See You Next Year!

Couldn't let the year end with out getting in my favorite joke! We have big plans for New Year's Eve... sleeping! It gets better though, because our big plans for New Year's Day are... more sleeping!! That is until we hit the road! We decided to leave a day early so that means we'll need all the rest we can get!

I love the "year in review" articles that come out at the end of each year. I'm always amazed how fast things fade in the ol' memory. If you need a little refresher on the happenings of 2009, Dave Barry put together a review of the year like only he can!! Funny!

Happy New Year everyone! Catch you on the flip side!

And miles to go before I sleep...

We're heading on an adventure!! The whole Shown family is loading up the big white van and going to Arizona for a visit. We are looking forward to seeing family and friends as well as sunshine and no winter coats!

For those of you who don't know... Jerry was born and raised in Arizona. I moved there when I was in 8th grade. We met in high school and moved here a few years after we got married. We have gone to Arizona a few times over the years but this is the first time we'll be driving since we moved in May of 2000! We had several fewer family members at that time so this is uncharted territory for us. If it goes well perhaps we'll be brave enough to take more vacations.

We decided it would be easier on the kids if we left here in the evening. That way they could spend the first of our many hours in the van sleeping. We'll see how it goes. Our plan is to leave at 8pm and stop only for gas. We're packing food and are going to try to make it well over 3/4 of the way there (about 1300 miles) before we stop the next night at a hotel. That will be one night and all of one day before we stop for any length of time. The following day we'll finish up our remaining miles and hope to be at Grandpa's house by early evening the second day.

At the boys request, we're going to do our best to find a hotel with a pool. I think that's a good idea. They'll need a little exercise after being in the car so long. I was a bit worried about keeping them entertained in the car until I got the brilliant idea of getting a dual screen DVD player. They got several new movies for Christmas and I'm sure that will keep them in good spirits for many of the miles. I'm hoping DVDs and food (their two favorite things!) will keep them busy and happy!

I told Wesley that I'd give them all an envelope of "spending" money but every time someone asks "Are we there yet?" or "When are we going to get there?" that I'm taking 10 cents out of their envelope. I'm guessing the boys will be owing me some money by the time we get there!

I'll be scarce on the ol' blog this week while I climb Mt. Laundry, put away Christmas stuff, and get things packed. We'll take lots of pictures. I'm guessing the van will look something like this ------------>
once it's all packed and ready to go. Okay, maybe not. I don't think we're packing any rugs. But maybe I should reconsider???

Just in case you are interested, here is a map of our route. We're very thankful for a church friend who told us about a "shortcut" that he took driving to AZ last year. It will save us about 150 miles and at least a couple hours! As an added bonus we'll barely be in Oklahoma and Texas, my two least favorite states on the trip. (No offense OK and TX.)

Please start praying now that the weather cooperates. The forecast is looking pretty good right now. We took the van in for a check up and ended up putting a good bit of money into some repairs so the van shouldn't cause us any trouble but extra prayers for the van, as well as the children, to behave can't hurt!

We'll check in when we can. If you want to follow along, Facebook is probably better for up to the minute status reports. If you're in AZ and want to see us email me ASAP... we're having a BIG get together on Saturday the 9th. Talk to you later... I've got lots to do and miles to go before I sleep.



View Snowbirds Trip 2010 in a larger map

Christmas 2009

Here a few pictures from this year's Christmas activities. Roz was a great help in the cookie baking this year. We made several different kinds of goodies, but we saved the best for last. I made the sugar cookie dough and she rolled and cut them all. The whole family worked together to decorate them. With a couple exceptions (Hayden and JD) the boys did a great job decorating this year. Jerry only had to remind them a few times to not dilly-dally since they were getting "paid by the unit not the hour" after all.

Uhh... Jer that's the shirt you wore last year!

In fact, they did so well we didn't even have to set the cookies they decorated aside for "family only"! We made a double batch so it was nice to have extra hard-working hands available!

Uhh... JD where's that cookie?

