Monday Mugs - Holiday Treats - Housing Project

A friend invited the girls and I over to make Gingerbread houses. There's two things I don't like about making them: The mess and the EXCESS of sugar. When my friend offered to do it at her house, I jumped on the offer. I'm not stupid. The mess would be at her house.:)

This was our first time making real gingerbread. We usually use graham crackers which is in some ways easier but doesn't taste as good and isn't as versatile. I blogged about our last houses here.

We had a great time, had a sugar hangover, and Lani's house lasted two days at home before being totally devoured.

Gingerbread has to be cut right after it comes out of the oven as it hardens quickly.

 

Making another batch of gingerbread

Assembling the house is a two-person job

Co-Builders

 

Amy's Masterpiece

The light brown things are gingerbread men-shaped marshmallows

Lani has a different style

(The white item on the protruding toothpick is a surveillance camera)

I made the snowman

Backside

 Tasty scraps

We're still friends even after we messed up her kitchen.

 

Love her wheat bran shingles. 

Tasty

Messy

High Sugar

But lots of FUN!!

I'm linking up today with Heather at Oswald Cuties.

Monday Mugs - Things to Do in October

Are you in need of a mindless Monday Blog post? Are you struggling to deal with the weekend being over and can't muster the strength to type a single word? Well, Monday Mugs is for YOU!

Mondays are hard! Blogging on Mondays shouldn't be!

Today's theme for Monday Mugs is:
Oh the Things We Do in October

Earlier this month we had two weeks of gorgeous fall weather. Anna's roommate did a photo shoot with Anna and her friend Bailey. Hannah edited these pictures with Picnik and I love how they turned out. I like the contrast of Bailey's blonde hair and Anna's dark hair. 

Visit Heather at Oswald Cuties for more Monday Mugs. 

Monday Mugs - Fabulous Fall

 
I said in an earlier post that this would be a good place to visit come fall.

We recently had a week of extra glorious fall weather. The tree color was peaking. I knew it was now or never.



"Amy and Lani, get your hiking shoes on. We're going to St. Peter's Dome."

Big adolescent groan. "Do we have to?"

"Of course you have to. The trees will be glorious."

"But we just went in July and it's so far."

"No, it's not. It'll be worth it. I promise." (Seriously, I don't know what she's complaining about. She's young with boundless energy and good working knees. I'm the old person with creaky joints who's always the last one to the top.)

"But we'll get behind with our schoolwork."

"Don't worry about it. This is more important."  (What's wrong with this picture?)

It's so fun to be right. Beautiful sky, incredible trees, warm weather, amazing view. 

There's something soul satisfying about sitting on a warm rock on the side of a hill, high above a colorful valley on a Monday afternoon while everybody else is either at school or work. 

I'm linking up today with Heather at Oswald Cuties.

Monday Mugs

I haven't done a Monday Mugs post for awhile now but this week's assignment is "Just one picture from last week."  Just one picture. I can do that. So without further ado, I present just one picture from last week. 

You might rightfully ask what this is. That, my friends, is a Tree Quilt, a project Anna did with a few classmates in her Earth Art class. I never would have thought to do that but I'm not artistic. I think it's cool but it seems like a lot of work just to have to leave it hanging it there.

You can check out other Monday Mugs at Oswald Cuties.

Monday Mugs - Two Year Olds

Easiest blog post ever. Heather's Monday Mugs theme this week is 2-year-olds. My kids were all at one time two years old, though they now range in age from 12 to 25. Except for Anna, their hair all used to be a very light brown (couple shades away from blonde) but now they all, except Lani, have dark brown hair. (Unless it's dyed, but that's a vent for another post.)

 

 Christina - 1987

Busy, Active, Bossy, Eager

Andrew - 1989

Clingy, Chatty, Active, Fascinated with Garbage Trucks 

Kiah - 1991

Mellow, Easy baby, Cuddly, Potty-trained at 18 months 

Erica - 1995

 (couldn't find a 2 year picture so she's actually 3 here)

Always moving, Determined, Houdini, Pretty eyes

Anna - 1996

Easiest baby ever, Gentle, Sweet 

Amy - 1998

Friendly, Bubbly, Bouncy, Always smiling 

Lani - (2001- she's actually 3)

Fun, Matter-of-Fact, Amy's Shadow and Partner in Crime 

Head over to Oswald Cuties to check out more cute two year olds.

Monday Mugs - Green

My youngest daughter kept asking today, "Mom, are you going to do Monday Mugs?" 

I said yes but wasn't sure which pictures to use so she amused herself for awhile by finding pictures in my computer files that might work.

This, believe it or not, is a picture of Erica after the Polar Bear Plunge last Saturday. I'll post more about that later. Why anyone would jump into freezing water is beyond me, but she enjoyed herself immensely. 

Lastly, a 2009 photo of "The Cahoots"  (Vikspeak

for our two youngest) with their visiting aunt.

