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Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Christmas Games, Songs and Music - Family Fun

Hello Everyone - Below is really fun stuff for Christmas!

- Caroling Song List
- Jake's Family Christmas Tradition - 12 Days of Christmas
- The Real Meaning of the 12 Days of Christmas
- Cayden's (super fun)  Favorite Christmas Video
- Silly Jokes
- The Christmas Story

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Cool fun Christmas Carol Song List -
Print out and sing with your family and friends at Christmas Time!  
Free Printable Christmas Carols

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Twelve Days of Christmas Song / Game (Jake's family Tradition)
Pass out real bells or paper slips numbered 1 - 12  with the appropiate picture of words next to it.  IE.  7 wold be  7 - Swans a Swimming.     Each person will get to sing the part that they are given!!    So 
On the First Day of Christmas my True Love gave to me -   (number 1 person would sing)  "A Partridge in a Pair Tree"     It is really fun - especially if you find bells to ring as you sing.     I went to the dollar store and bought $ bells and marked on the inside.

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Hidden Meaning of The 12 Days of Christmas -
So when you sing the song you will know what it represented!
 (A Song Written to Preserve the Catholic faith when it was a crime around 1558 - 1829.   The 12 Days were between Dec 25th - Jan 6th when gifts were exchanged.)

My True Love = God   (sent to me)
1  Partridge = Jesus
2 Turtle Doves = The Old and New Testiment
3 French Hens = Faith, Hope and Charity
4 Calling Birds = Four Gospels  (Mathew, Mark, Luke, John)
5 Golden Rings = First 5 Books in Old Testiment (describing fall from Grace)
6 Geese A-Laying = Six Days of Creation
7 Swans A-Swimming  =  Seven gifts of the Holy Spirit
8 Maids A Milking  =  The Eight Beatitudes
9 Ladies Dancing  =  the Nine Fruits of the Holy Spirit
10  Lords A- Leaping  =  The Ten Commandments
11  Pipers Piping  - Eleven Faithful Apostles
12  Drummers Drumming  =  12 Points of Doctrine in the Apostle's Creed 

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Cayden's Favorite Christmas You Tube Video
Animals Singing Jingle Bells

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Silly Jokes -
What do you get if Santa goes down a chiney when a fire is going?
Crisp Kringle

What do you get if you cross a yule log with a duck?
A Fire Quacker!

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The Story of Christmas!
Matthew 1:18-25; Matthew 2:1-12; Luke 1:26-38; Luke 2:1-20

Mary, a virgin, was living in Galilee of Nazareth and was engaged to be married to Joseph, a Jewish carpenter. An angel visited her and explained to her that she would conceive a son by the power of the Holy Spirit. She would carry and give birth to this child and she would name him Jesus.
At first Mary was afraid and troubled by the angel's words. Being a virgin, Mary questioned the angel, "How will this be?" The angel explained that the child would be God's own Son and, therefore, "nothing is impossible with God." Humbled and in awe, Mary believed the angel of the Lord and rejoiced in God her Savior.
Surely Mary reflected with wonder on the words found in Isaiah 7:14 foretelling this event, "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel." (NIV)

The Birth of Jesus:

While Mary was still engaged to Joseph, she miraculously became pregnant through the Holy Spirit, as foretold to her by the angel. When Mary told Joseph she was pregnant, he had every right to feel disgraced. He knew the child was not his own, and Mary's apparent unfaithfulness carried a grave social stigma. Joseph not only had the right to divorce Mary, under Jewish law she could be put to death by stoning.
Although Joseph's initial reaction was to break the engagement, the appropriate thing for a righteous man to do, he treated Mary with extreme kindness. He did not want to cause her further shame, so he decided to act quietly. But God sent an angel to Joseph in a dream to verify Mary's story and reassure him that his marriage to her was God's will. The angel explained that the child within Mary was conceived by the Holy Spirit, that his name would be Jesus and that he was the Messiah, God with us.
When Joseph woke from his dream, he willingly obeyed God and took Mary home to be his wife, in spite of the public humiliation he would face. Perhaps this noble quality is one of the reasons God chose him to be the Messiah's earthly father.
Joseph too must have wondered in awe as he remembered the words found in Isaiah 7:14, "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel." (NIV)
At that time, Caesar Augustus decreed that a census be taken, and every person in the entire Roman world had to go to his own town to register. Joseph, being of the line of David, was required to go to Bethlehem to register with Mary. While in Bethlehem, Mary gave birth to Jesus. Probably due to the census, the inn was too crowded, and Mary gave birth in a crude stable. She wrapped the baby in cloths and placed him in a manger.

