Pyrex Love!

Guys, for years I have been hitting up

Target after Christmas clearance hoping to find Pyrex. I always see other people find it. I've gotten my hopes up a couple times, but it has always rung up full price. 

Well, guess what?!? I hit the jackpot today!! I bought seven of these dishes!  They were only $1.50 a piece. What? They are a favorite in my house and the perfect size for leftovers. We use them all the time. All the time. I adore them. 

Yay, for the target Christmas clearance!! 

Hooded towels

I made two hooded towels for Christmas for my nieces. As an aside, it is especially hard to find fun colors for girl towels in stores. Where are all the purples and pinks? And who is buying salmon/peach still? There are plenty of greys, blues, and odd shades of greens. 

I tried to give my USPS man a break, but I was thwarted by a limited selection in stores and ended up buying these online with free shipping! But I tried. I tried to buy them in stores! 

My model wasn't very corporative.

Pictures

When Dad lets you play with his old toys. 

Christmas!!

Dominos

Look at these giant dominos we found for the boys!! 

One of my favorite hymns. 

And my Favorite Christmas present! 

My sister made this for me. AND she made me three pieces of polish pottery. So amazing. So cool!! 

A few Christmas thoughts

This is how we spent most of yesterday, holding little sick boys and reading books. At one point, I put James down for a nap and then the rest of us fell asleep on the couch. 

Today we finally hung up our growing pile of Christmas cards. Yay! It feels like Christmas. 

I wish I had had time to get our cards together or that I had found my box of cards and at least sent those out. They are still missing. Maybe when I search my house for hidden Christmas presents I will stumble soon them. They have to be somewhere. 

I started a quilt today. I'm making it to cover our garage door that doesn't seal and has a cat door cut in it. Grrrr. 

Sappy post

These two! 

Before I had kids I really wanted a girl to be my oldest so that I would have a little helper for my younger kids. Plus, I am the oldest and I am a girl and I think oldest girls are pretty special. 

But let me tell you about Martin!! He is just the sweetest and dearest oldest child I could have asked for. He loves his brothers and he loves to help with anything (building a rocking chair, vacuuming, collecting trash, unloading dishwasher, helping his brothers put on shoes or coats, raking the yard). He does it joyfully. Sometimes he put me to shame with how patient he is with his brothers.  He talks a mile a minute and thinks deeply about life. 

I guess this is just a sappy post to say, I love you buddy!! And I wouldn't trade you for a thousand oldest girls. 

Ad then there is Warbie... He is my snuggly one. He loves to do whatever Martin is doing, which means he is usually offering to help me too. It is a joy to have two brothers that love each other so much! I have so much fun being their mom. I love the little years. 

Those are their work uniforms (safety glasses, hard hats, ear protection, and gloves). 

And then there is this jolly soul... I don't think a happier baby ever existed. 

They are all in the midst of a cold and general yuckiness. I am pausing to be grateful for the well days and the good times in the midst of illness. And I am thanking God for letting me be their mom and praying he makes himself real to them at an early age. That he grabs hold of their lives and changes them to love his word and his work. That he give them a passion to glorify him with their time, talent, and treasure. 💜

Happy Wednesday before Christmas. 

Wisconsin

Last week, for Christmas, my parents watched the kids and gifted us a few nights away at a marriage retreat in the cutest of little towns. 

Right on Lake Michigan. 

It was freezing. Well, below freezing. Like 20°F each day. And we had about 100 pages of reading to do each day, in addition to lectures. So, we didn't do much exploring. 

The last night it dusted with snow. 

We stopped to look at the lighthouse before we drove to the airport. Too cold to get out of the car. 

Snowy as we left. We flew in clouds the entire trip. 

And we came home to more snow. 

Crazy. 

Now Jared has some sort of stomach bug (or food poisoning) and two of the boys have had colds since Monday. I've been doing a lot of holding sick kids, reading books, and wiping noses. 

I did manage to make three draft stopper door things for the bedroom doors we don't use upstairs. It was a good distraction for the boys to help stuff them with beans and fabric scraps. And my hallway seems much warmer now... Maybe it is just my imagination. 

Maybe things will be more normal next week. I haven't even started Christmas shopping for siblings yet. Is it too late to order things? I'm in denial that Christmas is in 10 days. How can that be? 

Kitchen Hack

That feeling when you are making mozzarella and realize that your kitchen thermometer broke (over a year ago) and the candy thermometer doesn't measure anything below 140°. Mozzarella needs to be heated to 95° and 105°. What to do?!? What to do? 

Wait, those are around a normal human temperature... People thermometer to the rescue!! The batteries on my other thermometers have died. So, my Kinsa, attached to my phone had to do.  

I think it should have been more concerned with my high temperature. 

Advent Tree Update

I only have four more to make. I've been sewing one or two each night while Jared reads to me. It has been a fun little project. 

Best of all it is a great way to talk to the kids each night about the actual reason we celebrate Christmas. There is a Bible verse and suggestion verse from a Christmas carol each night. 

I'll post the book title when I post a picture of all of the ornaments on the tree.