Post-Holiday Memories

I took the Christmas tree down today.  I'm happy to see it go, but I will miss the twinkly lights at night. We still watched movies by the lights of the tree and it made it feel all nice and cozy. I have some decorative lights I might have to put up somewhere so we can keep that cozy feeling. There is a string of lights with big bulbs (think outdoor party lights) up in the window, but they're pretty bright and not as cozy as I'd like it to be. I have some lights with tin shades, I'll try those out and see what those do.

All the Christmas stuff is put away, except for the collection of Santas and snowmen on top of the cabinet in the dining room. They go in a locked cabinet separate from all the other holiday decorations that go in the attic. Many of these were carved and painted by my Dad and Step-Mom and I love looking at them. I just want to look at them a little longer before it's time to put them away again for another year.

It was hard to decorate the tree when I first set it up. Last year was a banner year for broken ornaments and they all went into a box to be repaired, but I never found the time and put them away with the other ornaments. This year, opening the ornament box, the first thing I saw was the box of broken ornaments sitting on top and it just broke my heart. I pulled a few out-- the broken 'starfish' which was a fish dressed as Marilyn Monroe ("star" fish, get it?) and we got her before we had the kids; the cute turtle with dangly legs that had the felt flowers ripped out of the flower pot in its' arms; the roly-poly paper mache' cat that got squished... I shoved the box back into the big box and closed the lid, I couldn't bear to look at it anymore. It reminded me too much of how upset I was and how mad I got when they broke.

For a week, the tree stood there, only the lights kept it from being bare. After much pestering from the kids, I finally brought out the box of ornaments again, this time pulling out the box of broken ones and not looking at it, putting it out of sight. I was picky with decorating the tree with only certain ornaments this time... none of the old and fragile ones; none of the precious hand-made ones; none of the cheap gaudy ones that I never liked but the kids loved. Slowly, the tree started to look pretty, simple and light. I have no pictures of the tree, I'm sad to say, but you can take my word for it that it turned out mighty nice.

When I took down the ornaments, I finally went through the box of broken ones.  I discovered my heart was healing and it wasn't so hard to pick out the lost causes and throw them away. I didn't fix any of them, but put them back into the box, much lighter now and, honestly, I'll probably throw away the rest of them next Christmas. Just not ready to say good-bye.

2012 was a very good Christmas, our memories tucked away and put into the mental attic, just as I put away the Christmas decorations. Next Christmas, I will remember 2012 as the year zero ornaments broke. But more importantly, I'll remember that my children are more precious than a broken ornament.

The Last November Day

I don't know how it happened!

I have heard all my life about how time goes faster when one gets older.

It's true, but I can't figure out how!

One minute it's still early November and we're talking with the Roof Guys and setting a date mid-month.

Then we get a call and the roof replacement is postponed to the end of the month and it's time to plan Thanksgiving dinner.

Now here it is, the last day of November, we still have the same old roof, and time is just zipping by!

Well, rather than focus on the negative (and flying time is a negative, right?), let's show you what I've been up to these days...

My sister gave me these vintage printed dish towels to embroider years ago. I love turtles and she saw these and thought of me (Thanks, sis!).  There's supposed to be a towel for every day of the week, but I only have two of them- Sunday and Friday. They've been sitting in a box for awhile, and I came across them and decided it was time to work on them.  The washable ink is starting to fade in some places, so better get to it before I'll have to start making it up as I go! I must say, I really like the detail I came up with on the stomach and the hat. Almost done with this one, and then I can start on the next.  The real question here is: Can I use them as what they were intended for when I'm done with them? We shall see!

Every year I do hand made ornaments to give as gifts. I try to keep it different and not too difficult since I have to make mass quantities of them. I get inspiration from other people, magazines, stuff I see in the stores, but this time, inspiration struck at home! Remember those spirograph drawing sets we had as kids?? Evelyn was drawing one night with the spirograph and I noticed how they could be snowflakes... ornament snowflakes!! Evelyn and I drew a bunch more onto tissue paper, then I embroidered right through the paper onto felt. Still a work in progress, but thought I'd share in case anyone wanted to try this.

We set the tree up two days ago. Only lights on it right now because I like to wait until kids and cats are used to having the tree around before adding ornaments. You can just see the curiosity getting ready to kill this cat, can't you??  I'm glad I don't have ornaments on this yet, because yesterday morning I found Peter somehow tangled up inside the tree, lights all wrapped up around him!!  Wha...?!?  A firm warning that the tree will get put up if he does it again and so far, no more mishaps. I'm thinking the ornaments will go up tonight after dinner.

Christmas shopping is just about done with, a few more items and I can call it good! Soon I'll be able to focus solely on crafting and baking and wrap presents little by little. I don't yet know what our Christmas plans are, but whatever they will be, as long as it's with family and friends, it's perfect! 

Let's just hope December doesn't fly by as fast as November did, hmm?

