So....when I had the goal to blog 25 days of Christmas, I kind of also had it in my head that we would do a little something Christmas every day.
Today....not so much.
Except biscuits. I made and froze 37 sausage-cheese biscuits to bring to our Christmas week get-together.
It rained almost all day.
We had hot dogs for supper. Again.
Dale is still working on division.
I got our game closet cleaned out/reorganized. How unimportant is that 11 days before Christmas?? But it is kind of part of the bigger project of rearranging and setting up a schoolroom/guestroom. So. There ya go.
The kids watched waaay too much tv today. There was Toy Story marathon on. They soaked up a lot of that, while also channel hopping over to PBS to catch some Curious George (Alan's a fan, lol) and then we topped it all off with the Grinch. The real one, from 1967, not the Jim Carey one that is on tv every.other.night.
Now it's 10:00 and Alan can't get to sleep. Couldn't have anything to do with the fact that he watched FOUR STRAIGHT HOURS of television this evening.
Mercy...we're going to need a brain and body cleanse tomorrow. TV and hot dogs. Tomorrow we'll do better.
Lamest blog post ever, but I didn't want to skip a day. :)
(And we did do our One Wintry Night reading. Today was actually THE big story, of "The First Christmas". Bethlehem, Manger, Shepherds, Angels. A precious 20 minutes spent together.)
Friday, December 13, 2013
Thursday, December 12, 2013
December 12
Today seemed like a really busy day! Not sure what filled it up, but I don't think I slowed down much. And that's a good thing.
Breakfast this morning was homemade biscuits and fried eggs. I don't like fried eggs. But I like frying them, and everyone else likes eating them, so we still have them.
Our One Wintry Night reading was about how God prepared the world and chose the exact time for Jesus to be born. The Roman rule of so much of the world, including Israel, made so many elements just right for he birth of the Messiah. We also read about Mary's gentle obedience to God's will for her, her trust in His angel messenger, and her song of praise.
Today's big event was our local Christmas parade! It had to be rescheduled twice because of weather, but I guess the third time was the charm!
The weather tonight was clear and cold, but not too cold. Just cold enough that everyone was ready for a cup of hot chocolate when we got home!
During our Bible reading time (Mary's song again - I love it when things work out like that!) I showed Brooklyn the magic of laying under a Christmas tree. Tyler couldn't resist joining in. :)
Breakfast this morning was homemade biscuits and fried eggs. I don't like fried eggs. But I like frying them, and everyone else likes eating them, so we still have them.
Our One Wintry Night reading was about how God prepared the world and chose the exact time for Jesus to be born. The Roman rule of so much of the world, including Israel, made so many elements just right for he birth of the Messiah. We also read about Mary's gentle obedience to God's will for her, her trust in His angel messenger, and her song of praise.
Today's big event was our local Christmas parade! It had to be rescheduled twice because of weather, but I guess the third time was the charm!
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| Random parade float. I loved the smoking fireplace/chimney! |
The weather tonight was clear and cold, but not too cold. Just cold enough that everyone was ready for a cup of hot chocolate when we got home!
During our Bible reading time (Mary's song again - I love it when things work out like that!) I showed Brooklyn the magic of laying under a Christmas tree. Tyler couldn't resist joining in. :)
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
December 11
Another dentist day.
In his checkup yesterday Dale was found to need a little work and we were able to get him in today.
He was scheduled for two hours, but thankfully done after just one. Alan and Tyler and I hung out in the waiting room watching tv, playing on the tablet, reading. I was so, so grateful for a friend that volunteered to keep kids for me during that time, so we didn't have to keep Brooklyn and Daniel contained and entertained and quiet in a little waiting room.
We read a chapter of One Wintry Night after we got home and got the littles in bed for naps. Today's reading brought us all the way up through the time of the judges and prophets. So close to the coming of the Messiah!
We started working on hand-sewn ornaments, something they've been asking to do for a while. Dale was still numb from the dentist (and frankly, a little grumpy) so he didn't feel like doing anything.
Today was an exciting day for all 3 big boys: Daddy drove the school bus route that stops right in front of our house! Red. Letter. Day. There was jumping, waving, shouting...oh it was more exciting than Santa in a parade.
Potato/broccoli soup for supper, then Daddy and 2 biggest boys went to church.
That's it. No pictures, very little Christmas-ing, hardly anything to count as 'school'. But the kitchen is clean, the playroom is vacuumed, we tended to our teeth, visited with friends, read good books and used our hands. And that somehow filled another whole day!
In his checkup yesterday Dale was found to need a little work and we were able to get him in today.