Friday, December 16, 2011

Pirate Rum Fudge!!

   The Perfect Pirate Fudge Recipe!!    RUM FUDGE!
  • 6 minutes to make
  • Serves 30
Melt in your mouth fudgy nutty, creamy chocolaty goodness-you will love it as it is truly divine.

Ingredients

How to make it

  • Grease a 9-inch square pan with butter.
  • In a heavy 2-quart saucepan, mix together the sugar, evaporated milk, rum, Marshmallow Creme or large marshmallows, butter and salt.
  • Over medium heat, stirring constantly with a large wooden spoon, bring to a boil (mixture will be bubbling all over the top).
  • Boil and stir about 4 to 5-minutes more;
  • remove from the heat.
  • Stir in the chocolate morsels until completely melted.
  • Stir in the extract and the nuts.
  • Spread in the buttered pan. Cool and cut into 30-pieces.
  Close
 

Friday, November 18, 2011

Grapevine Christmas Parade Dec, 1st 2011

Come join us for the 2011 Grapevine Parade of Lights Christmas Parade!!    Dec 1 Thursday Night!!
We will be wearing Fun Christmas Pirates Costumes and Dancing (or marching)  down Main St!!
We have a truck and may have trailor for people and kids who want to be in it but not walk or dance!!
So RSVP!!!    tammy.songndance@yahoo.com     or call 817-937-4993

We are getting together for dance meetings and fun  Nov. 26th Sat. at 2pm
                                    Nov. 27th Sun at 7:30
Nov 30th Wed at 8pm
Below are the links for you to watch the dances!!




Come join us!!

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

dealing with mean people

Jake wanted me to post what I wrote to a friend today.    

When we find ourselves in a situation and people are just plain mean and unjustified rude or awful,  - say a huge prayer, take a deep breath,  do not react to nonsense or stuff beyond your control.   No matter what - hold your composed ground and tell them you will think about what they said, you are sorry they feel this way and get back to them at a better time.   Just be patient. - Know that God has this.

Egos and feelings seem to be super flared up (especially when x's deal with stuff together - stuff we can't fix) - so do not engage, take the tiny itsy bitsy high road - and bridge over to a better time when you can discuss and get back to a situation, even if they were whacked, mean and unjustified poor behavior.

Mean people can only be mean if we react in a negative way.  They want it that way - cause it justifies their being mean or hateful in the first place.    If they can;t reach you, or make your upset - they will quit.   The only person you have to answer to is God, and He knows and in the end - living in His truth will set you free.   We can't buy into mean people's truth for they do not know.    However we should pity them.

Pity mean people for they make really bad decisions in order to make their negative plight forefront no matter what and in the end - they are caged and dig holes they drown in their plight not even aware of positive change that takes place.  But this is not in our control.   

We should find solace and peace with God and maybe even our friends and family.   Never perfect - for it is a fight to not buy into stupid , negative, and mean people's stuff.   At a better time - if it matters, take time to pray, present your side and pray that it is well received.    And know,  

God has it.


Saturday, November 5, 2011

10th Annual Christmas Benefit for Christ Haven for Children!!

Please join PirateHearts as we attend this charitable event!!

