Merry Christmas

 It's the day after Christmas and while things were certainly different this year, they were also very good and I feel so blessed.

I'm truly honored to be able to go through this life with my people.  My husband  and three boys make my life so much more than I ever thought it could be.  

Christmas Eve was different, but also a lot of the same.  We did not go to church.  Instead, we watched it on TV.  This was NOT my preferred way to attend mass, but Christmas Eve mass is usually packed with people and due to Covid, our pastor had to put a limit on those attending to 125.  We just felt that it was better and safer to stay at home and watch it on TV.  Right about the time mass started, so did a snow storm so I'm going to take that as a nod from God that we did the right thing.  We got about 15-18 inches in total.  Talk about a white Christmas!

We had our usual menu of fried calamari, smelts, and baccala, along with shrimp cocktail, stuffed shells, and various cheeses.  We watched a few Christmas movies on TV and then it was time for the eight year old to put out the milk and cookies for Santa and carrots and reindeer chow for the reindeer.

Christmas morning started around 7 am.  The 8 year old gets up VERY early every day, but we told him that he could not come out of his room until 7 am.  It worked.  Then it was chaos and craziness!  The wrapping paper was flying and months and months of buying and preparation was over in 20 minutes.  

Dinner is usually ham, but this year we had a standing rib roast.  I have never cooked a standing rib roast before and the boys, who are big meat eaters, were almost as excited for the roast beef as they were for the presents.  That's a lot of pressure for mom!  But luckily the recipe I used was fantastic and the roast came out perfect.  The boys were in heaven.  We also had au gratin potatoes, green beans, and I made a red wine au jus for the beef.  We were sufficiently stuffed, also known as fat and happy.

We did not get to see our extended family, but we did call or face time everyone.  We hope to have a social distance get together with the grand parents this week.  But family was truly missed on Christmas day.  

But I don't want to dwell on what we didn't have, because we really had so much and were so blessed. 

The Christmas Eve table

Mass on TV

Yummy cheese tray

Smelts and baccala

Calamari

Stuffed shells for mom who doesn't like fish

Putting out the reindeer chow.  You can see the snow blowing in the background

Christmas morning

It really snowed!

We even got snow on the front porch and that's rare.

Standing Rib Roast

Standing Rib Roast covered in garlic herb butter.

Finished Product

Green Beans and Au Gratin Potatoes

Red Wine Au Jus

A giant tent in my family room the day after Christmas

Four Days Until Christmas

 It's December 21 and things are hopping around here.  Cards are out, most of the presents are wrapped (but not all... I'm still working on that), I hope to start cookies today, all the food is purchased for Christmas Eve and Christmas day, and all recipes are ready and accounted for.  I'd say I feel organized, but that would be a lie. Does anyone ever feel organized this close to Christmas?  If you do, God Bless You.

I've been stock piling food for Christmas for a few weeks now.  I bought anything that is frozen (fish) a few weeks ago.  I ordered the large gluten free pasta shells from Amazon around Thanksgiving (for stuffed shells Christmas Eve), I picked up most of the fresh items this past week.  Except for fruit, I think I'm all set.

The hardest thing to find this year was the baccala.  Our grocery stores didn't have it.  By chance, I happened to see on Instagram that a local Italian grocery store had some in stock.  I called on Thursday to order some, and I planned to pick it up on Friday in between some doctor appointments that we had.  I picked it up at 11:30 on Friday, along with some cheese, chocolate, and a bottle of wine for Christmas.  The place was PACKED.  Apparently they do a phenomenal take out business at lunch.  It smelled heavenly in there.  I will be back after the holidays to try some take out.  I got home and started unloading my groceries and there was no fish.  WHERE WAS THE FISH??  Apparently my items went in two bags, not one and the place was so chaotic that I didn't notice.  I called and they still had my fish.  So back I drove 20 minutes to the store get the fish for a second time.  A little old Italian lady rang up my groceries and she remembered me when I came in.  She shook her head at me, so I said "And here I thought I was being organized".  Her response was "You need to slow down, honey".  She's probably right.  (Aren't old Italian ladies always right?)


Menu:

Christmas Eve

Fish on Christmas Eve is my husbands tradition, and I don't really eat fish so I buy it and he fries it.  There's only 4 people eating fish so we do a scaled down version of the "Feast of the Seven Fishes". We have smelts, calamari, and baccala in the fryer. We also have shrimp for shrimp cocktail.  Since I don't eat fish, I usually make a pasta dish too.  The last few years it's been lasagna, but this year I thought I'd make cheese stuffed shells.  Then we usually have several different cheeses to go with it. Christmas Eve is one of my favorite celebrations of the year.  I enjoy it even more the Christmas Day.  There's just something so magical about Christmas Eve.