He was scheduled for two hours, but thankfully done after just one. Alan and Tyler and I hung out in the waiting room watching tv, playing on the tablet, reading. I was so, so grateful for a friend that volunteered to keep kids for me during that time, so we didn't have to keep Brooklyn and Daniel contained and entertained and quiet in a little waiting room.
We read a chapter of One Wintry Night after we got home and got the littles in bed for naps. Today's reading brought us all the way up through the time of the judges and prophets. So close to the coming of the Messiah!
We started working on hand-sewn ornaments, something they've been asking to do for a while. Dale was still numb from the dentist (and frankly, a little grumpy) so he didn't feel like doing anything.
Today was an exciting day for all 3 big boys: Daddy drove the school bus route that stops right in front of our house! Red. Letter. Day. There was jumping, waving, shouting...oh it was more exciting than Santa in a parade.
Potato/broccoli soup for supper, then Daddy and 2 biggest boys went to church.
That's it. No pictures, very little Christmas-ing, hardly anything to count as 'school'. But the kitchen is clean, the playroom is vacuumed, we tended to our teeth, visited with friends, read good books and used our hands. And that somehow filled another whole day!
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
December 10
This morning I loaded up our crew of 5 and we went for our first visit to our new dentist since moving. Dale was the only one with an appointment today, and so far we really like everything and everyone about their office! The others behaved themselves very nicely in the waiting room while Dale had his checkup and cleaning.
This afternoon I should have been doing any number of productive things, but instead I enjoyed myself very much 1 - cuddling with my husband before he went to work after lunch, 2 - visiting with our new pastor and his wife when they dropped by, 3 - chatting with my sister on the phone. (Hey - at least I was putting away clean laundry for that last one!)
As much as I enjoyed the phone call, I did hang up from it in almost panic mode that ohmygoodness-it'sonlytwoweeks tillChristmas!!!!
So when Daddy got home from work I insisted we all go shopping together. The two main items I wanted to find were not available, but we did get some other things checked off our list, both holiday-ish (like trade gifts for an upcoming party and supplies for the kids to make gifts for their friends) and everyday-ish (like bananas and diapers). :)
We had a late supper, got the kitchen clean and the groceries put away and spent some time reading from Matthew 1 about Joseph being a just man and not making an example of Mary. We sang a few Christmas carols, said prayers and sent the kiddos off to bed.
Then, I was able to get a big chunk of Christmas shopping done online! Those items I couldn't get in person today are now paid for and hopefully on their way tomorrow! Which reminds me: Mom, Dad... that package from Amazon with my name on it you'll get in the mail one day next week? Don't open it!! :)
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| Slim pickin's on pictures today, so you get one of me trying to figure out how to wear my scarf before heading out to the dentist's office. :) |
This afternoon I should have been doing any number of productive things, but instead I enjoyed myself very much 1 - cuddling with my husband before he went to work after lunch, 2 - visiting with our new pastor and his wife when they dropped by, 3 - chatting with my sister on the phone. (Hey - at least I was putting away clean laundry for that last one!)
As much as I enjoyed the phone call, I did hang up from it in almost panic mode that ohmygoodness-it'sonlytwoweeks tillChristmas!!!!
So when Daddy got home from work I insisted we all go shopping together. The two main items I wanted to find were not available, but we did get some other things checked off our list, both holiday-ish (like trade gifts for an upcoming party and supplies for the kids to make gifts for their friends) and everyday-ish (like bananas and diapers). :)
We had a late supper, got the kitchen clean and the groceries put away and spent some time reading from Matthew 1 about Joseph being a just man and not making an example of Mary. We sang a few Christmas carols, said prayers and sent the kiddos off to bed.
Then, I was able to get a big chunk of Christmas shopping done online! Those items I couldn't get in person today are now paid for and hopefully on their way tomorrow! Which reminds me: Mom, Dad... that package from Amazon with my name on it you'll get in the mail one day next week? Don't open it!! :)
Monday, December 9, 2013
Dec 9
- Read from "One Wintry Night" from God's calling of Abraham to the Exodus from Egypt and settling in to the promised land.
- Sang Christmas carols 'round the piano.
- Painted on our candy-cane striped J's, a project still in-process:
- Had a little preschool time, with some Christmas finger-plays/"action rhymes", then read The Night Before Christmas
- Finished Farmer Boy! Yay!
- Put together a little Pinterest project...
...which was a great hit with the nappers when they woke up!
- After a supper of frito pie, we ended this cold dreary day with a few fun rounds of Jenga, before our nightly Bible reading and a few more Christmas carols.
