And we wonder why I love to dress up?

This is my father at a Christmas party my parents had. Enough said. Happy 2010!

You Have to love a man...

You have to love a man who will wear bronzer with you to appear more Floridian than either of you really are. Tonight some dear friends had a gathering of friends from our Supper and ALC clubs and other groups so that we could visit and relax after Christmas. DH & I could hardly wait to see these old friends, especially since we had not seen some of them in a year!! In fact, one couple was not expecting a baby when we left and we met their precious 4 week old tonight! DH & I love to dress up and have fun. Friends in this group have seen us dress up in the past and we just couldn't let them down! So, we decided to go "all Floridian" on them. Now I do love Florida. Our friends in FL look very much like our friends in NC. However, Florida does have its stereotypes so we decided to arrive as Floridians. DH agreed to put on bronzer and I streaked that mess all over my face and decolletage. I bought a blonde wig and became Lolita the Lounge singer. DH wore his shorts, dark socks, a borrowed Tommy Bahama shirt, and some loafers. People couldn't get over our tans. In fact, my own sister-in-law walked in and did not even recognize me! What a fun time. We love you, sweet Raleigh friends! Thank you for coming out to see us.

Tuesday's Tip

My mother is an excellent entertainer. She has hosted countless dinners, bridge nights, parties, debutante teas, baby showers, welcome to town luncheons, Christmas dinners, and family gatherings. She is also an excellent cook. Today my father's family will join us for an after-Christmas lunch. I know that Mama is about to entertain because her trusty book is out on the counter. Mama is so smart in that she has a hardback book that holds all of her menus from any time she has entertained. It also holds the names of those present. It is a wonderful treat to look back and see what she has served on different occasions. Another benefit of this book is that it helps Mama keep her menus varied so that she does not serve the same beef tenderloin or shrimp and grits to the same people every time they come over.

I just loved this idea and began a book when DH and I married. I admit I haven't been as diligent at writing in it, but I have enjoyed looking back to see what dinners I delivered when new babies were born or there was a death in the family. I have also tried to slide the invitation and pictures from the event in the book. When we were first married, we had friends over all of the time for dinner or game night. It is highly entertaining to look back and see what we fed our friends and who we entertained at our newlywed table. Now that we are in a new town, I am going to try to be more consistent at writing in my book. After all, I don't want to feed W & D the same Greek shrimp or give L & W the same steaks we had the last time we had them to our house.

I recommend being just like my Mama and starting your own book of menus in 2010! You'll be glad you did.

Mama Henley checking in...

I love hearing about other people's traditions. I also love reading other people's mail, but that's another story. Don't get all paranoid if I've visited your house. I only read my parents' mail and it's always with their permission. In fact, they know how I love to read it, so they leave interesting letters out for me to enjoy. And I digress once again. Back to tradition. As you're packing away the ornaments that you collect each year and stuffing bows with tissue paper, think about what you enjoy most about this time of year. What are your favorite traditions? The same friend who puts her children's painted hand prints on her tree skirt every year also gives each child a Christmas book every Christmas. Inside the book she writes about that child, their interests over the last year, some fun memories, and who their friends are. It's a great way to keep memories and remember special times every time you break out the Christmas books. How do you Deck the Halls? Fill me in on some fa la la. I eat the stuff up. Merry Merry!

My Mama Always Said

My Mama always said you should never serve what she calls a "Great White Dinner". A "Great White Dinner" is a meal without any green on the plate. Mama is right because we all need our veggies! Sometimes Mama would serve dinner and realize that she had forgotten the green vegetable, and rice, chicken, and a roll will not suffice. You need that green. An orange vegetable like carrots will also help break up the monotony. And remember, a little parsley goes a long way! Merry Merry!

Traditions

Everyone has traditions they enjoy repeating each year at Christmas. We love eating Moravian sugar cake on Christmas morning. As you begin taking down your ornaments and decorations, consider this sweet tradition my friend R told me about. Each year she lets her boys decorate their Christmas tree skirt with their handprints. She can look at the tree skirt each year and see how her boys have grown over the years. I think this is a precious idea! I wish I had known about it when the triplets were born. Perhaps we'll start this tradition this year!!

The Littlest Angel

Our precious angel turned three on Saturday. I can hardly believe it! I can't imagine not having a baby to follow in the footsteps of our toddler turned little girl. I love this age. Hurricane wrestles with wanting to be a baby some days and wanting to be a big "guhl" in the next breath. I love that she will still crawl in my bed and snuggle, she will still rock when I need it! (ha), she loves her night-night and yet she is fiercely independent and "can do it myself"! She loves to run and play and every day she is dressed as a different princess. Just today she looked at my computer and said, "I want to see H on stage." She was the sweetest angel you have ever seen. Of course I cried seeing our little angel dressed as an angel and too scared to sing her sweet Christmas songs that she had practiced for weeks. It was too sweet. We are thankful for every day we have with our youngest bundle of joy. It is such a treat to see her interact with her siblings. Hurricane, you are our sweet joyous little angel! We love you!