Taking the Bad With the Good

When I first started this blog, I aspired to be widely-read and have millions of hits every month. I imagined getting sponsors and book deals and I'd never have to worry about money. My problem was coming up with fresh ideas every day, to keep people hungry and coming back for more! I can barely come up with an idea for a post once a month these days and even then, they garner no interest. I've long accepted that I'm not fame-worthy, and that's alright.  In my little part of the world, my children view me as the World's Greatest, Most Beautiful and Bestest Mom Ever! And my husband tells me I am The Most Beautiful Woman in the World, I am sexy and hot and the way he tells it, I've stepped right out of the pages of Playboy! And the chickens, they flock to me all happy and bow down at my feet every single day, without fail. OK, so they're pecking at the bread I've tossed, but it's my world, so let me be!

My point is, I'm happy. I love my family, my home, my life, and I am not some crafting genius or a whiz at coming up with original ideas. I constantly glean inspiration from other people but rarely come up with an idea of my own.  I'm just not creative that way. So often I see something and smack my head and ask myself, "why didn't I think of that?!"  Andrew and I talk about needing to invent something people can't live without, and then we'd be set for the rest of our lives, like whoever came up with the toilet brush? It's found in nearly every bathroom! And how about the guy that came up with Beanie Babies? Holy cow, that guy must be lying on a beach somewhere, sipping margaritas, calling to the help, "How much did I make today?"

My life might be normal, same thing day in and day out, pretty mundane, really. Boring, even. But there is stuff that happens here that shakes our life up and makes it fun. Nothing wild and crazy, but just enough to jiggle things around and make us laugh, drive us crazy, cause sleepless nights. Leaky roofs can drive one crazy. Cause us sleepless nights wondering how much it will cost to fix and if we can afford it. But at least we have a roof, right? So what if we have buckets and bowls and trashcans to catch the rain all over the attic floor, it's a lot more than some people have, and for that, I am grateful and thankful and I still can laugh at the sight of all those containers, looking very much like a scene out of those old cartoons I used to watch as a kid.

To shake things up a little bit and add some excitement to our lives, we decided to go to the county fair with the kids.  Not our little one, but a bigger one with more rides and a circus and lots more animals and events than our small town has.  We haven't gone anywhere this summer, just once to the little beach on the lake not too far from us, and so we felt like the kids deserved some fun. They have been hearing about friends going to amusement parks and vacations at the beach and camping trips, and we felt kind of bad that we couldn't afford any of that, yet we aren't apologetic about it, because there are times in one's life where you just can't do any of those things.  But the county fair, we could swing that.

We gathered up the kids, told them we were going to buy tickets and let them go on the rides all night long!  How excited they were!  Cheers went up! Yay for Daddy and Mama!!  We were cool.  We were awesome! We were the BEST PARENTS EVER! And it was great!  Lots of fun!  I took pictures of them on the rides and we saw the animals and exhibits. They went crazy over the long, tall slide and climbed what must have been hundreds of steps all the way to the top, just to slide down what took only seconds to get to the bottom, yet bounce up, that wild giddy look in their eyes and say, "Let's do that again!" Then the circus started and we watched a small family do amazing tricks with dogs, trampoline jumping, juggling, clown acts and a crazy round and round dare-devil act. It was fun!

Then 5 o'clock came and all of a sudden, the four wristbands the kids wore, that let them have unlimited access to the rides, the ones we paid a hard-earned $60 for, were no good. Imagine a giant buzzer sounding. Imagine all the rides and lights and music slowly grinding to a halt and the laughter and smiles quickly turning to tears and frowns and disappointment. It's safe to say that I was just as disappointed. Stupid, cheating, no-good fair! Those wristbands were only good until 5, then one had to buy new ones for an extra $3 each for a grand total of $72 for four tickets, just to continue riding until closing time. Not even a sign to caution people buying tickets before 5 o'clock. Stupid, cheating, no-good fair!

I can't look at the fair pictures without feeling that same disappointment we felt when we were not allowed to go on any more rides. Andrew and I tried to cheer the kids up, tell them we could still see the animals and the other exhibits we hadn't seen yet, but it was no good.  The thrill was gone. Feet were heavy and it took such effort to get them to the barns and even the sight of baby pigs didn't elicit any "aws" from the kids. Kettle corn didn't taste as good. It got hot and dusty and sticky. The kids complained they were tired and wanted to go home. And so we did. It was a grumpy ride home. The kids fought, we yelled. It was not the tired-but-happy-falling-asleep trip home I thought it would be. Stupid fair.

Here's the only picture I took at the fair after 5 o'clock:

Don't let that smile deceive you, believe me, it was a struggle to get them to pose for me. Right next to it, you can just see part of it, is a fake cow-milking display, where you can see what it's sort of like to milk a cow! I was pretty excited about it, but no one wanted to do it. I got Gretchen to give it a squeeze, but it was poor attempt, mostly just to appease me. Shortly after this, we left.

I share this because I want to remember this day. Even though it ended poorly, it was such a good day. I need to remind myself that I shouldn't dwell on the disappointments, but look at the fun bits! It was fun!  We were having a ball! They got to go on about 15 different rides, and see a circus, and just have fun together.  And they were awesome together-- watching out for each other and making sure Peter was right there with them. They held hands and sat together on the rides and encouraged one another when one of them was a little too scared. Those are the moments I need to remember. There are good and bad parts to each day, the trick is to focus on the good parts.

