Come To Think Of It.......

"My idea of Christmas, whether old-fashioned or modern, is very simple: Loving Others. Come to think of it, why do we have to wait for Christmas to do that?" ~Bob Hope

In case you were wondering.......

Here are 10 things you might not know about Jean Shepherd's "A Christmas Story"...

1. Director, Bob Clark's success with "Porky's" allowed him to make any movie he wanted, without "Porky's" there would be no Christmas Story!

2. Bob Clark makes a cameo as the neighbor who marvels at the "Leg Lamp" from outside.

3. "A Christmas Story" inspired the creation of "The Wonder Years".

4. Jack Nicholson was the first actor to receive the script and was very interested in the role of Mr. Parker, "The Old Man" (but paying his fee would have doubled the budget).

5. Ralphie says that he wants a "Red Ryder BB Gun" 28 times in the movie.

6. The piece of music that plays after Ralphie says "FUDGE", and after the Leg Lamp breaks is the opening of "Hamlet".

7. When Flick's tongue is stuck to the flagpole, a hidden suction tube was used to safely create the "frozen tongue" illusion.

8. The home in "A Christmas Story" is now a tourist attraction.

9. The owner purchased the home off of eBay for $150,000.00 USD.

10. "A Christmas Story" and "Elf" are tied for my all-time favorite Christmas movie!

Oh NO!

I just got online to order my "Slanket" gifts... and they are COMPLETELY SOLD OUT!! See I told you this thing was good!! Guess I'm off to the mall now! Or to snuggie.com ???

It's HERE!!!!

It's HERE!! It's HERE!! My last birthday gift from Glen and the girls arrived on the front porch yesterday.... It is a MUST HAVE on your Christmas list this year!! THE SLANKET!
The other night I was freezing and watching TV, but too cold to want to stick my lazy arm out from under the blanket to change the channel.......I see on this brilliant lady's blog the next morning her magnificent find...THE SLANKET! How genius is this and WHY COULD I HAVE NOT THOUGHT OF IT!?? A blanket with sleeves! You can use the remote, use your laptop..whatever you need to do with your arms all the while staying warm! Oh how I love my new PINK SLANKET!! It is so soft and warm...warm I tell ya!! After last night's Christmas parade I was very excited to jump into that new Slanket!! I just had to share......visit http://www.slanket.com/ to see all the pretty colors!! I saw a similar product on TV called the "snuggie", but it didn't have as many cool colors and I just liked to say "SLANKET" better than "snuggie"..?!

WINSLOW is kind of a goof-ball!

That elf of ours..."WINSLOW" is kind of a goofball! As Riley said, "Well, now he's gotten himself into quite a predicament!" Don't know how he got in or, for that matter....even got out of this one, but he did and the excitement continues each morning to see what he is into (literally) each day! If you haven't gotten one-- "Elf On The Shelf" is a very fun Christmas tradition to help get your kids onto "Santa's Nice List"! If things start to unravel around here...I just point to WINSLOW!

Visit http://www.elfontheshelf.com/ for some fun Christmas activities for the kids!

December 1,1971

Thirty-seven years ago today......

All In The Family was the #1 TV show.

Average cost of a new home: $25,250.00

Average yearly income: $10,600.00

Average monthly rent: $150.00

Cost for a gallon of gas: 29 cents

Cost of a US postage stamp: 8 cents

Cost of one movie ticket: $1.50

Cost of a ladies 2 piece knit pant suit: $9.98

Cost of having a baby at Harris Methodist Fort Worth without Maternity Insurance: $1000.00

Thank you so much Mom and Dad for 37 years marvelous years!

I love you so much!

Blonde Joke? or "Ya just might be a Redneck if"...??

"How many blondes does it take to hold down a 5 year old to remove her stitches?" OR....

"Ya just might be a redneck if 2 purty blondes are wrestlin' the 5 year old on the Thanksgiving dinner table to get them stitches out!"

I think it could go either way here!!??

But we did all live happily ever after..........................

Intoducing WINSLOW!

Christmas has officially been kicked off around here........We'd like to introduce you to WINSLOW, our new "Elf on the Shelf". Apparently, an old tradition that I must have missed while my kids were at a more "appropriate age" for a tale of such...but Hey! It's never to late to start if you only ....BELIEVE! (right?!)