Cookie Crew 2009

Christmas Eve was a relaxing day. We finished wrapping, played a few games by the fire, and hung out before heading to church. After the Christmas Eve service we came home and had pizza. I threw a few pizzas together earlier in the day and stuck them in the fridge until after church. I'm not sure if pizza is a step up or a step down over the macaroni and hot dogs we had last Christmas Eve.

The boys came up with a plan to try and see when the gifts appeared under the tree. One boy came out to "go to the bathroom" every 15 minutes. I outlasted them and they were fast asleep by the time the presents came up from their hiding place in Roz's closet. My victory was short lived though. They got me back when Eli, Justus, and Hayden got up about 3:45 (that would be A.M.)! I ended up laying down in their room with them to get them to go back to sleep.

After the early waking, everyone slept until a bit after 7am. We opened gifts and then ate breakfast (we had a breakfast casserole baking while we opened presents). After breakfast Roz, Wesley, and I headed to Christmas mass with the DeCleene family.
Then it was home again for a quick lunch and some more relaxing before heading to Uncle Mark's for the big Christmas get together. The boys were very good and J.D. played (with Cooper and Cousin Logan) for quite awhile! Lots of fun and good food! We had our last Christmas celebration with my family here at our house on the 26th. More fun and good food!The "kitchen", food, and toy dish set were a big hit. All the boys, but JD and Hayden especially, have already spent many hours playing with the whole set. JD will bring you anything you request off the "menu" but watch out... it's always "very hot". The window seat in JD's room is the perfect spot to set the stove top!
Christmas came to a screeching halt for us the 27th. Down came the decorations and the tree. Now we're moving onto the LONG vacation to-do list. Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and if you're in Arizona... we'll see you soon!!!

Preparing

I'm working on a post about Christmas and one about the trip. We've got lots going on this week, but we're never too busy to learn. Wesley took some time out to read for a bit last night. You sure can tell what a kid is thinking about by looking at what he's reading!

Merry Christmas!

For to us a child is born,

to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9:6



A Christmas Prayer
by Robert Louis Stevenson

Loving Father, Help us remember the birth of Jesus, that we may share in the song of angels, the gladness of the shepherds, and the worship of the wise men. Close the door of hate and open the door of love all over the world. Let kindness come with every gift and good desires with every greeting.

Deliver us from evil by the blessing which Christ brings, and teach us to be merry with clean hearts. May Christmas morning make us happy to be Thy children, and Christmas evening bring us to our beds with grateful thoughts, forgiving and forgiven, for Jesus' sake, Amen!

Our Weekend (in Food)

Here are the Shown boys in their sweaters before heading to church this morning:
I wore a sweater too (not pictured). Oddly enough so did many other people at church. I didn't get the memo but was glad most of our family had on sweaters for Sweater Sunday!

In other news, Roz arrived home this afternoon after a weekend in the Dells with a friend. I barely got a "Hi Mom" before she was asking "what's for dinner?" and grabbing poppy seed bread (recipe below). Apparently home cooking is what she misses most while away at college! Here's why...

This is what we had for breakfast this weekend:
Saturday-Egg & Sausage on Biscuits

No recipe for these really. Just cook up some sausage patties and eggs. Stack them on homemade biscuits with a slice of cheddar cheese. I cook the eggs kind of omelet style then cut them into round shapes with the biscuit cutter. If you want a great biscuit recipe here's the one I use:

Light and Flaky Biscuits

2 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
1 T. baking powder
1/2 cup (1 stick) cold butter or margarine
3/4 cup milk (+ 1 or 2 T. more)

Mix flour, salt, and baking powder. Cut in butter. Add milk and stir with a fork until ball forms. Knead lightly into a ball but don't knead long. Pat out on a floured surface and cut with biscuit cutter. Place on ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 400 until golden brown (about 10-12 minutes).

Sunday-Continental Breakfast Potluck at Church (I brought Poppy Seed bread)

If you need something yummy to serve at a Christmas brunch or even a quick baked gift? Try this. I got this recipe several years ago from a friend I went to nursing school with. I hadn't made it in a long time and revived it a few weeks ago. My whole family loves this bread. In fact, Jer got after me because I've "had this recipe for 15 years and only made it a few times?". What's wrong with me! It is really easy to make too, so I don't have a good excuse.

