No time for cheesecake? Here’s a recipe to take away that tired excuse! March 8, 2013

Tonight is the night the children in our family (and countless other families, I’d be willing to bet) have long been waiting to come…since the end of August, I believe:  the MUSICAL ANNOUNCEMENT NIGHT.  Our church has put on annual children’s musicals that just keep getting bigger and better every year, and this summer will be no exception.  There has been lots of buzz around here about what the title of the musical will be as well.  Will we finally tackle Noah and his big Ark? Can we pull off Jonah and somehow construct the innards of a stinky whale?  Should we try to do Jesus the Musical and have someone walk on water?  All these questions have run rampant for the past several months, but will be answered in a few short hours.

In addition to the hype and buildup of the announcement itself, after we finally learn what this year’s topic will be (most likely not Nimrod! The Musical and definitely not Adam and Eve! The Musical, though we could save a LOT on the costume budget that way…), we get to celebrate afterwards with a dessert potluck.  That’s where this post comes in.   Even though I love to cook (perhaps you noticed?), between schoolwork, life, and returning health issues, it’s been challenging to do the things I enjoy doing whenever I’d like.  So it didn’t take much thought to decide on the perfect quick-fix recipe that is sure to be a hit.  I found this idea last year when planning the food for my sister-in-law’s baby shower and have made them several times since.   I’m a big fan of traditional cheesecake, but this time around, there wasn’t time (or inclination, frankly) to start it last night.   These little gems are the next best thing and also allow for several different varieties of cheesecake at one time.  (Do I need to keep selling them, or are you convinced?)

The recipe is so very simple.   Place muffin papers in your muffin tins.  Place one Oreo cookie in the bottom of each.

*Note: these are off-brand Oreos, and I can really tell the difference here in size between the good ole’ Oreo and a knock-off brand.  Boo.  But since I was already crunched for time, I had to roll with it.  Next time, however, I will remember…

*Note #2: We have our annual stock of Girl Scout Cookies here too, and I toyed with using Thin Mints as the crust, but in the end, I selfishly decided that I’d rather keep those here with me.  The vultures of the Tighe tribe have already not just circled the boxes, but also have begun their attack.  There aren’t many left.

And just like that, the crust is done.  Does it feel like you’re cheating your way to cheesecake?  Perhaps. Maybe a little.

The next step is pretty much run-of-the-mill instructions for just about any cheesecake known to man.   Mix together softened cream cheese, sugar, eggs, and lemon juice.   Here’s a shot of Ben pouring the sugar in, just in case I went too fast through that list:

(My choices of fillings are photobombing in the background….)  It’s important to make sure the filling is completely blended, so pull out the rubber scraper of your choice and make sure you swipe the bottom of the bowl where unmixed cream cheese likes to hide.  This is the part where, if you have kids, they will most likely walk by and offer, “Wow, I know these cheesecakes will turn out great, but right now that smells GROSS!”   Why, thank you for the encouragement, my little ones.  You always know how to keep me going.

In any case, here’s a good shot of the well-blended filling:

This picture reminds me of Andrew’s question this morning, while it mixed:  “Mom, can we PLEASE turn it up to 10!??!”

Next, fill the cups a tad more than halfway (would that be 2/3?  5/8?  I don’t know.  I just eyeball and pray.)  The recipe I used said for 2 8oz bricks of cream cheese that I would get 16-18 cheesecakes, but I got closer to 24.  Maybe I’m chintzy on my amounts.

I don’t know; that doesn’t look stingy to me!  After that, it’s up to you what to add, if anything.  You could leave them just as they are and add sauce (either berry or chocolate) afterwards.  Today I had a few strawberries left, so I chopped them finely and sprinkled them on a few cakes.   I had literally about five raspberries still in the freezer, so we crushed them and sprinkled them over some more.   On the remaining tops, I scattered some mini chocolate chips.  While writing this, I had the thought to divide the filling into two, and add melted and cooled chocolate to one half for a marbled look.  That’s borderline too much work, however, for these easy cheesecakes, and probably should be left for the springform pan big brother cheesecake variety.

The strawberry looked like this:

And here are the raspberry and chocolate chip:

It just takes a quick 20-25 minute trip in a 325 oven and they’re done.  Refrigerate for at least three hours before serving and you’ll be so glad you spent the short amount of time to make these lovely little treats.  Unless you don’t care for cheesecake, in which case you should absolutely ignore this entire post.

