Leah's 8th Birthday

Leah celebrated her 8th birthday last Thursday.  She is growing up to be such a sweet young lady.  Leah is kind, generous, and loving.  She loves to do things with her sisters!  She   enjoys drawing and coloring, crocheting, and sewing.  My children are all growing up too fast!

I surprised Leah with a La La Loopsy themed birthday table.  She loved it!  

Those La La Loopsy dolls are so top-heavy!  It took me forever to get them propped up!

Leah began her special day with opening her gifts from us and my parents.

 Leah with her presents

Leah, sitting with Daddy and Sam while opening her gifts

After Jimmy made me the crafting table for my Christmas gift, I was inspired to sew.  I was also inspired to sew after Leah asked for matching outfits for her and her American Girl doll for her birthday.  I looked online at those outfits, and they cost around $100!  I decided that I could make them matching outfits!  I haven't sewn in years, but I was so excited to begin!  I worked many, many hours sewing skirts for Leah and her doll and a long sleeved shirt for the doll to match a shirt that Leah already had.  All of that sewing is one reason I felt so swamped last week, but I enjoyed the sewing so much!

Leah knew that I was making her a birthday gift, but she had no idea what it was.  Here are some pictures of her opening the gift.

beginning to look inside....what can it be?

What is it???

A skirt!

And one for my doll too!

Here they are!

Julie helped me out immensely last week!  She made Leah's birthday cake and decorated it all by herself!  It had buttons on it to go along with the La La Loopsy theme.

the beautiful cake

the birthday girl surrounded by her family (minus the family photographer!)

Leah asked for me to cook sausage and cheese muffins for her breakfast and potato soup for her birthday supper.  Actually, Julie made the soup!  Leah wanted to go to Chick-Fil-A for lunch, so we ate at the Chick-Fil-A in our mall.  After that I took Leah clothes shopping at The Children's Place.  Most of her playclothes, and all of her church clothes are hand-me-downs from her two sisters.  I thought it would be a nice treat to let her pick out an outfit that was brand new to her!  She chose two very cute skirt outfits and a pair of hot pink flats.

At the end of a very fun day, Julie gave Leah the birthday gift that she had lovingly made for her.....a crocheted La La Loopsy doll!  It is precious!

Leah with her new doll

Happy Birthday Leah!

Still Swamped!

I cannot get into a groove!  After taking 3 weeks off in December which actually stretched into 4, I have not had a fully productive school day since we started back!  I cannot figure out what is wrong, but I am not anywhere near getting everything done.  My older children are completing all their schoolwork that does not involve my assistance, but the things that depend on me are holding them up.  I am behind in Clay's, Leah's, and Sam's Sonlight reading, behind in checking Olivia's schoolwork, and behind in the little bit of help/tutoring that Olivia occasionally needs (like go over her study guide for her upcoming science test).  I am also behind in our official home economics class, however my girls have completed many hours of home ec while helping me clean out and reorganize during our Christmas break and also by helping me prepare for Leah's birthday--Julie baked and decorated Leah's birthday cake and cupcakes all by herself!).

This weekend I plan to pull out the school day schedule I made for us back in August, and start following it.  Previously, I was setting the timer on my phone for each segment, and running a pretty tight ship.  It is apparent that I need to do that again.  When we started school back a couple of weeks ago, I abandoned the schedule, and was trying to go with the flow---that is not working!  Another change that I made that is not working is sleeping later than normal on school mornings.  I have not been getting up at 5:00 AM, and that has got to change!  I am setting my alarm for 5:00, and I am going to hit the floor running!  Well, hit the floor running to the coffee pot!

I am trying to choose to enjoy my days, but it seems like by my slowing down my personal pace, so much is getting left undone that it is actually causing me more stress!  Does that even make sense?

I am going to work on finding the balance between "getting it all done" and "enjoying the process".  I hope I have a better report in several days.

How is your January?

Swamped!

Since we started back to school last Thursday I have been swamped!  I have not had a chance to blog, and I am already behind in my reading the Bible in 90 days!  Day 9, and I am already behind!  But I will catch up.  Leah's birthday is Thursday, and I have been sewing her a gift.  She is going to be so surprised (I just hope I get it finished!).

Anyway, we are all fine here at the Johnson home.....I just have not have much computer time.

I am working on choosing books that I want to read in 2012.  These are books that I plan to read in addition to the Sonlight and Notgrass books that I pre-read for my children.

I am also trying to choose to not get overwhelmed by life in general and the daily clutter specifically.

I hope you are having a good January so far, and that you are having success in keeping your resolutions or focusing on the word you have chosen for 2012.

Back To School

After a much enjoyed break from school, we are beginning again this morning.  I was NOT ready to dive back into school.  In fact, I had scheduled us to begin Monday, January 2, but I chose to be spontaneous, and gave us a few more days off!  We have had a wonderful break, but it is time to jump back in.