Poppy Seed Bread

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3 tablespoons poppy seeds
1 1/2 teaspoons butter flavored extract
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract
1 1/3 cups vegetable oil
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
2 1/4 cups white sugar

Mix all of the above well. Put into two greased 9 inch loaf pans. Bake at 350 for about an hour (until golden and tests done). Cool a few minutes in the pan then poke holes in the top and pour on the glaze (below).

Glaze

1/4 cup orange juice
1/2 teaspoon butter flavored extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (approx.) cups confectioners' sugar

To make glaze: Mix liquids and then add enough confectioners' sugar to make glaze.

Sew Cute Part Two: Fold-up Fabric "Kitchen"

Here is the final piece of J.D.'s Christmas gift. I'm really kicking myself that we sold the little plastic kitchen a few years ago. But we had boys... and I didn't think they'd want to play with it all that much. Stereotypical? Yes. I know.

Well, this will solve the problem of where J.D. can "cook" his play food and yet doesn't take up any space. I could seriously fit this in a manila envelope and mail it to you! Justus and Wesley were impressed. Justus kept asking me if I thought J.D. would share with him. I assured him it will be more fun if everyone plays together!

I'm calling it a Fold-Up Fabric Kitchen. I saw the original idea here but modified it a bit and made it my own. Here are the details for those of you who are interested...
The entire thing is made of fabric. It measures about 30 inches by 15 inches. The main fabric pieces are flannel, yellow on one side and blue stars (not pictured) on the other--for most of it I just used what I had. The details are all felt. Again I just used the cheap felt sheets you can get at Wal-Mart or any craft store. Most of the details were blanket stitched on by hand but I used the machine for some of the work too.

On the far left are two "burners" with the controls and a clock. I made it so the fabric kind of folds over and will hang off the edge of a table to make it more dimensional.

I really need to work on my embroidery skills. I can't stitch words (or numbers!) very well at all. In the center is the "sink". I have a little droplet of water that I have yet to sew on by the "faucet". Below the sink is a handy little towel rack with a removable towel!
On the right is a "cutting board" which could also double as a dish drainer if needed.
The whole thing would cost around $5 to make even if you have to buy fabric. Assembly took just a few hours. I did most of the blanket stitching while on the phone with a friend (Hi Theresa!). If you are going to do that, let me suggest using speaker phone. My neck is still kind of sore from holding the phone under my chin. :)

If you are lucky enough to have a blanket stitch on your sewing machine assembly will go much faster. Or you could even skip the blanket stitch and just sew it on with the machine, but I liked the look of the blanket stitching.

Now I just have to finish the little stocking ornaments I am crocheting for the kids and I'll be done with my Christmas crafts for this year. Four down, two to go. They don't take much time at all to make so I shouldn't have any trouble finishing them. Did you make any crafts this Christmas??

Virtual Christmas Tour 2009

I gave this a try last year and wanted to make it an annual tradition. If you have a blog please join in and post a few pictures from your home then link up below. I think everyone loves seeing other peoples homes and decorations!

We didn't do much outside this year, Jerry said he didn't want to get up on the (very high) roof peak again. So I didn't take any pictures of the outside lights. We did hang a few lighted wreaths and put some lights on the bushes and roof line by the front porch. We have some recessed lights in the front and next year we are planning to get some red and green flood lights to give us a bit more color.

