Happy Birthday Brett

Happy 18th birthday Brett! Hard to believe you are "an adult" and a senior in high school! Enjoy your day in duh U.P.!

Christmas Eve Pictures

Jeanie was all excited Christmas morning and had to show me "Santa's sleigh tracks". The Christmas Eve party turned out real well. I was afraid we were going to be pretty crowded but it wasn't too bad. The pizzas arrived at 6:00 and we started eating right away. So as the next group arrived, the previous one was done. There were some lively ping-pong games going on in the basement so that took lots of big bodies out of the living room! We played a few lively games of Guesstures. Dad, Chuck, myself and even Auntie Linda did a couple rounds! Kim was the winner. She was amazing. I swear she guessed before they even starting acting out the word!!

365 Days Until Christmas

After all the hustle and bustle, it's all over. Danny put a little reminder on the board yesterday of what this celebration is all about. We had a very nice Christmas. We hung Danny's "Snow Monster", I mean Snowman.
A few of the usual Christmas morning pictures. Danny actually "loved" everything he got. Even his clothes!! It was kind of funny though, because he was hoping for a X-Box 360. Before every gift, he would cross his fingers, legs, arms and eyes for good luck and say, "I hope it's a X-Box 360......It didn't matter the size of the package. From the smallest to the biggest. Needless to say, he didn't get one. He was a tad disappointed but got over it pretty quick.

Dad was excited to get his Trail-Cam from you kids. LOOK.....the very first "animal" captured with the trail-cam!

4 Days to Christmas

Random thoughts-

-doing "Crisis Cleaning" via flylady.net. You set the timer for 15 minutes and hit one room hard. Then do it again for 15 minutes for another room etc. I'm working on the kitchen, living room, bathroom and office in 15 minute intervals. It puts a little "fun" into cleaning. We all have a little "child" in us somewhere. It's fun to race the timer. Also, you don't get burned out cleaning the same room. Then 60 minutes later......you're ready to finish tackling the job. Every hour I take a 15 minute break. I know it may sound crazy to most people but it works for me. I am having in-laws over for a Christmas Eve Party. A good incentive to get some light fixtures, heating grates, etc. cleaned! Not that I really worry about them coming over. After 31 years of being part of the family, they have come to realize that I am no Mrs. P but I think they accept me as I am!

-I still have three gifts to purchase

-I still have my Christmas grocery shopping to do

-I do have everything else wrapped

-I'm hopeing to get the cleaning done today so we can "party" (eat) the rest of the weekend and plan some weddings

A Danny Story

First of all, my meeting with his teacher went pretty good. The reason I had seen no papers from him was because his mailbox was FULL. He had not been taking them home. (I'm not sure why the teacher didn't notice, though.) He has been having speech, mostly in the classroom as a group. The speech teacher did call me and said she had been pulling him out of class for speech once a month but per my concerns, will start pulling him out once a week. As far as the library. In middle school you don't have a "library hour". You just go at lunch or recess or homeroom on your own. The teacher said most of the books are above her students level so she has a "library" in her classroom for them. When I mentioned how much he loves "going to the library" and usually gets nonfiction books, which the school library should have, she said she will start to let him go. They do their "time cards" during homeroom. She said Danny use to take the whole period to get it done but has started to get it done much more quickly so she will use that as an incentive for him to go to the library during homeroom when his "timecard" is finished. He has two teachers. I sent the email with my concerns to both. I have yet to "hear" from the other teacher.

Now for the story. At the meeting his teacher mentioned that they had had speech that morning and related this story:

"The speech teacher came in with wrapped gifts for all the kids. But when they opened them, they were cans of peas, tuna fish, etc. The kids were quite disappointed except Danny. He got a can of green beans. He got all excited and pumped his hand in the air and said, "Yes!!!! I LOVE green beans!!!" Well, the point of the exercise was to teach them gift opening manners. That even if they are disappointed they are to be polite and not let it show. So they took Danny's green beans away from him and gave him some Ramen Noodles. He again said, "Yes, Ramen Noodles are my favorite!!" So I guess it didn't work with Danny"

I chuckled and told her about his past presents of clothes and how unhappy and disappointed he was with them. And of course SHOWED the disappointment. She said she was glad I shared that with her because he obviously did need to learn the "lesson".

