You Don't See That Every Day

In my corner of the world this past week I ate a lot of food. Not enough to feel sick. But a lot of good tasting food. I watched my husband work on and finish the fence for the wood stove. It keeps the baby out of the area, and it is a great place to dry clothes that don't quite get done in the dryer. I put together the first celebration for our son's 12th birthday. He and a bunch of his buddies played football up at the high school for a couple of hours. A great birthday "party" - minor clean up and I got to stay home in a quiet house. I measured   baby K - looks like at 7 months old, she is 27 inches. I pondered the many blessings God has put into our lives. I introduced my kids to the movie A Christmas Story, you know the one with the classic line "You'll shoot your eye out, kid!" I ran a mile with my son. And it felt good! ** For those of you who have posted comments - thanks! I am trying to figure out a better way to reply, but I don...

playing Rummikub Certain times of the year bring out certain traditions. Holidays of course are full of traditions, family ones and cultural ones. A few years back we started a loose "tradition" of game night on Thursday nights. It doesn't always happen, and we often play games on other nights of the week. We really like board games and card games around here. candle night Another tradition my kids often remind me of is Candle Night. On Fridays during the fall and winter months we have (when I remember) supper by candle light on Friday nights (or sometimes Saturday). The kids enjoy the change - like when the electricity goes out and we have to do everything by candle of flashlight. We scrounge up whichever candles we can that fit the criteria: they have enough wick to burn, and they don't have an overpowering smell; because, really, who wants to smell vanilla bean while eating split pea soup? So I guess you could say I get a candle-lit dinner with my husband n...

Let's look at another one of the blogs on My List.  The writer of this blog is a someone I went to school with. Knit Together (Designs) is just one of her blogs! It covers her knitting projects and patterns, and I am in awe of what she does with her hooks and yarn. Maybe one of these days when I learn pick a hobby and learn to knit I will be using some of her patterns. I just love the baby hats she has made! Her other blog, which I just link to from KTD is called Knit Together. Similar I know but the meaning of the title is so cool. This blog is about her family, and on it she quotes Colossians 2:2 " That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love..." I just love this. My friend is a homeschooling mom of (gulp) 7! She is the first - and only - person I know from my past who homeschools a passel of kids like I do.  I hope you take a peek into her world.

After having time to reflect further on my day of thanksgiving, I have more thoughts. Go figure. I have hit the big leagues! After 38 years of life, and 13 years of marriage, I am The One to Cook the Turkey. On the "odd" years when we don't go to a sibling's house from my side of the family, I get to make the Thanksgiving dinner. My mother in-law did contribute to the meal, but I got the main responsibility for the meat. I used a special secret cooking technique one of my friends taught me. It includes 'massaging' the bird with butter (while the girls made gagging noises) and sticking my special digital thermometer into the turkey breast to keep an eye on the temperature. So I go by temp instead of time. And we had a lovely juice turkey to eat! -*-*- A friend posted on Facebook: "No Turkey day would be complete without a burn to the hand." In my case it's to the arm. However I must not have felt it too much when it happened. Later in the day ...

We had a lovely Giving-thanks day here at home. Grammy and Grandpa Norm came down and joined in the feasting. The table, ready for us prepping the appetizers And we had quite a spread this year for just 8 people to eat. Appetizers: carrots, celery and by request, deviled eggs; On the main menu: Turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, rutabaga, turnips, corn, stuffing, jello, rolls, cranberry sauce, gravy, and dessert - apple crisp and pumpkin pie with ice cream. We are so blessed beyond anything we deserve; we have so much and so often we take it for granted. We have a loving family, relatively healthy bodies, a roof over our head, a stable job, plenty of food and always enough to pay the bills in a timely manner. Thank you God for all of this and so much more!

Today we had the first snowfall of the season. Now I know for some of our family this is not news-worthy, nor exciting. But for us in the Pacific Northwest the first snowfall ... ANY snowfall is cause for excitement and joy. Before bed last night we kept peeking out the windows to see how much more was coming down. Excitement was already building in our little hearts. Each time I got up with the (teething) baby I peeked out again to see what was there. Nothing coming down, but it was sure bright out. This morning the girls were up first and came rushing out with squeals. It didn't take long for the rest of the house to come awake. Thankfully they ate their breakfasts and got dressed before charging out to play. And thankfully school has been on hiatus this week too. The kids played outside all morning, even though there was no more snow and the sun was starting to shine. It was still cold enough though that melting wasn't very much of an issue. Tonight the snow is still t...

I thought I was all set. Lists and lists were made for preparations of this upcoming holiday. I've gotten a couple of items made ahead of time, so I won't have to worry about those on Thursday. I have my tasks broken into certain days so I won't be doing it all on Thursday morning. I even have my weekly menu planned out. Every day except today that is. I drew a blank on what to cook for supper tonight. Usually it's Friday nights that are questionable - and we end up eating pizza. Because why cook when I can go order my favorite bacon bacon bacon pizza a few minutes down the road?! Yes, if we had no children we would support the entire staff of that certain pizza shop! But thankfully for my  health, we don't get to order pizza every night. So I had to come up with something from the cupboards tonight. And even though it is not a 'favorite' of anyone in the family but me, I went ahead and made my chicken rice casserole. It comes from a recipe my mom passed o...

