I'm Almost Ready

In a few hours, my parents with both of my grandmothers, and both of my brothers and their families will arrive. The girls and I along with my neighbor who helps me clean, cleaned the entire house yesterday. Yes it took all day! We also finished putting bows on gifts, and we washed, dried, folded, and put away seven loads of laundry.

Here it what it looks like around here.

The presents are wrapped.....

gifts for my family on our guest bed

Olivia and Julie helped me make the bows.

The tables are set.....

Six people will eat in the dining room, eight at the kitchen table, and five of the youngest children will eat at our bar.

This is what my dining room looked like before. I spent a few days in here finishing up the wrapping.

The dining room now.

Jimmy gave me this set of Christmas dishes about twelve years ago. I have eight dinner plates in this pattern.

The kitchen table

Jimmy gave me this set of dishes the very first December after we were married. This set contains dinner and salad plates, cups and saucers, and bowls. I was so happy when he gave me these dishes!

The younger children are using these cute plastic dishes at the bar.

Most of my menu for today's party couldn't be prepared ahead of time. Last night I made a strawberry congealed salad, and I slice the ham and put it on a platter. Later on this morning I will make homemade macaroni and cheese (I did grate a pound of cheese last night for this), mashed potatoes, roasted asparagus, and green beans. Oh, and also I am trying a new recipe from my neighbor, Mrs. Herring: white chocolate bread pudding. She said to bake it while we are eating our lunch so it will be hot at dessert time. The recipe sounds delicious.

I think I better get to work!

The Sibling Store

I have postponed my holiday baking until next week. I am up to my ears in wrapping paper and ribbon. I moved my gift wrapping station to my dining room so I can be around the family while I am happily wrapping presents. I normally wrap in my storage room, but it has gotten pretty junky down there (after all, it is a storage room!), and the cats' food and litter boxes are down there too, so I wanted a change of scenery. So my plan is to finish up the wrapping and clean up the dining room tomorrow. I also plan to buy most of my holiday groceries tomorrow.

Friday is clean the entire house day as well as cook for my side of the family's Christmas gathering--held at my house on Saturday.

Today I opened my sibling store for holiday shopping. My children like to give handmade gifts to each other (and to Jimmy and me and every single person in our extended family!), but they also like to give each other store bought gifts. A few years ago I switched from taking them to the store to secretly buy for each other, to buying all of the gifts for them to give each other myself. Here's how it works:

1. I make a list of things that each child needs or wants that is useful.

2. I choose four items off each child's list to be displayed in the "Sibling Store".

3. I charge each child a small amount of money to shop in the store. Of course, the gifts cost more than I charge, but the point is for them to spend their own hard-earned money on each other. I usually charge the older children $10 each, and Leah and Sam $1 or $2. This amount covers all four gifts.

4. They take turns shopping for each other and then we wrap the gifts.

The children are so excited to see their siblings open the gifts that they give them--both the handmade ones as well as the store bought ones.

Domino Christmas Ornaments

Since I am not crafty, I am always on the lookout for simple and cute crafts for my children to do. I found this idea on my friend Kimberly's blog, Raising Olives. Click here for the link for directions. We followed them exactly like Kimberly described, except we cut our ribbon 15 inches instead of 12.

I bought the dominoes at WalMart, and I found the ribbon and Zips (glue product) at Hobby Lobby. I had a collection of stamps on hand from my former scrapbooking days (I hope to get back to scrapbooking some day), and I keep Sharpies in a variety of colors.

beginning to stamp the dominoes

our supplies

coloring in a stamp

some of the finished ornaments

a couple more finished ones

There were 28 dominoes in the box. We plan to package each ornament in a small gift bag filled with candy, and the children are going to give them to their church family friends as a Christmas gift.

A fun and easy craft!

Menu Plan Monday

I am so happy that we are taking a break from school, but now our days will be filled with work in the kitchen! This is the week I plan to do my holiday baking, plus I am hosting my side of the family's Christmas celebration on Saturday. I have our meals planned through this Thursday, plus my lunch menu for the party on Saturday. I also have a list of all the goodies that I want to make this week. I plan to buy groceries on Thursday for the weekend, and maybe I can plan enough to buy everything I'll need until AFTER Christmas day. We'll see.

