A Visit to Aunt Julie's

We visited Jimmy's Aunt Julie this weekend when all of her children and grandchildren were in town. Jimmy hadn't seen some of his cousins and their families in a few years. We all enjoyed a short visit and dessert.

Julie and Aunt Julie

Katie, Brett, Clay, Julie, and Olivia

Aunt Megan and Leah

The whole crew

The Johnson Christmas Party

What a party! The theme was "food and fellowship"! We ate lots of good food (everyone brought an appetizer or dessert) and spent the evening visiting. The younger children ran all over the house, and the older ones played outside in the barn. We haven't seen some of Jimmy's family since our Christmas party last year. It was fun to catch up and see how much the children had grown.

I tried to take a picture of every guest, but I didn't get around to everyone. As best I can tell, I don't have a picture of Olivia, Clay, and Jimmy from our family, and Myra, Jack, and Mary Kate from our extended family. Everyone else should be pictured below. Stacee, if I left anyone else out, please let me know!

Sam Johnson and Sam Johnson!

Chicken Dip Recipe Correction

I made a correction to the Hot Chicken Dip recipe. In the original post I forgot to list 1/4 can of tomato soup.
Enjoy!

Hot Chicken Dip

2 cans chicken
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/4 can tomato soup
12 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 cup Hellman's mayo
8 oz. shredded cheddar cheese
1 tsp. garlic salt

Mix all ingredients using a mixer. Bake at 350 until hot throughout, about 30 minutes. Serve with wheat thins.

Menu Monday

Monday
Breakfast: eggs, bacon, toast
Lunch: leftover homemade pizza
Supper: tacos, nachos, Mexican rice

Tuesday
Breakfast: pigs in blankets
Lunch: leftover tacos, sandwiches
Supper: chicken and dumplings, peas

Wednesday
Breakfast: whole wheat waffles, bacon
Lunch: leftover chicken and dumplings, sandwiches
Supper: vegetable soup, breadsticks

Thursday
Breakfast: eggs, bacon, biscuits
Lunch: leftover soup, grilled cheese
Supper: Johnson Christmas Party! (at my house) Everyone brings an appetizer or dessert. I am making Neiman Marcus cookies, bumpie cookies, rice krispie goodies, seasoned oyster crackers, peppermint cookies, and hot chicken dip

Friday
Breakfast: cereal, oatmeal
Lunch: chicken roll ups
Supper: spaghetti, salad

Saturday
Breakfast: whole wheat waffles, bacon
Lunch: Simmons Christmas Dinner! (at my brother's house) I am bringing salad with crunchy romaine and walnut topping, Deeply Almond Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting, and bread
Supper: out

Sunday
Breakfast: cereal, oatmeal
Lunch: pasta salad
Supper: leftovers, cereal

I serve fresh fruit and raw vegetables every day with our lunch. Our snacks include fruit, crackers, cheese, peanut butter, yogurt, cereal, and popcorn.

Christmas Tips, Pictures, and Glasses

What a title, what a week! We are in full December mode here at the Johnson house! Lots of errands, lots of gift wrapping, lots of crafting, but no baking yet! I plan to do our Christmas cookie and other goodies baking beginning next Monday. Over the past week we finally got our Christmas cards in the mail plus invitations to two other parties that I am hosting next week. Here are the pictures that I included on our Christmas card.

Sam, Leah, Clay, Julie, and Olivia sitting on the wall in our backyard.

Sitting on a fallen tree that partially spans the creek in our woods. Sam was frightened by this picture pose....up a little too high!


In the top part of our "fort" in the backyard.

The older children and I have been spending time each day crafting our handmade Christmas gifts for this year. I will post pictures of some of them after we give them away......don't want anyone reading this to see their gift before they get it! I think I have posted about this earlier, but every year the children and I make the gifts for their friends, teachers, elderly friends from our church, etc. I usually choose what next year's gift craft will be in January and begin stocking up on the supplies we will need throughout the year as I find them at a good price.

Earlier this week Julie got glasses! I took all three older children for an eye exam, and Julie was diagnosed as being near-sighted. This does not surprise me at all. I am practically blind, and have been since age 9. I am only surprised that one my children has not needed glasses before now. Julie is getting used to wearing the glasses, and I think she was amazed at what she was missing!

