Today was good. Took the kids outside to ride their bikes. It was 40 degrees. Came back in for hot cocoa and let me tell you I got a major spurt of energy! I'm sure it was the cold that did it. Sure got me off my keister - the house is looking decent!

Kids are using their glitter glue that they got for Christmas and cutting up Christmas cards to glue to their projects. I new I'd find a use for Christmas cards. I'm just not one of those people that saves every card and takes it out to look at down the road. I look - say "Aw, how cute!" and chuck it in the trash! LOL

Split pea with leftover Christmas ham and homemade rolls for dinner. Thank God for my crock pot!

:D

Christmas was a blast! The kids received lots of nice stuff. The biggest hits were a baby stroller for Madelaine and a tea set for McKenna. They also got lots of pj's, clothes, some games, etc...

Noel got me some herb books and a book called Wild Fermentation. One of the best books was on stories and recipes from the Great Depression. I'd been eyeballing that one on Amazon for awhile!
Besides a new phone and his AK-12 and computer hardware, Noel got a couple of new shirts and another gift that he'd be embarrassed for me to mention. Let me just say that they are in bathrooms all over the UK.

I'll get some pictures loaded up!

I sold my baby swing today and so with the extra money I went to Target and picked up two comforter sets for the girls for Christmas. Madelaine doesn't have one and McKenna has a used one I got off of freecycle. I'm glad to have something nice now for them - and they are designs the girls can grow into - nothing baby-ish.

Woo! Just sold the co-sleeper for $70. I've been anxious to get it out of my living room! Now I feel like I've got some more space. Now I just need to get rid of the Fuzzi Bunz cloth diapers and the baby swing and I'll feel better. And I'll have a little more money to spend on the kids and hubby!

Have I mentioned I'm reading Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand? Excellent book!

Our new chant for Eli is "Peter, peter punkin eater, Peek-a-Boo BAY-bee!!

LOL

Just got back from his 4 month shots - we selectively vaccinate - and our ears are freezing. The kids insisted on a walk around the block when we got back. Hot chocolate is imminent!!

The Christmas trees is up and decorated! We went out yesterday to pick one up. The girls had a great time, too. We all worked at getting it up and going. Girls and I did the lights and ornaments. I like it's placement, too. I'll post a pic of it. I've decided that the girls and I need to make our own homemade ornaments. I still have some that I did as a kid with my mom. We seem to have some that have broken or lost their strings.

In the pic, you'll see a treadmill. Noel picked one up for me as in the winter we don't take as many walks. The kids have been ALL over it! I need it just to feel as though I'm staying in shape. I've never had issues with keeping weight off, but I always feel better after I've taken a nice long walk - longer than the kids will do too, sometimes!

Our day has started off well today. McKenna did letter practice and some shape recognition. She's really good at it, but I needed to follow the letter tracing with something fun, so we did that. This afternoon, we'll do some telling time and some alphaphonics. She's great at reading so far, but isn't very motivated to do it. I've done some treasure hunts with clues she had to read and I've found some readers that are more interesting than the lesson book. I'm very proud of her so far. Madelaine likes to work alongside McKenna. I usually have some coloring for her. Eli is usually taking a nap during the morning school session.

Well, that's it for now. :)

I finally got around to transferring my herbs out of their plastic bags and into some mason jars. Found some nice old ones with hinged lids out in the shed that I put to use! This weekend I think we'll be doing some Christmas shopping for the kids and getting our tree put up. It's about time already! LOL Here's a pic of my china cabinet, which I'm using as an apothecary cabinet of sorts.

I'm finally getting a chance to sit down! I've chopped and peeled and cored apples most of this morning and later this afternoon finished canning them. I have a photo of my 6 jars of applesauce. That's basically 3 big bags of apples, one of Honeycrisp and two of Fuji. The Honeycrisp did better with my apple corer. Which was amazing! The kids helped and it went pretty fast.
Also did 3 quarts of fire cider. Noel's bringing home sub sandwiches since I didn't get around to making dinner. :( Ah well, here are the pics!

Well, I'm working on Christmas cards today. No Christmas letter. Honestly, I hate doing that! I feel as though I blog and email and post enough on facebook that everyone knows what's up. I'm having Noel pick up some horseradish root on the way home and I'll have all the ingredients for my fire cider. I'll be canning applesauce tomorrow and will be picking up some castille soap this weekend for making herbal creations. That should be enough to get going on Christmas gifts for neighbors and friends.

I actually feel like I'm on top of things this year! :D

Well, I thought I was going to get lucky. But, I'm sick. The girls are drying up but Madelaines still hanging onto her cold. It would have been nice to be sick for the weekend with the girls with Noel able to help out, but ah well. I made up sandwiches and snacks for the girls tomorrow in case I feel REALLY crummy, so that I don't have to do any preparation. When I'm sick, the last thing I want is to be on my feet much.

We got about 8 inches of snow a few days ago and the kids played in it once before getting sick enough they had to stay inside. They're hoping to be well enough to play in it tomorrow but I think I'll wait until Tuesday. That's the day McKenna has a PE class and I'll know by then if she's well enough to go. A few houses down someone built a snowman that is one story high. Looks pretty awesome. Noel is wondering how long it will take to melt.

Nothing much too new. We got new phones and my new one is much better. It has bigger numbers that I can actually fit my finger on and it also has a 911 button that the kids can hit if need be. Although McKenna knows how to dial 911 anyway. Noel calls it the granny phone. But seriously, I don't need a mini computer/camera/gps doodad. All I need is a freaking phone. I must be getting old! Or maybe just sensible? Practical? LOL