Christmas Day

1.  Breakfast - The last several years I've done lox and bagels for Christmas morning breakfast.  The boys love their smoked salmon.  I stick with the bagels only.  This year I've decided to add in a this slow cooker copy cat Cracker Barrel hash brown recipe .  I'm doing au gratin potatoes with dinner, so this may be too many cheesy potatoes for one day so I'm still rolling it around in my mind.  I would love to do an egg casserole, but J is allergic to eggs (wheat, rye, barley, oat, eggs, peanuts, and tree nuts) so that is out.  

Speaking of allergies, I have a hard time finding bagels for him so I tried this bagel recipe from Skinny Taste yesterday and it came out great!  He really liked them.  My technique could use some work, but I'm just glad to be able to make bagels for him. Instead of the egg whites, I substituted Ener-G egg replacer and I used King Arthur Gluten Free Measure for Measure Flour. 

2. Dinner - Usually we have ham for Christmas, but due to Covid, my husbands company didn't have a Christmas party this year, so they are giving everyone a standing rib roast.  I have never made a standing rib roast before, so this should be interesting.  My plan is to have the rib roast, au gratin potatoes, green beans, left over fish/shells from the night before.  I'm not a big beef eater, but I'm willing to try it.  Fingers crossed that I can cook it without over cooking it.  
recipes to use:

Standing Rib Roast from Recipe Tin Eats

I've made au gratin potatoes for so many years that I don't really use a recipe, but this recipe from Tastes Better From Scratch is close to what I do.

Southern Style Green Beans from Spicy Southern Kitchen

So this is it.  These are the plans but I know that plans don't always come off without a hitch so I'm prepared to be flexible.  

I hope you are all coming along with your holiday plans and that they come off without a hitch!

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

 Here we are!  Post Thanksgiving, Pre Christmas, in the midst of Advent.  It's kind of a blur.

The oldest came home from college a few weeks ago, and just finished finals yesterday.  It's such a joy to have him home, but I forgot how much he eats.  There is NO food in the house!  I think he's making up for lost time.  The cafeterias on campus were scaled back due to Covid and the food offered was not what it should have been.  

Thanksgiving was spent with just the five of us.  It was nice and it was quiet.  We enjoyed the day even though we missed the grandparents.

I turned 51 last weekend.  But we are not going to talk about that.

And Christmas is coming!  I'm pretty much done with shopping.  I have a few gift cards to get but that is it.  I haven't wrapped a thing yet.  But I'm not worried about that.  It will get done.  I have all the fixings to make cookies and treats so I'm thinking that I'll start that around December 20.  If I make them too early, they will eat them all and we'll have none on Christmas.

I'm not sure how we will be handling extended family this year.  I do not want to miss a Christmas with the grandparents but I don't want to pass them Covid either.  I pray we can find a way.  Life is too short and while we are being very careful, I don't want to miss such a major holiday with extended family.  Next year isn't guaranteed.  

The house is decorated.  It has been since the day after Thanksgiving.  I keep tweaking it, but it's all done.  I love the decorations.  Part of me wants to keep them up all year.  But then they wouldn't be special, would they?  And the youngest was able to see Santa!  A local church had a drive up, Covid friendly Santa.  Thank goodness we didn't have to miss Santa this year too.

School for the younger two boys ends next week.  One is actually going to school, while the other is virtual for now.  The high school just had too many children quarantined to keep classes in person.  

I don't want to lament about Covid.  We are all in the same boat.  But I'd like to get out of this boat please (and take all of you with me).  I know it's not done, but I am done with it.  

Did I mention that we got 2 feet of snow in a day last week? Yes we did.  The boys were off of school for 4-5 days and people were out of power from Sunday night until Thursday.  We were blessed and were only out from 5 am until 4 pm on Monday.  Nothing like getting ALL THE SNOW in one day.

And luckily the roads were clear and the zoo had power that Wednesday for our drive through the "zoo lights" night.  The lights were beautiful and it was nice to get out and do a family friendly activity together.

Halloween, The Election, and Jesus

 Halloween was a little over a week ago, and we are now moving well into November.  The election was last week (but not completely over... how very 2020).

