The Simple Woman's Daybook

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My Daybook for...

Monday December 28, 2009...

Here in Kentucky...

Outside my window...We have just a covering of snow on the ground, the roads are clear though but it is bitter cold here in Kentucky.

I am thinking...that I cannot wait for everyone to get over their illnesses, we've had someone sick since Christmas day and I don't do well with others vomiting so I'm so eager for it to stop!

I am thankful for...for a wonderful Christmas day, just being with family, what an incredible blessing!

I am wearing...warm comfy clothes to go brave the cold since I have to go out and get a couple of things.

I am remembering...a wonderful Christmas day, lots of sweet memories and oddly enough none of those memories involve a present at all!  Lots of talking, laughter and hugs!

I am currently reading...I've had no time to read at all!  I have some new books from the library I'm eager to start though!  No fiction reading until the after Christmas clear out is done!

I am hoping...to get my house back in shape very soon and get our meals planned, lots of kefir, veggies, fruit and kombucha, time to get the junk out and the good stuff back in!

On my mind...wondering when the vomiting in the house will stop, I'm so ready!!!  I'm thankful Chris or I neither one have had it, at least we can take care of the others!

Noticing that...time is passing way to quickly, where do the hours go?

Pondering these words...this too shall pass.

From the kitchen...simple healthy meals, right now we're just keeping things light

Around the house...Christopher is in the shower, Katie is on the couch and Dan is on his way home and will be home with us for the next couple of days, I'm so thankful because hopefully he can just relax and heal.

One of my favorite things...organizing, I just love to have things nice and orderly.

From my picture journal...

This is too cute, it's an ornament my dfil made when he was a child, such precious items!

Christmas

     I truly think the big guy deserves his rest now!!!     

                         

As the years have gone by we've experienced some interesting Christmas'.  The first year we were married my cousin, who was my age and one of my best friends, was found dead on Christmas morning, devastating for our family.  Then one Christmas three of us had the flu so only two of us were well enough to visit family for Christmas.  This was the Christmas of sickness again but also trying to get here and there with all the food, etc. on time.  We had to deliver gifts and food on Christmas Eve but also our Tommy was sick at his apartment, turns out he has pneumonia, so we made him some homemade chicken noodles soup, Katie made him a loaf of bread and we had to drop those off too.  Christmas night Dan threw up in the middle of the night.  Then last evening Katie and I were just doing a bit of after Christmas shopping at Hobby Lobby and she was feeling kinda bad.  Well, we went to Arby's to get Dan and Chris a sandwich and then went to KFC to get their holiday meal, it's a good buy and we would have leftovers for today, when she really started feeling sick.  I tried to pull out of the drive-thru and make it to another darker parking lot but she couldn't wait, she started being sick in the car all over herself, the drinks for Dan and Chris, our purses and me.  Poor thing was feeling so bad, she's still feeling sick today and has thrown up a few more times.  I had to come home and clean the car out the best I could, I have a bad gag reflex so it's hard to for me to clean up that stuff, but Christopher had a headache and I knew Dan was still feeling a bit bad so it was up to me.  I've got some of the laundry going now after washing most of it last night and I've got the car windows down to air it out.  Unfortunately I'm not feeling great myself but am pushing myself to keep going because I had thawed a turkey out to fix today so I've at least got to get that made.  

We did have a very good Christmas day seeing all of our families, except poor Tommy and I'm just kinda glad the busyness is behind us and we can just get things calmed down a bit, sometimes all of the rushing just really wreaks havoc with our systems so it's time to get on track with some fresh veggies, fruit, kefir and kombucha.  I'm eager to get all the Christmas things packed back up and get the house aired out and sanitized.  I pray I can stay healthy enough to do it all.

Simply Exhausted...but in a good way

 Now this is my kind of shopping!!!!!

Well, we just got back from our annual Christmas eve/day grocery shopping trip and I am so tired!  We have to get so much but thankfully our Kroger had most of what we needed on sale, I allocated $200.00 but it came to only $139.00, that was a blessing but truly without all of their specials and b1/g1 it probably would have come close to the original amount.

We make food for hubby's family's Christmas Eve party and then have to make 7 breakfast casseroles for Christmas morning at his mom's and my mom's.  We don't get to be at my moms when they have the casserole but will be there later in the day for all the goodies and festivities.  It's a busy day going here and there but we don't mind at all, just love being with family...an added bonus is that our Tommy will be with us all day, what a treat!

For Christmas Eve we will make:

White chocolate/m&m's/pretzels

No bake oatmeal candy (we call it oatmeal peanut butter candy)

Fudge

Chocolate Dipped Potato Chips

Velveeta/sausage/picante dip

Pumpkin cheesecake

Sausage Crescent roll-ups

HVR cheese puffs (Hidden Valley Ranch but we make our own copycat powder mix)

Christmas morning:

Breakfast casseroles

Sausage Crescent roll-ups

Pumpkin cheesecake

Katie's making 6 loaves of her yummy homemade white bread for gifts.

