Fat Tuesday!

Taking Alex to preschool this morning the radio discussion was all about pancakes - for Fat Tuesday of course. 30 minutes of discussion of what makes the best pancake and what do you put on it, sealed the deal of what dinner would be tonight. The kids had lots of questions about what Fat Tuesday was and why people eat pancakes today, and it made for some good dinner conversation. Either way it was a great excuse to make Mom's scrumptious pancakes.



And blog about food, again!

The Cakes

It took a while and one had to wait until tonight to be eaten, but they each made their own cakes without the other interfering and they were delicious.

Emily's Quick Tunnel of Fudge Cake was a favorite Sunday night:
Rebecca's Buttermilk Devil's Food Cake w/ White Chocolate Frosting made the perfect end to Family Home Evening:

Happy Valentine's Day!

Initially, I planned on setting up the craft/sewing room last. This week has proved that I cannot leave this portion of boxes for weeks and weeks. My kids, especially my girls, are very art oriented and they need their supplies.

Weeks ago, I purchased Valentine pencils and made sure I knew right where they were so they could get taped to store bought Valentines this week. Easy peasy, no stress. I got out voted. They all wanted to make them. So I went digging for boxes marked 'kid craft supplies' and 'scrapbook paper,' and 'craft/sewing room' to retrieve the needed supplies. I am more than a little embarrassed at how many boxes of supplies I have ... and they all need to fit in one room. We have now created a plastic tub to contain all the Valentine supplies. This years Valentine's turned out very cute and the children are all very pleased with what they created this year!

I'm so proud of Alexander! Look, he wrote his name on each of the Valentine's he gave his preschool classmates! Then he wrote each of their names, too!

The big kids spent Wednesday afternoon totally in the zone. The entire kitchen island was covered in paper, tape, glue, pencils and lots and lots of Valentines!

Tomorrow we're having GR's parents over for dinner - spaghetti and meatballs - and the girls are making dessert. They haven't narrowed it down yet, but the clock is ticking so I'm sure they'll figure it out soon enough.

Hope you have a fun filled Valentine's day that includes good chocolate!

P.S. Look at these paper boxes! I went looking for the MS Craft supplies necessary to make them at Michaels this week ... no luck. I'm making them just using my basic supplies ... they aren't prefect, but oh so cute! Wouldn't these make sweet shower favors, or little gift boxes for oh so many things! I love how easy it is to make them exactly the size you want for the contents.

Little Chefs

I found the box of cookbooks this morning and while mom put them away, pulled out the Fall '09 Food and Family from Kraft. Surprise, surprise, two recipes jumped out as possibles for dinner tonight. Both were a huge success. Dinner was a tex-mex beef and potato casserole that was very yummy and went over well with everyone except my potato poo-pooing 3 year old. What isn't there to like about cheese and potatoes? It will be a bit before I get the food storage unpacked and put away - still trying to figure out the best way to do that given the space we have for it. Anyway, we're still paying "use it up" when cooking for dinner, so we used the leftover Velveta & Rotel dip from Monday nights basketball game, and instead of using frozen cubed hash browns, we diced and boiled our own potatoes. Worked like a charm and since the potatoes are hot and cooked it didn't need much time in the oven at all.

For dessert, Alex and Anna helped make a special surprise they were both quite proud of. This yummy triple-layer chocolate pie is a quick, simple dessert they could easily help with, as you can see:

Starting to Settle in

We are successfully moved in! It's bitterly cold and snowed all day Friday. But we (and more than half a dozen friends) managed to move a load of furniture Friday night and then again Saturday morning too. I'm so glad we had the kids go to St. Louis. Friday night after the first load of furniture went, we started dismantling the bunk beds to make Saturday morning go more smoothly. That really helped. By the time the kids got home Sunday evening, we had their rooms put together. Kathy spent hours here on Saturday, helping me get the kitchen unpacked. And now is fully functional!

I keep moving furniture around, from room to room, spot to spot. And there are an insane number of boxes in our corner of the basement. We'll continue to chip away at them box by box, week by week.

Work on the old house started on Monday. There are a lot of work men there, and I'm stopping in each morning after I drop the kids at school, to take a look at the progress. We're making a lot of cosmetic changes. When it's all done, it's going to look so different. Hopefully that will help me walk away from this house without too many tears.