Doesn't she look like the journalist that she is?

Today's Christmas Tip:

While wrapping your gifts, use your master gift list that you made when shopping to check off each item as you wrap it. You don't want to wrap 10 gifts, then wonder what exactly did you wrap! Was that Aunt Sue's scarf, or Grandpaw's tie? Also, if you have more than one person wrapping gifts in your home (like I do), this list is a must! I keep the typed list on our gift wrap table. My girls know to check off each thing that they wrap.

When all of the gifts are bought and wrapped, retype your list, save it, print it out, and place it in your Christmas binder. Now you have a neat record of your holiday gifts for future referral.

If you host any parties during the holiday season, be sure to type up your guest list for your binder. This is very helpful for future years.....you don't want to leave anyone out!

Include any recipes for special holiday baking that you do in your binder.

I am closing this post with a cute picture of Sam. He is sitting inside the "puzzle shelf" (named because of its design) in his room. This shelf extends from floor to ceiling, and it covers one whole wall in his and Clay's room. One side holds Clay's things, and one side hold's Sam's. Sam had climbed in Clay's side......I just had to take a picture!

He jumped down after the picture!

Carrie Underwood!!!

Jimmy surprised Olivia, Julie, and me with tickets to the Carrie Underwood concert last night! What an amazing concert! Little Big Town opened for Carrie, and they were entertaining as well. Carrie put on quite a show! The girls and I enjoyed the night immensely!
Before the concert, we went out to eat supper. Jimmy took Clay, Leah, and Sam to Chuck E. Cheese's for pizza and games. He reported that Sam was so excited to be there, that he could hardly eat! When we got home at 11:00 last night, Jimmy and all 3 children were sound asleep.
What a fun night!

I DID IT!

Forrest, Olivia, me, Julie, and Jimmy after the race

I did it! I completed my first half marathon! I finished in 2 hours, 11 minutes! I was very pleased with my time. Everyone in our group did extremely well, all of us meeting our time goals. Here are the times: Jimmy--1:45; Forrest--1:33; Olivia--1:58; Julie--1:57.

Yes! It was absolutely freezing! 31 degrees at the start of the race. We stayed in the van and then inside the Peabody Place until the last possible moment. I got cold waiting for my wave to start the race (about 2 minutes per wave, I started in wave 9), but as soon as I began running, I was fine. In fact, I didn't get cold again until the race was over. Sitting outside in wet running clothes was pretty chilly!

Running with 11,000 other runners was exciting. I enjoyed reading the backs of everyone's shirts as well as the signs the spectators held on the side of the streets. Some signs were encouraging, and some were just plain funny! My favorite sign read, "You are all Crazy!"

We invited Forrest to join our family and run the race with us. He was a delight to have along. Forrest is a fellow homeschooler and member of the Spartan Homeschool Cross Country Team. We enjoyed each other's company throughout the weekend.

Forrest, me, Olivia, and Julie at the Spaghetti Warehouse

I am so happy that I have met this goal that I set for myself. Will I run another half-marathon? Sure, but not anytime soon. The time required to train, plus the logistics of arranging for child care for Leah, Sam, and Clay (who is not old enough to participate in a half marathon) for the weekend of the race, is a little too much for me to do on a regular basis. I would like to complete one or maybe two half marathons a year. Will I ever run a full marathon? Not any time soon (like in the next 10 years!) or ever! At mile 12.5, the marathoners split off from us half-marathoners. As they ran to the left, and we ran to the right, I was thinking how glad I was that I was almost through, not almost halfway through. At that point I said to myself that I would NEVER run a full marathon. But never say never! Who knows what I may do when all of my children are teenagers and older!

I am so grateful to my parents for driving to my home and keeping Clay, Leah, and Sam for the weekend. I was a little nervous about leaving Sam overnight again, but he did super. In fact, my mother said that he never once asked for me or his pacifier, and he never cried! That was great! As soon as I walked in the door however, he ran to me, took my ponytail out, and asked for his "ba-ba" (pacifier)! He hugged and kissed me, and he told me that he missed me. Then he layed his head on my shoulder and promptly went to sleep. He was worn out from all of the fun!