I have not gotten up at 5:00 AM in about a month, but I did this morning.  I know I will be needing coffee around 2:00 PM today!  I am hoping and praying that our day goes smoothly, and that everyone is eager and cheerful all day!  (Me too).

Choose

Choose

Like I said yesterday, choose is my focus word for 2012.  I have many more things to choose in addition to choosing to be spontaneous.

Jimmy gave a short talk/invitation at our Wednesday night church service a couple of weeks ago.  He said that we are not forced to serve and obey God or follow Jesus.  It is our choice.  A choice that we all must make.  By not choosing to serve God, we are choosing not to serve Him.  That got me to thinking....every action and reaction we make is a choice.  And we are in control of our choices.  From the big choices, the ones that affect the salvation of our souls, to the multiple small ones we make on a daily, even hourly basis, that may also affect our service to God.

So this year I want to make myself aware of the choices I make.  I want to choose the better thing, each and every time.  How do I know which is the best choice? Some are easy.  Some are hard.  But the answer is always found in God's Word, which leads me to my first choice.

1.  Choose to spend time in God's Word.  Daily.  More than once a day.  I began reading the Bible in 90 days for the 3rd time on January 2nd.  I didn't start on January 1st, because I just decided that I wanted to do this again on December 31st, and then I spent a couple of days contemplating how I wanted to do it.  Did I want to read the Bible straight through?  Which version did I want to use this time?  Did I want to read the Bible chronologically?  Which chronological plan should I use?  Where were the 90 day chronological plans?  After much going back and forth, and actually starting two different plans on January 1, I decided to use the straight through the Bible in 90 days plan offered on You Version.  I am using my iPad, and I am reading the English Standard Version, the version I read the first time I did this, one year ago.  I still want to read the Bible chronologically, and I found a great one year plan that includes explanatory notes, but I am going to do it after I do the 90 day plan again.  In addition to reading most or all of each day's readings first thing in the morning, I also am going to choose to read my Bible when I have little snippets of time instead of playing games on my iPad/iPhone.  I like to take my turn with Words With Friends, or play a round of Moxie 2 or Solitaire when I have a spare moment....but this year I am going to choose to read one more chapter in my daily Bible reading.  

2.  Choose to continue to exercise.  I met a huge goal for myself last year.  Run a marathon.  In fact, I ran two marathons last year.  Now, that I have met the big goal, I was unsure of what my exercise goals should be.  So my goal is to just continue.  My short term goal is to complete the 63 day Insanity program, exactly as it is prescribed.  I am currently on Day 23, and so far, so good.  After completing Insanity, I am not sure what my exercise program will be, but it will involve getting back to running, and I will choose to continue exercising!

Right now I am going to have to choose to close this post and get on with my day.  I have many other goals/choices to list, and I hope to get to that tomorrow!

Joshua 24:15

And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell.  But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

Colossians 3:1,2

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on the earth.

My 2012 Word

Choose

I have finally decided on a word--choose.

I considered simplify, savor, and slow down, but after much consideration and prayer, I have chosen choose.  Yesterday when Jimmy came home from work after working over 30 hours straight, he asked me if I had made any New Year's Resolutions.  I told him that I was doing just like I did last year--choosing one word to focus on all year long and applying that word to all areas of my life, instead of making a list of resolutions.  I still make a list of goals of course, but they are all related to my focus word.  Anyway, after I explained all of this to him, he asked me what my word was.  I replied that I had not completely settled on one word just yet, and I shared him what I had narrowed it down to.  He immediately said, "I know what your word should be!---spontaneous!"  This was welcomed by much laughter from the children.  As if spontaneous could be my focus word!  How would I set goals for the year focusing on a word like spontaneous?  If I focused on being spontaneous, then I would not even list goals or resolutions, right?  That would not be spontaneous!  

But his suggestion did get me to thinking.  I can be inflexible.  I do like routine.  I must have my days and weeks planned out in advance.  If Jimmy comes home from work announcing that he would like for the whole family to load up and go to Sam's or the mall for a dessert or something like that, I panic.  When will I do the dishes?  What about those items on my to-do list that still need to be crossed off?  To say that I am NOT spontaneous is an understatement.  Can I make a spur of the moment road trip?  Ha!  What do you think?  My natural response to anything that deviates from my plan is "no".  But then most of the time I will think it through and figure out how to make it work.  

I asked Jimmy to qualify his desire for my focus word to be spontaneous, and he responded that he would like for me to do (plan) one spontaneous thing each week.  He said if I never tried new things or new ways of doing things that I might miss out on something that I really liked.  So really more than being spontaneous all day, he wants me to try new things---and trying new things is spontaneous to me.  I do live my life in a rut of routine.  So, for 2012 I am going to choose to be spontaneous along with choosing all kinds of other things as well.

