Home For The Holidays

For me, Christmas is about memories and traditions and being with those you love.

We have gone to Virginia Beach for Christmas for five out of the seven years we've lived in Stanardsville. We love going down there and being with our families, having Sauerbraten and acting out the story of Jesus's birth on Christmas Eve with the Niepraschks, having Christmas morning pictures with the Monteiths, giving and receiving gifts, playing games, making and eating the holiday treats we have enjoyed since we can remember, and if we are lucky, catching the fourth Advent with the Niepraschks. We LOVE it!

Many Niepraschks have moved away from Virginia Beach. This year there will be only 4-8 Niepraschks for Christmas Eve instead of 60 plus. There will be less people to play games with and probably no Advents. I guess it will never be the *same*. I loved having predictable traditions with my extended family and I am sure my siblings and cousins will miss them too.

I've been thinking over the years about this and I have decided that we need to stay home for Christmas at least two years out of every three. I want to create holiday memories and traditions with my own family. I believe it is important for families to have traditions for the children to look forward to every year and my children already have many. (Right now they can't wait to make pumpkin shaped sugar cookies to decorate!) Also, I want them to want to come visit me (once every few years) for the holidays when they are grown with families of their own. I plan to go visit them for the holidays too. For me, Christmas is about family.

It doesn't matter where you are for the holidays as long as you are with the ones you love-- creating memories that won't easily be forgotten.

Just for fun here are some pictures of my early Christmases:





Here is a picure of John's second Christmas. Adorable! Don't you think?

Here is a Monteith family Christmas morning picture. They take pictures on the couch every Christmas morning BEFORE opening their presents.

Has this ever happened to you?

Have you ever made a highly rated 5-star recipe from a site such as allrecipes (my personal favorite) just to find it so disgusting that you feel bad for wasting ingredients on it? I have.


Have you ever had a friend give you a recipe that she absolutely loves and "you just have to try it" only to find it not so tasty and you hope she doesn't ask you whether or not you liked it? I haven't but I know some people who have had this experience.


When you offer to bring a meal over to a new mother and her family, do you worry that they will not like it? I do.


Have you ever been the recipient of such a meal just to discover that your family found it inedible and your husband had to make dinner anyway? I have.

No wonder it is so difficult and sometimes stressful to decide what to make for dinner when you have company coming! You could love it while they hate it!


Want to try a good recipe? Try the Toasted Garlic Bread recipe from allrecipes. Watch them though because they brown very quickly. Oh, and if you don't like them... just keep it to yourself.

Abby's Art

"Flowers in a Vase"

I love the art that Abby creates for me to hang on my refrigerator! This is one of my favorites!

If you haven't visited her art gallery recently, you should check it out at http://abbysartgallery.blogspot.com/ .

Oh Ladybugs, Why Must You Torment Me?

Ladybug Legend:

If you find a ladybug in your house, count the number of spots and that is how many dollars you will soon receive.

If this were true, I would be a millionaire by now! I'm not even exaggerating!

Today is the first day of the Fall 2008 ladybug infestation.

Here is a clip looking out my front porch window:

They get much worse than this and I will try to update with a video of the swarming on a REALLY bad day.

Here they are IN my house:


This is what I have to do to my fireplace to keep the number of ladybugs in my living room each Fall down to a few hundred instead of closer to a thousand. Attractive, huh?

Don’t even ask me about my basement! It is frightening down there during an infestation and I don’t even want to think about all of the vacuuming and the sneezing and coughing I’ll be doing thanks to an apparent ladybug allergy. Don’t tell ME no one is allergic to ladybugs!

As I went down the front steps to go pick up Jack and Abby from school, I had Ethan in my arms and I was holding Joshua's hand because he does not like to step on ladybugs and I have to gently pull him down the steps. On the way down, the ladybugs decided to land on me-- my glasses, my nose, my arm, my clothes. I tried to stay calm for Joshua's sake. When I got to the van, we all jumped in the same side door and I quickly closed it behind us. I checked us all out and it seemed that we were now ladybug free (or so I thought) which is unusual after such a trip. As I was driving, a ladybug landed on my neck and freaked me out. When I swiped it off my neck, it pinched/bit me and released some yellow smelly reflex blood onto my neck and hand. Eeewww! I tried to take a picture of the red, slightly raised patch on my neck but it didn’t show up very well in the picture.

