Merry Christmas Eve

maybe I'll post something tomorrow... after things settle down...

last night we had a secret santa. someone knocked on the door and connor got up to answer it. (I was a bit tangled up with yarn in my rocker) he closed the door with a puzzled look on his face and said that no one was there. sometimes people will knock outside of the ramshackle porch and the light out there wasn't turned on since we didn't expect anyone and it sometimes doesn't want to turn on anyway. so I went to check and there was a box full of presents for the little kids and a family gift and a gift card (I suspect) taped to the top of one. we decided to let the little kids open one and the rest have to wait until tomorrow morning.

secret surprises made the kids a little bit crazy... see?

along with the box was a set of foot prints in the snow indicating someone who can run in the snow... so not the grandparents. the handwriting on the tags is a bit familiar but I just can't place it.


I've done secret santa before and I loved doing it. I'm sure we won't be in a financial position to do that again for a few more years :( but I would love so much to do it again. I like being able to give - it's great fun

so who ever you are Secret Santa, thank you very very much.

for the next month...

I've been wondering something lately...
well, I've been wondering a couple of things really.
how many people are reading me?
do I know you? and if so how?

some of my readers I know and they comment so I know that I certainly have three readers, but I must wonder if there are more.
so I put a little poll box on the side bar. (look to the right of this text)

I guess I will continue to write my blog, mostly because this is the best I'm getting at keeping a journal/record of my life and my kids lives here.

so answer the poll if you please
and if you wouldn't mind, comment on this post and let me know who you are... do a little shout out.

sole survivor

last week a piece of my church's history was destroyed by fire. follow the link to learn more
investigation of the cause is on hold until they can stabilize the remaining walls, etc... but it is thought that it was most likely electrical.


I visited this building only once. I was 15 or 16 at the time

over the last several days I have thought a lot about that building but more about the only thing that made it out of a fire that raged for more than 12 hours.
a picture of Christ. the picture in particular has had a very special place in my heart. I saw this picture after my mom died almost 22 years ago and it touched me more profoundly than I can ever say.
the Tabernacle is where I first saw this picture. it makes me emotional every time I see it.
so the fact that it is this picture has great significance to me.

begining to wind down

tonight is Erica's choir concert. then we have Christmas Eve with Grandma. after that there is no more running here or there.

however, I do have a little bit of shopping to do for any perishable foods that I want to have on Christmas and depending on availability I could be going to a few different stores/markets for those things. I really hope that I can get these all with two stops.


Tim is going to be home for a nice vacation soon. he actually has more time off from work than the kids have off from school.


edit: a correction needs to be made... the concert is rescheduled. the kids got out of school early due to snow.
so Wednesday concert, Friday grandma's, Saturday home. :)

finished editing Tim's birthday post.

the birthday boy

Yesterday was Timothy's birthday. 13 years old.
two teens under my roof.

timothy is very camera shy and because of that I didn't make him pose for any pictures and therefore I don't have a lot of pictures of him.

his birthday was a couple of days ago and I have been busy and lazy and haven't gotten any of the pictures of him on his birthday edited until now.

a little about his day. the day before was Erica's birthday and we got iced and snowed in. it was pretty horrible and the road out front of our house was not cleared off until much later in the day on Sunday. We were supposed to have the gingerbread house party at my sister's that day and so Timothy said he wanted to wait to celebrate his birthday. but we were still snowed in. so we decided that we wouldn't let that get us down and we went ahead and had his birthday. I quickly made his cake and we had ice cream from the day before (you are saying "hey, you said you didn't have any. you lie." but I don't lie. Erica and I braved the storm and walked to our little grocery store. I thought I was going to die. but that's another story)
while we were stuck home the kids played outside. they are tough kids because it was below zero outside.
timothy dug out a 'fort' and he stayed curled up in it for a very long time.
the littler kids didn't last out there as long as he did but I was shocked that they played out there for over a half hour.

this is our van. Tim's car wasn't covered in snow. just a bit of a drift close and some ice. I even tried to take a picture of under the van since there is snow blown under and packed under the van. but I was shivering and in freezing pain so I didn't get a good picture of that.


we had Timothy's favorite soup for supper. just as we were setting the table for supper the power went out. everyone scrambled for candles and flashlights and we ate supper by flashlight and candles. the power was out for a bit over a half hour.
thankfully it came back on right as we were finishing up eating.

another memorable birthday this month. :)


He bunched his candles in the middle so he would be sure to blow them all out in one try.


Happy Birthday

so yummy I have to share the recipe

24 ounce package white almond bark

1.5 cups toasted slivered almonds

1.5 cups dried cranberries

zest of one orange

prepare the wax paper covered surface before you start mixing because this will start cooling quickly. Melt bark stirring until smooth. Stir in remaining ingredients until coated and well mixed.Quickly spread candy on 18 inch long sheet of waxed paper/ foil into a thin... layer. Let set, break into pieces. Store tightly covered.

Now I will have this recipe right here and I won't have to search high and low through my recipe books to find it.

enjoy