I have a whole other list of choices I want to make this year, but I will blog about that next time.  This list of things I want to choose includes my original goals for 2012--plus one more goal--be more spontaneous.

More After Pictures

When I shared pictures of Sam's completed room yesterday, I forgot a couple.  The first two pictures are of his closet.

Sam's desk

As I was taking down the Christmas decorations last week, I moved furniture and my rug around to vacuum.  Then I decided to try a different furniture arrangement.  We have lived here for seven years, and the den furniture has not moved!

Here are some pictures of the new set up.  I really like it.

That little bench in front of the coffee table was made for me by Sam.

Here is my schoolroom while I was moving the schoolbooks out of the storage room into those white cabinets.  The white cabinets were full of my scrapbooking supplies that I moved back into the storage room!

This is my fantastic new table that Jimmy and Clay built me for Christmas.  I love this table!  It is the perfect height, and gives me such a large work space.

It's covered with the things we brought down from the sewing room.

All cleaned off now!

To the right of the table are shelves holding our stuff.  The boxes have labels listing their contents.

This brown entertainment center stores scrapbooking supplies on the left.  The brown chest on the left also holds scrapbooking stuff.  The right side of the entertainment center and the white chest of drawers holds sewing supplies.

The boxes underneath the crafting table hold small scrapbooks, stuffing, bows, fabric, and the sewing machine cabinet (white).  We roll the sewing cabinet out when we need to sew.

Another picture of my supplies.  I know that my containers are not matching nor are they color-coordinated, but I just used what I already had.

Another gift from Jimmy--a pegboard.  I love this!  I had so much fun hanging all of those things on the pegboard.

This is another wall in the storage room--The shelves hold more of our stuff as well as the ribbon holder Jimmy made me several years ago.  I use that table when I am making bows for presents.

One last picture of the crafting end of our storage room.

Before and After

Happy New Year!

I hope your 2012 is going great so far!  We spent New Year's Eve like we always do--at our friends Kelly and Lynn's house.  We enjoyed Kelly's famous chili plus lots of other unhealthy but very tasty food.  The mocha punch, homemade pimento and cheese sandwiches and stuffed jalapeno peppers were my favorite!  

I finally finished my three room redo!  Here are some pictures.  I must admit that this was a huge job that I tackled.  It took me until Friday night to finish!  I am so glad to have it all done.

BEFORE

This is the room that Clay and Sam formerly shared.  When we built our house seven years ago, this room was intended to be a playroom.  Well, my children played all over the house, and when Sam was two, we moved him and Clay into this large room together.  The smaller bedroom that used to be Clay's bedroom was transformed into a movie watching/sewing room.

The other side of this room.

It was a big mess because this was the day after Christmas, plus I had already begun moving stuff from the sewing room (all of those games) into this room.

Another view of the mess.

And one more picture of before in this room.

This is the former sewing room, almost all the way emptied out.  I removed the rug, couch and coffee table from this room.

The TV cabinet on the left stayed.  This TV only shows DVDs.  Clay decided to leave his desk in his old room for Sam, and to keep this TV in his room.  This is my only child to have a TV in his room.  He has to ask permission to watch a DVD, and I don't anticipate his watching any more DVDs than normal (infrequently).

AFTER

This is Clay's room now!  

Another view.

Still another view.

And one last picture.  Clay has legos displayed on the window seat and on the shelves.

Sam's room

This is his seating area.  He and Leah are already enjoying playing all kinds of things on the rug.

The other side of Sam's room.  The built in shelves are now holding all of our family games that are not stored in our den.

Since I spent all of last week redoing all of those rooms (I'll share pictures from my new craft/sewing/scrapbooking area later), taking down and storing Christmas decorations, taking Olivia to and from Winter Camp, and dealing with a broken washing machine (I have washed clothes at the local laundromat and last night at Lynn's), I have not had time to decide on my focus word for 2012.  I have a couple of ideas, but I still want to think and pray about it some more.  I also want to make a list of goals for 2012--in several different areas.  I am going to get my thoughts together on beginning a new year as well as starting back to official homeschooling over the next few days.  We will begin part two of this year's school year on Thursday.

Have you set 2012 goals?  Made New Year's resolutions?  Chosen a focus word?  Please share your ideas--they may help me as I make my plans for this new year.

Still Working Over Here

My major decluttering and rearranging of rooms and furniture is still continuing.  In fact, I was unable to work on any of it yesterday!  So far we have completely emptied out the former sewing room and have moved all of its contents into my basement storage room in my new crafting area.  But it is just sitting there in baskets and bags, waiting to be organized and neatly put away.  We did purge the contents before we moved them down there (two flights of stairs, by the way).