I made a few extra over what I plan to bring with us to the musical announcement tonight so we can each enjoy one without fighting to get to the head of the line at church.  That wouldn’t be very Christian-like, now, would it?

Since dessert is ready, the only thing left to do is to consider what the musical will be….Hmmmmmm…….

Mini Oreo Cheesecakes

2 8 oz packages of cream cheese, softened

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 T lemon juice

Oreo cookies

Preheat oven to 325.  Place one cookie in the bottom of each paper-lined muffin tin.  Mix together cream cheese, sugar, and lemon juice until well blended.  Add eggs, one at a time, scraping sides and bottom of bowl to ensure incorporation.  Spoon filling into muffin cups about 2/3 full.  Add toppings of chopped berries or mini chocolate chips, if desired.  Bake in 325 oven for 20 minutes, or until almost set. Cool.  refrigerate for at least three hours before serving.

The mystery of pack and play folding, and other fun parenting skills March 3, 2013

We had the opportunity to help friends (who also happen to be our youth pastors) out this weekend and watch their young boys overnight while they participated in the Fine Arts competition with the youth of our church.  Considering over thirty students competed in some form or other, it was a busy two days without having small children in tow, but had their sons been with them, it would probably have been exceedingly exhausting for everyone involved.  It was a free weekend for us and really, we had no reason to say no.  Andrew and Josiah have been tight buddies since this family moved to Lexington, so it went without saying that the two of them were over the moon to have the chance to spend so much time together.

The overnight was fine–and fun.  The boys were well-behaved, or at least as well-behaved as our own kids, and having eight in the house really wasn’t that much of a change.  Anyone who knows our kids knows that they love babies.  Each week at CC,  Hannah, Brendan, and Ben take turns holding the newest additions to our CC families and would rather get their “baby fixes” sometimes than run around outside during recess time.  They are all kind and gentle with youngsters, and always take time to say hello to them or chat for a bit.  It was no different when the little Judah arrived at our home on Friday, either.  They all fawned over him and tried to get his attention and his laughs.  We were all entertained by his antics and the cute names he had for the kids (such as Patrick’s name of “Ick”).  It’s easy to take care of a toddler when there’s so much help around!

My only source of anxiety came when it neared bedtime.  We had planned to let Andrew and Josiah sleep out in the family room, since they considered this their sleepover, but that left Judah.   Todd thought he’d fare the best if we put his pack and play up in the boys’ bedroom,  so he wouldn’t feel alone.  Sounded like a good idea, no?

For one thing, we let everyone stay up probably later than they should have been, but it was party at the Tighe house, right? Friday night and nowhere to go the next morning?  Why not spend a little time watching a movie together and enjoying the evening?  Not a problem.  Everyone got ready for bed and changed into their jammies without complaint or incident, so we were chugging right along.  I anticipated that we’d have a bit of a problem with the littlest one when the moment of truth actually arrived and bedtime was nigh.  He did not disappoint.  Todd said goodnight and helped him settle into his bed while the other boys and Chloe made their way to the bedroom.  Judah was instantly upset and began calling for his Daddy. “I want to see my Daddy!” he repeated, getting more agitated.  The other kids, clearly out of practice for this sort of thing (because while our kids don’t immediately lay down and close their eyes and mouths when bedtime comes, as there hasn’t been a lot of crying for a while.  Believe me, there’s LOTS of protest here at bedtime; it just comes in the form of endless trips for glasses of water and lots of giggles.)

So he’s crying and getting louder and louder.  Our kids are troubled by this.  They turn on the light if Judah says it’s too dark.  They may have even picked him up for a short time if he complained about being in the pack and play.  I went in there and assured Judah that he was OK to sleep at our house, telling him that all the other kids were going to sleep, and talking about all the fun things we planned to do tomorrow.  I also spoke to my oblivious kids, who were so out of practice with putting a baby down for bed.  Don’t turn the light on, don’t talk a lot to him, blah blah blah.   “Listen,” I instructed, “before he settles down, he may C-R-Y for a few minutes.”  I spelled out ‘cry’ so Judah wouldn’t get any more ideas, because while I was in there, he was quieted.  I followed it with a stern,  “You may even have to I-G-N-O-R-E it for a few minutes while he figures it out.”

IMMEDIATELY, Brendan pops up and loudly exclaims, “WHAT!?!  We may have to IGNORE him, you say?  He might CRY!?!?!?!”

Aw, sheesh.  So much for subtle messages.  Leave it to Brendan to say what I was trying to hide.  We couldn’t do anything but laugh.  He’s funny like that.

