12.25.12 3:30 a.m.

"Mom, Dad! Santa came!"  Joey woke in the middle of the night, and of course, went down stairs to investigate!  He opened his santa presents...The Elf on the Shelf book and elf, and a set of army figurines/helicopter/tank.  Santa brings only modest gifts at our house!  Here's Joe, in his Christmas robe, reading The Elf on the Shelf.

We were up with Joe for about an hour, and made him go back to bed.  Even so, he and Emily were up early this morning.  Another Merry Christmas greeting from Katie and Jordan's dog, Gia, in her Christmas sweater!

2.23.12 Abominable Party

We all know of Emily's fixation with Benjamin, her abominable snowman purchased with a starbucks mug.  As they accumulate, her collection expands.  She has enough to share for viewing "Abominable Christmas" special!  We found the large abominable at Menards. It's supposed to be the abominable snowman from Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. Her are Joe, DeeDee, and Emily, with the Abominables...

12.23.12 Moving day to the "housefarm"

I don't know how they managed!  Zach and Renia loaded a 26 foot all by themselves, disassembling beds, moving appliances and furniture.  Here's the truck....

Nothing fell out when we opened the doors.  Good job!  On this end, things went fairly smoothly. Caleb, Corbin, Dan and I, and Matt came to assist.  In under 2 hours we had the truck empty.  Everything was in the house at least.  Then the work began of getting everything to the right rooms, setting up beds and furniture, unpacking the kitchen, etc.

This is the windmill on the east side of the house.  The window on the the left is the east facing kitchen window,. and the window by the back door is a foyer.
Here's my picture of the farmhouse, view from the highway on the west side....

We smile, because Matthew has a syntax error.  Instead of calling it a "farm house", Matthew says "My daddy lives in a "happy house farm!"

12.22.12 Holiday Newsletter Assistance

I'm running a little behind this year. I didn't take any photos for our holiday card.  I don't have Katie and Jordan's wedding photo disc yet.  I just wrote the holiday newsletter.  The writing went o.k., but there were delays with printing.  Dan and I both attempted trouble shooting...shut off the printer, turn it back on.  Make sure it's plugged in.  Unistall old printer.  We needed Emily's excellent technical assistance this morning. She had printing going in about 7 minutes.  As she was reading she wanted to edit something out of her paragraph in the newsletter.  I suggested she look at my copy, then craft her own, and we'll send them together.  I know hers will be a different perspective on 2012, and funnier for sure!

The next assistance I had was from our curious cat, Finn.  He pawed at each page as it came out of the printer, and was curious about the noise and movement. It's good to know all printing is monitored closely! I will start sending out greetings sometime after Christmas, but before the new year.  Better late than never.

12.20.12 Emily's home!

Emily finished her last final Thursday.  I'm always glad when she sends a text that she is starting out for home.  (Or when she returns to school, that she has safely arrived.) Our house changes for the better when Emily is here.  We get to hear a lot about Kanye, JayZ, and Brittney.  We get to see tv on dvd.  She lets Joey "sleepover" on her bedroom floor! She brings her sense of humor to our daily lives.

12.17.12 Team Wright

Back row, L to R: Clark, Daria, Blair, Myself, Shawn, Austin, Jessica

Front row: Scott, Laura, Kevin, Megan, and Allison

Pictured is my team at work, I have deep and abiding affection for the people I spend my days with.  I am grateful for each one of them!  When dad's health was failing this year, and I had to be gone, I did not worry about work, because I knew they would take care of things. It is important to like the work you do, and the people you work with.  I am grateful.  

12.16.12 Pack Meeting

Tonight at the pack meeting, the boys showed their recent project, the bird feeders they constructed and stained/painted....Good job, Wolf Scout Joe!

12.14.12 Mug Shot

Name:  Kevin
Alias: Fidel Catstro
Height: 8 inches
Weight: unknown...probably about 6 pounds

Suspected of destroying prelit Christmas tree, new, just last year.  Ornaments knocked off daily, branches broken, and 27 year old popcorn string torn apart further daily.

Showed up at Charlie and Lizzy's, where he lived 3 days before they brought him to our house.  Allowed in the Friday after Thanksgiving.  Hated by original family pet, Finn.  Works his way into family's heart by purring loudly.  Eats non-stop.  May be relocated to Zach's farm.

12-13-12 Zach and Renia's Windmill

The Tuttle family farm has a windmill to the east of the kitchen window.  It is helpful to know which way the wind is blowing from!  Zach, Renia, and the kids will see this windmill as they come and go from the farmhouse.  We thought it was an excellent lighting opportunity!  Zach sent this photo from his phone...

