Family Gathering Time

One of my New Year's resolutions is to have a family gathering at least once every 4 to 6 weeks.  I slacked off last year and I really missed the frequent get togethers.  We number 37, now, and so when we are together there is lots  of noise and laughter.  The grandchildren love to get together and play, eat and have fun. The adults catch up on each other's lives and enjoy debating different subjects, which I love listening to.
 So, this past Friday night was our first family time of the new year. I decided taco salad would be easy after finding already made taco bowls at the store.  I made homemade beans and seasoned ground beef along with spanish rice.  Then I delegated the rest.  The married ones brought desserts and a topping for the salad and the older ones, at home, purchased the drinks and paper goods.  Note to self...have the known late comers only bring dessert if you want to have all the ingredients on hand for hungry on timers!  

It was a good night.We enjoyed seeing all of them, hearing their conversations, reading books to the grandchildren, holding the babies. We are blessed!  

Apples Of Gold In Settings Of Silver

As I was putting some Christmas decorations away, I noticed I had some decorative golden apples and the verse in Proverbs 25:11 came to mind, "A fitting word is like apples of gold in settings of silver. I began to ponder how important words really are.  I thought back to when someone's words had blessed me and how it made me feel so much better as a person, encouraging me on.  I also thought about the times when my words had encouraged and when they hadn't. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could undo any unkind word we had ever spoken?  We can't, but we can press on and ask the Lord to help us live out the proverb He gave us. 
 As a reminder of this scripture I decided to make a table centerpiece for the dining room to remind myself and all the family to speak a fitting word to each other and to all we meet. I gathered some candles, a few pine cones and my silver platter and made this arrangement.
Now, I'll press on!!! 
  

He Who Finds A Wife Is Blessed

Three of my sons are now married.  I am so blessed by these three girls as I see how they complete my sons and make them happy.  Today, is my daughter-in-law, Jessica's 26th birthday.  She is married to son, Chad, and I wanted to thank her and honor her with this post on her day.
Jessica, I have watched you grow into a beautiful woman, both inside and out.  You entered our lives when you were just a young teen and brought fun and laughter with you.  I'll always remember Katey and you giggling over anything and everything, and how you enjoyed our busy household with all the kids.
Then it was Chad, Katey and you," the three musketeers." getting into mischief, keeping us on our toes. And then it was just, Chad and Jessica, young and so in love.
God knew who Chad needed as his soul mate and you have filled that role, beautifully!  Thank-you for being such a wonderful wife to him.  As a mother, I am at rest knowing my job is done and he will always be loved and happy with you as his wife.
Love,
Kathy

Happy 19th Birthday Carl

We were blessed with our 9th child, 19 years ago, today. I think God thought I was getting tired and needed a rest so he gave me Carl to mother and enjoy.  He fit right in with our busy family and went with the flow. Being the sixth boy and the third one in a row he had lots of brothers to toughen him up, but it just seemed to make him  easier going.  As a defense though, he became quite the tease and is one to this day.  As a little guy he would tease the siblings and his eyes would dance with delight.

  As is usual with boys, Carl loves food and a funny memory I have of him is his love of Taco Bell at two or three.  We would have to divert his attention while driving by Taco Bell otherwise he would put up a fuss to stop there and eat.

When he got to school age he was homeschooled and was very independent and enjoyed working on his own. He had and still does, a love of reading and enjoying many different series of books.  Another love is music and he is talented on the keyboard and guitar.  He, with his brother, Joe, are in a band and enjoy playing at church and concerts.

His plan is to be an electrician and start working toward that goal in the spring.  God's richest blessings on you, Carl.

Love, Mom

Teenage Driver

See this boy?  He just got his permit and now his father and I are passengers in our own car.  For at least six months there will be no more relaxing drives with casual conversation.  It will be conversation like this, "Slow down, now speed up, check your blind spot, watch out, pedestrians have the right away, listen and don't argue, I don't care what your teacher said, we have been driving longer than you, quit fiddling with the radio, adjust your mirrors before you drive, the other car has the right away, use your mirrors, did you see that car, use your brake, etc. etc. etc.  I wonder why Alex keeps saying that he can't wait to get his license and not have to drive with us? Could it be we make him nervous, too?