‘Tis CHRIST’S Birthday Season For JOY & THANKSGIVING!!!

What a BLESSING to reach out to a child in need!  The 10th Annual Christmas Benefit for CHRIST’S HAVEN FOR CHILDREN will be Monday, December 19, 2011, 5-7 PM, at Paradise Cove at Lake Grapevine, 3029 Midway Rd, Southlake, TX  76092,(817) 329-1668. 

We are privileged to provide Christmas for Christ’s Haven For Children--“a loving place for children to call home” in Keller, TX.  These abused, neglected & abandoned children cannot be adopted, as most of their parents are in the penal system. Last year, we provided Christmas for 1,000+ children & 50 needy families!!!  We purchased five (5) Angel trees from Wal-Mart in Grapevine, which benefited GRACE (Grapevine Relief And Community Exchange).

When Kristi & I started this Benefit in 2002, as mother/daughter singing duo -- The Andersons, we had no idea what GOD had in mind for us & how much money He would provide through the generous support of friends, corporations, ministries & strangers.  This all came about, because my pastor told the church that we should do something for children at Christmas:

2002                             16,000
2003                                18,000
2004                                21,000
2005                                35,000
2006                                60,000
2007                                68,000
2008                                46,000
2009                                26,400
2010                                53,800

TOTAL        $344,200

Christ’s Haven For Children needs gift certificates year-round for birthdays & special events.  They cannot go out to dinner at restaurants, so they would love Chili’s gift cards.  Each year, we receive donated tickets to Putt Putt Golf, Mesquite Rodeo,Dallas Zoo, Ft. Worth Zoo, Six Flags Over Texas, Cabela’s, Sam’s Club, AMC movies & Watauga bowling.  We also accept used clothing, furniture, appliances & automobiles for their Bearly Used resale store in Keller.

We have Wish Lists available upon request for each child & ask that you forward this e-mail to your corporation, family & friends.  Kohl’s in Southlake gives us 30% discount, and Wal-Mart in Grapevine gives us 20% discount on all purchases.

Please contact me at (972) 307-2042 or Kristi at (214) 802-3307.  We cherish this Benefit.  We love seeing the joy & excitement in their eyes.  Some have NEVER experienced the love of Christmas or new clothes with tags!  They talk about this Benefit all year long—it is the highlight of their year!  Please help us touch their lives forever & share JESUS’ love!  You are invited for dinner to celebrate with us & the foster children.  The LORD promised in Luke 6:38:  “Give, and it shall be given unto you!”

Please see the slide show by the Ft. Worth Star Telegram.  It will provide a personal understanding of the tremendous needs of these children:

With Special Thanks, Love, Peace, Joy & Blessings to all during JESUS CHRIST’S Birthday Season!  Cheryl Scrivner (pastor’s wife at The Living Savior Ministries) & Kristi Mattison


http://www.theandersongirls.com

Monday, October 31, 2011

Who Are the Pirates?

The thing that make are PirateHearts awesome PIRATES is their ability to plunge through the hard times and keep on going forward, making the best of situations and sometimes bad decisions, moving forward to the next adventure without excuses or blame.   And on top of all the madness and seriousness of all our 40 plus years - we still can rock a pirate costume and leave all the negativity behind us and have super fun on the dance floor!!!

Pirate Chicks understand the importance of regularly scheduled tie ups.  (tie-up is when you put your boats together ours done mostly on Lake Grapevine)  or social hours / dinners.  We frequently do these to make sure we are good / heading in the right direction and of course DANCE!!    Sometimes just letting go dancing or talking to friends makes us feel better and the energy we use creates more wind power to keep on going, without over analyzing and especially judging.  The positive energy created by these tie-ups keeps our ships in ship shape and encouraging positive winds blowing.  And when a pirate falls behind it usually means they found a boyfriend, job or something pulling them off course - but we keep inviting them no matter what.   But ships are suppose to take off to new destinations or discoveries hopefully encouraging more pirate groups or whatever!!   Enabling women and men to do their own thing and live positivly with and through relationships!

