winter visited...

 

Miss Charlotte Claire got to drive home from church today, first time driving in the snow!  The roads were actually quite clear in the afternoon.

Char running Legit Coffee...where you can get a pour-over, and something yummy...

I made peanut butter fudge and the cookies...Margaret made the chocolate mint brownies, I made buttercream frosting, and melted chocolate and added peppermint, to drizzle on the top, over the chunks of York Peppermint Patties, topped with an Andes Candies mint...

Four of my girls practicing their instruments...Emily (our oldest), Camille (the youngest), Margaret, and Evelyn...

The foyer at church...

Wulf and Tennyson came for a visit on Saturday, and brought all their energy with them. I helped them make a pile of pillows to jump into...

Wulf!   I thought the game would last until one of them got hurt, but they are very good jumpers, didn't land on each other, and didn't get hurt at all.

I made them a snack, along with crackers and raspberry jam.

Cookies!

Our countdown calendar...we've had it for YEARS.

Emily came over this fine evening...we had a snack-y type dinner:  chicken wings, chicken nuggets in the air fryer, egg rolls, barbecued meat balls, scrambled eggs (Paul!), sliced peppers, baby cucumber slices, grapes, and orange slices.   We talked about activity club, and the Christmas celebration for the church this weekend, and about the New Year's gathering.  We laughed our heads off at silly things, and solved the world's problems.  

Now it's Monday morning, and it's quiet.  The pups have been outside, fed and watered, and are smiling happily.  Kathryn is going out and about this morning, and asked me if I would like to accompany.  Of course I would!  Seriously, taking small children out on cold snowy day by oneself is challenging...I know from experience that having one extra set of hands makes a world of difference...one diaper change can be a major feat when you're alone and outnumbered by small people.  

Most of my Christmas shopping is done, but I still have a few people to buy for.  I start to get all miserable inside around now, because I want to make sure I give all of my kids nice gifts.  Then of course their spouses too...I do have most of them covered, and now Jon is coming home too...I have these horrible thoughts that they'll all be here and I'm passing out presents, and oops, Ben, I didn't get you anything!  We all know it's the thought that counts, and imagine being that son, and you weren't thought of.  

I made this incredibly easy peanut butter fudge the other day, I tasted a few crumbs and oh dear it's good.  It's a recipe from Barefeet in the Kitchen:

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Simply melt the butter in a saucepan, add the peanut butter and vanilla (I put it in all at the same time), when it's all melted, and stirred up, add the sugar a bit at a time while stirring....I dumped it all in, stirred until smooth, and put it in a 9x9 pan lined with parchment, wrapped it up tightly, and into the refrigerator.  Four hours is the suggested time for setting.  It was so easy to just lift that parchment out of the pan and cut it into perfect little squares.  I liked the recipe because it was so easy, and it turned out good.  I've had a few fails with peanut butter fudge, when it tasted terrific but didn't actually turn to fudge.

I think it would make a really good base for homemade peanut butter cups...this time of year is hard when you're a love of all things sweet and savory.  

Ah well...have a really good day, and don't let life stress you out.  Enjoy the moments.  

This is what was my Facebook memory for the day:

It says, "so much to do, so little time, but as Mariel just said, "We need to hug these little girls while they are still little."  Profound.  Now those little girls are 15 and 16....and Sonja is twenty!  Life truly breezes by...

...at the library...

 ...Achilles and Rhys enjoyed the library...Achilles wasn't shy at all in the play area, he befriended a little girl in pigtails, but I didn't want to take pictures of someone else's child...so I just took a few of Rhys...Rhys who liked running around....and wanted to take books off the shelves...

It was a lovely morning...

...fog on the river...we had a few other places to go...Target, to return something that arrived broken, then Aldi because...well, Aldi.  Then home....ah, home. Kathryn brought the kids in for a cozy afternoon.  Rhys took a nice nap in Jonny's room, then Grace came over with Grant and Ruth...

Grant, Rhys, Ruth, Kathryn, and Achilles...

Suri and Sunny...they are SO good with the kids.  