When our real estate agent walked through back in November, he said, buyers don't want to do anything. Gone are the days when you can provide a carpeting or paint allowance, or even drop the price. They want the ultimate move in ready home. Our house had none of that. The carpeting needed to be replaced years ago. The kitchen floor ... well you remember. And then there are all the beautiful painting projects we've done in the kids bedrooms and in the dining room and basement. Apparently, rose pink, cornflower blue checks, confederate red, and deep ocean blue aren't huge selling points. I'm going to miss those walls!

We need the house to sell fast, we can't afford to let the house sit for a long period of time. So we're having the carpeting replaced, the kitchen floor & counter top replaced, the tile around the fireplace replaced (thanks to a chipped tile), and the entire house painted four different shades of beige. Unfortunately for us, the windows are horrific and poorly constructed (most of the small pieces that allow the window to open to the inside to be cleaned have broken) we're replacing those too. We're praying that this investment will pay off when the house goes on the market next week.

Twins & Moving Week

Tuesday morning was my day to teach preschool. As luck would have it, I had zero voice. Whispering was a bit of a stretch. Mom was here and had a voice and that was a good thing. This same thing happened to me in December the last time it was my turn to teach ... typically this only happens once a year. Sunday night a little tickle in my throat started and by Monday morning my voice was completely gone.

My little preschool group is a lot of fun. Today we talked about 'Where we Live' which worked out perfectly because Kansas Day was just a couple of days ago. We did some crafts, read a story or two and talked and played with the doll house. When Alex's good friend showed up for preschool wearing a new shirt and brown pants, Alex exclaimed, "I have that shirt!" and ran up stairs. 2 minutes later he came down stairs wearing his matching shirt and a pair of brown pants so he and his friend could match! They thought that was just the greatest thing and "posed" for pictures at the end of class:


Update on Mom and the Moving process continues ... Monday Mom felt so much better. Not up for running a marathon, but well enough to take care of Alex and Anna so I could move boxes for Bob and Diane. Bob, Brent and I took 9 truck/van loads of boxes on Monday. Tuesday, they moved more boxes, but I was only able to help in the afternoon after preschool and before the big kids got out of school. Tuesday night GR and I, with the help of good friends who heeded our desperate call for able bodied men, came and helped us move all of Bob and Diane's furniture out of "the farm house" and into the "townhouse." We started at 6pm and finished at 11pm, taking two loads. Today my whole body aches. My visiting teacher talked me into letting people bring us dinner tonight. To lesson the burden on any one sister, three sisters are bringing a different element tonight. I'm grateful she finally convinced me to accept that offer of help - everything is packed. Tomorrow, as soon as the kids are done with school, they are heading to St. Louis with my Mom in our van to spend the weekend with my Dad while we move all the furniture and set up their bedrooms.
[Anna now knows exactly what to do with a box at every stage - assembly, packing, and lifting. Her Grandpa would be so proud!]

In other news, I have a new calling. I'm sad to be saying good-bye to my primary councilor responsibilities which I've only had since April, and will sorely miss working so closely with the children and their dedicated teachers. But as it is with all new callings, I'm excited and looking forward to being back in Relief Society working so closely with our new president as her first councilor. Although it hasn't been very long since I was released from serving in my stake Relief Society calling, there is still lots to learn and do, and we're looking forward to the challenge and to working with the great sisters in our ward.

Chili Cook-off 2010

Ever since Emily got wind that the ward was hosting a Chili Cook-off she has requested to enter a pot in the contest. She complicated things this week by saying she wanted to make a unique chili - something different than my standard recipe. Something we've never made before is fine, but I wanted to make sure she would eat her chili too. I also wanted the recipe to be simple enough that she could literally make the chili all by herself. After consulting the one cookbook left on the self, and my Southern Living magazine, we found a recipe that fit all the criteria.

Emily's chili was really terrific, although it didn't even hit the judges radar screen. There was a lot of stiff competition this year, even with our attendance more than half what it typically is, (there was a big basketball game tonight between the two rival Kansas teams! thankfully our team pulled it out in the end, but man was it close!) Emily's chili was quite a hit with the audience members who tried it and she got LOTS of complements from them. It's a simple chili with great flavor and texture. It can be made with ground turkey, but since I forgot we had ground turkey in the freezer, she used the ground beef I knew about in the freezer.

Turkey-Black Bean Chili (from Jan. 2010, Southern Living)

(From SL) Black Bean Chili using meat crumbles or ground round received a "definitely a keeper" comment from our readers when we first shared it. Here is our update using ground turkey.

