Misc. Monday

It was a.n.o.t.h.e.r. snow day in our part of town. I have given up counting how far into June we'll be packing school lunches. It is not unusual for us to have the majority of our snow days in March, we've already had at least 6. Honestly, I don't mind the snow, and I really do love having my kids home, but this "can't plan anything ahead of time, ever" thing is getting a little frustrating. There was nothing on the schedule for today though, so it's a puzzles and minecraft and snowball fight kind of day.

6-7 inches and counting...

Two weeks ago when it snowed I finally got around to the traditional "first (or fourth) snow day donut baking." I thought maybe if I (finally) checked that off it would eliminate our need for more snow days but it didn't work. Nobody complained about my efforts, however.

so. much. better. the first day!

This is what teenage boys do with snow days. For some reason he thought it cooler to fake a wipe out at the end. For this I have no explanation.

My view of today's snow has been predominately from the couch...Note to self: No matter how fun or tempting it is to give your hubby a kick in the tush on the way down the stairs, the effects of slippery socks during such an activity are not evenly remotely worth the risk. I do not know when I have been in such pain, and yes, I have birthed 5 children.  I would choose that over this for sure. Thankfully it does seem better today and I don't believe I really did any serious damage. Nothing a little time, oil and ice can't take care of.

Sure is beautiful while it's coming down.

This little project is bubbling away in my pantry right now....

Inspired by a friend and a few forsaken apples in the bottom of the fridge drawer. I figured I don't have much to lose. So far she seems to be right on schedule. This picture was taken on the first day. We're currently on day number 6.

I happened to have real cream in the fridge right now so we enjoyed a version of this for dinner. I used part half and half and some homemade chocolate sauce in place of some of the heavy cream and I did the, oh so scientific, "eye ball it," kind of measuring for the snow.

the ingredients

the results

These guys gave it 2 thumbs up.

the taste testers

This one was not quite as decidedly impressed. (Or perhaps he was just being ornery, it's happened once before!)

Wherever you are tonight, I hope it's warm and safe!

Of Trees and a Crazy Wife...

  Once upon a time there was a country girl, married to the most patient, if somewhat confused country man. She was a crafty kind of girl and on any given day, you just might find Pinterest on the "recent history" of her stubborn, patience building, laptop. 

 On the lower 40 of the country homestead stood an humongous, old, hollow, tree. Country Man began to fear the old tree would blow over one blustery, winter, day and cause all manner of disaster and distress to the 18 wheeler parked under it's leaning branches. As good country men do, he took matters into his hands and with the help of his trusty chainsaw, he dropped that tree a fine, safe, distance from the unsuspecting truck. All was well.

  Meanwhile back at the country house, Country Girl was busy organizing a Bake Goods fundraiser...two cakes from here...a dozen whoopie pies from them...who else could make some shoo fly pie? Now, of course everybody knows that if it looks good, people will buy it with far more enthusiasm. But how to add some pizazz to that table of baked goodies without adding expense to the Country Girl's pockets, that was the question at hand.

 And then a moment of inspiration (possibly birthed by Pinterest or some other web-y place) struck. Followed directly by a moment of Country Girl bravery. "Just listen to me," she said, "don't try to understand, I know it sounds crazy but..." You see, Country Girl had made similar request of Country Man in the past. Most of them were met with eye rolling excitement and a clear declaration of Country Man's confusion on all things salvaged. But he patiently obliged one more time with only minimal mutterings and questions.


  And so, a few days later Country Girl found herself quietly contemplating behind her loaded down mini van outside the school gymnasium.  "Maybe this was a really dumb idea." "What if the real life version  didn't really look like she imagined it would?" "What if Mrs. Fundraiser Coordinator was not impressed with the hauling of large, somewhat dirty, objects into the food prep areas?" And she almost, a.l.m.o.s.t.  talked herself right out of the plan. But she carried on, prepared to face whatever opinions came her way, the good, the bad, the ugly.

  And sure enough, there were opinions! Lots of opinions...gushy ones...flattering ones..."oh my word, that's beautiful" ones, but not one discouraging word. A couple of inquiries about the possibility of purchasing said large and somewhat dirty objects. Some talk of catalogs and styles and hefty price tags, but not one mention of craziness. 