Suppers this week

• shrimp scampi, salad
• grilled hamburgers, homemade French fries
• chicken and dumplings, green beans, black eyed peas
• Julie cooks (I just bought her list of ingredients, I am not sure exactly what she is making...some sort of sweet and sour chicken, rice, a potato dish, and dessert)

My Saturday lunch menu for the family gathering

• ham
• homemade macaroni and cheese
• mashed potatoes
• roasted asparagus
• green beans
• white chocolate bread pudding

My sisters-in-law are bringing bread and an appetizer, and my mother is bringing a strawberry cake.

The holiday goodies

• oyster crackers
• reindeer food
• bumpy cookies
• rice krispie goodies (not rice krispie treats)
• Resees cup cookies
• sugar cookies to decorate
• cookie mixes in a jar (to give to the children's teachers)

And here is a sneak peek to our Christmas Day brunch---

Mocha Punch

This punch is the absolute best. Here is the recipe.

Mocha Punch

2 oz. instant coffee granules

2 cups boiling water

1 cup sugar

1 gallon milk

1/2 gallon chocolate ice cream

1/2 gallon vanilla ice cream

2 cups whipping cream, whipped

Dissolve coffee in boiling water. Add sugar and mix well. Refrigerate this mixture overnight. The next day put coffee mixture in punch bowl. Add milk and stir. Then stir in ice cream (you may want to soften the ice cream in the microwave for a little bit). Dollop whipped cream on top.

Delicious. I can drink the entire punch bowl all by myself!

Now, if you need more menu ideas and inspiration, please visit The Organizing Junkie.

Happy Monday!

Language Arts Questions

We officially began our Christmas holidays yesterday! But, my academic wheels are always spinning. While I am wrapping gifts, making grocery shopping lists, and planning out our days, in the back of my mind, school is always lurking. As I reflect on the semester we just finished, I am evaluating--what worked, what didn't work.

I used Sonlight Language Arts for the first time with Leah (1st grade, Core K), Julie (8th grade, Core 5), and Clay (6th grade, Core 5). It has not been the best fit for our family. The assignments are too easy for Julie (I really expected that), and really too vague for Leah and Clay.

I plan to let Julie continue with the weekly Sonlight writing assignments, but I have already dropped the dictation and worksheet portion of the program for her.

Clay will begin All Things Fun and Fascinating sold by IEW. He has done IEW for the past two years, and he really needs more practice in this type of writing instruction. I have been pleased with all of the various IEW products I have used in the past. I have dropped the Sonlight dictation and language worksheets for him too, but I am interested in doing dictation with Clay. I also plan for him to begin daily copywork again. I used daily copywork with my oldest two girls for years, and I really think it is beneficial. He will be doing his copywork in both print and cursive (alternating days).

Leah will drop most of the Sonlight Language Arts. I plan to occasionally use the worksheets, but none of the copywork, dictation, or writing assignments. Leah will do the same type of language arts activities that my other three children have done in first grade: journal, story starters, letter writing, and doodle-loops (I draw a squiggle or two on the page, and the child finishes the drawing and then writes about it). She will also do daily copywork, and I want to incorporate dictation with her too.

So here are my questions. If you use dictation (meaning the parent dictates something to the child to write), please share with me how it works.

• What is your source for dictation?
• Do you dictate a passage that they have previously copied?
• Do you assign copywork every day?
• Do you assign dictation every day?

For the first week or two in January, the children will be writing thank-you notes daily. By late January, I hope to have a concrete language arts plan in place.

Thanks in advance for all of your great ideas!

The Gingerbread Houses

For the past few years, a dear lady named Mrs. Thornhill has made our family a beautiful gingerbread house in December. I always use it as a centerpiece on my table, but we never eat it. Well, last year she found out that we do not eat the gingerbread house, and she was surprised. She told Jimmy that she wanted the children to eat and enjoy it! I just felt like the houses were too pretty to eat.

Yesterday the Thornhills came over for a brief visit and to deliver our gingerbread house....but this year she made 6! Yes 6 gingerbread houses! One large one for my to display and not eat, and 5 smaller ones, one for each child to EAT. They were all precious!

