Christmas canes

The Chef’s grandfather, Grandaddy, was a man of many and varied talents. He grew the most beautiful roses and a lavish vegetable garden.

He was of the generation of southern men that didn’t do housework, but he vacuumed, cleaned, and cooked.

Grandaddy even cross-stitched!

But one of the things that impressed me most was his ability to work with wood and one of the most special things that he did was to make Christmas canes.

Each year after Christmas after the family Christmas tree was taken down, Grandaddy would take the Christmas tree trunk and make it into a walking cane.

We have canes from many years ago.

Each one is different.

There are different handles and different etchings.

On this cane he recorded some of their many travels.

He would burn different etchings and designs and on each cane he would record what everyone got for Christmas that year.....

...as well as any special family events or announcements that had occurred during that year.

This is the cane from the year that The Chef’s dad got into law school.

The Chef’s nickname was T-3 and this is the cane from the year that The Chef was born.

I love each and every one of those canes. I can only imagine the hours he spent designing and making each one, reflecting on the past year and thinking about his family that he loved so dearly.

Love and miss you, Grandaddy.

silver lining

SilentNight - Selah

Merry Christmas Eve Eve!!

December 23rd is my absolute favorite day of the year! By December 23rd, most of my crazy Christmas errands have been checked off, my parents are on their way to spend Christmas with us, and there’s still the anticipation of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with the church services and celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ.

For the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas, my class and I listened to Christmas music on Pandora during literacy centers and rest time.

One day during rest time Silent Night came on. It was one of the most beautiful versions I’d ever heard. So pretty, in fact, that I rushed over to the computer to see whose recording it was. It was a Christian group, Selah.

Selah’s version of Silent Night was so beautiful I immediately downloaded it from iTunes and found it on youtube to share with you.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Week in Review

Sit down and put your feet up. This is an incredibly long post!

Whew! What a week! The last week of school before Christmas is always crazy-busy and this year was no different.

Sunday started off with a light dusting of snow. Snow flurries were in the forecast but when flakes started falling, and kept falling, and kept falling and then started sticking, we were all excited and pleasantly surprised! It wasn’t much but it was still pretty to see.

Falling snow never ceases to amaze me. There’s just something so magical about it! Makes me feel like a kid again!

Monday morning I took some time off work to serve The Boss’s birthday snacks at Playschool. Remember the birthday girl, Julia? Julia and The Boss both have birthdays within a few days of each other so Julia’s mom and I decided to do birthday snacks for both girls together.

The Boss didn’t know I was coming.

....I think she was pretty surprised and excited, don’t you?

Here is The Boss with Ms. Penny, the Playschool director. The birthday girl gets to stand next to Ms. Penny while her classmates sing a special song to her and then she chooses the number that represents her age to put on the birthday chart. VERY, very special, I tell ya.

Here are the beautiful birthday girls. I can NOT believe they are five! Where does the time go?!?

Tuesday night I had a veryimportanttopsecretmission.

Let me give a little background...

The Playschool that the birthday girls attend has been around for years. In fact, Julia’s own father attended this very same Playschool when he was young as well as many other parents of their current students. It has a waiting list a mile long and it’s an excellent preschool program.

Each year the children do a Christmas program. Grandma Sandy even takes a day off school in order to attend. The fellowship hall is always packed with parents, grandparents, siblings. Folks try to get there early to get a good seat. Or to get a seat at all! The children are dressed in their Christmas best to sing their songs that they’ve worked so hard on.

So you get the picture. The Playschool Christmas program is a big deal!

Well, this year there was a twist. Rather than have two programs....1 for the Monday/Wednesday/Friday children and a 2nd for the Tuesday/Thursday children, they decided to combine the 2 and have one big program!

Parking and seating are an issue with 2 programs so you can only imagine the scramble for seats that would ensue.

Soooooo Julia’s Mom and I made a plan.

(ok so the plan was actually mine. I won’t put the devious part off on her, but she did confirm that it was a good idea!)

It just so happens that I’m a member of the church that houses the Playschool.

It just so happens that The Chef is on staff at the very same church and you know what that means......

He has a key.

So what if , just what if Grandma Sandy used said key to sneak into the fellowship hall the night before to uhhh....er...well......

Drag a whole bunch of coats out of her closet and save seats on the very front row for my family and Julia’s family!!!!

Now....before you cast judgement, let me say that there can be a few nice perks when your profession is working in a church. A pricey salary is not one of them. But utilizing a key at an opportune time is! At least in my opinion.

The Chef was reluctant to let me do so because he didn’t feel it was fair to the other families until I texted him a picture of this....

Apparently someone else had the same idea I did! Only she’s NOT a member, does NOT have a key but that certainly didn’t stop her from saving SIX seats for herself! And they were on the very side that I’d planned to save!!

WHAT!?!