Even inside, I didn't go all out this year. We are leaving shortly after Christmas and want to get things put away before we go. So missing from my usual decorations are the "kid's tree" in the basement, my little Christmas village, most of my snowmen, and almost all of my kitchen decorations. Okay, enough about what I didn't get out! Here's what I did!!
I have had this wreath for several years. It was a hand-me-down from my mom. Speaking of my mom, this wreath looks much better this year than it did last year thanks to her. She bought some new balls for it and and gave it a mini-makeover for me. Thanks Mom! It looks great!
Below the wreath and above the fireplace are the stockings I was frantically sewing last year at this time. They are one of my new favorite decorations.
Right as you come in the front door, on the front hall closet door, I have a ribbon hanging where I pin all the Christmas cards we receive. It's not too full yet, but I am hoping to get a few more (hint, hint). How do you display your Christmas cards? What do you do with them when Christmas is over. I put the photos and letters into a Christmas "binder" to keep them. If I scrapbooked I would do something a bit fancier but this works nicely for me. It's fun to go back and look at how much everyone's kids have grown.
Here's our Jesse Tree. Only 8 ornaments left to hang! Hard to believe. If the tree looks a little lopsided that's because it's been knocked off the small table I have it on in the kitchen a few times. I did take time to laminate the ornaments this year hoping that will help them last a bit longer. I have new Jesse Tree ornaments on my "to do" list but I haven't decided if I want to cross stitch them or make salt dough or something else.
A few years ago I got rid of almost all of our Santa related decorations. I want our Christmas decorations to reflect more of what we are celebrating, that's is why I like decorations like this table runner. My mom found it for me and I put it as the centerpiece on the kitchen table with the advent wreath. Eli requests that we light the candles more often, but flames, hot wax, and little boys don't mix real well, in my opinion, so we've only lit it once or twice.
This little pillow sits on the wooden bench by the front door year round. Almost each month, but sometimes just seasonally, I change the slip cover. I sewed all the various holiday fabric covers several years ago. I have two covers for Christmas that I alternate. This year it is the Nativity fabric. The other fabric is more of a "country" Christmas with various decorated trees.
I made this wreath (sorry this photo is so dark) with a dollar store wreath and an ornament I got on clearance at Shopko. After gluing the ornament in place I just added a few cinnamon sticks, buttons, and tied fabric scraps to finish it off.
These little light jars have been around for a long time. They make a great gift! I keep one in each of my bathrooms during the Christmas season. They are great little night lights and the potpourri smells so nice.
Here is this years Christmas tree. Roz helped put it up when she was home a few weeks ago. The boys helped so the ornaments are all over the place. Some of the ornaments that should be in the back of the tree (you have those type of ornaments too, don't you?) are in the front this year. I swear the ornaments get moved around daily by all my little helpers, so this is what the tree looked like today. No promises this is what it will look like tomorrow, but at least it's still standing and for that I am truly thankful.

Last year I shared the recipe for one of my favorites: candy cane cookies. This year I'll share one of Roz's favorites. I don't know why I only make them at Christmas time. They are so easy to make, I should really make them more often!

No Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies
1 stick margarine
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup milk
6 T. cocoa powder
2/3 cup chunky peanut butter
3 cups oats
1 t. vanilla

Melt margarine in a large pot. Add sugar, milk, and cocoa then bring to a boil.
Boil for 3 full minutes, stirring frequently. Take off heat and
add peanut butter, oats, and vanilla. Mix well.
Spoon "cookies" onto wax paper.
Let set and enjoy!

Sew Cute! Felt Food

Since J.D. doesn't read this blog I think it'll be okay to show you what I've been making him for Christmas. Shhh! Don't tell him about it!

Several weeks ago the boys and I went to the library while Jerry went to a political meet and greet. J.D. played almost the whole time with some little dishes and play food. We haven't had play dishes since Roz was little! We have had plastic play food before, but it has slowly gotten smashed or turned into outside toys, so when I saw some felt food on a blog not too long ago I knew I had found a new project!

That little felt food was just so cute! So I looked around and found a free pattern for a sandwich. I didn't have much luck finding free patterns for any of the other foods but there were plenty of pictures and it's not rocket science so I winged it!

Everything came out even cuter than I expected. I just used the cheap felt you find in the craft section of any craft store. I used the sewing machine for most of the stitching but enjoyed a little hand stitching on some of the pieces too! I already had the embroidery floss and the felt costs a mere 20 cents so basically this cost me next to nothing... except for my time, of course, which is almost more precious than money these days. Almost.

So, are you hungry? How about a bologna and cheese sandwich on white?

Or would you rather have peanut butter and jelly?

Need something a bit more sweet? How about some milk and cookies? Or donuts?

No. You like more healthy food. Okay, how about some fruit?

Skipped breakfast? Here's a hearty breakfast for you...