This is what we do on rainy days. Chill on the couch. "Cook" for each other. Put together puzzles. The weather outlook here is rain - rain - rain, maybe a bit of snow, and more rain with wind. Outside it's quite cold, but inside it's rather nice with the wood stove cranked up, and the kids playing quietly!

In my corner of the world this past week ... I felt baby's 2 new teeth; I bought winter gloves and snow pants for the kids; I watched K pull herself up on the edge of the couch; I prayed for a very sick little boy in Texas; last we heard he was recovering; I studied the Proverbs 31 woman in Bible study - a goal to strive for not a yardstick to measure myself against; I finished the Gary Thomas book I was reading, finally. It's called "The Beautiful Fight" and it is a very good book! I highly recommend any of his books. I read our National Geographic magazine; and I learned not to underestimate my kids - today while I was out, my two M girls were in their room ... praying!

A rainbow! Raking leaves is fun! Baby K has learned to pull herself up the shirt says it all.

Friday nights are sure different now, compared to 10, 15, 20 years ago. Ten years ago we had only two children, aged newborn and 2 yrs. Friday nights were usually very quiet - the kids in bed and us finally trying to relax for the week. Thirteen years ago we were newlyweds. Friday nights were for eating out, going to a movie, staying up until midnight. Fifteen years ago G and I were not even dating. Which means we hung out with all kinds of friends, going places, finishing off the work week. Quite a different scene. Twenty years ago we were both still in college. (Go Beavs!) So Friday nights were usually spent having fun with friends, finding a movie to watch, or eating. Lots of eating. And staying up really late, until the a.m. Tonight we had Chinese takeout (and ice cream) and then spent the evening playing games with the kids while baby jumped in her bouncy seat. Noisier than 10 years ago. But I wouldn't change it for anything.

If you look way over to the right side of this blog page you might notice a list of blogs handily referred to as My Blog List . Sometimes I check every single one in a day, sometimes I jump around and pick a few that I regularly read. Today I decided to spotlight one of these blogs, to give you a chance to try something new, and to give the blogger a little exposure, whether they like it or not! So I'll go right to the very middle and tell you about ..... " Nate's Nonsense ". I came across this blog by reading another blog on my list, Old Picture of the Day. The jest and enmity between the two writers struck my funny bone. I found the historic information included in some of the blogs to be fascinating. And then the ability the blogger has to identify old pictures is just amazing. You see, every Saturday Old Picture blog has a Mystery Person contest, and the writer of Nate's Nonsense seems to know the right answer. Every. Week. How?! I'm mystified. So, now N...

I received a quilt in the mail last week. It was actually for Baby K, but she isn't up to running out to the mailbox just yet. (She is however crawling all over, and now pulling herself up to standing if the stool or a person is handy. (yikes)) So the quilt is from one of my sisters-in- law; and it's so special, because it was her first completed quilt. Long ago my grandmother - a very accomplished, much-sought-after quilter - made a baby quilt with this bunny pattern. The cabbages background represent the farm - since I took baby K out there during the summer while we worked. The pink John Deere material - the corners and 'clothing' - represent the the strength from God to help her achieve her purpose; and the heart stitching in the corners signifies the hope she will develop a heart of love for Jesus. The quilted straight lines through the cabbages and edging (which is Old MacDonald material) symbolize the straight paths that are helpful on a farm, and in our lives...

I used to wonder who in their right mind would want to be a dentist. What little boy or girl dreams of filling teeth as their lifetime career? There was that little boy/elf on the Rudolph cartoon (Hermey) but that's all I can think of. But today my own dentist unknowingly shined some light on the subject for me. Yes, I had to go to the dentist today. Thankfully I have never dreaded dental visits. My childhood dentist, Dr. Ware, was wonderful! And I am so thankful to have a really kind dentist these days too. So off I went to find out why, oh why, I have pain in my tooth when I drink cold drinks (which is a lot; ever try to brush your teeth with warm water? Doesn't feel as 'fresh'.) I had visions of cavities upon cavities, or else root canals - which my older sister has just gone through, and no thank you I don't care to! But after x-rays and examining my teeth and gums, the kind doctor said, there's nothing wrong here. What? No holes? No problems. Nope - most ...

In my corner of the world this past week, I read my Runner's World magazine - wahoo, and then I ran ! Yes I did! I watched "Big Jake" a John Wayne classic; I bought donuts (thus the added need to run) I made soup, and it was gooood; I learned that the personalization of faith in the past century has led to a type of isolation of believers - our pastor's sermon was full of good stuff today; and I learned that even though you might think someone's marriage looks good on the outside, it isn't necessarily. I received some shocking, saddening news and am thanking God for my wonderful, talkative husband (and praying for those who are hurting).

