Christmas Traditions

I love the simple and lovely traditions that my Mr. G and I have begun since our engagement in 1989.  We began going to Christmas Eve service at our church, then going out to get coffee or hot cocoa and looking at Christmas lights.  Over the years with my Mr. G having Christmas Eve off some years, but not others, we've found that we have to adjust and make our outing another night during the week before Christmas.  We tried it on the 26th and it just wasn't the same.  It was a little disappointing because many people did not have their Christmas lights turned on.  Out of that experience came the decision to try to make our outing the week before Christmas if Mr. G had to work.  The kids love it too and look forward to it with anticipation each year, even as they've grown older.

Another tradition that we sort of fell in to was traditionally having ham for Christmas dinner.  There is a reason for getting the biggest ham we could find.  We always made Split Pea Soup with the leftovers after Christmas.  Once I realized that I could pressure can the leftovers, I ran with it!  This year we had originally planned to either have company over the weekend after Christmas or go to their house.  Either way, we'd make Split Pea Soup and take it with us or serve it here.  We didn't go, nor did they come here, which is probably a good thing  because Mr. G brought some icky virus home from work that he's dealing with now.  I began my day yesterday by boiling my ham bone along with all the leftover ham until it was cooked down a bit in my larger pot.  Then I took all the meat out and the ham bone and cut up the meat in to bite sized pieces.  I added the pre-soaked and sorted split peas, then the meat, then the veggies, herbs and seasonings (light on the salt since the ham is salted), bay leaves and let it simmer until late in the afternoon.  Once everyone had their cup, or cups of soup as the case may be, I had my quart jars pre-sterilized, boiled my lids and rings, started ladling the soup in to the jars, and in to the pressure canner.  We watched the needle on the canner for an hour and a half on 10# of pressure and it was done!  Now we have 5 quarts of Split Pea Soup to enjoy.

They turned out lovely!  We'll use these over wild indian rice with some cheddar and parmesian cheese when we need quick meals.  This next week I plan to do the same thing with chili, then perhaps some chicken noodle soup.  We didn't get any venison this year, so I don't have any stew meat to can, unfortunately. 

Another Christmas tradition, well...it's been more of a round-the-year-habit than a tradition, is that everyone shares the preparations for Christmas dinner.  Here are my two older children preparing their chosen dishes.

HJ is making a fresh vegetable casserole and Daniel is making the Au Gratin potatoes.   I guess he didn't want his picture taken just then!  LOL  

JL had already made the ham earlier in the day so he wasn't busy cooking.   I had made the "Happy Birthday Jesus" cake and it was cooling while these two silly ones were cooking.  

I guess I'm going a little backwards, but on Christmas morning our tradition has been that if you go pick out a gift to open, it cannot be one of your own.  It has to be for someone else to open.  What a fun time to see everyone opening their gifts this way!  

HJ getting gifts for everyone else while Daddy opens his gifts from the children.

The children love laughing and smiling and making Daddy laugh at the funny tshirts they bought for him this year.  The red one underneath the Grinch shirt says, "Coal, I earned it!"  LOL

Our living room...complete with the children's CAP stuff, medicine organizer and head sets on the coffee table.  Yes, it's cleaned up now.  LOL  

This year for the children's "want" gift, we kept it simple and gave them each a fuzzy throw blanket.  They kept taking my fuzzy blanket, so they each have their own now. 

Mickey and Eeyore Jammies were for me from the children.  What a joy!  I received a day planner and a "Mrs." mug from my Mr. G.  He also got the matching "Mr." mug from cbd.com.

HJ and JL lovingly bought an organizational binder for Daniel for Civil Air Patrol.  What a blessing for him!

I love her smile!  Pure happiness!

Getting ready to open gifts from Momma and Daddy.

He loves his "Illegal" shirt! 