Orange Guy is NOT so good...he's rather unpredictable. He'll just purr and purr, but if he feels threatened, he'll just take a swipe, maybe a little bite...usually he'll just run away, but he has been known to lash out.

Little Miss Ruth Eleanor...so cute!

Old Kitty, aka Kettler.  She's the same, doesn't care much about the kids, but if they bother and bug, she'll take a little swipe.  Not a major attack, just a warning, a leave me alone scratch.  She actually hasn't done it in a while, but the kids don't tend to bother her very much.

We had a fantastic dinner...I had bought some strip steaks buy-one-get-one-free, and Kathryn had two also, which she brought over...we seasoned them and let them come to room temp, and Kathryn so expertly pan fried them, basted with butter and rosemary at the end, oh dear, so good!  I put fries in the oven, and we also roasted Brussel sprouts.  There was a baguette, sliced and warmed in the air fryer...best hack ever, just dump the sliced bread in there and turn it on for a few minutes, all warm and toasty!  

For some reason, I decided to bake pies yesterday.  One pumpkin, and one sugar-free pumpkin...I did add Swerve to it, but the other ingredients are the same...not saying it's a healthy pie, but probably healthier.  I do LOVE pumpkin pie.  Walmart sells sugar-free whipped cream in the can...oh, so yummy.

We are planning and preparing for our Christmas Eve celebration here.  We have to batten down the hatches and move some furniture around, as I believe 31 will be here.  The ride-ons will disappear, and the big trucks, and we'll move the kitchen tables...put one bench in the living room, just clear things out a bit.  I was thinking to make lasagna, and meatballs.  Not 100% on that yet...then a ham on Christmas Day...less will be coming over then, but it still could get busy in here.  

This fine morning, it's quiet in here.  Sonja left for college, Charlotte Claire got on the school bus, Camille is still sleeping, the animals are all sleeping...the fake fireplace is humming away...and here I am in the comfy chair.  Tomorrow, I have to bring Camille to the orthopedic dr. again, to discuss the results of the MRI, and decide how to move forward with the former "good" knee, that dislocated in the summer.  Then in the evening, a trip to the airport to pick up Paul!  Then on Saturday, a gathering with our over fifty friends...then a meeting on Sunday.  

Today, maybe I'll finish wrapping what I have, and sort them out...

Ah well...have a really good day!

perfectly pleased!

 This fine chilly morning, when the skies were dark and the rain was thundering down on the metal roof, Kathryn was headed over to bring me to Costco.  I don't go there often.   

Rhys and Achilles...he looked a little cranky, but he was actually quite happy and pleasant in Costco...

They liked the big huge snowman.

Here's where I was so pleased:  a rack of coats with a sign, $12.  No, couldn't be.  They looked SO nice.  We looked around, the price seemed correct...I tried one on...XXL, if you must know, and it fit PERFECTLY!  I still couldn't believe that such a nice coat, a was twelve bucks.

Pics from online, but it's even nicer in real life!  The inside of the hood is all furry!  Here's the kicker though:  we were in line, buying my chocolate chips (4.5 pounds for $9!), panko breaded chicken nuggets, a box of egg rolls for the holidays, milk chocolate covered almonds, a gift for Paul, a gift for Adrian, a gift for Margaret, some beautiful looking bakery bread for the girls, and a case of seltzer with a sad ending.  Anyway, the cashier scanned the coat, it came up $12, I mentioned how good a deal it was, she held up that XXL coat, and in her loudest cashier voice, said,"Wow, it comes in big sizes, too!"   yeah.  

The seltzer's demise:  Kathryn drove today, then stopped in for a nice afternoon visit...lunch, a nap for Achilles, afternoon coffee....I carried in my stuff, but couldn't get the seltzer.  She set it on the back of the truck, right up on the back corner of the bed of the truck.  I thought I would just go get it later.  la-di-dah, forgot all about it...on my way home from Activity Club tonight, saw a familiar case of seltzer in the middle of the road...thought, gee, someone lost a whole case of seltzer..., then DING!   Sonja had taken the truck out to church for a bible study, this was a few miles from our house...

No, I didn't go back and pick it up...it was dark, and on a hilly road...what should I have done?  Call 911, um, some idiot dropped seltzer in the road...?

ugh.