It Pays To Coupon

I'm trying to coupon every week, now.  Every Sunday we receive 4 newspapers so that I can get 4x more coupon inserts.  I take them out and then file them into a binder after writing the date on the front of each insert.  With this organization, it has helped me immensely. Before, I couldn't seem to manage to use them once I had cut them out. They would end up in a drawer and I would forget about them until later and then they would all be expired. I finally got inspired to try again by my daughters when they would tell me of their great deals.  Christy gave me the binder and got me organized.

So, last night I went over to her house and we made out our list and figured out each transaction, getting organized before shopping, writing it all down and separating our coupons using a plastic baseball card organizer.  We were able to get doublers which is an even greater savings as it doubles the coupon value. It takes time to plan each transaction as each one needed to add up to at least $20.00 to get a better deal. You buy the transactions separately, paying after each one.  I'm still learning and get so tired and stressed by the time I'm done. Christy laughs at me as she is so easy going and she breezes on through.  I'm a poodle in the dog world and she's the basset hound!  But, I'm happy with the savings and it's worth the time and effort. Soon I'll be an old pro at it and breeze on through.  Here's a picture of all my loot.  I spent $76.98 and I got 27 (14 oz.) boxes of Cherrios, 4 packages of butter, 20 cans of Progresso Soup, 9 packages of frozen vegetables, 12 jars of Skippy Peanut Butter (15 oz.), and 4 packages of 6 double rolls of toilet paper!

It's Fun Being A Grandparent

You know what's nice about being a grandparent? You can drop by and create chaos and then leave.  Grandpa brought some of his stockpile of balloons, filled them up and let the fun begin.  By the time we left, balloons had popped, baby had cried, their mother's nerves were frayed. But, the children had laughed and had fun.  

Best Blog Award

 I'd like to thank Trisha at mommyx12 for awarding me the Best Blog Award.  What an honor!  I'm so glad you enjoy reading my posts.  To accept this award I'm to post the award on my blog and a link to the person who presented it to me.  Then I'm to choose five new bloggers that I enjoy reading.
I'm choosing.....aunt spicy.........Crafty Sisters..........Living Large In Our Little House.........Finding Myself In Alaska..........Living In Alaska-Life In The Last Frontier.

Grandkids and Cookies

I always enjoyed Grandma's molasses cookies when I would visit her.  If I was at her house while she was making them I would get to roll them into balls and then into a small bowl of sugar before she placed them on a cookie sheet.  They were a fond memory of my childhood and so I made up a batch when I found out some of the grandkids were coming.  Forget putting any in the cookie jar, there wasn't a one left.

Recipe:
1 1/2 sticks of butter
1 large egg
1/4 cup molasses
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cream butter and sugar, add egg and molasses and beat until well mixed.  Sift together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and salt and add to the mixture.  Stir until combined.  Roll into balls about 1 inch in diameter and then roll into sugar.  Place 1/2 inch apart on prepared cookie sheets.  Flatten balls with a fork or your fingertips.  Bake for 12 minutes.  Cool and enjoy.

A New Year And An Anniversary

Happy New Year to all.  There is something about the first day of a new year.  It's a fresh start with new ideas and plans.  With myself, I start thinking of home projects to accomplish, dejunking and getting things in order.  Every year after Christmas, Chuck takes the week off through New Years and so this past week he painted the downstairs ceiling and also the kitchen cupboards.  We shopped and found some tile on sale for our spring project of redoing the main bathroom.  Our plan is to take out the old tub since it's 30 years old,  then tiling around it and the floor.  Chuck is so handy that he is planning on doing it with the offered help of #2 son, David.
I got alot of cupboards cleaned out with our week off.  I tackled the grandkids's toy cupboards and got them organized, getting rid of unneeded items.  Along with a nice coat of paint, the kitchen cupboards were organized, too.  I even tackled the junk drawer!
Our daughter, Christy, is planning on moving, so she returned my hutch I had given her.  I didn't realize how I had missed the extra room it gave me as it holds so many of my fancier dishes that aren't used everyday freeing up alot of cupboard space.  So, I got that done, too.  I am a homemaker at heart and enjoy making my house a home, so it feels so good accomplishing these jobs.
Also, today, is our 21st year here in Boise.  The years have flown since our big move from Southern California, arriving here with 7 children and 1 on the way, no job, but alot of faith.  God has been so good to us and provided so richly.  He led us here and gave us the grace and faith we needed to start over.  Our children have prospered and been blessed. So, I reflect every year on this day and thank the Lord for his guidance.