So what did I learn from this? For one thing, the next time we go to any sort of place that has rides, we're definitely asking if there's a time limit on those tickets we're about to pay for. But mostly, that even when we're feeling sad or disappointed, we still have each other, we still love each other and tomorrow is a brand new day.

The Best Investment

We've had such a stretch of hot days.

 The temperature rises and makes everything sticky hot.

The children melt.

We trip over the cats and the dog laying on the coolest parts of the floor.

The sun shines bright and beats down on our skins.

Sweat beads on our brows.

It's just hot.

Hot, hot, hot.

Ah, the pool.

The cool water is just the place to be on these hot, hot days!

So grateful to be able to slip into the water and instantly wash away that stickiness.

We spend a good chunk of our days out there, in the pool.

A break for lunch, then it's right back into the pool again.



 In the stillness of the evening, when I come and check the water,

I catch the sun taking a dip in the pool.

Mr. Sun gets hot, too, I suppose.

Onions!

We harvested the onions yesterday. Seeing all those yellow and white onions just make me feel so pleased with our efforts at keeping the garden weeded. Last year, when we planted onions, we lost the entire crop when weeds completely choked them out.  All that back-breaking work to plant them only to have all our efforts wiped out.  Not this year!

I didn't count, but there are more than enough onions here to last us for quite awhile. I don't think it'll last til next summer, though, so we plan to plant a second batch to make sure there's enough. We eat plenty of onions, just about in every dish we make.

A far cry from the onion-hating person I used to be! I used to plead with my mom not to put onions in meals, and she made onion-less potato salad for my sister and I.  Then I met Andrew, with onion juice in his veins and he often says, "A house is not a home without onions!" I'd begrudgingly add chopped onions into a dish, just for him, only a little! He'd ask for onions in the meatloaf I make, so I obliged, just half of one! Then the amount of onions I used grew, onions were included in more and more meals. We'd give raw onions to the kids when they were babes, and to my surprise, they liked them!

Now, I cannot imagine not having onions! Onions go in practically everything I make these days. Even though our kids have grown up eating onions, it still surprises me each time they willingly put raw onion slices on their sandwiches or hamburgers.

The onions still need a couple weeks of drying time, and they're in the pole barn now. I plan to store some, dehydrate some, and of course, use them as we go.  I've stopped buying store onions quite awhile ago, and there's nothing more satisfying than being able to provide something we need from our own garden.

Catching Up- July Edition

So much going on these days.  A birthday, loose teeth, stormy nights, canning, fireworks..  And that's just the beginning of July!!  Oh my! What does the rest of this month hold for us?!

Peter had a birthday. 4 years old now! What a big boy!

Since we had a double birthday party for him and Evelyn last month, his actual birthday was pretty low-key. I made him his favorite meals: pancakes for breakfast, hot dogs for lunch, cake and ice cream, and spaghetti for dinner. He seemed to have a pretty good day and liked all the presents he got from us and Grandma.

Fireworks!

The small town down the road from us had delayed fireworks, which turned out to be a good thing, since we had a thunderstorm the night of July 4th. They held the fireworks on Friday, July 6th, and we decided to go.  It wasn't so hot then, and we knew that it would get cooler once the sun went down. The kids had a great time, making friends with other kids there and running and playing in the field next to where we parked. As soon as the first boom! went off, the kids scattered back to their families and we settled down to watch the show.

Pretty good show for a small town. A lot less crowded than Washington D.C. would have been, that's for sure! I think the fireworks lasted about 20 minutes and there were some really spectacular ones, too! I liked hearing the kids ohh and ahh in awe and jump when there was a really loud boom!

I remembered to break out the glow necklaces before we left, which turned out really handy in spotting the kids when they were playing off in the distance! Just look for the glowing arms and hands!

We got a scare on the way home when the hood of the truck popped open on us while we were driving! Talk about heart stopping! And in the dark, on a pitch-black mountain road! I'm glad Andrew was driving because I think I would have crashed! Luckily for us, he kept his cool and turned into someones driveway to see what happened.  Nice people stopped to help, armed with a super bright spotlight which was so much better than the little, puny, kid's flashlight we were using! The hinge of the hood got over-extended and we had to get it back into normal position before we could get the hood shut again. About 15 minutes of fiddling with it and we were back on the road to home again.

Before:

Peter got into the clippers and shaved a few bald spots on his head. Time for a haircut then.

After:

He's so cute, after we cut his hair he gave me a big smile and said:

"I so handsome!"

Why, yes you are, little guy! Very handsome!

Random Tidbits: Post-Easter

No new pictures to post. I've misplaced my camera and can't remember where I put it. I have 4 children that like to take pictures too, and if I don't keep it hidden, they'll run the battery down and I end up with 232 pictures of blurry close-ups of various toys, faces, and walls. Maybe 10 of those 232 pictures are absolutely priceless!

So Easter has come and gone.  We made the bunny teeth picture on the recent post into cards and sent them out to close family. They were a hit! It's fun to send out traditional stuff with a quirky twist.

