Merry Christmas!

Alicia made this little nativity set out of Sculpey Polymer Clay for me. Her father helped her bake it one day while I was out. Isn't it adorable? I love it! Click on photo to see more detail! Merry Christmas to all of you!

Sparkle

Thought you might like to see some ornaments we made at the Sparkle Festival in Corning, NY. Unfortunately, we did not go this year. These ornaments are from past Christmas seasons. Audra made the ornament above with a little help from some glass blowers in 2006.
That same year, Alicia made the snowman.
Allen made the Christmas tree.
The girls and I went again in 2008. We noticed that no one was making any ornaments having to do with the real meaning of Christmas. So Audra made an angel.
Alicia made the three wisemen...
and I made the manger scene. If you haven't gone to the Sparkle Festival at Corning Glassworks, I highly recommend that you go. It's too late this year...but next year, check it out! These ornaments will always be special to us.

Birthday Lunch

On Wednesday it was my birthday. I never got a chance to do anything special at all, but today my husband took the day off from work. We went out to do a little shopping this morning and then went out for lunch at the Rheinblick. Here is a picture of my mulled Christmas wine called Glüwein and Jamie's beer (Paulaner). For lunch I had Hackfleischsosse and Jamie had the Schweinebrat Brötchen. It was all absolutely delicious! Oh...I almost forgot, for dessert I had the Bienestitch (bee sting cake). Jamie had an Apfelstrudel (apple strudel).

Crazy Days!

I just checked the thermometer and it's 4° outside right now!
It has been crazy here with barely time to catch a breath. I don't like that. I prefer a little down time...but it's not happening. Yesterday started out with going to my Bible study, then a quick trip to our insurance office, then home to work on a "secret project" (can't write it here in case one of my kids reads it), then to the DMV office, home with more "secret project" working, quick hiding of evidence before a school bus came, running off to a swim meet, home at 7 PM to cook a quick meal, and shortly thereafter to bed. Today I took kids to school, went to my job cleaning a house, ran few errands, stopped at the library, home for a quick shower, and was cooking dinner when my husband called to tell me the high school swim coach had called him and Allen was ill. They were actually calling an ambulance just in case. I totally freaked out! Jamie went up to the school and called to say Allen was okay and coming home. Apparently he had not had enough to eat. His blood sugar level was way low and they were giving him juices and stuff to get him going. He came home just as I was running out the door to Alicia's orchestra concert. Jamie stayed home with Allen to make sure he as okay.
Now I'm home...and planning on making Allen a BIG lunch to take to school tomorrow. I wish I had pictures of the concert...but I am still working with a camera that has a broken flash.

Smörgåsbord

That is what we are having for supper tonight. I told my daughter this and she wondered what that meant. I told her that I had heard the word all of my life and understood it to mean "leftovers." Then I got to wondering if it is a real word. I found out that it really is a word! It is a Swedish word that literally means "open sandwich table." Merriam-Webster defines it as "a luncheon or supper buffet offering a variety of foods and dishes such as hors d'oeuvres, hot and cold meats, smoked and pickled fish, cheeses, salads, and relishes." Just to think that I've been speaking Swedish all of my life and didn't know it!
Ok...so it is not exactly what we are having, but it's still interesting.

Enjoying the Season!

It is Christmas season and I'm getting more excited about it. I'm getting a little shopping done. Just a bit at a time and it is starting to look like I am going to accomplish it after all. I took Alicia out shopping and then, a few days later, I took Audra. It was nice to spend a little time with each of my girls individually. Tonight Allen had 5 of his friends over to play board games. So...we had 6 boys ages 14 & 15 in the house. We went through quite a bit of food this evening. I really enjoyed having them over. They are a nice group of kids. I think they all had fun. I wanted to take pictures so I could put it on my blog...but somehow I got the feeling that that would just be a really uncool thing to do, so I refrained. Alicia stayed over night at a friend's house. Jamie, Audra and I stayed in the family room and watched a movie (The Polar Express) while the boys monopolized the living room with Apples to Apples and The Settlers of Catan.

Our Town is White!

Windy and bitter cold lately.I took these pics on the way home from dropping off Alicia at school this morning. The white stuff arrived yesterday and today...and a little bit on Wednesday too.
Too early to shop...so these pedestrians probably are either on their way to work, or to the bank.
A street in my neighborhood.
Finally, my humble abode where a hot cup of coffee and my slippers await.

Not going to get away with it....

I thought I'd cheat and use a picture from last year, but I realize I'm not going to get away with it because there is white stuff in it. We have not had any snow other than a dusting so far this year. Other than the white stuff...the town's pavilion is decorated like this again. And other than no white stuff, it is beginning to look a lot like Christmas. My own home is decorated as much as it is going to be this year and I have a little shopping done, but not much. I went out and about on Friday...but I was not feeling well, so I cut it short. I have a terrible cold. Audra was home with the flu for almost the entire week. This fall has been a terrible trial of illnesses so far.