Halloween:  It was a gorgeous night.  The weather really cooperated.  Here in Ohio it can be anywhere from 80 degrees, to snowing, to having remnants of a hurricane on Halloween.  I have seen it all and yes, the hurricane part is true even though we are nowhere near the ocean.  But this year the weather was beautiful.  We live in a fairly rural area and most of the kids in the neighborhood have aged out of trick or treating, but we still managed to get 6 kids and my 8 year old was able to go trick or treating.  We set up at the bottom of the driveway with our candy and fire pit and made sure to social distance.  It was such a gorgeous night that we sat by the fire pit well after the trick or treaters stopped coming.  It was nice to relax and enjoy the weather and each other.

Election:  I really don't want to talk too much about it other than to say that the way this country is divided scares me.  I don't know how we will ever get back to a place where we can respect other's opinions and try to work together.  Actually I do know, and it will only be by the grace of God.  I have been praying so much more lately.  And maybe that is why all this is happening.  Maybe it's to remind us of who is really important, where we should be putting our time and energy, and to remind us who is actually in control.  I feel Satan is prowling around this world and especially the USA.  

Ohio Covid update:  Well, we are having a nice surge in Covid cases.  I think we had 5,000 new cases in one day last week.  I'm afraid that it will only be a matter of time before things start shutting down again.  I just hope we don't completely shut down businesses like we did last time.  The economy will not be able to handle it.  My heart breaks for all those small businesses that are barely getting by as it is.  All I've got here is more prayer. 

Church:  We went back to church yesterday.  Not TV mass.  Not car mass.  We went back into our church and I can not tell you how that lifted my soul.  With all that has been going on, I needed to go back to church.  I NEEDED to be near Jesus.  I know He is always with me, but I needed to be near the real presence.  We felt completely safe.  We will continue to go for as long as the state allows the building to be open and I pray that if the actual church buildings close down again, that some priests will take it upon themselves to either have a mass outside (regardless of Ohio weather) or go rogue to have mass in the building anyway.  If there is one thing that I have realized that I can truly not live without, it is Jesus and my church.

Family:  The family is doing well and I am trying very hard to keep things as upbeat and as normal as possible for them.  I try to cook good, hearty meals and I am trying to keep the house as organized and picked up as possible to create peace here.  I can't control the things of this world, but I can control the state of my own home.

Trying Times and Just Trying To Get Through

It's officially Autumn.  This is one of my favorite seasons.  I love the beautiful fall colors.  This year is different for many reasons.  

Thanks to Covid, there aren't any fall festivals this year.  Obviously I understand why, but it's still a bit sad.  And even if they weren't cancelled, we would not attend during this time anyway.

This is also our first year in 4 years without high school football.  I thought I would miss it more than I do.  I do miss seeing my son in his uniform, but I am glad to have my Friday nights back.

And speaking of that son, he is now at Miami University and I miss him terribly.  They went back late due to Covid so while I do miss him, I am also happy that he is there and able to get on with his life.  It's hard on the kids to have so much put on hold.  I worry about his health, but so far he has been tested for Covid twice and has been fine.  Much prayers going up that things stay that way.

The other boys are still in school.  I wasn't sure how long the schools would stay open, but we have not had a significant surge in Covid cases so far, so they are plodding along.  I pray that it stays this way also.

All of my fall decorations are up.  Now if I could just get this house in order.  I was on a good track, but got sidelined by not feeling well (not Covid) so I'm back to square one.  Next week looks to be very busy, and then I have jury duty the last 2 weeks in October.  I am not looking forward to that.  But I was able to get out of it the last two times I was put on jury duty so this time I'm all in.  

I hesitate to even mention the election.  All I'm going to say that I'm praying fervently every day for our country.  And no matter what happens, I know that God is still in control.

Broken Computers Are The Worst

My computer broke.  It's actually been broken, but I could cobble up some ways to make it work, but even those stopped working.  My son thought he fixed it, but I think it's an inherent problem with the type of HP computer that I bought (several years ago) because when I Googled how to fix it, it seemed like a common problem with this particular model.  So I've been MIA all summer long.  But my son did fix an old computer that we found in our home office, so I'm back.  The next time I invest in a computer, I think it's going to be an Apple (sorry HP, but I've been burned enough).

So what has been going on?:

1.  The 7 year old played baseball this summer (social distancing baseball).  He loved it and had a blast.  He tries out next week for next years team, so we'll see if he makes it.

