nettieheidmann's Xanga

Boxing Day

Mon, 28 Dec 2009 22:15:44 GMT

***Warning***Warning***Warning***
***Girly stuff ahead!!!***

Just want to make sure the lads avert their eyes... nothing in this post will interest them in the slightest; in fact, I'm convinced, if my husband and son are any indication, that the photos posted here might even be psychologically harmful to the male of the species.

***Don't say I didn't warn you!***

~*~*~*~*~

On Saturday, known round the world (or at least in Canada) as Boxing Day, I took the girls on a very girly shopping trip, for to spend their Christmas gift money.

Our first stop was the Biltmore.
On our way to the Ultimate Girly Store, we passed through Macy's.
Megan took these pics with the camera that got passed from Paul to the kids, when the camera that was mine got passed to Paul, because Paul gave me a new one.
(Everybody wins around here.)

The collective opinion of the Heidmann girls was that Macy's is fun, and a return trip would be most enjoyed.

Finally after a brief exploration of all three floors of Macy's, it was on to our primary goal.
Vera Bradley is probably the most feminine place I have ever been besides Victoria's Secret.
While we were here, a couple came through the door, and the man promptly took up a station just barely inside the entrance, standing there hanging his head dejectedly, refusing to look anywhere at all, the whole time his lady was shopping. It was a hoot!

Girlfriends, feast your eyes:

A tree of cosmetic bags...

Walls of bags...

Window seats with purses...

Matching purses and luggage...

...and walls of bags...

...and pretty furnishings to better show off the bags...

...and even tiny little change purses...

and much, much more.

Oh, and despite the many tempting treasures, we only left there with one purchase:

This was Laurent's most favorite pattern and she is quite delighted with her Christmas purse!

~*~*~*~*~

As we were climbing in the van to speed to our next stop, I couldn't resist this peek of Piestewa Peak:

~*~*~*~*~
After leaving the Biltmore, it was on to Bed, Bath & Beyond, where I got to spend my Christmas gift card. Megan took 54 pictures in that store alone.
Some of them turned out rather well...

~*~*~*~*~

After THAT, we stopped home briefly, then grabbed some lunch,
and THEN....
it was off to Kohl's.
Here is when 2 phones came in tremendously handy... in fact there were moments I wished there had been 3. The Mr. and I will need to talk.
Anyway,

These are the shoes that Geneva REALLY wanted...

until she found this outfit, which she bought instead.

Megan found this pretty grey sweater and these slacks (which, having just finished season 1 of The Mentalist, we now refer to as "Van Pelt pants")

Laurent found a cool black blouse and some nice boot cut jeans....

and Megan was relaxing here after finishing her shopping, when suddenly they turned off Coldplay mid-"Vida" - and her face went like this:

and I'll end with one more self portrait by Meg:

~*~*~*~*~

And that, my friends, was absolutely all I could handle of girlish nonsense for one day.
I haven't shopped that much in ... I don't remember ever shopping that much.
I've no doubt it will happen again, though... but hopefully not before I've recovered from this round of fun.

Heidmann Christmas 2009 - Programs & Presents

Mon, 28 Dec 2009 16:06:43 GMT

For the Heidmanns,
Programs precede Presents.

Some years we go all out with a whole interactive nativity production, complete with Ceasar Augustus, shepherds and sheep, inn keepers and angels, Mary, Joseph, donkeys and stables.
This year was simplified. We had the two Jacobs reading the Christmas story,

Three boys singing "We Three Kings" (with a little help from Uncle Paul)...

Jon doing his usual stellar job accompanying us on the keyboard...

Two pretty girls singing "Go Tell It On the Mountain"

...and cousins singing carols.

Then there were presents!

So pretty, I didn't want to open it!

I think the Santa Clause was throwing Jess a present here...

There, she caught it and is ready for her closeup!

All it takes to make a girl's eyes light up are Joools!

Nothing says "manly" like a Lederhosen apron!
Lol!
Actually Fred will get a great deal of use out of it while using his mad grillin' skillz!

Whose is this pretty smile?

Why it's Laurent, trying out some of her new "lip goo" as her dad calls it.
:)
Nice color on her.

~*~*~*~*~
All the Heidmanns were once again so very blessed, most of all with the love we share for our Lord, and for each other.
God is so good!!
~*~*~*~*~

Heidmann Christmas 2009 - Foodie Pix

Mon, 28 Dec 2009 15:14:34 GMT

Herein are my experiments in close-up food photography.
I was using the "food" setting on my camera -- can you believe there is a "food" setting?!
The more I try my hand at this, the more sure I am that Pioneer Woman is basically a photography savant.
Also, natural light is a big help (there wasn't much in this kitchen).