Don’t tell me they are cute. Don’t tell me they are beneficial. I LIVE with them. They are disgusting, smelly bugs that leave yellow blood stains on my curtains, walls and windows! Eeewww! I just can’t say it enough… Eeewww!

So, the number one reason that I want to move out of this house and this whole county is not my overgrown yard, having to drive my children to school because the bus doesn’t come here, or the 35 minute trip to church. No, the number one reason I want to move is the LADYBUGS! Eeewww!

Dunkin' Donuts Surprise!

Daddy surprised us with a dozen Dunkin' Donuts last Saturday. Thank you Daddy! The Dunkin' Donuts store just opened and we do not have a Krispy Kreme around here. Ethan LOVED the donuts as you can see. I think the fillings and frostings were a bit off so if you are thinking about getting a dozen, you should wait a couple of weeks for them to perfect their donuts. In the meantime, check out the Angel Cake Bakery next to the Ruckersville Food Lion. They have the best donuts for about the same price.

My Beautiful Daughter!

On October 7th my beautiful daughter Abby turned seven! I feel so blessed to have her. She is my one and only daughter. The only one I will get to go wedding dress shopping with. (Which may actually be a blessing.) I love you Abby!

Abby on the day she was born:

Abby on her blessing day:
Abby was my happiest baby. She smiled and laughed a lot!
Abby's first Easter:
Abby's Second Easter:

Thank you Heavenly Father for letting me experience the joys of having a daughter of my own! She is so precious to me!

Looking Out My Window

Dear Window,

Thank you for letting me see through you. I love to watch for my daddy to come home so I can wave and wave and wave to him. Good Girl Da loves to watch with me. She likes to communicate with her friends across the lake while we look out of the window. If she talks too much, Mommy sends her outside and I look out of the window by myself and wonder what she is saying in her own funny language.

When Daddy pulls up in his trusty car with over 180,o00 miles on it, I giggle and giggle while calling out, "Da-da! Da-da!" in my loudest voice. Mommy doesn't shoo me outside though. She smiles and comes to the window to wave to Daddy too. She looks so happy to see him!

Thank you Window for bringing us joy!

Love,

Ethan

Carter Mountain Orchard

Joshua, Ethan and I went to Carter Mountain last month for a field trip organized for preschool mothers in the ward. We had a great time! We went on a wagon ride, enjoyed delicious apple donuts and apple peach cider, and picked apples right off of the trees! I had to lift Joshua above my head for him to reach the apples so my T-shirt got all muddy and I had to stop at the grocery store with mud on my chest. I figured, "Oh well, they'll know I'm a mother."


And we came home with two whole bags of Golden Delicious apples. Yummy! Fresh apples really do taste best! We even made some apple fritters one Sunday morning.

What do you do with a BA in English?

Lexis Nexis has been laying off people for a while now and John's small department just had "the meeting" yesterday. By March they have to lay off 6 of the 20 people in their department. Three of them have to be people with John's job title of which there are only 6 and John is the newest hired. So, it doesn't look good.

I've been thinking, "What do you do with a BA in English?" So, naturally I thought of Avenue Q. I couldn't find one good video of the whole song so here are the two parts:

This song reminds me that we all have struggles. And usually, when I think about the people I know and their trials, I would rather have my own. This too shall pass. : )

I'm Here!

Sorry I haven't posted in a long time. The children are back in school and I am taking a graduate level class. I have been so busy! I am so far behind in my reading that I need to read 250 pages before 2:30 PM tomorrow!

I have a bunch of pictures I want to post but I will have to do it after I finish my reading. For now, I would like to share this picture with you:

You are probably wondering what it is. This is one of those cool Febreze NOTICEables air fresheners. I got it for $1 by combining a coupon with a sale! I enjoy the lovely smell it creates in my home. So, why is it in a bag you ask?

Apparently, my dear husband does not appreciate the lovely fragrance like I do. This is the way I found my air freshener the other day-- unplugged and in a bag.