The other night after 830pm, there was a rapid knock and ringing of the doorbell! Who could that be? We were just settling down for our advent candle. DH was going to ignore them. I started to worry that it was our neighbor who found another snake! DS was so curious, he went and looked and there was a box! The box I’ve been anxiously, I mean, patiently waiting for!

Do you remember this?

During the month of November, Kellie Ann ran a contest with the wreath. Who would be first to find it in a series of pictures? The prize was a cute pair of dangly earrings from Jeep Collins.

My dc asked me if I was going to participate and I said I’d play but didn’t think I would win. "Why not?", they exclaimed. Because I had to be first to see the wreath. Whenever I went to her blog, she already had about 6 comments for her latest entry. I didn’t expect to ever be first.

My dc were horrified with my attitude! "Mom, you’ve got to try! Don’t give up! Just do your best! If you work hard, you have nothing to complain about. You might even surprise yourself and win! You never know! You could if you put forth some effort! If you expect to lose and just give up, what good is that? Come on Mom, you can do it!"

Hmmmmm, where have I heard these words before? I had been working diligently to encourage my children to do their best in school, in chores, in contests they enter, in everything they do. Even when playing board games, they’d be discouraged when they were losing. I kept telling them to keep trying. Over the years, they’ve gotten pretty good at many things. If I didn’t pursue this challenge, my future words of encouragement would become worthless.

Everyday morning they would ask me, "Have you checked yet? Mom, you’re not checking enough!" I’d look at them in disbelief and respond, "I’ve checked 20 times already!" "Come on Mom, check again. You never know!" I’d check again and what do you know? There was a new set of pictures and time to hunt for the wreath! The dc loved joining me in the search.

Then we had a chance to guess how many mints were on the wreath. I figured out how many should be on one side of the wreath, but couldn’t figure out if there were any on the back. It was a choice of sticking with the number for the front or multiplying it by 2 to include the back. Finally I decided there were none on the back and e-mailed my guess. I was wrong. In hindsight, I should have doubled my guess. lol

Then there was the poetry contest. No way could I win that one! Don’t you know it, I’m just not a poet! Besides, Kellie Ann is a former English teacher. I didn’t feel worthy enough to enter the contest. Once again my dc rallied around me and insisted I try. My dc critiqued my poem before they allowed me to send it in. Imagine my surprise to tie for third!

www.homeschoolblogger.com/kellieann/432889/

 My children were hugely disappointed until I read the winning poems. After hearing them, they agreed, those were pretty good! In fact, ds started singing the first place song all day long and making me nutty! Oh, the things children retain!

My excitement over the possibility of winning grew one day. The day after Thanksgivng we drove to the small town of Fredericksburg.

www.homeschoolblogger.com/teacupsinthegarden/432761/

We go to this charming town several times a year to shop, eat and sightsee! Guess what one of the stores was? Jeep Collins! I had never even heard of him until this contest. He is from this area and has a lovely shop, in fact, this is the only shop he has. Nevertheless, he does do mail order!

www.jeepcollins.com

I had assumed he was from Kellie Ann’s part of the country. We walked around the shop and oohed and aahed over the jewelry.

Finally, Kellie Ann tallied up the points and made the grand announcement! I won! She said I was tenacious.

www.homeschoolblogger.com/kellieann/437432/

Well, I had my children to thank for that! =)

And I have Kellie Ann to thank for running this contest! Kellie Ann, maybe someday you can come out here for vacation! We could do up Fredericksburg. www.fredericksburgtexas.com

We could meet at Jeep Collins. We could shop. We could eat. Do more shopping. Do some sightseeing. Do some shopping. Do some sitting. Do some shopping. LOL The best time to come is in the spring when the bluebonnets are in bloom.

www.dannyburk.com/texas%20landscapes.htm

Up the road is the Wildseed Farm. Further up the road is the LBJ Ranch.

www.nps.gov/lyjo/naturescience/wildflowers.htm

Further up is Johnson City where LBJ grew up.

www.russfinley.com/main.php?g2_view=slideshow.Slideshow&g2_itemId=11612 - 61k  

Further up is Austin. San Antonio is to the south with the Riverwalk…more great eating... 

www.pbase.com/richo/riverwalk_christmas