Jess made these decadent little bon-bons out of oreos, cream cheese and almond bark. (And sprinkles.)

This is my favorite of the foodie pics, and not just because it's one of my favorite dishes... I think the color came out exactly right, and it's quite clear.

For some reason, I could not get a clear, crisp picture of these beets. I took several and every one of them was blurry.

The pickles are fairly clear...

Ditto the olives...

But what is with the beets? This was the best I could get...

Oh my... Fred roasted this pork loin on the grill, rubbed with olive oil and herbs and wrapped in foil.
I have never before had pork loin that melted in the mouth.

Grandma's tradition -- Minnesota wild rice with mushrooms.

Swedish Meatballs! Not a very "pretty" picture, but technically it turned out well.

Tasty corn muffins with craisins...

Apricot jam for the muffins.

Ok, I don't know what was going on with the coleslaw,
but nothing I did could eradicate the weird orangey tint on this.
It tasted amazing though...

Cheesy mashed potatoes... pretty good color and clarity...

Fruit salad with whipped topping and crumbled cookies on top...

I need to read my manual.
I have many questions about this camera! But it was fun to experiment...

I wish I had gotten out the camera for the cookies later in the day, it was quite a colorful array of goodies, with Fred's rosettes, bon-bons, frosted sugar cookies, piroulines, Pat's fancy chex mix, and more than I can remember.

So much good food to celebrate Christ's birth!! It is always the best party of the year, in my humble opinion.

~*~*~*~*~

Heidmann Christmas 2009 - Waiting for Christmas Dinner

Mon, 28 Dec 2009 14:37:32 GMT

The thing about Christmas is, along with the
sweet fellowship and sweet music,
you can never have too many
SWEETS!

In keeping with my annual tradition, I brought along some extra sugar to enhance the festivities.
This one was labeled especially for Grandpa:

~*~*~*~*~
Then Grandpa gathered all the grandthings around for a Christmas Carol Quiz:

I know the adults are supposed to sit back and let the kids have the fun,
but I'm ashamed to admit, I played this game to win.
Couldn't help myself.
Jess couldn't either... I think we tied!

Then there was the traditional game of
Run Away From Uncle Paul,
Get Caught,
And
Twirled Around Till You Scream:

I have been very reluctant to let anyone touch my "baby", but Jon is such a good photographer,
I made an exception and allowed him to wander about and snap some pix.

While he had the camera, I took a stroll around the lakes with Susan... unaware that my best feature was being captured for posterity...
It was a beautiful day for perambulating, and we got to wish many other happy citizens, out riding their golf carts and walking their dogs, a Merry Christmas.

The geese across the lake:

The Boy chasing a ball across the greenway:

~*~*~*~*~

Heidmann Christmas 2009 - The Arrivals

Mon, 28 Dec 2009 13:26:05 GMT

If I previously gave the impression that,
when we travel across the valley,
my children are the model of picture perfect propriety in their behavior,
pursuing only literary edification,
let me dispel that right now:

There is also, inevitably, a bapping fight with the sun screen.

Our drive was pleasant and bright on Christmas morning -- clear skies and sunshine, and cold enough for this:

Yep, there was even frost on the windshield!
A far cry from the Christmas snow dump in the midwest, where my dear mum had to be dug out of her house by my brother to go over to his place... now, if they would all just listen to their Nettie and move to the Valley of the Sun, their shoveling nightmares would be over!

~*~*~*~*~

Upon arrival, we were greeted by --

The Grandma Elf!

And promptly ensconced Susan in her comfy spot:

And then there was some relaxing, waiting for the cousins...

Poor little Grandma, now two granddaughters have surpassed her in height.
And they never let her forget it!

Here is Meg on the phone with Auntie Jess, finding out where they were and when they would arrive.

Cousins at last!

Hugs abound...

A squinty hello from this little Jadyn elf!

The passing of the torch -- or in this case, the Firefly.
(Sharing DVDs is another Heidmann Christmas tradition!)

~*~*~*~*~

Going to Grandma's...

Sun, 27 Dec 2009 03:17:31 GMT

Took this photo on the way to Sun Lakes on Christmas day.
This is what one will typically see in the back seat of our vehicle on any given drive...

So, my question is... which is better - color?

... or sepia?

Christmas Eve

Fri, 25 Dec 2009 06:32:28 GMT

And a blessed one it has been for the Heidmann family...

We started our day with a plan, and as we all know,
When you make a plan,
you must stick to the plan.

Stick to it we did.
We headed out for Wal-mart at 9:30 a.m.
It was predictably a mad house,
and adding our lot to the mix could only bring the insanity and fun to a heretofore unthinkable completeness.
No one will believe me when I say that it really WAS fun!
I did not feel stressed or anxious or worried about the time... we simply did our dodge-and-weave thing, milling around with all the other last-minute-ers.