I'm super tired, stay up too late when Paul is gone, can't sleep well, get more and more tired...tomorrow, we're going to the library...I shouldn't get any books!  

   

I'll be home, for Christmas...you can count on me...

 ...YES!!!  Jonny is coming home for Christmas!!!!  He'll only be here for less than a week, travel from Germany eats up that vacation time, but YAY!!!!  I cannot wait to see my boy!  

This is what I did yesterday...nothing screams "Christmas" like these cookies.  I didn't eat one, but lest you think me virtuous, I did eat lots of cheddar cheese popcorn last night while watching a show with the girls.   Full disclosure:  I did break a piece off of a broken one, before they were frosted, and oh dear, so good!  I already know they're good, and one wouldn't be enough for me, so I just admire them.  

Why I didn't take pictures of Wulf, Tennyson, and Grant helping frost cookies, I'll never know.  Grant loved it most, he kept saying he was a lucky boy.   He's got such a huge heart.  Wulf, oh he does too.  They're loud and crazy, and they wack each other with the empty wrapping paper rolls, but they are so sweet.  I have (had!) two lovely Christmas snow globes.  The other day, Achilles learned not to touch them, he just sat on the stool and looked at them....well, oops, I didn't ask the boys yesterday not to touch, and CRASH, one fell from poor Wulf's hands, he was stunned, shocked...I was glad no one got hurt, and that Sonja cleaned it up for me.  

It's so nice having the grandkids here.  They play in the empty Amazon and Target boxes more than with the toys.  Sam took Wulf and Grant outside for a while, and let them have a turn shooting the b.b. gun.  I had dinner simmering away in the crockpot: a nice chuck roast from the piece of cow we bought last spring, from the farm across the street from Benjamin's house.  I put carrots and potato chunks in, and two packets of gravy mix, with onion powder, a little salt, and lots of pepper.  Then, right when it was ready, some pop and fresh croissants, and mmm, dinner!  

Saturday:  I didn't get enough pictures, but this is what we did:  our church is not only our local church, but it's the conference center, gathering place, for lots of other churches...and we decided that since we have such a snowy winter, it would be good to make use of the property to keep the kids and teenagers busy, so a ski hill/sledding hill is being built, complete with tow ropes to get back up the hill!  We had a ribbon cutting ceremony on Saturday for the ski lodge, even though it's not totally finished. There's a HUGE deck overlooking the hill, two huge saunas, two hot tubs, and the lodge will have a stone fireplace, bathrooms, and a coffee bar that serves inside and out.  

Paul and Mariel...

Paul and Emily...

Lovely settings with charcuterie appetizers...

This is the ski lodge, the doors are genius, summertime it can be all open air.

Elise with her cocoa, and big sister Anya...:)

Emily and Evelyn were serving cocoa and coffee, Samuel was doing air soft shooting with the older kids, Sonja, Charlotte, Camille, and Kathryn were doing crafts with kids, like beading...Mariel and Margaret had a gingerbread house making set up for the kids, I ended up joining them.  That's where the fun is, with the kids.:)

The day ended with an amazing feast, of some sort of roast beef in gravy, potatoes, green beans, a roll, all served to the table, so nice.  We had music and we had encouragement from God's word, and we had fun and fellowship...then cheesecake with a tart berry sauce to end...the youth stayed longer and played games and had pizza...we went home, because Paul still had to pack...I brought him to the airport yesterday morning, he's in Atlanta for the week.

Rhys...she saw the hats in Target, and promptly took her own cute pink one off and threw it in the back of the cart...

Every hat I picked up, asked her if she wanted to wear it, she nodded yes.

She really liked this one.

Achilles enjoying the Christmas stuff...

Rhys, chilling...

This is the gingerbread house that Aaron, Molly,  and Margaret made so many years ago...

The other day...Paul giving Rhys a ride...

He brought me flowers!

Grandson Declan...so stinkin' cute.

Grace took this one of me, reading to Grant and Achilles, and that's Ruth...dressed for the weather, ha...

