12-30-2014 Year in Review

I follow a blog The Enchanted Home and  today's post over there inspired this post.

My favorite memory of 2014 is not just one but a collection of many moments in which I can see how far Luke has come socially. He has friends over every weekend. He just went on his first sleepover. He is enjoying his life and welcomes others into it. A true pleasure to see and makes my heart smile.

My wish for the world for 2015 is an end to wars and suffering caused by man-made violence. It's not a  likely to come true, but it is what I wish for.

My personal resolution for 2015 is to be a bit more artistic. Maybe, I can learn a bit about painting or pastels. I'd like to create art on canvas to hang inside our home.

Looking back, 2014 was a good year. We had our health. We had each other. We had enough money that if an appliance broke, we could easily replace it with a new appliance (refrigerator in September, dishwasher in November, toaster oven in December). Charlie bought a grill in September. Our business traded in a 10 year old truck for a new one just today. Being able to make these purchases is my idea of living in luxury.

The perfect way to ring in the New Year is fast asleep with those I love safe and sound in their beds. Icing on the cake would be to sleep through the fireworks and gun shots making noise outside around us.

12-30-2013 Luke's First Sleepover

Luke slept over at his friend Tyler Fornina's house last night. It's the first time Luke has slept over at someone's house who wasn't Grandma and Grandpa. We haven't heard from him yet, so he's on our minds. I certainly hope and pray it went well!

12-26-2014 We had the Merriest of Christmases

Christmas 2014 was a good one. Maybe one one of the best yet! Lily woke up around 5:00 a.m. and came to our room suggesting we go downstairs to open gifts. Uh, no….we are not getting up at 5:00 a.m. to open gifts. So she snuggled up in bed with Charlie and myself and dozed off and on until 7:00a.m. Then we all got ourselves ready and headed downstairs. Luke actually didn't come down immediately, the first time we ever did not go down all together. Since he did not have any presents to open other than a little gift box holding a $100 bill, I didn't see the point in forcing the issue. What was the sense in making him sit there and watch Lily open her gifts. He timed it perfectly and came down just as Lily was opening her last gift. She got: a pair of fashion boots, an under armor sweatshirt, leggings, a batman tee shirt, a batman sweatshirt, and Uggs sheepskin lined shoes. I know the shoes were a surprise and I have a feeling she snooped and knew about the batman items and leggings. She picked the boots and under armor sweatshirt herself.

Ben Z. who works with Charlie quite a bit as a subcontractor got him 2 fleece lined sweatshirts which Charlie opened Christmas morning. Both are very nice and should keep him warm this winter. Weather was not a concern yesterday. It was very mild with temperatures in the 50's I think. It felt like a spring day!

Mom and Dad arrived around 10:30-ish. Gram Ada fell getting out of her shower and they had to get her up and squared away before coming to us. They brought the chocolate cake with peanut butter icing that we always have for Baby Jesus' birthday.

Next we played a rousing game of Christmas trivia with a deck of trivia cards I'd bought at the Dollar Tree. That was a lot of fun! We were quite competitive and blurted out answers, much to Lily's annoyance as she was the one asking the questions for the most part.

After that we played Reindeer Rummy with cards Mom had brought. That was fun as well. Lily won several hands right off the bat with the cards she was dealt. That often happens as she is really very lucky in gaming.

We eventually made our way in to the living room where Mom handed out cards from Gram, Gayle, and Jill with money for the kids. This was per their request. They were very pleased with their final totals and are planning/plotting what to purchase.

For lunch we had Screpsie's hoagies, chips, fruits and veggies, cheese cubes, mulled cider with apricot brandy, chocolate covered pretzels, cream cheese with hot pepper jelly, and homemade cranberry relish. We all were stuffed by the end of that feast!

After lunch Dad, Charlie, and Luke loaded buckets with wood for the furnace. Grandma, Lily, and Luke did a gingerbread house and tree, I took photos and flittered around the house tidying up a bit. The afternoon ended with games of Battleship and Connect Four.

P&J left around 3:30. Mom fretted that they'd be getting home just in time to help load Gram Ada into the car to go to Paula's for Christmas.

We left around 4:30 to go to Kathy's house. George, Denisse, and Brendon were in from Utah. We haven't seen them for a few years. Because they flew in the night before, they slept in and didn't feel up to coming to our place. We were perfectly fine with that. I must say, this worked out perfectly for all. Perhaps we'll do Christmas this way every year. Wehrys in the morning and Crowells in the evening. We visited and played a round of Farkle before leaving around 8:15.

Of course, by the time we got home we were all quite tired. The kids went to bed with no fuss at all. I think we all were in agreement that it was one of the best Christmases ever!

