Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Like Thanksgiving day, it was quiet around our house. We had an enjoyable Christmas day listening to Christmas music, opening presents, eating and making merry. Well, as merry as you can when you are so far away from all your dear family and friends up north. The children seemed to really enjoy their Christmas gifts and didn't seem to mind it too much that there was no snow.

This year was also touched with some concern and sadness for our nephew Chris. Please say a prayer for Chris and his family, as he was hit by a car and is in stable yet critical condition. For his privacy I will not say too much but he really needs your prayers for a full recovery. We are grateful that he is still with us, and pray that he will continue to strengthen and improve.

I am ending the year with a lovely full blown cold. UGH! It's the kind of cold that knocks you down and drags you out. So I had to take a nap today. Naps for me are like 20 minutes, lol!

But they are helpful and refreshing.

It's 70 degrees out today and cloudy. I really must say I like the winter weather here in the south. It is so nice and mild. We have a possibility of tornadoes from now until the spring. We had watches all day, but nothing came, thankfully. Anthony gets very excited about tornado watches and warnings. He keeps us posted everytime he hears something on the radio or t.v.

One of my favorite gifts was this lovely craft book. I have enjoyed getting back into sewing and making a few things. My first project from the book was this cute pin cusion made out of scrap material. It was "sew" easy. This book is great because it separates the projects by the estimated amount of time it will take, such 2-4 hour gifts, 4-8 hour, etc... If I start now, I should be able to make everyone a little something for Christmas 2008!

More Snapshots

Now that's what I call a Jaw Breaker!
"I wanna play Wii!"
"A box makes the bestest toy!"
Getting back to sewing. Criss Cross coasters in Anna Maria's Chocolate Lollipop fabric.

Italian Potato Casserole and Cream Cheese Brownies

This was one of our regular side dishes years ago, and I haven't made it in over a year or longer. Does that ever happen to you, where you stop making something for a long time because you just didn't think to make it?
Well tonight's menu is roast chicken, sweet corn, and italian potato casserole.

Easy Italian Potato CasseroleSide Dish

4 to 6 potatoes
1 onion sliced thin
2-3 tomatoes sliced
mozarella cheese
parmesan cheese
dried oregano
dried basil
salt and pepper

Peel potatoes and slice thin, I use the Cuisenart to make this dish super fast! Slice onions. In a deep dish pan that has been sprayed or buttered, layer (one half of ingredients) potatoes, onions, oregano, basil, salt, pepper,parmesan cheese, tomatoes, and then mozarella, then repeat the layers. Cover with aluminum foil that has been sprayed. Bake at 400 degrees F. until tender. About 40-45 minutes. Uncover to brown.

I will also make some cream cheese brownies for dessert. They are super easy!

CREAM CHEESE BROWNIES

1 pkg. brownie mix
6 oz. cream cheese
5 tbsp. butter
1/3 c. sugar5 eggs
2 tbsp. flour
3/4 tsp. vanilla
2 tbsp. water
Cream cheese mix: soften cream cheese, butter, sugar, 2 eggs, flour, vanilla. Beat until smooth.
Brownie mix: mix according to direction on package using 3 eggs.
Spoon half of mix in pan. Top with cream cheese, add other half and swirl through with spoon. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

Snapshots

A Day at the Museum

We had a fun time at the museum. Yesterday we had the homeschool group over for lessons on Picasso and Margritte. We did some fun art projects reflecting "Cubism" and "Surrealism". The next morning we all woke up with art on the brain. So after lessons we went to the Montgomery Art Museum. We were able to see paintings and other art work that reflected cubism and surrealism.

Here is Luther with the view of the lake behind him. Those sculptures at the center actually turn and the birds like to sit on them. It was a gorgeous 75 degree day in Nov.

This is a tile wall that Peter is enjoying looking at.

The boys are actually in the art. There is a painting of this in the museum.

Here is Sara posing in front of the museum.

Long time no write...

Daddy and Peter preparing for thier Thanksgiving Feast.

Hello everybody! Sorry it's been so long since I updated. We have been busy as you can imagine. With doctor/dentist appointments, homeschool activities, home-schooling, baby care, pet and house care, laundry etc.... You know what I mean!

Our Thanksgiving was very nice and quiet. We enjoyed a lovely meal here at home together, just the seven of us and of course Kia catching all the droppings and leftovers that she could. We decided we wanted a quiet simple day of thanks giving. We went around the table and we each gave thanks for something.

Today is a very rainy day, which we need. So we will probably do a lot of extra reading, and laundry, and eat homemade turkey soup that I made with what was left of our turkey. I just boiled the bones in water with whatever meat was left on the bones. I added celery, onion, salt, pepper, and poultry seasoning. I simmered for an hour or so. Then I removed the bones, and picked the meat off the turkey. I added a bag of bow tie pasta with veggies from Schwan's and two diced potatoes. Simmered till tender and add the picked turkey. Yummy! Good with sour dough or crusty bread.

Peter is sitting all by himself now and is still teething so he gets fussy. But we have so many extra sets of arms that he doesn't have to fuss for very long before someone comes to his rescue. He is sleeping much better these nights. He was getting up almost every two hours, when the teething was painful, to nurse but is back to sleeping from about 9 p.m. till about 5 or almost 6 a.m. NICE!!

Speaking of teeth, Anthony just lost his third tooth. He all ready lost the bottom two and now has lost his top tooth. He was trying to whistle with the hole left, but it isn't working. Anthony also informed me this morning that elephants are afraid of mice. I wonder where he got that idea :) Kids say the funniest things.

Homeschool happenings

Well we are currently finishing up some science and history books we are reading. Our trimester is almost over. One of the favorite books is "Galen and the Gateway to Medicine".

This is an interesting book about how doctors started out learning their field, particularly Galen, who was a doctor that practiced over 2,000 years ago. I highly recommend this book for ages 8 and up. Luther will be reading The History of Medicine, which will get a little more in depth and takes a look at medical practices from the ancient past to the present, including biographical sketches of famous persons of medicine.

We will also be purchasing and boxing up Christmas gifts for the students at St.Joseph's Indian School in SD. This is a project through our homescool group. I am not sure but I think these boys are either orphans or displaced. I will have to learn more and let you know later.

We go roller skating once a month and have book club once a month. We meet with another local group for sports and art in the park every Friday if we can. I will be starting a monthly art and music class right here in my home as well.

We will be baking lots of mini quick breads for the troops and my brother who are overseas and will not be home for the holidays. I hope they make it!