Mixed Nuts: First Day of Christmas Break

Quotes

"There is no better way to thank God for your sight than by giving a helping hand to someone in the dark." - Helen Keller
When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, "I used everything you gave me." ~Erma Bombeck
You may never know how strong you are, until being strong is your only choice.- Unknown
Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see a shadow' ~Helen Keller
Promise me you'll always remember: You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.
Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened."- Dr. Seuss
"Life is 10% what happens to you, and 90% how you react to it."
"God doesn't give children with disabilities to strong people: He gives them to ordinary, everyday people, then He helps the parents to grow stronger through the journey. Raising a child with special needs doesn't TAKE a special family, it MAKES a special family."Author Unknown
I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go – Abraham Lincoln
Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man. ~ Benjamin Franklin
There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as if everything is a miracle - Albert Einstein
The journey of a 1000 miles starts with a single step
Sometimes in the middle of an ordinary life, love gives you a fairy tale
Where there is great love, there are always miracles - Willa Cather
The Difficult we can do immediately, the impossible takes a little longer
Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness
There are two lasting bequests we can give our children. One is roots. The other is wings.
Be the change you want to see in the world
Don't tell God how big the storm is, tell the storm how big Your God is..........
Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it
Fall down seven times - get up eight - unknown
Despite our differences, we sink or swim together
Life may not be the party we expected, but while we are here, we might as well dance
"The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones." -Confucius

Saturday, December 22, 2012

First Day of Christmas Break

Okay, okay. I lasted long staying away, didn't I? We took pictures today, so I thought the grandparents would like to see them and hear what we did. So.....here I am! Chances are I will be back tomorrow. Shocker.

Anyway - we had a full and fun day today. This morning we got up and decided to take the kids to a movie. We saw "Rise of the Guardians.

It was a really good movie. We all enjoyed it, so I am glad we went. We even tried out a new theater. We have a few local theaters that if you go to the movies before 12pm, you only pay $5 or $6, so we tend to go to those when we hit the theaters. Prices have gotten so ridiculous these days.

After the movie we had to get some groceries for our Christmas dinner and to make our annual cookies with the kids. Then it was home to continue our afternoon of fun.

Mat and the kids did the cookies. This is the usual tradition. I usually come in at the end to supervise the icing, but this year, the kids did it all.

They have a great time, and do sugar cutouts and gingerbread cut outs. This year as a white elephant gift at work, Mat received a set of Ninja cookie cutters.

Cainan was stoked.

Here are the final results:

Mat and the kids working hard. Look at Mat's clothes. Apparently Finley missed the bowl when she was pouring some flour.

Finley felt bad about missing, so to show her it didn't matter, Mat said she needed to look like a real chef, and covered her face with flour. She thought this was hilarious. The chocolate on her lips is her own doing - she was eating the candy for the cookies:

The kids icing:

The cookies with sprinkles:

A finished Ninja:

While the kids and Mat worked on the cookies, I painted Finley's room. You heard that right. Finley's room has been a light blue color since we moved in last year, and we have been talking about changing it. Mat and I decided that Christmas break, since we weren't traveling, would be the perfect time to accomplish that task.

So while we were out today, we had Finley choose from a few "select" colors of pink. If it would have been up to her, she would have chosen neon, so we limited her choices. She chose a very nice rose shade, and I really like how it is coming out. I have to get an edger at the store tomorrow and then the room will be done. It didn't take as long as I thought.

This evening we watched a Christmas movie with the kids and now we are relaxing. It was a nice way to start our break with the kids.

Before you think that we are one step away from being the Waldons, let me bring you back to the reality that is the Pletcher's. We got into the garage and I scraped the whole left side of the van by trying to avoid running over a plastic bottle I saw on the floor. Then as we were getting the groceries out of the trunk, Mat dropped the ONE bag that was delicate that contained a glass jar, the sugar, and the eggs. We only lost one egg, and the bag of sugar only sustained a small crack. But the applesauce jar was a total loss and glass and apple sauce all over the garage floor is not pleasant. Especially when it is mixed in with egg. The dogs came out to the garage while I was cleaning up (thanks to some children I know) and I was trying to fend them off while picking up the glass. I figured we were going to be taking them to the vet for swallowing glass or samonella poisoning, but I was able to keep them away.

So......back to reality.