Winslow is our own personal Elf who sits and watches us all day long and then goes to the North Pole nightly to report his findings....naughty or nice! WINSLOW will then return each morning to a new location in the house in which we have to find! The rules are that he can not be touched whatsoever or all magic is lost, but we can tell WINSLOW anything our heart desires. (I hope WINSLOW reports to Santa how bad I need that money tree this year!!) Stay tuned for pictures of WINSLOW and all of his exciting landing locations around the Cruson house!

Proud Mary and a Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! What a fun day we had spending it with cousins, grandparents, aunts and uncles! We were so full by the time we rolled (literally rolled) back home last night, it felt as though I had gravy flowing through my veins!

Glen's grandmother, "Grandma Mary" passed away a few years ago, she was the sweetest, most adorable grandma and we miss her alot! She was also one of the best cooks I have ever met..her rolls were to die for and she made this AMAZING "Ice Box White Cake" every holiday. Well she left this recipe behind and after wrestling my mother in law to the ground for it, I gave it a try this Thanksgiving.........

Here she is, isn't she a BEAUT!! I have to say it WAS DELICIOUS! I think Grandma Mary would've been proud! We Love you Grandma!

HOLY COW!

Dad and the girls just returned from a 3-day hunting trip! They came barreling in with story after story, the stinkiest little bodies a mom has ever smelled, and a couple of really good tummy aches from the BIG DQ Steakfinger Baskets they had inhaled on their way home!

Hallie said, "Look mom! I didn't even need all those extra undies that you packed me, I still have these on from Thursday!" Now myself, the one with the upset tummy, marched their little nasty selves to the showers while Glen downloaded a couple of photos from the weekend....










Now is it just me or does it look like a few rules (ok, maybe even a law or two) may have been broken.....if she is in the driver's seat and she is in the passenger's seat...WHO IS IN THE BACK SNAPPING THE PICTURE?!! HOLY COW!! As a matter of fact, Riley did "hit" a cow with the truck, but the cow was fine and in turn, head butted her back!
A "G with an O, an O with a D, a T with an I, and a M and a E" was had by all!!!!

What NOW!??

Was the question of the day from our friends and neighbors as I walked the girls to school this morning! "What in the world are ya'll up to now??" You know after the whole Halloween Yard display fiasco, everyone kept saying they couldn't wait to see what was next! Well, we didn't want to disappoint!! So this is what is presently in our driveway..........it is going to be the "CES EXPRESS". It's the "Elementary School's Dad's Club Float" for the annual Grapevine Christmas Parade, which will be December 4th in Downtown Grapevine. Always a fabulous and fun parade that kicks off Christmas around here. It is well on its way to becoming a TRAIN, but right now looks more like a SEMI??! Watch for pics of the final result and parade pictures of these amazing dads who have been working hard in the freezing cold to build this baby and their beautiful kids!!

A Deal or a Dud?

Middle school brings home alot....I mean ALOT of.."I need this!" or "I need to get one of those!" or "Can we try to find that?" The latest that "everyone" is trying is "stuff you put in your hair to make it curly, without rollers or a curling iron, please! please! mom will you try to find some!" So I'm off to Walgreens.......(where I made the doozie of a find with the handy-dandy DNA do-it-yourself kit??? whole other blog)......so I hit the hair care products aisle and you betcha, BINGO there it is......"SPRAY IT CURLY-INSTANT CURLS" I'll take it!

We follow the instructions to the T.......and here are the results..............

The Cruson girls have to say..."Spray It Curly...Instant Curls" is a DUD! Guess we'll have to stick with these...............

Who's Your Daddy?

As I strolled the aisles of Walgreens today I made quite a discovery!!! For only $29.99 you can run your very own at home DNA test!! What?!

Good grief!!

Now really after seeing that and knowing that people can run their own little DNA labs at home........is it too much to ask for a RAPID STREP TEST that we can swab our kids with at home to save us a $30 copay every now and then!?

Gotta Love The Spongeroller!

The girls & their friends have found a new love....the spongeroller!