The Christmas Book Basket

When Olivia was one, I started a tradition of wrapping 24 Christmas books and putting them in a basket. She opened one each morning in December for us to read together. The next year I bought and wrapped 24 more Christmas books, so Julie could join in the fun. By the time Clay was here to celebrate his first Christmas, I had increased my Christmas book supply even more. I didn't have quite enough for each child to open one book per day, but we still had plenty of Christmas books to unwrap and read.
When we moved to this house (Jan. 05), somehow the Christmas book storage container was misslabled and missplaced. The first Christmas in our new house was celebrated without our Christmas books! I was distraught! Where could those books be? I bought some new Christmas books that year, but not enough for the children to unwap one each day. Just enough for us to read and enjoy that December. For two Christmases we did not have our Christmas books. Then, one summer when I was cleaning out my storage containers, I found them! They had been misslabled! Hooray!
Somewhere along the way I have stopped wrapping those 60+ books. Now, on the first day of December, I just get them out of storage and put them in two large baskets in our den. The children love reading the books from those baskets each day. Leah and Sam choose from the Christmas book basket for books for me to read to them at bedtime. I choose longer ones to read aloud to the children each morning. And of course throughout the day I read whatever book is brought to me by Leah or Sam, Christmas book or not.
Happy Reading!

Thanksgiving Week

What a week it was! We traveled to both sets of grandparents' homes (4 hours apart), we bought and decorated our Christmas tree, and in the middle of it all, I did a huge amount of cooking! We have 1 more day of school, and then it is Christmas break until January 5th! Hooray! Here are some pictures of the week's activities. Some are from my parents' house, some are from Jimmy's parents' house and some are here at our house. Unfortunately, at both houses, I failed to get a picture of everyone. I plan to pay more attention to my photography at our next family gathering. Enjoy!

Menu Monday

Monday: vegetable soup, cornbread, salad
Tuesday: grilled salmon, baked sweet potatoes, salad
Wednesday: ham and bean soup, salad
Thursday: out
Friday: chicken casserole, green beans, brown rice
Saturday: leftovers
Sunday: BBQ chicken salad

Cheese Soup

My mother made this soup to serve as an appetizer tomorrow. I sampled it, and it is delicious!

1/2 stick butter
5-6 green onions
2 stalks celery
2 Tbsp. flour
1 can chicken broth
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 lb. velveeta
8 oz. Cracker Barrel Sharp cheese, grated
salt, pepper, garlic powder, and red pepper to taste
3 soup cans of milk

Saute onions and celery in butter. Add flour and broth. Simmer 15 minutes. Meanwhile, heat soup, velveeta, and cheese over low heat. Add onions and celery mixture. Slowly add milk. Season to taste. Serve when heated through.

Turtle Pumpkin Pie

Olivia just made these pies for tomorrow's Thanksgiving feast. We sampled the filling as she was assembling the pies, and they are going to be delicious! Enjoy!

2 graham cracker pie crusts
1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp. caramel topping, divided
1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp. pecans, chopped
1 cup cold milk
2 small pkg. vanilla instant pudding
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 8oz. cool whip, divided

Pour 1/4 cup caramel topping into each pie crust; sprinkle with 1/4 cup pecans in each pie crust.
Beat milk, dry pudding mixes, pumpkin, and spices until blended. Stir in 1 1/2 cup cool whip. spread into the 2 pie crusts.

Refrigerate 1 hour. Spread remaining cool whip on each pie crust. Sprinkle remaining pecans on each pie and then drizzle with the caramel topping, using a fork.

Refrigerate until time to serve.

Note: We mixed all of the cool whip into the pudding mix, not leaving any to spread on top. Then we just sprinkled with pecans and drizzled with the caramel topping. This keeps you from having to chill one hour before completing the pies.