In PirateHearts there are so many great ladies and super awesome Buoys (guys) too.    

Let's start with Tracy Moore - From the beginning in 2007 she was like, "Tammy, I will come to dance and so forth but I am not wearing a costume."  She is/was probably the silent sideline pirate, until a dance band is playing and she is front and center!!   I say sideline, cause she could care less about the costume (which Julie, Debbie and I love) and when we wear matching colors, her idea of matching was wearing a necklace with the color stone on it. I am like, "Tracy, it is blue theme night." And she pulls out a necklace!!    ha ha -  Seriously this is what makes Tracy truly so awesome.   

Tracy is not a follower and she does what she wants.   Which is exactly what a pirate should be - an individual - doing her own thing - and having fun.    Tracy does not care that she doesn't match the rest of us and she is confident and that doesn't keep her back.    She is not intimidated by crazy overly busted costumes and truly enjoys herself!!  :)

Also - Tracy recently retired her Honda that had over 200,000 miles, over 10 years old, and still smelled and looked like a new car.   She will be turning 50 in 2012 and she looks way younger then me and she is not.    I guess she takes care of her skin like she does her cars.   Which is just Tracy and has nothing with being a pirate except that she really takes care of her ship!!   :)     Everyone loves Tracy!!

So costume or not - get out and do some pirating!!  Stop caring so much about what "others" think!!   Arrrrrrrrrrrhhhhhhhh  :)    

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

BVI Interline 2011 - the boat got bigger!!

A Great BVI in 2011!!
Jake, Mike J, Brian, Adele, Julie, Jeff

BVI 2011 Interline Regatta!!
Jake & Tammy - Sexy Airline Night

There is a saying that the longer you are together on a boat, the smaller it gets.  However, not in this case.  Jake pointed out during our last dinner that our boat got bigger!!   ADELE, BRIAN, JEFF, JULIE, MIKE O, MIKE J, DR. CAROLYN, TAMMY & JAKE!!    We had between 9 and 6 people at all times going all the time and it was GREAT,   just the right amount of adventure, dancing and fun!!   

First night on boat. 
Mike, Mike, Andre, Jeff, Brian, Mike
Caroline, Beth, Julie, Tammy, Adele! 

Life on the boat!  

Carolyne, Adele, Tammy, Julie

Usually in the morning Adele would wake up first.   Started coffee -Turn on the music - The girls would put on matching suits and jewelry.    It was fun.   We always had eggs and usually bacon for breakfast.  Then sit around and plan our dive destinations and ports.     Jake and the guys were really good at planning and working together bout where to go and what to do.

Brian and Adele in front of the Baths!

Julie, Adele, Tammy

After diving, we ate lunch.  Jeff (our amazing chef) usually had cooked lunch the night before while cooking dinner.  It was always yummy - lettuce wraps mostly.... . sometimes we would go early to catch Willie Ts, or The Baths,  or Soggy Dollar bar , or cool beaches ... then off to a mooring ball close by to where our beach party would be. Like -  Ocean's 12 , Leverick Bay, Bitter End and Trelles Bay.
Sexy Airline Guys!




Tammy, Adele and Julie at Willy T in Pirate's Bite!


Jake, Julie, Adele, Brian, Mike O, Carolyne, Jeff
Hiking The Baths - our Boat is in background!!


We invited some other pirates for happy hour!!

While looking for a mooring ball, Jake would do his Drive By!   A drive by is where the girls would dance out front and wave and be silly!!  We brought our PA jam box and put it on the front to play  LET"S GET LOUD.   It was so fun.    After we hook on a ball - the balloon wars would start!!

Mike, Brian, Jake, Mike, Jeff on a rock at The Baths!