 

 Country Man is still somewhat confused (he is not a Pinterest user) but even he admitted that it looked pretty cool in the pictures. And that big ol' tree out back, it's still waiting to be cut up and cleaned up. Maybe I, er I mean, Country Girl, should consider making a catalog. =)

Christmastime [was] Here -- Family Traditions Edition

When our first child or two was still very young my husband and I spent some time discussing what traditions we wanted to start for our little family. A few of these traditions go back to those conversations but I've since found that the best traditions are not the ones that you plan but the ones that are such a hit this year that we couldn't imagine not doing them again next year.

This is one of those traditions.

Several years ago our neighbors invited us to their church for Christmas Eve services. Most years my family gets together on Christmas Eve but we decided at the last minute to drag our kids out to the 11:00 p.m. service. Was it the thrill of going somewhere w.a.y. past bedtime? The candle light? The drums and music? I don't really know, but they LOVED it. Every year since they start asking mid November if we can go to church at midnight. This year there was no 11:00 service but we enjoyed the 6:00 service just as much and a certain 7 year old was pretty proud when I handed him my real candle with real fire. Small children are given glow sticks, this was a right of passage moment for sure!

Our tradition of spending Christmas day at home is one that came from my parents. They determined when we were young that we would not be part of the rat race wherein you rip open presents at one Grandma's house so you can run another Grandma's house for more loot. We've done this with our kids too and I think it's my favorite of all traditions. It makes Christmas day relaxing and calm. The very best gift a Mama could get! We usually grill steak and throw some baked potatoes in the oven for a mid afternoon meal. We don't often buy steak, so it's a special meal that requires minimal time in the kitchen.

Stocking stuffers (usually exciting things like toothbrushes or batteries) are torn open with bedheads and pj's. Breakfast is simple, fruit and pastries, (with a side of bacon, by special request this year) and must be cleaned up before "real" gifts are opened.

Someone new read the Christmas story this year and did a pretty fantastic job of it! I don't believe Caesar Augustus is included in the first grade sight words list.

 
The "real" presents were not numerous but they were well received.

Important life skills are being learned here. Gotta teach 'em young!

 

The problem with that whole "White Christmas" dream...
  it makes it hard to break in a new bike.

Mommy was pretty excited about her gift this year too! Not necessarily surprised, but definitely excited!
My husband spoils me! Looks like I'm set up to return the favor now.

Another evolving tradition is that of handmade gifts. This is a good time of year to start searching for ideas if you'd like to make your own gifts this Christmas. I, however, tend to get my best ideas the week or two before Christmas. Here are a few of this year's projects....

Reindeer Root Beer for the guys.

These were super simple and you can never go wrong with food gifts.

Hand painted signs for the ladies...

Slowly convincing my husband that saving the boards from the part of the barn we tore down was a good idea.

I had a lot of fun making these but they were somewhat time consuming.

Maybe I should have started before December 15th.

 ***************

We spent the end of Christmas week with Garry's family. His 2 sisters were here from out of state and the whole family was together for the first time in 2 years. Two brand new baby nieces to be spoiled and loved on. Food. Games. Cousin time. And a round of family pictures. Never a dull moment!

 Somebody was pretty sure she was solely responsible for baby holding and nuk retrieving.

 

  If you happen to notice the blanket behind Little Miss Adorable, it's another last minute DIY gift idea.

I've had several requests for adult sized ones for next year. =)

 Plenty of food. Always.

This picture may or may not have been requested as appropriate compensation for their act of goodwill.

 You guys rock!  Really, you do! 

(Even if you have to remind us...frequently.)

Game time.

It's been 5 years and 5 new grandchildren since our last attempt at family pictures.

It was painful but we endured to the end for the prize.

And yes, bribery during family pictures is one of our favorite traditions too!

Fall is Here

 

It was a dreary, chilly Tuesday.

Great for candle burning...

 

 blanket snuggling...

 

She fell asleep on the couch. This is blog worthy!

 

and coffee & cocoa sipping.

these two. they are the best of friends.

they spend hours and hours playing together.

and I did not know that siblings could get along so well.

honestly, they rarely fight.

occasionally they get a lil on the wild side for the confines of my living room

but they are not trouble makers either.

this morning they were upstairs quietly entertained,

when I went to check on them the 'worst' thing they had come up with

was turning the bunk bed ladder into a balance beam.

I wish I could take credit for all this, but if you ask me for my formula, 

I'm afraid you'd be disappointed.

  the only thing I did different with these 2 from the others 

is have them closer together.

if that makes the difference??

I doubt it.

if we'll have rough days ahead?

I'm sure.

if I feel very blessed to be their mama?

absolutely!!!