That was step 1.  Step 2 is to move Clay's furniture and belongings from his former room which he shares with Sam into his new room.  I plan to do that today.  Sam is a little bit sad that Clay is leaving.  He is only going next door, and they have a bathroom in between them!  But, Sam has never had a room to himself, and he is concerned about sleeping in there alone.  I am moving a couch into Sam's room (it was in the sewing room), so I told him that Clay could sleep on that couch sometimes, or he could make a pallet on the floor of Clay's room.

Step 3 will be to then clean out Sam's room.  I need to help him really clean out under his bed and behind furniture (places Sam likes to stick things).  We will then straighten his closet and put all of the games and puzzles in there---they were formerly in the sewing room on shelves.

Step 4 is to help Leah clean up her room.  She likes to place things in little piles in the corners of her room.  The middle of her floor is clean, and she can walk around with no trouble, but those little piles of items in her corners have to be dealt with!  Also, I need to get her a trash can for her room.  Maybe that would eliminate some of her piles!  She needs some help putting away her Christmas gifts and generally tidying her room.

Step 5 will be my favorite of all!  Organize my new crafting area!  I have to remove all of my school books and supplies (ones not currently using, but items that I will be using in the future) from the entertainment center in the basement.  Then I want to take all of my scrapbooking supplies out of the wall of cabinets in my schoolroom and put them back in the storage/crafting room.  I will put the school stuff back in the schoolroom cabinets.  Hopefully along the way I can get rid of some stuff!

I had wanted to get all of this done this week, but I am not sure if that is going to happen.  Yesterday I didn't get to work on this project at all because it took my entire day to exercise (Day 15 of Insanity!), go to Walmart to pick up last minute items for Olivia to take to camp, and go to the AT&T store to buy a Go Phone with 5 days of service for Olivia to take to camp (last year we had no way to communicate with her and I was so worried about her!  It was her first time to go away like that!).  I instructed her to call or text us twice a day so we would know that she was ok. Then we had to actually take her to camp, about a 3 hour round trip.  By the time we got home it was time for me to cook supper, get everyone ready for church, and then attend our Wednesday night church service.  When I got home at 9:00 last night, I was just too tired to tackle any decluttering!

I hope you are having a productive holiday break!

One more thing.....I am starting to consider what my focus word will be for 2012.  For 2011 it was persevere.  Have you started thinking about what you want your focus word to be?

Continuing With the Declutter

Yesterday was a success!  We pleaned all day!  (clean 30 minutes, play 30 minutes, repeat until the work is done).  Before suppertime we had taken down every single Christmas decoration and neatly stored them away.  Our live tree has now taken its traditional spot on our back patio.....it will be knocked down by the wind almost daily, and the children will stand it back up.  We usually leave the tree out there for a while for us to continue to enjoy looking at it.  Plus the younger children to not like the idea of our precious tree being disposed of each year.  We have to ease into getting rid of it.

I packed away all of the Christmas dishes, and we enjoyed our supper of leftovers on our regular blue dishes.  I also rearranged our den!  I think I am going to leave it this way.  It seems more open and roomier.

I had also planned to wash clothes all day since I had taken a break from laundry for two days.  Guess what?  My washer broke during the first load!  The appliance repair shop was closed yesterday for the holiday, but my repairman is coming this morning to check it out.  If he cannot fix it today, I will be making a trip to the laundromat this afternoon.  Olivia leaves for Winter Camp tomorrow, and she has to have her clothes washed before leaving.

I have another full day of cleaning out and organizing today--it may take me several days to do what I have planned.  My Christmas gift from Jimmy (and Clay, who helped him a good bit) was a fabulous crafting table.  It is the most wonderful thing!  They spent many hours constructing it in secret, and they presented it to me on December 22.  I love that new table!  It is a 6ft x 6ft square table, built at the perfect "counter height" for me.  No more bending over to cut out fabric, scrapbook, or wrap presents.  It is the most perfect gift!  And all the more special because it was made especially for me by the people I love the most!

I will share pictures at some point!

Today, I plan to begin the big move/reorganization project.  The new table is in my newly cleaned out storage room in our basement, right off of my schoolroom (now I know why Jimmy and I spent 2 days cleaning out the storage room last week!).  Currently, our sewing room is located in an upstairs bedroom--it is completely full of sewing materials, closet and all! I plan to relocate the sewing room into the storage room.  I have 2 chest of drawers and a large entertainment center in the storage room that I will clean out in order to store my sewing, crafting, and scrapbooking supplies.  

Next, after the former sewing room is completely cleaned out and cleaned, I am going to move Clay into this bedroom.  This will be a big job too!  Lastly, I will finish by cleaning out and reorganizing Sam's room after Clay has moved out and some additional furniture other stuff has been added to Sam's room.  Our sewing room also stored many games and puzzles, and I will move those to Sam's closet.  Thankfully, Sam has a huge closet, so storing some extra things will not be a problem, especially after Clay moves his things out.