(by the way I have no idea when or how this lady pulled this off but that’s beside the point)

When I texted this picture to The Chef, he suggested that I save not only enough seats for US but for all our neighbors, people we’d ever met, and every one of our dead relatives. HA!

Of course he was kidding.

So the next morning I dropped kids off at school and drove straight to the church to make sure my coats were still there (they were) and got ready to hear The Boss and Dogos sing!

Here is Dogos. She loved jingling her jingle bell bracelet and was proud to show it off!

Now this next picture will show you how very different The Boss and Dogos can be.

Dogos is having the time of her life. Singing, jingling, smiling.

The Boss, on the other hand, looks like she’d rather be standing in front of a firing squad.

The Boss is painfully, painfully shy.

Dogos just goes with the flow.

Three years worth of Christmas and end of the year programs and I’ve taken a day off work for every single one.

Do you think The Boss has ever even entertained the thought of singing even one tiny little note?

NOPE.

But bless her heart I can’t blame her. The apple does NOT fall far from the tree. At that age, I seriously doubt Grandma Sandy would’ve even stood on stage. In fact I know I wouldn’t have. My own grandmother used to have to go to Sunday school WITH me.

So, go ahead and be shy, Boss. I’ll still take a day off work to come see you in every program even IF all you do is suck your thumb! You just keep right on singing your heart out at home!

Here’s a picture of the whole group. Aren’t their Christmas outfits beautiful? Each and every one was to die for.

Seriously, you’ve never seen so many smocked outfits in your life! If one were actually able to total the amount of money spent on the boutique-purchased ones and/or the hours spent smocking the hand-sewn ones, I’ve no doubt the grand total would be absolutely shocking!

Wednesday night was the children’s pageant at church.

Thursday was Polar Express Day at school. All K, 1st and 2nd grade students AND teachers wore pajamas and watched the movie in the gym!

Thursday night was the Kindergarten teacher party at my house.

Earlier at school that day, we decided that we were so comfortable in our pajamas that there was no reason to change so everyone wore pajamas to the party, including two of our retired friends who still celebrate with us every year!

Now remember the bedsheet on the window?

And remember how I was going to make some drapes?

And remember how I was a few days away from a full-blown panic attack?

Well, as time for the panic attack got closer and closer, I said forget making any drapes and ordered some.

Thanks, nearby department store!

The picture above is one that I took after my K friends left and to replace the picture I intended to take while we were all eating and having fun.

Oh well.

The Chef made shrimp and grits and oh my mercy, was it good!

After we ate, we all went back downstairs for an ornament exchange.

I LOVE the ornament that I got!

It’s just beautiful. On the other side it says....Prince of Peace.

It’s absolutely perfect.

After my K friends left I had to make a Gingerbread Man for school the next day.

If you recall, our class Gingerbread Man has been on the run since Thanksgiving.

Well, the time had come for the Gingerbread Man to finally return to our classroom. We knew that since he’d been on the run all over the U.S. that he’d have to find some clever way to get into the building and the only way is through the office so we alerted the secretaries early Friday morning.

Sure enough, Ms. Ellen caught him trying to sign in and get a Visitor’s Pass so she caught him and she delivered him safe and sound to our classroom!

He sure did taste good!

Next up? The Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grade Christmas program!

As you can see, one of our little K friends was a little tired during the 2nd grade part of the program!

Friday night The Chef and I went out to eat to celebrate our 17th wedding anniversary!

On Saturday, after such a busy week I did absolutely nothing but sit by the fire, enjoy the company of my family, and watch videos of Survivor contestants once they’d been voted off and gotten to Ponderosa.

Sunday night was the youth Christmas party at our house!

And that’s my week!

I can’t believe it’s already the week of Christmas.

I’m looking forward to family and friends coming in town.

I’m really sad that our North Carolina crew can’t make it this year. This is the year that they should be coming. It won’t be the same without them. But I’m hoping for a visit with them during the spring or summer when things won’t be so busy and we’ll have time to enjoy their company more.

Now I’m off to finish addressing Christmas cards. I took the picture in early October. Good thing I’m just now sending them out! Oh well.

Merry Christmas!

true confession, pancakes, and birthday fun

I started off my Saturday morning with a run on the treadmill.

Sorry the picture is so blurry but I was in motion!

Now that may not seem like a noteworthy activity, but I’m here to say that it most certainly is.

Why? you may ask. Well, because.....well....actually....I haven’t exactly done any form of exercise since.....er.....Halloween.

THERE.

I said it.

I do this every stinking year and I have no idea why. I get geared up to get in shape, start exercising during the summer and continue through early fall and then somewhere towards the end of September I quit.

Ick.

I actually carried through a bit longer this year, although halfheartedly, mind you. Mostly because I was scheduled to run my first 5k with the Woman’s Clinic towards the end of October and I didn’t want to have a heart attack and cross the finish line in an ambulance.

