Kitchen day

In what has become one of my favorite holiday traditions, we got together today to make candy and cookies. Cameron made it home.  He had been practicing his candy making skills.  

We managed to make chocolate covered cherries, peanut butter balls, peanut brittle, peanut clusters, sugar cookies, chocolate mint dipped cookies, white and chocolate pretzels, pralines, and no bakes.  The kids were all very helpful, and there’s no way we would have gotten near as much done  without them all working so hard.  

Since we were still working, I had Jim bring home Cameron’s favorite dinner (Casey’s pizza), and we told Andrew to stop by on his way home from work.   We managed to get done with most things, and enjoyed dinner.  I am beat now. Bed will come early tonight!  

Break

Harper's grade had their semester end reward day.  Harper qualified, but was not showing much enthusiasm for the trip to go skating.  She seemed to think they should have just given her an option to stay home.  She said she did skate a little bit, but I got this photo of her from my mom, who drove the bus, and it looks like she is being tortured.  :)  I love this girl.  She is my spirit animal.  Anyway, she didn't break anything, and survived the day, so she is now happy to officially be on break!  I think we were all more than ready for a few days off from the school stuff!  

Preston is home for a couple of weeks.  He was excited about helping me with some projects.  When I say this, I am not exaggerating.  He jumped right to work on the closet shelving I wanted. Made me some drawings that looked exactly like what I described to him, and then he made me a materials list, so Jim and I could run get him what he wanted.  He put this together yesterday while I was running errands.  It turned out great, and is exactly what I had in mind.  Today he is coming to my office to catch up a few months of filing for me.  Hey...its a win for both of us.  I can get my stuff done, and he can make a little money on his break.  I hate filing, it is one of those things that every time I get started, I get interrupted and it is just never finished.  I look forward to having the pile off my desk!  

When I got home, it was adorable how excited Preston was to show me his finished product.  He also had to show me that they were strong shelves - he climbed all over them and demonstrated that they could be used as a bed as well.  I doubt I will ever use them as a bed- in a few days time, I intend to have them filled with bags, shoes, and craft supplies!  The downfall is that I no longer have an excuse for being unorganized or having the walk-in closet where you cannot walk in!  Looking at these photos made me giggle - the hairy looking thing in the corner is the mannequin head that I used in hairdressing school.  Do I need it?  No!  But I spent so many hours with her that I just can't get rid of her!  Plus she makes a fun Halloween decoration.  Proof once again, that you just never know what you will find in my house.  

I am famous for making a ton of appointments when the kids have days off.  Poor Harper had to leave the house once again to go to the orthodontist.  I have to brag on this kid though.  Our orthodontist has a big open room, with the chairs lined up.  There is no privacy, and more than once I have heard him chewing kids out for not doing the steps he gave them, or for not brushing well enough.  Harper has followed his instructions to a T.  She has taken this very seriously, and is happy with the results so far.  She is getting pretty close to being done.  I think by summer, she should be finishing up.  She will have to wear a retainer at night for the rest of her life if she wants to maintain the placement, but she is willing to do that.  She is motivated and glad to have things in good shape.  I am proud of her.  

When we finished at her appointment, I drug her all over to finish my shopping.  She was full of suggestions, and we did indeed get it done.  Always a relief to be done with shopping!  A couple of times yesterday, I said I think it would be neat to get this or that.  She would say "now mom....would it actually be a good idea?"  I guess I need someone to rein me in. (Don't tell her dad).  I was grateful for her help, and opinions.  She is the most honest, real person!  

Saige cleaned up the house for me while we were gone.  It was nice to come home, knowing I was done shopping and the house was clean.  I am thankful for her help as well. Today, we will welcome Cameron home for a few days.  I am excited to see him.  I think this break is shaping up nicely!   

Countdown time

I was laughing to Jim this weekend - I was sent 2 photos almost simultaneously.  The above is Colin.  He is very proud of his Grinch suit, and was making all sorts of offers to scare children with it, or to come to your holiday parties.  Apparently someone took him up on it!   Colin John - stop terrorizing children!  