 ************************************************

I'm s.l.o.w.l.y. trying to add a few touches of fall around the house.

There are a few specific places that I like to switch out seasonal decor.

This shelf is one of them.

 

{This saying is one I need to read again and again and again!}

And I dug a few old pillows out of the closet and covered them 

with some fall-sy, clearance, fabric from Hobby Lobby.

There is a bit of blue in the design and I thought the blue ribbon would 

help to pull it out but it didn't.

It ended up looking a little lost and out of place

 so I didn't waste the time adding it to the second pillow.

Neither did I waste the time to rip it back off.

'Cause I'm patient like that.

Less than $10 later...they'll work.

Next up, Hump Day!

Enjoy yours!

Farewell Summer

Such craziness around here the past couple of weeks. I thought my life would slow down a bit with the arrival of the big yellow bus, at least between the hours of 7 a.m. and 2 p.m. but suddenly out of nowhere came project after project.

So much handsomeness we had to split them up into 3 different school buildings this year.

 3 different Back to School Nights

3 different schedule systems

3 different sets of fundraisers

3 different lunch menus 

My organizational skills are already over taxed!

 First Day of First Grade

 Off to the Middle School

First Day of Fifth Grade

He thinks he's pretty big stuff!

 First Day of Seventh Grade

(this picture thing is not as cool as it used to be)

And with that, Summer officially ended. Sniff!

I'm never ready for return of homework and schedule and early mornings.

Thankfully they were (in varying degrees) so the transition has been fairly smooth.

********

So I sent them off with backpacks and folders lunch boxes and water bottles, new shoes and cool erasers. All the important stuff. :)

And I turned into house-wifey Hilda!

I don't have a garden here so I am ever so grateful for friends who share their abundance but it doesn't come with much warning.

When I arrived at church last week I found a box of tomatoes for me.

My sister bequeathed her green beans to me when she left the country.

And I already had 5 baskets of apples waiting patiently in the basement.

So there was some of 

this...

a lot of this...

a bunch of these...

and a bit of this...

 

plus 50 quarts of applesauce and 6 batches of homemade granola,
along with the usual grocery shopping and
three meals a day.
Sometimes I wonder what percentage of my life revolves around food.
I'm not complaining! I feel very blessed!
I enjoy cooking and serving my family this way and I am grateful to have plenty of healthy food to offer my growing men.
But I'm ready to think about something else for awhile now.

Maybe I should start with filling out those fundraiser papers.
Anybody wanna buy magazines or coupon books, or maybe support my 'Race for Ed' runners?

Front Porch

One of the things I love most about my old house is my big front porch. It's a lovely place. At least if you can ignore the motorcycles roaring by. I suppose getting up before they do would work too, but that's not a game I'm very good at. Every once in a while I manage to sneak out with my cup of coffee before any little people start running wild. It's a fantastic way to start the day.

The other thing I love about my porch is the picnic table right outside my kitchen door. It's quick and easy to serve the kids lunch out there and we often enjoy dinner out there in the evenings. There is just one problem. The sun likes to beat in right on that corner just about the time I like to serve dinner. We've had one too many squint-y eyed dinners with whining to boot. So I came up with a plan.

I purchased a couple packs of drop cloth from the home improvement store, put in a few simple hems, and wha-la, CURTAINS!

The patient hubs rigged up the wire for me. Not too thick. Not too rough. Not too redneck. Not too loose....fussy much? He did a great job in spite of my help. I dug out the package of little clips from IKEA that I really *needed* two years ago but hadn't open yet. They are perfect for the job. The metal holders, from a yard sale, to keep them tied back, were the icing on the cake.

I finished them just in time for my Mom's birthday celebration. Yup, that means I procrastinated all summer and then crammed the night before so they'd be ready. Sort of the same thing, right?

My other fun projects...

Frame -- yard sale $1
Chicken wire -- yard sale free pile
A couple of staples and 3 minutes later...

Thanks to Clarita's tutorial I was inspired to make pinwheels to add a little pizazz too. So simple. So fun. You should try it. No, not just one. One of every color, in a couple of different sizes!

Food is always a drawing factor, at least for my family.

It's not a birthday party without a cheesecake. I'm usually more of a chocolate, caramel, espresso kind of girl but this vanilla one with fresh peaches was worth every calorie too.

Happy Birthday Grandma!

Party is over now, so  if you need me for anything, I'll be out on my porch, the coffee is ready!!