I left after saying goodnight to the boys and Chloe again, and Judah started up as soon as I crossed out of the threshold of the room.   Todd and I passed in the hallway and he went in there to comfort him once more.  He was successful at getting Judah to finally understand that it was bedtime without being cruel.  He’s good like that.  It sounded like they were finally quieting down for the night when I walked by on the way to our bedroom.   I almost completely lost it when I heard Judah yell out, “BOYS!  ‘TOP IT! ‘TOP IT!  TIME FOR NIGHT-NIGHT!!”  to which Patrick, Brendan, and Ben dissolved into peals of laughter and he started correcting them again.  “‘TOP IT! ‘TOP IT! GO NIGHT NIGHT!”  I quickly ran to my room so I could laugh without getting caught.  My kids had finally been given the what-for by a two-year-old, and it was a stitch.

The rest of the visit was just fine and we were all properly exhausted when the boys returned home to their parents.  We had a taste of dirty diapers, sippy cups, and blankies.  Patrick had his first taste of trying to fold up a pack and play (without reading the SIMPLE instructions, like a good man would).  We all slept well that night.

 

Happy Epiphany? Merry 12th Day of Christmas? Whatever you call it, let’s have cake! January 6, 2013

“On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, a cake full of inedible plastic and metal trinkets!”

Our family has been focusing on starting new traditions (as well as continuing the old) during this Christmas season, and today was no exception. I saw a post about an Epiphany Cake on someone’s Facebook news feed late last week combined with a link to a recipe from The Pioneer Woman (my hero!), and I just had to check it out. After laughing my way through her blog post about it, I immediately decided that this was something that we needed to institute into our list of traditions. While growing up, I knew about Epiphany (my Mom always called it Little Christmas), but I knew nothing about celebrations that surrounded it. If you’re into history, and want to learn more about the explanation of this holiday, click here to become enlightened.

In terms of the cake, basically there is a list of trinkets that are baked right into the batter. Each trinket holds a significance and supposed blessing to the fortunate cake-eater who happens to dig into that particular piece of yummy sweetness. While I learned from The Pioneer Woman that a strictly traditional Epiphany cake only has one trinket, a BEAN, we opted for the less traditional, more trinket-laden version. Here’s a brief breakdown of the list of trinkets and significance of each:

Dime – Wealth
Ring – Church’s blessings
Thimble – Increased industry
Button – Increased spiritual knowledge
Baby – Will know Jesus more
Shoe – Will walk in the ways of the Lord

We also added two of our own:

Cross–Strengthened prayer life

Jewel–Increased discernment and clarity

While preparing the cake today, instead of simply mixing the trinkets into the batter, I poured it into the pan and then placed each of the nine pieces in a grid, hoping that everyone would get one. After it went into the oven, it was anyone’s guess as to where they would end up and who ran the risk of biting into any of them!

Here’s the cake before Todd cut it up:

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And we were off! Everyone had their own method for searching, from tiny nibbles to this little redhead’s plan:

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Destroy the cake!! She just couldn’t wait to find it!

Hannah found the thimble in her piece, which signified increased industry. And maybe she’ll take up sewing. Hard to imagine this hard worker working even harder, but a blessing upon her nonetheless!

Patrick tried to pull the wool over our eyes, and discretely hid his find until he had but one bite left, lamenting that his piece had nothing. I almost believed him until his smile give him away. He found the button! We look forward to his increased spiritual knowledge.

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I found the jewel, which signifies increased discernment and clarity. What a timely trinket for this year which will hold many decisions and possible new directions. (It’s the one I was hoping for!)

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Todd found the piece of fruit (a watermelon) in his sweet dessert. He was *just* talking about being a leader of our home while we ate dinner earlier, and his trinket indicated that he will reap the fruit of Christian living. Yay!

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Brendan was the first to announce his find, which was the ring. Despite being a bit anxious about swallowing something that he couldn’t see, he didn’t have to worry at all. He found it with no trouble. We look forward to the blessings that will come his way!

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Andrew found the cross in his cake. As you can see from his picture, he really enjoyed his dessert and the icing that went with it. An addition of ours, I was happy to see him find this trinket. Andrew is always ready to pray for people and situations, and I look forward to that growing even stronger in his life.

Ben found the baby (as the Pioneer Woman called, “a direct hit”)! It’s my prayer that this blessing of becoming closer to Jesus this year will become a reality.

