Christmas Days of 2018

We were so thankful in a change with some family jobs this past year so that we could have several days with both kids home.  Mostly it was God’s placements in giving us more family time and to Him we are thankful!!

JP arrived about 2 on Saturday after leaving his apt at 4:30 a.m.   K arrived about 6, being able to get home a bit earlier with a boss that values family time.  (so thankful!)

We had Sunday church together and then Christmas Eve service together.   Can’t say I didn’t shed a tear (or 2…) to have them both with us.

Sunday afternoon we had a few hours with the in-laws as that was Gpa’s 87th birthday.

Gma had collected drawings and writings from Miss K over a large piece of her childhood and glued it into a spiral notebook. (Part of K’s birthday gift earlier in December.)  They had such fun looking at it!  The next day we scanned everything and Miss K is going to make it into a printed book that will last vs the glue stick and notebook paper.  It is precious!  Gma M is very good at these savings in her own unique way.

We had Christmas Day at home.  ♥ Throughout the weekend, K & I had started the sewing project and it was fun to do that together.  Everyone helped cook meals and with dishes.  We enjoyed movies and an online game JP has that we play on the TV but with each of our phones.  It is fun and hilarious.  I have no idea the name or link for that.  You’ll have to ask him.

 

Good food and fun new recipes!

Hot-Buttered Apples and we served them over ice cream!  Yum! (gluten-free!)  This was dessert for Christmas dinner at noon with the in-laws.   I took this photo which was my supper that evening while under my electric throw on the couch!

Also a great new recipe is Tex-Mex Queso!  We had this Christmas Eve after church!  We added a pound of browned ground pork/sausage to make it more of a meal.  Yummy and easy to get ready quickly.

 

 

Sunset on December 23.  Wonderful color!

I offered to make my farmer a gift wish list with email links in early November but he said, “I thought we don’t do gifts.”  Hmpf!  So I shopped for myself on Thanksgiving weekend with the great sales online and the kids had gone back to their own homes.

Then 2 weeks before Christmas he asked for ideas!!!  #smackmyforehead  I sent a link to The Featherweight Shop and I think I included a few suggestions but he chose other things as well to make it to $100 and get his free shipping!  🙂  This is what I got!!  He excitedly told me they had things on sale and he got free shipping!

The needle threader/inserter is great!  As well as the thread cutter that sticks to the face plate.  So tiny but works super and just like my Bernina that I’m used to using!  The earrings are darling and don’t bother my ears at all.  Socks are calf-length (just above ankle a few inches for me) and a medium weight. Great quality shirt!!  Usual sizing.

I got him a new wallet as his in in shreds… but as usual, he didn’t like it and I sent it back.  He isn’t into gifts so that is fine.  At some point, he’ll decide he NEEDS a wallet and will find something!  LOL!

We had a wonderful time all together!  Saying good-bye is hard….

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December Waiting

This was my first Christmas to do a personal Advent study on the days leading up to Christmas.  I grew up in a church that followed that tradition but we don’t follow that now.  I thought I’d try it this year on my own.

I used the book: For All by Becky Kiser.  HERE is a link for it on Amazon if you are interested.  I’m not an affiliate so no connection if you use my link.  It is workbook format and the Sunday/candle days are optional or could be used alone if desired.  They are in the front of the book and not mixed in with the other days.

I even made a cluster of candles from things I already had on our coffee table in the living room.  I love candles and on the nights I was sitting in the living room, would light the appropriate number of candles for the week.  Yes, as we got closer to the celebration of the Light of the World, the room got brighter as well!

In the past, our church has set up a photo area for family Christmas photos.  I was counting on it this year but they didn’t do it.  So a tree with an outlet in the wall…. and us!  (One of us still needs to find a selfie stick that will hold my big camera and case!)

I

We agreed after last Christmas that we were ready for a smaller Christmas tree and I got one from Ambrose Christmas Tree Store the first week of November.  I was hoping to beat the rush (and they had trees at 30% off) but my order got lost and I waited until the week after Thanksgiving and called.  I was nearby the next day and they said they’d have it ready and they did!  I was so pleased I got it there.  Lifetime guarantee to fix and/or replace the lights or anything that goes wrong with it.  Yeah!   I had chosen the tree star from there and they had that in place as well.

Thankfully, Miss K loves to do the ornaments (I don’t!) and she finished the decorating when she got here.  ♥

And… if a day had sunshine, about 3:30 p.m. it would make the sparkles on the star reflect onto the ceiling.  Delightful!

Also for the first time EVER, I bought an Advent calendar of sorts.  A chocolate one!  At Aldi.  It must have been the 1st day they were out as I never saw them again.  Glad to have The Nutcracker vs only santa.  I put it away in a spare bedroom closet as I bought it before Thanksgiving!