Wow!  What a task in front of me!  But I am so looking forward to having it all done so I can enjoy my new table and creative area!

Pictures of the entire process will follow.  I hope.

Just Do The Next Thing

That is my motto for today!  After a week (really 3 weeks) of fun and preparation--cooking, baking, cleaning, wrapping, visiting, celebrating, crafting, decorating, etc., today is all about cleaning up and organizing.  I am not even sure that I am going to make a list.  I am just going to start in my den, and do the next thing.  Again and again until all of the Christmas decorations are taken down and neatly put up, and the floors are all vacuumed--or until bedtime comes, whichever comes first!

We had a fabulous Christmas!  It really was wonderful.  I enjoy the whole busyness of December and all that it entails.  I love creating memories for my family when we do our traditions each December.  I enjoy the work and serving my family, and even though there were times that I was truly exhausted, and I texted that sentiment to my dear friend Lynn and my sister-in-law Megan, I was not complaining!  I was just stating the fact that sometimes doing what you love can exhaust you.  And that is a good thing!  My friend Emily wrote a post all about questioning why she exhausted herself in December, and concluded with the idea that it isn't all about her (or me).  It's her gift to her family.  Reading that gave me a jolt and reminded me that service really is uplifting.  Doing things for others leads to happiness for yourself!  I briefly considered simplifying my December activities for next year, but after reading Emily's post, and also after hearing all five of my children and my husband thank me repeatedly for all of our Christmas traditions, I changed my mind.  I am not going to change a single thing next December.  I have 11 months to rest up!

Jimmy was off all last week, and that really was enjoyable.  We had such a nice week!  He took the children to visit his parents for two days (and unknown to me they were all working on Christmas gifts for me!).  I spent that time wrapping and cleaning, cooking and etc., and it was nice to be able to work uninterrupted.  That was a gift in itself.  We all went to see Authur Christmas one night at the 7:45 PM showing.  I haven't been to a movie that started that late since college!  The movie was hilarious!

My handmade gifts from my family were fantastic, and I plan to blog about them with pictures soon.  Right now I better get started on the big Pleaning Day.  Pleaning is a word my children made up years ago.  On the day or days after Christmas they help me get the house back in order by pleaning----play for 30 minutes and then work for 30 minutes.  I set a timer and we alternate working and playing all day.  That way they get to enjoy their new gifts and willingly help me out too!  Cleaning and organizing is play for me, so I will work, work, work until it's all done!

Two more things:
1.  I have done 12 days of Insanity!  Today will be Day 13.  I have completed two weeks of six days of workouts followed by one day off (Sundays).  So far, no injuries!
2.  I joined Pinterest!  What an addiction!

Cleaning and Baking!

pretty sugar cookies

We have certainly been enjoying our Christmas Break!  Jimmy is off from work this entire week, so our whole family has been busy, busy, busy.

The girls and I have baked sugar cookies, gingerbread cookies (both of which they are decorating right this very minute), rice krispie goodies, reindeer food, seasoned oyster crackers, millionaires, and chocolate peppermint bonbons.  Also, we have wrapped presents, tried to keep up with the laundry, and Jimmy and I have cleaned out our entire storage room.  That took the better part of two days!  There were boxes in there that we had not unpacked since we moved from Jackson over 11 years ago!  But now we have gone through every single box, purged and reorganized.

Tomorrow's plan is to clean our entire house in preparation for the Johnson Christmas Party.  We will be joined by all of Jimmy's aunts, uncles, and cousins for a fun night of food and fellowship.  Fun!

more pretty cookies

my sweet daughters

Also this week Olivia finally finished this 1000 piece puzzle.  Our whole family has worked on it from time to time--for over a month!  

She has already started on another one.

Menu Plan Monday

Monday:  potato soup, salad, homemade bread

Tuesday:  baked fish (tilapia and orange roughy), roasted sweet and white potatoes, corn on the cob, salad

Wednesday:  meatloaf (from my freezer), mashed potatoes, peas

Thursday:  Johnson Christmas Party--I am ordering Subway sandwich trays and everyone will bring an appetizer or dessert

Friday:  baked chicken, roasted sweet and white potatoes, salad, black eyed peas

Saturday:  Lunch at Granmomma's--I am taking a ham, spinach dip, and chocolate bread pudding

Sunday:  Breakfast--breakfast casserole, Pioneer Woman cinnamon rolls, mocha punch; Lunch/Dinner--steak, steamed shrimp, hash brown casserole, salad

Please visit OrgJunkie.com for more menu inspiration.

Our Simmons Family Christmas

Yesterday we all gathered at my youngest brother's house in Southaven to celebrate Christmas with my side of the family.  My parents came with both of my grandmothers and one of my grandmother's baby sister--she is 80!  The youngest of 12 children!  My grandmother, Momo, is somewhere in the middle of all of those children.