I also got the below photos and was like aaaah Cameron and Lauren are so cute. Then I saw the candy cane photo and thought well…. they both like to terrorize the holidays.  

Preston is home for a couple weeks.  We were happy to see him!  Semester one is in the books!    He says it went well and he loves KSU!  He was also stirred up over the basketball fiasco, and is hoping our coach isn’t leaving us.  It made a nice conversation as he helped Jim put together my new bedroom end tables!  

We had a little cake at Sunday lunch for Harper.  She seemed more excited about the cake than the singing.  

Jim and Andrew went trout fishing at lake Shawnee.  The littlest fishing buddy wanted to go.  Then she out fished them!   I am always impressed at her stamina.  Those two boys go fishing for hours.  She loves hanging with them.  Of course, I looked at our online account this morning, there were definitely snacks provided on this fishing trip!  She’s no dumb kid!  

Harper had a lot of fun with her friend.  I had one of those Saturdays where I slept in, which rarely happens, then made the girls waffles with my new mini waffle maker and then the next thing I knew it was 2:00!    I hate that!   I ran her friend home, and then Jim and I ran to finish our shopping and get groceries.  Like always, I realized putting off Christmas shopping til the last minute means crowded stores, wild drivers, horrible traffic, and no real time to give up until later!   We got a lot done, but didn’t get finished!   Luckily, I have a couple days I have to run into town anyway this week.  I gave the bad news to Harper- hey when we go to the orthodontist this week….  Let’s just say Harper wasn’t exactly happy with her new elevated status of shopping buddy.  

Rather than a friend party this year, Andrew and Madison took Evie to Dave and Busters and Build a Bear.  She was thrilled!   She told me all about it.  She said it was a fun day for her daddy!  :)  

We are exactly 1 week from Christmas.  As I said, I have been reflecting.  The shopping isn't done, but it is started, which is improvement from years gone by.  The baking and candy making aren't done, but the groceries are purchased, which is an improvement.  The  gifts aren't wrapped, but I do have paper and know where the scissors are, which is such a big improvement.  I honesty remember a year where Jim and I finished shopping on the 23rd, wrapped what we needed for my family party on the 24th, came home after midnight mass, and wrapped stuff until around 3:00 am, and then Cameron was up at 5 to tell us it was Christmas morning.  I feel like I might miss those days someday, but I'm not there yet!  :)  I am thankful to Jim, who has always been willing to help me with the shopping, and although he struggles to keep a secret, his excitement is amusing.  I am also thankful to him for being my date last night to the liquor store Christmas party, and for being willing to go again tomorrow night for the township one.  Of course, he is getting dinner at both places, so it wasn't too hard to convince him!  He puts up with a lot of my crazy ideas, and tolerates my insanity well.  I have put him through a lot of Christmas construction projects, including once when the garage door fell off it's tracks in the freezing cold at 2 am, and he had to work some sort of weird magic on it to keep the pipes from freezing!  He is a good man.  And again, I find myself thinking how much I like the quiet parts of the season.  Days at home with the kids, watching a movie, or baking, or playing with their new games, sitting in the dark with the Christmas lights on.  I think online shopping has definitely improved my mood about things, but I sometimes wonder how as a society, we got to this place?   Anyway, I guess I can't change society as a whole, but I do have a heart that desires peace, and simplicity.  

Harper is 14!

Today my Harper Joy turns 14!   She doesn’t want much.   She has a friend over, we went shopping, where she used her money to buy— absolutely nothing!  I’m telling you she makes me laugh!   We got dinner, but she and her friend wanted to come home, so we got it to go. We had her birthday brownies, but she wasn’t all that excited about our singing.  Preston made it home, and guilted her into it!  

Harper is quiet unless she isn’t.  When she isn’t,  she is funny, witty and sometimes insulting.  She makes us laugh.  She is the kid who always responds to her dads random trivia texts, and although she rolls her eyes, I think she secretly loves his weird inappropriateness.  We are so blessed to have Harper in our family!   Happy birthday -we love you!  

