I can’t make this stuff up

 I leaned in to smooch Thing Three on the forehead and noticed he smelled… fruity. I sniffed his hair, realized he’s out of the strawberry conditioner he’d been using, sniffed some more, then asked, “why do you smell fruity?”

He grins sheepishly so I know to ask again, “why do you smell fruity?”

“I rubbed grape gum on my forehead.”

Current situation

“On the first day of Christmas break my true love said to me,

‘Your sense of style is funny.’”

Just kidding. He didn’t really, but the words fit the tune!
 

I can't help myself

I really just can't help myself when there's a pretty sunrise or sunset. The kids roll their eyes and shake their heads and scold me about all the photos on my phone, but just look at those colors! What beauty in December, and it DIDN'T involve snowflakes or ice crystals of any kind and I could run all over the yard to get pictures and not get slushy! I'll take it!

 

As if there weren't enough snacks already in the house

 this one is totally on me. we had fresh cheerios and i'd snagged a big bag of M&M's for multiple recipes (which have yet to materialize, but hush) and since peanut butter is an everyday staple in our house, i made a batch of happy trails mix. 

what is happy trails mix, you ask?

it was discovered by one lisa and one val at camp lambec one rather chilly summer night around a campfire when friends were frying fresh caught fish from lake erie. they offered us some, but as we'd smuggled these ingredients to camp and had pilfered a big metal bowl from the dining hall, we declined. however, there is no chance of pouring m&m's into a metal bowl quietly and we soon had everyone's attention even though the firelight was the only light around. it was delicious out there in the cool of the evening and it's just as good inside.

here is the recipe, which runs much more like old-timey recipes with absolutely no unit measurements that make me nuts than the precision kind i prefer.

step one: dump your m&m's in a biggish bowl (you will need room to stir)

step two: pour in enough cheerios to cover M&M's and then a little more

step three: spoon a fist sized glob of peanut butter in there

step four: get messy. mix with a utensil or your hands

step five: enjoy and refrigerate any leftovers covered. it's also good chilled! it might even hold together better that way.

this is one of my favorite snacks and i'd love to mail it (some assembly required) to loved ones, but to ship peanut butter would be expensive so it's easier to buy and make your own. maybe when there's not christmas cookies hogging every surface, cookie dough in the fridge, ice cream in the freezer, and candy canes everywhere you turn. 

like in march, say. 

Tis the season of ...

I don't even know. I wanted to say "busy-ness" or "chaos" or something along those lines but generally the things happening now are all FUN so it seems wrong to disparage them.

For instance, I've been to three holiday concerts so far. One (excellent) was done by a friend of the family, one (adorable) was the little kids where I'm a substitute teacher, and last week both boys had concerts. On the same night. At the same time. 

So we had to divide and conquer. Dada reported that Damon's band concert went really well, but Damon announced that their recording had technical difficulties and therefore I haven't heard it yet. They then released a redone audio version in an email link. Liam's concert/ A Christmas Carol presentation also went very well. Alas, no recordings are available that I'm aware of. 

Yeah, I've got crazy kiddos. Anyway, we're all doin' the holiday things and squeezing as much joy out of them as we can. We hope for happy and blessed for all of you as well!

 

Thanksgiving 2023

 By some miracle we got Dada's whole side of the family together in one spot for Thanksgiving. The cousins were PSYCHED. The fellowship was so refreshing. And there was far too much food. 

Trypophan's a real thing... all the brothers are out!

Gaming and eating and eating and gaming

And cooking and splashing

Did I mention eating?

So then there was hiking and we found huge sycamore leaves!

And more photo sessions. Couples and cousins

All the cousins, above.

Below, one of those is NOT a firstborn...

Crafting and more cooking which led to more eating.

Rinse and repeat! 

Get in line

This was pretty hilarious. We rounded everyone up according to birth order and there are a lot of middle children, haha! There were even some who had no idea where they fit in in the lineup, apparently never having thought about it before, which caused intense merriment to the rest of us. So blessed to be part of such a terrific tribe. Thanks for making the trek for Thanksgiving 2023!

 

Date night

Isn't he so cute? This man of mine has taken me on two dates in the last two weeks. He is so much fun and I'm so blessed. 

He insisted I get in a photo too, but as this one was cuter and I'm the one blogging, sorry honey, teehee!

That's not the original leg lamp from "A Christmas Story" behind him, but now that we know where there is an imposter we might have to visit. Make sure you schedule in some fun time amidst the have-to's and I-gotta's during the Christmas crazy! You are worth it!

 

Once upon a time

 The year was 2010 which feels rather like a lifetime ago:

It certainly was for these cousins who all turned 13 this year. my mother had the brilliant idea of recreating the above photo and the attempt cracked us up completely. life is short. don't blink. you might miss it.