So which will it be? One of these pictures is going into the Vollmer Christmas Card….the boys, and Howie, were all great sports about it!
It’s that time of year.
“Election Season?”
Well, yeah, but that’s not what I’m talking about…
“Autumn? Leaves falling? Raking? I didn’t know there were leaves to rake in Nebraska…”
Yes, that too…but keep with me here…
It’s COOKIE TIME!
“So soon?”
In the Vollmer house, yes. Actually, this year is going to be extra early because I’ll be in Florida for most of December for some Air Force training.
But I typically do the cookie thing a little early anyway…
In 1997, I spent Christmas in Tuzla, Bosnia. It was surreal, the amount of kindness that gets showered upon servicemembers from all over the country! We had stacks of care packages taller than me in one corner of our weather office, filled with sweets, treats and books/magazines! And the “any servicemember” mail we received was so touching. Wasn’t I cute back then? I guess I was about 24 years old.
Note: This picture was part of a media photo shoot, a story was written up for the base paper about me and the work I was doing on the base. One of those “in case there’s nothing better to report” kinds of things, but I don’t think it ever ran. The hard copy print of this picture is one of the first digital photo printouts I’d ever seen, incidentally.
I’ve tried to send cookies to deployed folks every Christmas season since.
So this is the 11th year, and even after 9/11, when the military shut down “any servicemember” mail, I’ve known people in the hostile file zones every year…with a definitive address to send cookies.
That being said, I want to get the cookies sent out by the US Postal Service deadlines. One of the recipients this year is in an “093” zip code (within Iraq) so I need to get them mailed by December 4th.
I’ve typically done the cookies over Thanksgiving weekend, giving me the last week of November to get them mailed out. But this year Thanksgiving is late — so I expect to do the baking the weekend prior to Thanksgiving.
I have a repertoire of cookies that have proven reliable for shipment to the Balkans and the Middle East over the years, from biscotti to oatmeal cookies with Hershey kisses inside.
I will make a full recipe of Neiman Marcus cookies. Honestly, I don’t care whether the legend is true or not, the cookies are fantastic and a big hit no matter where they’re sent. I make them nice and small so they don’t fall apart in transit.
For the past couple years, I’ve attempted to get the boys involved…last year Jake wanted to break all the eggs, and then they both enjoy rolling the oatmeal cookies in the colored sugars. Hopefully this year they can do a little more, like measuring flour and adding ingredients to the bowl.
I’ll go ingredient shopping next weekend – I even joined Costco today, in part because of the outstanding deals on bulk sugar, flour and eggs.
I’ll keep you posted with pictures later this month!
Note: This is Patricia posting here. Every once in a while you’ll see a post from “Dr. Dave Vollmer” and that’s me writing through Dave’s Google account, because I have run out of photo space on the Major Mom Google account and Dave’s “Weathersix” account is virtually empty.
Most of the time, Jacob looks like me. It’s obvious in his dark hair, dark eyes, and all-around know-it-all-ness.
That’s my boy.
Today Paul sent me this blog post, another one of those funny JC Penney’s catalog montages, a follow up to this one that circulated the e-mail world about a year ago. The new one even has a hilarious picture of Ricky…I mean, Rick Schroeder.
This got me thinking about all of the 70s photos Dave and I have of ourselves. So I broke out our photo albums and started looking.
Dave’s album has a lot more 70s fashion than mine. Probably because most of my pictures are of birthdays and Christmases and I’m wearing really pretty dresses that don’t look glaringly 70s. What do you call them? “Timeless?”
Meanwhile, Dave’s Dad and older brother definitely looked like they could have shopped in that Penney’s catalog! Dave was mostly in jeans, t-shirts, sweatshirts, sweaters. He was definitely an 80s fashion icon, though 🙂
But I did come across a picture of Dave that jumped out at me…it looked like a picture of Jake I had taken last month that he is thoroughly embarassed about. He said his smile looks funny. It isn’t his normal smile, but I think it’s a cute picture anyway.
So what do you think? Dave’s was around his 5th birthday, Jake’s is around his 6th birthday. Proof that Jake and Dave are indeed related?
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| From 2008 10 28 Dave_Jacob_SillySmile |
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| From 2008 10 28 Dave_Jacob_SillySmile |
Today I got Timmy’s preschool portraits and I’m SO HAPPY with them! Even though they had different photographers, it was a pleasant surprise to see how both Timmy’s and Jake’s pictures are composed similarly (i.e., both simple head shots, no props or anything), so if they’re hanging side by side in the living room (my plan), they’ll look nice together.
Wild sunflowers are in bloom in E. Nebraska and W. Iowa. They’re just popped up all over the place, like how Queen Anne’s Lace pops up in PA and WV, and how wild thistle grows on the sides of the highways in NC.
So I pulled a Maryann and pulled over on the side of this country road while driving back from Toys R Us in Iowa and took some pictures.
This is what a single plant looks like…
And here’s a group of them.
There’s a HUGE field near Timmy’s preschool, I should get over there and take some pics soon before they’re over with.
This is an emailed blog posting from my phone on the beach in Va Beach!
Let’s see if it works!
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| From 2008 05 06 Fl… |
For Mother’s Day, I thought I’d share this clip about a fellow Air Force “Major Mom” and her family featured on Saturday’s CBS “The Early Show”.
Dave and I watched this together yesterday. I’m being considered for a deployment to Al Udeid, Qatar in 2009 (don’t fret, this is a good thing) and Dave is hoping that maybe if I’m gone next Mother’s Day, CBS will present him and the boys with a trip to NYC, tickets to a Broadway show, and iPods for everyone.
You HAVE to see the look on the oldest daughter’s face when the CBS lady says that the USO donated iPods to each of the family members!
To all the Military Moms out there, I salute you!
“Wait just one doggone minute! It’s mid-February! Spring isn’t for another month!”
(At least, that’s what the Groundhog said!)
Well, someone needs to tell my flowers about that, since my crocuses and daffodils are opening up, just like all over the rest of central North Carolina. Seriously confused, they are.
I didn’t mind the pretty pictures I was able to take, nonetheless. These were from Monday. Click on the photos to access the entire album. Enjoy!
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| From 2008 02 18 Da… |
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| From 2008 02 18 Da… |
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