Merry Christmas Eve

I have traveled to ND for Christmas to be with my hard working husband. My son, dog and I all agree that it is much colder up here. Rosco even protested by not wanting to use the bathroom. We have had an enjoyable time since our arival on Friday night. Saturday we went shopping in a town about 45 miles away. We also met Tims Brother and Sisterinlaw for lunch. We had a nice visit. Yesterday we drove the hour and a half to Tim's brothers house so that we could celebrate early. I went early so that Ansir could play with the girls and we could help make cookies ect. Again it was a nice time. The kids were so excited to see us they almost squeeled. The drive home took a while but it was worth the drive. Today we are just hanging around the house untill Tim gets off work. We are planning to go to the 11:00 Candelight service at the Elca Lutheran Church. I am excited those services are always my favorite. Tomorrow we will make a ham and all the fixings. For desert we are going to create a Gingerbread House! I'll wirte more later. Merry Christmas.

Master Chefs!

During Thanksgiving my son and my niece decided to become Master
Chefs. They were baking cookies. Look at all the flour.

The cookies had to be rolled out, floured then rolled out again before cutting them.

These Gingerbread Cookies look delicious however, they were very hard.
I wonder if this had any thing to do with all the flour or the numerous times the dough was handled.

Next it was on to Tim's favorite cookies, oatmeal raisin. These turned out much better.

These kids were entertained for about 2 good hours. Just look at how hard they were concentrating.

Great Finds.

This summer our churches youth group had a rummage sale. We found this toboggan for $10. That is quite a bargin. I'm not sure it has ever been used. We finally got snow this weekend and we also had some friends staying the night. So I put all the kids to work waxing the sled. We found paraffin wax at the grocery store.

I don't think that I have ever seen these three kids work so hard.

The kids were so excited to get the sled out to the snowy hill. But when we got there the sled didn't slide as fast or as smooth as we had hoped.

The kids had a great time anyway.

I think the snow beat Ansir. He looks plum tuckered out. If any of you know anything about making toboggans fast please let me know. I can't wait to Zoom down the hill like Calvin and Hobbs!

Thanksgiving Dinner

This Thanksgiving we had the privilage of hosting Thanksgiving. Tim's family joined us. The table was definitely full.

These are Tim's parents Ireen and Ken. They traveled 14 hours or so to get here. I am glad they made the trip.

Here are all the children Tim's brothers girls.
They are precious and they play well with Ansir. I think they were all sad to go home.

This is Tim and his mother. I think this is the only picture that I have of the two of them.
They were busy solving a sudoku puzzle.

I hope everyone found many things in their lives to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. Especially knowing that our Lord and Savior loved us enough to send his only Son that we might live forever in heaven.

Pies, Pies, Pies

For Thanksgiving I baked several delicious pies. This is how they turned out.

I started with a home made pie crust. I found it fun but difficult to shape the edges in a pretty way.

Here are the pumpkin pies sitting in the oven ready to bake.

Pecan pie isn't nearly as pretty before it's baked.

I had lots of fun making the apple pie.


Here are the finished products.

Light Parade

It was cold during the light paraid this year but not as cold as last year. We had a great time. I always enjoy seeing all the decorated floats. It gets me in the Christmas mood. And as you can tell from some of the floats they are a great way to witness.
You might want to lower your volume when you see this video.

Pumpkin Pure'

I am so excited about what I have done today. I really feel like a home maker. As you know I am hosting Thanksgiving for my in laws. My good friend Ann had a bunch of extra pumpkins lying around and was telling me how easy it was to make fresh pumpkin pie. So I followed her simple instructions and made pumpkin pure'

First I cut the pumpkin in half and took out the slimy innards. Then i baked it for 1 hour at 350 degrees. Don't forget to put some water in the bottom of the pan to keep the pumpkin moist.

After baking and cooling I scooped out the tender meat. It came out very easily!

Next I put the meat in to my food processor. So that it could be chopped and mushed into a nice smooth texture. Can you see it mixing?

See how smooth it looks. I bet this will make a tasty pumpkin pie!