Today's Christmas Tip

Today's Christmas tip is to enjoy the Thanksgiving holidays! I do celebrate Thanksgiving, it just doesn't require as much advance planning and work as Christmas does. We decorate for fall at the beginning of September, so our "Thanksgiving" decorations are actually displayed and enjoyed longer than our Christmas ones. Since I get a head start on Christmas preparations, I am able to enjoy the week of Thanksgiving. We have school on Monday and Tuesday of Thanksgiving week, and then on Tuesday afternoon travel to my parents' house. I usually spend Wednesday helping my mother cook for our family Thanksgiving meal (the girls help too), and on Thursday my brothers and their families and my grandmothers join us for a yummy Thanksgiving lunch. Later Thursday afternoon, my family heads home.

On the Friday after Thanksgiving, we put up our Christmas tree! What a fun day that is! I buy the children one or two new ornaments each year, wrap them, and let them open them before we begin decorating the tree. I look for ornaments with a special meaning for each child.....an interest they have had that year, a color or theme that they like, or something with their name or inital on it. I always write the year on the back of the ornament with a Sharpie if possible. 14 years ago my original intention was to give the children ornaments each year, and when they left our home to begin a home of their own, I would give them a box of their ornaments from years past. I have changed my mind. If they all take their ornaments, my tree will be bare! So, when they begin decorating their own tree, I plan to continue buying them a couple of ornaments each year for their very own tree. They will just have to fill in with colored balls for a few years!

The Saturday after Thanksgiving is our Thanksgiving dinner with Jimmy's family. Jimmy, his sister, his brother's wife, and I help Granmomma prepare the meal. We also spend time on this day putting up Granmomma's Christmas decorations, including putting up and decorating her tree. The grandchildren enjoy this immensely. Granmomma and Pop sit in their recliners and watch the transformation.
Happy Thanksgiving!

Funny Leah!

Tonight at the supper table we were all sitting around talking about nothing in particular. Out of the blue Leah said, "You have to be careful not to step on a rusty nail because it could pork your skin, and then you would have to go to the hospital and get a flu shot!"
We all just laughed and laughed! Leah uses the word "pork" for "poke" all the time. As in, "This tag is porking me!" or "Those rocks are porking my feet!"
Funny Leah!

12 Miles and Christmas Decorations

Olivia, Julie, and I ran 12 miles today. The temperature was a "slightly cool" 39 degrees! It was freezing! Hopefully it won't be any colder for the actual race (2 weeks from tomorrow). Our time was 1 hour, 59 minutes. I am hoping to complete the half marathon in under 2 hours, 15 minutes....we'll see!

As soon as we got home from running, we began putting out our Christmas decorations. We have everything done except for the tree. We buy our tree on Friday after Thanksgiving. Leah and Sam were so excited by all of the pretty Christmas things. Sam just chattered away and carried around a nutcracker the whole time.

I am getting behind on my Christmas card schedule (GASP!) It will be too cold to take an outdoor picture tomorrow. I am not sure when the weather will cooperate--hopefully in time for me to get the cards ordered within the next week.

Bible Study

I normally read one chapter a day from my Bible, copy a verse or two into my binder, and write my thoughts or plans for applying the Scripture to my daily life. However, as I began reading James last week, I realized that the first chapter alone would take me several days to study. Chapter one of James contains so many wonderful verses!

Here are the verses I studied today:
Do not merely listen to the Word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. (James 1:22)

It is not enough to just read my Bible each morning (or night) and check that off of my "To-Do" list. I also must not dismiss a verse or passage thinking that it does not apply to ME or MY LIFE. That would be deceiving myself. All of God's Word applies to me, and all of God's Word demands my full attention when reading and studying it. I must really pay attention to what I am reading, and I must make an effort to apply the teachings in my life that very day.

But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it--he will be blessed in what he does. (James 1:25)

I must continue spending time reading and studying my Bible on a regular basis all of my life. I must hide God's Word in my heart (memorizing Scripture) so that I will not forget what I have heard. I will be blessed if I:

1. study the Bible intently
2. continue to study the Bible
3. not forget what I have read (Scripture memory)
4. put into practice on a daily basis what I have read.