We are doubling and tripling these recipes so we'll have enough to feed a ton of people, we never really know how many will be there on Christmas Eve so we need a lot of food.

Tomorrow we'll post pics of the food we get made.

I'm just thankful that shopping trip is finished for the year!

The Simple Woman's Daybook

To view Peggy's and many other ladies daybooks click here.

My Daybook for...

Monday December 21, 2009...

Here in Kentucky...

Outside my window...lots of pretty puffy snow with some new flurries falling softly, very overcast.  It's very cold here in Kentucky and is to be getting colder each day until Christmas. 

I am thinking...about how blessed we are to be surrounded by family, family is just everything to me.

I am thankful for...a sweet dear husband that is so caring to his widowed mother, he takes such good care of her and calls her 3 times a day just because it's comforting to her.  She lives alone now with diabetes and it helps her to know she'll be receiving these calls, just check-ins to make sure she's okay.  He's such a sweet gentle man with a heart of gold.

I am wearing...white long sleeve cotton top and brown jumper

I am remembering...how wonderful it is to receive forgiveness when you say things you shouldn't, no one can understand you like your family understands you and loves you anyway....sometimes you just can't imagine why!!!LOL

I am currently reading...actually I'm tickled because Christopher is putting the ESV Bible on my ipod for me, right now it's really tough to concentrate while reading the Bible because of the depression still lingering but to have the earbuds in and listen to the Word being read is just wonderful.

I am hoping...that in the midst of all the hubbub we can all remember that Christmas is really only about Him, the one that came so we may be cleansed.

On my mind...friends and family that are having medical issues right now, so many to lift up to Him, the ultimate Healer!

Noticing that...this Christmas since we've shaved so many things off of our to do list we are enjoying the simple things so much more.

Pondering these words...Be still and know.  So important right now.

From the kitchen...not sure about supper just yet but Katie's busy fixing her white chocolate pretzel m&m treats, fudge, oatmeal peanut butter candy

Around the house...a few gifts still to finish and wrap, some tidying and preparing goodies for Christmas

One of my favorite things...I've said it before but I'll say it again, hearing my Tommy's voice when he calls...he moved into his own place a year ago and we're so proud of him, I just love to hear his voice!

From my picture journal...

Katie's yummy little treats...

Simple Christmas

We've discovered that a simple Christmas means a lot of time to do the things we want to do and not necessarily doing the things we think we're 'supposed' to do.  I find that when you're not worrying about keeping up with the jones' or trying to please others we can enjoy the things we really like to do.  So many years we've spent making sure to do everything others wanted us to do and thinking it was necessary, such a waste of our time!

When we are gone from this earth the things I want folks to remember about me is that our home was a welcome place to visit and they were made to feel at home.  I pray that our home will be a place that is a place where Christ and His love and grace are shared, indeed I pray that our home would be a place where we would welcome Christ Himself right in the front door with no hesitation.  This makes for an interesting idea if you start looking around your home doesn't it?  How pronounced is the position of your TV, ours is sadly the main attraction in the living room because that's how Dan wants it to be but when Dan is not home we could put a cover over it as a reminder to not worship 'the mind-numbing electric idol'.  Also, do we have items in view that tell the way we are or the way we truly would like to be.  Maybe a life change is in order, maybe we need to take a good look at how we are truly living.  I pray that we all take a good look at our lives and work towards keeping the focus on the One, the One who came for us that first Christmas Day.

Simple Christmas Gift Ideas

This year we lost my father-in-love back in June, it was sudden and I'm sure most of us have not even dealt with it completely just yet.  I think this is part of the reason that we're really simplifying Christmas this year, maybe I should say we're putting the focus where it should be, on Christ.

I wanted to make some things for gifts very frugally but with the remembrance of Dad for all of the family, these are the ideas I used.

First of all, he was in WWII so it was a full military funeral, actually he also had been fire chief years ago so they also did the 'last call' at the end of the funeral, this was the most touching thing I've ever experienced, amazing.  After the service the fellow veterans came over with a bag that had all the spent shells from the 21 gun salute, we decided to make some keychains with these.  We were able to send a few in Christmas cards to some of the fellows in the family that couldn't make it up for the funeral.   

Also, I dried all of the flowers from the funeral and scattered them with some other potpourri and we're making some little sachets with these for the ladies, just something with for a little remembrance of dad and all that transpired.  It may sound like it's just bringing up sad times but the sadness will be there anyway because we have to face it and not flee from it, these things will just add a personal touch to Christmas.