Final Confirmation

Harper and Saige  made their Confirmations this evening.  Mallory was Harper's sponsor,and  Quincy was  Saige’s.  They have worked hard, and I am very proud of them.  (And thank you to Mallory  and Quincy).   

They didn’t allow photos during the ceremony, but they did have a photographer, so I will have to post those at a later time.  Archbishop Nauman has confirmed all 8 of our children.  

Father Jo is one of my favorites.  He has been great to our family.  I will always appreciate his willingness to make Confirmation easy.  Or at least easy-ish.  

The mass was long.  The little girls did a great job of sitting!   Evelyn was so good she got 2 pieces of cake. 

I don’t know if this makes me a bad person or not, but to me, this night was an ending.   And not an ending that I feel sad about.  It was the end of the sacraments that I am responsible for in our children. It also means the end of our Religious Education classes.  Not that you ever stop learning, but at least the  ending of the formal, weekly commitment classes.   I have overseen 8 baptisms, 8 first reconciliations, 8 First Holy Communions, and this is the last of 8 Confirmations.   It is the culmination of 23 years of classes, 20 years of teaching, and 32 sacramental preparations.   I am proud of this, and see it as an accomplishment.  I am also more than ready to close the book on this chapter.   The next steps the kids take in their faith journeys will be up to them.  They can choose for themselves if they want the sacrament of marriage, of anointing of the sick, they can make the decision to make holy orders, but all of those things aren’t up to me.  I do hope they will continue to grow in their faith, and that the foundation is there for them to lean on in times of hardship, to rejoice with in times of happiness, and to continue a lifelong love of  Jesus.   

Back at it

We had a nice, but too short weekend.  I swear to you, they never last long enough.  I am not sure how many days it would take for me to think I had enough time....but I can tell you it is more than 2!  I did manage to get the laundry caught up, and we had Sunday dinner with the kids, but I never got my Christmas stuff put out, and I never got my lists made for Christmas shopping.  I am starting to feel the panic of the season.  It brings me to this - December.  A month I have been given some large gifts, 2 children born to me, and my sweet granddaughter.  I should love December, and I am thankful for my blessings, however, I do not love this season.  For me, it has always been a season of reflection.  I always think by this time next year we will have taken care of this or that, or I will be better prepared, or I won't procrastinate all the things that need done, are due, year end work things that have to be done. I will be on top of things.  And then December hits, and here I am.  Procrastination has won yet again.  Except it isn't all procrastination.  The season is a demanding, busy, weird, feels-like-an-afterthought sort of time.  The school is a great example - it is the end of the semester, we must have 35 tests, assessments, projects due, but also we have to have a fundraiser for charity, a sock drive for the less fortunate, movie watching day where you need to bring a blanket and a snack, pajama wearing day, holiday headwear day,  a cookie decorating bar where we need you to send sprinkles, we must have a hot chocolate day where we need parents to send supplies, we must have a holiday meal where we want you to show up to eat, a party for our class where we need parents to sign up to bring the snacks, we have a gift exchange in 3 different classes but we don't want this to be a burden so we are setting a limit of $2 (as if there is anything left in this world that you can purchase for that price), we are having a math lesson on measuring and need gift wrap donated, oh let's throw in a band concert, we need.....we need.....we need.  Added to the fact that I don't enjoy shopping, loathe wrapping, and believe that piped in Christmas music is nothing short of torture, and well....bah humbug.  Bah humbug times 1000.  Now, don't get me wrong, I love Christmas, and Christmas music, and baking with the kids, and having everyone gathered, I just hate the overblown, overrated disaster that society has made out of something that was never meant to be a burden.  I have said over and over and over Jesus Christ was born in a barn, and we all missed the point.  And that brings me back to my point.  I have 2000 things going on, not enough time to get them all done, and a procrastinating personality that makes this time of the year into a giant cesspool of insanity for my poor, sad, tired brain.  

I am fine....everything is fine!  Everything always works out.  I am fine...everything is fine.