Drowning in Easter candy. Oh my! I usually make a stop at the stores after Easter for clearance sales on candy, but I am passing on that this year.  We have lots and lots of candy and one very sneaky boy that loves candy! I'll find wrappers hidden behind dressers, under the couch, beneath the cabinets and on the floor in the pantry. tsk tsk! When I find Peter, he has a ring of chocolate around his mouth.  I'm not surprised-- when I was pregnant with him, I had a mad craving for chocolate and even dark chocolate made it's way past my lips!

Any chocolate that survives into the Fall will be transformed into Fudge.  I buy the clearance chocolate bunnies and total up the ounces and turn what was so-so chocolate into delicious fudge or bark candies. It's a good way to save money when it comes to buying ingredients needed for holiday baking. Just remember to keep the chocolate in a cool dark place and not in a room that becomes hot during the summers.

I need to re-locate the candy-- Stat! I think today alone, he snuck 8 lollipops! And of course, when the sisters see him with a lollipop, they want another, too!

Would you believe we had snow flurries on and off all day today?  It's not unusual to see snow in April where we are, but after several weeks of warm-almost-feels-like-summer weather, 50 degrees is COLD! Coming out of winter, 50 degrees is downright balmy! But we've gotten spoiled and it's just miserable around here!  The wood stove is roaring with a fire, sweaters and flannel sheets have come back out and thank goodness I didn't plant the garden yet! We had a freeze a while ago and a lot of the orchards around here lost a big majority of their apple crops. I sure feel bad for them. Calling for another freeze this week. Oh boy!

Local schools are letting out May 25th because they used zero snow days this year! Some other counties are choosing to close every Friday to keep the last day of school the same date, but this county is choosing to let out early instead.  May 25th! Wow!

Gretchen is working hard to earn money. She doesn't know what she is saving for, but she wants money! She's been helping me with the laundry and the dishes and general cleaning up.  They all have chores, but she's doing more than usual. It's been really nice to have an assistant helping to fold laundry and it sure made the work go faster!  I hope I can talk her into putting some of it into savings instead of spending it on toys. We were at Goodwill the other day and she offered to buy a toy for Peter, which was really sweet of her.

Evelyn wants to cook dinners with me more often.  She says she needs to learn how to make more dishes or else her husband will have to do all the cooking. I don't know where that came from, but we shared cooking duties and she was proud to have made the whole main dish all by herself and set the table and served up the dishes. They can all cook minor side dishes and simple meals like eggs and toast, but I've never let them do a main dish all by themselves. Peter is showing an interest in cooking and it's nearly impossible to keep him out of the kitchen! He drags a dining chair in and parks it right next to me so he can help, too! Sure makes me wish I had a bigger kitchen because it gets crowded in there with a kid on either side of me.

I have errands to run in the morning, so off to bed with me. Hope your Easter was filled with love and fun and Blessings!

Happy Birthday to...Piggy??

 There's always one of those toys that, after all the other ones have been given away, tossed, donated, or broke, still hangs around. We have a little pig, given to Evelyn when she was a baby, that has always been a favorite of one of the kids at one time or another. It goes in the toy bin awhile, then gets rediscovered and played with. Repeat, repeat, repeat.

Lately, Piggy has been a heavy favorite between Gretchen and Sylvia.  They have him dressed in baby doll clothes, set him down for naps, bring Piggy to the table for meals.. Then a few days ago, they announced that it's Piggy's birthday in a few days. They set about drawing pictures and putting together some presents.  I thought it might be fun to surprise them and secretly make a cake for Piggy's birthday:

And were they surprised!!

 The Birthday Pig and his guests.

 Piggy seems pleased.

I think Piggy wished he could always be loved by us, which most certainly will come true. He's a keeper!

Random Tidbits

It's nearly mid-February and I have hardly done any crafting this new year. I'm itching to do something, but haven't figured out what it is yet.  The flower embroidery I haven't finished is calling my name, as is the rag rug I started, um, 2 years ago. But I don't feel like doing them. I'm looking for something quick and easy, the sort of project that, hopefully, will give me a jump-start into crafting again.

Andrew broke out our old nintendo and super nintendo games a couple of weeks ago, while I was out for the day and he stayed home with the kiddos.  What a flashback it's been seeing games I haven't played in years! I remember many days of my youth spent playing Super Mario 3, Donkey Kong Country, and Zelda. I'm surprised at how much I remember and the girls are awed at my mad nintendo skillz. Actually, playing some of those games remind me of the frustrations I had back then, when my best friend could whiz through some of those levels and I failed over and over at the same stinkin' level, unable to move on. I was playing a round of Donkey Kong Country after the kids went to bed, stocked up on 99 lives at an easy level, then, I kid you not, I died 99 times trying to complete ONE lousy stop on the next highest level. I actually wished for my best friend to be by my side and handing over the controls saying, "here, you do it!"

Crazy, freakin' weather here. One day it's a balmy 50 and the next it's 17 degrees and we're freezing our butts off! Now that my little greenhouse is up, I need to set up a thermometer in there and check it daily, recording the temperature, deciding when is a good time to get my seeds started. Andrew and I are determined to make this year's garden the best yet, and we are planning to buy a new tiller with our tax refund money.  Fingers crossed we get back a nice amount.

