'm not sure who loves her more - Ellie or ME?!  She's an amazingly patient, kind and wonderful with her class.  She's been a huge supporter of Ellie - nominating her for School Board representation and happily accepts her help in the classroom.

And of course how wonderful to receive this note home as Mrs. Freeman gave each student a note telling them why she was thankful each one of them!

"Ellie

I am thankful for you because you give the best hugs, and you have such a kind heart.

From,
Mrs. Freeman"

Believe me, I'm thankful this year for Mrs. Freeman for being an amazing teacher!  We're very grateful to have her for 4th grade!

As we get ready for vacation ..

As we prepared this weekend for our vacation, the one thing we didn't do was fill the fridge full of food.... as we're leaving in two days!

So we had our traditional Saturday lunch out .. which led to Sunday lunch out too.  Don't worry I'd like to to try a different burger place on Monday, but that is still up for debate!

Sunday's lunch after a few more errands, was Fuzzy's Taco Shop for fish tacos!  The place was downright hopping at Cowboys game time with lots and lots of people in and out.  Families, football watchers and couples all looking for these awesome tacos.

Ellie's favorites are the fish tacos, while I prefer the Shrimp Tacos, Bill tried the Spice Beef Burrito this time.  I'm not sure if it was just that my blood sugar was low, or this was the most amazing taco!  We finished our lunch and headed back home to get the task of unpacking Christmas.  We are convinced that we will appreciate the pre-work when we return from Disneyland with less work to do.

In the meantime it gives us a wonderful feeling to being Christmas to our home as we await the vacation to the happiest place on Earth for Thanksgiving!

Burgers, Burgers, everywhere ...

Buffalo Bill burger with Parmesan Truffle fries!

I suggested we use our Saturday to check out a new burger place that a co-worker and I visited this past week.  We are determined to continue to find the very best burger in Dallas.  Not the one determined by any magazine, but by us!

On Saturday we visited, Hopdoddy in Addison.

So you must know that Ellie and I have a variety of categories on which we judge each location.  The burger is just one of them.  The components of the burger count too.  Taste of the burger, burger bun, and choice of toppings all play a part.  And there's the rest.  How are the fries?  Do they have Coke?  Do they have the good ice?  And were the people nice?

This place was a 4 and half stars out of 5 for us!  We loved the burgers .. we loved the fries .. and the rolls were darn amazing!  They bake them onsite and that's the smell when you walk into the place.  They have a cool condiment station and neat decor.

They only thing keeping them from 5 stars is that they don't have Coke.  They have Maine Root products.  Somehow we survived.  And loved, loved, loved the burgers.

And then Ellie finished off her meal with a Red Velvet shake ... that without a doubt qualified as dessert!

We'll be back for sure .. we just loved it here!

Wolf Howl

Ellie introduced the song giving thanks for the hero in our lives at school this morning!  It was awesome!!

Ellie and Mary Kay

We had a mother-daughter skin-care and make up afternoon while Grammy was in town.  Robin and Dawn joined us to make it even more festive!  Ellie and Robin learned about skin care, and the proper way to put on and care for make up.

This is the result of Ellie making a wish list from all the Mary Kay products!  YIKES!  Some of those colors scare me and I don't even know if it's lipstick or nail color!

I just love that she got as excited as we did to have an afternoon of pampering and laughter with just the girls!

Wylie Cup Weekend - 2nd Place!

Ellie kicks the ball for a clear from her end.

Ellie with Kirby and Lea

Ellie and Grace - the super star goal scorer!

Ellie getting her 2nd place medal in the Wylie Cup!

Uncle Julio's for table side GUAC!

Ellie and Grammy

Jude, Ellie and Bill waiting for our table....

Pretending it's a date night ...

Blue Bell Returns

If you don't live in Texas, you don't really understand how good ice cream can really be!  Blue Bell had some troubles this year with a listeria outbreak, laying off hundreds of people while two huge plants closed for many months (like 6 months!) and all the while Blue Bell stayed above water.  They have an amazingly loyal fan base, of which we belong.