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Chloe finally stumbled upon her trinket, and it could not have been more fitting for her: the shoe!! (actually, it was a flip flop, truth be told, but it was the perfect find in any case) It will be a blessing to all of us to see her walk in the ways of the Lord in the coming year.

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In case you were keeping score, the one trinket no one found in their cake…? The dime. Of course, the prosperity trinket. Bummer. It was the ninth trinket in a family of eight. Patrick did rifle through that last piece until he confirmed that it was in fact in the cake, but it remains to be seen whether that means he found it. We hope so! In any case, we all had fun eating our cake and discovering our treasures. No matter the find, we pray that God will bless our entire family greatly throughout all twelve months of 2013.

Thus ends the Twelfth Day of Christmas for our family. We will hold its happy memories in our hearts for many years to come!

“Are all those YOURS?!” December 8, 2012

Without wanting to discourage anyone from having kids–because children are a blessing beyond all others–I will say that life in a full house is probably nothing like I could have ever expected. Then again, what can you possibly expect from six kids? Perhaps it was ignorant bliss as we added one, then another, then a third, and then more, more, more to think it would be anything *but* crazy. Truth is, I never stopped to think about it, really. I mean, at one point, we had four children: the youngest was the newest of newborn (as in, he came home from the hospital that day) and the oldest had turned five one short month earlier. No one can really prepare you for that. The best they can do is feebly exclaim, “Grab something heavy and HOLD ON!! You might just make it if you survive the first six weeks!!! GOTTA GO!!!” followed by a hasty exit to their own, quieter house.

I have called that my Midway, my turning point, that newborn period with baby #4. We had found a house we couldn’t walk away from in August, moved in the last week of September, and still had unpacked boxes when baby arrived in early November. I remember feeling such helplessness as I looked at my “living room” (really, there was no living going on in that room; it was the ‘avert eyes and quickly pass by’ room), wondering when that room was going to transform from a warehouse. With the short winter days (in those days, I don’t recall having 60 degree days in December like we do now), I felt like the older kids and I went a little stir crazy being stuck in the house except for those joyous days when I had the car and got to take all four of them grocery shopping, strategically planning to leave the second the baby had been fed, burped, and changed, so that we could actually get through the shopping list before the next feeding rolled around. Oh, the days of dragging–er, accompanying, sorry–four kids (or more!) to the store. I recall if it was shopping day, by the time I got the groceries into the cart, assured one of the boys that they actually wouldn’t die if they didn’t bring home candy that day, took the groceries out of the cart and onto the checkout belt, put the bags of groceries back into the cart, took the full cart and tired kids to the car, emptied the cart and filled up the trunk with the bags, transported aforementioned items and people home, carried the bags out of the car and into the house once we arrived home, and put away the groceries, I was shocked to find that I was pretty much useless the rest of the day. Why? It was only grocery shopping, by the way! HA.

And by most standards, my kids were good shoppers. We practiced role playing before shopping so they would know not to touch everything they saw. “Look with your eyes, not with your hands,” was my go-to phrase to remind them. For a short while, I cut out the pictures of the things we needed and glued them to a shopping list so my non-readers could still help me. We didn’t have meltdowns, although there were times when I wondered if one of them was going to escalate to that point. A loud “NO!” here or there I can handle; it’s the all-out throwing one’s self around and hollering like you’ve lost a limb in Aisle 9 that I just can’t go along with. (Thankfully I think it took having a redhead for us to have one of those. That redhead, she’s pushed a lot of envelopes in her young life. Good thing she’s cute.) Even with the relatively good behavior, it’s just difficult to shop and stay on track when there is almost a constant stream of “Look at that!” or “MOM!! We NEEEEEEED this!” or my favorite: “But it’s on saaaaAAAAaaale!!! You like that, right?!” I’m easily distracted as it is, so even with a list, these little helpers could really set me off track. Amazingly, the shopping got completed and we had food to eat.

And I slept goooood at night.

I distinctly remember one night at dinner, when baby #4 was probably between four and six months old, having a surreal moment where time appeared to stop, all Matrix-style. I looked at Todd and tried really hard to communicate with just my eyes. “I don’t know if I can even consider having any more of these little creatures around our house,” I wanted him to see from my stare. In reality, he glanced over at me and probably said, “Can you pass the salt and pepper?” Is it OK for me to admit that?  I really thought I couldn’t handle even one more thing, let alone another baby.  I’m so glad, though, that it was a passing thought borne out of probable exhaustion and overwhelm. It did not last long.

