Christmas Everyday

"Take it you horrid thing!"  Ok, so probably only my family gets that reference...  hehe.  After four days of Christmas I was starting to feel that way.

The 26th we headed up to Grandma and Grandpa's for the Day of Days, aka the Wyss Christmas.  Brunch, musical entertainment, presents, gondolas, presents, games, supper, games, 'twas a good time as always.  Cecily was a grouch most of the day and super clingy.  It didn't help that she did not get enough sleep the night before and we had to get her up early to make it on time for brunch.  And she would not sit still, lie down, rock, anything that would get her to sleep.  We ended up driving around the section twice during the day so she would take naps.  She cheered up after supper.  Thankfully.  Anyway. 

Grandpa, Clayton and Ned played 'When the Roll is Called Up Yonder.'

 

Secret sewing project #1 was revealed:

It's a tea towel with Grandma's recipe for cinnamon rolls printed on it in her handwriting!  I didn't get a picture of the one with the Taffy recipe in Pearline's handwriting.  We made one for each of the daughters and granddaughters.  I saw the idea here at Spoonflower.

Grandma helping little miss take her new tutu from Aunt Rita OFF.  She was not impressed with it or the crowd of people standing around taking pictures of her in it.  hehe.

 After all the presents were opened and things were cleaned up, Little Miss got a ride from Grandpa in Bob's new wheel barrow.

So Thursday we were lazy bums all morning recovering from festivities until we headed to the farm for Christmas with my family.   Mom made the usual Cornish hen feast and then it was on to more presents.  Cecily was more interested in the noisemaker part of her new riding thingy than anything else.  *grin*

We give each other weird presents.  This is authentic Czech snow camo.  It made little miss slightly nervous.

Doesn't everyone need a Zombie survival kit?

On Friday I left Cecily with Bob and spent a too short afternoon with Amber and Sarah at the Drake's.  I miss those girls. 

Auntie Shelly and my mom picked out some sweatpants for Cecily... they totally look like what the sorority girls wore around campus, so I put on her U of I shirt, gave her a high pony tail, and tried to put boots on her.  She wouldn't keep the boots on, and she doesn't have a north face jacket, but hey, it's close!  hehe.

This morning Lynelle came over to play while Gary and Kathy were at a funeral.  She was great.  Cecily kept stealing her toys.   They are about the same age, and I am so glad little miss is not twins!

Ok, so this last picture is for Aunt Karen:

She gave me some mini quilts for Christmas and I don't have any frames, so I hung them on a line on the wall of the 'sewing room'.  Kind of like bunting, which is trendy right now, only quilts!  I like it!  Thanks K!

Blessings.

O Come, O come, Emmanuel

Well, we are in the middle of Christmas festivities. Tomorrow is the Day of Days and then my family the day after that.



It snowed!!  I was pretty excited, especially since I didn't have to go out into the storm.  *grin*  Little miss and I went out on Friday, but she tripped in her slightly too big boots before we even got outside so she really was not impressed with the snow.  O well. 

 

My mom hosted Schlipf Christmas on Friday evening.  The soup was good, as always.  And we sang some lesser known Christmas carols.  Personally, I think they can stay that way.  Auntie Shelly cleaned out her closet and little miss decided to play dress up- such a stylish girl.     

 

Saturday morning Grandma Koch's granddaughters had a tea party with her.  We got to eat brunch on her good china and crystal.  It was yummy.

Somebody is pretty sure that an open door means she can go in...  even if it's a wet shower...

 

 

We headed to W-ton for church on Sunday.  Cecily was super grumpy and clingy all day long, so it really wasn't very fun.  But, we made our token appearance, which is what counts, right?  Hehe.  

 
Such a little mimic.  Although, I'm not sure where she figured out the phone thing because I almost never talk on my phone.  I never do both at once either. 

Christmas eve we went to Christmas with Grandma Koch.  It was nice... and Cecily had a great time following all of the other kids around the fellowship hall all night.   
 
 Little Miss opened her stocking while we were getting ready for church this morning.  It was full of new church toys, which we need.  I love her dress.  It's going to be a sad day when she has an opinion and I can't pick out her clothes. 

