And more miscellaneous for 2011

If anyone is interested in joining my CSA, after the first of the year, please contact Stone Garden Farms in Shelton, CT.  Give me a comment if you want more information and I'll e-mail you everything.  They sold out last year....just saying!

New Year's Resolution.......no more coffee.  I won't give up tea yet.  But, the caffeine, I will do without!

My son will graduate one semester early from college.  3-1/2 years with a degree in Kinesiology, concentration in Strength and Conditioning.....Okay, I'm a proud mama!!!  It's my blog, I can brag just a little bit!!!!  :)  He will be done January 14th, but will walk in May.

Cancer still sucks....It is the ugliest word known to man.  Still trying to process it all.  Keeping busy is the key to forgetting.....

I wish you peace and hope and love and joy in 2011.

Have a Beautiful December 31st and be careful.  Enjoy football and/or shopping on January 1st.

See you after the holiday!

Misc.....

Did anyone notice gas prices???  I don't like it!!  They are going up and then up and then up again!

The blizzard is over, I am back to work and doing Zumba tonight!

I ate more cookies, chocolate pretzels and Oreo truffles than I care to think about (the reason I am doing Zumba tonight!!) :)

Preparations for the New Year's Eve Celebration can now begin.  I am looking forward to a great evening, with no snow and much warmer temps.

A friend of the family passed away two days after Christmas.  She gave my Nonni a Hoosier cabinet (decades ago) and I inherited it from my Nonni and it is now in my kitchen.  It is the most beautiful piece of furniture/antique that I own.  I will remember her fondly when I use it (which is every day!). 

Having the day off yesterday makes me wish for things that I can't be wishing for (mainly...being a SAHM).  It is what it is......

Have a beautiful day!  

Blizzard

It's Monday morning....my boss has texted me that I don't have to go in.  I honestly couldn't get there this morning anyway, but maybe later I could.  The top of the driveway has at least two feet of snow to get through.

We shoveled about 4 inches at 6:30 last night....then again, another four inches at 10:30 last night.  And this morning, I shoveled two inches in parts of the driveway and two FEET in other parts of the driveway.....Crazy blowing snow.

The coop is covered in a tarp and was well insulated last night.  When I uncovered them early this morning, they only peeked out of their coop.  They have to stay in the coop today, so they are not going to be happy.  But it is 9:30 am right now and I see the sun!!!!   So, I am heading out to shovel a section of the lawn so maybe by tomorrow, they can come out and play.  

But first, I have to finish that two feet at the top of the driveway.  Hubby will have to get home later!

Making the Cappelletti...

Last night, we all gathered at my dad's to make the cappelletti for the soup on Christmas day.  I will post pictures and attach them to this entry when I get home tonight.  I wanted to post it though, before I forgot! 

Merry Christmas

I would like to wish everyone in blog-land a very Merry, Happy, Joyous, Beautiful and Holy Christmas!!!!!

Enjoy your family, friends and food.

But also remember to enjoy church, the carols, lights, Christmas trees, and anything that has to do with the birth of our Lord!


I probably won't post until after Christmas now....so enjoy!!!

35 Gifts your children will never forget

I picked up this link from the Dave Ramsey Forum....

Very timely this season of the year.   Please click on the link below.  I think most of them are very important and a commentor added FAITH and RESPECT......


http://www.becomingminimalist.com/2010/11/26/35-gifts-your-children-will-never-forget/

Christmas.....and no credit card bills!

Last year, I overspent for everyone for Christmas......Over $2,100.00 for all those gifts.  I have been tracking my Christmas spending for the past three years.  However, that number spent last year (in 2009) was LOWER than the year before ( in 2008)......Okay, someone hit me over the head, please!!!

This year, I made myself a promise that I would not overspend - I tried to keep on a budget and since I try to follow Dave Ramsey to the best of my ability, I was going to succeed......

Everything has been tallied and I am down more than $700.00 this year as compared to last year!! 

I love budgets and I love numbers and I love knowing that there will be no credit card bills in January!!!

Praise the Lord for this one!!!!

Christmas Countdown!

Presents all bought.....check!
Presents all received to the house via UPS...not yet!

Menu all set..............check!
Food all bought........not yet!

Seating plan all done....check!
House cleaned.............not yet!

Tree up and decorated.....check!
Presents wrapped.............not yet!  (not even one!)