And then forgot about it until the middle of December! So I decided to do it on the days of January to make that month a bit more tolerable!  I forgot and started on the 4th of January!  Ha!  Then had a family interruption that included an unplanned trip to Ohio on the 7th so got off track again.  I resumed maybe by the 17th or so.

I forgot some nights and finished on Feb 7.  Once I shared with my farmer.  He doesn’t savor chocolate…. so I didn’t want to waste it.  It was all good!!  ♥

I will watch Aldi next November for a new one!

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4th of July 2018

A quiet day with just the 2 of us.  Mostly a regular work day here at home.

A favorite supper of his: sloppy joes and mac & cheese in the Instant Pot. Easy for me.

 

One of my double petunia plants.  Some blooms on the same plant are more white and some more purple.

Yearly photo of how tall the corn is on the 4th of July!

He is more than pleased that he had tassels on corn on June 30th!  The first he remembers seeing them appear in June!

 

Amazing clouds that evening!

Finally the clouds started to empty and we got a bit that day.

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Mother’s Day 2016

5/8

After sleeping in until 8 (me) and 9 (yes, he did! 2 nights of planting until 1 a.m. will do that!), we headed to between here & Miss K for a few hours with her.   Lunch at Longhorn was great!  I was given a gc for a free appetizer through the end of the month.

She brought me a succulent glass planter which I have at the kitchen sink window.  I love it!!  I hope I keep it alive.  Plus the gift bag had new yoga clothes.  Always fun! (tho not modeled for posting!)

She helped me with 2 upcoming projects; arranging a sewing area and a quilt challenge.  It is great to have feedback from her!

We found a park via google and hoped for a bench to sit and visit but it was a walking park only.  But so lovely!! A newer section had some newer trees coming along and was surrounded by timber overgrowth which was a good edge and barrier for the local homes.

My requested mother & daughter photo…. of course at the pink flowering tree!

And then she got silly so I grew taller!

Then to an older area that was wild timber area and just a dirt path.  The wildflowers were beautiful!!  So fun to see so many blooming!

Dark wine-colored trillium!

Jack-in-the-pulpit!  (I’m not sure I’ve ever seen these in bloom.)
With white violets… we just have purple & mixed purple white in our yard.

And who doesn’t need a cluster of Jacks?!


We continued on and had a visit over ice cream at an outside table at Culver’s.  They gave me a free sundae for Mother’s Day. Yeah!!  I got to see a project of hers and it was fun to chat about that.

I drove home and P was asleep before I got out of town!

Once home, we moved the planter and fertilizer tank to the field for Monday morning.  I then got my nap and P worked outside getting other things lined up for planting.  Rain is due again soon.

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Easter 2016

I was thankful that one’s spring break was the traditional week before Easter this year so he was home about 10 days.  🙂   The other one just had Sunday off but got off work a bit earlier on Saturday than normal and was home by 6:45 p.m. so we had time to visit and sit before I turned into a pumpkin and headed to bed!

We all went to the early service at church so dinner would not need to be so late.  By the time we were home, P’s parents were home from their service and came over for dinner.

We had —
— home-grown ham (I never have served this for a holiday before as it is a regular free food for us.  But free was key and the kids don’t get it all the time anymore!)
— smashed potatoes (usual recipe, just unpeeled yellow yukon potoates and smashed not whipped in the mixer)
— gravy  (from homemade chicken broth)
— french style green beans
— Gma brought pickles, olives, and cheese cubes
— Cheesecake with toppings – the yummiest and lightest cheesecake I’ve ever made!  Gluten-free as well for one.  It disappeared and I have a new & 10″ springform pan on my wish list as my pan leaks in the water bath even with 2 layers of foil!  (And 9″ is really very small for this!)
Toppings:
*I made a cooked, dried fruit mix for a topping and apparently I’m the only one interested in such an idea.  Not that I’m supposed to eat dried fruit! (too much sugar)
* I had out a can of cherry pie filling for a topping and that vanished!
*Gingersnap cookie crumbs with vanilla & butter and toasted in a pan a bit for those that were missing crust to the cheesecake.

The grands enjoy it when the kids are home.  They get to have a meal here and have plenty of time to visit.

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March Birthday ’16

He requested Dutch Apple Pie which is no surprise as I know it is a favorite.  I pulled out the copy of Grandma Lizzie’s recipe but doubled the crumb topping and probably added more apples.  They cook down, right?  And I didn’t want a few left in the bag!