 
She's got the present opening thing down.  She opened one of mine this afternoon before I could get to her.  Hooray for Hobbit Legos!  I haven't had a lego set in a long time...

 
We gave her an adorable kitchen and some pots and pans.  She started stirring things right away, but I think her favorite thing about the kitchen is the phone.  She's a little young for it, but I'd rather she have it to grow into.  Plus it's just so cute and retro.  hehe. 

 
We all played with Legos while I put my Bilbo and Gollum set together.

 
We went out to Bob's parent's for supper and presents.  Bob's dad didn't really give us a list sooo...  he got a pie.  I am usually not a fan of cherries but I think this pie might have changed my mind.  The recipe is from the Farm Journal Pie Cookbook and it is phenomenal.  Dark, sweet cherries, cream cheese, and a lard crust.  It is so good.  Listen to me raving about a cherry pie... what is wrong with me?? 

 

Little miss wanted to open everyone else's presents.  *sigh*  

 

Anyway, it's getting late.  Merry Christmas to all, and to all a Good Night!

It's the most wonderful time of the year

I love birthdays.  *grin*  This year Bob went above and beyond and had one present for me to open every day until my birthday.  Somehow it makes turning 28 not so bad...  

 

 

 The list of things was pretty random, which I love:

1.  2 Liter of Dr. Pepper

2.  Set of specialty needles

3.  Camping egg carton

4.  Wildflower seeds

5. Russel Stover chocolates

6.  Pride and Prejudice

7.  Cupcake wrappers

8.  Pincushion

9.  Gourmet cocoa

10.  Serenity tree ornament

11.  Cupcake book

12.  Mulan

13.  Cupcake potholder

14.  Gardening book

15.  Chocolates

16.  Orchid

17.  Out to eat at Jonah's without Little Miss!

We left her at the farm and then ate cake and opened my present from them when we picked her up.  Best birthday ever.  Even though I had to make my own cake... o wait, that's fun.  I am not very good at it, I need lots more practice!

 

 

So Saturday night Little miss woke up 7 times between 4 and 6:30am.  Ugh.  It was rather awful.  I guess the only good thing was that she was better in church because she was tired... and we had Christy's toys! (Thanks!)  She fell asleep on the rug after church with a shirt she pulled out of her laundry basket clutched tightly to her chest, silly girl.

 

Sunday evening we went to the Beutel Christmas- the first one of the year!  It was fun and Cecily had a great time running around after all of the other little kids.  And stealing Anika's bear.  She slept so long that night, it was wonderful.

I'm finally starting to strip the finish off my chair that we got last spring!  Yay!  The two garbage bags behind it are full of the original wool and horsehair batting... why, yes, I do feel like a horrible human being for getting rid of it.  *sigh*  But, I am not an antique restorer and it was kind of dirty...

Blessings.

Christmas things

We got to go Christmas caroling this year... it was great fun.  We went to Hopedale nursing home and little miss had a great time toddling around.  She and Aaron ran off down a hallway and ducked into a room- thankfully there was no one in there.  They wanted to play with the stuffed animals and root beer.... haha.   

Daddy likes to feed her all kinds of things- this is the aftermath of powdered donut.   

 
We piled in with Rustin and Sharon and girls and went to the festival of lights.  I think Cecily was more excited about seeing Grace and Eden than the lights, but the rest of us enjoyed them. 

On Tuesday night I went to the W-ton Christmas tour of homes with Mom, Di, Trent, Donna, Katie, Sally, and Martha.  Extremely random group!  Little miss got to play with Grandpa, Jakey, and Lori's family for the evening.  We went through four pretty cool houses.  My favorite was the brick four square, but the big white house with the cupola was pretty awesome too.  The owner said it has 12,000 sq feet... and there had been a crew working on the house every day for 15 years... yeah... crazy, but it was beautiful! 

Somebody has already discovered cell phones...   

Little miss and I ate lunch at Java Junction and then we went and finished our Christmas shopping!  Yay!  Now we just need a little bit of snow...
Blessings.

The days are just packed

We've been keeping busy.  Rustin and Sharon came over one evening and we roped them into helping put up our new mantel.   

 It looks so good!  And I love decorating the house for Christmas. 

 So much less bare than when we moved in...   

 Jingle bell garland...  little miss likes it a lot.

