Ahead of the Game

In stressful times you will hear me say I just need to "get through" this week of appointments or "get through" this sports season or "get through" this long list of to-dos.  But.  You will never hear me say that I need to "get through" the Christmas season.  Christmastime should not be stressful.  It should be a time of peace and being present and I will do anything in my power to keep it that way.  Including making my Christmas cookie dough in November so its ready to bake on a moments notice during the holiday season.

Double batch of Chocolate Chip cookies and triple batch of Sugar Cookies mixed, bagged, and in the freezer awaiting some magical day or night when we will rock out to Christmas carols while making a variety of sweet treats.  

I cannot wait!

Wild Birds

During the summer, food for the birds seems endless. 

During the winter, I feel compelled to end every last dime feeding the small winged creatures.  

Let bird seed season commence.  

SNOW DAY!

The First Snow Day of the 2019-2020 school year is here!

And Holly is not going to waste a minute of it!

Pre-Holiday

Pre-holiday snow is thee BEST!

The snow is gently falling and has begun to coat everything.  Someone around me is burning in their fireplace which makes any trips outside a delight to the senses.  Two soups are lined up for dinner and Home Alone is in the DVD player awaiting the children to get home from school.  Sewing projects are prepped and ready to be attacked as well as two wood projects are ready to cut out and get their first coat of paint tonight all while listening to the first Christmas book of the season.  My body is hyped up on the three cups of coffee I drank trying to keep warm and everything in the air is screaming....

CHRISTMAS IS ALMOST HERE!!!!

Gearing Up

The forecast for the week is calling for snow, like 3-5 inches of the beautiful white stuff - in November!!  Which means its time to batten down the hatches and do the final prep work for the winter.  Bikes need put away, lawn chairs need put away, the yard needs a final mowing and mulching so the snow has a clean space to land...  

Divide and Conquer

Today was a divide and conquer day.

Holly was invited to her first real birthday party complete with friends from school!

At the exact same time and in a different city, Bree and Jake had an end of year 4-H party complete with achievement and recognition awards, pins, and financial gain!

So we divided the kids.  We conquered the day.  

We came back together for a game night.

What a wonderful way to end a busy day.

Kenmore

The Christmas tree is up (in the bedroom)!!

There is nothing like the soft glow of the lights to spur desire and motivation to bust out the sewing machine and begin the first homemade presents of the year.

Up and at 'em

The first Christmas tree of the season is up and lit.

The tree skirt is still tucked away in the Christmas totes and I'm thinking about splurging on a new ornament color scheme to go with the LED lights.  Maybe tomorrow I'll bust out the Christmas shirt and do a little Holiday shopping. 

Or maybe I'll just stay at home and enjoy the lights.

Gratifying

There is something gratifying, even therapeutic, about mowing your lawn in the Fall.

Know what I mean, Vern?

Reminiscing

Muppets.  Smothers Brothers.  

David Copperfield.  

I have many fond memories of TV variety specials, holiday specials, and magician shows while growing up.  Sure the entertainment was good, but I think I liked being able to stay up past my bedtime the most.  It makes my nostalgic heart happy when stations like NBC and ABC try to bring back some of the good old days by broadcasting Live entertainment and you can bet I let my kids stay up late to watch it.  However, due to this time change still effecting our schedule, two of the kids fell asleep 45 minutes in!

Of all the productions that have been done The Sound of Music with Carrie Underwood has been our favorite.  When the kids start comparing the Live event to the movie, I have to remind them that of course it is going to be different.  Movies have CGI, special effects, prerecorded music, and editing to bring everything to life.  On stage its the actor's job to bring the magic and envelop you in it.  That is what true theater is and what makes it so great.    

Not Enough

We, myself included, complain that we live in a disposable world.  Everything is so much easier or cheaper to just throw out the old and go buy new.  While sometimes that may be true, I think we are forgetting a very valuable step.  If something is broken, isn't it worth trying to fix it first?  

Case in point - Our microwave went on the fritz and then completely stopped working all in the matter of a day.  In a panic, I called the hubby, who was shopping at Menards anyways, and asked him to buy a new microwave.  Sadly, I was about 30 minutes too late as he was already on his way home.  Later that night, armed only with a screwdriver and a youtube video, my dear husband had our beloved appliance back up and running in less than an hour.  Not only did we save money, but it was a good reminder that maybe our world isn't as disposable as we think.  Maybe we have just forgotten how to put effort into fixing things.  

There just isn't enough of that these days.

Tengen

Its hard to be the youngest.  

Everyone is always better than you at... everything!  You can't read, you can't write, you can't win a single game without cheating. 

Sometimes you just need to sit by yourself and practice, practice, practice until you get better. 

Holly's record to date - 6 lines.

Long Standing

The first Saturday in November is a long-standing night out for Jim and I.  We started attending the Knight of Columbus Reverse Raffle the second year we were married.  Haven't missed a year since.  Don't intend to either.

Our Tree

We lost one of our shade trees many years ago.  Quite often we talked about replacing it, but never got around to picking a one.  After realizing how many years of growth on a new tree we lost due to indecisiveness, we finally pulled the plug and... 

put someone else in charge of it!

Over the years our children will lounge in your shade and hang toys from your low branches.  We will marvel at your bright red fall foliage and wrap colorful lights around you in the winter.  You will be a first hand witness to our children who are growing up by the day and yet be an unnoticed object in the background of our pictures.  You may simply be a tree, but you are ours and now part of the family.  

Halloween 2019

The yearly Halloween Family picture!

2019

Halloween thru the years:

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

Preparations

Twas the day before Halloween..

and the spooky preparations are underway. 

Pointless

 The days have slipped away quickly this month.  So much so that it is two days before Trick-or Treating and we are still working on costumes.  However, it feels pointless as the weather has been holding strong at wind and soaking rain all day and night on Halloween.  Oh well.  The show holiday must go on and we have an annual holiday picture to take.  

Ripley's

October 2000

Gatlinburg, Tennesssee

Ripley's Believe It or Not

October 2019

Gatlinburg, Tennessee

Ripley's Believe It or Not

Sure some things have changed over time, but the heart of the matter has stayed the same.

Happy Anniversary, Babe.  

Love you more and more each year.

Closer

Jacob, and subsequently all of us, dove into the world of travel sports this year.  It was a crash course for sure.  The very first day of tournaments sent us straight to Walmart to stock up on things like a wagon, better and bigger water jugs, and a cooler on wheels.  

That was 13 weeks ago.  

Today it all comes to an end.

It was a long season with games every Saturday and Sunday, but it was worth it.  

Although our winning average was not that great, I know Jacob learned a lot and had fun along the way.  As parents it was rewarding to see him grow.   Now for a season of rest before Spring soccer begins!

Jack-o-Lanterns

It seems like I am late to the holiday party no matter the season this year.  Its almost time to decorate for Christmas and we haven't even carved pumpkins yet!!

We did some quick carved pumpkin research, got them drawn on, and let the kids hack away.

Oh these kids...

Rachel's pumpkin - a cute kitty.

Jacob's Pumpkin - crazy eyes.

Holly's Pumpkin - a toilet.

Jim's Pumpkin - Tetris, duh!

Bree's Pumpkin - Hungry!

I'm pretty impressed with how they turned out.  We even took the time to get creative on the roasting of the seeds.  This year we experimented with a cinnamon sugar batch and a Lawry's Seasoned Salt variety.  

Happy (almost) Halloween!