If At First You Don't Succeed...

I have failed in my quest to update the blog daily. I blame my mother. She ended up in the hospital for some tests and procedures--all unexpected--and the rest of life just had to get put on hold. Including ye ol' blog. I have a good excuse, and while I don't blame my parents for too many of my failures in life, this one can definitely be chalked up to them!

(Of course, I am kidding--we are so fortunate that Mom is back home, resting and on the mend.)

Today, in addition to Mom's recovery, I am grateful for out-of-town family members who are currently in town. My sister Meredith arrived from Massachusetts (where she is in school to be a nurse practitioner, mostly, I think, because I am so cool and she wants to be just like me) for a three-week hiatus. Nana and Pa flew in from the great state of Oregon to hang with 6 of the 7 grand-daughters around Christmas time.

We all drove through Starry Nights again tonight--I think I liked it more the second time--so they could see it. The line tonight was a scene from "Field of Dreams" with car lights for days down Walnut Grove. Fortunately, we came in from the Whitten Rd side and somehow managed to bypass a good portion of the line. Still, what took 20 minutes last week took an hour tonight. Worth it. We also got Gridley's barbecue, a throw-back to my youth, because Gridley's was our barbecue of choice back then. Those buttery loaf-style rolls, the peppery sauce, hmmmmm. We were quite a sight--grandparents, aunt, parents, our kids and one sweet cousin Annsley, all spilling drinks, dropping forks, and playing with the old-school boxing games they had on display. Molly kept Annsley and Amelia entertained with a silly rhyme from Dora's Christmas Carol. A fabulous, Christmasy night, that ended with hot chocolate for the only kid still awake (Molly) when we rolled home.

Some pictures from Gridley's:

Other exciting events for today, which was the last day of school in 2009: Molly's and Rebecca's classes both had Christmas parties to which parents were invited. Meredith and I went to both soirees. Some pictures:

Baking Up A Mess

Tonight we made Christmas cookies. For some reason (and I'm sure there's an easy fix for this) when I make sugar cookies from the tube-o-dough and I try to use cookie cutters, my shapes end up puffy and disfigured. They cut fine, but they poof out and, at best, they keep their shape but in bloated form, or, at worst, they seem to morph into a completely unrecognizeable shape. This time, no different. But when your customers are 8, 5, and 2 (x2), the bar is set pretty low. What mattered was that there were lots of messy, color-staining choices with which to decorate. For 12 cookies, they used the entire jar of 5-color sugar, 6 gel writer icing tubes and a jar of spreadable frosting. Classic--and tasty!

One Battle Conquered!

My Number One kid-related purchase in the last year: the days-of-the-week clothing organizers that hang in the girls' closets. Each labeled day has a pocket for the outfit of the day. On Sunday nights, Molly and Rebecca and I pick out their clothes for the week, keeping in mind which day is gym day, which days it will be colder, which day has some theme for school (spirit day, PJ day, etc.). This has eliminated SO many early morning squabbles about what matches, what's inappropriate for weather, where the socks are located, etc. With this system, they feel that they have a choice in what they wear, and any conflicts are resolved all at once, with clear heads and without sleepy eyes & grumpy morning attitudes. I cannot being to describe how much more peaceful our home is with these devices. If you have children who have an opinion about what they wear and when they wear it, you must get these. Ours are from Home Depot, believe it or not. The best $20 you will ever spend.

Alpine Village

One of my new favorite Christmas traditions is our church's Alpine Village. The gym is decorated with village shops for the kids to visit--they decorate gingerbread men, choose a book, get candy, make a wooden toy, hang an ornament, etc. There's an area with fake snow coming from the sky so kids can play in the snow (something we don't often get to do around here). The North Pole is upstairs, with Santa waiting to hear all the children's wishes. Our puppet ministry team performs a terrific puppet show. A live nativity reminds us of why we celebrate Christmas. It's all free and manned by hundreds of volunteers, planned for months in advance. It's hard to describe in words and even harder to capture photographically--because the lighting is low and the place is large--but here are a few shots of the girls enjoying the day. We brought along some friends and Papa, too!

Dear Santa, We Have Been Very Good This Year!

Songs on the Naughty List

Perhaps I am a Scrooge. There are certain Christmas songs I just can't tolerate. First of all, before Thanksgiving, no Christmas songs should be played in public. As with most things, I think people can do whatever they need to do in the privacy of their own homes. But in stores and on the radio, the season starts the day after Thankgiving--and not a day earlier!

The songs on my naughty list are: Silver Bells, The Most Wonderful Time of the Year, and Blue Christmas. If I never hear those songs again, I'll be a happy camper. Most of the others are fine, and even great, but those three can go live in Song Purgatory.

On a positive note, I love Winter Wonderland; Hark! The Herald Angels Sing; Joy to the World; Silent Night; Mary Did You Know; O Come, O Come Emmanuel and Jingle Bells. I even like The Twelve Days of Christmas and Do You Hear What I Hear, both of which are much-maligned by others, probably because they seem to go on and on.

So, take your silver bells and stick 'em where the sun don't shine. But give me Parson Brown and baby Jesus anyday!

My Latest Obsession

Have you heard of Pioneer Woman? Her name is Ree Drummond, a city girl who married a rancher and now lives "in the middle of nowhere on a working cattle ranch" where she raises 4 kids and blogs about her life. She takes stunning photographs, homeschools her kids, writes gracefully and with humor, and cooks phenomenal food (has a new cookbook out, as a matter of fact). In other words, she is every woman's hero and nightmare all rolled up in a pretty little redheaded package. She calls her story "From Black Heels to Tractor Wheels." You can follow her blog, prepare her recipes and be her fan on Facebook. Try her--you won't be sorry!

www.thepioneerwoman.com