Shopping for Siblings

My children like to give gifts to each other on special occassions, and Christmas is no exception. They enjoy making gifts for each other, but they like a "store bought" present to give also. Instead of taking five children into Walmart, Toys R Us, or the Dollar Store to buy presents for their four siblings, keep everyone's gifts hidden, pay 5 separate times, and get the sacks into the car without anyone's surprise being spoiled, I let the children shop in "Mama's Store".
After I am through Christmas shopping for the children, I let them take turns coming into the storage room and viewing the other children's gifts. I charge each child $20, and they "buy" a gift for each of their four siblings. This way I know that the children are buying and receiving items that (1) the child really wants (2) are educational and/or long lasting (3) are practical and needed. This method of shopping has been really successful for our family. In case you are wondering, yes, the children get way more for their money this way. I am not expecting full reinbursement for the costs of the gifts, I only want them to spend their own money on each other.

Today's Christmas Tips

1. Begin wrapping the gifts you have purchased. Try to wrap three presents a day. Stack them where you were storing them and add bows when you are ready to put them under the tree.

2. It's time to work on your Christmas cards. If you are using boxed cards you need to begin signing them (hopefully you bought them last year after Christmas when they were 75% off!). If you are sending photo cards, plan what your children will wear and take the picture. It usually takes us more than one session to get the "perfect" photo. I plan to take the first pictures this Saturday. The next time you are near the post office, buy your Christmas stamps.

Co-op Planning

I spent Saturday with a wonderful group of girls planning our spring semester homeschool co op. Thankfully, two of the ladies were super organized (my kind of girls!), and had prepared handouts to make the planning session run smoothly. We all brought yummy brunch food and snacks to share and enjoy. We are using the unit study curriculum, KONOS. The character trait is cooperation, and the unit is States and Regions of the U.S. plus the Civil War. The entire unit is 16 weeks. We will follow a schedule of weekly co-ops on Fridays for 4 weeks followed by a one week break.
The children are broken down into 5 age groups. Two to three teachers (moms) will teach each group, staying with the same group for 4 weeks. I have children in 4 of the different groups! I am really excited about this co-op. We haven't co-opped in over a year, and this is the most organized group I have worked with. We are going to have so much fun! I am sure I will be posting weekly about our experiences when we begin in January.

Today's Christmas Tip

Today's tip is about organizing your gifts as you wrap them. If you are like me, you have more than one Christmas celebration, with gifts going to more than one family gathering, plus the ones you will be opening in your own home. I have two different ideas:

1. Choose 3 (or however many different gatherings you have) different rolls of wrapping paper. Wrap all of the gifts for people that you will be opening presents with in one location with the same paper. For example, I would wrap my side of the family's gifts in green and white polka dot paper; Jimmy's side of the family's gifts in red and green "Merry Christmas" paper, and the gifts that are exchanged between my family and me on Christmas morning would be wrapped in candy cane striped paper. The presents are easily sorted this way. You can keep all of the gifts under the tree, and just easily gather all of the ones you need for a particular family event. When I use this method, I also choose a 4th roll of paper to wrap the gifts that go to people outside our home, but not to family gatherings (Sunday school teachers, piano teachers, the children's friends, etc.)

2. Wrap the gifts in whatever paper you choose, but designate a place to store the presents, sorting them by destination. When I do it this way I put my family's gifts on our guest bed, Jimmy's family's gifts on the guest bedroom floor, and the gifts for others on a table in my storage room. Our family gifts go under the tree.

Some years I wrap each of our family member's gifts in the same paper, using a different roll of paper for each person.

Happy Wrapping!

Tagged!

I am finally doing this tag. My friend, Liesa, tagged me. Here are my instructions:

GRAB THE BOOK NEAREST TO YOU, GO TO PAGE 56, GO TO THE FIFTH SENTENCE AND COPY A COUPLE OF SENTENCES FROM THERE.

1. What is the key to understanding our roles as wives?
2. Where are peace and joy found?
3. If your husband does not love you, does that negate your responsibility or prevent you from fulfilling your role?
4. What is the gift that God gives that will help you in your pursuit of becoming a help meet?

This is from Created to Be His Help Meet by Debi Pearl, which is my all time favorite marriage book. I highly recommend it! Mrs. Pearl is extremely blunt, but if you apply the book's general principles to your marriage the results are wonderful.