12-22-2014 How Do You Solve a Problem Like….

I started singing "How do you solve a problem like….."

Lily chimed in "ebola?"

Only Lily.

12-18-2014 A Most Wonderful Day Spent Thrifting

Charlie stayed home all day today working on estimates and invoices. He was able to take kids to and from school. That meant I was free to go shopping all by myself. It wasn't Christmas shopping. That's been done. This was just shopping for the fun of it.

The first place I went was to Sal Val in Lebanon. Since our local store closed the end of November, Lebanon is the next closest one for us. Within 5 minutes of entering the store, my cart was full and I had to go thru the checkout. I bought 4 fabulous folding lawn chairs that will be perfect down at the dock. I also bought 2 accent lamps and shades which I've been keeping my eyes open for. After a trip to the car to unload my loot I went back inside and hunkered down to some serious clothing shopping. I made out fabulous and bought all kinds of turtlenecks, cardigans, comfy pants, sweaters, etc. I bought so many clothes my cart was full again and I had to make another trip to the car. I went in 1 final time and found a fabulous shoe tree organizer. It's quite heavy and sturdy and was a wonderful find.

My next stop was Goodwill in Robesonia. I made out fabulous there as well. I bought a pair of black, fur-lined North Face boots (THE thing/label to have this year) for $8.97. They probably retail for about $150. I also bought 2 wall hangings for bathroom to jazz it up a bit. I got a slate grey/black turtleneck there and 2 or 3 winter scarves as well.

The third stop was to A Wrinkle in Time country craft store. I bought a few pair of earrings at $1 per pair, a necklace, a copper bracelet, garland made of nuts painted red (sounds weird to describe but has a nice rustic look to it), a few old wooden box ends. The best purchase there was a replica of a wooden dough bowl trencher. I've wanted one for a long time, but couldn't bring myself to pay the going rate of $125 or up. This one looks great and was only $38. A much better deal.

I took along a little cheese tray for myself and a few bottles of water and juice. It was such an enjoyable time. I am so happy I had the chance to spend the day this way today!

12-17-2014 Concert Last Night, Colonial Williamsburg Re-Enactment Today

Lily had her 5th grade concert last evening. It was quite enjoyable. I sat with my friend Patti since Charlie and Luke had basketball practice.

This afternoon Lily's 5th grade class presented Colonial Williamsburg after school. Children stood in front of shops they had created and did a little spiel about their shop. Other children offered refreshments. A group did square dancing. Others played Christmas songs. It was quite enjoyable. Mom and Dad came down around lunch time. They treated Luke and I to Chinese for lunch and joined us for Lily's presentation. It was a nice family afternoon.

12-11-2014 Snow Globe Kind of Day

We woke up to snow this morning. It was just a heavy dusting on the grass and trees. It continued snowing all day, often heavy, but never sticking to roads or slate. In my eyes, that made it the perfect snow. It was so pretty to watch. I put on Christmas songs and distributed decorations throughout the house.

Mom was supposed to go with her sisters, Linda and Gayle, to Long Wood Gardens today. She canceled going due to the weather and Aunt Linda yelled at her and hung up on her. I feel bad for Mom. Even though she knows she made the right decision, she doesn't feel good about the way Linda reacted. Gayle also decided not to go and her and Mom are in agreement not to pre-arrange any more long distance events during winter months.

Charlie and the kids are at basketball practice. I'm enjoying the peace and quiet of the house while snuggled up under my electric blanket upstairs in my bed.

12-1-2014 Thanksgiving Break Summary

I worked Thanksgiving. It wasn't too bad. We had a crowd of guests for lunch and they were not satisfied with the meal. I can't say I blame them as the chef substituted brussel sprouts for carrots. That was our biggest problem of the day, so I'm considering it a win.

Charlie and the kids went to ThanksGibney as is the tradition. They came home grumpy and starving as is the tradition.

Friday we stayed home and decorated around the house, but did not do the tree because Charlie decided to get a real tree this year. To get the full experience with horse drawn wagon rides and hot cocoa, you need to go to a tree farm on a weekend. I was fine with that.

Saturday he and the kids did the tree farm experience while I was at work. Unfortunately, I got stuck at work and texted them to go ahead and decorate without me. I must admit, the tree is the best looking tree we've ever had!

Sunday Charlie and Luke went to Lowe's and bought and installed a new dishwasher. Ours had broke 2 months ago, but I was reluctant to buy a new one so soon after buying a new refrigerator.

Today Mom came down while Dad was buck hunting. We visited, went for Chinese, and did some shopping. We had a very nice time together.

The kids go back to school from their long break tomorrow. The forecast is for freezing rain, so hopefully they get there before it starts and it ends before I need to go pick up Luke from math class.