Our current tiller is the kind that gets hooked up to the back of the tractor and tills 4 foot rows. Nice to start and end the garden soil with, but lousy to till between rows during the growing season. We had a little pipsqueak tiller, but it went kaput and research tells us that to get it repaired, the parts will cost as much as buying a new one. So we are opting for a medium-sized tiller, not too big for me to handle, but big enough to till between rows and keep the weeds down.

Previously, we used an old carpet as weed block between rows, which worked great the first couple of years, but now weed seeds have buried themselves in the rug pile and when pulling up the carpet at the end of the season last fall, it was quite an effort to yank them off the soil.  Weeds grew on top and their roots held fast underneath the carpet. I was sore the next few days from all that yanking. Plus, much of the carpet just deteriorated in my hands, which made it harder to pull up in some places. Going to start saving newspapers for weed block and along with the tiller, should do a good job in keeping weeds at bay.

Couponing has been good for us lately, our pantry is full, the freezer is packed, the bathroom closet is over-flowing with toiletries... Sure came in handy when we got a call from a friend, asking if we could help out a family when their new house burned down yesterday. Lost everything. They needed clothes for their 2 boys, 1 year and 4 years old.  I didn't have very much baby clothes left, but I managed to dig up some 18 month sizes and some clothes for the 4 year old. Some toys our kids no longer played with went to them also.  We also gathered up a box full of shampoo, body washes, toothpaste, and some other things they might need. My heart goes out to them and I count my blessings that we were able to help out just a little bit.

Valentine's day is tomorrow. We don't normally make a big deal about Valentine's Day, but I happened to have some left over valentine's candy after making goody bags for the birthday party last week, so we're going to make a scavenger hunt for the kids tomorrow.  After they go to bed tonight, Andrew and I will make maps and clues and hide little treats around the house.

Have you seen this? I made one for Andrew for Valentine's. Nothing fancy, nice and simple and we could always use matches around the house, so when I saw it, I knew I'd make one. I had enough to make two, so one for him as a surprise, and one I'll keep near the wood stove, for those few times when I have to start my own fire.

Oh look-- it's bedtime for the kids! Time to go!

Losers

I was playing Chinese Checkers with Evelyn the other day. I love Chinese Checkers.

I played a lot when I was a kid, and when no one wanted to play with me,

I played against myself. I think I'm a pretty good player, I can get from one side to the other quickly.

I played two games with Evelyn and won both times.

She got quite upset.

I told her to keep trying, to pay attention to how I play and she may pick up some winning moves.

The third game, she just started imitating my every move, but it only confused her and she lost again.

I showed her some tricks, that it helps to make what I call a "ladder" with her marbles.

The fourth game was close, I helped and moved a few of her marbles to help her understand the ladder trick, and it ended with her one marble behind me when I put my final marble home.

She nearly burst into tears because I won again, but I gave her props for being so close behind me and almost winning. She started feeling better when I told her that we'd play again the next day and she just might beat me then.

I don't believe in letting kids win all the time.  It was different when they were toddler-aged, when winning a game encouraged and motivated them to play more and in playing, they learned sportsmanship and whatever else the game taught.  As they get older, they need to learn that there are winners and losers. Sure, it'd be nice to win all the time, but it isn't realistic and it doesn't teach them anything, except maybe to get cocky.

Of course I don't like to see my children cry, but I also know that I can't hand them everything they want. Losing gracefully now, at a child's game, may someday teach her how to deal with something in real life, when she is older. We don't lord it over them when we win, we give encouragement and compliments on a game well-played, and offer tips and tricks for next time. Hopefully they get fired up and try harder next time, learn from their mistakes and someday, they'll beat us for real, not because we let them win.

Sweet and Simple

                               

It has been a good Christmas this year.

The kids are still playing with their new things, 3 days after, so I know they are happy.

I bought presents on sale with coupons throughout the year, and that was a major help-- when Andrew lost his job, we already had more than half of our presents bought and stashed away.

There were no big ticket items, just small things for each of our children, and a few shared items.

Even the gifts they got from other family members have been toned down, something I appreciate greatly since I always feel bad that I cannot reciprocate.  I know they enjoy giving, but it doesn't make me feel any less guilty when I cannot give in the same fashion to them or their children.

Every year, I make fudge, cookies, candies and bars to give as gifts.  I didn't make very much this year, it feels like time got away from me and I chose to spend time with the kiddos or doing other things. I think it's time to accept that I'll never make over 800 cookies like I did for a few Christmases before the kids came along! I did manage to make two different ornaments to give as gifts this year and I love them!



Felt rooster and fimo clay snowflake



better shot of snowflake detail

I got the rooster idea from the Better Homes and Gardens December issue..  I just eyeballed the ornament then made my own pattern and ran with it! I can't remember where I saw the snowflake idea-- off of someones blog probably, and I went out to get me a snowflake stamp with my 40% off coupon. So simple but makes a nice ornament.  I made this after the kids went to bed and I set a little table in front of me and watched an episode of Supernatural while rolling and stamping.