The children proudly holding their gingerbread masterpieces

Here is the front of a little one

and this is the back of a little one

This is the large one that I will use as a centerpiece.

After I took a few pictures of the houses, the children ate them! I took some more pictures of them enjoying the candy, gingerbread, and sugary icing, and then I let them continue to eat them while I read aloud our current Sonlight books.

Sam, just getting started

Julie, being very careful

Olivia, so excited to dig in

Clay, getting started on a gingerbread boy

Leah, having her first bite of gingerbread

Julie, taking off the roof

Clay, taking a bite of the roof

And look at what was inside each house....candy!

After all of that candy, sugar, and gingerbread, the kids wanted popcorn! So we popped some, and they ate that too while I continued to read aloud.

Today's writing assignment in school is for the children to each write a thank you letter to Mrs. Thornhill for her hard work and beautiful creations.

Clay's Wreath

Last week in school, Clay had to write a paper that explained how to do something to a younger audience. I think the official title was an expository paper. Anyway, Jimmy and Clay had recently made grapevine wreaths using vines they had pulled out of trees in our wood while clearing out.

Here is his paper:

How to Make a Grapevine Wreath

by

Clay Johnson

The first step of making a grapevine wreath is to go into some woods. The second step, which is fun, is to find a good vine in a tree and pull it down. Then, bend the vine. If it breaks, it is a brittle vine.

Stretch your vine on a big, flat space. The vine should be about twenty feet long, because any shorter would not work. The next step is to get two people. One holds the end of the vine, and the other one twists the vine. After that you should twist the vine into a circle. Then when you have about eight feet left, you wrap the vine through itself. After that you cut off any parts of the vine sticking out with clippers. The last step is to happily put a bow on the wreath and glue ornaments on it.

My mother helped Clay with the final decorating, and I hung the finished wreath in our kitchen. He made several wreaths in all, and he has already given a decorated one to an elder lady in our church family.

Clay's beautiful wreath

St. Jude Marathon Weekend

What a fun two days!

My parents arrived around lunchtime on Friday to keep Clay, Leah, and Sam. Jimmy, Olivia, Julie, and I left at 1:30, headed to Memphis! The round of texting between Kelly and Lynn, Scott and Barbara, Stacee, Leanna, and Megan began and Jimmy and me began. How did we ever communicate before texting?

We met Scott, Barbara, Kelly, Lynn, Megan, Yonea, Julie M., and Amber at the Expo. We all picked up our race packets, activated our timing chips, got our t shirts, and then shopped and visited. Lynn and I were on a mission to buy a hat with a cute saying. While we were all looking around, Olivia and Julie found the Disney Princess Half Marathon table where they were handing out princess crowns. Of course we all had to have one!

Princesses Julie, Olivia, and Mama

Jimmy, Kelly, Lynn, and I are actually running the Disney Half Marathon next year (and Jimmy is running the Full too---just not the Princess one.)

Hanging out at the Expo

Amber, Julie M., Olivia, Kelly, Julie, Me, Lynn, and Yonea

Princess Megan found the girls.

We laughed and laughed while reading the sayings on all of the shirts and hats. Some of our favorites were:

"I am only running this race so I can put my picture on Facebook"

"If found on ground, please drag across the finish line" I got this shirt.

"I know, I know, I'm almost there" Yonea got this shirt.

"Running is cheaper than therapy" I got this hat.

I think Lynn's hat simply said, "13.1".

After shopping and laughing and visiting and laughing even more, we all met at the Spaghetti Warehouse for our pre-race supper. This is our 3rd year to run St. Jude, and our 3rd year to enjoy our pre-race meal at the Spaghetti Warehouse.

The whole crew enjoying some pasta.

Jimmy and Me

After our meal we checked into our hotel. This year we stayed at a hotel right across from the finish line and about two blocks away from the starting line. Very convenient. We walked a couple of blocks to Starbucks for a coffee dessert.

trying to stay warm in Starbucks

I think we ran off everyone else in the coffee shop--we were a little loud--Scott kept us all laughing our heads off!

Next we walked down to the Peabody Hotel to admire the Christmas decorations. The lobby was lively!