 Little miss and I went Christmas tree shopping with my mom.  I set it up and decorated it while she was napping.  She was pretty excited to see it when she woke up.  So far she hasn't broken any ornaments or pulled it over. 

 We got a  little tree from Great grandma K's basement so she plays with that and leaves the big one alone. 

We've also been baking and decorating Christmas cookies, and shopping, and wrapping presents.  Little miss and I met my old coworkers for lunch today and then we did some more shopping.  Still not done though....  *sigh*

Here is Little Miss's version of 'Pat the Bunny,' or at least the three pages she hasn't destroyed.

Blessings.

Catch up and there are only 17 days until my birthday

In case anyone was wondering.

My sewing machine broke and is in the shop... probably because I haven't oiled it in 5 years.  Oops.

We spent Thanksgiving at Fred and Di's house.  It seemed kinda small but it really wasn't... my out of state cousins rarely make it anymore...

I did not go black Friday shopping, not even online!  I was at the farm using my mom's sewing machine to work on a secret Christmas project.

Sprout was home so we spent an evening with her.

 

She likes donut holes.  A lot. 

 Bob's dad built us a mantel for our fireplace.  The board it will hang on is up.  The rest of it is in the basement getting stained and varnished while little miss naps.

Nap time has also been full of pulling nails out of that chair we bought off craigslist way back when...  I'm almost to the point where I can start stripping it.  woot woot.
Someone likes to be right where we are at all times... *grin* 

Or, doing strange things like sitting on the exercise bike.    

Or emptying out the toys and sitting in the basket.   

Our Christmas cards came packaged with all of this fun colored paper.  She had a great time playing in it.  Hehe.   

I went to the dentist for the first time in a very long time.  I have a cavity.  Actually, two small ones on the same tooth.  Woe is me. 
Otherwise, it's quiet around here.  I'm having lots of fun decorating for Christmas, and finding sheep all over the house, and deciding what presents to get for people. 
Blessings.

When the skies of November turn gloomy

So I succumbed to Cecily's cold too.  Woot woot.  Neither of us has been sleeping soundly, so it's been lots of fun. 

We met my mom for lunch and shopping last Thursday.  Fun times.  Somehow little miss came home with a snowman sippy cup...  hehe. 

 

Just chilling in my basket with my toys...

 

Bob's cousin Carrie is getting married so little miss and I went to her shower on Saturday morning.  We made it through about half of it and she decided she was not interested in passing shower gifts.  So we went home and she took a super long nap- it was crazy.  Bob and I raked leaves, mowed ,and got the stick pile and garden burned off before she woke up. 

I finally made and hung some valances in the family room/ office...  it's only been a year.  *grin*  It's hard when you're indecisive, have no idea what color the walls will end up, have four windows in one room that's three different "areas," and don't want drapes where dirty little fingers will be a lot.  So I borrowed an idea from pinterest and made some with canvas drop cloths.  Valances aren't really my favorite, but they're practical, hide the tops of the blinds, and they make it look like we didn't just move in. 

 

If it were just me I'd ditch the curtains and the blinds all together, but I'm pretty sure Bob would not go for that.  He's a shade closing Nazi.  Hehe.

 Oh and I brought home some old bulletin boards from the farm and added some trim so they would be the same size...  I am bad at mitering.  Thank goodness for wood filler, caulk, and paint!  Now the calendar is where I can see it and maybe remember things better.  Maybe. 

 

The Koch's got together for Thanksgiving on Sunday evening and I brought pie.  I like pie.  I used my fun fall mini cookie cutters on the tops. 

 

Little Miss's hair is always in her face and she pulls clips out and tries to eat them.  So I tried putting her hair in a ponytail.  I think it's hilarious but Bob doesn't like it and takes it out.  hehe. 

 

We met Dang for supper tonight at Oriental Palace.  They had a chicken cream corn soup that sounded halfway western so I ordered some to feed Cecily... since I'm not sure she would like spicy stir fried veggies and noodles...  what came was egg drop soup with chicken and creamed style corn in it.  I thought it was good, but she was more interested in goldfish.  *grin* 

Blessings.