2.  We went on vacation!  We went on our usual summer vacation (I booked it in January before the pandemic).  We rented a condo, went to the beach, didn't eat out, didn't go to the pools, and social distanced while wearing masks anywhere inside.  It was just so nice to get away.  

3.  School starts soon.  The little goes back August 17, the middle goes back August 27, and the oldest was supposed to go to college August 10 but it got pushed to September 14 but classes begin August 17.  I am not sure how this is all going to go or even if anyone will actually return to a classroom setting.  I hope so because these kids really need it.  But on the other hand, I'd like to keep them home in a bubble.  I'm so torn.  I don't think there are too many good decisions here.  No matter what happens, it will be less than ideal.

4.  Other than that we are staying in, social distancing and doing the best that we can. 

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this broken computer doesn't break again.  I had to buy the college student a new laptop for school, and I just can't afford another one right now.  But I can't update here from my phone and I miss updating.  No one but me reads this (according to the analytics) but this is kind of like my diary.  And I especially wanted to keep it updated during these unprecedented times.

It's the Last Day of Distance Learning

It's the last day of distance learning and I have mixed emotions about this.  I'm sad that my son missed out on the end of the year with this class and teacher.  But I'm kind of glad that this distance learning is over.  Although the school did their best with a bad situation, I'm just not sure how effective this has been.  It's hard to learn via iPad.  Most of the worksheets should have been printed out, but I could not do that because of the app the school used.  Doing the worksheets on the iPad was cumbersome.  And he got frustrated very easily.

Due to some of the CDC's guidelines for schools, I'm not really sure how this is going to go in the fall.  Going through an entire school year with partial in school/partial distance learning is going to be disruptive/ineffective in my opinion.  I have to seriously think about how we are going to handle this.  But I don't know if homeschooling is the answer either.  These are troubling times for sure.

I do plan on keeping up with his studies over the summer.  I already told him that we will be doing extra studying and reading.  And he already told me that he's not going to do it.  This should be fun.  The strong willed child vs. the no patience mother.  Good times.

It's May

New month, new hope.

Ohio is starting to open up again, slowly.  This makes me happy and wary at the same time.  I'm not one to rush out and do "all the things", but it gives me hope that the end is in sight (at least the end of the constant need to quarantine).  I'm not planning on eating out but I will still order in once in a while.  Churches are supposed to start opening up, at least for daily mass, on May 25.  I will be interested to see how they handle everything.  Some directives were sent to our priests and one of them posted them online but it still leaves room for each parish to do what they feel is best, as long as it agrees with the states mandated guidelines.  I miss church so much.

Patios for restaurants open this week.  That's great except that it's 37 degrees and snowing here in Ohio.  While eating out on a patio would be a dream, right now I'm going to have to take a hard pass.  This weather is just the pits!  I swear that Ohio's weather is still stuck in March when we first quarantined.  Maybe Mother Nature will start opening up again soon too.  I am ready for warm weather.  I almost NEED it at this point.

Salons open up this week!  I already have my hair appointment scheduled for May 23.  My hair stylist is in one of those new "salon loft" type buildings so she has her own room with a door on it.  It will be just her and me...wearing masks...fixing my horrible gray roots.  I haven't heard from my nail salon yet.  That one I'm a little leery of going back too.  Everything is out in the open and I'm just not sure how comfortable I am with that.  So that one I may wait on a little longer.

I'm still planning on doing "pick ups" at the grocery store.  I really miss grocery shopping and picking out my own items.  But it's not the end of the world and we have made this work for 2 months.  I think I can make it work a while longer.

But while I won't be rushing out and partaking of everything, the soft openings give me hope.  I feel like there is a light at the end of this dark tunnel.

And speaking of "the end", next week is the last week of distance learning.  The kids are surely happy about that.

Moving Forward

Even though we are stuck here in quarantine land, life still has a way of moving forward.

We signed the oldest up for college the other day.  He's registered and his meal plan and room and board have been chosen. He'll be attending Miami University in the fall (at least that's the plan.  We'll have to wait and see what the Governor does about schools opening).