Olivia, Julie, and Me at the Peabody

Then it was time to retire. Since Lynn and I are night owls, while everyone else was settling in bed, she and I checked and rechecked the weather forecast for race day morning. We debated about what to wear. We changed our minds several times before we finally decided. Jimmy pinned on our families' bib number and put the D tags on our shoes. Then we tried to sleep.

Race Day Morning! We all dressed, packed, checked and rechecked everything, and then we met all of our friends in the hotel lobby at 7:00 AM. We drank coffee and nervously chatted while we waited until time to walk to the starting line. We said our good-byes, and well wishes, and separated into various groups--at a race this large, each person lines up in a starting corral based on their running pace.

Jimmy, Julie, and Heather (one of our cross country coaches) lined up together. Their plan was to run the half-marathon together, and then Jimmy would run the rest of his marathon alone. I am not sure which corral Stephen, Kelly, or Scott got in, but Lynn, Stacee, Mark, Leanna, Olivia, and I all lined up together. Once the race began, I didn't see Olivia again until after the race. Stacee and Leanna are Jimmy's first cousins, and Mark is Stacee's husband. This was Leanna's first half marathon (and actually her very first race of any distance), and Mark was running this race with very little recent training. Of course Mark still finished strong! The five of us stayed together for the first 9 miles. I had the best time, talking and visiting. This was probably my most fun half marathon. I enjoyed running at a pace where I did not feel like I was dying the entire time! After taking my second pack of Jet Blackberry Gu, I had a burst of energy, and I told the others that I was going to speed up a little bit. I caught up with Kelly at mile 10.5, and he was going strong. This was his very first marathon, and we were all nervous for him.

I ran the last 4 miles at a much quicker pace that I ran the first 9, and I finished with a time of 2 hours, 9 minutes. Mark finished in 2:11, Leanna and Stacee in 2:12, and Lynn in 2:14. Olivia had finished earlier in 1:58 and Julie and Heather in 1:50. Julie won 2nd and Olivia 3rd in the 11-15 age division, out of 31 runners. Way to go girls!

trying to stay warm before the race

We all hung around the finish line for a while waiting for all of our friends to finish, and then we enjoyed post-race refreshments and settled in to wait for Jimmy and Kelly to complete the full marathon.

Scott, Barbara, and Stephen

Scott ran the half, and Barbara set a PR in the 5K. Congrats Barbara! Stephen had a most impressive half marathon. He finished in 1:47, and his only running training over the last three months was one 1.25 mile run in quarter mile intervals! Incredible!

Julie M. Yonea, and Lynn

Olivia and Hannah

Amber, Heather, and Sarah

I secured a spot to take Jimmy's picture as he finished his marathon, and then he sent me a text. It read:

"Mile 23. Dying"

He ran with his phone, so I was able to track him right into the stadium. We all cheered wildly as he entered the stadium. Go Jimmy!

Jimmy approaching the finish line

Jimmy finished the marathon (his 3rd one) in 3 hours, 47 minutes. He was disappointed in his time (which was only less than a minute slower than his last year's time), but I am so proud of him! Training for a marathon takes dedication and determination, and finishing a marathon is such a huge accomplishment, one that very, very, few people ever achieve.

After Jimmy recovered a little bit, he, Lynn, and I left the stadium to walk the race course backwards to look for Kelly. We didn't have to go far, about a half a mile or so, and then we spotted him! Still jogging! Lynn ran the last half mile in with him. We are all so proud of Kelly for completing his first marathon!

Lynn and Kelly after the marathon

Our last stop after everyone finished the race was Huey's. This has also become a St. Jude Race Weekend tradition. Huey's burgers are delicious, especially after a long day of running. Heather brought a van full of Olivia's and Julie's friends to watch the race, and they all joined us for a late lunch.

Olivia and Julie decided in August not to drink any soft drinks until after the St. Jude Half Marathon. Not one single coke! I am so proud of them and their willpower. They set a goal and achieved it. To celebrate, they ordered a coke at Huey's!

Olivia taking her first sip

Julie taking her first sip

Jimmy and Me

Barbara and Scott wearing the cute race t shirts

Kelly (in his marathon finisher's shirt) and Lynn

Stacee and Mark

Heather and Julie M.