Look who is helping JL open his gifts!  LOL

We have other Christmas traditions, like putting the tree and decorations up the day after Thanksgiving.  This year since Thanksgiving came so late, we put them up earlier.  We'll take them down on January 6th.  I know Orthodox churches celebrate Epiphany on that day.  I'm not of the Orthodox religion, but the 6th sounded like a good day to me.  Plus it helps me remember my brother's birthday!  LOL

In years passed, we've baked all kinds of cookies, nut rolls, pumpkin rolls and so forth to share with our Dr's offices, mail carrier and so forth, but with both Mr. G and I being diagnosed with diabetes within the past 2 years, we have been searching for viable alternatives to bake.  Once we get in to the swing of the changes we have to work with, we'll be baking things again.

We're always looking for neat traditions to add to our own.  What neat traditions does your family have?

God Bless,

Merry Christmas!

We have the white Christmas that it talks about in the song.  What a wonderful beautiful world it is outside.  I'm so very thankful for my husband who sacrificially works for us every day so we can have a home in which to stay warm.

The simple things are really so very beautiful to me.  I am overcome with gratefulness by such blessings.

No fanfare, nothing extravagant, just easy stress free blessings.  Needs are filled, a few simple wants are filled and lots of love is shared.

Merry Christmas!

Decompression Time

Yesterday we had our last home school co-op meeting of this calendar year.  The school year continues, however.  We take a break from classes for a few weeks until we return after Christmas and New Year’s break.

This year for our holidays, things have taken a bit of a different twist.  We've had some health issues to deal with, so that involves driving, which involves gasoline, which invariably with a Suburban involves money.  Learning from our previous years of experience, we've employed an “ultra-frugality” mindset with regard to expenses as well as Christmas gift giving.  We do not go overboard with our gifts.  We plan well in advance for our family as well as for our parents and siblings.  We love giving gifts.  Giving practical gifts is especially rewarding, knowing that we’re filling a need while blessing someone.  Our children are getting their needs filled as well as some practical wants they've had.  We’re keeping it simple. We do not get ipads/pods/phones for the kids.  It is not practical to get them those expensive gifts especially when medical needs are so very pressing this year.  Maybe in years to come, our children will come to thank us for not giving them everything they would have ever wanted for Christmas.  

We enjoy the holidays, being with friends and family, making wonderful healthy foods that fill us up and thanking the Lord for those valuable friendships.  To us, the holidays are all about the love we share, not about the things we give or get.  I’m content to know that our families love us and think about us.  I love the thought that we’ll be sledding with friends and drinking hot apple cider and hot cocoa in a little less than two weeks, Lord willing.  I love quiet evenings putting puzzles together by the fire.  This is our time to decompress.  And on that note, I believe after this week I’ll be wiping out the calendar until after the first of the school year.  We need that decompression time to just be and relax and rest our brains from school work. 

I’ve learned a lot this year….

Eight weeks on and two weeks off sounds really nice!!!  In theory, finishing in early April is good…

BUT

Sometimes, the decompression time is something everyone’s brain really needs!!!

The Life of a Hunting Widow

This is probably the last day this year my hunters will be out looking for venison for our freezer.  A friend of ours invited them to come to their farm to hunt since the deer are everywhere through their corn fields.  My hunters would be doing them a favor getting rid of some of their deer.

While they are gone, I am listening to Christmas music, cleaning and pulling my sewing out.  Since my hunters read my blog, I won't elaborate what I'll be making.  I'll make sure to post pictures when I'm done.  I'm hoping to finish the project this next week.  It should be a quick sewing project.

I'm also working on some cute little crocheted hats for a little girl in a couple different colors.  She's absolutely adorable.

What are you working on while the hunters are out hunting?

Looking Toward a Homesteading Mindset

For years Mr. G and I have researched a homesteading lifestyle.  We have focused on the work and the sacrifice not only of our time, but our resources as well.  We've researched raising chickens and milk goats for starters.  I know we will eventually branch out from those two types of animals adding in pigs, turkeys, cows--for both milk and meat--as well as horses.

What is the "allure" to this mindset that is drawing us to it?

We have been drawn to a more simple, down-to-earth type of lifestyle for a very long time.  We already can food, hunt, and garden, so the next logical step is to add some chickens, then goats and so forth.