Need a protein boost...

This food is all that and a bag of chips...

Here's a shot of everything:

I didn't get a picture of the swiss cheese or the sesame seed hamburger bun which were still being worked on when I took these photos. Too late to take a picture now though, I already packaged up the whole set and wrapped it.

We got him a little set of plates and pots to serve up his food. To top it all off I'm making a little fabric stove top similar to the one shown here so he can "cook" something if he feels like but we don't have to worry about a real play kitchen. I hope J.D. enjoys it and if he doesn't... well, I'll play with it myself!

Snow Day!

We knew it was coming. The weatherman warned us. But we live in Wisconsin and we expect a little snow now and then so we weren't too concerned. It started snowing a little bit yesterday in the morning. Of course, the boys were begging to go out and play in it. We haven't had any measurable snow yet this season and the first snow is always so exciting. I told them they had to wait until the snow covered the grass before I'd let them out.

After lunch I let them out. The snow had finally covered the grass. But it still wasn't too deep. In fact, the boys complained there wasn't enough. They got out the shovel to try and make bigger piles. They had a good time and stayed out there a surprisingly long time. They were under strict orders to go to the bathroom before leaving the house and the first person to come to the door complaining would come inside.

The first snow of the season!!

Justus is happy!!

A nice snowfall. You can just barely see the grass.

AWANA (at church) was canceled. The snow kept on coming. Jerry got home from without too much trouble. The snow we had gotten at that point wasn't too bad. but the first snow is always dangerous to drive in just because people forget how to drive in it over the warmer months. It's a bit more slippery just because there is no residual salt on the roads to help melt the snow either.

Jerry set his alarm to get up to snowblow before work and headed to bed. When I got up once in the middle of the night, I peeked out the window and could see we had gotten quite a bit. They had already canceled school, not that it makes a difference for us! Jerry got up, did the driveway, and came in to get ready for work. Even if school is canceled people still have to go to work.

Just before seven he gave me a kiss and headed out the door. A few minutes after seven I heard the garage door open. When I looked out I saw the car on the street in front of the house. Jerry had made it just a few feet past the mailbox. Oh the joys of living on a low plowing priority cul-de-sac! The neighbor came out to help him and I figured he'd be on his way in a few minutes.

At 7:15am they were still working at it. And 7:30am. And 7:45am. It took two men, shovels, salt, rugs, blocks of wood, and the snowblower to free the car. At a few minutes after 8:00am the car was back in the garage and Jerry was home for the day. When he called work they said the phones were going crazy and many were missing.

The governor declared a state of emergency and told everyone to just stay home. It was even a snow day for the UW students. When we went to orientation at UWEC this past summer I had asked about that and the professor at our table said it had only happened once in all his many years of teaching. Guess today will make the second time!

With all members of our family safe and dry we settled into a normal day. Breakfast. School. Wesley was disappointed to hear that homeschoolers still have school when the public schools are canceled. Buck didn't appreciate the snow accumulation. He normally doesn't care but the snow was so deep he couldn't even walk through it. He finally gave up and just did his business on the porch. This is what it looked like when I opened the door to let him out:

We let the boys go out to play before lunch. They had a great time. It's not really that cold... just below freezing... which means the snow is wet and HEAVY. Good snowman building snow. When Wesley walked out he sank up past his knees, but Hayden was light enough to mostly walk on top of the snow!
J.D. was sad that he had to stay in but I was afraid we'd lose him if he went out there. The total at that point was about 14 inches... so about to his neck! It's not shocking to have 14 inches of snow on the ground in early December. It is shocking to have it all come at once during the first snow fall! I can hardly believe the grass was showing yesterday!

We had a pretty uneventful day. Jerry decided to just wait to snowblow again. The neighbor keeps clearing his driveway only to have it buried again a few minutes later. The plow finally made a sorry attempt down our street but just made matters worse. So much worse that the mail lady got stuck. Several neighborhood men when out to help her dig out.
When she was free she just zoomed down the street and didn't even stop to give us our mail!! Hope there was nothing good in that truck for me! I guess I can quit worrying about having a white Christmas now!!