summer 2011

summer 2011

Paul and I, all 16 kids and Ashley, Benjamin's wife...Christmas 2012

Paul and I, all 16 kids and Ashley, Benjamin's wife...Christmas 2012
family

Friday, December 16, 2022

it's beginning to look a lot...like Christmas!

 

Can you even imagine the eye-rolling I endured from the teenagers when I popped this nice hat on?
Gingerbread men...

Regular butter cut outs....I baked for hours.  There are over 150 cookies, most for the kids to frost tomorrow.
snow, snow, snow, SNOW DAY!!!!  Today, school was cancelled, snow!  Looks like we might have a white Christmas here in central NY state!



Last night we went out on the deck, there is nothing like big hug snowflakes floating down...
The back yard at night...
Ah, the pool....
Sonja catching some flakes...
I stole this one from Kathryn, little Achilles loves the snow.
Sunny, because she's cute.
Just a snowy road.

So on this fine snow day, Sonja is cleaning Jonathan's room...they have candles lit, it's very cozy in here. They are going to a girls' party this evening, their Yankee Swap gifts are all wrapped.  Camille baked chocolate drop cookies, the ones you roll in confectioner's sugar, to bring.  And, I'm going...to my brother's house!  Years ago, we all went there on Christmas Eve...but first, my siblings:

Cheryl married to Bill with 7 girls (all married, she has 20-something grandkids)

Bob married to Mary, 10 kids, I think 28 grandkids

Tom, married to Kim, 12 kids, about a dozen grandkids...(I think13)

Joey, separated, has on son, and one grandchild

Billy, died (if you've been reading here for a while you know the story, if not:  he took his own life)

Me!

Casey, married to Kim, 2 kids

So there were seven of us, now only six.  We used to all go to Bob and Mary's house on Christmas Eve, but our kids grew up and our familes grew, and our traditions changed. We have a sibling chat, and talked about getting together, and Bob named the night and the time, and we all said YES.  Tonight is the night, hopefully the six of us will all be there.  I'm one of the younger ones in the family, ten years younger than my sister, who is the oldest.  When we're all together, the dynamics strike me as hilarious:  The older ones are so much wiser than us younger ones.   I'm like, hello!  I'm 57 years old now!   But it's part of being with siblings, and I do cherish it.  I love being with those who actually give two hoots about the five cent hamburgers from the place in town, and how candy bars used to be 13 for a dollar at KMart, and how my father used to make us crawl around and clean up our campsites before we left, cleaning up bottle caps and cigarette butts buried in the sand that weren't even ours.  We can laugh about how we all tend to duck down when anyone is backing up, because my father would yell at us to do it.   I grew up thinking all fathers called everyone else on the road Go# damn S-of-a-_itches, our father might just have invented Road Rage. He was hard working and responsible, and had a good heart, but oh he was rough around the edges.  

Anyway.  Dinner tonight is our version of a bowl of cereal for dinner:  bacon and eggs.  These days, it's rather luxury though.  Eggs are $4.39 a dozen, in Aldi!  

I have to go make the frosting for tomorrow, I have the cookies all packed up, and the sprinkles too.  I think I'll just make a big container of white, and separate and make more colors tomorrow, I've packed the food coloring.  

Have a good day...

7 comments:

Cindy said...

You come from a big family - of big families! My kids roll their eyes at me too. Don't they realize we're much cooler than our parents were?! :)

Snow days are the best. We're expecting some this weekend - our second snowfall of the season. Here in Seattle either we get a lot of snow throughout the season or very little. Enjoy your snow, it's beautiful!

Kanadiangirl said...

So neat reading about your family. Two of your sibs married Kims!!! And most of you have bus loads of children! Wow! I'm sorry about Billy, though. If he only would've known that there is always still hope...

Terri D said...

Siblings. There were four of us and now three. My brother died of cancer at age 48. It is a blessing when we can be together. I hope your sibling gathering happened!! I enjoyed my visit with you here!! Happy weekend! xo

Unknown said...

Hi Della 👋

I love your hat!! So cute 🥰 I baked today, but nowhere nearly as many as you! I would be exhausted!

I went to Costco and my goodness 😳😳 It was a madhouse. I just got what I went for, no wandering etc. and got out of there. It nice they have quite a bank of self serve and the ladies are so good.

My goodness………if you had a family reunion you would need to rent a huge hall! That is a really huge family. I hope you have fun there with your siblings.

I’m off to bed 😴😴😴😴

Marilyn from Canada 🇨🇦

16 blessings'mom said...

Cindy, when my son Ben was stationed out there, and lived in Seattle for a few years after the Army, he thought it was rather funny when everything shut down for snow, because obviously there aren't the plows/road salt/abundance of winter workers dedicated to snow removal. And I can't believe how un-cool my kids perceive me.
Thank you, for being sorry about Billy. I realize it's just a hard thing, hard to mention, hard to process, but you are so right, if only he had known...the horrible thing is that none of us had any idea...
Terri, sorry about your brother, that's way too young. It is amazing when we can be together.
Marilyn, Costco can be crazy! The ladies at our Costco are so nice too! One of them always says, "Have a blessed day!"

Anonymous said...

I can't believe the price of eggs!! Here Aldi is 4.11. We have Meijer, and they have a dozen for 3.26. Still crazy high. I'm sorry again about Billy, and hope you and your siblings have a blessed evening together ❤️
Valerie

Michelle in FL said...

It’s so nice to get together with siblings! I don’t see mine very often because they live up north and I live in FL. It’s so much fun when we get together. It’s true everyone reverts to their “age order” personality, ha ha! (I’m the oldest.) I hope you had fun:) I enjoyed reading about your siblings, and wow on all the kids and grandkids!