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The Joyous Christmas SeasonOh, I've so missed my blog & didn't realize it until I saw my pretty homey template that Tamara made for me. I'm trying to catch up on my friend's here, too-I'm sorry if I haven't commented in awhile. I am SO enjoying the Christmas season. We have less money to spend on Christmas than ever before, but I'm enjoying it so much more! We're making so many fun ornaments & went to our homeschool group's Christmas craft day. Everyone that goes brings enough supplies for about 20 kids to make a craft at your table. The parent stays at the table & helps the kids. All the kids go from one table to another to make the crafts. They flit from one table to another & visit with each other. Everyone also brings a snack to share. I brought a craft that didn't involve glue, so it was very laid back & easy for me. This week has been super cold & snowy & windy. I'm hoping the weather cooperates for this weekend. Tomorrow we're going to a Christmas Cookie Exchange party w/ 14 other homeschool families. So, today we're baking over 100 chocolate covered cherry cookies. :) Saturday we were invited to go Christmas caroling!! It's in a little town & we're going to go house to house and sing with several other families. I have never done this before & am extremely excited about it. Sunday we might be going to a horse trainer's open house (Hannah went to a barrel racing clinic there recently) and then in the evening we're going to the Christmas Cantata at church w/ another family. We've been to that church before, so we already know several people there. These are the Christmas activities that are my favorite!! Plus, the crafts-we've done crafts almost every day with Christmas music playing in the background. Plus, there's Christmas parties to go to for Hannah's 4-H group & Teen Council. The one for Teen Council is being held here, but in January. Well, I'll write more later-there's so many things I need to catch up on with my blog. We were very sick for about 5 weeks (flu, bronchitis, pneumonia) and that is partially the reason I haven't blogged. But, my reason for blogging is so I can read & remember these special days raising my children, so I need to get back in the game. LOL Trying BloggerI've always been disappointed to come to one of my "friend's" on HSB and find out they've moved their blog to Blogger. However, after creating a blog over there, and discovering the ease of using it, I've decided to give it a try.The ease of changing templates, adding photos, and just the overall experience has been much less frustrating than trying those same things over here. I would love to have you visit me there and I will still come here to visit you. My new blog is at: http://heritagecreek.blogspot.com/ Hope to see you there. Debbie Hershey Pound Cake RecipeHere is the recipe for the Hershey Cake that I listed in our Thanksgiving menu. Enjoy!Hershey Pound Cake
21/2 cup sifted flour
2 sticks oleo 2 cups sugar 4 eggs 7 (plain) Hershey bars 2 sm. cans Hershey syrup 1 1/4 tsp. baking soda in one cup buttermilk 2 tsp. vanilla Dissolve hershey bars in hershey syrup on low heat while mixing other ingr. Cream butter and sugar. Add vanilla. Add flour slowly. Add eggs one at a time, alternating with milk, beating well after each addition. Add hershey mixture. Mix well. Bake at 350 for 1 hour. I Did It!Well, I pulled off my first Thanksgiving at my house!It wasn't hard, but we had WAY too much food leftover. We had 9 people and enough food for about double that! Of course we ate another round last night, but still have about 2-3 more meals worth. Our menu included: Hickory Smoked Turkey Paula Dean's Glazed Ham* Mashed Potatoes Pinto Beans Green Bean Bake* Stuffing Dinner Rolls Hershey Cake Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Pecan pie* Cherry Pie *these were the best items of the day!* But - now that we've had all that "regular" food - I'm ready for some spicy food. Mexican is sounding very good right now! I am unusual in the way (one of the ways) that I don't want Turkey and Dressing EVER, except on Thanksgiving. My husband could eat that once a week, all year round. But after I've eaten it on TG, I don't want to see it again until the next November. We are not shopping for Christmas today, EXCEPT for our Christmas tree. We threw our tree away last year - it had seen better days. So we get to buy a new one this year and I'm planning on looking for one with built-in lights. This is appalling to my 10 year old, who says, that is a tradition - to wind the lights all around the tree. Funny how he missed the frustration on my husband's face year after year, as David untangled the strands