3 (15-oz.) cans black beans
1 large sweet onion, chopped
1 lb ground turkey (or ground round)
1 Tablespoon olive oil
4 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 ((14 oz.) can low-sodium fat-free chicken broth
2 (14.5 oz.) cans petite diced tomatoes with jalapeno peppers (we used one plain can, and one with green chilies)

Topping options: sour cream, shredded Cheddar cheese, sliced jalapeno peppers, chopped fresh cilantro, chopped tomatoes, lime wedges, corn chips.

Drain and rinse 2 cans blacks beans (do not drain or rinse the third can.)
Saute chopped onion and ground turkey in hot oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat, stirring often, 8-10 minutes or until turkey crumbles and is no longer pink. Stir in chili powder and next three ingredients; saute 1 minute. Stir in drained and undrained beans, chicken broth, and diced tomatoes.
Bring to a boil over medium-high heat; cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer 10 minutes. Serve chili with desired toppings.

A fun addition to this years contest categories, cornbread. Hearing Emily was going to make something for the ward activity, Rebecca wanted to make something too. It took her a while, but she finally settled on cornbread muffins and made an excellent batch that was quickly gobbled up. It went up against Native American fry bread in the competition and didn't stand a chance! Someone brought homemade walnut honey butter - oh so very, very scrumptious, especially on Becca's great muffins.

* * * *
Today was a crazy day. It's our last weekend before the big move. Alex had a birthday party this morning, Kathy came and helped me pack boxes for most of the morning, and GR and I took a couple good sized loads to the basement of the new house. My Mom has been here all week long. She came to help with the kids so I can make better use of my time during the day. She was suppose to go back yesterday, because of assignments she had a home, but realized that since she was coming right back on Sunday, it wasn't worth the 10 hours in the car. And so she stayed. This morning, she got royally sick and has been in bed since about 9:30. This afternoon, GR and a friend gave her a priesthood blessing, and she says she's feeling a bit better but man, whatever she has, has really hit her hard! She did ask that we save her some of Emily's chili and one of Becca's muffins so she could try them.

ETA: Sunday morning about 3am, Mom woke up, felt up to eating a bit, and ate Emily's chili with Becca' muffin, and went back to bed. She was a bit slow moving today, but felt so much better. She said that in the blessing GR gave her, he said something to the effect of, ' this infection is going to take some time for you to recover from, but don't worry, we will be taken care of.' This has been so true.

Making Do & a How To

There is an art to making do. Some do it well, and others ... well they just don't. Some can decorate their houses to look like the pages of magazines with thrift & junk store finds, throw in a few key pieces from the want ads and accessories with curb side finds. Others, try and ... well, it looks like it. I am definitely a "make do-er" and probably fall somewhere in the middle, leaning well toward those who look like they "make do."

What I love is usually too expensive, and so I make do with what I have, find or can afford. Our dining room furniture is the dining room furniture GR grew up using. It's the set his parents purchased when they got married in the early 70s. When his Mom and Bob moved to Kansas (shortly after we moved into this house 7.5 years ago), they no longer had room for the set, and it became ours. Honestly, I didn't love it, it was not something I would have picked for myself. It is very 1970s, has only 4 ladder back chairs, and the wood is very, very dark.

We had plans to replace it, but the money was always needed for something else, and so we made do.

Last year when the heavy paper twine used to weave the rush seats of the ladder back chairs started to break and the seats give out from nearly 40 years of use, again we went shopping. Knowing that we wouldn't stay in this home forever, knowing we would eventually have a little more space for a table and chairs, we opted not to replace the entire set and just replace the needed chairs. I found great chairs that instantly updated the look of the table at World Market, on clearance for $90/chair. Not the bargain I typically go for, but all the other chair options I found were either $50 and would have snapped in half 3 months later, or were $150. These are solid, heavy, sturdy chairs that can withstand the everyday use they get in our house.

GR really had hoped to get rid of this set before we move. We tried giving it away, but the set really wasn't the right size for their family. So last week GR listed the entire set on Craigslist ... the hutch, 6 chairs and the table. We had one inquiry ... and really, I don't blame them. The picture was terrible, and the condition of the table, not so great either - would you pay $100 for this table? Neither will anyone else.

