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Hey folks....

Was having some fun with the kids last night....Enjoy!!

Humble abode of simple country girl Noelle



Noelle greets one of the wood creatures...only to find out he's a killer cat named Milo!





Noelle has successfully distracted him, and escapes over the roof!



Noelle is very proud of herself, but sees danger on the horizon...



She prepares to defend her home once again!



This time, it is killer cat Little D, who's not so easily deterred by promises of sugar!



Oh well, so much for Noelle!




HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Beth, this is cute. (And there is probably a song in it, y'know.) How are the kittens dealing with the Christmas tree? Last time we had kittens around Christmas, we had to anchor our tree to all four walls and the ceiling with heavy-duty fishing line, because the kittens considered it their duty to topple the tree at every opportunity, and they got quite good at it.

Joe

This was fun, Beth. I love these kinds of zany storyboards.

Beth

Hi,

I enjoyed this a lot.

Calvin


http://www.soundclick.com/bands/0/calvinstewart

I wanted a happier ending <G>
Wy--Mud

Oh, I don't know, Wy--it was (shall we say) sweet.

Joe

Hi Joe,

Thanks for stopping by! Obviously, we were a bit sugared up last night!!

The kids were hysterical. We didn't have any real demolition equipment, so I got out my trusty meat tenderizer, and went to town!! Crumbs everywhere....but heck, that's what the holidays are about, right?

As for the critters (the furry ones), they have confounded me by virtually ignoring the tree! We had it up a day or two before we decorated it, to let it "fall", so we thought they were just biding their time....and then when we got it decorated, we figured we'd hear it crash in the middle of the night (we actually always stabilize it to the wall in two places), but nothing! They're probably waiting until Christmas Eve.

As for a song, on the Gingerbread house deal, I'd have to go thru my daughter's lawyers...she was quite upset that I changed Josefina's name to Noelle. I tried to explain the play on the word NOEL, but nothing doing. Oh well, like they say, no good deed goes unpunished....

Hope you're having a good weekend...

Beth

Hi DM!

I appreciate you taking the time between your 8,397,425th and 8,397,426th songs to visit our liitle Gingerbread Forest! Glad you enjoyed the "storyboard".

It sure would be fun to have a job doing THAT all day. I love to make up goofy captions for off-the-wall pictures (no pun intended, in this case!). Someone once suggested I start my own greeting card line, which would be a lot of fun....but for now, I do them individually for friends! And in the meantime, would like to get back to some SONG-WRITING!

Will try to make the rounds tonight for some commentary...See you've got another new one up....

Take care,
Beth

Beth, I understand where the kid is coming from. "Josefina Noelle" is not a bad name. Needs a surname anyway. Wouldn't want her growing up like Cher or Madonna, would we? Or that guy whose name used to be Prince?

Joe

Very cute! And your gingerbread house looked awesome. We got gingerbread men from the store this year. I've made them from scratch in the past, but it's too much work and I was just to lazy to do it this year. The 11 year-old did a nice job decorating hers. But my three year-old's looked like a ginger man autopsy. Plus, she had a fit when we bit his legs off.

She's still moping about it.

Hi Calvin,

Glad you enjoyed it! Always fun to do this sort of role-playing, fantasy stuff.

As an interesting footnote, I understand this cottage is hidden somewhere near Birmingham....and due to the shortage of this type of domicile in that area, her mailing address is simply: "Sweet Home Alabama" !

Clearly, it's time for bed!

Ciao for now,
Beth & Noelle (RIP)

Yum?

Knowing Beth, I'd say the entire story was true, Randy. That's how ginderbread is 'sposed to look. I think it tastes pretty much like masonite, too. Unless, you make it in a cake pan......that is. Then, it's not fit for crime scenes. LOL! This thread made me smile this morning.

Off for housecleaning, cooking, winter weather watching and music screening. Catch you supersleuths later.

Hey Y,

Who said it wasn't a happy ending? There've been rumblings that Noelle dabbled in the dark arts -- did you check out the size of that knife? Probably Little D. came along just in time!!

As an aside, looking at your ever-shrinking avatar, I do wish they'd saved a little gingerbread for you. But alas, it was all taken in for evidence....

Later,
Boo

Hi again Joe,

You are so full of ......PEARLY WORDS!

Josefina Noelle actually is a pretty name. The thing is, her REAL NAME is Josefina, she's a miniature of one of those American Girl Dolls....but sure, we can mix things up a bit...

Thanks for stopping by!!! Hey, maybe we could call her GINGER!!!

CHOW for now....
Beth

Hi Wendy,

Okay, it's confession time: my soon to be 8 year old Charlie won the dang thing at a holiday raffle last weekend! Never in all my born days have I made a gingerbread house -- and in fact, I bought each of the kids a set last year for Christmas...and I don't even know where they are...(the gingerbread sets, not the kids !! ) I have made gingerbread cookies, which I LOVE...but we haven't done that yet. Since I can't drive right now, it's up to me to remind hubby to get all that stuff, and since there are things WAY higher on the To-Do list, I ain't pushing my luck.

The vision of the "gingerbread man autopsy", though, is hysterical -- and it seems like there could be a fun song in there too. Might even be up Joe Wrabek's alley!!

As an aside, did you ever see "Shrek 2"? The scene where the prince is torturing the gingerbread man? TOO FUNNY!!!

Oh well, as can be surmised by my various ramblings and postings here, I am amused very easily...

Thanks again for stopping by!!

Cheers,
Beth

Hi Beth,

You're getting good with these pictures....Thanks for adding a little fun to my day!

(P.S. I saw Shrek and remember that little gingerbread man...funny!)

