Waiting for the Fireworks

So Happy

 

Lots of Love

Live Entertainment

Ice Cream

 Concentration Required

My Kids really like Ice Cream

Mmmm!!!

 

 

Only Sweetheart would think this was a good idea.  And it was after Cupcake ran off to play.

Just add water for lots of fun.

 

 

 

 We invited a few neighbors over for drinks and desserts while waiting for the fireworks to begin the other night.  They don't start here until after ten when it gets dark.  We kept it simple and everyone had a great time.  The live music was a wonderful addition.

Lots of Love

I didn't do much to decorate for Valentines Day this week, but I was inspired by Shannon to make some heart garlands.  The magazine I had on hand was full of lots of ivory and neutrals.  I know more reds and pinks would look more Valentinish, but these colors suit our home better after all. 

They are still hanging up and will remain up for awhile as we all like them.  The boys have already claimed one of the garlands for their room.  We'll hang a few in Cupcake's room as well.  We'll have plenty as I have them all over the dining room, kitchen and reading room.

What Became of the Christmas Tree I Chopped Down

hi.

Merry Christmas!

I will probably not be blogging until after Christmas.  I'll see you in the New Year!

All is Well

We had a delightful time yesterday having neighbors in for Thanksgiving. Lots of yummy food and new friends make for a fun time.

I have been spending a bit of time just in my own thoughts since I have been home. I have not felt really like writing and honestly, have been too busy just working around here to sit and write. I did write a lot while I was gone and have those notes that I may share later. Good stuff.

As we are transitioning to our first full winter here on the farm, we are preparing both outside and in for lots of cold, cold weather. We are having the attic insulated which we hope will help keep us warmer. We are also installing a pellet stove upstairs in our room which should be able to keep all the bedrooms toasty. This will also allow Sweetheart to set up his office up in the attic and free up the Reading Room for our schooling room.

I will also carve out a spot up there for my own area to sew and craft. I am longing for a bit of space of my own. How nice it will be to have a place to leave out an ongoing project without having to move it all to do all the daily things. I have missed being creative. How much time I will have to be up there is anyone's guess!

It has been a quiet day around here. I removed all my autumny things and started decorating for Christmas. The kids are all engrossed in Christmas books as I type this. Even Cupcake has her own little pile of board books to read. After having almost everything stored last year at Christmas, it is nice to see all our special things again. I am finding it a bit challenging to figure out where to put certain things that always had a certain place in the old house.

All this decorating and having company in yesterday is making me want to plan a Christmas Tea. I love having them. But I will wait a bit more to decide if it something I really want to do.

Next week is a big week around here as Pumpkin turns six years old. He is more than a little excited and has been talking about it nonstop since Dumpling and Cupcake's Birthdays in September. He will be even more excited when he opens his presents!

I am enjoying reading David Copperfield as I continue my quest to read all of Dickens, in between chores and decorating.  What are you reading? I love to know what others are enjoying!  I am also doing my annual reread of the Mitford series timing it all to read Shepherd's Abiding a chapter a day through Christmas.  (Loved to discover a kindred spirit reading Dickens aloud by the fire and Shepherd's Abiding during Advent.  Hi, Missy!)

These Days

Are filled with lots of drawing and the building of many Lego cities. I LOVE Dumpling's self-portrait, don't you? Usually they have belly buttons. Even the turkeys on the cards we made for Thanksgiving had belly buttons. And wheels for toes. Wheels are very important to a three year old boy.

Pumpkin was so proud of the town he built he wanted me to take his picture. Love this boy.

We had a lovely Thanksgiving with all the Grandparents here. We celebrated Pumpkin's fifth birthday as well. Amazing. Pictures later.

***
I've been quiet here I know. Not because I am without anything to say, of course. ;) I've always got something to say!! A big part of it has been preparing for Thanksgiving and spending time with family. Another reason is simply because I have no new news to share we are still in a bit of a holding pattern, trying to make some decisions, waiting on answers, and waiting some more. It's been a year of waiting. It's been good in a lot of ways and I've certainly learned a lot. I know I will learn more when I am a bit away from it all. Right now it all feels so close. Does that make sense?

The other reason is simply that I am trying to decide what this Christmas will look like for us. Homemade gifts, of course--some are done and more to come. Having the double-whammy of no extra money to spend and having all our normal Christmas stuff packed away has been interesting. I was looking through my stack of Christmas books the other day and they were in a tub I actually have here. I kept out five books and put all the rest back.

Truly, the books are the only thing I have access to. No nativity, no decorations, no stockings, none of the things I am used to having are here. Even my Jesse Tree Ornaments are packed. There will be no tree this year anyway. Part of it is the money, part of it is just not knowing if we will be moving at the end of the month.

We are financially in a great and crazy place as we are seeing if we can just buy a place we have our eyes on out right. All extra money is focused on that goal right now. We are not in trouble in any way. It is a tight time though with a specific goal in mind. Being able to not have to pay rent or a mortgage is what we would like especially as we try to build our business in this next year. It's that no regular income that we are used to having that makes it a bit tense since Sweetheart was laid off. See last post, if needed.

I am planning on making another couple of sets of Jesse Tree Ornaments anyway and just hanging them up on the bulletin board. I have all the clay on hand and would like multiple sets so that each one of the kids will have one they can use with their own families when they are grown. We'll see what I can do. I want to use Ann's devotional this year and I may just print out the paper ornaments at the end and hand color them.

I am not whining about the changes at all. I am just trying to figure out how to adjust to them. And in the midst of it all asking myself what really matters. I love to decorate my home and do lots of fun things in the name of Christmas, but...where is Christ in it all? I have no desire to pretend like it is not happening. Though, I do wish it could be the next month when I hope to have more answers. :) Just being honest.