The big white spot in the center came from setting a hot pan on the table without using a sufficient hot pad. The tan marks near the end of the table came from me using my ironing mat on the table and steaming the pad to the table finish - dumb. Add to that all the scratches, etches and dings in the top of the table, and you have yourself one very distressed family dinner table in need of some tlc.

I did a google search to see if there was any way to remove the white mark, and found a great YouTube video (I can't find the exact one now, but there are lots out there). Turns out you can easily remove the majority of the white marks left by heat or water using a t-shirt and dry iron. See:

It took a couple of swipes with the iron, but it's gone! Amazing. I love google and all the resources people have put out there!

As for the tan rough marks left behind by my dumb ironing project a couple years ago ... I figured I didn't have much to loose, and tackled it with a green scrubby. I would have used a fine steel wool, but I didn't have any and this did the trick. With a lot of elbow grease I was able to improve it immensely. It's by no means perfect, but much improved.

With no takers on the furniture, it looks like they'll be coming with us to the new house. And we'll put them to good use. The hutch will get used in the craft room and hold all the kids craft supplies. Eventually, I hope to give it a fun coat of paint too. The table and chairs we'll continue to use until Anna is out of her high chair. Then it will probably get moved to the basement for use as a game table for when the kids get older and have more friends over. Until then we'll start hiding a bit of money away here and there so we can purchase my handmade Amish dream table ... Or maybe we'll make our own (LOVE this blog!!) with salvaged wood, and be very happy, making do with something perfectly suitable, easier on the budget, and more in keeping with our lifestyle.

Watch out for the quiet ones

We are smack dab in the middle of packing boxes in a big way. Every couple of nights GR and I will load up the mini-van and take boxes over to the new house (if you're just catching up with us ... we're buying Bob and Diane's country house! They are moving into town - a huge, beautiful, brand new condo!). The mini van, with the back bench folded down can hold 13 plastic storage tubs - who needs a truck when you have a mini van? Bob's given us a corner of the basement and it is quickly filling up. Thanks to the help of good friends and my Mom, we're on track for moving the first weekend in February. One second I'm super calm and feel really good about what we've accomplished, the next minute I'm sure we'll never make it and I'm totally overwhelmed with what is left to do. And there is still so much!

The kids are handling the house slowly being packed up over the course of five weeks fairly well. More often then not, I'm having to say, I'm sorry we've packed that already when they ask for something. All but a few of their books were packed weeks ago, as were most of the board games. All the craft supplies are packed up too, save but a box of crayons, a pair of scissors and some glue sticks.

The biggest challenge for me has been having the food storage packed and all but one cookbook. I'm discovering some great new recipes in a seldom used cookbook from 1998! And I'm rather impressed by what I'm able to make using only what's in the refrigerator, little pantry and freezers -- good gravy we have a lot of random things in there. Thankfully it means I don't have to shop much and hopefully we will have less to move as we whittle our way through it.

Anna continues to be extremely adventuresome, what a little personality!! She is definitely one who you have to worry about if she's super quiet. When she's super quiet one of three things is happening ... she's sleeping (rare), she's playing independently, she's discovered something to disassemble and dump out. Lately she's been doing the later more so than the others, probably because she knows I'm tired and have my head in boxes all over the place.

Here's a glimpse of what she's been doing ... I'm sure I'll have more to share in the weeks to come!

14 January 2010

Waving at the camera to wish her cousin a happy birthday. Note all the toothpicks on the floor behind her.

15 January 2010 - Lots of slivered almonds from the freezer.

18 January 2010 - hundreds of little red tube beads ... Ms. Sherlock, discovered them well hidden under the couch.

20 January 2010 - off to the Grocery store with Mom for a gallon of milk - all decked out with her scarf and three necklaces that had to be worn together. Yep, I'm worried ...

Pinewood Derby ... a photo story

They've been working on for a full week straight. Designing, cutting, sanding, painting, assembling, weighing, testing. To be fair, and allow each the level of participation they desire, two cars were made. The son's car, and the dad's car. Both enjoyed the experience immensely. Both learned a lot for next year.


The whole family went out to support Sam at his race. We were all thrilled with how his car turned out. Sam really wanted a Jayhawk on his car, not just red and blue paint (pictured above, far left - red and blue with blue wheels). We were able to use temporary tattoos for the Jayhawk decals on the nose and tail of the car. Worked really well and a clear protective coat kept it from rubbing off.


Both cars won lots of races. Sam placed 5th in the Boy Scout division and was so pleased with his car!