This was NOT an easy decision.  He actually had another college in first place on his list.  He originally wanted a small, Catholic college environment, but his first choice did not come back with enough scholarship money and it was almost $10,000 more per year than his other choices.  We, as his parents, just could not justify paying that much more when we still have two other children who are planning to attend college also.  It broke our hearts to say no, but we have to put the whole family first.  So he moved on to his second choice.  And he is extremely excited!  He is also relieved that he has a plan and is excited to move forward with his life.  I am excited for him!!  I think he will do well here despite the fact that it's bigger and not Catholic.  There is a Catholic church right by campus and he can attend mass, adoration, and confession and they also have ministries that he can join (if his schedules allows).

So while we are house bound for the moment, the future waits for no one.  Even the pandemic can not stop completely the forward trajectory of our lives.  Right now, it just seems that way.

The mixed emotions I have right now are incredible.  I can not imagine my baby leaving our home.  I've dreaded this for 18 years.  But I know it's why God gave me this child in the first place.  It was my job to teach him to fly and it's also my job to let him do that.  Oh it is so hard though.

Ever since this pandemic started, I have been on the verge of tears.  Silly things make me cry.  But now that college is looming in front of us, it's even harder not to wear my emotions on my sleeve and tear up at every little thing.  And while I'm dreading his leaving us, I'm also so very excited for him and can't wait to see where his future leads.  I know God has a plan for him and I'm looking forward to watching his journey.

And I suppose this is all a part of my journey too.  It's one that I'm hoping to embrace with grace.  I guess this is just another thing that I have to put in God's hands.

Quarantine, Coronavirus, And Life As It Is Now

I think we are on day 17 of distance learning.  Maybe day 27 of being home and quarantined.  The days do run together.

I really haven't been out yet except to go to my son's Xolair appointment at Rainbow's again.  My sister in law put two N95 masks in my mailbox so we felt fairly safe.  But it's still unnerving and I noticed that we were both exhausted when we got home at 11:00 am.

We are still doing "YouTube" mass.  I'm not sure we will change that even if churches open up May 1st.  I so miss my church and receiving the Eucharist.  But I think it's too soon.

You know how you can tell how serious I am about it being too soon?  I bought a gel nail kit from Amazon.  I am NOT planning on going to the salon anytime soon.  And my grays are coming through quite nicely at this point.  And I don't even care.

The Governor did decide that the kids will continue distance learning and not go back to school is school year.  Apparently the fall is up in the air too.  I'm glad they are not going back right now.  But possibly not going back in the fall is making me uneasy and definitely sad for my son that should be a college freshman in the fall.  I'm sad all around for him.  He's missing his friends and missing going to the gym which is how he reduces his anxiety.  What about graduation? Prom?  I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Getting food is a bit easier.  There's been more delivery and pick up options (I am not going into a store unless I absolutely have to).  Getting gluten free items has been hit or miss but so has chicken breast, chicken sausage, and lettuce.  I'm guessing that supply chains are having issues getting things out.  We are doing fine and have had no issues so far.  I'm even getting T.P. from Amazon, so that's an extra bonus.

The weather here is not the best.  Cold, rainy, snowy, are just a few words to describe Ohio right now.  I have been getting out and doing my  3 mile walk as often as I can.  When it's too rainy, I try to do something inside.

We are here.  We are good.  It's not the same, but we are trying to adjust the best we can.  I hope and pray you are also.

I Don't Know What Day It Is

I'm not really sure what day this is of the quarantine.  Day 18-19-20?  I just know that we are following the "Stay At Home" order from Governor Mike DeWine and we have been Distance Learning for almost 2 weeks now.  So I think that means we've been social distancing for 18 days but it's all such a blur.

Distance learning is going fine.  I could do better, but we are doing ok.  I set up a schedule for the seven year old today so he's not playing Nintendo Switch for 12 hours a day.  But it's hard.  What else is there to do?  It's sunny and 55 today but it's been cold and rainy the last several days.  Even today, it's so windy that I felt like I was walking through a wind storm on my daily walk.

The daily walk.  The daily walk is my saving grace.  I don't know what I'd do without that little reprieve.  I need that to clear my head and try to keep my stress levels down.  I have to keep reminding myself to "put it in God's hands".  But I do better at some times vs. others.  I'm trying.

The high school has the older boys on a pretty good schedule and I don't really need to do much there.  But I know the separation from friends is very difficult for them.  It's especially difficult because not people are following the social distancing guide lines.  That makes me the "bad" guy because I will not yield on this issue.  I wish I could fix this for them and make it better, but it's out of my hands and clearly in Gods.