My husband and I have watched a show Alaska: The Last Frontier on Netflix to see what the folks on that show experience.  I know they deal with a lot of hardship and the push for time is extreme in gathering and growing food as well as putting it up for the winter.

Our first move will simply occur once my husband retires.  We'll be able to buy something without debt, after selling our house, that has property.  Property will allow us to have the animals and care for them through the seasons and live off the land.

What about a house?

Right now, while we're concerned about a house, we're not concerned about a house.  Seems like an oxymoron, huh?  Well, we're finding some properties with houses that need some work and/or finishing that sit on over 20 acres.  I know that to some 20 acres doesn't seem like much, but 20+ acres is 20+ acres that we don't have for the larger animals that we'd like to have for our homestead.

We're so very blessed to have our home on a little over an acre.  We have a nice sized garden that we will be fencing in for next year's crops.  We've worked for quite a few years to build up this garden space, but when the deer, bear, ground hogs, and rabbits come along to take bites out of our produce, it makes sense to build a fence.

The day they brazenly came in to the yard to graze on acorns, they leisurely sauntered back to the brush pile, then hit the garden (outside the picture to the left) with a vengeance.  

We were able to get a few cucumbers, 3 cayenne peppers, and enough volunteer cherry tomatoes to get 9 pints of stewed tomatoes.  This coming year we hope and pray to fill our pantry shelves, much like, if not more than, the picture below.

We also grow a lot of our own herbs for usage through the winter.  This year we dehydrated basil, oregano and thyme.  My sage and rosemary didn't over winter very well, so we didn't have it to dehydrate.  We plan to re-add those as well as other medicinal herbs to our herb gardens this coming Spring.

As I have considered homesteading, I've noticed that my husband is already doing the work it takes for this mindset outside, in the garage and fixing things on the house.  

A few weeks ago we went to get firewood, the chainsaw wouldn't start, and the truck got stuck in the mud.  We borrowed a friend's van to get home to get the wench and other materials to get the truck out of the mud, then came home.  We didn't have to call a tow truck.  Working together as a family was what needed to happen and it did.

Many times when things need to happen, even if it's snapping beans, we do it together to get it done.

What a blessing it is to work together to accomplish a common goal.

God Bless, 

Beautifully Productive Busy Days

Watching my young folks rock climb at Seneca Point....while holding my water bottle...can't forget that!  LOL

Thursday began with making breakfast for the family.  A breakfast of Momma's "everything" scrambled eggs is always yummy.  Well received is another story since a couple folks have a sensitivity to eggs.  I give them the option of trying them or not.  If they feel like it for that morning, that's great.  If not, they won't hurt my feelings.  I don't make that type of breakfast very often.  Usually we have yogurt, egg rolls, or cottage cheese for breakfast with an occasional weekly oatmeal thrown in for good measure.

At the breakfast table we read the daily chapter of Proverbs that corresponds to the date which moved rather nicely to our Civics lesson in God and Government.  We discussed and looked up scripture which supported the sovereignty of God.

After kitchen clean up was finished, the oldest got on to his schoolwork on the computer while the other two registered and began their Civil Air Patrol training online.

I started working on lunch which was hamburgers and a black bean, mexican diced tomato, olive and purple onion type of salsa.  Everyone but me had sandwich rounds for their "bun."  I didn't have a bun because I'm working very diligently to eradicate wheat from my diet (more on that later...ask me about it some time and I'll be glad to share).

After lunch was put away, we had to scoot out the door to take HJ, our daughter, to a Young Ladies' Book Club that was formed by one of the lovely young ladies in our home school group.  They are reading one classic a month and coming together to "report" on the chapters they were assigned.  It's usually 3 chapters, so the work isn't all that much.  They'll be having a sleep over and watching the movies that correspond to the books they've read and discussing the differences between the books and movies.  I love the opportunity for her to do this type of thing with these young ladies.

While HJ was at her Book Club, the young men and I went to the bank, then to Aldi's to get our snacks, produce, and some cheese.  They're going to a friend's house for an overnight stay and they're taking snacks to share.

