Friday, December 28, 2012

On The 3rd Day of Christmas.... toys, games and crafts!

Today we had a delightful time with the kiddles~ 

Youngest received more pieces to go with his playmobil fire engine, Middlest received a full-size version of Mastermind (we only had a travel-sized version...), and Eldest received a bulky roll of yarn to finger crochet into a scarf, and coordinating raw materials for me to knit/felt into a new pair of mittens, and possibly a hat (with ear flaps? I'll try!) :) 



 
While Middlest and I were out shopping (He still needed to get Daddy a gift...) Eldest captured a shot of the amazing moon as it rose over the lake. My camera is very "point and shoot," so I'm fairly impressed that this came out so nicely! 


Dinner tonight? Potato Soup with Ham.... love remaking leftovers into something new! :)  Happy Third Day of Christmas

Blessings~

2nd Day of Christmas 2012 (Thursday)

The Second Day of  Christmas brought a very lazy day here at the house. Since we weren't getting snow, but lots of rain and sludgy yuck, it was a good day to stay inside!

 After breakfast, presents were opened and enjoyed.Youngest was almost as excited to open his package, as Eldest and Middlest  were to give it to him...









 
They went in together to get him a playmobil fire station. Eldest received new owl PJ's, and Middlest got a new yo-yo that lights up. Wish there was a way to show just how cool that yo-yo is! Might have to take some video in the dark at some point. :) But not right now




 

An out-of-the-ordinary occurrencewe went to a JV and then Varsity hockey game~ with 2 neighbors playing JV, and one on the Varisty team. Fun stuff! 

(Notice the math problem on the jerseys~ 23-13=10 (goalie's #) :) 
 


 
 










Finishing up the evening, we watched "The Polar Express".... forgot just how long that movie was!  
 
Blessings~

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

The First Day of Christmas 2012

For the record..... 

The 1st Day of Christmas brought reading material to the kids~

Eldest had the 4th book from the Mysterious Benedict Society The Extraordinary Education of Nicholas Benedict (The Mysterious Benedict Society) on her wishlist... in paperback to match the others on her shelf~ sadly, it isn't published yet, so her brother gave her a "pre-ordered" bookmark... it should arrive in April sometime... :) 

The other two books are Ten Out of Bed  and The Disappearing Stranger (Adventures of the Northwoods (Mott Media Paperback), 1st in a series by Lois Walfrid Johnson, author of our beloved Viking Quest Series (Raiders from the Sea (Viking Quest Series)). 


Blessings~

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

Merry Christmas! 

We had a lovely Christmas Eve.

Service at church and then delightful evening spent with friends. We've shared Christmas Eve with them for YEARS, since BEFORE the girls were born! Yummy food, Charades, Mad Libs, Presents and Laughter! 

 





Christmas Morning.....  The stockings were laid on the love seat with care.... :) 'round about 7am...

And the presents surrounded the tree....

Eldest (Who was a very helpful elf) decided NOT to go to sleep @ 7am for fear of missing the whole day, and spent some time sending out electronic greetings and chatted with friends who were just getting up!  (She did manage a 3hr nap from 5pm-8pm...)
Now for the traditional shot of the kids at the top of the stairs... (Please ignore the red-eyes... I edited them out in iphoto, but google+ didn't keep the edits for some reason! :(  ) 

The PJ's aren't misleading on eldest, as you can see in the first photo that she put them on Christmas Eve (Even if she didn't actually SLEEP in them!)
More video taken than photos on Christmas morning, but I did get one good shot...

Hoping that you and yours are enjoying celebrating the love and light that came down at Christmas!



 

Blessings~

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Christmas Concert Selections (AKA High School Holiday Concert)

We just spent one of our favorite evenings leading up to Christmas last night. My eldest's best friend sings in her high school Ladies Chorale and "Singers." While I don't have video of their concert, I did decide to look up as many pieces as I could on YouTube to share with you~

"Chamber Choir" and "Chorale"~ 
Lining the aisles of the auditorium, holding lit candles, and facing one another, they started with

Adam Lay Y Bounden by Boris Ord
 
Followed by
Out of the Orient Crystal Skies by Richard Zgodava

The "Chorale" treated us to 3  selections:

I Saw a Maiden by Edgar Pettman (Or possibly Jeff Smallman)

All My Heart This Night Rejoices by Johann Georg Ebelin  

The Angels and the Shepherds

The "Chamber Choir" presented:

Resonet in Laudibus by Z. Randall Stroope

Lute-book Lullaby by W. Ballet

Kumah Echa arranged by Alice Parker

Good Ale by John Rutter (just for the FUN of it.... ;D)

A Merry Christmas arranged by Arthur Warrell

Deck the Halls arranged by David Willcocks

The "Ladies Chorale" sang:

Personent Hodie arranged by John Rutter

The Blooming Bright Star of Belle Isle by Eleanor Daley
(This was lovely! A Newfoundland Folk Song...)