Even more difficult then social distancing is keeping them in food.  I do not want to set foot into a grocery store if I don't have to.  I've been trying to use pick up or Instacart delivery.  I don't like the fact that Instacart adds $30-40 dollars to my weekly grocery bill with fees and tips but I really don't like exposing my family to the corona virus either by visiting stores which appear to be packed every day.  We are fine on food and there is no issue there, except that I have to shop weekly and the amount that I'm spending is causing me massive stress.  But these boys can eat!  And I don't know what to do.

I miss church.  I miss mass.  I miss receiving the Eucharist.  We are a little over one week away from Easter and I can't wrap my brain around the fact we will not have Easter Sunday service.  We are watching mass on YouTube, but it's a small consolation.

I'm not even going to touch on the fact that I have a high school senior this year and prom, graduation, even college in the fall are all in jeopardy.

I am thankful that right now, we are all healthy.  We have a safe home, food, and I scored some toilet paper from Amazon the other day.  We have each other (even if a child who shall remain nameless is mad at me right now).  Our extended family seems to be healthy (even if they are putting themselves at risk by not following the social distancing requirements as well as they should be).  I'm thankful that spring is on it's way and not winter.  At least we'll be able to get outside on a regular basis soon enough.  I'm thankful that we have this time together.  It's uninterrupted and that 's what I had wished for (less sports, more family time).

So for right now I'm going to focus on all the positive (and I'm going to stop on-line shopping so much).  I'm asking God to protect all of us and if you are reading this, that includes you.

Unprecidented Times

Well, I've been crafting a blog post in my head for weeks.  I was going to tell you about how I'm preparing for Lent.  I was going to post pictures of my Lenten tree or our Lenten table.  I was going to tell you what I was reading and what I think about it.  But I've been busy.  And while I construct blog posts in my head.  I don't actually put them here.

But in light of the Corona virus, it all seems to so mundane and nonsensical.  I'm not terrified and I'm not hording toilet paper (although I bought some today).  But I am concerned and I'm praying because I'm not sure too many of us in our time have had this type of situation happen to us.

Yes, I was 31 and pregnant during September 11 and I remember all of it vividly.  I will never forget that day.  It was horrific and terrifying.  This is different though.  It doesn't just affect the U.S., it affects the entire world.

I honestly don't know what to think.  I'm following the CDC.  I have doctor friends and actual doctors of my son sharing information.

Obviously school is out and we will be staying home and social distancing.  It's not easy with active teens, but I'm not bending on that issue.

I still plan on attending mass on Sundays.  I need the Lord right now more than ever.  Missing mass seems so wrong to me.  But I'm not sure about Easter mass.  It's usually so crowded and there is barely room to breathe.  That one I have to seriously think through.  I can't imagine missing Easter mass, but right now, I can't imagine going either.

I'm not so concerned about myself.  I'm concerned about my immunocompromised son.  He has barely controlled asthma.  He's my main concern at the moment.  I'm also concerned for my immunocompromised parents.  I wish they would self-isolate.  But I know they can't.

So stay safe my friends.  I'm praying for you and for all of us.  Maybe I'll do a Lenten post at a later date.  But right now these are unprecedented times.  And I'm at a loss for words, a loss for what to do.  All I have is prayer.

Corona Virus information from the CDC

Social Distancing Fact Sheet

Corona Virus Prayers from Finer Femininity

How to pray the rosary

January: It's Cold

Yes, I know I live in Ohio.  Yes, I know this weather is typical.  No, I don't care.  I'm not a lover of cold.  I'm just not.
But I'm trying to get better with it.  My favorite form of exercise is walking.  So I'm still trying to get outside and walk a few days a week even when it's cold outside (but not today.  Today I'm sick and it's only 7 degrees outside, so NO WAY).

We've actually been very lucky.  The snow this year has been a minimum and the weather has been warmer than normal.  But of course all that changed at the end of last week.  And as luck would have it, my son had a wrestling tournament in southern Ohio over the weekend when the snow storm hit.  Due to his food allergies, I made sure that I went and took all his safe food for him.  I also ended up being the food lady for the team.  So loaded up with several coolers and my 50 pound suit case (I do not pack lightly), I left the day before the storm and headed to Cincinnati for the tournament.  It's a four hour drive and I was by myself.  I'm not usually an audio book person, but I downloaded an audio book from our library and it really helped make the trip pleasant and made time seem to go quickly.  I love that the library also has audio books and digital books that you can take out at no cost.  That audio book saved me!  I found the book by recommendation on the Simply Luxurious Life blog.  The book is Death at the Chateau Bremont by M.L. Longworth and the mystery was very entertaining.  Some of the reviews for the book mentioned that there were too many details of French cuisine and life in France in general, but I really liked those parts.  I'm interested in French food and French culture so for me, it was an added bonus.  I plan on continuing with the series, but right now, I'm in the middle of two other books, so it will have to wait.