They love the way it transforms their heads into this powerhouse of hair! The minute I got those things out of there, they started dancing around the house singing..."On the Good Ship, Lollipop!" and "Animal Crackers..In My Soup"!! Riley had her friend over to spend the night and when I asked her what she wanted to do while she was over, she replied, "I don't care what we do as long as I get those spongerollers in my hair before bed!" Easy enough!! From the pictures, hopefully you can see the "Shirley Temple" in them all!! I can only hope when they are 16 they still want the spongerollers before bed!!

Softball Champs!!

The girls wrapped up softball season today with two outstanding victories! The Diamondbacks defeated the Orioles to claim 1st place GRAND CHAMPIONS! The Wildcats beat the Rockstars (20-4) to grab the 3rd place prize! The girls played so good and we are so proud of both teams!! Thank you so much to all of our faithful fans and our 2 sets of the world's best grandparents who sat in those bleachers every weekend to cheer the girls on! We appreciate and LOVE you so much!!

I believe....

"The plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of His heart through all generations." Psalms 33:11

Someone will make history today.....

SHE or he?

Happy Election Day!!

We Love Halloween!

Raggedy Ann, Dorothy, Little Red Riding Hood, and The Big Bad Wolf all enjoyed Halloween this year! It was great fun with all of our friends and the hundreds of pounds of candy we got! We love Halloween around here, because for us it marks the beginning of the Holiday Season. Can't wait for Thanksgiving!

The Pumpkin Prayer!

Two of my dear friends shared this with me and I thought it was such an adorable idea..you know I had to steal it and blog about it.....so I could share it with my friends too!

THE PUMPKIN PRAYER

Dear God,

As I carve my pumpkin help me say this prayer...

Open my mind so I can learn about You;

(Cut the top of the pumpkin off)

Take away all my sin and forgive me for the wrong things I do.

(Clean out the inside)

Open my eyes so Your love I will see;

(Cut the eyes out in heart shapes)

I'm so sorry for turning up my nose to all you've given me.

(Cut a nose in the shape of a cross)

Open my ears so your word I will hear;

(Cut the ears shaped like the Bible-rectangles)

Open my mouth so I can tell others You're near;

(Cut the mouth in the shape of a fish)

Let Your light shine in all I say and do!

(Place the candle inside and light it)

Amen!

Thanks Kelli and Suzanne for sharing this cute idea!!

Happy Fall ya'll!

We just had to do it........

We were talking at dinner the other night with some friends and we decided we needed some kind of "Grand Finale" for this "shrine" in our yard that we have become so "famous" for......so my brilliant 6th grader casually said, "Why not Joe the Plumber"? JOE THE PLUMBER!! JOE THE PLUMBER!! Could she really be my daughter!? She is magnificent! So of course, we went with it, and here he is! Now we have people actually stopping wanting to meet us and shake our hands! (haha!) I'm just waiting for the "city man" to show up to meet me, shake my hand, and give me my city fine for the "trashiest yard in Colleyville"!

Meet Gary & Michelle!

Meet our new little friends....Gary & Michelle! They are our two little pink lizard neighbors who come by EVERY night and say Hello! It has become something we look forward to during bath and shower time at our house....hanging out with Gary & Michelle. We like to think they come by to see us, but I'm guessing they enjoy the bugs drawn to the light of our bathroom window more than watching us wash up?! Just a huntch! By the way...the names?? Hallie came up with those....???

Colt Pride...Bumper Sticker Style!

We are so proud of our Colleyville Middle School Colt, Riley! She made the "A" Honor Roll her 1st 6 weeks of Middle School! She is loving school and doing very well! WE ARE SO PROUD OF HER and her accomplishments and for her love of those around her!

She was laughing that she got ANOTHER bumper sticker for me...I have noticed that Middle School comes with alot of "bumper sticker" pride...you can get a bumper sticker for any and every activity that you participate in at Middle School...Choir, Students Standing Strong, Cheer, Dance, Honor Roll, Band, Chess, Volleyball, Basketball, Math, Reading, English, PE, Lunch, D Hall, ISS.....(ok, not really all that).....but seriously, l-o-t-s of bumper stickers! I'm getting there see.......






I gotta find that "perfect spot" for the Honor Roll one. I don't want either of my girls to think for one minute that I am not proud of them or their activities or accomplishments, so I must display the sticker! But I do need some balance here, you think?....and I must be able to see out the rear view! ;) hmmmmmm.....do I really start on that other side now??!