Then we had #5. And #6. He really didn’t catch the meaning of that glance, huh? HA. Our family was meant for more than four! Despite the detractors and rude comments regarding our burgeoning family size, I am so glad we kept on keeping on.

And with the arrival of #5, I felt we had crossed some unspoken threshold. I’m not sure if there is documentation on the subject, but in our experience, it became the phenomenon of “what’s one more?” in many areas. Laundry is crazy with six people. What’s one more? Cooking for six people requires larger portions. What’s one more? (apparently a lot, as our four boys are g-r-o-w-i-n-g!) By six, I felt a little like the Jim Gaffigan joke that he tells about his parents going slightly crazy after the sixth child. “Our first child was named after a relative….our sixth child was named after a sandwich I liked…” Maybe we’re not crazy yet, but there are days when I feel that it must be right around the corner.

There are many things I have had to give up in order to mother a large family, but they may not be the first things that come to mind. I never felt slighted because I had to give up a potential career–being a homeschooling mom has been the hardest work I’ve ever done and would personally classify as a career (though it’s missing the almighty W-2 to “prove” it). No, the things I’m talking about are….different.  I have had to give up the notion of a Martha Stewart home, and although I’m not sure I would have ever chosen to have that kind of home, not sticking to my kitchen floor every now and again has to be a nice feeling. (I’ve heard it is from others, anyway.)  There is also this constant struggle between my dream and my reality that all blankets will be folded, throw pillows will sit on the couch and not be…well, thrown, and shoes will be put in the shoe basket as soon as they come off of a foot.  NOT HAPPENING.  Blankets seem to unfold and fling themselves upon the ground multiple times a day, as if to mock me.  Don’t get me started on little scraps of paper that magically appear all over the floor and clothes from little (and big!) bodies that remain in the shape that they fell off the wearers’ forms. Those are the things I’ve had to work on adjusting my attitude. There is paint chipped out of the walls in various places, most likely as the result of a Nerf gun war gone awry or wrestling boys who learned the hard way about Newton’s First Law of Motion: “Hey, Mom! The wall was my outside force!! It acted upon me!! And stopped me from moving in a straight line at a constant speed!” (Yeah, they would be my outside force if they ever actually said that. And then I would fall over.)  And, yes, the bathrooms. Oh, the bathrooms. It is truly a dirty little secret that I’m slowly realizing many other moms with boys have. The bathroom. It’s like pee physically canNOT make it to the toilet water at a percentage over .0003 with any consistency. I may just consider it my highest accomplishment if one day, I walk into that bathroom and am not knocked over by the smell. That smell. (For those of you with clean bathrooms, feel free to insert your condescension here. I once felt that I could keep all things clean all the time. Maybe one day in the far future, I will have that clean bathroom again, but it will mean that my boys no longer live here, and that makes my heart hurt.)

Don’t forget the dream of having a clean kitchen floor for more than 2.7 minutes.   I think it takes longer to dry after I clean it than it actually stays clean.

But then again, the things I’ve had to give up are far smaller in comparison to the benefits we have received in our journey so far.  Despite the exasperation of every bedtime feeling like a sleepover in the boys’ room (“PLEASE SETTLE DOWN AND STOP YOUR TOMFOOLERY!!!”  These are the same kids that may have been at each other’s throats up until the moment of bedtime, but as soon as they’re tucked in for the night, they become the best of friends and giggle and cause trouble back there like they haven’t seen each other in years.   Baffling.  Oft times exasperating to the nth degree.),  every bedtime includes hugs times six.  I love you’s times six.

We’ve had the joy of lots of laughter in every room in the house–even if it means the troops are scheming for mischief.   The sound of feet pitter pattering (and galloping and scampering loudly) through the house is almost constant–even if it means those feet just came in from the muddy outside and transported said outside inside and onto my kitchen floor.   Surveying our full dinner table and the memories we’ve created there most nights are ones you can’t buy in a store.  Most nights I try to take mental pictures so I can remember forever.   Watching them grow (one of them taller than me and almost taller than Todd!) and mature from babies to children to teenagers is a humbling experience.   Realizing that they have been chosen for our family is a responsibility that sometimes all but crushes me, and yet I’m so grateful that out of all the possible moms and dads in the history of the world, God saw fit to bless us with these six.   They are amazing.   We have a serious job of doing our very best to raise them to be responsible adults who contribute to society and bring glory to God.   It’s not easy, and we don’t get time off (except that one day in 2009;  I think we took a day off in 2009.  It wasn’t pretty and the memory of the aftermath still lingers…), but it’s a bit like the Peace Corps’ motto:  The toughest job you’ll ever love.