Luckily we missed the second snow storm on the way home too.  I'm a nervous wreck driving in the snow and I prayed to miss it all, and we did.  Prayers answered.

The tournament was good and two of our four guys placed.  My son is a newer wrestler, so it was good experience for him.  But I am glad that it's our only tournament that we have to travel to.

In other news:

In a few weeks, my oldest son turns 18.  How is that even possible?  18?  It's just amazing to me how quickly time goes.  I always want to impress to moms of littles how quickly it goes and to enjoy every minute.  But when you are in the midst of those "littles" years, that is really the last thing you want to hear.  It can be hard.  And tiring.  And you really can't enjoy every moment because in many of those moments, you want to run and hide.  But believe me, those moments ARE hard, but they go by SO quickly, even when it doesn't feel like it.  Even if you can't enjoy every moment, try to take it all in.  Those years are so precious.  I'd suggest starting a diary or an online blog/journal and writing down the daily mundane.  It's sweet to go back and revisit those days.  Before you know it, 18 years will be gone in a blink.

Things I like for January:

Essential Oils for mood (I don't sell oils and I don't buy from one particular company, so I'm not hocking anything here):  Essential Oil for Treating SAD (graphic on Pinterest) I like citrus blends, thieves oil, or a blend of peppermint, lavender, and lemon.

Harney & Sons Hot Cinnamon Spice Tea This tea is so cozy and uplifting at the same time.  It's my favorite for this time of year.

Sherpa Throw from Walmart  This blanket is such a great size and it is super warm.  And it's SOFT! The kids fight over who gets to use it.

When I walk outside, I wear these leggings under my heavy sweat pants.  They are fairly warm.  If I were rolling around in the snow, I'd probably want something else, but for walking, these are plenty warm and the price is right.

From Thanksgiving, a birthday, Christmas, to New Years

 SO MUCH has gone on since mid November.

First we had Thanksgiving.  There were 11 of us.  And this year we did two turkeys.  One I did traditionally in the oven and the other my husband fried.  It was a nice, relaxing day.  I love Thanksgiving.  It's just a relaxed holiday with zero expectations.

The power went out the day before Thanksgiving but I was still able to get prep done with my handy dandy headlight lamp

The main table.  We also had a kids table in the kitchen.

The oven baked turkey.

Next up was my 50th birthday.  I'd rather not even discuss turning 50, but it did happen.  My husbands company Christmas party was at our house on my birthday weekend, so my husband planned the celebration for the following week.  I requested NO PARTY and I put my mom in charge of making sure that no party happened.  She did a great job because of course my husband wanted to do a party.  But instead he planned a night at a local glass works where we made Christmas ornaments and then went to dinner.  It was a fun night with just our family of 5, my parents, and my mother in law.

Me getting some instruction on working with glass.

Next up is Christmas.  It was a wonderful day spent with family.  The boys loved all their gifts and I love watching them open them.  It's 6 months worth of effort over in 45 minutes.  But I wouldn't have it any other way.

This years tree.

A gift from his big brother.

The aftermath.

And lastly New Years Eve.  It was another quiet night with just the 5 of us to start with and then just 4 of us because the 17 year old went to a friends house.  We usually do fondue, but we decided to have homemade chicken wings and French fries.  I bought everything for the fondue, but we were too full for it so maybe we'll use it this weekend instead.  After food, we decided to watch The Swiss Family Robinson on Disney+.  3 of the 4 of us made it to midnight.  The 7 year old went down at 11 pm.

Some of the wings.

I love homemade fries

The fondue pots were on standby.  Maybe we'll use them this weekend instead.

I can't believe the holidays are over.  It just goes by so fast.  But it was good and I couldn't ask for anything more.  Now on to the new year.  I'm hoping to get this house more organized in the new year.  I'm joining The Bowl Full of Lemons 2020 Home Organization Challenge.  I follow her on Instagram and I find her so inspirational.  I may or may not update my organizing here.  So stay tuned for future updates on how that's going and also what our family is doing in 2020.  Lots of major happenings this year!