Do You Hear What I Hear? by Noel Regeny and Gloria Shayne

The "Singers" finished off with

Come to the Music by Joseph M Martin (Loved this one!)

Evening Prayer from "Hansel und Gretel" from the opera by Englebert Humperdink ~ 
They dedicated it to the victims and families of Sandy Hook Elementary (Teary-eyed)
 

Baby It's Cold Outside by Frank Loesser ~ 
This one is cute, but would have been hard to accomplish with the stage full of risers and singers...

The Very Best Time of the Year by John Rutter 
(This recording is rather quiet, just FYI)

 
The Finale 
A Tradition.... 
every year they invite alumni and friends 
to join the choir on the stage to sing 
Hallelujah from "The Messiah" by G. F. Handel

 
and 
The Lord Bless You and Keep You by Peter Lutkin

 
So... now I hope that you've enjoyed this recollection of our evening, albeit without the live energy and joy of the young people in the auditorium last night.


Blessings~

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Revisiting Ooka Island and Save up to 30% off!

Hello Friends! 

Looking for a gift idea from the grandparents? Want to pick up something educational that doesn't take up space in your house (Just on your hard-drive)? Here's an idea for you~ an annual subscription to Ooka Island, a Learn-to-Read Adventure for 3-7 year olds.

I have received a special offer from Ooka Island to share with my readers. I reviewed this program with Littlest last fall(2011), and he still talks about it, over a year later! That's a pretty good indication of it's uniqueness and interest value. I also know that many of the things that he learned "Stuck" which is great!

I realize that everyone is at a different place economically, and we tend to be in a "bare-bones" sort of place ourselves (one reason that being part of the TOS Review Crew is such a blessing!), but I can say without reservation that if Ooka Island fit my budget, I would definitely purchase a subscription for my boyo. It's a solid program with some fun bells and whistles! :) With 30% off it is made more affordable, which everyone can appreciate!


 Just click the graphic to learn more. :)
Share to get up to 30% off Ooka Island!
Blessings~
 
Disclaimer: I received free product in exchange for posting this special. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

Week Before Christmas Menu Planning (Easy/Pleasy)

Photobucket - Video and Image HostingMy~ I've taken a wee bit of a hiatus from all things bloggy this early December~ Working more "offline" and trying to get things in order for Christmas and "Vacation" with the daddy at home (yay!). I also am having "Storage" issues on my computer, so picture taking and uploading is at a bit of a minimum at the moment.

Now that you've heard some of the "why" you haven't seen me here (Although, I will admit that I have been on facebook a fair amount...), I'll get to my semi-menu-planning for this week. The theme this week is primarily "Easy... please!" Thanks, orgjunkie for hosting the linky!


Monday~ today we had a "make-it-up-as-we-go" sort of soup~ Started out wanting to make a potato/sausage soup, ended up with more of a brothy/tomato-base~ very potato/veggie with sausage (Of the breakfast link variety! That was what I was wanting... YUM!), and a little bit of rice thrown in for good measure. The verdict was thumbs up all around the table. :) Very much a warm up your insides sort of soup~ perfect for our snowy, sludgy day.
Goes great on slices of french bread, or with the bread torn to pieces and dropped in to sop up the liquid~

Tuesday~ Well.... I made a pretty huge pot of that soup, so we're bringing to our friends' home to share with them before heading out to DD's BFF's High School Christmas Concert. It was amazing last year, and we're looking forward to it this year!

Wednesday~ planning on wrapped sandwiches/salad for a quick bite before I take the kids to the last youth group meeting for 2012.

Thursday~ need something fairly easy, light but filled with protein before heading out to the last dance class of 2012~ I'm thinking Quiche is in! :) That is a family favorite!

Friday~ Haven't had much time to discuss with DH... too much overtime, not enough home time, but it's his first night of vacation for the rest of the year, so he might want to do something special. If not, we'll cozy in with some baked mac & cheese and salad.

What does your menu look like this week?

Blessings~

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