I love these kids, even with their faults.   Lord knows I still have a multitude of them.   But we’re doing this life together, and for that, I’m forever humbled and grateful.

Now….about that bathroom…..

 

Old Fashioned Christmas December 2, 2012

Last night we had the opportunity to travel less than 15 short miles to the small town of Wilmore, Kentucky, a place that has quickly grown to be near and dear to our hearts. Though it’s close in distance, it may as well be light years away from the busy bigger city. For the second year in a row, we participated in their Old Fashioned Christmas, an all-day affair that celebrates the beginning of the season and heralds the small-town feel. Our first time to the festival was sort of a bust. Despite our friends’ urging, we got there almost too late to join in on the fun. They had already lit the tree, given out the free food, and sent away the petting zoo. Even so, we all had such a fun–though truncated–time that we vowed to be more prepared in future years. So this year we made a point to be in Wilmore for the tree lighting (not Rockefellar, but exciting nonetheless), as well as all the other events we planned to see and do. One of the best things about Christmasing in Mayberry, USA, is that it’s easy to get a parking space! You don’t have to park a mile away or pay in a garage. (Am I getting old?) We met up with our friends the Hagans (who we recently found out that we’re more likely than not related to!) near the still-darkened tree. Everyone had a pair of 3D glasses, but not just any 3D glasses. These special spectacles allowed the wearer to see either a snowman or a star when he or she looked at tree or other bright lights. You’d be surprised how long the kids were entertained by them!

Brendan caught this shot through the glasses to show the snowman.

“You laughing at my glasses, eh?”

Light that tree! Light that tree!

“Like my new glasses?”

They LOVED the glasses!

Allie’s looking hard to see the snowman!

The serious Brendan shows off his new accessory.

After the tree lit up, with the Salvation Army band playing O Christmas Tree, we waved hello to the big guy–that’s right, Santa Claus himself, riding in a John Deere tractor. With the holiday mood firmly established, we did something we could only let happen in small town America: we let our kids wander off to check out the sights themselves. Chloe came with us while the older kids went out in search of some good eats and sugary treats. Of course, Wilmore isn’t that big, either, so we kept running into each other, but….the kids had some freedom. Our first stop was the IGA, where they are notarious for yummy ham biscuits and soup beans. They did not disappoint. I must have been so busy munching away that I forgot to take any pictures! After that, we crossed the parking lot to The Great Wall, the Chinese restaurant with the bluegrass band. The bluegrass was worth sitting down for to listen for more than just a song.

Bluegrass in the Great Wall. I love Kentucky!

Chloe enjoyed a Chinese restaurant treat while we all enjoyed the bluegrass music you see in the background.

From then on we got some cotton candy from the guy in the kilt. (Don’t ask, just say thank you and smile!) I believe Andrew circled around this line several times, based on how he was jumping around and almost vibrating later in the evening…

Andrew’s favorite part: COTTON CANDY!! This year’s flavor was Sassy Apple.

Yum, yum, cotton candy treat!

Chloe being silly on Todd’s shoulders.

We meandered over to the petting zoo, complete with a real camel, where Chloe could have stayed all night. She loved seeing the alpacas, donkey, and of course, the camel. One of the best things about Wilmore’s shindig is running into people we know. Many of the couples who have come through my class lived in Wilmore, and I love catching up with them and seeing how much their baby has grown. Last night was no exception, and we visited with several of them, along with friends we saw from CC. Chloe especially benefitted from these chance meetings, as it meant she got to hang out with the animals even longer.

Hands down Chloe’s favorite part of the evening: the animals at the petting zoo!

We ran into the kids again on our way down the road to check out the rest of the town, and stopped to snap a few shots. It’s hard to get all…how many? 748?…to stand still for a simple picture.

A serious shot for the older set, but for Drewbie, it’s all about the cotton candy!

The happy group.

The rest of the evening we spent walking the streets, enjoying the unseasonably warm weather, and relishing the atmosohere. On the way home later that night, we all agreed it was worth going out to Wilmore to spend time with family and friends as we welcome December and the frivolity that goes along with it.

The crowd and the flag.

Chloe and I pose for a shot.

Near the end of the evening, Andrew just stared longingly into the Subway.

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Welcome, December!