I'm ready to put away the tree and decorations, to get the house back to normal again. I went out the day after Christmas to shop the clearance sales and use some of the gift cards we got. Stocked up on Christmas craft projects to put away for next year, Christmas cards, gift tags, and little bits and bobs for future stocking stuffers and party favors.  I have two January babies to shop for and I'm all done! Thanks clearance sales!

Looking forward to the new year and hope it will be a good one for us all.

Happy New Year!!



Commence Christmas Music!

December 1st and we're getting into the spirit! The tree is up, the Advent Calendar is hung, cookie recipes are calling my name...  It's beginning to feel like Christmas around here! Even Andrew is getting elfish!

Even though Andrew is now working, it doesn't mean that we are spend, spend, spending.  We are still frugal with our money, and I shopped for gifts the whole year, scoring items on sale or with coupons to make it an even sweeter deal.  I'm pretty much done with gifts for the kiddos this year, but I still have a few items I need to pick up for other family members. 

Despite repeated requests not to exchange gifts, we have relatives that insist on giving the children something and I always feel bad not having anything in return. I know it's the season of giving, but I always feel like I'm taking and taking and not giving. So I am trying hard this year to come up with some simple gifts that are thoughtful and appreciated, without feeling like I've just drained the bank account.  I don't spend a whole lot on my own children, so it makes no sense to me to spend a lot on my nieces and nephews. It doesn't mean I love them any less-- on the contrary, I am putting a lot of love into what I am making/creating and hoping they'll like what I've come up with.

Andrew has an Aunt that just loooooves snickers-- I plan on making a cloth bucket and filling it with  full-size snickers candy bars for her.  Simple, yet it will be something I know she'll enjoy, and it didn't cost a lot of money, because I used coupons for the candy bars, and it was just a little bit of time at the sewing machine.  I'll be making several similar gifts like this for the Aunts and Uncles, for the ones that have a sweet tooth and put their favorite candies inside them.

For the kiddos-- I have group gifts for them to share, but I'd like to get them all something special for individual gifts.  I'm still thinking and working on that.  I can't say too much here, but I have a few ideas up my sleeve.

 I get to go out all by myself next week-- a rarity now that Andrew is working and I have to wait for a day off, and I'll be picking up items and stopping at the fabric store for a few things.  I don't want to take the kids with me-- they'll see items I want to keep a surprise.  And I must admit, Peter is not the best shopping companion. Whew! He's a handful, that one!  I don't enjoy shopping with him along, I get all flustered and frustrated and I end up forgetting items on my list, or errors are made with the coupons and I end up paying more than I should have, but I can't figure out what went wrong when I am wrestling with a squirmy, screamy toddler that just wants me to let him go and get. down. now. Just reading that last sentence makes me want to go lie down!  He's a great kid, I know he just wants to run and explore and if mama wants to shop, it's not a good combination! Better to leave him at home where he's on familiar turf and I can do my thing in peace.

I have Christmas music playing on my internal radio and I love when the kids tell me they hear certain songs on the radio. They still believe in the magic of Christmas and they were so excited when the tree went up. Now it's the battle of the wills between parents and kids at getting them to leave. the. tree. alone. I actually went so far as to take off the garland and tears were flowing, "I'll be good, I'll be good!  No, mama! Please! We won't touch the tree anymore!" I left it off a day before putting it back up and it worked for a while.  The threat has lost its' power now, so the newest warning is: Any bad behavior and you have to take an ornament off the tree!  So far so good!

I've been thumbing through recipe books, looking for new ideas for cookies and bars.  Before kids (B.K.), I used to make hundreds of cookies and give them as gifts.  After kids (A.K.), I'm lucky if I can make a couple of batches and then fend off the hungry cookie monsters. If anyone got a dozen cookies, they're the lucky ones! This year, I have a good feeling I'll be able to make more than a few batches.  I have some cookie ideas bubbling up in that brain of mine and can't wait to make a test batch.

I made eggnog spice cake the other day and man oh man! Is that ever good!!  Moist and flavorful, and I get that great eggnoggy taste I love in every bite! It's a keeper!  Anything cooked in a bundt pan looks great and we love cake that requires no frosting! The only thing is I would cook it a little longer next time, 40-45 minutes isn't long enough, I'll try 50-55 minutes next time. 

Any good cookies recipes you want to share? I'd love to try new ones!

Bloopers

It's that time of year again, when I start thinking of Christmas cards and which picture I want to use in it.  Usually I make my own card by printing a picture on card stock, then stamping or fancy-writing a holiday message. If I'm feeling particularly rushed, I'll just print a bunch of copies then slap a photo inside a store-bought card.

That means it's time for family photos!!

I wish I knew of a photographer that didn't charge an arm and leg, or friends that took great photos, but as it is, I have to make do with what I got: Using the timer on the camera and running back and forth to make it just in time before the 'click'.

I think we got some nice photos and the bloopers are just as fun to look and laugh at, too!

Lots of nail-biting, hoping mama doesn't trip running from the camera!