Joe and Leanna

Joe was a spectator this year--hopefully we inspired him, and he will join us running next year!

It really was a delightful weekend. Fun memories!

Internet Woes

We had a wonderful St. Jude Marathon weekend. All day yesterday I looked forward to blogging all about it. Megan emailed me her pictures, Jimmy uploaded all of our pictures, I cleaned house and did laundry before, between, and after our two church services....all in anticipation of blogging last night as soon as I put all of the kids to bed.

10:00 PM. The children were all tucked in. The coffee pot was set to come on at 5:00 AM. The lights were out, the doors locked, and I got my laptop and settled in my warm bed to blog.

The internet would not work. I investigated. No bad weather. We had not exceed our daily allowance of internet usage. It was just some sort of technical difficulty. I was so disappointed!

So I thought briefly about reading Julius Caesar (I am about a month late in reading this for Olivia's school--I cannot keep all of the characters straight!), but instead opted to play Moxie and Solitaire (which do not require an internet connection!) until I was sleepy.

So much for blogging last night. We have a full day ahead of school, piano lessons, and errands, so I hope to blog again tonight.

It really was a great weekend.

A Trip With the Dogs

Earlier this week Olivia and I made the annual trek to the vet with over 150 lbs. of dog! I dread this vet visit each year.....our two outside dogs, Ribsy (named this because when she was dropped off at our house just shortly after we moved in, she was skin and bones....they named her Ribsy after the skinny dog in Henry Huggins) and Lucky (named this because he was lucky that I allowed the children to keep him--he was also a stray) are not leash trained, because they are yard dogs. The only time we put them on a leash is to take them to the vet once a year.

Olivia, in the back of the truck with Ribsy (black and white) and Lucky (black and hairy) both in her lap.

Here is Ribsy, crushing Olivia while trying to get a better look out the window. Where is Lucky?

In the front seat with me!

I think he is asking me why we are stopped for so long---we got caught by a train!

Still patiently waiting......

I don't think she actually sat on Joy.

We finally made it to the vet's office, and then the fun really began. I held little Joy, and Olivia tried to wrangle Lucky and Ribsy on their leashes. Amid much shrieking, dragging, and laughing, she entered the clinic, bursting through the door. Wow! We had arrived. And everyone in the clinic knew it.

The dogs all got checked in, and we left them for the day. We returned later that afternoon for three clean and happy dogs. Sadly, we learned that Ribsy has active heartworms. She has battled heartworms for 6 years (she was positive when she was dropped off at our house when she was just a skinny puppy). She will begin active treatment that involves two, four day hospital stays in March. For now, she must take three more months of heartworm medication before her treatment begins. Up until now, the monthly medication alone has kept her well enough.

The ride home was less eventful. Olivia and I have learned that when we get home, to just brace ourselves and open the truck door. We did just that, and they bolted!

And took their clean little selves straight to the woods to rub off all of the cleanness!

Holiday Cookie Recipe

Today the Four Moms are sharing holiday cookie recipes. This is the time of year for baking lots of yummy food!

The recipe I am sharing is actually for bars, not cookies, but they are so delicious. I only make these during the holiday season--Thanksgiving and Christmas. I made a batch for Thanksgiving, and they were gone in one day! I have also packaged these in tins or cups and given them as gifts.

Enjoy the recipe, and then visit all four moms' blogs for lots of holiday cookie recipes.

Life in a Shoe

Smockity Frocks

The Common Room

Raising Olives

Rice Krispie Goodies

6 cups rice krispie cereal

1 cup light corn syrup

1 cup creamy peanut butter

1 cup sugar

1 bag butterscotch chips

1 bag chocolate chips

Cook corn syrup and sugar in small saucepan over medium heat until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and stir in peanut butter. Pour this mixture over the rice krispies in a large bowl. Stir to combine. Press mixture into a 9 x 13 dish. Melt both bags of chips in microwave in 1 minute intervals, stirring each time. When the chips are melted and combined, spread over the rice krispie mixture. Allow the goodies to cool and the chips to harden before cutting into squares. Cut into small squares. These are very rich!

I usually double the rice krispies, corn syrup, sugar, and peanut butter and make two batches. I do not double the bags of chips--it really makes enough to spread onto two pans of goodies.