This Week At Home, Number 52

Twas the week before New Year and all through the house... not a whole lot was happening!  And that is just the way I like it!

Monday...
Dear grandparents came for a lovely visit.  The boys spent long hours building their Legos, too.  In the evening, Jeff got our Androids up and going.  The learning curve was quite small.  I really, really love it!   

Tuesday...
Jeff went back to work.  I got the laundry caught up, which was an enormous job.
And the kids played in the two inches of snow that came and soon melted.

Wednesday...
Went to see my Grandma in the nursing home.  She knows who we are and sometimes seems "with it", but for the most part she is in her own little happy world. 

Thursday...
Grace and I went to get groceries, which turned out to be a great trip.  No one else was out shopping.  The stores were so quiet.  Very nice.  Other than making a huge pan of lasagna, my day was pretty unproductive. 

I am starting to dread next week being thrown back into the busyness.  Stopping to rest a week is a good thing, but makes me only want more.  Now I am looking forward to summer vacation!

Christmas dinner! 

Friday...
More of the same!  Although, Jeff gets off early and Ryan is going to a sleepover with Nana and Granddaddy, so the day will probably fly.

This weekend...
The kids are all going to Nana and Granddaddy's house for New Year's Eve.  Jeff and I will be going out to dinner with a gift card that came our way. 

Happy New Year to you! 
~Jenn

This Week At Home, Number 49

Our resurfaced dining table. 

Monday...
Lessons, laundry, make chicken pot pie, Grace sniffling,dishes, making paper chains, and time to relax.  In other words, a very nice day despite rainy weather and a sick girl. Over the weekend, Jeff and I covered our dining table with Contact Paper!  It's a little darker than we wanted, as that was all the store had in stock, but it works great and next time we will search out a little lighter color.  Grace says it looks like a chocolate covered donut.  :-)  I think it is wonderful not to have to have a table cloth all the time. 

Checking math with Daddy. 

Tuesday...
Lessons, lots of laying around reading, hot tea, more laundry, more rain, and wrapping some presents.  Grace not feeling to well today.

Grace made hundreds of paper chains this week! 

She'd tape one end to the wall and just go for hours, not kidding! 

Wednesday..
Trevor is getting the cold now.  Grace is up and around, making us lunch, but still coughing a lot.  Finished lessons for the week.   Welcome home from FL, Nana and Granddaddy! We missed you!  

Thursday...
We're on break, officially!  Made the last trip to the store before Christmas  for groceries.  Ryan says his throat is sore.  Cleaned bathrooms.  Made homemade pizzas.  Wrote a plan of attack for the rest of the week.  Jeff finished wrapping presents.  Thank you, Honey! 

Sick boy with cat, remotes and (empty) candy box. 

Friday...
Jeff is off at noon!  Today is our baking day.  We're going to make cheese balls, chocolate pies, meatballs, cinnamon rolls, and one batch of cookies.  The children are doing well, must have been a quickly moving virus.  Thank you, Lord! 

Taken earlier with his new sword. 

This week has been a little different than I had in mind, with each of the kids getting some version of a cold.  But, all in all, I am pleased with all that got accomplished.  The house is not as clean as I would like, but resting seemed more important this week. 

Thank you for taking the time to read this wrap-up of our week.  I appreciate all of my faithful friends who stop by to encourage and leave their wisdom! 

We wish you a very, merry Christmas! 

Wordless Wednesday: Chocolate Cake

A picture lasts longer. 

The best cake I've ever made!  Go here for details, then make one! 

Making Some Goals

It's that time of the year again!  It's time to make a long list of goals that we will forget about by February 28th!  Stop!  Not this year!  This year, I've decided that instead of the usual list I make for the new year, I am going to set myself a monthly assignment to make monthly goals and report on them here.

I think this will keep me moving in the right direction all year long.  I am also going to limit my list to 5 things, try to be very specific, and set dates to get them done by.   Just think, 5x12 = 60.  60 goals in one year!  Hot dog!!! 

Here are my goals for January 2012.  I thought about making a list for December, but decided that with Christmas coming it is best to procrastinate!  I may just get a jump on these the last days of December. 