of lights. My family tends to stick to traditional routines, while I get excited over the idea of "different". It's a battle I'm determined to win this year! I hope you all have a fantastic weekend, filled with family and friends. There is much to be thankful for. If you are reading this, then God is still at work in your life! Until next time....... Blessings! Days of ThanksSo school is going well. This is week #12. We're just finishing up the timeline chapter - family, Biblical, and historical figure time lines. And we've covered lots of people!Work's been a bit slower. Guess most of my clients are thinking about the holidays. But Matthew and I will be teaming up as of Dec 1st. So things should pick up soon! With Matthew back in sales, we can cover more territory! I'm so excited! I've been updating our webpages, facebook fan page, and so much more! Our kids put up the Christmas tree over a week ago. They held my husband's leather glove for ransom until we allowed them to put up the tree. I was so tired from looking for a new car and getting my house fixed from a house damaging both that I did not care anymore. And they did it! They put up the tree, the stockings, and all the decorations! We're talking about "Having a Biblical Worldview" at church. It's been really good. Then Pastor Cash asked Matthew and I to talk about what we do in our home to try to apply this idea. IT was a bit chaotic - mainly because we both came up with our own ideas and never put the two together. We just combined it while we were talking! Here are the notes I wrote: http://www.docstoc.com/docs/17091162/Biblical-Worldview I think my dad wants a cat. So Mom was going to get him one. Then she was wondering what to get him for Christmas. So Matthew said, "get him another one!" .... WHAT?!? 2 kittens? And guess who gets to babysit them when they go out of town for a week or more... hmmm.... Happy Thanksgiving! Lots Going On & Horse updateWell, the men got home Saturday night about 11:30pm with the horses. They had driven about 12 hours that day and were worn out!Once they got home, the fun began. The horses were only coming to our house for the night, then we were moving them on Sunday to our friend's who will be boarding them for us until we build our fence. So.......at midnight, in the pitch black of night, we are unloading the horses and getting them tied up for the night. The plan was good, but we didn't count on a halter breaking, a horse on the loose, ropes around ankles, etc. Finally, after much excitement, both horses were safely tied to trees (with enough rope to bend their heads to eat), and we were able to get into bed about 2 a.m. We were tired! Sunday we took them out to a friend's house, where they had plenty of room to run and an abundant amount of grass to eat. They seemed very happy. We are checking fencing prices and getting those plans in the works ASAP. Collin said he didn't like the fact that his Christmas present was at someone else's house! It may seem like we did this thing backwards - getting horses before we built the fence - but the lady who had them only had a few days to keep them before she would have to find a new place to rent, so we had to bring them here to save them from being homeless. Other than the exciting horse news, Ted (my 16 year old) started his new job on Monday. He was a little apprehensive, but once he got there, he was fine. He is working for FOX, here in town, and they have two news shows; one at 4pm and the other at 9pm. Ted actually ran the studio camera for the 9:00 show. He is going to learn so much while working there. The great thing is that he has landed a position that usually college students have to intern to get. This position is not usually given to a 16 year old, as a permanent job. We're very proud of him. This week Collin and I are volunteering at the church, taking up Samaritan's Purse shoe boxes. I bought my first turkey today. Sorry to disappoint all of you wonderful homemakers, but I bought a pre-cooked Hickory Smoked Turkey. All I have to do is heat it up!! I'm so happy! More on the menu later. Hope all is well with you! Blessings my friends, Debbie Thank you, Lord!Well, I made it! I actually slept at the house by myself last night while David and the boys were in Alabama. Sounds silly - I know - but we've had strange things happen here and it gets a little spooky when you're surrounded by woods.I had a good day yesterday. I accomplished many of the things on my list and even had lunch with a great friend, who I haven't seen in a long time. It was great to catch up with her. I got my menu made for next week, bought groceries, rented some movies, worked on some school things, ate corn chowder