I have Thursday night and all day Friday to prepare for Christmas Eve dinner (18 people)....It will get done!

Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve - I can't wait!

Lunar Eclipse

Last night there was a beautiful Halo Effect around the full moon.  I hope you had a chance to view it.  The entire family enjoyed the view for a while (the hot tub is FINALLY fixed and we picked a good night to go in!).

However, we set our alarms for the lunar eclipse and we got up and it was total cloud cover and we couldn't see it.  I hope where ever you happened to be, you were able to view it.  Here in CT, (at least in my little part of CT), we couldn't see it.

The "W" in Christmas

We all get funny, sometimes serious e-mails from friends and most of us have seen the same ones over and over again.

Today, I received a new e-mail from my friend Maryanne, which I just had to post, because it was beautiful, I had never seen it before and is very timely....especially during the stress we all tend to put on ourselves at this time of year.

If you have seen this before, enjoy it again....If you haven't seen it before, I hope you remember it!!!



Each December, I vowed to make Christmas a calm and peaceful experience. 

I had cut back on nonessential obligations -- extensive card writing,
endless baking, decorating, and even overspending. Yet still, I found myself
exhausted, unable to appreciate the precious family moments, and of course, the
true meaning of Christmas.


My son, Nicholas, was in kindergarten that year. It was an exciting
season for a six-year-old. For weeks, he'd been memorizing songs for his
school's "Winter Pageant."


As I waited, the students were led into the room. Each class, accompanied by their teacher, sat
cross-legged on the floor. Then, each group, one by one, rose to perform their song.
Because the public school system had long stopped referring to the
holiday as Christmas," I didn't expect anything other than fun, commercial
entertainment - songs of reindeer, Santa Claus, snowflakes and good
cheer. So, when my son's class rose to sing, "Christmas Love," I was slightly taken
aback by its bold title.


Nicholas was aglow, as were all of his classmates, adorned in fuzzy
mittens, red sweaters, and bright snowcaps upon their heads. Those in the front
row-center stage -- held up large letters, one by one, to spell out the
title of the song. As the class would sing "C is for Christmas," a child would hold up the
letter C. Then, "H is for Happy," and on and on, until each child
holding up his portion had presented the complete message, "Christmas Love."


The performance was going smoothly, until suddenly, we noticed her; a
small, quiet, girl in the front row holding the letter "M" upside down --
totally unaware her letter "M" appeared as a "W." The audience of 1st through 6th graders snickered at this little one's mistake. But she had no idea they were laughing at her, so she stood tall, proudly holding her "W."
Although many teachers tried to shush the children, the laughter continued until the last letter was raised,
and we all saw it together. A hush came over the audience and eyes began to widen. In that instant,
we understood the reason we were there, why we celebrated the holiday in
the first place, why even in the chaos, there was a purpose for our festivities.

For when the last letter was held high, the message read loud and clear:


"C H R I S T W A S L O V E"


And, I believe, He still is.



Amazed in His presence...



Humbled by His love.


May each of you have a Merry Christmas as you reflect on His Amazing Love for us...


Have a blessed day! Happy Birthday Jesus !!!!!!!!

Soap Making

My sister and I started our first annual tradition of soap making for gifts for the holidays......We followed a "recipe" and we think (we won't know for about a week), that we did it right and that it will come out good.  I will post pictures, once we know!!

I had purchased a set of essential oils in all different smells, so we "experimented".  I made a bigger batch of peppermint soap (for Christmas gift giving).  I hope it comes out well.  We also tried rosemary, citrus, eucalyptus, tea tree oil (which was the first batch that I made that came out really good!).

I will let you know how it comes out.

PS - working with lye was very scary.  That is the part that I really, really don't like!

PPS - it took us a little over two hours and we made about 22 bars????  (I will know definitely how many bars once we cut it - right now it is still in the molds).

Lessons and Carols

Yesterday afternoon, I attended my brother's church where his three daughters are in the children's choir.  They had a program called Lessons and Carols.  Nine Lessons (Bible readings) and Christmas carols sung by both the choir alone and then some with audience participation.  Of course, my nieces were wondeful....and my sister-in-law Kelly did one of the readings.  Some of the carols, I knew and some I had never heard of before, but were beautiful none the less.  There was both an Adult choir and a Children's choir and they sang together and then alone for different carols.