I love Alan's face in this pic! He was ready for it to fall any second! (It didn't.)
- Sang Christmas carols 'round the piano.
- Painted on our candy-cane striped J's, a project still in-process:
- Had a little preschool time, with some Christmas finger-plays/"action rhymes", then read The Night Before Christmas
- Finished Farmer Boy! Yay!
- Put together a little Pinterest project...
...which was a great hit with the nappers when they woke up!
- After a supper of frito pie, we ended this cold dreary day with a few fun rounds of Jenga, before our nightly Bible reading and a few more Christmas carols.
Saturday, December 7, 2013
December 7
Today. Oh today was full.
It started at bedtime last night when I agreed to let Alan (and Dale) make pancakes for breakfast this morning. Alan has a Paula Deen kid's cookbook checked out from the library and wanted to use the pancake recipe from it. The problem with most recipes is they do not feed our large family. I have no problems increasing them, but that complicates things for a 7 year old.
So, before I went to bed I hastily re-wrote the ingredients list to increase the recipe by a half.
This morning I awoke to the sounds of Alan and Dale clinking, working, and arguing in the kitchen.
Soon, Dale came and put my handwritten ingredient list under my nose and asked if I really meant 1 1/2 CUPS of baking powder. Goodness, no! I squinted my sleep bleary eyes at the list and complimented him on catching that mistake.
It didn't take long for things to disentegrate in the kitchen, so I peeled myself from the bed to go set things right again. The pancake batter looked fine, but was not holding together well at all. Those boys had a fine mess. I began tweaking and working and trying to figure out what had gone wrong.
This is when I learned my second mistake. When Dale came to ask me about my mis-written recipe, he asked if I had SWITCHED cups and teaspoons with the ingredient below baking powder. In my sleepy state I answered "yes". This is how it was written:
1 1/2 c baking powder
1 1/2 tsp sugar
The sugar amount was RIGHT, but he thought I switched them and I said 'yes', so those boys put one and half CUPS of SUGAR in those pancakes.
They were truly CAKES and didn't need syrup at all!
In the end, everything was edible so it all worked out.
Greg spent a lot of the day rearranging furniture. We decided our original room arrangement needed a little tweaking since moving in, so we've been working on that as we can.
I went shopping with a friend this afternoon. Thrift-store / antique store shopping. It was really nice to get out and look at pretty things and have woman-friend conversation with no kids around.
After I got home I started some split pea soup and worked on putting out some more Christmas decorations.
After our soup we all settled in for more hot chocolate and another movie. Charlie Brown Christmas this time. This is the one Christmas movie we own, and Daddy found it today it the furniture rearranging. Yay!
And, mark today down as a red-letter day, Miss Brooklyn is in a big girl bed! This is an essential next-step in the potty training process. A girl can't very well get to the potty when she's stuck in a crib, now can she?
As predicted by her mama, daddy, and three big brothers, she is enjoying her new freedom. Not long after tucking everyone in, we could hear little feet thump-thump-thumping and a sweet 2 yr old voice chanting "kangaroo! kangaroo! kangaroo!"
This could be a long evening.....
It started at bedtime last night when I agreed to let Alan (and Dale) make pancakes for breakfast this morning. Alan has a Paula Deen kid's cookbook checked out from the library and wanted to use the pancake recipe from it. The problem with most recipes is they do not feed our large family. I have no problems increasing them, but that complicates things for a 7 year old.
So, before I went to bed I hastily re-wrote the ingredients list to increase the recipe by a half.
This morning I awoke to the sounds of Alan and Dale clinking, working, and arguing in the kitchen.
Soon, Dale came and put my handwritten ingredient list under my nose and asked if I really meant 1 1/2 CUPS of baking powder. Goodness, no! I squinted my sleep bleary eyes at the list and complimented him on catching that mistake.
It didn't take long for things to disentegrate in the kitchen, so I peeled myself from the bed to go set things right again. The pancake batter looked fine, but was not holding together well at all. Those boys had a fine mess. I began tweaking and working and trying to figure out what had gone wrong.
This is when I learned my second mistake. When Dale came to ask me about my mis-written recipe, he asked if I had SWITCHED cups and teaspoons with the ingredient below baking powder. In my sleepy state I answered "yes". This is how it was written:
1 1/2 c baking powder
1 1/2 tsp sugar
The sugar amount was RIGHT, but he thought I switched them and I said 'yes', so those boys put one and half CUPS of SUGAR in those pancakes.
They were truly CAKES and didn't need syrup at all!
In the end, everything was edible so it all worked out.
Greg spent a lot of the day rearranging furniture. We decided our original room arrangement needed a little tweaking since moving in, so we've been working on that as we can.