GR's car raced in the open division. He worked really hard on his car ... using a sweet design he found on line, spending lots of time in Bob's workshop getting cuts just right, and the final touch - a special color changing paint. We are all very proud of his car ... and were all pleasantly surprised when it won ... race, after race, after race.



They are already making plans for next year.

18 months

Yesterday, Anna turned 18 months and we've started the process of going to nursery. She did very well today, but I'm not holding my breath (and well, since I'm really typing this on the 1st of March, let's be honest, she's not gone back unless her daddy is with her, oh the long road we have a head of us). She looked super cute yesterday with her hair all done up and wearing a "fancy" dress (Rebecca's first Christmas dress - what were we doing putting a 9 month old in a size 18 month dress ... first time parents I guess). I of course didn't get pictures before it all went down hill, so today I sat Anna down after doing her hair and took a few pictures. I'm including some outtakes so you can see just how expressive this kid is. Ahhh, she doesn't have any words -- none -- but she can sure convey what she wants to with her face.

Best Friends

Oh the snow! WOW! What fun the kids have had!! And I found snow pants in the next three necessary sizes. Apparently, the last time I purchased snow pants I needed 5T ... ahem ... yeah, that doesn't even fit Sam now.

So ... the kids four day weekend was spent playing out in the snow with their good friends from up the street. Oh how I will miss these kids being able to play with each other next month. While I'm really looking forward to the space that country living will allow, the appeal of the neighborhood and children being able to arrange/transport themselves to and from play dates, I am really going to miss this, and so are they.

GR & Kate plus Eight

Tonight we - actually I guess it was really only me, GR didn't get home until the night was well underway, hummm anyway - got a taste of what it would be like to feed 8 children 10 and under. The oldest three are the same ages, roughly speaking. At most they are about 6 months apart. So here's our family if we'd had three sets of twins:

I managed to satisfy all but one child's taste buds with chicken enchiladas. I was pretty impressed by that turn out.

Last weekend while GR and I were packing and moving boxes, their family invited the three big kids to stay for pizza at their house - so very unexpected and very generous. School was canceled for tomorrow making it the perfect chance to return the favor. Plus the girls were itching to make a new special dessert and this was a great chance to share it with everyone:


It's inspired by dessert parfaits they saw in an American Girl Magazine from the library. But it's basically a variation of Death by Chocolate - one of GR's signature desserts. Brownie bites, crushed Girl Scout Thin Mints, chocolate pudding, topped with a bit of whipped cream and a sprinkling of mini chocolate chips. Yum!!

Welcome 2010

Kansas got 8-10 inches of snow Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and then the day after Christmas. Being out of town, some good friends paid someone going door to door to clear our driveway along with others in the neighborhood (widows, single parents, etc.) less likely to be able to do it on their own. With the huge pile of snow heaped along the curb in the front yard, the kids wanted to make a snow cave. GR spent an hour this morning with a shovel and a few gardening tools digging out a small cave for the kids to play in ... perfect! If the temperatures hold, I think I may be sent to the store in search of snow pants later today. The multiple layers the kids have been donning for the last 24 hours really only keeps them warm and dry for 30 minutes and by 45 they are inside pealing wet frozen clothes off the body.

If the little ones weren't barking like seals they'd be out there too!

Happy New Year!

We're letting the kids stay up late (They strongly petitioned to be allowed to stay up until midnight, and we strongly denied their petition.) and we played four rounds of Blokus Classic, one of several games the kids got for Christmas. So much fun for everyone to play! A little after nine we sent the kids to bed, I kissed GR good-bye (he's spending a couple hours with the youth tonight at their activity) and I am going to make a valiant effort to bring my blog up-to-date so yes your blog reader is going to freak out and no I don't expect you to read many or any of them.

I've read so many well written New Year wishes today ... I know mine will not come close to being as eloquent. Last year I choose my new years wishes carefully, wishing all a blessed new year, knowing the year, as each does, would bring immeasurable happiness, joy, love, trial, pain, heartache, and sorrow. I am grateful for the tremendous blessings 2009 brought, for the many tender mercies of the Lord, in my life.

In the same vein, I wish you all a year of strength. May 2010 bring you strength in body, mind and spirit, strength in character, strength in relationships, strength in motherhood ... ah the amazing year we will have if even a 10th of this wish is granted!

Happy Birthday Grandpa Art!

My brother, in jest, challenged Daddy to blow out his candles using a party horn blower. He did it, twice - counter clockwise and then clockwise - without catching it on fire.