Happy Reading!

Today's Christmas Tip

As you are buying gifts, keep a list of the quantity and type of batteries that you will need. After you purchase all of the batteries, you can go ahead and put the batteries in the gift, and while you are at it, cut off all of those annoying plastic ties.

Under Construction!

As you can see, I have a new Christmas layout! I wanted to go ahead and put it on so we can all enjoy it for a few weeks.

I have some tweaking to do to get the blog looking like I want it too. I plan to do this late tonight. Check back tomorrow for a new holiday look!

Just a Few Pictures

Last Saturday Jimmy, Julie and Clay ran a 5K at the Vardaman Sweet Potato Festival. The rest of us stayed home.

Julie and Clay at the race

This Saturday night we met the Johnsey family for supper, and then we all walked downtown to observe the 8000 luminaries. We made a stop at the coffee shop to warm up with coffee, hot caramel apple cider, and hot chocolate.

Joey and Clay

Leah. Olivia, Julie, and Lana Kate

Today Jimmy took some pictures outside of Leah and Sam. The leaves on the trees are so beautiful this time of year.

Sam posing

Sam climbing the rock wall

Sweet Leah

Countdown to Christmas

Every few days, I am going to try to share what we are doing here at our house to prepare for the Christmas season. This week I have bought my Christmas stamps and shirts for the children for our Christmas card photo. I will post our Christmas card photo right after I send them out (I like to mail them Nov. 30 or Dec. 1). It usually takes us more than one session to get the perfect (or acceptable!) photo to use for our card! Also, I have updated my address list, and it is ready to print on mailing labels.

The first week or so in November is really the best time to finish your online shopping. That way you can ensure that your packages will arrive in time for the holidays. I am still waiting to order from American Girl. The past couple of years they have offered free shipping during part of November. I am giving them another week or two, then I guess I will have to go ahead and order....and pay shipping. I noticed that one item that my girls want is already on backorder until April!!

Remember, as you shop to designate a location for your gifts so you can find them when it is time to wrap. Also, keep a list of what you buy and who it is for. I redid my Christmas notebook recently. It was previously in a spiral bound notebook, and I made a binder with laminated dividers to use as my Christmas Binder. I put the old spiral notebook in the inside pocket of the new binder. I used Christmas paper, and it looks really festive!

Menu Monday

I know that it is THURSDAY, but I have just been so busy this week. I am glad to see supper ideas on any day of the week....I hope you are too!

Hash Brown Potato Soup, salad with crunchies
Smothered Chicken, brown rice, strawberry salad (see Vicki's blog for these recipes)
Chicken Manicotti, salad
Leftovers
7 Can Soup, cornbread, salad
spaghetti, salad

Yes, we have had salad every night this week. I bought a huge (2 lb. I think) box of organic spring mix on sale for $5.99. I love it because it is already in bite sized pieces and is washed. We still have enough salad greens to last us until Sunday! On Monday I browned 8 oz. of walnuts and 1 package of ramen noodles in 1/2 stick of butter. We are using those "crunchies" and/or chow mein noodles on top of our salad each night. I made the dressing from Vicki's blog (I halved it), and I have sliced strawberries or tomatoes each night to add to the salad. Leah likes her salad with ranch dressing, crumbled tortilla chips, and shredded cheddar cheese.

Time for School!

It is 8:48 a.m. Breakfast is hot and ready, my Bible lesson for the day is ready, our schoolwork is all planned and ready........and I am ready! But where are my children??? They are all in the yard trying to rescue a poor cat (not our cat)! We heard a huge commotion of barking dogs a little while ago, and when the children investigated, they found our three outside dogs barking their heads off at the cat they had treed. The petrified cat tries to come down the tree, only to be pounced on by Lucky, our rather large black dog. So back up the tree the cat goes.....and the barking resumes. The kids are out there with ham and leashes, trying to entice the dogs to come inside (great!--they are so clean!!), so they can get the cat down and to safety. I am sure they would like for this cat to become our pet, but I am also sure that if the cat ever gets out of the tree safely, he will bolt from our property, never to return!
I am off to check on their progress.....breakfast is getting cold.