I ran the 5k, and was proud of myself. I ran exactly 2 more times the following week and that was it.

Oops.

So today I set my alarm for my regular time, got up and just did it.

Sometimes you just gotta do it.

So I did!

And I remembered why I love running!

And in a few hours, my muscles will remind me why it’s a love/hate relationship, I’m sure.

For me, that first time back at it, no matter what it is seems to always be the hardest. I hope I keep it up. I have to keep it up.

After all, there are jiggly parts and then there are extra jiggly parts.

When the extra jiggly parts start coming back, you know its time.

I was actually shocked that I was able to finish 3.00 miles in 41:28 minutes after a 6 week break. After a slow 10-minute half-mile warm-up I ran most of the 2.5 miles left and it was actually easy! I ended up doing a 5 mile total but walked the last 2 miles. Tomorrow will be a different story, I know. That 2nd day is always a killer.

After my workout we got dressed quickly and headed to church for our annual Pancakes with Santa!

Remember when I told you that Santa was a Presbyterian?

He really is!

After our pancakes breakfast, we headed to a sweet friend’s house to celebrate her birthday!

The party theme was so cute. The guests were asked to bring their favorite baby doll. Party favors were doll bottles and doll diapers. Each guest got to decorate and personalize a tea kettle picture frame as well as their own placemat.

Cute, cute, cute, I tell ya.

But not as cute as the birthday girl herself!!

Please take note of her beautiful birthday party dress!

Her grandmother, Neena, is a special friend of mine and she smocks the most exquisite dresses you have ever seen. Their whole family is so neat and special to us for many reasons. Thanks for inviting us, J, and Happy Birthday!

Saturday morning was a busy and fun one!

This afternoon, The Chef is smoking 3 big pork loins for Room at the Inn at our church tonight. We weren’t scheduled to host again quite yet but The Area Relief Ministries organization that coordinates Room at the Inn called our church because they had just 1 small church scheduled for tonight that could accommodate only 14 homeless men which meant that around 24 men would be in need tonight.

It’s been raining all day and we have a cold front coming through with temps predicted to be in the teens and wind chill factors below zero. I’m so glad our church can help meet a need in this way! We are blessed to have a wonderful large facility with showers, warm food and a warm safe place in which to sleep to offer to these men.

This upcoming week will be a busy one. Class parties, children’s programs, Polar Express Day at school, a Gingerbread Man hunt, birthday snacks at Playschool for The Boss’s upcoming birthday, Kindergarten teacher Christmas party at my house, etc.

At some point I’ll have to start wrapping presents, I suppose!

But for now, I’m going to build a fire in the fireplace and start cleaning fingerprints off the kitchen cabinets. If my fellow K teachers ever had occasion to forget that I am a mother to 5 children, they will no doubt be reminded when they come to my house this week! There’s pretty much evidence of that fact around every corner. (but I wouldn’t have it any other way!)

The sickies, green beans, and Christmas cookies

Last week ended with Dogos being sick.

Bless her sweet heart!

I thought it was the stomach bug but when she only threw up once and had a really high fever, I began to suspect that maybe it was strep. So Friday morning, it was off to see the Dr.

You can see how thrilled she was to be there.

(and apparently even her hair was in protest! ponytail gone WRONG)

Still a high fever and a really red throat but the strep test was negative so the verdict? something viral

The rest of the family spent Friday and Saturday nights participating in our church’s Live Nativity. Grandma Sandy didn’t get to attend this year because Dogos was sick.

I’m disappointed I’m not able to include any Live Nativity pictures from the weekend. It is really a neat experience and a beautiful scene. Hopefully next year I’ll be able to!

Saturday afternoon The Boss and I made sausage balls.

By Sunday Dogos had been fever free for 24 hours so we all went to church.

By the time we got home she was pretty pooped, as you can see....

...so although she was feeling better, she clearly was not yet 100%!

While Dogos was resting under the dining room table, The Boss was enjoying green beans from the Farmer’s Market that she snapped this summer!

She was less than enthusiastic about eating the green beans until she was reminded that she was the one that snapped them.

I will now congratulate myself for quick thinking on my part. She was so proud of her beans that she ate them all and there were no tears or threats involved. Whew!!

Sunday afternoon the girls and I made Christmas cookies.

Yes, I even made the dough myself! Anyone who knows me will be justifiably shocked!

After a bath and a little rest, Dogos perked up and was ready to help.

When the recipe said it would yield 80 cookies.....

....it wasn’t kidding!!

It was a fun, busy weekend. I’m sad my Dogos was sick, but I did enjoy the time with her while the others were at the Live Nativity.

Today she was as good as new. I’m thankful she’s better! There are many parents in this world that aren’t able to say that about their children for many reasons.

Happy Monday! The countdown to Christmas break is on!