Anyway, I don't have any pictures!  I am not sure why I failed to take any!  Jimmy took a few with his phone, so I may figure out how to get those over here to my computer.  We had a wonderful visit, and the children thoroughly enjoyed exchanging presents.  We also enjoyed a delicious meal (cooked mostly by my sister-in-law, Amanda), but Mary Margaret and I each brought a couple of things too.  They weather was nice enough for the younger children to spend a good portion of the day outside on the trampoline, and they also played inside with legos and trains! Leah is the only girl among several younger boy cousins, but she plays happily with them all.

We stopped by Target on the way home (remember, the closest Target to us is 1 hour, 25 minutes away--the one we visited yesterday).  Then we enjoyed a nice quiet evening at home watching Christmas specials on TV while the children played with some of their new gifts.  The girls were all furiously crocheting or knitting with their new yarn, Clay tried to figure out the correct path in his Perplexus maze ball, and Sam spent hours building his new lego set.  This is the first time he has been able to read multi-step directions (in pictures) and construct the legos all by himself.  He was so proud.  And I can't believe that he is old enough to build little legos alone!

Yesterday was also my parents' 44th wedding anniversary!  What a fun way for them to celebrate--with a houseful of their three children and ten grandchildren.

Holiday Baking

We have begun our holiday baking!  So far, we have made three things:  Wreath Cookies, Bumpy Cookies, and Rice Krispie Goodies.  This was our first year to make the wreath cookies, and I am pretty sure that we will not make them again.  They were not a family favorite, although they did turn out looking pretty!

Wreath Cookies

1 package vanilla candy coating

green paste food coloring

2 1/2 cups crushed shredded wheat cereal

mini M&Ms

Microwave candy coating until melting following package instructions.  Add green food coloring until desired color is achieved.  Add cereal, stirring gently to coat.  Drop by spoonfuls onto waxed paper, shape into a wreath shape, and quickly press in M&Ms for decorations.  I had to reheat the cereal/candy mixture for a few seconds before dropping out the last of the cookies.   Let cookies dry for about 30 minutes before storing.

Letting the cookies dry

A wreath that Leah made

A plateful of wreath cookies

 Bumpy Cookies

(my mother-in-law's recipe)

1 package vanilla candy coating

3 cups mini marshmallows

2 cups crunchy peanut butter

1 jar roasted peanuts

4 cups rice krispies

Melt candy coating in microwave following package directions.  Stir in peanut butter.  Mix all other ingredients in a large bowl.  Pour candy/peanut butter mixture over and mix thoroughly.  Drop by spoonfuls onto waxed paper.  Allow to dry for about 30 minutes.  This made 103 cookies yesterday!

Letting the bumpy cookies dry

Rice Krispie Goodies

(This recipe came from a friend I met while Jimmy was in medical school, 20 years ago! The wives of the med students had a cookie swap, and we shared recipes too.)

1 cup light Karo syrup

1 cup sugar

Stir and heat until melted.

Add 1 cup peanut butter.

Stir until blended and melted.

Pour over 6 cups rice krispies.

Press mixture into a greased 9 x 13 baking dish.  Press down with your hands.

Melt 1 bag chocolate chips and 1 bag butterscotch chips in microwave.  Stir to blend completely.

Spread melted chips over the rice krispies.

Place in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes before cutting into small squares.

We made 3 pans of rice krispie goodies yesterday, but I failed to take any pictures of them! I packaged the rice krispie goodies and bumpy cookies (saving a portion for our family to snack on!) into little pails.  We shared these with about half of the families at church last night.  I plan to make the seasoned oyster crackers and reindeer food to take to the rest of the families on Sunday.  We have 39 families in our congregation,  and I just couldn't get the goodies ready for all 39 families at one time!  I printed out labels with each family's name on them so I could keep up with which families I have given gifts to. 

All packaged and almost ready to deliver....I added a bow to each pail before giving these.

For the next two days I plan to clean house, grocery shop, put bows on presents, cook for my upcoming family Christmas party, and make the remaining food gifts for Sunday.

Happy Holiday Baking!

Enjoying Our Break

Our entire family has been enjoying our break from schoolwork!  Friday night we attended two birthday parties (Jimmy went to one for an elderly friend of ours while the children and I attended a 6 year old's party).  Saturday morning Jimmy ran the Rudolph Run 10K (Patrick House, winner of the Biggest Loser ran it too!).  Jimmy got an autographed picture of Patrick for Julie.  While Jimmy was running, Olivia took the ACT for the first time!  She is very relieved to have that over with.  Saturday afternoon I attended our ladies from church annual ornament swap.  My friend Karen hosted it, and it was a delightful afternoon.  A couple of the ladies and I lingered and enjoyed coffee after all of the other ladies left.  I really enjoyed the visiting!

