A Penny For Your Thoughts

    Today I am joining up with  The Simple Woman  to give you a peek into my daybook for this week...   Outside my window.... Sunshine!  It is still a little chilly but I love seeing the sun.   I am thinking... About my New Year's goals and resolutions....yes, I do that.   I am thankful... That I have been able to really relax over of my break.  I was really needing it mentally, physically, and spiritually.   I am wearing.... My sweats...hey, it isn't pajamas :)   I am creating... A calm mind.   I am going... Grocery shopping later and to my niece's 10th party this evening.   I am wondering....How to have a better schedule for 2015 and reduce the chaos in my life.  Seriously.   I am reading.... I am finishing up some books on my Kindle.  I need to be better focused and read one book at a time I think.   I am hoping...that this week drags by..... I am off all we...

  1. Finish all of our Christmas Shopping by November 30th. I used to live by this rule and enjoyed the Holiday Season a lot more. A few presents were bought after but for the most part this was attained.  Everything was even wrapped a week before Christmas.  Yes!       2. Have Christmas Cards ready to order by November 15th. Not by the 15th :(  They are currently done but not sent out.  We have been battling strep and the flu at our house.  Some peoples will be mailed late and others will be hand delivered.  Such is life.       3. Make a new pumpkin recipe . We bought pumpkin noodles at at the pumpkin patch this year.  We cooked them in chicken broth just like normal homemade noodles.  They were AMAZING....this will definitely be on the fall purchase list.  I am getting tired of pumpkin spice this and that, so after a container of pumpkin spice creamer and a couple of pumpkin pi...

Joining Jill Savage  for the Third Thursday Blog Hop. I know I am a day late, but that is life right?  Sick kids and Christmas have my schedule a mess!  Well anyway.... today's topic is What is Your Identity...    I found it much easier to write about my personality than my identity.  Maybe I just don't like being "defined" by things.    I can be identified as a daughter, sister, wife, mother, ex wife, aunt, granddaughter, daughter in law, friend, coworker, sister in Christ, as well as many other "titles".    We are identified by where we are from, who our "people" are, what we do, our race, our culture, and a host of other indicators. But all of these things are just pieces of the person we are as a whole.    How do I identify myself? That depends on what I am doing and who I am interacting with.  I would never use my "Mom" hat with my supervisor or my "Coworker" hat with my family....

I know, I know, this is supposed to be a Monday post, but mine will have to remain Saturday posts for now.  I am a full time wife and mom with a full time career outside of my house as well as the full time job within my walls.   My heart is always with my family whether I am home full time or part time.  I have been blessed with seasons of being home full time (my preference) and am now in a season of working full time outside of the home.  Both have their ups and downs and pros and cons.  We live a busy life and I love to make the weekends peaceful and family centered as much as possible.  The reality is that there is a lot of catch up going on.... Welcome to my crazy life!   The weather outside is..... Pretty warm for December.  It is in the 50's.  When I left to take Madison to her Christmas Cheer Party this morning I didn't even need a coat or to warm up the van.  This is my kind of winter wea...

  I live in Illinois so Mother Nature likes to throw all kinds of weather at us all year long, just to keep us guessing.  In the past month, we have had 60 degree days, rain, snow, freezing rain, almost 0 degree temps (with wind chill), and even some sunshine.  We had snow on Thanksgiving, so let's hope for snow on Christmas.  We had a beautiful weekend of 50 degree weather, but this is what our roads looked like a week and 1/2 ago.....     My children have always had a chocolate advent calendar to count down to Christmas.  This was something I always had as a child as well.  I have noticed that the younger ones are better about eating them everyday, but the older ones play catch up....at least they don't skip ahead :)  We did have the year when Madison was about 3 that she ate all of Katie's chocolates when we weren't looking.  We had to keep them in a high place for the rest of the season and it was crazy hard to find...

        If we don't change, we don't grow.  If we don't grow, we aren't really living.   ~Gail Sheehy I love Poinsettias, they are just such a gorgeous flower... I took this picture in Walmart, I just don't have the time to maintain one this year.  I decided to give it a chance at a longer life with another family... and I needed something red for my photo challenge that day!   

  I think we have finalized our Christmas Menu.... I am almost salivating...     Prime Rib Roast on the smoker with an Au Jus for dipping   Instead of potatoes I am making Homemade Baked Macaroni and Cheese (craziness, but making some changes)     Green Beans Wrapped in Bacon with a Maple Glaze on the smoker (Doug made these a few weeks ago and they were amazing)   Green Bean Casserole (Just because, tradition you know)   Brown and Serve Rolls     Baked Pineapple and Chocolate Pie for dessert     I am hoping for plenty of left overs....     Link up with Diary of a Stay At Home Mom  to share your menu!

  This post title for Blogmas made me giggle.... I do know how to cook and I do make many things homemade and very well. However, I am not one of "those"   Christmas Cookie Bakers .  I love that there are many of you out there and I am your Christmas Cookie Eater when I am given the opportunity.    At our house we use the pull apart and bake cookies in the refrigerator section of the grocery.  All kinds, all brands.  I am pretty sure I could say that the chocolate chip ones are the favorite in my family, but when it comes to Christmas, we always make the sugar ones from Pillsbury with a Christmas stamp of some kind on them.        I know, this is probably a mom fail but it works for us.      However, I do like to make the rolo/pretzel candies and I make a really good graham cracker toffee.    But my favorite thing to make for Christmas and New Years is...... ...

