Hello Winter 2011!

 According to the powers that be, the official first day of winter falls on December 22, 2011.
I'm not quite sure who or how or when this all first came about but I skimmed over the topic here and it has something to do with the distance of the earth from the sun and Julius Caesar and tropical year and the pope and the Council of Nicea...
basically a lot of information I just do not have the room for in my brain right now...

...Caleb is officially a toddler you see...and I still have a full time job...and a full time marriage...so astronomy really doesn't fit in the top of my priority list right now.

...so I've decided that in my universe the first day of winter shall be December 1st...because that fits with my 12 months / 4 seasons = 3 months per season:
So as I see it December, January and February are winter
March, April, May are spring
June, July and August are summer
and September, October and November are fall.
This is how things have always been in my mind...I don't know when this winter solstice = first day of winter business began but I'll tell you right now it is false. 
Says me.

That being said, we'll proceed with this post.
You may have noticed that there has not been much to notice here on this blog...that's because this little fishbowl of ours has been jumpin' this fall.

We've had holidays:

pumpkin carving

picking out the perfect pumpkin

family photo op at the pumpkin patch

With Grandma having our pre-Thanksgiving

hunting for pecans at Grandma's

We've had sporting events:

"Hey!  I need more cowbell!"

visiting Mamma and Dadda 's alma mater

checking out Bully

"So there really ARE other bulldog fans.!  I was beginning to wonder if everybody but me yelled Roll Tide or War Eagle."

"Woo Pig Sooie!!!"  

We've hunted wild game:

Delta boy at heart!

Walks among the fall foliage:

Plus, we've had birthdays:

Our best buddy Bryce turned 1 year old!

Great-Grandma Fisher's big birthday get together

Uncle Mark was pretty funny!

In fact, the biggest event in our little fall was Caleb's first birthday!!!
He had a blast with all of our wonderful friends and family!

And now that the BEST SEASON of the YEAR (autumn) has come to a close it is time to buckle down and get ready for some serious winter festivities!  We have quite a winter planned and can't wait to begin!

And since December 1st is officially the first day of winter in the fishbowl a certain special little fellow made his debut:

Meet Nerwin Twizzlebottom,
the Fisher family elf:

Poor fellow must have been pretty chilly waiting all morning out on the front porch to be let in!




See ya next year Autumn, and Hello Winter!

Happy Momma's Day!

This year was my first Mother's Day to celebrate as a real live Momma!

to this guy:

I feel soooo lucky!


Although we are trying to cut down on gifts and other purchases I still made out like a bandit!
...with my

new cook book,
new (and much needed) colander,
and beautiful flowers!

After church and lunch,
we went to the park!

where we went strolling...

cheesing...

swinging...

and sliding!

It was all very fun...

...and exhausting!


Overall it was a wonderful way to spend my first real live Mother's Day as a mother!

The only part missing?
My dear, sweet Momma  :(

but she's 3 hours away.

A few days earlier Caleb and I sent her our love...

signed with finger paint!



What else have we been up to?

Going to First Fridays!

Wearing very cool outfits to day care!

"My Pop is the Coolest!"

Attempting our own 6 month old photo shoot!

but wait...

getting closer...

and finally!!!!

That's all folks!!!

kiss me, I'm (one quarter) Irish!

Yesterday was Saint Patty's Day...I think one of my favorite minor holidays-
perhaps this is because I'm part Irish...
perhaps just because it's a day where you have an excuse to torture somebody simply because they didn't follow the "wear green" dress code.
 <I went to a Catholic high school...dress code is extremely important! "the skirt must fall to the center of the knee!">


Yesterday did not turn out to be all that I had planned however...
in fact, I did not wear a stitch of green myself...

Why?
Because I was a little preoccupied with my baby being sick,
so we woke up and called for an appointment with our pediatrician first thing yesterday morning...
seriously, I didn't even get a chance to wash my hair yesterday.

Unfortunately, my fears were warranted...my baby has RSV (respiratory syncitial virus).
The doctor said that he's actually doing quite well...but we have to go back today to have his oxygen rechecked...
if it has dropped, she says he needs to be admitted to the hospital.

Please say some prayers for my little man today.

In the meantime, we have been taking antibiotics for his ear infections and have been using the nebulizer every 4 hours (even during the night!) to help my little patient.

He did play with his Daddy a little last night.

"these are my feet!"

And he played with Kane who loves him dearly!

And he still loves his Sophie that Miss Lisa got for him!

He has done well, he slept through the night in his little lamb swing within an arm's reach from our bed.
He even laughed and rolled over a few times while playing this morning!




But getting back to our Saint Patty's day celebration (of sorts)...
I didn't wear green- but Caleb did! (courtesy of "Kay-Kay"- his Grandmommy Fisher!)

I didn't make my little cut-out and decorated sugar cookies kinda like these or these as I had planned.
I didn't make Irish Soda Bread either.
But I held my sweet little boy while he slept and that's good enough for me.

I did get to make part of the Irish dinner I had planned for the Hubbs and myself.
It turned out pretty good!

We had Irish Beef and Stout Stew from marthastewart.com...  I love her!

you can NEVER have too much garlic!

don't worry, you don't have to drink this
...it goes into the pot!

mix it all up!

 just the right amount of salt and pile on the pepper

how my Grandmother measured things...with her palm

bring to a boil then stick it in the oven

 while the stew was stewing, I started a great, simple beer bread:

3 C self rising flour and 1/2 C sugar

1 can of beer minus a sip or two!

bake at 350 "until done" this pan was about 45 minutes
...top with butter anywhere from 3 tabs to 1 stick
(I reccomend a whole stick but it would have made a mess here)
and back to the oven for a bout 5-10 minutes

add peas before serving

grab two Killian's and there you are!

<As a side note: we used venison in lieu of beef...that's what we had in the deep freezer.>


After dinner we had a warm nightcap...The Blizzard Cocktail also from martha. We almost had the Hot Nutty Irishman but the thought of Grand Mariner Whipped Cream won me over!

It was super yummy- even the Hubbs liked it!



As a addendum:
Caleb's check-up went well today!  His oxygenation went up (94 yesterday to 96 today!) so hospitilization was not needed, thank goodness! 
He was even rolling around, kicking, smiling and laughing at the nurse and doctor! 
"RSV- I laugh in your face!" he says!