These are actually half gallons .. not somewhat shy of a half gallon ... but an actual half gallon filled with wonderful, ice cream goodness.

No, Stewarts isn't better, no Haagen Daas isn't better.  You have to be here to truly understand the impact of Blue Bell.  So the first day it was available Ellie and I went to get some.  And there was a two gallon limit.  So we went to two stores, silly!  That's what I call problem solving.

I can honestly say I've never had 4 half gallons of ice cream in the house at once, but THIS was a special occasion!  BLUE BELL WAS BACK!

And Grammy was coming to our house ....

Soccer Family

Seems like we spend quite a bit of time with our 'soccer family' in the Spring and Fall.  These girls are fierce!  They play hard, and don't like to lose!

In the back:  Coach Mario and Coach Cheryl (each with a daughter in the crowd)
2nd row: Grade, Caja, Ellie and Marian
3rd row: Katie, Jade, Jackie, Leah and Kirby
Front: Hannah, Lea, Iona and Jenna

What a proud and happy group - when they are winning!  Thank goodness they had a season filled with lots of wins!

Halloween!

Robin and Ellie
Ready to Trick or Treat together!

The entire Trick or Treat crew at Robin's house
Too many to remember all their names
Two additional girls and three boys - two more families!

The front of the Schuler's house!
So cool how they made their doorway into a monster!

School Assembly and Halloween Parties

Ellie's school assembly and Halloween parties were on Friday.  She loved her costume and being able to be dressed up for the event.

She's also looking forward to trick or treating with friends on Saturday evening!  The weather may be rainy, so we're trying to come up with a contingency plan.  She's all over the weather app that tells her what's happening by the hour.  So I think we will have a good plan come evening!

Report Cards!

Ellie received her first 9-week report card on Thursday.  She did amazingly well!

Social Studies:  97

Citizenship:  100

Language Arts:  89

Writing:  90

Math:  95

Science:  96

Art:  Pass

Music:  Pass

Computer:  Pass

P.E.:  Pass

Although I can tell you she was upset.  Her goal is to achieve high honor roll this year.  That means all her grades at a 90 or higher.  As you can see, one grade is 89.  Since this isn't a college entrance exam I explained she has time to focus in the next 9 weeks to achieve 90 or higher for each class again.  This way she can focus on what she wants to achieve.  

We'll see what happens now ....

American Girls

This little mini-me is not a doll ordered to look like Ellie, it's actually last year's girl of the year - Isabelle!  And now they have pjs the match.  I must have ordered those pajamas close to two years ago - and when they shipped the wrong size I put them at the bottom of the drawer.

Well, lo and behold, we cleaned our her closet and drawers on Saturday to rid her of all the too small items.  And we found that these lounging pajamas might now be just perfect!

As you can see they made her very happy.  She and Isabelle did everything together on Sunday.

What to do in the rain?

Ellie and I had the day to ourselves on Friday to make some fun while Bill was off to the office for the day - lots of his team was participating in an OT day.

So off we went to a new library.  We normally visit Sachse Library because that's our mailing address.  Yet, when I found out that Wylie Library is bigger and brighter, I knew it was just the cure for a rainy day!

We arrived early and got started.  Of course in the rain and so early there were few people around which allowed us to wander about freely.  What a great family spot.  A huge story time room that is framed by a huge tree.  Lots of activity and community rooms, and plenty of spots to just sit and flip through books.  And need I say, the kids' section is big and bright with these great walk up card catalogs!

Ellie is eagerly awaiting the new release of Dork Diaries.  I believe this is #11, or could be #12.  She's read them all.  It arrived on shelves this past Tuesday.  And I have promised her she'd have it in time for our flight to California.  Barnes and Nobel sent me a note on Tuesday that it was en route .. so it should arrive anyway.  And, no, there were no copies on the shelf either.  I guess she's not the only pre-teen eager to read the next in the series!