Once those errands were completed, my wonderful chauffeur drove us back to pick up HJ.  We waited for about 45 minutes for her because we were done with our errands quickly.  During that time the young men read their Civil Air Patrol chapter on Leadership while I knitted on this head band.  We had an interesting discussion about Country Music, whether many are ballads, poetry or both; vs Christian Music and that  Momma no longer listens to Country/Pop/Rock Music because of the immoral messages those music types portray.  Because we're getting to an age with our young folks where they are beginning to challenge our reasons for doing things, we give more explanations for things, and we welcome those challenges.  When we discuss how things use to be when we were young, we are able to share our story of God's grace in our lives; how we're convicted to make changes and find peace when we do; because we're choosing to live a life that fills our days with listening to music that fills our ears and hearts with the love and grace of God.  That explanation was not only true for both my husband and I, but also so simply accepted that the challenge became simple acceptance.  What a blessing!

After HJ was finished, we went to Good Will to see if we could find some PT (Physical Training) shorts for the young folks for CAP.  There were no shorts suitable for them there, but HJ and I were able to find some clothes for ourselves. :0)  I found 2 nice long sleeved shirts, a corduroy skirt and a denim skirt.  It has been so very long since I've been able to find anything at Good Will that I just quit trying.  Then they rearranged their clothing racks by size and I can now find clothes!  It's amazing!  LOL

On those days when we're in town, waiting for the next thing to happen, we're trying to fill the time in between.  We decided to go have McChicken sandwiches for dinner.  I paid for all the sandwiches, while the kids paid for their own fries and/or drinks.  As hoped, having the young folks pay for their own stuff has caused them to become more careful about how they spend their money.  What a wonderful "natural" beneficial effect of giving them more responsibility for purchasing their own things!  None of them purchased french fries, but bought their own desired drinks.  Why didn't they buy fries?  They're weighing the benefits of having their drink of choice vs a smaller drink and french fries.  They're learning the value of the dollar!  Woohoo!  This is just one small way they're learning.  They are buying a portion of their own clothes and a few things for CAP and making them do this is causing them to rethink how they spend their money.  What a blessing!

While we ate our dinner, we discussed the rest of the month's activities, watched the news and talked.  Once we were finished, it was time for choir practice.  This week we had more people for choir which was such a blessing!  I love it when everyone is at choir practice.  It brings everything together and sounds so very beautiful!  I am praying for more gentlemen to join the choir so that my young men will not be alone singing their bass parts.  I know there are at least 3 more men, but honestly, we could use more.

The laughter and fun experienced when singing in the choir is spirit filled and exciting to my soul.  I know I say this often, but perhaps not often enough, I am so blessed!  God has placed me in this church with these brothers and sisters in Christ to serve Him, and serve I will, with every fiber of my being.  I've loved singing in the choir for so many years, it is hard to count.  I sang in 6th grade choir in Rapid City, SD with 1500 kids and I was hooked!  Every possible opportunity I've had since that time, I've tried to sing in a choir, regardless of public school, youth group, or church.  I'd love for my own children to experience the thrill of singing songs to God at the top of your lungs with many others who have the same love for God.  The experience is absolutely awesome!  I'm sure we've been so close to heaven's marvelous chorus on numerous occasions!

The exhilarating thrill coursing through my spirit stays with me for a very long time after practice, on the way home and well in to the evening.

What a God-blessed time of fellowship and singing praises to Him to round out a busy day!

Praise God!

In Him,

Knitting Projects Update & More

In this post I mentioned I had some knitting projects I work on while the kids are at their various activities.  The one pictured in the post linked above is a bit more completed than the last picture.

This is the progress that has been made on the winter headband.  It's about half way through the cable & seed stitch sequence.  Once it is done the end you see at the bottom of the picture will have a button on it and the other end, once it is made, will have a button hole for fastening it on to the head.

I go back and forth between working the above pattern which requires a lot of concentration for me, to the one below that is just straight knitting. 

