Playing in the Dark

We were just finishing dinner yesterday when the electricity went off! This was a sad eventuality because we had planned to do the New York Times Crossword puzzle together and I had not yet printed it out! After spending a few hours reading and playing word games on our tablets we decided the lights were not likely to come on again.

So we moved to the basement and played music by candlelight. It wasn't easy to read, but it provided us with a memorable holiday experience that we will never forget. After we finished practicing our songs for the CD, we went into some old books and just sang songs for the fun of it. It was a great evening. The lights came on at 9:30 p.m. We were 6 1/2 hours without power! Although we enjoyed the intimate time together with no power, it's nice to be on the grid once again!

Recording Begins

We started recording our Christmas songs on Saturday, which means the basement is a tangle of wires and mikes. We started out fresh and chipper, but it turned into a pretty long day!

This picture of Ed captures it all. He's thinking, "Are we REALLY going to do this again?"

Maybe John is vying for the title of Favorite Son In Law, but he never complains about playing together. He loves it!

Even when his fingers started to bleed, he just had Brittany kiss them better, and we went on with the show!

I got to play my new birthday guitar a lot, which made me happy.

We added some variety with a uke and the bells. Amanda got to use a new bell technique we learned in my handbell choir.

Crystal also dusted off her dulcimer this year, and Amanda added her new accordion. It makes it so much fun to use a variety of instruments. I even got to play the fish on one song! I'd like to say we're half done, but 5 out of 12 songs is a good start!

Music and Food

We've been spending our mornings practicing with our family band. We're having fun putting together a variety of songs for our next Christmas CD.

We thought we'd like to put together a video of "Behind the Scenes with Whistling Prairie." But, it's barely all we can do to snap a few pictures.

We rewarded ourselves afterwards by going out to dinner at Tony's Japanese Steak House in Eldersburg. This, happily, was thanks to a generous gift certificate. The girls and John enjoyed the show and perhaps even picked up some cooking tips from the chef!

To top off a great day, we went into DC to see a production of White Christmas at the Kennedy Center. Nothing like some singing and dancing to put a smile on your face! We enjoyed hearing Blue Skies, which Crystal and I have been practicing on the guitar this year. The song "I Love a Piano" was a fun new one for us. We laughed when they sang "I know a fine way to treat a Steinway" and then proceeded to tap dance on top of one. Just like making flaming onion volcanoes on a hot grill, some things are better when not tried at home!

Crabs at Captain Dan's

We decided to use our gift certificate to Captain Dan's on Thursday. The bad news was that crabs are out of season in Maryland.

The good news is they had jumbo crabs from the gulf of Mexico! This meant you didn't have to crack and dig so much to get meat. The Maryland blue crabs are much smaller.

Crystal, who is as experienced a crab eater as any of us, somehow just can't keep up. We all had the pleasure of watching her finish her last crab after we were all done with dinner. Brittany, on the other hand, went through her crabs like a seasoned pro!

Brittany and John Arrive

The day after Christmas we were treated to another round of snow. Crystal, Ed and Coda were able to enjoy playing ball outside in the morning before it started to rain and melt all the snow.

Coda liked the snow, but she did NOT like getting it in her mouth when she picked up the ball! It was so cold she spit the ball out!

The weather cooperated long enough for us to safely pick Brittany and John up from the airport. They told us their flight had a pretty scary half hour before landing. They were happy to be alive. Apparently, the weather as they descended had some pretty sever pressure differentials! We were happy to celebrate Christmas again with them when we got them safely home.

We celebrated a belated birthday for me afterwards, where I got to blow out my candles. Really, the whole month has been like a birthday for me. Ed got me a beautiful new guitar, which he let me use for all our performances even before my birthday! It was so great to have us all together again! That was the best present ever!

Christmas Morning

The girls didn't get up as early as usual this Christmas. I think they thought it would be wise to wait till Ed and I had time to feed the horses. Lenny and Kay went to Virginia to be with her daughter and family for Christmas, and it was the least we could do to help out a little so they could do that. They felt bad about it, but more than made up with it with a generous gift certificate to Captain Dan's Crab House, which we really look forward to taking advantage of! Ed and I actually enjoyed going down to the barn in the morning, and getting outside a little. Bali, as always was happy to get fed!

Amanda and Crystal were ready to come downstairs by the time we got home from the barn. Amanda will remember this as her Christmas on crutches. Crystal could compare it to her Christmas with the chicken pox (in 1993)! It was only a minor impediment to enjoying the holiday in either case!

We had a relaxing Christmas day. Coda, who was worn out, actually gave us some cuddles while the girls were opening their presents. I also had a great birthday, which I enjoyed especially as it is my last one in this decade of life!

Christmas Eve

We had our first snowfall of the season on Christmas Eve! It was our Christmas miracle, which propelled us headlong into the holiday spirit!

Amanda and Crystal spend a good portion of the day making tree-shaped cake pops, which as you can see, turned out fantastic.

Ed and I were the happy recipients of their work! They used a carrot cake recipe--our favorite. One of my happiest Christmas surprises this year was Ed and I having each lost almost 20 pounds! We're hoping to keep the holiday damage to a minimum. (Luckily, the cake pops are small!)

We had Miss Carol over for dinner: ham, funeral potatoes, rolls and green beans almandine. Miss Carol provided a delicious Alabama pecan pie she received in the mail. We read the Christmas story, sang songs and exchanged gifts. Miss Carol gave us some warm slippers, which have come in handy over the past few days.

We gave her a necklace (hand-made by Crystal) with a picture of Mr. Genes in the pendant! We thought it turned out nice, and were happy Miss Carol liked it!