I went shopping with a friend this afternoon. Thrift-store / antique store shopping. It was really nice to get out and look at pretty things and have woman-friend conversation with no kids around.
After I got home I started some split pea soup and worked on putting out some more Christmas decorations.
After our soup we all settled in for more hot chocolate and another movie. Charlie Brown Christmas this time. This is the one Christmas movie we own, and Daddy found it today it the furniture rearranging. Yay!
And, mark today down as a red-letter day, Miss Brooklyn is in a big girl bed! This is an essential next-step in the potty training process. A girl can't very well get to the potty when she's stuck in a crib, now can she?
As predicted by her mama, daddy, and three big brothers, she is enjoying her new freedom. Not long after tucking everyone in, we could hear little feet thump-thump-thumping and a sweet 2 yr old voice chanting "kangaroo! kangaroo! kangaroo!"
This could be a long evening.....
Friday, December 6, 2013
December 6
Today was the ice storm that wasn't. We, the weather-loving storm-watchers, sat back and watched as family and friends all northward of here saw ice and snow. Seeing as how our roads stayed safe and our power stayed on, I won't complain. But I think it did make us a little out of sorts to be all geared up for excitement that never happened.
What we had was rain. Cold, COLD rain. And crazy, CRAZY kids. It seemed like they were bouncing off the walls or whining and crying (sometimes a combination of both!) all. day. long.
Even so, it was a good day overall. We read the story of the flood today in "One Wintry Night". How even then God was planning on sending a Rescuer to his people someday.
We read another chapter and a half of Farmer Boy, and Daddy got to join us this time!
Then Dale and Alan and I played another round of Spelling Baseball. Because Dale won by such a large margin yesterday, I tweaked their lists for today by giving Dale slightly harder words, and Alan slightly easier. But I think I tweaked too much, because Alan won by a landslide today. Dale was a good sport about it though. I think he much prefers a game to some of our previous methods of learning spelling words. :)
I thought about doing another Christmas drawing with the boys this afternoon but my patience was just about used up. So I let them make cookies instead.
Which makes no sense. Patience is a must for turning kids loose in the kitchen.
It worked out ok in the end, though. Probably because this was about the time Daddy got off work and Ibegged talked him into trading off and letting me make the walmart run he was about to do.
So Daddy came home, I grabbed Dale and a handful of fresh-from-the-oven peanut butter cookies, left our supper simmering in the crockpot and hit the road!
We enjoyed some one-on-one time out shopping. Picked up some grocery essentials and some craft supplies for Christmas stuff to make with the kids. Because what good is all that stuff you save on Pinterest if you never DO it, right?
We skipped our Friday night movie, since we watched a movie last night. The boys were ok with some tablet time instead - they hadn't been on it all day! Yay for less screen time!
Now I'm sitting with my man in front of our beautiful Christmas tree, drinking the last cup of last night's hot chocolate. Good night friends! Stay warm!
What we had was rain. Cold, COLD rain. And crazy, CRAZY kids. It seemed like they were bouncing off the walls or whining and crying (sometimes a combination of both!) all. day. long.
Even so, it was a good day overall. We read the story of the flood today in "One Wintry Night". How even then God was planning on sending a Rescuer to his people someday.
We read another chapter and a half of Farmer Boy, and Daddy got to join us this time!
Then Dale and Alan and I played another round of Spelling Baseball. Because Dale won by such a large margin yesterday, I tweaked their lists for today by giving Dale slightly harder words, and Alan slightly easier. But I think I tweaked too much, because Alan won by a landslide today. Dale was a good sport about it though. I think he much prefers a game to some of our previous methods of learning spelling words. :)
I thought about doing another Christmas drawing with the boys this afternoon but my patience was just about used up. So I let them make cookies instead.
Which makes no sense. Patience is a must for turning kids loose in the kitchen.
It worked out ok in the end, though. Probably because this was about the time Daddy got off work and I
So Daddy came home, I grabbed Dale and a handful of fresh-from-the-oven peanut butter cookies, left our supper simmering in the crockpot and hit the road!
We enjoyed some one-on-one time out shopping. Picked up some grocery essentials and some craft supplies for Christmas stuff to make with the kids. Because what good is all that stuff you save on Pinterest if you never DO it, right?
We skipped our Friday night movie, since we watched a movie last night. The boys were ok with some tablet time instead - they hadn't been on it all day! Yay for less screen time!
Now I'm sitting with my man in front of our beautiful Christmas tree, drinking the last cup of last night's hot chocolate. Good night friends! Stay warm!
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