Thanksgiving Day

Stuart turned 8 on Thanksgiving Day. Finally made him the much joked about turkey birthday cake.

Some out takes from our Christmas card shoot. 

Piper got to be on the pictures this year. Nate wanted to try both dogs but I thought that was asking for pretty much. Maybe next time. 

We let them pick a restaurant for their 8th birthday. This is Austin's. He knew about the candle. 

What we forgot, is that we take them shopping to pick out their gift. I made a note for next year. "Let Stu pick his own gift"  

 My Mother's lovely table. 

 Date night

Celtic Thunder Symphony Tour

Nate leaned over after the first song and said, "They are better than I thought they would be"  

 Nate's favorite breakfast. Ok, maybe not his favorite but I am documenting the fact that he puts his pie and cake in milk and possibly with cereal too.

Helping Mom and Dad tear down one stand and set up another.

I loved this display, showing her original artwork beside one of the plaques. 

Heritage Gallery

 Working the stand at the Harrisburg Craft Show

Nate used up every spare minute test driving the local vendors stuff. 

 Shopping for fresh greens

 Oh America

 Playmobil Nativity. They toddlers played with this for days, I was loving it. Then the pieces were all on the floor constantly. No matter how many times we picked them up. It was probably Hank. We put it away again. 

Olive begged her way into a new dress when she saw my leftover fabric. 

We went to Luca for dinner for our anniversary last week. 16 years. 

Finished up some Christmas shopping afterwards.  

 So this is my affogato. We were eating the gelato,  a few spoonfuls each before I poured my espresso over it. After my first bite of the affogato I said, "I want my gelato back now" Strongest coffee ever. 

The food was amazing as well.

Been whipping up some fast Huevos rancheros for the family lately. 

 On Saturday we went to Philadelphia for the Christmas Sights.

 The Wanamaker Grand Court Organ, in Philadelphia, is the largest fully functioning pipe organ in the world.

We walked in to see the organ and checked our watches, almost 7... good it will start soon. And it did. I asked Ted later, did we just get luck, or did you know it was going to start at 7? 

I think we just got lucky.

This my friends, is what we faced Sunday morning when it was time to leave for church. Nate was opening the service so that makes the departure time kind of urgent.  It had snowed and Stuart had tried to get the sleds out. To our shame, this side of the garage was a strategically stacked pile of stuff and the sleds were pretty far down on the pile. 

We got to church, I was trying to settle my nerves. I had been having a fine morning until I saw the pile of stuff. Then we got to church and Nate the song leader said, "I forgot my overheads"  So he got out with the children and I drove back home to get the overheads. I was kind of driving like a bat and while trying to make a left hand turn I totally turned in front of a family from our church. They sort of stared at me with their mouths hanging open and I figured they were good for it. You know, all in the name of getting the Christmas song overheads to church in time. I would explain later. At home I ran through the house once, twice, there they were on the top of the piano. Back to church... just in time. 

Stuart did just fine at his first piano recital.

It was at a retirement home and the residents would laugh kind of mockingly every time the piano teacher announced who the next student would be. It struck me so silly. 

Giving a litter of puppies baths. 

Probably my favorite Christmas cookies. 

Pioneer Woman's Molasses Cookies.

My Dad used to tell me that if I could make cookies as good as Mrs. Fields or some famous brand, he would get me a pony. 

Sometimes I think there should be a pony in my life just because the cookies turned out. 

Mia made these and for some reason they got nicer than when I make them. She said it was because she mixed them very slowly. Who knows. 

New Book by Dorcas Smucker

Rhonda High! (comment number 3)
You win! If you could send me your mailing address that would be sweet! Congrats. -Jo

Fragrant Whiffs of Joy 

Order the book from Dorcas Smucker at

 31148 Substation Drive, Harrisburg, OR 97446. 

Books are $12 each plus $2 postage. 

Checks or PayPal accepted.

 (dorcassmucker@gmail.com)

You can also buy them from Amazon

Dorcas Smucker is my favorite.  She makes me laugh and then she makes  me cry. She is a Mennonite ministers wife and her content is refreshingly similar to the life that I am familiar with. Her house is full of teenagers that come and go and keep her on her toes and keep her pretty current as only teenagers can. She talks about her 100 year old father and appreciates where she came from. She blogs at dorcassmucker.blogspot.com and has written many books. 

