It's been a long day as I come to the evening hours of what was Shabat. I worked hard on Friday, woke extra early this morning, and am looking forward to Monday, which will be a quieter day...I think.
But it's been lovely today. We had family day. Seven grandchildren were here and a compliment of parents came with them. I had far too much food though I thought I was modest in my estimation of what we'd need.
Children ran up hill and down hill and all around the yards and in and out until a collective shout of "Shut the door!" ended in them all being sent outdoors to run up hill and down hill and all around the yard all over again. From ten to two they were happy to be together out in the country.
Thrill of thrills was seeing the two little boys come trekking across the back yard. They walked from their house to mine all on their own and were so proud of themselves. Just as he got to the steps, Isaac fell and cried his heart out but came right to me to pick him up. He was fine once he was indoors and saw Grampa.
Best of all was how excited the children were over the super simple gift bags and they were simple. Just a Santa hat, a plastic Christmas cup, a light up Rudolph Nose and candy canes and Lifesavers. I was a little surprised that not one of them had a clue what a Lifesaver candy was. Mind you, once they realized it was a candy, they were all for them, but I stumped them with that roll of candy, lol.
I have the loveliest pictures of them all, thanks to Bess who loves being an aunt and enjoys taking photos of her family. But my favorite of all was a group photo, similar to one we took two years ago.
I had them sit on the front steps and told them to 'Say "Santa!"' Hailey was in charge of the littlest baby since those three Kingsland children have two baby sisters at home with their Mama and I felt she was the most reliable one for holding our youngest grandchild. His daddy wasn't so sure but all was well.
It was so much fun! I grew tired as the day wound down but Daniel volunteered to help me clear up the kitchen. At 10 he seems awfully mature. I miss the imaginative four year old he used to be but children must grow and the bonus is that I have a grandson who sees Gramma working away and offers to help, so there's that.
Work This Week:
John has 15 more days off...Yet I do have a work plan for the coming week just the same.
I mentioned that my house needed attention and this week I mean to attend to it now that all the family visiting is over at present. So each day this week I'm going to focus on one room a day. I mean to dust and polish and wipe and vacuum and fluff. Some rooms will take more time than others, but it's got to be done. I don't mean to spend the entire month working on the task of getting my house back, nope! It is December and I can think of lots more fun things to do this month. Can't you?
Because this is my intention this week I won't list any more jobs. I really do expect this catching up process to take all week long.
Take Taylor back to her daddy. This sounds easy enough but it's a time consumer. Her daddy meets us half way and it's a 126 mile drive
Visit Mama and help her shop for groceries.
Make room in my freezer for leftovers so cook the turkey frame and pick it over.
Meals This Week:
Taco Bar and Mexican Hot Chocolate Cookies
I have a world of leftovers. I thought I'd make up chicken and beef enchiladas from them and put in the freezer...which means something has to come OUT of the freezer so that something can go in, lol.
Does anyone else play Freezer Tetris besides me and Tammy? Seriously I am constantly shuffling things around.
Pigs in Blankets, Coleslaw, Chips
I bought hot dogs thinking the children would enjoy them but forgot buns. If I find I don't have time to make the dough, I'll just put out loaf bread and we'll eat them that way.
Turkey Tetrazzini, Steamed Broccoli
EMS Christmas Party
Red Beans and Rice, Leftover Coleslaw, Cornbread Muffins
???
added later: Meat loaf, Mashed potatoes and Green Beans with Cornbread muffins
Out with Mama...completely forgot that we eat our big meal out.
13 comments:
Our freezer freezer went out a couple months ago.We had it for so many years it is still odd to not have it to depend on. Now we are down to the one within the refrigerator and I have had to pass up most of the good meat sales. :( Yes I sure know more than ever about having to take something OUT of the freezer to be able to put something else in. :-)) I have even taken some frozen veggies out and dehydrated them to put some meat back in !
Thanks for the update on the holiday fun with your family. Our family is very small and I miss having little ones around. Now all the 'little ones' we had are already out of college or in the service. Sarah
Love the group photo.
Daniel is 10 already? So is Gavin. It goes fast.
I think your simple gift choices were perfect.
Arent they the cutest! You are so very blessed!
I play freezer shuffle all summer and fall, but in winter our back porch is our freezer. Last week it was 32 below zero on our porch, although it has warmed up to zero today. It is so glorious to come home from the store during these holiday meal months, and be able to just put things out back. We keep two of those Rubbermaid totes with weighted lids and shoved under a bench---if we don't the moose that jump our 6 foot back yard fence looking to eat our trees will knock off the lids and gobble down frozen food.
You sound like you are having a wonderful family oriented holiday season.