Wishing you and yours, a very Merry Chirstmas!

Well folks if you were hoping to get a Christmas card from us, I can tell you right now it won't be coming in 2009. I'm thinking, "we've moved cards" with our new address around Valentines Day might be nice. All of us crowded around a mound of moving boxes could make for a charming picture ...

So let this be our heartfelt wish to you and yours for a very merry Christmas! Know that we love you and cherish our association with each of you whether you are near or far. It's been great fun opening all your wonderful cards, reading your Christmas letters, and seeing how much your beautiful children have grown, while you haven't aged a day!

We are looking forward to spending lots of quality time with family both here in Kansas and in St. Louis over the next week. We are all looking forward to talking with my sisters who live far far away - I am so grateful for amazing technology that makes it possible for time and distance to vanish even for just a handful of minutes.

I'll leave you with pictures from some of our Christmas Eve festivities with GR's parents:

Playing B-I-N-G-O! This was great fun and a game we could play a few rounds of, walk away and come back to repeatedly throughout the day. Diane picks fantastic prizes (could be done in lieu of stocking stuffers if you have an older crowd) ... chocolates, hand lotions and sanitizer, small pocket games, flash lights, cars, lip gloss, etc.:




Birdseed Wreaths:




Very fitting since it's snowing right now, and 'it doesn't show signs of stopping'. Use refrigerated bread sticks, roll into a ~10 inch snake, brush with egg white and roll in bird seed. Connect ends to form O or wreath shape. Bake bread as directed on the wrapper. Thread string through, tie a knot to create hanger. Hang on branches of trees for birds. .



Merry Christmas!

Santa's Elves

We are mailing holiday packages this week, and so this evening we made a couple batches of our favorite holiday candy ... square pretzels topped with melted Rolos and M&Ms:





I'm hoping to also make peppermint bark, having now found white chocolate chips made with coco butter, but we'll see how the week plays out.

On a side note. Yesterday I woke up to no voice .... whispered, clapped and snapped my way through the day. Answering the phone was a joke. More than one person thought they'd dialed the wrong number. Today my voice worked enough that I could teach preschool, but after talking nonstop for 90 minutes, my voice was pretty much done for the day. Thankfully I sound much worse than I feel - I just hope it stays that way!

Whirlwind of a Weekend ...

Friday night was the Ward Christmas Party, we dressed in our jammies to enjoy a 'ride' on the Polar Express. The evening was really well planned out and everyone had a wonderful time.

This year did have some unique challenges which, from what I hear, caused quite a stir among some ward members. I've gotta say, it is quite interesting being on this side of the Bishop ... oh the things people say ... any hoo ...

Our activities chair moved in November, and the ward budget got killed earlier in the year, consequently there was no one to plan the Christmas dinner/party and zero budget, and I mean zero budget, to fund it. The Young Men organized the evening and made assignments for activities. The dinner was potluck (we used real plates and silverware from the kitchen), and thanks a handful of families who went above and beyond their single dish assignments we had an amazing meal, and no one went hungry!

The Young Women did the decorations - reusing decorations from previous years and adding toy trains to the center of some of the tables. The Young Men did the setting up and helped the Young Women with washing the dishes. Primary (with the help of the Activity Day girls) had cookies for children to decorate. The Relief Society provided face painting - hands down the largest success of the night!, and a small bell ornament for the children to make. The men took care of putting up all the tables and chairs and sweeping down the cultural hall floor.

Saturday started with the brunch - what a great year! We were small in numbers this year, maybe 50-60 women. Only a handful of my friends were able to make it out this year, but we had a great time chatting and talking about holiday plans. And my Mom came out again this year with my dad! That is always such a fun surprise to have them walk through the doors and share this day with us! I think Diane and I are slowly finding a better balance in how many savory appetizers to provide and how many sweets to prepare. It's hard cutting back on the sweets, because there are so many good recipes! But the ladies to have their favorites, and neither of us has time to make something that isn't going to get eaten, even if it is super yummy.

On the heels of the brunch was a very special little girls baptism, so as soon as Mom and I got things from the burnch cleaned up we raced off to the church to meet up with GR, my Dad and the kids, and give our special baptism girl, lots of hugs and birthday wishes. Then I practiced with the ward choir for the Christmas program, GR sent the kids home with my parents. And we swung by a local holiday sale where a friend was selling some of my burp cloths and pillowcases along with her Kansas beef, so I could pick up the leftover product.