This fine morning, I have to get moving...Camille has to have an MRI on her knee, the one which dislocated...it has popped back out a few times, not completely, as she wears a knee brace continuously...her thighs are getting stronger with all of her therapy and exercising, but that knee is just extremely wobbly...so off we go, to a little city half hour from here...we have a few errands after, then home, ahhh home.  

I always stay up too late when Paul's gone traveling.  Last night I finished my book, "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn"at around midnight, ugh.  I woke up at six, and contemplated going back to sleep and not getting up to see Miss Charlotte Claire out the door, but decided to be a good mom...

Ah well...I haven't done much this morning, just put away some clean dishes, washed a few, and added hot soapy water to the soaking crockpot...yesterday I vacuumed and steam mopped the floors, but with dogs and cats, ugh, they have to be done again today.  Indoor dogs, sleeping on the couches, have to wash the covers all the time, but they are such good companions, and so sweet and so good with the kids.  Sunny HAS to lick their faces just once when they first come in the door, then she leaves them alone...until one gets in the high chair, she plants herself close by, and the kids learn they can drop food, and it's hilarious when she gobbles it up...we try to keep an eye on this, as Labradors are piggy-pies, and don't need table scraps.    If one of the kids walks around with a cookie, she'll take notice, and maybe sneak a lick, she won't just snatch the cookie, but if they set it down, or put it right in her face with an open hand...well, she's game.  Suri is much more relaxed, probably because she's lazier than the day is long.   

Ah well....bye to the blog and the comfy chair...off I go...

and so December begins...

 

Do you like my coffee cup-gingerbread man top?  It's not technically pajamas, because I didn't sleep in it.  It's around the house clothes.  

Ah, the morning pour-over area gets festive!

Shh, we may or may not have used these mugs all year, but now, yay, it's the season!  (I got four Starbucks mug gift sets, with cocoa packets, coffee packets, and chocolate, at the dollar store after Christmas last year).  

Yesterday was a puttering day.  I vacuumed and did dishes, did some cleaning and more decorating...the girls think I have too much stuff out, and I probably do, but I like it all, and don't want to put any away.  A few years ago, my son-in-law told my daughter that it looks like autumn threw up in her house, because I had so many fall decorations...ouch, but SO TRUE. I've taken that to heart, and cut way back on those orange flowers, ect., but Christmas stuff...eeks.  I like it all so much.  The throw pillows and warm blankets, and the little trees, and strings of lights...

In the early afternoon, yesterday,  Camille and I headed out in the wind and pouring rain to her optical appointment at Walmart.  The eye dr. has been having issues receiving payments from our insurance, so we had to pay for the exam, and submit it ourselves for reimbursement.  Cam had her exam, and we were picking out glasses...the insurance covers a certain amount for frames...but wait, they weren't authorizing payment...the nice lady behind the desk called the company, and...oops, our policy had changed:  even under 18's can only get glasses/exams covered every other calendar year.   Camille's last glasses were July of 21,  so the exam won't be covered or reimbursed, not a huge deal...and we decided to just go back in January to get the glasses.  The lady there, Amy, is so super nice and was so kind about it all.  I can't believe our policy changed like that...it was always that way for the adults, but kids, how can their glasses last for two years?

Anyway.  I had made dinner earlier, it was simmering away in the crockpot...chili!  It was the perfect day for chili!   Shh, it was venison chili!  (I didn't mention that fact to the kids, ha)

I admit, I am not a huge fan.  But, it's in the freezer, and I hate being a snob...so I browned it up, added a little bit of ground beef too, with lots of onion powder, garlic, salt, pepper, and a chopped onion...added crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, and diced tomatoes, black beans,  lots of chili powder...it was kind of bland, so I added a packed of taco seasoning, (because we ran out of chili powder)...then another, and it was actually good!   When we came in from the store, armed with some boxes of corn bread muffin mix, the chili smelled so yummy...Cam mixed up the cornbread and put it in a small square pan, it was 52 cents for a box...and it added so much to the dinner...I only had a little pinch of a taste, but they really liked it.

We had a cleaning shift last evening, at church, and it's hard to leave the house when it's dark out, on a chilly rainy evening, but we all went...and it was fun...