Kristi

Dear Mr. Pogo,

Sorry to keep you in the DARK for so long, but this is an ongoing investigation, sir, and I'm not at liberty at this time to discuss any further details.

As to the construction material of the alleged gingerbread house, I have been given authorization to release the following statement:

"House in question made of gingerbread, baked circa 1948. Goopy stuff added early 1990's. The food stylist did the best he could, given the circumstances."

As I'm able to disclose more pertinent information, my office will be in touch with you media-folk.

No questions, today, sorry, but thank you for coming....

Agent Williams, CSI, music division...

"Music Division"? I didn't hear any music--and Josefina I'm pretty sure didn't come with a voicebox; none of the American Girls did. (Yes, the cats did come with voiceboxes, I'm sure.) Shouldn't it be, like, "Improper Use of Foodstuff Task Force, Building Codes Division"?

Joe

Hey Tricia,

Though I might be a wee bit guilty of "suspending reality for art's sake", I thank you for your belief in me!!

And yes, it does sound like something I'd get caught up in...

Also, as I said to Wendy earlier, I didn't actually make the cake, Charlie won it in a raffle....and so far it tastes pretty good!

Hope you're having fun with all your various holiday activities!!

Glad this little thread could start your day off with a smile....

Cheers,
Beth

I'd love to learn how to make a nice gingerbread house. It takes time and patience. Actually, I wasn't aware that they were edible. I figured they'd break a tooth. LOL! That's good to know. Looks like you had fun and it's certainly a nice break from all the Christmas rush. We don't have plans much this year except to finish the floors and painting we started. My husband is doing most of the work. But, I get to clean up most of the mess. I have been helping with the painting and I work more hours than he does, generally, so that lets me off the hook for the physical labor end of it. I did paint some till my neck fell off and my right arm went numb. Have another week off the first of the year and that's when I'm really planning to knuckle down and get caught up on some things.......like housework and music screening.

I don't think I dare try my hand at a gingerbread house. I have made gingerbread men from scratch in the past, and they came out like the Elephant Man with frosting. Any gingerbread house I made would probably be an advertisement for urban renewal, Betty Crocker style.

joe

Hey Kristi,

I was looking all over the web to get a copy of that clip...I found several in Spanish and Italian, and one from the computer game with altered voices, so it wasn't worth posting. But that is one of the best scenes in that movie....

Anyway, glad you enjoyed my little stroll down Gingerbread Lane!!

Ciao for now,
Beth

Hey again Kristi,

Haven't been able to find the long version from Shrek 1, but here's some funny scenes from Shrek 3...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGOtbkbdMDI

The following is the funny scene from Shrek 1, but the game version, so they have different voiceovers....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbZ8qHgNdO8&feature=related

I've got Charlie home sick today...we might have to do a Shrek film festival today....

Enjoy!
Beth

Hey Tricia,

Good for you with all the painting...I'm so jealous. My mom came over last week to help paint my dining room....and it came out great....but you know how that slippery slope goes. And I have to be careful of those, ya know. Now everything looks like it needs painting....

You're also lucky your hubby is handy! I always thought the ability to wield tools was imprinted on their Y chromosome, but apparently not so...

BTW, the thing with the ginberbread house? We broke into it, and now it's well, just a mess. No longer decorative...but the kids won't let me throw it out. Oh well, might be time for a little white lie (in the spirit of the season and all).

So Happy Holidays!!
Beth

Hi Joe --

The Elephant Man with frosting huh? That's quite an image. I can just hear him saying in the movie: "I'm not an animal, I'm a GINGERBREAD MAN!" (if you haven't seen the movie, that won't make much sense, but since when does that stop me?)..

Anyway, I hope you're not killing yourself on The Broken Record deal....and believe it or not, I STILL HAVEN'T PEEKED!

Ciao for now,
Beth

Beth, the only surviving photo of one of the "elephant men with frosting" is on Soundclick, being used as the avatar for my Christmas roadkill song. When "Alice" got upgraded to Windows XP, one of the things that got disappeared was all my photo files (back to 2001--curse you, Bill Gates!). Link is:

www.soundclick.com/bands/page_songinfo.cfm?bandID=183557&songID=4818412

Not a bad frosting job (my wife did that). And yes, I can not only see the Elephant Man saying that, I can *hear* him. Powerful movie, that.

And I'm glad you haven't peeked. Good self-control. Maybe the kitties can learn from you.

Joe

Hi Beth,

Hey, just seeing those links now...(Saturday night and I'm watching Shrek!) Anyway, I wasn't watching carefully and that "Take 2 in case you missed it" was just what I needed, of course....silly, funny stuff! Never did see Shrek 3. Did you say they're coming out with another one?

Thanks for the chuckles!

Kristi

Hey Kristi,

Glad you saw the "in case you missed it". I actually never saw "Shrek 3" (I think we have it, though). But that gingerbread man, he just kills me -- every time! It would appear I am a very easy audience.

We're actually all excited about "The Tale of Despereaux"...it comes out this week.

Okay, talk to you later....

Beth

I don't get it.
In my house, the house would have been demolished, and Noelle mauled.

Milo must be gentle.

Hey Tom,

I've been MIA for a couple of days, so just seeing this.

You're funny. The weird thing is, both kitties are in perpetual Crazy Half Hour mode...have touched every surface of this house except for the ceiling (that I know of)...and not only did they leave the Christmas tree alone -- but they were actually respectful of it! They both enjoy sleeping on the tree skirt (it's satiny feeling), beneath the warmth of the lights....they even have to gently make a path between ornaments to get to their little cozy spot -- and NOTHING! While this might make some people happy, it just makes me....SUSPICIOUS!!

As for Noelle, she's off skiing with Barbie for the weekend, so no worries...

Cheers,
Beth