Sunday night Jimmy took the children to spend the night with his parents, and they left me behind to wrap Christmas presents.  Fun!  I stayed up till 2 AM!  I had drunk a cup of coffee at 9 PM, and I was not sleepy!

Last night we joined several other families from our Keepers At Home and Contenders For the Faith clubs to sing Christmas carols at the local retirement home.  We sang several songs, shared small gifts with the residents, and then stayed for about an hour visiting with them.  I know that I was blessed more than they were with the visit.  My children all want to go back on a somewhat regular basis to visit these residents.  They were so appreciative of our company, and my children enjoyed it so much.  It really is rewarding to make someone else happy!

I began the Insanity workouts yesterday.  It is as tough as I remembered!  Maybe worse!  I have now completed two days, and I am reminded of how weak I can get when I am not doing any strength training.  I have done days one and two, and I am already extremely sore!

Today I plan to make wreath cookies and maybe one more cookie with Leah and Sam (and the other kids if they want to help).

Here is the recipe for Reindeer Food.  I don't know why this is called reindeer food, because it is for people, not reindeer!  It is delicious though!

Reindeer Food

1 bag milk chocolate chips

1 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup butter

1 box rice chex (13 oz.)

3 cups powdered sugar

Melt chips, peanut butter, and butter in the microwave.  Stir to combine.  Pour over cereal, stirring gently.  Pour powdered sugar over and toss gently.  Spread out on waxed paper to cool.  After completely dry, put in small containers to share!

Meeting Patrick House!

Me, Patrick, and Julie

I am a Biggest Loser fan!  I never watch television unless I am running on the treadmill, and The Biggest Loser is one show that I record every single Tuesday night and run 8-9 miles on Wednesday mornings (I fast forward through the commercials) while watching it.  This show is very inspiring to me!

Last week while visiting with Jimmy's cousin Sam and his wife Emily at the restaurant the night before St. Jude, Emily told me all about Patrick's (Biggest Loser winner from last December!) weekend visit to Tupelo and Pontotoc. Emily arranged the entire weekend!  She is also race director for the Rudolph Run 5K and 10K (which Jimmy is actually running right now as I type this).  I knew that I would not be attending or running the race this morning, for two reasons--1:  I am resting from running right now, and 2:  I had to take Olivia to the ACT test this morning.  Anyway, Emily shared Patrick's schedule with me, and I realized that I could meet him when he came to Tupelo's Wellness Center yesterday.

I took Julie with me because she also watches this show while running on the treadmill.  We only got to attend the "meet and greet" event for 30 minutes, because I had to rush back home to take the children to a birthday party.  Julie and I met Patrick, and we had a few pictures made with him.  He was very nice!  Always smiling and very easy to talk to.  I wish I would have asked him all about the show!  I want to know how long the process actually is--from the time they first arrive on the ranch until the finale.  But I just made a little bit of small talk and let the next person meet him.  As Julie and I were leaving, Patrick was leading the group in a 15 minute exercise session.  I would have liked to do that!

So now I have met three celebrities!  Patrick, Pat, and Vanna!

Holiday Hint #6

We have begun our Christmas Break!  Hooray!  Now the holiday happenings begin!

Today's hint is to finalize your holiday gathering/party/family traditions/food to share with others menu.  I plan to do that right now.  I had rough draft of what I was going to cook for all of those occasions, and I have been picking up a few ingredients as they have been on sale, but I am going to make the final plan today.  Then I will make the master grocery list and break it down by which store I will purchase each item from.  I will be shopping at Kroger and Sam's.  I will put the ingredients in categories based on when I will need to buy them.

• non-perishables--things that I can buy today and will last all the way to Christmas Day
• perishables I need each week--for instance I have a party to attend tomorrow, but I will also be needing fresh food for Christmas Day.  I will be making 3 or maybe 4 trips to Kroger between now and December 25th.  I am going to plan my lists for each trip, assigning the necessary perishable items for each trip--based on what I am cooking for. 

Also today I am going to look at my calendar and plan at least three baking days.  I learned long ago that conducting a marathon session in the kitchen, trying to complete all of my holiday baking in one day, is no fun!  After a couple of hours, we are no longer making pleasant memories!  So I break the cooking into three or even four sessions.  For instance, making and decorating sugar cookies with the children will be all that we cook on that day!

Here is a tentative look at my holiday cooking plans:

• sugar cookies with the children
• special cookies/baked goods that we only make in December--some of these we will eat, and some we will package to share with others
• oysters crackers and Reindeer food--we ALWAYS make these to package to share, and we also save some for us to nibble on.
• my extended family's party (I am taking pound cake, crunchy romaine salad, and something else--I haven't decided yet)
• Jimmy's extended family's party (I am taking ham and I have to plan the rest today!)
• Christmas Eve supper--soup 
• Christmas Day--mocha punch, Pioneer Woman cinnamon rolls, breakfast casserole, grilled steak, steamed shrimp, hash brown potato casserole, salad

I am going to get started on all of these lists right now!  How is your holiday cooking coming along?