12-12-12 Emily's Stocking

There has been mysterious stocking activity.  Every day, Emily's stocking gets puffier.  Someone is putting treats in her stocking.  Now it is overflowing.  Dan and I are not putting anything in any stockings.  I wonder who it could be?  It is good to be loved!

12.10.12 The Stockings were Hung by the Chimney with Care...

Emily's stocking is already filling up with treats. Who do you think is putting them in there? Someone who's excited about Christmas coming!  Today Katie came over to wrap a few gifts and left them under the tree.  Joey said, "There's one with my name on it, and I think it could be a sled!" We are mainly focusing on Advent Season.  I do like to have our holiday decorations up.  Last year I bought a new 7.5 foot prelit tree for the living room.  Kevin is destroying it!  Last night when Dan and I were watching tv he was nearly to the top, inside the structure of the tree.  Every night we come home and about 10 ornaments are knocked off, lying on the floor.  He has also been very hard on the popcorn string, as has Finn.  We find it interesting that Finn did not bother the tree last year, but feels free to do so this year.

We enjoyed Joe's Christmas concert Tuesday night.  I took a photo of him in his suit, but haven't uploaded it from our camera yet.  It was a K-2 concert.  My favorite part is the concentration of the 1st and 2nd graders when they play their handbell selections.

12.8.12 Sounds of the season

This morning Joe came downstairs at 4:30.  Not sure what woke him. Why is he waking up so early on Saturdays and Sundays? It is blustery outside, and has continued snowing here overnight.  Dan shoveled last night around 9:00, and this morning you can't tell.  The timer is malfunctioning on Frosty, and the lights stay on all night!  This morning, Frosty looks like this...

You cannot see Frosty clearly from a pic with my cell phone camera, but you do get the idea that our back yard is illuminated!
It will be a good day to stay inside and listen to the sounds of the season.  The great thing about Christmas music, is that it's pretty timeless.  I've only added a couple of Christmas CD's in recent years, because I have such a vast collection that I enjoy.  I have every celtic "Winter Solstice" cd.  I have the Time Life Christmas treasury in vinyl albums and cd format.  Here are the things I have to listen to, every year....

The Chieftans have an album titled "The Bells of Dublin." You can find it on Amazon still.  "The Wren" is my favorite track, running over 12 minutes long.  They have guest artists singing with them, as they often do.

The children's Christmas cd I can't live without is Raffi's Christmas.  It is soothing, yet fun.  Nothing annoying about it!  I love the accordian arrangements in it. It was the first time I had ever heard "Must Be Christmas".  "Who's got a beard that's long and white? Santa's got a beard that's long and white!...."

Vince Guaraldi's Charlie Brown Christmas is a must have.  Matt searched high and low to give me the cd one year!  I have the dvd of a Charlie Brown Christmas yet...I must watch it annually.

A few years ago I treated myself to 2 new Christmas albums.  This is probably the most listened to for me. It contains my favorite Christmas song, "Go Tell It on the Mountain." In addition to loving his voice, there are a lot of nice acoustic guitar accompaniments.

Sarah McLachlan's "Wintersong" was the other new offering I treated myself to.  Her version of "The First Noel" is my favorite.  It bursts into an uptempo middle easetern sounding reel.  She has the voice of an angel, always.

Some of these are from the 90's, but I listen to them all, every year. Neil Diamond has the best rendition of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman" and also a christmas song I don't like, except when Neil sings it, "The Little Drummer Boy."

I have multiple Harry Connick Christmas cds.  I believe he has three!  My two favorite tracks on this one, are "Sleigh Ride", with full orchestra, and he has the BEST Ave Maria, just playing piano and singing.

I have two Vanessa Williams Christmas albums.  She combines my favorite Christmas song, "Go Tell It on the Mountain" with a negro spiritual "Mary Had a Baby" and it is beautiful. It evolves into a full gospel choir, joyful version of the song. She has several songs I'd not heard before either, such as "Gracious Lord Sheppard."

Going back to 90's Christian artist greatness, I have several Christmas cd's from Amy Grant and Michael W Smith.  Dan prefers Amy's first collection, which contains the beautiful "Breath of Heaven", (also known as Mary's song) but I also love her newer CD, which has a fun version of "Mr. Santa" sort of a 1940's swing style rendition, and the very reverant "Agnus Dei", which was written by Michael W. Smith.

My favorite track on Michael's cd is "Welcome to Our World." It's a more modern Christmas song, with a beautiful melody and lyrics.

I also look for sounds from different genres, such as country.  Probably my favorite twangy country collection would be Sammy Kershaw's.  You've got to be in the right mood to hear it.  Another unique sounding collection is Jewel's "Joy:  A Holiday Collection." 