A candid shot of daddy telling them to "look at the camera!"

Big leafy hats modeled by Sylvia.

                                 No shortage of fishy faces, frowns, and closed eyes in this one!

Will some one please tell this kid to sit down and sit still!

I can't tell you how many photos I took with him not looking at the camera!

We took 2 days worth of photos at Ice Mountain, just down the road from us. We have passed through hundreds of times, but this was the first time we actually stopped and walked around, looking in windows of the old restored houses, church, and barns.  Beautiful place and we'll definitely return. I can see future picnics happening here!

Just, Wow!

What a lovely white winter wonderland it is out there right now. No matter that it is still Autumn and still October. No matter that Halloween hasn't happened yet. No matter that all the winter coats and snow pants I washed last month and hung to dry, then got played in and soiled all over again and I haven't had a chance to wash them just yet. No matter that Peter likes to wear snow boots in the house and then leaves them where he takes them off, be it under a bed, or under the stairs, or between the wall and the back of the dresser (*#$*&^!!!), and I have to hunt high and low for a matching pair of boots.

Still, it's beautiful out there.

Not so sure about my poor Mulberry tree, though. All that heavy wet snow hanging onto the leaves that have yet to fall bent the tree nearly in half before we knocked the snow off it. I hope it bounces back. Andrew said he could hear tree branches cracking in the woods. So I guess if a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, it does make a sound!

I'm glad we had no plans to go anywhere today. Very quickly, more than 10 inches of heavy, wet snow came down. We knew it was coming and prepared for it. Andrew gathered more logs, split and stacked the wood near the door. We pulled up posts and tomato fences in the garden, pulled up the weed covers, then tilled most of the garden. Cut the grass and mowed over the leaves. I raked leaves where the mower can't get to and raked the leaves into the chicken coop and the duck house for bedding and insulation. Closed up the window flaps on the chicken coop. Andrew took the trash out to the landfill. Cleaned up the toy vomit in the basement so we could fire up the wood stove if it got too cold. Filled up gallons of water in empty jugs in case the power went out. It did, but only for an hour.

Chickens said "Hell, no!" to the snow and stayed inside the coop all day. Ducks never saw snow before and didn't know what to make of it. They were mostly outdoors before they called it an early night and went to bed.

I finally got smart this year and put up an indoor clothes line in the sun room. Previously, I used a clothes drying rack, but it couldn't handle the weight of the wet coats and pants and the kids were, let's be honest, just too rough with it, tossing heavy wet pants in it's general direction, knocking it to the floor until Mama comes and picks everything up and rearranges it so it can air dry. I'm learning from my mistakes, indoor clothes line it is!

Also new is the coat rack. Put up in the Spring since Mama was tired of hollering at the kids to pick up their jackets and sweaters off the floor after they fell off the puny little coat rack with tiny little pegs obviously not meant to hold 341 coats/sweaters/jackets. Fashioned by yours truly out of an old fence rail and vintage clothes hooks, it works great!

Also with the snow, comes the wet, muddy floor and strewn boots kicked off, left to sit in melting puddles of snow and when Mama comes to help hang up wet snow things, guess what I step in? Brr!

We tried, we truly did. We tried so hard not to have a fire until November, but when the temps dipped into the 30s last night and we woke to all the snow, and it was oh so hard to get out of the nice warm bed, it had to be done. Maybe November will bring us some warm days to make up for winter in October, but I won't hold my breath. More likely, I'll see my breath from now on.

Working on Halloween Costumes. Cannibalized a men's XL grey fleece jacket from the thrift shop and using up what's left of my fleece scraps to make something special for Peter. Nearly done.  Any guesses?

Evelyn wants to be the Bride of Frankenstein, easy enough-- pulled together an outfit from her clothes and a bit of fancy hair styling and make-up will do the trick.

Gretchen and Sylvia both want to be princesses, so fancy party dresses and vintage tiaras borrowed from Mama, and make-up will do.

Plans are to go trick or treating at a local Church that hosts a 'Trunk or Treat' in the parking lot. We went last year and had fun, so unless we get more snow, that's what we'll be doing. And mayyyyybe a little walk around town, too, wait and see how cold it is.

Pumpkin Economics

 Oh thank goodness!!  I feared the cold temperatures were here to stay and I am so happy to have lovely fall days again!  After nearly 2 straight weeks of rain every single day, the sun has come out and the ground is drying up. The ducks seemed to be the only ones truly happy with all the rain as they splashed in the puddles and searched in the mud for tasty things to eat. I'm not one to complain about rain, I love rainy days! We needed the rain and it's good for us, and there's nothing sadder to me than a dried up creek, but being cooped up in the house with four crazy children can take a toll on me. I think if you look close enough, you can see footprints going up the walls and along the ceiling!

