She's 91 Next Week

Here's a picture of me, my gram, my cousin Tisha and my sister. My grams 91st birthday is next week, she's a new years baby. She's tired and ready to go to heaven to be with Jesus, my Poppy- grandfather, and her super big family she had but I'm not ready for her to go yet and I'm so happy she was around for another Christmas. I think she looks great!

A Little Christmas Cheese

Trains

Marlee and Manny has a 5 train display going on here. Good thing I picked up 2 mega packs of batteries on sale at Rite Aid yesterday.

Christ is Born!

Christmas morning.....

Saucey Sundays

I just love our Saucey Sundays. This Sunday we're having lasagna. We usually alternate between lasagna and noodles with meatballs but sometimes we make ravioli or stuffed shells. I try and go to Divine Liturgy on Saturday nights so that I can be working on our meal when Tommy is at church so that it's ready to eat when he gets home-my husband and I are both Christians but he is Anglican and I am Byzantine Catholic.
I'm hoping that we are making great memories for our children. When I was young I can remember going to my grandparents for Sunday Roast. It was so good and I'll never forget how wonderful their home smelled when we would walk in the door- if I hadn't spent the night there. I was lucky enough to spend most of my Saturday nights sleeping over at their house. I would go to Divine Liturgy with them Saturday evenings and then we would either go out for pizza at Jakes or go back to their house and play cards and she would make us dippy eggs and toast. I hope I can give my grandchildren the same wonderful memories. I was hoping our children would have that same experience but our parents have different lives than my grandparents did -they work and still have a parent to help take care of - and they still really enjoy their social life- which is fine- but I can't wait to have grandchildren sleeping over my house! Ok, I'll quit rambling and reminiscing now-lol.

Homemade Mac n Cheese

Made this especially for Madison cause her mouth is sore from getting her braces on. It was soooo good. I made it with ditalini noodles cause they are nice and small so they would be easy to eat. Easy for Manny too cause I didnt have to cut them.

Recipe-
7 oz of noodles cooked
Mix with-
1 egg
1 cup of sour cream
2 cups of cottage cheese
2 cup grated cheese like cheddar
A little salt and pepper
I also added some cream cheese this time.
Bake uncovered at 350 until heated through.

Beautiful

Look at these lovely eggs I bought for $2.00 off of a local man. They are huge. The carton wouldn't even close. I wish I was hungry. Can't wait to try one.

Zonked

My Girls Last Meal Before Braces...

Madison gets her braces on tomorrow so I let her pick the meal for tonight and she chose Pizza Hut pan pizza with pepperoni and bacon. And for dessert I made brownies with chocolate icing but the kicker was crispy crumbled bacon in the batter-
sprinkled on top- then after I iced them- more like a chocolate glaze- I sprinkled more crumbled bacon on top. They were so yummy.

Bigger View

Manny is by the train table crying about something????
It's not yet the ideal setup for me but I can only do so much right now. Don't want to get worse while I'm finally feeling better.
I just have to say that I still feel just so blessed to be renting this house (parish house) from my husbands church. It has been such a blessing from God, what I prayed for for a long time. I still pray for a farm a cabin in the woods someday but He knows what's best for us right now and we are very happy here.

Doll Area in Attic

Finally Well Enough to Work on the Attic

I'm still not totally better yet but I was feeling good enough to work on the attic a little. This house has the kind of attic I dreamt of as a child. I have been wanting to get it fixed up so that it gives the children another place to go and play especially since it's cold out and they can't really go out for long and it's cool in the attic. In the summer it is just so hot up there. Also Manny is pretty good with the steps now and I feel much better about his safety up there.

Caught in the Act

Look who is going to take more ornaments off the tree. Do you see how his hand is blurry cause it was in motion? He thinks they are sparkly balls.

She's a BIG Girl

I have never has a tree so wide! Looks nice though.

Our Christmas Tree Bonus

Three Praying Mantis egg cases. We're going to put them outside and watch for them to hatch in the spring. They are so beneficial for the garden. Fun little homeschool science project.

This Picture is a Classic

Here's the Nest

The Older Girls and I Loved This Little Tree

It had a nest in it!

First Time at a Christmas Tree Farm

Photo Card

Faith Love Family Religious

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Review- Trader Joes soup and cornbread

Yummy!
All the children liked it too! The soup is creamy and delicious. I used the extra to make stuffed peppers and they were great. I used orange peppers and the flavor is so much better than with green ones.