Friday Night Lights

Mrs. Teamann (Whitt Principal) and her posse of Whitt Wolves at Wylie Stadium

We attended the game on Friday night ... well we attempted to watch the game on Friday night.  They moved it from 7:30 to 6pm game time to try to avoid the heavy rain.  Although what we found is that there is no way to avoid the thunder and lightening.

When we arrived at the stadium about 5:40 we found they were not letting anyone on the field or in the stands due to the weather.  A little rain these Texans could handle.  It was the lightening that was holding the crowd back.

They would make a call at 6:15 if they planned to wait another 30 minutes or they were calling the game.  So we waited inside the stadium out from under the rain.  So imagine the scene - lots of high school kids, parents, Whitt Night brought out the elementary school kids, marching band .. and oh, the people that were handling out COW BELLS.

It got a little loud in there.  And so just about 6:30 we gave Ellie the choice.  We could stand and wait it out, or we could go home, get dry and in comfy clothes and watch The Voice.  She voted for The Voice.  And we trudged back to the car and eventually dried off!

The game was eventually played.  Whitt won 47-12.

Wolf Howl

Wolf Howl is a pretty big deal when you're a 4th grader.  You and your classmates get to lead the school assembly with songs and cheers from the bleachers in front.  Each member wears this cool black t-shirt that says 'Wolf Nation' and it's a pretty big deal.

Friday was no exception.  It was Wylie High Homecoming game and it was Whitt Night at Wylie Stadium.  So the morning was rowdy and loud.

The great part for me as I was attending this one solo, was that I sat with Dawn (Robin's mom) and then managed to sneak in a quick catch-up chat and hugs with Natalie (Kalayna's mom) too.  Dawn and I made arrangements for a girls' afternoon when my mom is in town and for the families to celebrate Halloween together too.

It resulted in a 'good time had by all'!

Pay It Forward

When I drove through the Starbuck's drive-thru lane to get my Pumpkin Spice Latte this morning I was surprised to find the car in front of me had paid for mine!  What a treat!

Can't tell you how many times I've done that .. and smiled as I drove way..knowing the person behind me would be wondering who bought their coffee!!

Did I pay it forward?  But of course, isn't that the whole reason to do it!

School Board Member for a Night!~

Ellie and Mrs. Goss the Wylie School Board President

Ellie had an amazing opportunity on Monday evening.  She was one of 10 4th graders chosen in the Wylie school district to shadow a School Board member for the evening and ride on the homecoming float.

When I say one of 10 4th graders, that's because there are 10 elementary schools in Wylie.  Ellie was the only student chosen from all of Whitt Elementary School.  Her teacher submitted her name with a write up of Ellie's character and she was chosen!

Her principal, Mrs. Teamann was also there.  She told us how impressed she was with Ellie from her first interaction this year.  Part of Ellie's 4th grade assignment the first 6 weeks was Road Guard which included rotating providing the announcements over the school's public address system.  Mrs. Teamann said, "Ellie shows such leadership and confidence.  She's going to be in charge of something one day!"

During her time with Mrs. Goss, Ellie got to act as the School Board President!  She called for motions, announced that they passed 'unanimously!' and pretty much kept us laughing the entire time!  She is a natural to be in charge, to make people laugh - and does it with a huge, warm smile!

It was an amazing night for all of us.  What a great school district!  We met all the school board members, rode the activity bus behind the float in the parade and celebrated with the little downtown of Wylie all the fun and excitement of homecoming.

It's truly the first time in our time here that it felt like home.  That we fit in, belong and are part of something bigger than our family of three.  It is an amazing feeling to watch Ellie grow and develop in such a nurturing and caring school system.  We know we chose the right spot, and we're reaping the benefits of it for sure!

Ellie and Mrs. Goss on the Homecoming Float
WISD (Wylie Independent School Distric)

Dr. Vinson using a selfie stick to take a photo of the whole group!

Ellie on the float getting ready for the parade to start

"Keep Calm and Bang the Gavel"