It's Thursday

I thought that I would share some updates on various areas in my life right now.  December is always such a busy month, and this year it is flying by!  I can't believe that it is December 8th already!

• Bible Study:  I finished my study of the book of Mark, and on Monday, I began a study of the book of Philippians.  I am currently reading the entire book each morning using a different translation each time.  After four or five readings, I will then begin outlining each chapter and taking notes on specific verses.  I am tentatively planning to read the entire Bible in 90 days again, beginning January 1st.  If I do it again, this time I plan to read the Bible chronologically.  I am not sure which version I will read this time.  For my first two readings I used the English Standard Version, and then the New American Standard Bible.
• Exercise:  I have completely rested from exercise since my marathon last Saturday.  Until Tuesday, I had difficulty going down the stairs and squatting down.  Well, I had difficulty walking Saturday and Sunday!  I plan to rest until next Monday, and I am going to do the Insanity workouts again.  Only this time I am going to do Insanity only, and not try to continue running as well.  Insanity is a 60 day program, and I want to do the program exactly as prescribed.  We'll see if my knees hold out.  After the 60 days, I plan to start running again, and I will probably mix running with either Insanity workouts or CrossFit workouts.  I am not sure yet.
• School:  Today is our last day of school until January 2!  The children and I are both excited!  All of our brains need a break!  I will need to do a little bit of planning during our break to prepare for the next semester.  Actually, our 2nd semester will not begin until the end of January, but I still need to get things ready.  I have to plan Julie's Mississippi History course, review her American Literature course, and prepare copywork for Leah.  Olivia is taking the ACT for the first time this Saturday.  She is very nervous!  
• Holiday Hints:  As usual, I work very hard to prepare for the holidays in October and November, and then from Thanksgiving until we finish our schoolwork for the semester, I kind of slack off.  I will begin this afternoon in full force!  I need to update my master gift list with my purchases over the last month.  I also need to make one more final shopping list (I have a few gifts left to get).  I want to plan my holiday menus, finalize our baking lists, choose a couple of art projects for my younger children, and wrap, wrap, wrap presents!

I think that's all, and now I better get busy!

What Leah Said

Completely out of the blue, Leah came up to me and said:

"Mama, I know why your hair is gray!"

"Why?"


"It's because you are so stressed by the cats!" (She is right, those cats do cause me a lot of stress--they shed every where and they break things and their litter box smells up my storage room!)

"Well, what do you think I should do about it?"


She thought for a moment and then she said,

"I guess you'll just have to have gray hair!"

Ha!

Trimming the Tree: Part 2

Well, we had a DISASTER last night!

Our ten foot live Christmas tree with a 1 gallon reservoir full of water came crashing down. All the way down to the floor.  With me almost underneath.

Ornaments shattered.  Water spilled.  Presents were soaked.  

Since Jimmy was on call the day the we bought our tree, he was not here to check to make sure it was properly put in the stand.  Clay and I did that!  (But apparently we did not know what exactly to check.)  The tree began leaning to one side a few days ago.  Last night, I got underneath the tree to try to straighten it.  I failed.  The tree crashed!  Thankfully, Jimmy was home last night, and it took all seven of us over an hour to do damage control.

We unplugged the lights, stood the tree back up, and took off every single ornament.  We picked up millions of pieces of broken glass, filler from a snow globe, tree needles, etc.  Jimmy secured the tree, and set up fans to dry out the floor, the rugs (one on either side of the tree), and the tree branches.  We vacuumed.  We went to bed!

This morning at 7:00 AM I began cleaning up again.  I carefully sorted the ornaments and packed away all of the breakable, very heavy, and fragile ones.  Jimmy says the tree's stability has been compromised, and in case it falls again, I don't want to lose any more ornaments.

We saved some of the broken ones to be glued back together.  Since my children know the origin of every ornament on our tree, it is important to us to save all of them we can.

 I woke the children up shortly after 7:00 this morning, turned on the Christmas music, and we decorated the tree.  AGAIN.
This time we used about half of our ornaments.  Even the some of the ones that were sturdy or light, we chose not to put back on this year.  I don't want the tree to be too weighted down.  When we had finished redecorating the tree, I sent the older three children to get started on their school.  Then I carefully repacked the unused ornaments, sorting them and discarding broken pieces.  Then I vacuumed again.  I put the tree skirt back around the tree, and put the now dried out presents back under the tree (one of the gifts had to be unwrapped last night and aired out).  I vacuumed again.

And now it is all done.  And now it is 11:00!  Time for me to begin school with the children, only 3 hours late!