• Read my Yearly Bible, daily, each morning before breakfast
• Put away Christmas decorations by January 8th, purge unneeded items
• Make a NY style cheesecake for Jeff's birthday by the 21st (I've never made one and it is his favorite.  Shame on me!) 
• Exercise 6 days a week.  Walk for 30-40 minutes, 4 days a week, alternating with weight training 2 days with 1 day of rest 
• Visit my grandma once and send 2 letters this month   

Bonus:  get eye exam done, hopefully sooner than January.  I think I need reading glasses. 

Please, Don't Criticize Others

Romans 14 1-12  ESV

Do Not Pass Judgment on One Another

 ¹As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. ² One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. ³Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. ⁴ Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand. ⁵ One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. ⁶The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. ⁷For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. ⁸For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. ⁹For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.
 ¹⁰Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; ¹¹for it is written,

    "As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,
   and every tongue shall confess to God."
 ¹²So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.

*********

This passage has been on my heart for a couple of weeks now.  It makes me sad when believers cannot live with one another in harmony.  Some believers celebrate Christmas as a way to honor the Lord, and this passage says that this is good.  It is equally good to abstain, if that is your conviction.  However, we are not to look down on one another, making the other feel bad or to feel superior.  Let's love one another, encourage one another, not make one another feel bad.  The bottom line is that we love the Lord.  He is Supreme!  Let's enjoy Him this season (as always) however that looks for your family. 

This Week At Home, Number 48

Merry Christmas! 

Monday...
Another tough Monday came and mercifully went.  It was only mentally tough, having to fight the urge to give into the lazy days of Christmas vacation, a week early.  However, we must and will get through this week (and next!)

Other notes from this day... Our homeschool gym teacher did not show nor did she call the gym to tell them she had taken another job, so one of the moms in the group led warm-ups and then we let the kids play basketball.  I was able to get in my walk, thankfully.

We got our lessons, the basics, got done after gym and lunch.  The evening was spent relaxing. 

Doing his best Julius Caesar impression. 

Tuesday...
My favorite day of the week!  Except for driving 5 minutes to the park to walk in the morning, I did not have to be anywhere.  So, after a full morning of lessons, I cleaned the bathrooms, finished laundry, and made a fine dinner.  We also did a good tidy up.  Lots of little scraps of paper had made their way to the floor, as Grace has been busy making paper dolls lately.

The evening found us running a couple unexpected errands, as Jeff was given the job of getting the boss' Christmas gifts.  But, we made the most of it and got a mocha and drove around looking at lights on the way home.

There is a cat in there somewhere! 

Now you can see the cat. 

Wednesday...
Another good day of lessons.  We are so enjoying the book, Flame Over Tara. Makes me want to know more about St. Patrick, the man.  I've never considered his life before.

Tonight is the last AWANA for a couple weeks, which will be a nice break.  I am looking forward to a couple weeks without going out on Wednesday. 

Florida sunset courtesy of my mom.

Thursday...
Busy!  Busy!  My day started with a brisk walk.  It was a warm morning in the upper 50's.  If only it were cloudy and threatening rain.  And it did rain.  Thankfully, it stopped in time for our grocery outing.  We then dashed home, put away the goods and had lunch, before dashing out again to drop off the boys at their play date and pick up two friends for Grace to play with at our home. 

The evening, I was able to stay home and finish the Christmas cards while Jeff took the kids to their karate tournament.  As I type this, I do not know the outcome. 

More Florida..would love to be there, too!

Friday...
We need to finish our lessons.  We have friends coming for a cozy evening of dinner and discussion of some good sermons.  The kids will watch a Christmas movie and eat Chex mix.  Should be a great time.  I am making a big chocolate cake, too! 

Manatees!

This weekend...
Not much going on.  We'll keep ourselves busy.  Perhaps a trip to the library.  I am looking forward to a quiet weekend. 

I've been enjoying a peaceful season with a good balance of doing and staying put.  The focus of our Christmas celebration has been well placed.  I have enjoyed not over-indulging in endless sweets.  Really, I have.  I love the idea of taking the time of Advent to prepare my heart and it helps not having a ton of indulgences. (Yes, those cookies are still safely tucked away in my freezer.)  

Have a great weekend,
Jenn

Wordless Wednesday: Making Cookies