This is all that is left of the pumpkin when I was finished.
I cant wait to show you my other baking endeavors. I plan to make Sweet Rolls, Pecan Pie, Cheese Cake and apple pie. I am also tempted to make homemade stuffing. I saw a recipe on the Confessions of a Pioneer Woman. But we will see what time and patients allows.

ATTENTION ALL PARENTS!

I was innocently downloading pictures for another blog entry when I discovered these shots! I guess this is what happens when an 11 year old gets a hold of a camera.

Gee he looks kinda scary. Maybe I should save these pictures to share with future girlfriends.

Holy cow where did his eyes go? Gorss!

Hey the Dog has the same expression as the boy taking the pictures. I wonder why? hmmm I bet the boy did something to make him angry! You can almost hear him growl.

Gee look now the dog thinks he should be cute for the camera! Don't you just want to scratch his tummy!

This should be a warning to all parents. Keep your camera out of your children's reach.

Oh, My Aching Back!

O.K. so I have the honor of hosting Thanksgiving for my in laws this year. Exciting right? Hmmm, My back doesn't think so. You see my house has been in a slight state of disarray since my Little guy went home. Most of the house has been livable but his room was a total disaster. Have you ever seen Clean Sweep on TLC? Thats what this room looked like. Man I wished they would have been here to help. Anyway, my room mainly had laundry to put away. My 11 year old sons room was of course a night mare and the living room and kitchen weren't in too bad of shape. I had just recently cleaned them. Well after feeding my son a great breakfast of French Toast and bacon we were set to tackle our bedrooms. It took me until about 2:00 to clean, vacuumed, dust and wash windows and mirrors. Then I made lunch before tackling the baby's room. I decided to rearrange and take down the crib. Its been hard to even look in there and impossible to walk in there. We started to use it as a "lets toss all of our stuff that we don't want to put away" room. By the way I don't suggest this method of procrastination it creates much more work in he end. It is now 9:30pm and I am finally finished with the spare bedroom. WOW! I must say that my son was the funniest or most frustrating part of the day. I'm not sure which one it was. He just couldn't understand how his room got so messy. (You couldn't even walk in it.) Well after some whining, crying, stomping of feet and about 8 or 9 hours he finally got his room cleaned and dusted. I'm still not sure that he understands why this had to be done. Well tomorrow we will tackle the rest of the house because I work Monday and Tuesday. Then Wednesday will be filled with baking pies and roles for our feast! I hope the family enjoys their visit! For now a hot bubble bath is calling my name!

The Dreaded Flu Shot

I have avoided getting the flue shot for all of my adult life. I would rather be sick than have a needle in my arm. However the last few years I have gotten the flu. I usually start getting sick around Thanksgiving and stay sick through January. Every year the Dr. Lectures me about not getting the flu shot. I was in so much pain last year that I decided to be brave and go in for my shot. I remember the last time I had to get a shot. I was 16 or 17 years old and we were living in Germany. I can still picture the office. We needed to get a shot in order to come back to the US. I panicked and cried like a baby. So as I walked into the office this afternoon I apologized in advanced for crying. There were three nurses standing in there. I can spot a trainee a mile away. I said no way. So the other nurse gave me the thought. I am proud to say that not a tear came to my eye. I called my daddy and told him of my accomplishment. He said I was growing up. I think it was the 18 little prayers that said from my classmates and their encouraging words that they said as they shared their flu shot stories and the 19 hugs they gave me before they left school. I thank God every day for those little children that he has put into my care.

Christmas is Approaching QUICKLY

Yesterday we went shopping for things we probably didn't need. As we entered the mall it was adorned with Christmas music and decorated trees. I even spotted Santa's sleigh. I was thinking it's not even thanksgiving. I am not ready for Christmas music and the like, Not yet. I like to wait until the day after Thanksgiving. I like to enjoy each holiday as it comes with out rushing it out the door. I was looking for thanksgiving decorations and they were nowhere to be found. one of my favorite pastimes is people watching. I love to watch and listen to people where ever I am. As I was watching and listening I heard the same things from many shoppers. They would shake there head and say. "Christmas already? Its only the beginning of November. " Actually many stores have had their Christmas displays up since October. How Sad. I think that retailers should listen to their customers and wait just a little let us enjoy fall and all it has to offer. I love Christmas and celebrating Christs birth. I think about it daily in my walk with the Lord but I am not quite ready to pull out all the decorations and listen to the music just yet.

