Happy Birthday, Jesus!

On Tuesday night we welcomed friends, new and old, into our home for a birthday party in remembrance of Jesus and his birth long ago in a tiny stable in Bethlehem. This friend, the baker extraordinaire, brought the birthday cake. It was layers of chocolate goodness. I took a photo without the card in my camera, so, alas, no photo!

The kids all had a great time with little hands quickly gobbling up the goodies of Christmas cookies everyone brought to share.

Instead of a traditional gift swap, we took donations for LOVE146 and raised a nice tidy sum to pass on to them and the great work they do.

To finish off our evening, some of the children dug through a basket of dress up clothes and acted out the Christmas story, while Papa read it from the Bible. This was my favorite part of the evening.


Mary wore red calico and looked divine with baby Jesus in her arms. Our littlest angel insisted on butterfly wings because, of course, the angels could fly. The donkey and sheep were played by this friend's creative daughter, while shepherds of mine, and one solitary wise man of hers rounded out the cast.

A Christmas Carol costumes

Best, hardest and most endearing moment of the day...

This is me making dinner with a 19 month old and 21 month old stuck to my legs. They chit chat down there, mark their territory in grunts and hang on for dear life. It makes getting dinner finished a comedy scene ("okay, everybody scooch this way for a minute..." hop, hop, hobble hobble to the left), but I wouldn't trade these moments for the world.

What makes our home OUR home

On a quest to be more thankful and joyful in the midst of a difficult season, today I noticed some of the quirky things (and nice things) around me that make our house a home, our home.

The mixer. It is daily in use. Today it was put to work making marshmallows from this recipe. It was a sticky, messy, delicious project the older two kids, Annaliese and Andrew took on with me. We had so much fun poking at the gelatin and licking our fingers. The marshmallows turned out amazingly too!

An umbrella stand that doubles as a wooden sword holder.

Wood stove heat. It was 2 degrees this morning. Wood stoves at either end of the house were kept full all day. I love seeing the kids wake up and congregate by the wood stove while they wait for breakfast.

Sacks of bulk foods waiting to be put away (sugar, flour, wheat berries, and brown rice) picked up yesterday from the co-op we belong to. (The rolled oats bag is just about empty!) Every month we can put in an order and the truck delivers to a friend's house. The prices are much cheaper than when we ordered through a store front co-op.

And a basket of books... I love that my children all love books. That Italian cooking with children book is a great book, if anyone needs a last minute gift idea.


A Charlie Brown Christmas tree. We have a tradition of making a day at the cabin, searching the forest for the perfectly imperfect tree and bringing it home. This year, toddlers daily help me redecorate the bottom and a strand of lights near the top fizzled out, making it all the more endearing.

A basket of tea. I do love baskets, they are so handy and useful for so many things. Friends or neighbors or social workers come by and out comes the basket while the kettle is put on. On cold mornings like this, I let the kids each choose a tea bag and they have morning tea with me. On other days, we sit together in the afternoon for tea time with a good book (The Sign of the Beaver currently), and a special snack.

Squashes and pumpkins across the pantry floor. Blessings of a harvest past.

A basket full of play dough and play dough toys.

My new kitchen motto for dinner prep time. I love it and have wanted one for a long time. This one I found very reasonably on etsy from this seller. It makes me smile everytime I look up and see it.
What things are unique to your home and make you smile?

11th Anniversary

Inflated Head

Mine, that is, because the Pioneer Woman featured one of my photos here on her photography blog. Take a look at all the other great black and whites on flickr.

Weekly Menu

Monday am- banana bread, canned pears
lunch - yogurt, Christmas cookies
dinner - chicken spaghetti minus the "cream of" soups. I'll substitute sour cream and some chicken stock instead

Tuesday am -biscuits and gravy
Bake bread (4 loaves)
lunch - sliced cheese, carrots sticks, pepperoni
dinner - grilled cheese, Greek lemon roasted potatoes

Wed am - cinnamon rhubarb muffins
lunch - peanut butter and jelly
dinner - Dutch apple pancakes

Thurs am -banana bread, Greek yogurt with honig
lunch - tuna sandwiches, apple slices
Pick up co-op order!!!!
dinner - venison burger specials, pasta salad

Friday am - apple crisp made with canned apple filling
lunch - yogurt, homemade jello cups
dinner - Subway subs! How's that for gourmet? Annie's mac and cheese for the littles.

Sat am - cranberry and white chocolate scones
lunch - peanut butter and jelly, cookies
dinner - pizza rolls

Sunday am - bagels and cream cheese
lunch - beef stew, biscuits

I'll be baking the loaves of banana bread tonight using some bananas I have on hand. With the heat of the wood stove in the kitchen, they went from green to over ripe in a few days. Two loaves will head into the freezer for Thursday's breakfast, which will leave us with two for Monday morning.

Grocery list:
cucumber
pepperoni x2
grape tomatoes
one green pepper
tiny jar pimentos
sour cream
chicken stock
1 lb chicken
sliced ham
lemon
rosemary