We spent an hour or so cleaning up the main floor of the house, trying to get everything from the ward party, the brunch and the sale put away. Then my dad helped Sam write a talk for Primary Sunday morning, I pulled together my sharing time for Primary, and GR got the last little bit for his fireside Sunday night taken care of. GR and my Dad fed the kids dinner while, Mom and I went shopping for ornaments so we could attended the ornament exchange at Katrina's. More great food, belly laughs, and great ornaments! Then it was home again to finish up sharing time, mom made banana muffins for Alex's nursery snack, and we all hit the sack.

GR and I got woken up by Emily at 3am. Rebecca threw-up on the top bunk and poor Emily got splattered in the face with vomit. What a way to wake up! While the girls showered, GR and I spent 45 minutes getting their room cleaned up, carpets steam cleaned, and laundry started. Rebecca stayed home from church with my mom and Anna.

Sam gave a wonderful talk. I'm saving the "notes" he wrote to help him remember what he and Grandpa prepared. They are charming and sweet in his six year old script. My sharing time worked relatively well despite waking up with a drippy nose and seriously sore throat. I could barely sing the base line, so choir was out for the afternoon. GR's youth/parent fireside on pornography this evening (with all three wards) went well. It gave parents and youth lots to talk about. And it looks like the three bishops are considering having it be an annual thing.

I'm looking forward to a quiet week. This weekend while extremely fun, was a bit much. And considering my throat isn't getting better, and my nose has already gone through one double roll of toilet paper in 24 hours, I'm thinking it's a good thing I'm only responsible for sending cookie decorating supplies to the kids holiday parties Friday!

Old Fashion Christmas

For me the real start to the Christmas season starts with two things, The First Presidency Christmas Devotional, and the annual Christmas parade downtown. We worked hard to get everyone out the door early so we could get a good parking spot - note for next year 6:30 am is better than 7:00 am. We pulled in just after 8 and got a great spot, but it wasn't on the parade route. Grandma and Grandpa pulled in around 7 and got the very last spot.

It was a very cold, brisk morning. GR made a large batch of hot chocolate we stored in our "soccer" thermos, and I loaded up the back with quilts and fleece blankets, fearing the kids would never make it downtown for four hours if the temperatures held in the low 30s.

We started our morning with a lovely breakfast at the local bakery ... the kids all ate cinnamon rolls and hot chocolate. While GR, Anna and I had a more "traditional" breakfast of eggs and hash browns. Note we all still fit in one booth! With how quickly the kids are growing, I doubt this will be possible next time we go in for breakfast.



Alex and Sam were in serious need of haircuts. There hasn't been time to get into have Ann cut their hair, so we stopped in at the local barber shop downtown before hooking up with Grandma and Grandpa to see the Gingerbread house display. This years Gingerbread houses are fantastic! The houses are donated by different members of the community, then placed in categories, judged and auctioned off to benefit the local Boys and Girls Club. It's a serious fund raiser that brings in big bucks for the charity. One of the gals from Diane's church group did a gingerbread house with her "little sister" and their house took 2nd place in their age division! We love walking around and seeing the many, many creative houses. It's always exciting to see houses built by people we know. This year, our friends Jeanie and Jeff did a fantastic Blue Clues house!



The parade was excellent - I'm sure I say that every year. Thankfully mother nature showed mercy on us and the glorious sun came out kept us nice and warm - for a cold day in December - making it perfect parade watching weather for December. Everyone sat in the back of Grandpa's truck with their cups of hot chocolate. They didn't even dig into any of the quilts we brought - something we haven't had to do in many years. Anna spent the first half of the parade in her stroller on the front lines of the parade. She vigorously waved at each participant and yelled "HA!... HA!" to them as they rode past.



This team of eight horses pulling a large wagon was one of the most impressive rigs in the parade:




We finished out our adventures with lunch at a local deli, not downtown.

Pateince

Sam got a model car from his soccer friend Alec as a birthday gift back in July. Thinking it was a really involved model project we kept waiting for a day when GR had a couple of hours to devote to Sam and the car. Today was the day, after much waiting and asking and waiting and asking and waiting and asking, Sam got to put together his race car! It took a grand total of 15 minutes. The car looks amazing. Sam couldn't be more thrilled, and his parents learned a valuable lesson ... not everything is really as involved as it seems in our heads.