Fall Activities

This week is a very busy week. Besides teaching school, cleaning house, doing laundry and so forth I needed to have fun doing several fall activities. Our church is hosting an All Saints Eve celebration for the children in our City. The teachers are in charge of hosting the Cake Walk. So I needed to make some super fun cupcakes. After all no one wants their cupcakes to be the last ones picked.

I started with plane white cupcakes. Can you smell them? Here they are innocently cooling on their rack. Oblivious as to what the next hour holds for them. I like to imagine that they are dreaming of becoming cute flowers or pretty fall colors.

I use plain white frosting to create these cute creatures. I wonder if they were thinking , "Thats all youve got . White! Give me a break with all the other colors in the world you chose white!"

Then the decorations take form and perhaps it's not quite as boring as they once thought.

"Oh my goodness. I am a mummy. She made me into a mummy. That is the coolest costume ever! I cant wait to show my friends."

"Hey they are wearing my costume. I cant go to the party looking the same as everyone else. What was she thinking. Doesn't she understand how embarrassing this is?"

Now that the cupcakes are under control. (not happy but under control) I can tell you about my second project. My son decided to be a scarecrow for All Saints. We had a great idea to hot glue straw into a pair of overalls. I think it turned out pretty cute.

This in its self was a fiasco. First I couldn't find my overalls so we had to use Tims. As you can tell they are quite large on him. Then I couldn't find the hot glue gun. I have two guns at my house and both were M.I.A. I finally found one hiding down in the shop.

To add final touches we shoved some extra straw into the pockets. I fear that he will be making a mess where ever he goes. But he will at least look cute doing it. Hmmm I wonder how many people wont like hay all over the church. Oh well I've done it before so I'll take the heat.

On Sunday we decided to carve our pumpkins. I just love this activity. We both chose two very different pumpkins.

Look at how proud he his standing by his pumpkin.

Everyone loves playing with the squishy slimy guts.

Yumm I cant wait for those roasted seeds. They are always so tasty.

Here is the finished product. It looked much more morbid earlier as it had 4 knives shoved in to its head.

There is nothing like the pretty glow of the jack-o-lantern and the smell of the insides getting warm from the candle.

I pray that each of you has a fun safe evening whether you are celebrating All Saints or going Trick or Treating.

The First Middle School Dance!

My 11 year old son came home from school so excited the other day. "There is a Halloween School Dance" He said. I asked if he was going and he said he thought he would if it was O.K.. Then I found out that a young lady wanted to know if he was going. Now I know why he was so excited. However the dance came and went and I asked if he danced with his new lady friend and he told me "no, I only danced by my self and with my friends". It sounds like the boys were on one side of the dance floor while the girls stood on the other. Does that sound familiar to any of you? I still remember the awkward feeling of wanting to be asked to dance, the fear of actually being asked and the disappointment of not being asked. I guess its a right of passage as we grow into young men and women. Before I know it the shyness will be gone and I will wish it would return. I'm not sure I am ready for him to even be thinking about girls. I pray that the Lord will guide his thoughts and actions so that they will be pleasing to him.

Homework Finally Rears It's Ugly Head!

I have waited all year to hear these words come from the mouth of my 11 yr old son: "I have homework." I figured there would be tears and yelling and frustration. But to my surprise there was excitement and laughter. I must be dreaming. This is what the homework looked like.

First he had to create an Egg Man!

Next he had to protect his Egg Man.

Then he had to drop the Egg Man from three different heights. First just standing.

Then on a step stool.

Finally from the window that looks down on the store.


This is what the poor Egg Man looked like after being dropped from the ladder.

And this is all that was left of the Egg Man that dropped from the window.
He actually tried three eggs wrapped three ways and surprisingly the one with the least wrapping lasted the longest. Who Knew?