Ms. Wamp® - I always wished I was part of a big Irish Catholic family and then realized as a plain ol' Southern Baptist I already have more family than I can handle sometimes! Mr. Mc® - a vintage 1982 classic brew....like chocolate - I'm an acquired taste. Normal blogs are typically narrated by one individual - as you'll see...we're not normal but are one. This is our life sometimes adventurous, oft times mundane, but always retold with flourish!

Thursday, December 31, 2009

Consider it Pure Joy My Friends

When you take off your prim and proper face, cancel all your plans and jet off on a last minute gambling spree to celebrate the new year!!   I can't explain how happy I am to just let go and go - not think about all the hurt feelings or people without plans but just jump on a crazy decision and go for it!! 

It is my new new years resolution to try to be more fun - I used to be really really fun and carefree, but somewhere along the way I got kinda ridged and proper and different.  I've noticed for a year or so I'm not as sparkly but I put a lovely dinenr party on - so this year I'm going to try and be sparkly and put a nice dinner party on and see how it goes...... Its in the eyes - as Troy Polamalu says - you asked with your eyes.

So thats my goal - to sparkle and shine and let my floors go to the dogs!!

Now onto more important things like Christmas pictures!!!


Christmas Eve is usually candle light service at church but the weather was so crazy we did it at home, Dad read the story and Gail provided background music and Christmas carols - it was so special and intimate I almost hope we do it this way every year!!



Always need a gratuitous sister picture!!! Two shiny shirts, one velour dress and a full costumed elf - sounds about right!


Because the weather was so bad we got to bring the puppies with us and a Christmas miracle happened - Daddy let them stay in the house with us - this is a pretty huge deal and they take up a whole lotta room but it was great.  They only escaped the backyard once but their tracks in the snow made it easy for Josh to find them!

Monday the 29th we got to do Christmas with Ricky and Julies boys - seating was girls table and a boys table - equally split 5 & 5 - first time ever! The boys took these for us and we took one of them.  The man table had football and the ladies table had lots of chit chat!!


Now that I've had nephews for about a year now I'm getting much more used to them - having all sisters boys horrified me.  They are loud, wild, unpredictable, love throwing stuff, punching, kicking, running unsafely and they're sometimes smell - but now I'm starting to love all those things and can appreciate the unbridled enthusiasm with which they approach everything!! It makes Christmas a whole lot more fun when you get to see faces like this:



Plus kids toys are always way fun to play with!! Lincoln Logs and Monster trucks, screaming monkeys, books oh my! - can't beat it!!




Friday, December 11, 2009

White Elephant Anyone?

Since we are having some renovations done on our offices and they are jackhammering the floor up and I can't think and even baby pictures aren't cheering me up.... I figured I'd relive the funness of last night and share it with all of you too!!

O.k. I lied - this baby picture did cheer me up a little......



Just for fun here's the history on a "white elephant" I love trivia!
A white elephant is an idiom for a valuable possession of which its owner cannot dispose and whose cost (particularly cost of upkeep) is out of proportion to its usefulness or worth.

The term derives from the sacred white elephants kept by Southeast Asian monarchs in Burma, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia. To possess a white elephant was regarded (and is still regarded in Thailand and Burma) as a sign that the monarch reigned with justice and power, and that the kingdom was blessed with peace and prosperity.[1] The tradition derives from tales which associate a white elephant with the birth of Buddha, as his mother was reputed to have dreamed of a white elephant presenting her with a lotus flower, a symbol of wisdom and purity, on the eve of giving birth.[2] Because the animals were considered sacred and laws protected them from labor, receiving a gift of a white elephant from a monarch was simultaneously both a blessing and a curse: a blessing because the animal was sacred and a sign of the monarch's favour, and a curse because the animal had to be retained and could not be put to much practical use, at least to offset the cost of maintaining it.

So there is your history lesson for the day - how smart do you feel now?

Now to our white elephant:
The item of the night we first had to establish all the rules and write them down on a piece of wood with permanent marker so everyone was on the same page - typical stuff but by the end of the night we had 2 amendments: 1) You can't steal something if the person you are stealing from doesn't make eye contact - Jean added that one after she gave it a whirl to keep the snuggy from Julie - but Julie got her to look.



2nd Amendment - you may not use the item you draw until the game is over - like popcorn, snuggies, peppermint shot glassed (so cool) among other things......

Hot Item of the Night:
Snuggie in leopard print - pretty sure everyone is going to go out and get one now cause they're awesome and pretty cheap.  Gail got it, Jean stole it and Julie finished it up and froze it.



Gail rocked it out and her boyfriend Eric - yeah his shirt has a bar of soap on the front with a speech bubble that said "Rub me on your butt" - oh dears!


Jean went wild with her win and did a reverse wear, backlit halo pose - she was an excellent hostess for the event even if she is a bad looser!




Julie locked it down and went for the Andre the Giant standing on a chair I'm the winner and you're not angle.  "I'm here for your soul!"


The Best Gift Winner!
Hands down went to Mr. Ricky Davis for the contraption he build by a man for a man and endorsed by Chuck Norris!  The ultimate man tool!
It was a plunger, chapstick holder, coozie with full beer, toothpick holder, spatula and tongs, a knife, flashlight, remote control, beer bottle opener, and finally a toilet paper receptacle.  It was amazing!!





Mom and dad tried to figure out how to use the chapstick which was mounted inside the plunger and was just high enough that you could use it without getting plunger all over your face...... I don't know that I need chapstick that bad!!




Josh opened a millionaire starter kit which had lottery tickets but it got stolen by Eric - so he drew again and won me this fabulous bracelet!! (I got a old wine bottle with wax dripped down and greenery stuck in the top.....)  He also won a jar of beans....



Ain't no party like the Wampler, McNabb, Davis, Huecker, Badger party!

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Having a bad day?

How about I cheer you up with some babies and snow! Really what could be better? The crazy thing is that they all occurred in Houston - record breaking snowfall and I was there to be part of the magic.

This is my best friend Christine C. and her new (9 1/2 month old) baby Brenna - I LOVE getting to spend time with them! Brenna gets to go skiing in February so we went coat shopping for her - how beautiful is she?!!

It was snowing so hard in Houston that they canceled all the flights after 6:00 pm outta there - my original flight was at 7:30 pm so I got bumped to the last seat on the last flight out but the snow was so pretty it was totally worth it! This Texas girl doesn't get to see much of it!















So after a great day of relaxing, shopping and soaking in the snow we got one group shot and then I was off like a person in fear of being stranded! As a side note I am dressed like a hobo cause I thought we were going hiking outside in 30 degree weather and layered on lots of clothes......

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

We did it!


We glided through Thanksgiving and oodles and oodles of football (that wasn't so much of a glide but for another day). We got everything gussied up and ready to go and then I had nothing to do!!! I had prepared so well and had such great help that I had time to spare!!!! I just loved how everything turned out so wanted to share pictures of how purdy it all turned out.









The weather was so gorgeous and the men folk fried the turkey and soaked in the weather - it was amazing that in my own backyard there was a force field of such manliness that I couldn't cross into the circle - I tried twice and quickly retreated feeling very awkward and out of place - it was a strong 3 generation force field and you can't mess with that!















And I found out that when you make a purdy table for pretty creative people they incorporate elements of it into their personal style and rock it!


All in all I think my two favorite hoodlums summed it up: Touchdown!