Adele, Julie, Tammy waiting for our Pirate Air Crew to come in!!
Jeff and Julie shopped at Pusser's!! 


Our favorite balloon war was against Jim Tullus and Doug Pinion's boat.  Caroline  filled a huge bucket of balloons.   The boys bombed the other boat with balloons while the girls cheered or sneered!!    They were so bad at first - hitting everything but the other boat.  Until us girls finally said - if you hit the boat, we will moon them.   OK - whatever- that is all it took.    They must have hit the other boat - 10 times.   OH well - we had a blast.   



Jake, Mike and Jeff bombing Jim T and Doug's boat!


The dancing girls cheering their guys on!!

After we settled in, Jeff would serve a gourmet dinner each night.    It was delicious.  We had mushroom stuffed chicken breast, yummy pork chops, shrimp, fish - and the sauces were incredible.   It was much better then at home.    Jeff is amazing in the kitchen!!  Poor Julie - how in the world is she going to keep her figure with all that in her house!!   ha ha ha ha ...  just kidding.     Lucky Julie for sure!!!

Being goofy on the front of the boat!!


Our Mermaid Adele!


Hanging on the boat with our new friend Betsy from New York!
After dinner , we start the coffee and dance music.  The girls put on their costumes  and make-up, and the guys pour the coffee...  and the night begins.  We paint mustaches on guys - or tie arm bands - it is truly a party getting ready.   Our cabin is destroyed with glitter, sequins and scarps of material.    We love it.   By the time we arrive to the party - we are tired.   ha ha     We usually stay at the parties for just a couple of hours and then we all go back to the boat!!   Asleep before midnight usually - our days are filled with dancing, food and adventure....  to do all that we need our sleep!!  :)  

Julie w her Rock Stars!


Our Chef Jeff and his beautiful girlfriend Julie!
Jeff, Julie, Jake & Tammy

Jeff, Mike, Jake, Brian - Gangster Guys!!

Flapper Girls Julie, Adele, & Tammy with our friend Jill Fisher in the Gangster Dress!
Jim T and Doug P's boats!!  Guys on top were the balloon shooters!  So much fun!!
Pirate Heart Pyrimad!!



One day Adele and I did not dive and we surprized Caroline and Jake with a Happy Birthday brownie cake.  We made a sign and when they came back from their dive - Suprize!!!  Brownie cake for all.    and we also made jello shots!!   Ours had vodka in them, jake with energy drink!!   Everyone is happy!!


Surprize!!   Julie taking pic of Jake, Mike - thumbs UP!!
The Girls with Carolyne's Bday Card!!

On the last day - we found a cliff underwater about 50ft down full of lobsters.    Just saying.    Mike O - is an expert at getting lobsters since he lives down in Florida.  It was a GREAT dive. That night we bought lobster from a local pirate we ran into!!

Mike O and Carolyne with our last dinner!!
Mike Jones and His Girls!


Julie, Jeff, Adele, Don, Tammy Bitter End - good view of the Cats!


Jake, Julie, Adele, Mike, Carolyne, Mike O and Tammy down Front - Black N White night!

Tammy, Adelem Julie monkeying around on the Willie T -
(at night the Willie T Ship is where everyone jumps off the back)
Chef Jeff and his Girl Julie!!
Carolyne, Beth, Julie, Tammy, Adele

Our boat quietly prayed every night before dinner.  It was really cool!!   It did keep reminding me and all of us of how blessed we are to be able to experience all these amazing friends and experiences.    I loved my life before Jake - but knowing Jake - holy cow - my world got bigger!!  My little oyster shell grew not shut.


ABC Party - We were "Kibble N Bitches!"
Adele, Tammy, Julie


The Kibbles!!  Jake, Brian, Mike, Jeff, Mike J
We loved their Bone Ties and Jeff's squeaky toys!!  :)

WE have an awesome boat.   Our boat got bigger.   