I wonder throughout the days about all the Christmasy things I have. What is really worth keeping? When we are settled, what will I decide I want to continue to have? How can I keep the focus on Christ buried in all the stuff? And there is a lot of stuff, even pretty stuff that I enjoy! I don't have the answers, I am just asking the questions.

Luckily, I do have our special Advent book and some candles on hand. I've collected pine cones on walks and will probably try to score some evergreen branches to do a bit of decorating and whatever we end up doing for the Jesse Tree.

Through it all, I am thinking about What I Truly Care About versus What I've Always Done. It is interesting.

Wow. Is anyone still reading this ramblely random post? It's great to have a place to Brain Dump.

By the way, I was sure thankful I had this blog to go back to when I was planning Thanksgiving!! Several of my Everything Books are packed. I ended up going back to old posts and printing out the pictures so that I could make my lists.

Merry Christmas!

Best Wishes to You All.
May the
Joy and Peace
of Christ
be Yours
in these Holy Days.
Much Love,
Kimberly

Edited for 2009*** Wow. I am so glad I saw this page the other day. I just made my grocery list for today and would have totally forgotten stuff without this! I just erased the pencil marks I did as I checked stuff off last year and I am ready to roll!
----------------
Original Post:

Three years ago, I really planned out everything in great detail for Thanksgiving and blogged at it here.

Last year I wrote out my lists in one of my Everything Books and posted about it all later.

This year I started a new page in my book. I was glad though to have the old page to refer back to or else I'd have forgotten the cranberries completely! The list has been simplified over the years to just what's in the pictures above. I'm just waiting to hear who all is coming and to set the time for dinner accordingly. Once that is done, I'll be able to do a better timeline for the day itself.

If you've purchased a frozen turkey, you might want to check and see if you should start defrosting it today like I needed to. It takes several days for those big birds to thaw!

What are your holiday plans? I always love to learn what other people do!

Happy Independence Day!

Thank You

To each one who paid the ultimate price for our country, our freedoms I say thank you.
For each family, missing one so brave, know you are in our thoughts and prayers this day.

Mothers Day

Yesterday, Sweetheart watched the boys so that my Mom

and I would be able to attend the Mothers Day Brunch at The Hudson Gardens.
We had a lovely time together,


though I missed all of my guys

so much.

St. Patrick's Day~Thankful for

A quiet tea time~


a cucumber sandwich on Irish Soda Bread


still warm from the oven
~
a pot of hot tea


curtains dancing in the cool breeze

Irish eyes are smiling.

Serious boys, too.

Happy New Year!

Dumpling
Pumpkin and I and a pile of presents...

The cousins!!

What I've been sewing: Aprons for all the ladies...

...and jammies for the kiddos...

*******************************

I didn't mean to fall of the face of the earth, but I did fall off the stairs. A trip to the ER and a lovely air cast later, I am glad to say that my ankle is not broken, but my Mother's hand is. Huh? It's quite simple, really.

Saturday evening we were all bundled up to go out when I went upstairs to get a map off the printer. On the way down the stairs, I somehow missed the last stair, or few, and fell. As I sat on the step trying to not pass out or throw up, Sweetheart called Mom to come over and watch the boys so he could take me in for an x-ray. She drove/sped over and took care of the little guys while we went to get my ankle checked. So far, so good--for her.

Now, fast-forward to Sunday. Mom came over to give Sweetheart a hand with the boys while I layed on the couch with my foot up on ice. They went upstairs to get the boys. No problem. The next thing I heard was an awful thud. Sweetheart was carrying the boys down with Mom behind them. She reached down to pick up Pumpkin's Bunny on the stairs and down she went. We are all glad she wasn't carrying anyone. Except Bunny.

She got her x-rays on Tuesday, and Wednesday had to see a hand surgeon. She now had surgery scheduled for tomorrow. As I cannot drive yet, Sweetheart will have to take her to the hospital. She'll stay with us afterwards.

I'm in the recliner now with the laptop on my lap and the boys playing at my feet. I am up and around now, but trying to not stand or walk too much. While no time is good for something like this, we are all grateful it happened the day after the rest of the family left town and not before Christmas.

We had a Merry Christmas and are enjoying a quiet week this week. It's time to go fix supper now. Blessings to you all and a very Happy New Year!

Finally! A Christmas Present I Can Blog!

I need to bring a gift to the Bunco Christmas Party tomorrow night. Sweetheart and I decided that we'd be making our Christmas gifts this year, so I've been racking my brain trying to figure what I should do for my Bunco gift. I was considering breaking down and heading out shopping tomorrow when I remember something I had seen on Amazon the other day. I thought this scarf looked nice and cozy. I had some fleece on hand, so I decided to see what I could do.

Tucked inside the pockets on the ends are these little pouches filled with rice and lavender. Just pop the pouches into the microwave for a minute and your hands will stay deliciously warm and toasty. The Amazon ones are made with rice and flax seed, but I had lavender and figured it's just about the best fragrance ever, so I'd use that instead.

It's amazing what a few hours of sewing can do! Of course, the scarf is currently wrapped around my own neck, and smells wonderful even without having heated the warmers. I may have to make a few more of these. I would make the pockets deeper next time. I'd prefer to have more of my hands covered I think.

Since I made this up as I went along, I figure it turned out pretty good, but also think I could do better next time. I like that if you don't want to use the warmers, the pockets can just hold your keys, phone, chapstick, music player, or whatever.

It's hard to know what type of gift to bring to an anonymous exchange for me. I know what I like, but then, what I like isn't always that popular. The scarf is wonderfully soft though. I hope someone else will like it. Otherwise, I guess I just have to pick my own gift and bring it back home.

Well, it is finished and past my bedtime, so I'll be signing off now. Sweet dreams.

~Kimberly