Twins Birthday Celebration

A quick post of the "birthday pose". Wade was running late so missed the picture. Don't count the candles, we didn't have 32 but it was still quite smoky after they blew them out! Kaitlin had Angel Food Cake with strawberries and Gretchen had Blueberry Delight for their cakes.I have a 9:00 appointment with Danny's teacher to try figure out what's going on at school. Some of his grades aren't too good and I'm wondering if he is having the "Speech" he is suppose to be having. (He claims he doesn't have speech.) and also, why he never brings home papers and why he has yet to go to the school library. (His most favorite place to go.) I'm not sure I like middle school.

THEN, I will head out to the mall and pick up Amanda's wedding dress!!! Hopefully I'll come home with all my Christmas shopping completed, including "stocking stuffers"! (Is that wishful thinking?....maybe not.)

Happy 16th Birthday Kaitlin & Gretchen

Oh My Goodness! I can hardly believe the "twinners" are 16! I have to say, it has been so fun to have twins in our life. I'll never forget the day we found out we were getting twins. It was the day before Thanksgiving when I went for my ultra-sound. To say I was shocked when the technician told me there were two babies, is an understatement! Fred and I were flying high! And the kids were literally jumping up and down! I remember making the stuffing for the turkey and the phone was ringing off the hook with "congratulations"! The telephone lines were humming from here to the U.P. to Minnesota. Three weeks later we were blessed with two healthy girls. Big for twins. Kaitlin was 6 pds 8 z. and Gretchen was 6 pds. 6. oz. They were such good babies! I enjoyed them from day one. I honestly never thought it was "hard" to have two babies. Not only were they good but I had so much help here at home. Jennifer was 14 and like a second Mom! Plus Sara and Emily were right behind her. I have always felt blessed to have had them as my 10th and 11th children. Had I had them at the beginning of the family, I'm sure it would be a different story. To this day I marvel when I look at them. What a miracle twins are! To think there are two where there should have been one!

Happy Birthday girls!!

Snow Day!

We have no school today. The kids heard about the closing last night at the Sunday School Program. A bunch of excited kids! I'm not sure why they called school. We got dumped on yesterday but the snow had stopped by mid-afternoon. Probably the back roads were still unplowed. (Somebody drove through the front yard! Just because he has four wheel drive and he can!) (top picture)

Happy 12th Birthday Danny!

I snapped this picture just as Heidi and Jeff walked in the door. Then my battery went dead on my camera. I think Fred got one with them. I will post it when he loads it. Molly was in the shower and missed the party. (Gretch got a haircut!)

Jeanie (and Danny) Make Treats

Kaitlin, Gretchen, Molly and I went shopping tonight. Jeanie called me and asked if her and Danny could make those "pretzel, candy kiss things". I told her if she thinks she knows how. She then asked what she puts the oven on and I told her that Amanda just made them, so call her. She did and you can see the notes she took from Amanda!I chuckled when I saw her note. Notice the "key".
Is this cool or what???!!! It's a "bias tape maker". I wanted to use the cordinating fabric for the bias tape on my apron instead of the solid kind you buy. This little tool made it so easy to do!
Grumpy Danny. Not sure what this picture is about?! (Don't tell Brett he has his jersey on.)

The Making of "Dogs"

It's amazing that these ingredients can make such a yummy treat! We call them "dogs" but thanks to Rebecca they are suppose to be "anis leipas". I believe translated to be anise dogs. The original recipe calls for anise flavoring but I prefer to use cardamon.
I've had this Bosch mixer for a few years. I absolutely love it for yeast breads but wish I had room to keep my Kitchen Aid on my counters also. I prefer the Kitchen Aid for cake batters and thinner type of batters. The great thing about this mixer is that it will hold 5 pounds of flour and will mash 10 pounds of potatoes.
These are suppose to look like "dogs". When you fry them the front is "suppose" to curl up and the back are the legs (kind of like a scotty dog). Mine never look like "dogs". In fact, today, the second batch of dough I just cut them in little squares.

"Dogs" are raising.
Molly, the happy fryer! Notice my "antique" deep fryer. A wedding gift 31 years ago but still works great!
They may look a little dark but I prefer over done than doughy.
Yum!!!! The finished product. After I took my third? fourth? fifth? sixth? one I asked Molly, "How many of these have I eaten?" She answered, "I don't know, but probably not as many as me". Who needs supper?!