I decided to make myself a felted purse that is lined with compartments.  I ordered more wool from Knitpicks Wool of the Andes yesterday that are solid colors of the above variegated colors.  Mr. G and I went to Erie, PA on Friday night for our date night.  We visited Michael's and Hobby Lobby, but couldn't find the yarn I needed at the price I liked, so ordering from Knitpicks proved to be the best choice.  I could shop the website and find the colors I needed at a wonderful price.

I cannot wait to finish those projects and move on to the next bunch.  I have a couple little 2 year old girl hats to crochet this week for a friend of mine, then it's back to finishing the two above.  

I'll post pictures of the crocheted hats once I get them finished. :0)

I'd like to move on to sweaters for the family, starting with my Mr. G.  I have seen a wonderful pattern from one of the knitting magazines that I subscribe to that I would like to try.  I saw it and then received my Knitpicks catalog and found the tweed yarn that I would need for the project pictured in the catalog.  It was exactly what I was looking for.   I just need to make sure I have the right needles and I'll be ready to work on it.  

The saying is so very true~too many patterns, too little time!  =0) 

What are your hands busy with?

God Bless,

Time

My last post was about my day out with my husband, sans kids, which was about a month ago.  Wow!  I am surprised that it has been a month since I posted! 

In this past month, our lives have taken a bit of a different turn.  All three of our children have joined Civil Air Patrol (CAP).  During that time we've paid for all 3 of them to have FBI clearances done, spent a good portion of a morning with their Commander and Lieutenant to try on not only dress blues, but battle dress uniforms, combat boots and dress shoes that were given to them by their unit; we've kept our eyes out for their physical training shorts (like gym shorts) at Good Will so that they can do PT in the proper attire; and since their feet are bigger than the boots offered at the CAP warehouse, we've purchased 3 pairs of combat boots. 

Why Civil Air Patrol?  

We were agonizing about this decision for quite a long time.  We had considered boy scouts years ago, but something constrained us those years ago.  We believe that God's hand was on that decision, or the constraining of that decision for a reason.  As for CAP, there are a number of reasons we've allowed our young folks to join.  First of all, it helps to reinforce the lessons we have taught all their lives about obedience, respect, helping others, and advancing in one's learning/education. 

Second of all, it helps to promote healthy peer pressure to push young folks to learn and advance because those who are at a higher level than they are, are usually their sergeants or cadet commanders in charge of them.  This positive peer pressure in this light helps these kids to understand the need to stick with those who are going to encourage them to become a better person not just for their sake, but for the sake of the squadron.  

Thirdly, there is a camaraderie that is occurring with the kids that is a good influence on them.  

Last, but not least, the educational opportunities with CAP, after aging out as a cadet, are amazing!  With adults, there are senior member benefits of taking classes online for a variety of areas to not only benefit the squadron, but also for one's own advancement.  This type of schooling is FREE as well as a resume builder.  

Now that I've told you quite a bit not enough about CAP, I'll move right along.  

I am in the process of adjusting to this new bunch of activity in each of our calendars.  I am certain that all of the activity is worth the effort of getting all of us to not only the meetings, but additional activities, youth meetings, choir, young ladies' book club, piano lessons as well as home school co-op days and field trips. I was filling in my perpetual calendar earlier today and when my Mr. G saw it so filled with things to do, he said, "Wow!  This calendar is just too full!"  LOL   

This is my calendar without all the activity:

I love being able to plan my days with this as my guide.  It doesn't matter what is going on, I can look at this calendar, see what week we're on, look to the left and see which room to detail clean.  Along the bottom are the chores for the day.  Along the right side is kitchen chores to do.  I've changed those since I took this picture due mostly to changes in diets and needs for the family, but that is how things need to flow as a family grows and changes.  

Now, I know the question is resting on your tongues/fingers/minds, "What does she do while they are at all these activities?"  Well, I have numerous knitting projects in process.  I am currently making my own wool felted purse that I will line with some lovely and wonderful fabric complete with zipper pockets and pouches. Another project I'm working on is a knitted winter headband that covers the ears for outside play. 

It's about double this size now, but it will be nice and warm for my ears when I go outside in the winter.