  If you have read my blog, like ever, you know winter and I have kind of a tolerate, bordering on really dislike, each other kind of relationship.  If I could have snow without ice and in 50 degree weather, life would be fine for those 4-5 months.  I don't really dislike snow.  But I can't handle being cold.  At All!!   Ok, Rant over, for today, maybe, until it is brought up again....   What can I not live without?   A Warm Coat...my favorite coat is my black puffer coat.  It was super cheap from Sam's eleven (yes, eleven) years ago.  It is the warmest coat ever and luckily has never went out of style.  The zipper is being a little iffy this year and I just might cry if I talk about it too long.  This coat washes and drys so well and does not look like it has been a winter staple for eleven years.  I also have a North Face that I love but if it is below 20, the black coat wins hands down, every time. ...

  I am playing some catch up on my Blogmas list today...   When Do You Open Presents?   We open one gift on Christmas Eve.  Usually I get the girls something similar so I pick that gift so that every one gets it at the same time.  I am excited about this years sister's gifts.  I will fill you in after the holidays :)  All other presents are opened on Christmas morning.     Handmade Christmas Gifts to Give or Get?   I love to get those coco mixes, etc.  in the jar.  Really anything homemade, I just love the sentiment of it.  To give?  I haven't been as good at this as of late.  I sometimes buy homemade Apple Butter from the Amish store and give it with a bag of bisquit mix.  I haven't made it homemade, but it is the next best thing.    What is on Your Wish List This Year?   Nothing really specific this year.  I would like a carpet cleaner I think....

  last year at Christmas   I am traditional when it comes to Christmas food....   We often have ham, mashed potatoes or au gratin potatoes, green bean casserole, and brown and serve rolls (I have an insane love for brown and serve rolls) .   Another traditional food for my family for Christmas is Prime Rib .  My mom always made it, my brother made it for several years after she passed, and this year I think Doug is going to make prime rib on our smoker.  Yummmm.  It is perhaps the only steak I really like.    I am always up for pumpkin or chocolate pie as my dessert. With lots of Rediwhip !!!   Now that I am hungry........  I am really enjoying everyone's Christmas posts.  I ordered Love Actually to watch this weekend.  It seems to be a big hit and I am not sure if I ever even heard of it.  Merry Christmas !   

  Quick and Easy Vegetable Soup/Stew   Ingredients: Large can of Tomato Juice 1 Box Chicken Broth Canned Vegetables (drained) My picks are: Diced Potatoes Green Beans Corn Sweet Peas 2 lbs browned hamburger with diced onion 1 box of any kind of pasta noodles Chili seasoning to taste   I brown and drain the hamburger with onion together, and then add everything but the pasta together in a big soup pot.  When it begins boiling, I add the noodles and cook about 20-30 minutes.    Serve with corn bread or crackers :)    

  My all time favorite Christmas movie is Holiday Inn with Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire.  I even remember seeing it for the first time when I was about 10 years old and staying up to watch it on CBS's late movie with my mom.  I fell in love! I will watch it whenever it is on and have been known to watch it at other times of the year as well.  I used to have a copy on VHS.  I really need to get a DVD copy.  I love all the songs and the absolute innocence of it.  Old movies are called classic for a reason.    I also enjoy me some Christmas Story.  I will turn on the 24 hours of a Christmas Story on TBS and leave it on the whole time if no one else changes the channel.  Funny, funny, funny!!     Tim Allen in the Santa Clause movies also draws me in every time.  He made one of the best Santa's ever.  It made me want an Oscar Meyer Wiener Mobile whistle for myself and an elf for a best friend :) ...

  I was honestly going to skip this topic on the Blogmas because it is going to end up sounding depressing.  However, in the spirit of keeping it real on my blog, I decided to tell a little of my story.    I loved Christmas growing up. My mom always decorated and baked and shopped.  She hated wrapping but lucky for her I LOVED IT.  I would wrap all the presents, even some of my own that were in plain boxes.  I would pretend to work at one of those wrapping places in the mall and add beautiful bows, etc.    My mom always cooked a fancy meal for both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  Usually a big breakfast as well.  We would have appetizers and prime rib and sometimes even broiled lobster.  She was such an amazing cook.    My brother, who was already grown and out of the house, would come home and spend Christmas Eve at our house even though he only lived 16 miles away.  After he was married that of...

  We have developed many traditions for our family over the years.  We always open one present on Christmas Eve, we have Grinch Punch on Christmas Eve, we lay out cookies and a beer for Santa (this has been since my childhood), sprinkle oatmeal in the yard for the reindeer, have sparkling grape juice and chocolate eclairs on Christmas morning, and we go see a movie as a family on Christmas afternoon at the movie theater.   Leading up to Christmas we have chocolate advent calendars, have fun with R.J. our Elf on the Shelf, go to the surrounding towns that have light displays on a  snowy evening, attend  the Santa breakfast in town, and enjoy the school's Christmas program.   We have many family dinners and get togethers to attend to wish everyone a wonderful holiday and spend quality time with the ones we love.    My favorite tradition?  Probably leaving cookies and beer for Santa.  I don't know how it started but...

I have decided to link up with Diary of a Stay At Home Mom  and particpate in her Blogmas 2014.  As we know, I can't commit to each and every day...   So starting December 1st I will be using the writing prompts below.  I would love to see all of yours as well, so if you participate please put your blog link in the comments.     Merry Christmas :)