Last year at Starbucks, I picked up a holiday compilation that included Frank Sinatra's version of Jingle Bells.  There is spelling in it..."I love those J-I-N-G-L-E bells!"  Kids love any song with spelling in it.  Joey loves this song, and we have discovered we can listen to the song (and sing along) 3 times on the commute to school in the morning. Another rare compilation that you must have if you are doing a Christmas party for children, is a charity CD done by Rosie O'Donnell in the 90's "A Very Rosie Christmas".  You get some one of a kind sounds on here....Donna Summer singing a disco style "Have a Very Rosie Christmas"...(great voice, and she's deceased now, you know!) Ricky Martin's "Aye Yaye Yi It's Christmas", and my favorite Smashmouth Rendition..."I'm Gettin' Nothin' for Christmas", which Smashmouth performed better than anyone before or since.  Kids love it. 

Of course I have several Manheim Steamroller cds as well. A lot of the above are these are old, and you can find them on amazon for $3.99 to $6.  Emily and Zach have an aversion to Christmas music.  Probably because stores start playing it too soon.  I'm just firing mine up today, on December 9th.  

12.7.12 Good friends sustain us!

Today our good family friend, Joanna, stopped over with a Christmas gift for us to enjoy! She said it was something seasonal that we should open now.  Joey is always up for opening a gift!

She brought some notepads for each season...winter, spring, summer, fall, which which were artfully adorned by her! She also brought these, knowing my love of all things relating to the Peanuts gang.

Charles and Snoopy, Linus and Lucy!

Thank you for bringing much needed holiday cheer Joanna. LOVE these glasses! Dan and Zach were working on the farmhouse today, and Joanna had not yet seen it.  Plus, Joey and I both wanted a ride in her brand new, Hyundai Tuscon.  It's an awesome vehicle.  We proceeded to the farm to admire the progress Dan and Zach are making with caulking, sanding, and painting.  Then we went to my mom's, because Joanna hadn't seen my mom's house yet either.  Mom had everything so beautifully decorated for the holidays!  Even colored lights on the bushes in front.  Outdoor lighting adds so much.  

It is always delightful to spend time with a good friend.  We so enjoyed Joanna's visit today. 

12.4.12 2013 Calendars

Aaaahhh.  I feel a zen like peace, because I have ordered my 2013 calendars.  For the kitchen, the CatCalendar from Kliban.  I love his work, and his cats make me happy.  I'm grateful that his wife continues the marketing of his artwork.  Come to think of it....Kevin looks like a Kliban cat!

For my desk, I have only a 7x7 size, hanging off the bottom of my bulletin board.  For the past three years I have chosen the Frank Lloyd Wright Calendar, and this year, it features textile designs.

Last year, it featured his stained glass designs, and the year before that, his ceramic tile designs. Two artists whose work makes me happy.  All is well with the world!

12.2.12 Kevin's guardians

Yes, Kevin is still with us.  Pictured are Joey's friends from the neighborhood, Charlie and Lizzy.  We just learned in the three days that their family kept Kevin, they fed him canned Nine Lives pate cat food.  He was living the high life then! Now it's a steady diet of Purina urinary tract infection formula dry cat food, which our veterinarian advised all male cats should eat.

Also pictured is Kevin, who looks like he wants to make a getaway from the kids.  Finn displays rampant animosity toward Kevin.  For now, we try to keep them seperate if possible.  Emily like Kevin.  Grandma Estell likes Kevin, but not enough to adopt him.  Zach's farm may be another possibility!

12.2.12 Frosty Vingette

Well, the Frosty vingette is complete, and we await 5:30 p.m., when the timer will kick in and illuminate our backyard with the new display.  The shiny ornaments and colored LED lights look a little "ghetto fabulous" in the daylight hours, but at night, they could be fun!

We see Frosty through our patio doors after dark.  I'm thinking the shiny ornaments will reflect the light from Frosty as well as the colored lights.  It will be seen mainly by our family, and our neighbor Judy, whose family room window overlooks our back yard. The LED lights were expensive...$26.99 for 23 feet, 2 strings to do the tree.  I hope we like it.  Should we feel better that these holiday lights are "99% efficient?"

12.2.12 New Advent Season activity

Last night I put out our Advent wreath on the dining room table.  Advent is the beginning of  the liturgical year in our religion.  I have always liked this season of preparation in our church.  Today at mass, they were handing out these kits for families, and we have ours ready to go.

The kit came with straw and a brown, paper bag.  For each good deed or work of mercy, family members add straw to the manger, to prepare a warm bed for the Christ child.  Here's the description that came with the kit...