 These are things I work on while waiting for my kids.  If it's youth group night, I attend an adult Bible Study while they have youth group.  If we attend a field trip, I usually participate in the activities.  Then we throw doctor visits of all varieties in to the mix as well and there are lots of knitting opportunities.  

I thank God for these learning opportunities for my young folks.  Seeing them now and how much they've grown in their knowledge and walk with the Lord does my heart good.  I am excited to see what the Lord does in their lives.  In the mean time, I perfect my knitting skills to glorify God in every way I can.  

God Bless!

In Christ,

Time with Mr. G

Last weekend, was the first time ever that all 3 of our children were away all at the same time.  It was truly surreal around our house.   Friday evening when I returned home from dropping the kids off at camp, (I know I'm weird here...) I truly wrestled with cleaning my brains out or resting.  I had briefly thought of calling my husband and talking with him for a moment to see what he needed me to do before making my decision, but honestly...(sigh)  I knew he'd tell me to rest.  Later, I found out I was right!  

While I waited for my beloved to get home from work I snacked on pistachios and watched CSI: NY.  Shortly before he arrived the Netflix went out.  I tried fixing it, but it just wouldn't do anything.  I got online to all the different websites the thing told me to, but it wouldn't work.  Mr. G decided to surf the other Wii channels and we found out we could download YouTube on to our Wii console.  The rest of the evening we watched Mark Lowry clips.  What fun we had laughing together!  And boy can that Mark Lowry S.I.N.G!!!

The next morning was busy writing bills, balancing the checkbook, then heading out to a Sunday School meeting.  After that we decided to head north and make some stops on the way to pick up the kids.  We stopped for lunch at a convenience store for something quick on the road.  Strangely enough they had just what we wanted--salad and sandwich.  LOL  We continued up the road until we came to the turn off for Kinzua Bridge.  Hubby decided to take the turn and follow the signs.  I figured he was going to the auction by the way he was going, but I sat quietly to figure out where he was headed.  When we passed by the auction I figured he'd seen something else.

When we arrived at the packed parking lot, he noticed a plane and decided to take a bunch of pictures because it looked neat with the wispy clouds in the background.

We were both amazed at the lack of leaves through this area too.  Further up the road there were leaves on the trees still, but not through the Kinzua Bridge area.  It makes one wonder if the weather patterns are different through this area. 

The bridge was destroyed by a tornado some years back and they refurbished it only out to a point so people can walk out on it and not only enjoy the view, but marvel at God's creation and the fierce force of nature that took down the MASSIVE steel, bending the supports over like play dough in a child's hands.

I didn't see the steel beams until we arrived at the end, but I marveled at the devastation that took place that is still apparent years later.  This tornado didn't last long by the looks of the land, but the wind sheer could be seen even through the trees at the top of the hill where we'd walked from.

They'd kept the original part of the bridge in tact, but built a walk way around it.  This picture is looking through the rails to the ravine below.

We were not sure if this was a foot bridge or a log that someone had placed over the stream.  Mr. G took a picture to blow it up and see if it was a bridge or a log.  LOL

A truly humbling, terrifying sight for me that took my breath away and brought tears to my eyes.

It left me awestruck with a humbling reverence for my God.  I didn't see this until we made it to the end of the foot bridge.  Even though I saw the tornado's path, I still didn't gain a full understanding of the true magnitude of the tornado until seeing this. 

Awestruck...

Walking back, the plane passed by a few more times.

We stopped at a store that was going out of business to find that their prices were not indicative of a place that wanted to get rid of their merchandise.  We also stopped at a thrift store and found a few items of clothing for the children.

We arrived at our friends' house to visit and help make dinner because we knew that everyone would be famished when they came back from camp.  What a lovely and wonderful time we had of fellowship and laughter.  I won't post the last picture my husband took of our friends together.  Lisa would kill me!  LOL

Over all our time together was bitter sweet...more sweet than bitter though.  It simply wasn't long enough.  I'm looking forward to the time when the kids will be able to go to camp again and my Mr. G and I can have more time alone together. For some reason we don't have that very much, but hopefully we'll be able to fix that soon.

God Bless,