Amy used Picnik to edit this photo. Good job, Amy.

 Heather took some sweet photos of her kiddos wearing green on Oswald Cuties. Check out her blog for other Green Monday Mugs.

Indian Giver

 

Not exactly sure how to use this post. I was inspired by the Monday Mug's theme this week of "Dinner."  But since it's no longer Monday here in Northern Wisconsin I'm hoping with time zones and the international date line that it's still Monday somewhere in the world.

Besides Monday Mugs is more for pictures. This is a full blown story, so I'm also linking up with Rachel at Once Upon a Miracle for True Story Tuesday. 

If you just want a Monday Mugs pictures, here it is.

Now I know this isn't the most interesting picture you've ever seen, but I couldn't fit everyone in. We had a lot of people over for dinner Sunday afternoon and people are lined like this all around the room while we're making introductions before filing into the kitchen for food. 

If you want the extended version, please read on. 

Christina invited friends over for Sunday lunch/dinner or whatever the noon meal is called where you live. Said to expect seven guests which added to our eight totals 15 people. No problem. Easy Breezy. Piece of cake. 

Kiah and Anna

We fix three pans of lasagna, a humungous bowl of salad, homemade bread, and a mint chocolate ice cream cake. Sunday morning Christina says the number has jumped to 19. I take a deep breath and try not to panic. 19 is only four more than 15. I can do this.

In church I make mental to-do lists while listening to the sermon (sorry Keith). I mentally count available chairs, step-stool, Keith's office chair, and the piano bench hoping we have enough seating. I plot the quickest escape route from church knowing I need to dash home and make sure everyone picked up their underwear. 

I spit shine the bathroom, make two salad dressings, and conscript every person in the house to work on last minute things. 

I look over at our adopted college student "Eric" who I'd sweet talked into slicing the bread and say, "I'm sorry for being uptight. I'll calm down as soon as everything's ready. I promise." 

Eric comments that this is a side of me he hasn't seen before but says he doesn't mind helping as it beats just sitting there doing nothing.

Kiah and "Eric"

Guests start arriving including people who weren't included in the original count. Normally I'm a "more the merrier kind of person" but we're soon not going to have enough chairs and I'm starting to worry about having enough food.

Someone counted 22 people plus a set of infant twins. 

Christina

I know Jesus once multiplied loaves and fishes so I'm hoping He'll make sure the food doesn't run out. 

I spread a sheet on the floor in the family room and ask the five youngest girls to eat in back. The twins need to be nursed so their Mama goes in the back room to feed them. I go back to check on her, mortified to find her sitting on the floor. 

"Don't you want to sit in the chair?"

"Oh no," she says. "This works better. I do it all the time." I cringe knowing the floor hasn't been vacuumed in a few weeks and she'll be picking dog hair off her backside for days. 

Don't get me wrong. I love company and we enjoy getting to know our children's friends. I just get uptight with the logistics of feeding that many people.

I'm relieved to see there's enough food. There usually is but I seem programmed to worry. 

Tall guest. Look, he's taller than the hutch!

Finally there's one piece of lasagna left. Eric eyes the pan. He's already been back for seconds but I offer him the last piece anyway. He mulls it over, not sure he has room for more.

He decides to take the piece saying he'd hate for me to have to go through the trouble of finding a container to put it in. Just as he dishes up more salad and the last piece of lasagna, another guest walks in. 

The guest apologizes for being late and I say that's okay and ask if he'd like something to eat, sort of at this point hoping he'd already eaten as I'd just given away the last piece of lasagna.

He said, "Sure." so I did what any hostess would do...

"Psst, "Eric. I'm sorry but I need that piece of lasagna back."

Eric discreetly slides the lasagna on to a clean plate and our guest was none the wiser. I offer to make it up to Eric but he says he was full and didn't need the extra piece. Besides he'd already single-handedly eaten three quarters of a loaf of homemade bread.

I smile when I think of how good God is. I asked Him to make sure there was enough food and He did. Right down to the last piece.

The moral of this story is when visiting our house to eat your food fast because the hostess might change her mind and ask for it back. 

Check out more Monday Mugs at Oswald Cuties and more True Story Tuesdays at Once Upon a Miracle.

Monday Mugs - Cell Phones

Heather chose this week's theme of CELL PHONE based on I Heart Faces theme of the week. I've seen different participants approach this differently. I don't have a cell phone so don't have any cell phone pictures.

My two youngest reminded me of a picture from Erica's 18th birthday party. She had a digital scavenger hunt and one of the categories was a High School Playground activity. They staged this picture and everyone is either talking or texting. Done in fun, but it's kind of sad but true.

At least once a week my family says, "Mom, you need to get a cell phone." But so far, I have resisted the siren call of cell phone technology. For other cell phone pictures visit Oswald Cuties.