Mike O, Brian, Jeff, Jakem Mike J
Going Down!!  They saw cute young Eagle Ray that hung around them during dive!!

Injuries on the boat --
Julie dropped a suitcase on her toe - and it was black and blue the whole time.   And the first 2 days very very sore - didn't keep her from diving though!!  I got some weird tongue blister - and I twisted my ankle...  but all in all - we are pretty good!!  My ankle was huge but didn't hurt - and I have a hard time saying words with T's especially at night - everything swells - oh well.    Mike J - got heat rash ...  itched all the time -  but hur-ray ....  no jelly fish stings or weird coral bites.....   so it was good that way!!


Pirate Party!!

Carolyne, Mike O, Tammy, Jake, Julie, Jeff


Over Charge AT Rite Way!!   the first time - we are all so happy we did not notice charges or being over charged ...  the second time for re-provisioning....... there is a saying - BVI prices or Out of Towners Pricing........
Adele , Julie and me went to Save Way (like a small sams)  to get more water and food.  One case of water we had bought earlier was bad. To keep from that happening again -  we held back the line tasting all the 3 kinds of cases of water and all of them bad. (spring, distilled, mountain) We had a line of very impatient natives behind us while us dressed all in cute green pirate outfits tasting and complaining bout their water.    Also in Rite Way -(next to Save Way)  they over charged us at least 4 times, and each time the manager disappeared and took 10 minutes to come back to fix the charge.    NO telling how many times they get away with that.  The last item Julie was giving the hand to saying, "No way - these oranges are not right."  (it was another $3 over charge, Julie already found 4 others) The natives behind us getting restless.....   I said let's just go - and the extra dollars we used paying for that item messed us up in cab fair back to boat.   I know - I apologized , I should have had Julie's back.     Us girls, were now in total bitch mode.    First time Julie and I were in there buying tons for the boat - we got kicked out cause we did not have on a cover up.    Just skirt and bathing suit.    I bet those guys will remember us!!     By the time we got back to the boat - Caroline (Doc) had scrubbed the kitchen cleaned to wear it smelled like bleach and perfume and all the dishes were done.   The boys had the tanks ready - no one was complaining that we spent all afternoon fighting with the natives and even felt sorry for us.    So all was good again soon!!


Being Silly - Julie & Tammy waiting for our crew!!

At Soggy Dollar Bar - Mike O, Carolyne, Jeff Julie, Jake, Tammy, Adele on top!

Boat Troubles
Our crew had little trouble but boy did our first little boat did. (46 ft cat)  Jake never let the party stop either, and the crew followed suit.   Our AC went out constantly, the boat over heated some and during a dive one complete tank of diesel fuel leaked out! -  We were known as the stinky boat.  Jake called Footloose and they met us at the next party.    Eventually we did have to do a boat change - and we got an upgrade.  Woo hoo!!  We changed boats in 45 minutes, with help from Footloose.  We were out of there in an hour to the next dive!! 

Brian kept saying, 'this is like 2 vacations in one!"    Attitude!!

US Border Patrol talking to Jake about his stinky boat!!   Big Trouble ha ha


Mike O, Carolyne, Jake, Adele, & some .com guy, and Jeff in front with all the hair !!!

The new boat  was prettier and had great A/C, not much storing space though.  Only challenges were the toilets but all in all really great.  We were so lucky!!  Problems you will have on boats no matter what - so we are grateful for how fast Footloose came with help when needed.  And they were always smiling!!  


Julie in a Mike Sandwhich!!

At the Bitter End with friends!!   Good times!!

We will defiantly use Footloose again.


MIke O and the Doc!!  Chillin '

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The sun is setting on this regatta and we are very sad to see it end!!  We had such a great time!!

The Regatta!!   Beautiful to see all the boats!!
Carolyne, Adele, Tammy, Julie

For more information on this Interline Regatta - you may go to  http://www.themorringsinterlineregatta.com/
Good bye BVI!!  Until Next Year!