(I’ve used various recipes for Dutch Apple pie over our married life but none of them are ever as good as Grandma Lizzie’s!  I said that was because she put in grandma love which I can’t do!  He has good memories of her and another cousin has confirmed what a good cook she was!  But usually w/o a recipe so who knows how much she used the recipe I have that is labeled as hers!)

Thankfully I had a pan underneath to catch the drips near the end of cooking.

Yummy!!

We went to Miss K’s to get a good and new dinner out on Sunday.  She suggested a BBQ place where she had been before.  It was cold & rainy from the time we left home until the time we got back home!  So our idea of walking around wasn’t so grand.  She drove to lunch ~

Dino’s BBQ.   Yummy and fun decor!

I really thought a pre-order for Easter dinner cooked by them, picked up & delivered home by Miss K would have been lovely!!  🙂  I’m sure the in-laws wouldn’t have enjoyed as much as the rest of us.  It was a fun idea for me to dream!

Time together needs a photo!  Love these times!!

After lunch, we thought we’d help get her groceries for the week and have extra hands for carrying but the parking lot was full and the rain was strong so we skipped that and headed to a new ice cream shoppe near her house.  Yummy!  This new ice cream habit I’ve developed isn’t a good idea!!

JP sent a 4′ T-square and a new fangled tape measure and he will put them to good use on our flooring project!

Miss K had new shirts for him for spring & summer.  She is great at getting all of us new clothes!

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Christmas 2015

We had a very relaxed Christmas Day of just the 4 of us.  We had brunch foods mostly late morning and then everyone is big and was able to find something to eat when they wanted it.  Waffles, yummy coconut flake & raspberry pancakes, Gpa’s fresh maple syrup, yogurt in my bowl, hash browns, bacon.

No one has been interested in family photos lately so I tried one with me & the dog.  She is fine with photos from my camera but really doesn’t like selfies with my phone!  How does she know it ends up on here?

So I worked on a selfie with me & the dog.  As good as it gets….

Miss K had mercy on me and sat near me…. ♥

P slightly allowed one….

All while the dog got special attention and play.

Later we played a new card game that JP had bought.  Exploding Cats.   It is fun and we enjoyed several rounds.  I was out first in this round.

 

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Cherished Time

 

We seldom get time with both our kiddos and so we made plans for a few nights out over Labor Day weekend when they both had Monday off as a legal holiday.

We met at JP’s place and it was just over 1 hour for P & me and about 1:20 for Miss K.  A perfect place to meet!  Both cars arrived within 5 mins of each other.  He is in a safe and residential neighborhood and the landlord was fine to have an extra car there for a few nights.  Blessings!

We grabbed supper to go and then had just over 1 hr to our hotel.  Rest for all the weary!!   Both P & Miss K were in the middle of that awful fall congestion junk that has been all over. Even though we hadn’t seen her in 8 weeks, they got the same thing at the same time.

Good treats out to eat — ice cream, SBx (Miss K & me x 2!), breakfasts out brought to our table, etc.

 

 

Saw the lake areas —
I aimed for sun and the others aimed for shade.

 

 

 

A fun afternoon of miniature golf —

 

 

 

No one wanted a group selfie but me.

Visited downtown and the capitol building —

 

 

Rest, movies, naps, hand-sewing for me, and maid service.   Just the topping on the real treat of having our kids with us.  I’m so thankful for my family!

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Easter 2015

A few photos after Easter dinner here at our house —

And remember the rule here is no cats in the house!    *achoo!!!!*  This one stayed on these 2 laps and soon was back outside to the buildings.

“Brownie” loves to be petted, held, and loved.   All remain outside – and not near the house – cats.  (they get special attention when the kids visit)

My MIL brought over her “winter project” to show to me.  I was so surprised!!  This is her first quilt ever!  She didn’t tell me she was doing this and never asked for help.  She said her mom would be proud and I said her DIL is very proud!!  I will quilt and finish it for her.

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New Year’s Day 2015 dinner

For several reasons, I actually cooked a real meal (vs wraps or leftovers) for lunch and on a holiday, no less!   I’ve realized that often my in-law’s Christmas “day” is on Jan 1 but it wasn’t this year.

Meanwhile, the men were watching a movie, I was moving from this to that, left a burner on, checked the oven, put the hotpads on the stovetop, went to another room….

A bit later, P asked if lunch was ready.  It did smell a bit burnt…

I went to the kitchen and the hot pads were laid onto the just turned off burner and were smoking!  I threw them in the sink with water and then they were sent to the deck so they wouldn’t keep smelling.

No volunteer firemen were invited for dinner.  Whew!

Lunch was fine – Cheesy Chili Chicken.

They were my favorite hot pads so if you recognize them and know where I can buy them… let me know.

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