"Put Straw in the Manger"

Initiate a new family custom this season by preparing a warm manger for Baby Jesus.  The customer consists of having family members place a piece of straw in the manger every time they perform a good deed or a work of mercy.  There are plenty of opportunities to perform works of mercy...at home, in the neighborhood, at school, at work, and in our parish.  Whatever the work of mercy and wherever  it is performed, we know that the straw symbolizing our charity will provide a warm manger for Baby Jesus on Christmas morning.  then we will have continued Christ's loving action for those in need -sharing the warmth of the manger with others. "

12.1.12 Christmas decor, part one

After the thanksgiving weekend cleanup, Dan and I hauled our plastic bins of holiday decor here from the storage unit.  We have always had a large tree with clear lights in the living room.  Last year I bought a new prelit tree that was the more slender style.

I appreciate that it takes up less space in the living room.  This is our more tradtitional tree.  It has a crocheted angel on top, and a quilted tree skirt that we bought at a craft fair when we were first married.  Every year we put our popcorn string on this tree.  Our first "married" Christmas, Dan and I popped popcorn with an airpopper, and strung the popcorn.  We repeatedly poked our fingers with the needles and vowed never to repeat the activity.  Because the corn was air popped, it didn't get rancid.  This popcorn string is going on year 27 of use.  There are blank spaces of thread where each of our childen as toddlers were tempted to taste the popcorn, and took a bite.  This year, Finn has been particularly hard on the popcorn string, ornaments, and tree as a whole, which surprises us, because he didn't behave that way with the tree last year during his first Christmas with us.  This tree also has my dark red, wooden cranberry bead strings on it, crocheted snowflakes, and all of Barb and Rob's handmade Christmas ornaments from the 10 years they gave those.  It has all the ornaments our children made when they were small, and gave to us as gifts! These are some of my favorites:
Matt, from first grade, a little chalkboard made with craft sticks, black construction paper, miniature chalk and eraser!

I had a particularly hard time choosing Zach's, because he has so many homemade ornaments from school and boy scouts...here's a reindeer made from a christmas light, pipe cleaner, and googly eyes!

This is my favorite of Katie's, which she made in 4th grade.  She painted Santa on a cinnamon stick. I enlarged, so you could see the detail of his face.

I was also torn for which one to show of Emily's.  Here is a brown paper grocery bag gingerbread man, made in first grade!

Joe's...from kindergarten...

 Kids are the only ones to gift with creative ornaments.  Sometimes Dave and Faye send us a homemade card, and I hand this pressed flower ornament from them each year on our tree.

Other standard decorations include our needlepoint stockings...This year I ordered one for Matthew, and hope to replace the original 7 with stockings for grandchildren.  Below that is a Fischer Price nativity.  I think it is always important to have a nativity kids can play with, as that is one of my favorite memories as a child.

Here are two nativities we have that Joe plays with...

These are next to our skinny tree with colored lights in the dining room. I took the photo at night, so I guess it's hard to see the details. 

Our outdoor decor is fairly consistant also...2 clear light topiary trees by the front door.  A lighted cedar swag rope above the front steps, with a red bow, and a lighted nativity set with Mary, Joseph, and Jesus in front of our porch that projects a light of light in our otherwise fairly dark block.  

In the backyard, Frosty the snowman lights our path between the garage and the house.  Frosty cost $10.97 at Kmart, long ago, and it just makes me happy!  Dan says he has spent three times that much replacing the light and wiring for Frosty, which I sometimes convince him to leave up until the snow is gone/February, which ever comes first.  I just love the light Frosty brings to the back yard.  

This year, we are trying something new. We bought 6 inch shiny outdoor ornaments.  We thought to hang them on the tree in the front, but now have decided to hang them on the bush next to Frosty in the back.  Perhaps even some outdoor colored lights?  There is an outlet on the garage!  That's another post.

11.27.12 First reconcilliation

Joey and his classmates, 2nd graders, have been doing a lot of preparation for the kids' first sacrament of reconciliation.  The teachers have done a great job.  Parents had to help the kids with worksheets and prayers at home.  My favorite activity Joe did was tracing his hand, and then the teachers helped them write "Five Steps to a Good Reconciliation"...
1. Think about what you did wrong.
2. Tell God you are sorry for your sins.
3. Tell your sins to the priest.
4. Practice your absolution.
5. Try not to make the same mistakes going forward.

Joey spent a lot of time thinking about what sins to confess.  I suggested "talking back to parents" or "teasing my nephew."  In the end Joe said, "I confessed all my fibs." Father Larry does a great job of talking at the kids' level, and making experiences meaningful for parishoners of all ages.  We are fortunate to have him at Holy Family. Joe asked if he can go to confession every week, and I said "sure".  I told Joe I fall asleep every night confessing my sins to God.  It's good to start every day with a clean slate!

Another thing I like about Joe's school, is the activities they do that cross grade levels.  Joe received a card of encouragement about first reconciliation from a 5th grader:

I think activities partnering students of different ages benefit all children.