for supper (yum), and was in bed by 10:30. This morning David texted me at 6:30 to say he and the boys were getting on the road. They had an hour and a half drive to get to the horses. He just texted me at 8:15 to say they were there. It will be a long day back for them, but they will be so excited to be pulling a trailer with our new pets. What's on the agenda for me today? Finish up school record keeping, lesson plans for next week Wash clothes Clean the house Watch a movie (while eating pizza - of course) Print some pictures on my trusty little picture printing machine Hopefully scrapbook Wait on my boys to get home How about you? What are you doing today? Changes and SeasonsThere are seasons of life that are expected and those that sneak up on you. I am experiencing one of those seasons that has caught me by surprise, all of a sudden.My 16 year old son got his first permanent job this week. He's had short term jobs but never a fully committed, go to work every day, kind of job. Starting Monday that will all change. He will work in the evening, which will still give him time to do school and be at home during the day. But our evenings will be different. He has been offered a job in production at our local FOX affiliate, which will entail things like: running the teleprompter, handing out scripts, and various other duties that have to be done before, during and after the evening news. This opportunity is unique in that, he is only 16 and usually the guys they hire for this position are much older. But, because he had experience with shooting football and has known the guys in the news business since he was little, they are taking a chance on him and his age. We didn't want him to pass this up. So, my "little boy" is growing up and entering the grown up world. And this mom is not doing well with it! On a happier note: we are getting into the horse world. My husband and 2 boys are on their way, as I type this, to Alabama to pick up two quarter horses that have been given to us. This will be our first time as horse owners (well David had them as a teen) but, for our family, it will be a first. We have promised our kids horses since we moved to this little farmhouse, and now we are delivering. We've got fences to build and alot to learn, but what a journey! I feel like it's a real blessing to be able to give my kids this opportunity. And, true to the homeschooling mom way, I bought a book on horses, and Collin will be reading it all the way to Alabama! He'll be educated beyond belief by the time they get there! And if I know Collin - Ted and Dad will be begging him to stop relaying all the facts from the back seat, very soon! And I'm at home for 2 days with no one but the dogs. True to myself, I've made a list of all the things I want to do during these two long days. I don't want to squander the precious time away, doing nothing. So, I hope to get some projects done (scrapbooking) and some movie watching, some school record-keeping (I actually enjoy this), and organizing (love this too). I'm about to make my menu for next week and go to the store. I'm considering this weekend to be like a little retreat for myself. I hope to spend alot of time renewing myself and communicating with God. Sounds precious, don't you think? Many blessings to you, my friends. Have a great weekend! Debbie Grumpy Math Club MemberThis year Rebecca decided to do math club. She is in high school now and so the math is TRICKY. She, being the perfectionist that she is, came out of class today in a rather foul mood. Methinks it has something to do with the review they had of a recent contest the team competed in. She was not happy on that day either. I'm just sayin' there may be a connection somewhere...Dancin' GRITS Neon Dance PartyWe have long since outgrown Trick or Treating and Halloween has become somewhat of an awkward holiday. It was never really a favorite of mine (although the loads of candy was cool) and now that my kids are all teens it's almost an annoying "holiday".
This year was a bit different, however, because the girls got to go to a dance! Rather than doing the costume thing and having a plethora of "thou shalt not's", the organizers decided to employ black lights and have a "who is the brightest" contest. It was soooo much fun!
The kids have recently become card game aficionados and the idea of dressing with a deck of cards theme was enthusiastically embraced. They spent a couple of hours creating their assigned/chosen card and this was the result.
Josh was supposed to be the jack of clubs, but he decided to hang out with some buddies instead. { Last Page } { Page 1 of 5 } { Next Page } |
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