Leaves and Sickness and Donuts

So we finally started raking leaves last Saturday.  Rustin and Sharon and their girls came over to help.  It seems like there are fewer leaves this year... maybe it's all in my head.  We mowed them twice this year, which helped, and I think it's been windier and they blew away... hooray!  Anyway, we got the yard clean and then it rained and blew the next day and you can't even tell because the rest of the leaves came down.

 Little miss had a fever for 24 hours Friday and Saturday.  Poor girl.  She slept a lot and was snuggly for a change.  *grin*   Now she's got an awful drippy nose.  (JNell, I really, really hope we didn't pass it to your boys- since I didn't even think about it.)

On Sunday BDY and JNell were in Tremont and they stopped by for a little bit after church.  We don't see enough of them.  We went to Matt and Lena's for supper and the evening.  Good times.

 We've been laying low so far this week.  Today little miss and I made cider donuts because fall is practically over.  Poor sick girl looks sad, but she was enjoying the donut holes immensely and was mad that I wouldn't let her eat more.  hehe.



The mess is worth it. 

 

Bob's not feeling well and went to bed as soon as he got home from work and Cecily's got a cold so I'm the most healthy one here.  So we're listening to church tonight.

 And just for fun, here's little miss showing me what she wants for Christmas from the American Girl catalogue.  *grin*

Blessings.

How does she know that you love her?

When the bathroom looks like this and all he says is, "I take it you're painting in here."



*Grin*  Bob is great. 

And somebody please remind me next time I want to paint something that I have a very curious one year old who doesn't understand wet paint... 

Blessings.

Happenings

Hm, yes, so I've been slacking on blogging.  There hasn't been anything momentous going on... 

 

Little miss was up past midnight 5 nights in a row.  It was 1:30 old time Saturday night... so we got no extra sleep on Sunday. 

 

I did get to spend a very fun Thursday- little miss and I met Amber, Natalie, and Jovie for lunch,  then we went to Jamie's house with Mary and Leann and played with cake and frosting and fondant, and there was sewing club that night.  Good times. 

 

We went to the farm for supper on Saturday.

 

Sunday after church we got to go look at some of the treasures at Grandma Koch's house... we brought home some toys and books. 

 

There was more frosting on Monday- Swiss meringue buttercream is maybe my new favorite frosting.  *grin* 

 

And today I voted.  We almost didn't get to.  When we moved and changed our address on our drivers licences, there was an option to change our voter registration at the same time.... sooo... we thought it was.  And I voted in the primary this spring and had no problems...  today they wanted to confirm our address and realized that they still had the old one.  So we only got to vote for president and congress.  *sigh*  O well. 

 

Anyway, some pictures from the past week or so:

 

Who needs clothes??

This is my new favorite toy.

I'll put that box in a box....

Treasures from Grandma Koch's

 

One day she was so tired she fell asleep at the table- silly baby.  *grin*

Blessings.

Piano Snob

I'll admit it.  *grin*

I grew up with a Yamaha, and nothing but a Yamaha will do.  They just sound better.  When I took piano at the U of I, I got to play the Steinway Grand pianos in the practice rooms.  Yamaha uprights are the only piano I've played that comes close to having the same sound. 

Anyway, there's a new Piano store in Peoria, and Cecily and I stopped in the other day.  A very nice older gentleman showed us some really cool pianos and I learned all kinds of interesting things about how Yamaha's are constructed.  Kind of fascinating, really.  The wood for the soundboards have to have a certain grain per inch, the sound boards have two angled support thingies that channel the sound so that the board is shaped more like a grand piano than an upright, the kind of wood that they use for the soundboard changes the piano sound (Cable-Nelson have Yamaha insides, different tree for the soundboard and they sound completely different!), and lots more that I've already forgotten. 

I did not tell him that I have taken apart a piano and watched the remains get tossed off a balcony.  Poor Moby, may he rest in peace (pieces?).  Hehe.

Sooooo  since they were having a grand opening sale, plus free delivery, plus free tuning, plus we've had a piano category in the budget since, oh, ever and I'd given up on craigslist,  we bought one.  It came today.  There was great rejoicing.

*sigh*  It's so pretty.  And it sounds like a Yamaha.  Now either I need to learn how to play, or somebody who is actually good needs to come play it for me...

Ignore the poor figurine that Cecily is bent on destroying...

Blessings.