Usually, we give mom the rush by hosting all of us Sunday afternoon and overnight. This time sister Jody volunteered to have the crowd.
Also, this year, my husband decided to stay home and work instead of going out in the woods. He's done so much hunting when he was younger and really loved it. It seems that with every year passing by, he seems to lose more and more interest in hunting. I'm great with that! Would much rather prefer beef meat anyway!!! :)
The kids and I still stuck to our tradition however and left Mike home for a very quit evening alone at home (well, of course Ginger and the newborn puppy were here too)! The kids were all excited about being together! They played and us ladies sat and chatted! (That's fun too! We always work when we get together, so it was fun just relaxing together!) The kids stayed overnight, but Ashlyn and I came home to sleep. It just was too close to home to not come and sleep in my own bed (especially, if Mike was home!)!
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Monday morning, I was up early and got my laundry done and Ashlyn and I refreshed before heading up to Jody's house again. When we arrived, the kids had just gotten up and Jody made everyone homemade waffles!
We always do the same thing ... on these days together. We start off with doing a bunch of chocolate covered crackers. Sandwich two Ritz crackers with peanut butter and dip in melted milk chocolate! So easy and VERY tasty!
Then we did some with mint. Melt a small, thin peppermint patty on a Ritz cracker and sandwich with another cracker. Dip in melted chocolate.
Jody wanted to do some mocha truffles. She mixed the go and mom and I helped dip in them in chocolate.
Finally, we did our delicious Carmel's. You start with a can of sweetened condensed milk and boil it in water for three hours. Be sure the can is always completely covered with water! The milk turns into a yummy Carmel! Cool. Pipe a small amount of melted chocolate into tiny paper cups. Dab on top a small amount of caramel and then top with more melted chocolate. Cool completely!
Between all our dipping and melting chocolate, we served lunch to our hungry, aggressive kids! They did their own creations by making little gingerbread houses.
Our helpers ... :) .
After cleanup, and believe me it needed a cleanin up, we headed off for our trip to buy poinsettias. I used to go crazy when I would walk into a greenhouse loaded with poinsettias! They all seemed to be yelling, "Buy me ... buy me!" This year, we went to a local greenhouse with just a small display. That seemed to control my impulsive buying a bit!
We left the greenhouse hungry and ate out! The restaurant gave us a table in the way back of the room. We must have looked like quite a crowd with three adults and nine children!!! :)
The day went fast but we were all exhausted by 6:30. We said good-bye to our cousins and returned back home to daddy!
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The kids were back to school today. Another tradition is for us ladies (mom and sisters), to go out Christmas shopping. That happened today ... but only with Mom, Jody and I. The other ladies backed out last minute because of spending another day at the mountains and of not feeling well.
I filled the crock pot before walking out the door, knowing that I would be gone till supper time.
We shopped at our local stores and we had a blast!!! We got a lot crossed off our lists!
The evening here at home unwinding is great therapy! Hanging out as a family is still the best kind of love and togetherness! Hearing the sound of Hadassah practicing piano or when things are extra quit, seeing Matthew play games on Mike's phone. Watching Ashlyn turn page after page with books is just a another reminder that she is growing up so fast. Then, snuggling with Mike on the couch as he reads another business book! Yep, family is wonderful!
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Thanks Mom and Jody for the great past few days! It's a blast being together! Thanks for hosting us Jody and thanks for being our driver Mom! Love you ladies!