This fine day, I wrapped a few presents...I'm trying to wrap things as they arrive in the mail, except for things for the grandkids, which the kids here can help me wrap.  

I am jealous of people with natural organization skills.  I have to suffer through it...and figure it out, write things down, make lists, my head just feels all jumbled with all the events and parties and gifts for different things.  I need to organize all these wrapped gifts, I don't know who will be coming over, or when, yet.  I'm thinking maybe just open up the house on Christmas Eve, then the small families can have their own Christmas mornings, then if anyone wants to come over later in the day, they can...

Maybe it's the season, maybe because I'm getting old, but I'm so sappy and nostalgic these days.  My mother died 16 years ago, my dad 6 months later.  My older kids remember them, but life goes on.  I realized that if I died tomorrow, my grandkids would barely remember me.  My grandmother died when I was two, I have no recollection of her at all.  Anyway, not to be so morose, but all those fun times of piling into my parents' house for holidays and birthdays...then we went to my brothers' house, but with ten kids of their own, mostly married with kids now, he has his own huge family...but things don't last forever, life is constant change, and someday, gatherings at this house will also be a fond memory for my own kids.  

The older we get, the speedier the years go by.  We didn't know it was just a blink, and they would grow up.  We were told that, but the days were so long, the nights even longer...there were fevers and teething and diaper rash and tantrums and thumb sucking and lost pacifiers (and trying to take them away, oh how that was such a big ordeal that turned into a distant memory!)  Potty training stresses and finding mittens for them all, managing nursing babies and curious toddlers and school kids (signing the homework logs!  Going to project fairs and open houses and school plays!),  then when there were teenagers too, oh my!  You need tampons RIGHT NOW?  And you need poster board for a project due TOMORROW?  It was your snack day today?  I am SO sorry!!!  You need five dollars tomorrow for a field trip?  Your flute needs repair?  The orthodontist?  Dentist?  Yearly pediatric check ups?  Your ear hurts?  Your finger hurts?  

Yes, the days were full, actually overflowing.  I would get up in the morning, tired already, and give myself little speeches...one day at a time, no, one MINUTE at a time, dear Lord, please help me today!  

I'd walk into the kitchen, say with a baby who needed changing, nursing, rocking...and perhaps nine or ten children would need to be gotten up and ready for school...I ALWAYS got their clothes out the night before, at least for the elementary kids...of course sometimes there were itchy tights or a shirt someone hated, so we had to scramble to fix it.  With eleven girls, there was usually a line of them to get their hair done, I remember Joseph and Aaron being baby holders on school mornings...then one of those teenagers would start in...she's wearing my skirt...one would dislike what was on the lunch menu, and it was a miracle if every child could find both of the shoes they were going to wear.  

If I was impatient with them, or with any one of them, as they went out to the bus, I felt horrible all day.  Patience is the very most important ingredient in the raising of children, but it's also not something we have an abundance of.   Tired, stressed, frazzled, but God was always near at hand, and always gave me when I asked.  Patience and humility go hand in hand, and God gives grace when we are humble.  

Anyway.  On and on I go, blogging as if I didn't have a thing to do around here.  Remember when I cleaned out the laundry room? Well, there are at least five, six garbage bags of blankets, towels, clothes, ect.,which I have to drop off at the thrift store...yesterday,  Miss Cam and I decided not to haul them with us because of the rain and wind...so in the kitchen they are.  Here in the living room, four boxes/bags filled with wrapped presents...maybe I'll stick them in the laundry room, now that there's room...

There are still bins from decorations, that have to be put away, and when you have dogs and cats, you have to vacuum every day.  Grace is coming over today for dinner, with Grant and Ruth, because Sam will be in class tonight...and do you think I have an inkling what dinner will be?

Kathryn and I were thinking of doing something today, too, so I had better get moving...

Just a few short years ago, shopping with six of them...Sonja and Suzanne, Kathryn hugging Charlotte Claire, little Camille, and Evelyn Joy...

The youngest seven...dear little Jonathan with so many sisters!  

All right, enough rambling for today...have a really good one!