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No, it’s our Christmas tree!!! November 25, 2012

Amid all the fun of constructing a sugar house with sugar icing and sugar decorations, there was some “work” that had to be done.  We had a naked tree in our living/school room that needed to be dressed for the season.  Knowing full well that our schedule for the week would be full with school, volleyball, and work, I realized that if we didn’t manage to get to it today, it very well might go undecorated until next weekend.  That did not sound too acceptable to me, especially since we had the time and the inclination (a combination that sometimes doesn’t ever meet up).  The boys dutifully brought up the boxes that I think we’ve used since 1999, and we embarked upon Tighe Tree Trimming 2012.   This year was more pleasant than some in recent memory:  ornaments were passed out with little extra grabby hands, and although there’s always a bit of “How come Hannah has so many ornaments with her name on them?!” whining (which makes sense, especially since she’s been collecting ornaments for up to ten years longer than her youngest sibling.  As if we could amassed ornaments before we knew you’d be joining our family?  But try to explain that to a five year old.  I dare you.)  The tree had the usual clumpy look to it, as it is the way of the child to try and cram at least 27 bulbs and decorations on one branch.  Not to worry, though.  Hannah’s job this year was to walk around the tree and move anything necessary to even out the overall look.   She did a fantastic job.  Our tree is definitely an eclectic mix of old and new decorations that would probably send Martha Stewart into cardiac arrest.  You know what, though, I don’t care what Martha Stewart would think of our tree.  Every bell, every homemade star, and every ornament (from the Veggie Tales train to the creepy Santa heads) makes up a memory of our lives together.  It’s a wonderful trip down memory lane when we open each box every year.

Patrick took pictures for a while, and he’s responsible for many of the shots, but at some point Brendan took over and I’ve included many of his pictures as well.   I figured the best way to capture the evening would be to just include them all.  This year, I do believe Andrew wins the award for silliest portraits!

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My guess is that it will be quite difficult to get back into the swing of school tomorrow morning….

 

 

By wisdom a house is built, but our gingerbread house is constructed with sugar…lots of sugar!

It’s been a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday weekend, I must say.  The weather was nice until Thanksgiving night, so the kids got to play outside and run around before the cold front passed through.   We enjoyed a relaxed holiday watching football, hanging out, and eating delicious food.  The kids got to have a sleepover with their cousins.  Black Friday was relatively painless and rather productive with some timely purchases without long lines.  It was a heavenly change to take a break from school and all the rigors therein.

Today we decided to begin the process of Christmasing the house, on the last day before we get back to work and school tomorrow.  Because he loves a good deal (and a good deal of turkey), Todd had snagged a 20lb turkey for a steal a couple weeks ago, and it had been thawing for the appropriate amount of days in the fridge.  After church, we made a quick stop at the grocery store to get a few items and rent a movie, before coming home.  Todd immediately started his prep on the turkey.   He has all but perfected his technique for cooking the fowl, and today was no exception.  It did not take long for the aroma of turkey to permeate the house.  While that was working away, we also brought bins and boxes upstairs from the Christmas closet in preparation for decoration.  There was even a bit of time in there for a walk in the mild afternoon while the kids entertained themselves.

One of the activities on our agenda today was something we’ve never done here as a family: a gingerbread house.   How have we missed that?  Most years, the kids fashioned one at their Nonnie Tighe’s house during one of their afternoon trips, but this year, Todd wanted to do one of our own.  It turned out to be a delightful project.  Everyone got in on the action and everyone enjoyed adding their own personal touches.  Although we somehow missed the VERY important “allow icing 15 minutes to dry before decorating house” instruction which resulted in a bit of decoration droop, we were able to successfully repair the facade of the house with little lasting damage.  And somehow we managed to use all the candy on the house with none being eaten….yet.

Here are an assortment of pictures from the assembly:

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After the completion of the gingerbread house, the turkey was done.   We didn’t plan to have a huge Thanksgiving-esque meal, but instead enjoyed delicious turkey sandwiches while beginning our family movie night.  Everyone gave Todd’s creation rave reviews.   I don’t predict leftovers lasting long.

I’m also anxious to see how many of us stay awake to the end of the movie, what with our full bellies and all….

Let the Christmas season begin!

Black Friday deals upon deals November 23, 2012

Earlier in the week, I made the bold proclamation (on Facebook, no less) that I would be spending Black Friday morning snugly in my jammies, sipping hot coffee, and lounging around the house. I really shouldn’t do that. Despite inviting our nephew and niece over to spend the night in an effort to ensure I had to stay home Friday morning, my oldest daughter had other plans. Todd, I must say, was the accomplice. Once he announced that Hannah’s favorite store, Plato’s Closet, had everything 40% off from 6-9am, the game was on. After maneuvering and plotting (and a bit of wearing me down at my weakest; I was, after all, already attempting to avoid the inaugural batch of Christmas Crack. Seriously, how much can one person take?!), I agreed to drive her over there at 6am. Not a problem, right? My life isn’t so busy that I can’t miss some sleep.

