Happy New Years Eve!

We had our traditional takeout Chinese, sparkling grape juice and leftover Christmas goodies for dessert. May your new year be blessed!

Ouside Looking In

Drifts

In order to know how much snow we got on a particular day I have to check the weather report. Becasue of the winds we get wonderful drifts and can have bare grass in one spot and four feet in another.

"Silent Night, Holy Night"

is the song this musical card plays. It came from an Aunt and Uncle in Texas and is a favorite. Baby sings and dances while holding the card, when it is done, he closes it and reopens it to replay it.

Lincoln Logs

The girls spent a cold day constructing with lincoln logs. Please note the rope between the house and the barn. We have been reading _On the Banks of Plum Creek_ . At times Ma or Pa had to do chores in a blizzard, they used a rope to get from one building to the next so they wouldn't get lost in a whiteout. Next spring we plan to visit Plum Creek and some of the other Laura Ingalls Wilder historic sites in our "neighborhood".

Art!

Bye!

We miss you already!

Pheasant Hunting

Grampa, Daddy, and Big Brother went with the dogs to a game farm for some hunting. It was snowing, windy and the drifts and cattails made for tough going.

Gin!

The boys enjoyed playing cards with Gramma.

It was a dear sweater,

but my little dear was all tuckered out and wouldn't pose!

Merry Christmas!

For dinner we had spinach salad, squash* soup, ham*, potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans*, onions, rolls and pickles*. For dessert we had fudge, mint pie and cookies. The * denotes items we raised, yum!

Sledding

A Christmas Treasure Hunt

Oftentimes one of the children's gifts will lend itself to a scavenger hunt rather than wrapping paper. This year the sleds from their grandparents were a good choice for hiding instead of wrapping. However, a couple of days before Christmas the children asked me if the hunt could not be so "lame" this year. I wrote 30 clues using nursery rhymes, slogans, songs and poetry. It took them an hour and some help. It was pretty chilly Christmas Day, note the facemasks.

A Holiday "Ham"

Christmas Morning

Another English custom we've adopted is the children find their stockings on their bed in the morning. They are allowed to open them quietly and enjoy what is in them until 7 am when they can come in and wake us up. After the children wake us up, Daddy reads the Christmas account from the Bible. Then, breakfast: quiche, fruit salad and cinnamon rolls. We put candles in the sticky buns and sing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus. Then we move on to the tree. The children get three gifts from us. JOY, one to help them focus on Jesus, one to share with Others and one for You.



SPOILER ALERT:




We do not "do" Santa, the children know that other children do and know not to spoil it for others. We talk about him as an historic figure. So, they know the stocking presents and the things under the tree are from Daddy and Mommy.

Christmas Eve

For Christmas Eve dinner we had cheese soup, spinach salad, shrimp jambalaya over rice, and rolls. For dessert we had ice cream novelties: snowmen and Christmas trees. See the crackers on the table?

Shelves!

My kitchen is large but it does not have alot of cabinets. All of my pots, pans, pyrex, large measuring bowls and strainers share a home under my kitchen sink. Before the shelves everything was just placed in there, no rhyme or reason. And every time you needed a pot or pan you had to take out 7 to get the one you needed. And put them back. With the addition of just two small shelves(remember we have to go around the plumbing also) everything has its own place and when you want a 13 x 9 pan, or a strainer, or a measuring bowl, or a pot, or a round pyrex you just grab it! I love having my things organized!

Doors

We've been stepping over a baby gate into the pantry since Baby began to crawl. I've thought the pantry needed a door since we moved in but I got outvoted. After highstepping over the gate and nearly falling Daddy agreed that a door might be a good thing. Now that it is up, not only does Baby not play with the olive oil but the kitchen looks "finished", even Daddy says so. We've known that the guest room needed a door since we moved in, but the hole was nonstandard and short of special ordering a door to fit we couldn't figure out what to do. Finally, after reasoning that the woodwork would cover up whatever we did next to the door Daddy, Grampa and the boys put in a door. Now our guests don't have to hide in the corner, dress as quickly as Superman and hope that noone comes in while they're doing so. The door even locks!

Craft Time

Gramma brought a wooden set of figures representing the song "The Twelve Days of Christmas". The children painted them and then used glitter to accent them. They sang, repeatedly, "On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me. . ." These ornaments remind me of some that I painted with my sister when we were young. They hung on our window this year, next year I might get a wide ribbon to display them on.

Making Fudge

Big Brother has always requested Gramma's fudge at Christmas. She brought a container full, but somehow it got eaten before Christmas. It wouldn't do, of course, to have Christmas without fudge so Gramma and the girls made another batch. Baby got to taste test.

Manis and Pedis

After Gramma and I did the girls fingernails and toenails, they treated us to pedicures.

Baby is waiting for spring.

Since winter has only just begun, I tried to explain it is going to be a long wait.

Christmas Crackers

Gramma was born in Canada, her family was English. It was their tradition to decorate the Christmas table with "crackers". "Crackers" are brightly colored cylinders with toys and candy inside, you pull on the ends and they POP, a bit like a cap gun. I didn't get to any stores that might have stocked these items this year so we made our own, minus the POP. Brothers insisted we could use gunpowder to make the POP, but I opted for the boring version.

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake

I found the recipe, however, that is all I did, Daddy and the boys made this delish cheesecake. This is their third celebration of their 12th and 15th birthdays, Gramma and Grampa were here for this one.

Before, During and After

Baby needed a haircut. Baby was beyond needing a haircut, but Daddy didn't want to cut it yet, knowing that once cut those curls are never quite the same. Perhaps it was the approaching holidays, perhaps it was Baby being called a girl one to many times, but Daddy decided I could cut Baby's hair. He went from looking like a baby(sheepdog) to a little boy. Don't laugh, you mean to tell me you don't cut your children's hair while they sit on the ping pong table while everyone is still in their pj's?

Minnesota Hot Dish

My youngest sister's mother in law sent me this beautiful table runner for Christmas. The pattern name "Minnesota Hot Dish". What I might call goulash or casserole is called hot dish here in the North Star State.

Knit and Crochet

Big Sister likes to knit and crochet, she knit me a scarf for Christmas and she often crochets me dishcloths. Little Sister has just learned to crochet, and is very excited!