My favorite chapter in her most recent book is "Serendipity and the Wayward Text". For real... I love stories like this, random stuff that you can't make up... Dorcas sent a text to the wrong number, something about being pregnant and congrats and it went to a maintenance man that worked at some place that she was scheduled to go to.  So she got to meet this guy... all very strange and hilarious. 

In another chapter I read this.... "The year ahead holds opportunity for adventure, I'm sure of it.  There will be new experiences and new skills to learn.  But they won't come in green-tinted nature photos shared on an iPhone screen. Instead, they will involve people who need something from me, they'll look like hard work, and they'll take time."

Amen. 

What would be really neat to post right here is a picture of me and Dorcas; but I never met her in real life! Bucket List. 

Here she is writing in her natural habitat. (love this picture) 

Now for the most sorrowful chapter that I read. "The Words I Said I'd Never Say" Dorcas talks about becoming the older woman who says, "Make sure you enjoy them while they're little. They grow up so fast." to Mom's like me at the grocery store. I got all emotional while I read this because I just hate to hear it. I mean, I should probably love to hear it, and I totally believe it to be true,  but I am really struggling right now with my toddlers and I feel bad for not enjoying this stage more.  When we put Hank to bed these days? He climbs over Stuart and up the stairs to see what Nate and I are up to... he will do this 4-5 times before settling even though the punishment is the same every time. It's exhausting, and I'm sure it will only last for a short time and very soon I will miss it. (ha! never.) That evening I was telling Nate how I had to cry, and I started reading parts of the chapter aloud to him... and there I was sobbing and laughing all at the same time it was very attractive. 

On to the giveaway. Let me a comment. I plan to draw a name randomly Monday morning. U.S. mailing addresses only (it's fine to enter if you live elsewhere, just have me mail it to someone in the U.S.) If you have trouble leaving a comment just message me and I can comment for you. One autographed book will be sent to the winner, compliments of Dorcas herself. 

Trying to get a family picture for Grandma's Christmas card...

before it gets too dark at 4:30PM. Dreadful.

Olive's Birthday and the Cat

Olive wanted a cat cake. I winged it.

 This is a very sassy 4 year old. 

 What you see is sweet potatoes and scabs from falling on the driveway.

 Right now I feel like if it's not one thing it's something else. We had a cat for a bit. While we were on chorus tour my Mom acquired a stray cat.  She sent this lovely spring kitten home with my children. We slowly tried to acclimate it to life with our dogs. Because it was not a tiny kitten it did so much better with the dogs and stood it's own. We were all thrilled when it worked and the cat and dogs were friends. Then Stuart got ringworm. Then the cat climbed up in the engine of big blue and met her end. Nate came to the door one day and I heard him say, "Where's Mom?" then when I showed up. "I killed the cat, thankfully the children didn't see it" He was so sad. Nate loves cats. So Olive had a cat for her birthday and then she didn't. She's hoping for one next year. 

Both dogs expecting a litter of puppies soon. What have we done.

I had to follow big blue home from the cabin... it had no tail lights. In the rain. It was stressful. 

One of the most gorgeous fall days.

So glad to be at the cabin when he brought this deer in.

Nate and his hunting. He does not hunt like my family hunts. He does it his way. I get kind of embarrassed. But look at him now! A bonafide hunter as his sister called him.

Thanks to some tips from the pro hunters around, like my brother Tristan and my cousin Ryan, he cut it up himself. Mia helped, she was thrilled. For real, she loved it.

Is it normal to have to babysit your pressure canner the entire time? I tweak it the entire time. 

I opened a jar that very night. Thickened the broth and ate it over some leftover potatoes. We all loved it, so I did another canner full the next day.

 The dogs are seriously sad that the cat is gone.

Yvonne gave me so many tips on what to do with the deer meat. This is some marinated back straps on top of a half of a jalapeno (still had some in garden, score) wrap with bacon and pop in the oven or grill until the bacon is done. Amazingly yum. Recipe here.