I made soup from scratch last night. And I followed the recipe (almost) to a "T". I've just figured it out - I cannot follow any recipe exactly . But the only thing I did differently is to leave a spice out, which didn't affect the taste. My husband really likes split pea soup. I have been buying it occasionally in the can for him; but then I came across a easy-looking recipe, bought the dry peas, and waited until I had a ham bone leftover. I have never eaten this kind of soup, it was a first for me and my kids last night. And I loved it! Along with a loaf of yummy homemade oatmeal bread, I was quite satiated by supper. I'll post the recipe over on my recipe pages. And to round out the night, what could be better than watching the kids play Twister? Well, maybe giving them rides on Twister...

I ran once last week. A week ago today I think it was. My youngest two girls went with me, one in the stroller, the other on her scooter. My 5 year old might just be the runner I have dreamed of having in my family. She likes to run already. She once ran around the track with me, in flip fops, without complaining, and actually enjoying it. She is the one who asks, Are we going to run? when I suggest an outing. Yay! So my run last week - yes, it felt good to be out there, but my shoulders were all tense from pushing the stroller. I'm still trying to get the hang of it. And about 3 hours later I had such a bad headache I barely made it through getting the kids fed and to bed before I toppled into bed to fight off the queasy feeling the headache had brought on. The point? I want to run. I long to run. I see runners and think, "Me!" But my body and sleep schedule don't seem quite ready for it yet. We are beginning to train baby K to sleep through the night. This has a...

My thoughts are turning more and more to the upcoming holidays. Given that there are only 16 days until Thanksgiving (!) and then one more month after that until Christmas (!) I am starting to plan - menus, gifts, activities. Remember I like to make list s? Yeah, this time of year is a great list time. Lists for presents, lists for sending cards, lists for menus, lists for items needed for holiday performances, lists of movies to watch. My kids are at the age where I can start sharing some of my favorite Christmas/ holiday movies with them. On the queue so far are these: Seuss' Grinch , Miracle on 34th St (the 1947 edition, b/c I rarely like the remakes), Holiday Inn , Home Alone , Elf , Little Women , A Christmas Carol, and White Christmas . Those are (mostly) ones I recall from my youth, and ones I really like. We've also got Chevy Chase's Christmas Vacation coming up - my dear G can probably recite every line from this movie. He introduced me to it back in the day,...

Skaminity - noun, meaning "forever, with no end"; in English: "infinity" as in "To skaminity and beyond!" or "I bet it takes skaminity dollars!" The Princess has been introduced to the concept of infinity and has a hard time grasping it - like many of us I would imagine.

Creating things makes me feel ... useful, productive (no, that's not why I have 5 kids). I once had hobbies. And along with that, I once had time to do these hobbies! Now, I don't have time nor space to do them (those 5 kids again!). Scrapbooking - Creative Memories albums, sigh, are halted at 2008. I long for the room and ability, without grabby little fingers nearby, to start back on my family albums. I used to quilt also. 3 of the kids have their quilts made by me, even my husband has one I did. But I still don't have a place to sew them up, or time to do it. So I tried to come up with a hobby I could take with me to kids' lessons. Something I can pick up when I have a spare moment; something easy to pack along in a car. Knitting! Back in the day, my mom tried to teach my to crochet. She tried to teach me to sew too, but my stubborn little self didn't want to learn at that time. Yeah, stubborn youngest, quite so. But now... now I wish I had. I am thinking of fin...

I cleaned the garage today! It was an immense task, carried out over months actually. Ever since we took down the For Sale sign, and started plans for remodeling, the task of unearthing items we have packed away has fallen to me. Mainly since I packed it all and the kids are more adept at opening boxes and leaving. So I called in my troops (my mom!) and got to work this morning. Actually the real reason for cleaning up the mess of boxes and ... stuff... was because my second refrigerator was not working! I had unplugged it - to get to it "later" and this month is finally "later"; mainly because Thanksgiving is coming and I can't get everything ready over a few weeks without somewhere to store the food. (7 mouths to feed and holiday fixin's and a 2nd refrig is quite handy.) Surprises in the refrigerator! Little mice droppings and nesting. Ick. I don't know which was worse, mouse evidence or moldy refrigerator shelves. Gloves, bleach and a shop-vac wer...

The time is upon us! After the start of school, the birthdays, more birthdays, and Halloween, I am turning my thoughts toward Thanksgiving (and then another birthday and then Christmas and New Year's - phew, it just doesn't stop). Anyway, I wrote out some ideas for the bid day's menu. Turkey of course, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, greens beans, corn, rolls, stuffing, cranberries, carrots, celery and olives; for desserts we might have cake, definitely pie, and maybe some turkey shaped cookies. We'll need appetizers of too - maybe some chex mix and deviled eggs with a relish tray. This sounds pretty lofty, far-reaching, a lot to attempt. So I might pare the menu down a bit. So what's on your menu? Any special item you make for Thanksgiving each year?

We took the girls out for trick or treating last night. The oldest went as a puppy - no more girly-girl looks here. But we still had a princess Belle, and a fairy. They got loads of candy which we dumped into an "all-share" bowl once we got home.