It was a very moving experience.  The Readings started with Genesis and ended with the Gospel of John (Kelly read from the Book of Micah) and it was both emotional and uplifting.  I like to do at least one thing during Advent that keeps me remembering that Jesus is the Reason for the Season.

My sister in law Debbie and I wanted to clap after every carol, it was just so beautiful, but they stated at the beginning that it was a solemn ceremony and we couldn't clap  :(   - I just wanted to burst into applause!!!!!

Anyway, I had never heard of Lessons and Carols before....If anyone has the opportunity to attend this moving occasion at any church, please do so, you will be glad you did.

CSA Friday - Last CSA of the Fall

I received my last CSA for the year today.  I got a lot of vegetables!!!

One Cauliflower (that is so big, it took up an entire Stop-n-Shop Canvas bag)
One head of Broccoli
Four Sweet Potatoes (one is so big, it will feed my hubby, my daughter and me)
Three Delicata Squash
One Butternut Squash
One Spaghetti Squash
One Bunch of beets
Two Kohl Rabi
One pound of carrots
One bag of lettuce
One sugar Pumpkin
Two Huge bunches of Brussel sprouts
(There is one more thing, but I cannot remember)

I also ordered five chickens - one whole and four cut up......I'm all set for a while!!!

Chicken stir fry for lunch tomorrow!

9 Degrees

Our temperature here in CT is supposed to get down to 9 degrees overnight tonight.  That means tonight will be the first night that I have to put the hens into the shed.  Our coop is really only a  three season coop and when the temperature gets under 18, I put the hens in a big box and carry it to the shed for overnight. 

I have a feeling this is going to be the first of many, many nights that the hens stay in the shed this winter!!!!

Disney

 The Osborne Family Festival of Lights at Hollywood Studios......my favorite place at the holidays.  It has to be seen to be truly appreciated and enjoyed.  It s a gorgeous display of lights and sounds.

 My favorite NEW ride at Hollywood Studios (and second favorite in the parks) - Toy Story Mania....

 The Safari at Animal Kingdom!

 The Christmas Decorations at EPCOT

 This picture above is just for Brody, one of the Trips.....he LOVES Buzz Lightyear.

And The Reason for the trip................Cheerleading National Championships....fourth for one squad and we will see what happens with the older girls on Friday......

Florida and Back

We left for Florida on Sunday afternoon and we got back last night (Tuesdsay).  Talk about a quick vacation!

I saw four parks at Disney, my daughter saw three....but we only saw what we wanted to see - our favorite parts! 

It was quick and over with before we blinked.

The reason for the trip was the Pop Warner team that my daughter helps to coach was in the National Championship - they came in fourth.......(we thought they should have come in second!) but it was a great experience for 10-11 year old girls.   And fourth place in the nation is nothing to sneeze at!!

I am glad we did it and it is over.  Back to work and reality! 

Pictures to be posted soon! 

Basketball Game

Last night, we traveled to New London, CT to Mitchell College to watch my two nieces play basketball.  It was  a great game, they both got a lot of playing time and they were both happy after the game, even though one girls team had to lose.  Since one is a senior and one is a freshman, we will never have this opportunity again to see them play against each other.  There were 13 of us who sat and cheered on two teams and clapped for every basket that was made by either side.....how rare is that! 

St. Joseph's College won the game, by the way. 

Thanks to my beautiful nieces for giving us a great memory!!!!

CSA Friday (Fall Week 4)

This is what I am getting on Friday:

2 delicata squash
1 butternut squash
1 buttercup squash
1 lb carrots
1 bunch of Hakurei (salad) turnips
1 bunch radishes
2 bags of salad greens
2 heads of broccoli
1 large cauliflower
3 lbs sweet potatoes
 
I will let you know if anything gets added in.........

Update on Nonni

Nonni is doing very well.  She will be 99 on December the 8th!  She is living with her daughter right now (my mother in law).  We all take turns taking care of her, although my mother in law does most of the work.  My husband and I had her for a little while last night.   On Sunday, I was with her for about five hours.  She did great.  We exercised, we talked, we ate, and....she finished a scarf that she had started to crochet about three weeks ago.  It came out pretty darn awesome!  I will try to bring my camera the next time she crochets.  Whenever I go over there, we crochet together.

All in all, she is fine.  Her memory isn't all there (she can't remember what she had for lunch, but she can remember what happened back in 1920).....which is pretty incredible in my eyes..........