With such perfect weather this weekend, we just had to go somewhere and take advantage of it. Money being tight and trying to be frugal, we looked for a pumpkin patch that had free admittance.  Most places around here charged entrance fees and had all sorts of activities, like hay rides and slides, and while those would be fun,  we cannot afford those little extras on top of the entrance fee for our large family of 6. I knew of a regular farm stand / apple orchard not too far from us that would be sure to have a pumpkin patch, and without looking at their website, decided we should go there to walk around and take pictures of the kiddos. Little did I know! They were packed! Apparently everyone from Washington, D.C. and their cousins in Nothern Virginia decided to pick apples and headed down there, too, for a day out in the country.

Of course, right when we get there, a little train of cut-out barrels filled with kids being pulled by a tractor roars by and then shortly after, a huge tractor towing a tractor float with hay bales filled with people sitting on them go by. The kids all holler for hay rides and jump up and down excitedly. Damn.  This was exactly what we were trying to avoid. Serves me right for not checking their website and learning they were more commercialized than I thought. We tell the kids to "hold on, let's go see how much and what else they got to offer," and hope that there's no entrance fee or charges for anything else going on.

We find the pumpkin patch and take pictures, but the kids are so excited it's hard to take any decent ones. Hopes for a family picture for the Christmas card pretty much fade away. While I'm sure there were plenty of pumpkins grown here, all the pumpkins present in the patch were already cut away from the vine and I found a pumpkin with a label on it! I wonder if they sold all the ones they grew and had to truck in some more from some other pumpkin farmer??  Did they "plant" the bought ones in the patch to give the city folks a taste of picking a pumpkin from the patch?

Whatever. I knew pumpkins would be pricey here, so we already picked up pumpkins from Walmart before coming here. We got them before going to the pumpkin patch, so we wouldn't have to deal with begging, whining, whimpering children who would just dieee if they didn't get a pumpkin! By getting pumpkins first, we nipped that in the bud! Genius thinking on my part, I think.

So the kids lose their interest in the pumpkin patch as another train of kid-filled barrels go by and we bite the bullet and get closer to the action and the crowds of people. $3 per person for a hay ride and $2 per kid for the barrel ride. No, Thank You. "Come on kids, let's go inside and see what they got in there," we say, pulling them away from the sight of the rides and into the big faux barn. Ugh. Packed with people and completely a commercial-style farm stand. A bakery, cafe, fake vintage farm trinkets, and bins of apples everywhere!  We duck through the crowds and out into a blocked-off parking lot filled with vendors. Some kids walk by with their faces painted and I wince, waiting for it. "Mom! Can we get our faces painted?" Sigh. I crane my neck looking for the booth and I spot a sign: Faces Painted- $5.  Hmm, don't think so. I shake my head and it makes me sad to see the disappointed looks on their faces.

While looking for the painted faces sign, I spotted a play area that was teeming with kids and I quickly turned towards Andrew and silently gave him the "look."  The look that says, "move it or lose it!" I point with my eyes and he looks and quickly understands my point and we steer the kids in the other direction. There isn't much else to do but head back to the car and the kids quickly express their displeasure at this. I try and suggest walking through the apple orchard we parked nearby for pictures and the kids whine and groan, but they're good sports and pose for a few pictures.

You can just see their hearts aren't into saying "cheese" for the cameras. They complain the apples are too big, or too small. They fidget and look away from the camera. They finally say "cheeeeeeeeeeese" and this is the best one of the bunch, taken by Andrew and his camera while they're looking at me and my camera.

I make a promise to stop at the store on the way home and pick up some treats for us to enjoy when we get home. I try to be cheerful and upbeat, but they're on to me. Finally, after we get in the car, we explain, "You know daddy hasn't worked in a while, right? Well, that means we don't have a whole lot of money to spend. We can't spend $20 on face painting that will get washed off and down the drain in the shower tonight. We can't spend $8 on a barrel ride or $18 on a hay ride. You get to ride in the wagon at home when daddy hooks it to the tractor and ride around the yard, so you know it's kind of bumpy. Why would you want to ride in an itchy hay wagon that's all bumpy around someone else's yard? Isn't it more fun to ride the wagon at home and when you want to stop and get out, all you have to do is yell and Daddy stops and let you out?" They seem to understand and stop protesting and settle into their seats in defeat.

Their moods improve once we get home and the prospect of making pumpkin faces become a reality.

Andrew and I moan and groan at having to carve pumpkins. We're tired, both physically and emotionally, and hand out pumpkin-head face pieces instead, telling the kids we'd carve tomorrow. They're happy with that thought and make silly faces on their pumpkins, borrow my camera, and take 126 pictures of pumpkins and silly faces.

Today, we put off carving again and encouraged them to paint their pumpkins instead. They spent 4 hours outside painting, washing off, re-painting, washing off, and re-painting their pumpkins. I called it off when the paint started landing on the blue bench and Peter had paint in his ears!

I admit, I hate to carve into these pumpkins. With money so tight, it's such a waste of perfectly good pumpkin that could be turned into pies, cakes, and breads. I'm hoping to convince the kids to stick with painting faces, then I can wash the paint off and cook up the pumpkins later, but 3 out of 4 kids are pretty determined to carve into them. It might be hopeless at this point, all those holes poked into the pumpkins with those face pieces have probably doomed those pumpkins already. Of all the things related to Halloween, the one I enjoy the least is the waste of pumpkins.