I had a vague list in my head, and managed to get most everything on it without having brought along a written copy; but I needed a few things from Costco, so we headed down to Avondale.
Paul is not a Sam's Club/Costco kind of guy. It just isn't his thing. He doesn't "shop", if you get my meaning.
So I dropped him and the two youngest off at Best Buy, and then went back across the road to the big barn of a store with my elder two girls.
The festivities were in full swing there, with all manner of fanciful samples being offerred at every intersection. I didn't taste a thing, I was too focused on trying not to forget why I was there (crumbled bacon, craisins, coffee beans, and pizza for tonight's supper).
But then I saw the croissant sandwich trays, and thought "Oh, this will save energy - no turning on the oven!"
And then I saw a present for someone, and then I saw a present for someone else, and then I saw several foodie things I could (and therefore, SHOULD) bring to our shindig tomorrow, and before I knew it, Paul was jingling me on my phone, patiently wondering when I might be finished.

All this is to say,
I had a good time tooling around with my kids and finding good things with which to bless the family.

And there were no "incidents" at all.
No car crashes, no crazy people, everyone was in a joyful mood, extra courteous - far from my expectations of doom and disaster, in fact. I wish every shopping day was Christmas Eve!

~*~*~*~*~

After all our shopping was done, it was time for a quick bite at Del Taco on the way home,
then a speedy prep for the Nine Lessons and Carols service.
I had to leave with Laurent around 1:50 to get there well enough in advance of the 3:00 start time to allow for some vocalizing and setting up the candelabra we use for the candle lighting that is part of the service.
I had been unsure, what with seasonal allergies, colds, etc., whether I would be in good enough voice to sing the solo for Of the Father's Love Begotten. However, after giving it a run-through with Koos, the pipes were in fairly decent working order, so I went for it.
Laurent sang (as she has been doing since she was nine) the opening verse of the traditional processional, Once in Royal David's City.
The rest of the service - carols, accompanied by Koos van Leeuwen on piano & organ, and led by Doug Surplus on guitar, interspersed with scripture readings - was truly a joy from beginning to end. What a blessing to participate in such a Christ centered service.

~*~*~*~*~

Our family tradition on Christmas eve is that we have a simple supper and open our gifts to one another.
Tonight the blessings abounded.
I will not go into obnoxious detail... but there are a few highlights to be told.

Jeffrey had a very Catholic Christmas, receiving a few choice items from one of his favorite bloggers,
Fr. Z, at WDTPRS

"What Does The Prayer Really Say?"

"Say the Black, Do the Red"
(It's a liturgical thing...)

Since there is more Christmas blogging to come,
I will end by mentioning only one other blessing of the evening, which was that my husband,
who feigns a curmudgeonly aspect of the highest order about my blogging activities,

for some reason, known only to himself,
also delights in delighting me.

And thus, inside this box covered in shrink wrap cellophane tape and blog mockery,
I found a brand spankin' new Nikon Coolpix L100.

How else was I going to take a picture of my new camera with my new camera?!

I have been experimenting with my new friend all evening... everything I had to do tonight took twice or three times as long because I was constantly stopping to take pictures. I really, really can't tell you how much fun I'm having.

You will see a definite up-tick in Nettie posts in the coming year as I learn the ropes with this new tool. I already understand that I've left the land of "point and click" -- this was my first photo:

and a few more as the evening went on...

~*~*~*~*~

Merry Christmas, friends!

Kids on Christmas Vacation...

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 14:04:58 GMT

This game has been on the table since the weekend.

At some point I will require them to shift their diversionary enterprise to another location,
but they keep having so much fun,
I am content for the moment to work around their merriment.

Riding the train to see the lights...

Sat, 19 Dec 2009 18:30:35 GMT

Hello, my name is Nettie, and I am a lazy blogger.

I have posted all my pics from Friday's adventure at Facebook, and I am too lazy to re-post them here, so I am directing you THERE!

I have set the album so that everybody can view the pics. Let me know if the link doesn't work for you. And if you aren't my Facebook friend yet, well, why not?? You can find me under the name
Annette Holston Heidmann.

See you on FB!

Learnin' the hard way...

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 18:28:56 GMT

When making up recipes, things don't always work out the first time...

For my experiment with Orange Honey Quick Bread,
I began with a simple muffin recipe, and then doubled it, and then changed a bunch of things, and then decided to make it as a bread instead of muffins.

Only...
a 12 muffin recipe,

...doubled...

...obviously...

...yields more than...

...two loaves!

I will try it again and post the recipe when I get it RIGHT!