Sounds like a wonderful, peaceful holiday. All the kiddos running around are such a blessing. I wish I had been blessed with more grandkids, but am grateful for my 3 and my 3 stepgrands even though I don't see them much because of distance. Enjoy the time off with John, the dust will still be there when you get your roundtuit! I have about 4 different Christmas things half done and here I sit with my tablet, saying tomorrows another day and noone will be here. Lol. Gramma D
Sarah, I am deeply enjoying these 'littles'. Our lot of grandchildren range from 17 1/2 years to 1 month which is quite a range!
I can't imagine losing my freezer, but I'm beginning to wish I had an upright rather than the chest type. Only because digging it all out to get at what's on bottom is a right pain.
Rhonda, I know...Isn't Tammy's Bradley 10 as well or very close...I got rather tickled at Daniel who was amazed at how Josh and Isaac had grown since he last saw them, lol.
Liz, I have certainly been praising for these blessings this weekend. It's been such a joy to see them all.
Mable I always figured if we lost electric due to snow we could use the snow in coolers, lol. I can't imagine moose jumping a fence but they are very large critters so I'll assume they can and are as agile as deer which leap back and forth over the barbed wire fences.
Gramma D, If I don't do something while John is off I'll spend all my days watching tv or watching him with his headphones on at his computer. No thanks! I'd rather do some work and feel I've accomplished something at day's end, but I'm ready enough to leave it all behind if he wants to go do something.
It was a lovely weekend from start to finish and I thoroughly enjoyed it!
Terri if you have an upright freezer you have to be careful where it is placed. More so than a chest one. ?? If you need to defrost it where will the water go? Some now do not have a drain hose built in and even so mine's hose was coming out under it and onto the floor and short. Best I could do was to have a pan with short sides for the water to go into the then use a cloth to get water out or it would 'dump' onto the floor if lifted got too full. Thus mine was in the garage. I put dish pans on the shelfs to catch drips too When defrosting but still the floor got some. If it is frostless model then maybe no problem having it in the house. I don't know. My understanding though is frost free ones do not keep foods as good or as long? What has anyone else heard? Mine being in the garage and living in S. Calif. naturally the garage got Hot in summer. This freezer was ancient when it went out as we bought it new maybe 25 years or more ago. Hubby says no more in garage though. We expect a new one will not hold up as well as this old Sears one was. And Sears is no longer. Where do we get a good selection of freezers or appliances now? We do not want a ice dispenser on the door refrigerator but Sears was the Only store without one to buy. Now what??? :) Sarah
What a sweet picture!! Don't they all look so cute with their Santa hats and reindeer noses. So glad you had a great celebration family day. And how sweet of Daniel to help his Gramma. Sounds like he has grown up to be a thoughtful young man.
Enjoy your time with John this month.
Sarah, I don't know if there's an issue with food lasting a shorter time period in an upright or not. Truth told I just think it would be a whole lot easier to get at things than my deep chest freezer, but the chest freezer is working just great and unless one of my kids needs it I'll likely keep it. My last chest freezer was 24 years old when I passed it on to Katie and her ex husband is still using it. But I'd definitely get a frost free model if I were in the market.
Check Lowe's and Home Depot. They still make good basic fridges with an ice maker INSIDE the freezer if you want one and not on the door.
I sure hope by the time we need another refrigerator you are right. When we were looking for our current one only Sears had any without the outside water and ice dispenser. :-) Lowe's and Home Depot and other places we went could not even order it from their on line or catalog or their warehouse They no longer made anything like that..no one wanted it they said. :( It is going to be interesting to now live without Sears to depend on for some things.
We were told that any freezer that is frost free were the ones that food did not last or stay as good in compared to the ones you had to defrost. Something about them being in that cycle of keeping frost free does it we were told. Ones you defrost stay a steady temperature and others don't to be that kind. ..but what is true I don't know. Terri you use and replace your food and don't just let it sit and stay in your freezer. Some people just fill a freezer and don't eat out of it. !! lol I am certainly glad to not have to defrost!! :) Sarah
My Bradley is 10 years old and entirely too grown up for me. With Layla turning 5 soon, we're leaving all toddler years behind and are almost out of the preschool years.
I love, love, love the cousins' group photo on your steps! Precious memories for the kids and for you!
Oh, and "freezer Tetris" made me laugh. We've managed to make a small dent in the freezers, but there's still not room for me to be able to freezer cook at all. Just a few small things here and there. And a bucket of ice cream if necessary.
Loved the Grandchildren photo!
I play Freezer Tetris all the time. Just tonight we brought home some special foods for New Year's Eve and I had to take them out of the original boxes to fit. I keep the boxes for the heating info although most freezer foods like this go in at 400-425 for 12-18 mins. Once January starts we'll go back to our Pantry eating and only buy the basics of dairy and produce.
Post a Comment