All eight kids came home with us after 10pm and promptly got crazy! The older kids went to bed around 11, but the youngest four couldn’t bring themselves to settle down until after 1am. They had so much to talk and laugh about, you know… I set my alarm for 5:40 later that morning, hoping I wouldn’t sleep through it. I know that many other crazy shoppers were already in the throes of Black Friday shopping, and had been at it for several hours by the time we even went to sleep. Still…I was hoping not to be one of the crazies.

I almost did sleep through the alarm! Dragging myself out of bed, I hoped I could do as little personal grooming as possible without embarrassing the fire out of my teenaged daughter. She didn’t say anything about it (which doesn’t necessarily mean I passed, but at least I didn’t hear a word). We saw other fine folks shopping in their Angry Birds pajama pants later on, so I was suddenly proud of myself for at least changing my clothes and brushing my teeth.

We snuck out the back door of the house so as not to wake up the four youngers snoozing in the family room, and drove mostly in silence to Plato’s Closet. I was curious to check out the traffic (not so curious that I would have gotten up to drive around and check it out had Hannah not asked me to….but I digress), and it wasn’t too bad. Plato’s Closet was surprisingly busy, however.

It was a discouragingly slow start in terms of finding what we came for. Hannah must have tried on ten pairs of jeans before we found the right fit and styles, but she was ultimately quite successful. I thought for sure she was going to give up and we would go home empty-handed. I should have known better. My first-born doesn’t play that way. If we hadn’t had to get back home in time for the rest of the morning’s activities, I do believe she would have been content to look over every piece of clothing in the store before leaving. Alas, we left around 8, with a bagful of clothes that made the trip worthwhile. 40% off will do that for you.

As I rounded the corner of the van–you know, the quirky van I only recently wrote about, extolling its virtues–I noticed some plastic on the ground. Then I realized that before this morning, that plastic had been attached to our van, and namely the rear tail light. No way! Someone, obviously in their haste to rush into Plato’s Closet (the only store open in the strip mall at that time) and get the best deals–or their haste to get away, I guess, after feeling like they stole clothing from the store, had backed into our van and had broken the tail light. Ugh! How ridiculous! While certain aspects add character to a vehicle, this wasn’t one on my list.

While I wasn’t sure what I should do, I was fairly confident that said “backer-inner” was gone already, I went on about my life of quiet desperation. And drove home.

If it’s been a while since you’ve seen a busted tail light, here’s a refresher.

But in the back of my mind…..a past order came to mind. A couple years ago, when we drove a Chevy Venture instead of our Pontiac Montana (virtually the same vehicle, but shhhh, don’t tell anyone. I don’t think they’ve caught on just yet), we broke a tail light doing something silly like riding scooters or playing basketball near the van. Instead of paying full price–I am married to Todd, you know–I did an online search for a replacement tail light and found one. The website had great prices, so I ordered a left light. The problem was that I needed a brand new right tail light. (Sometimes the blonde just takes over…) I cannot for the life of me remember why I didn’t send the left one back at the time, but if I had to guess, I’d say that life happened and one day turned into another which turned into a month, which caused me to file the box with the left light in our highly efficient garage organization system. And there it sat. A few times it got moved from the front of the garage to the back. While I was driving home with Hannah this morning, though, it had been so long that I couldn’t remember which light was in the garage (or if it had moved from front to back to dumpster), but at least there was a chance.

I didn’t go looking for it right away. By the time we got back home, Todd and Patrick had just left to go finish a job at a house. The kids were waking up after a short winter’s nap and they needed breakfast. It wasn’t until I had taken a shower that I thought to go out there, and sure enough, it was still in the front of the garage. It was a left light!! Woohoo!

I was going to do a tiny victory dance, but the cold front had already come through Lexington and it was true to its name! No celebrating until I came back inside to the warmth. It looked like our mini disaster was going to be quickly and easily repaired! Thanks be to God for taking care of even the trivial details of life.

After Todd came home, we had an errand to run that kept us from making sure that the light I thought would fit actually did fit. I was so happy when it took less than five minutes to take out the broken and install the new.

Unfortunately, we couldn’t remove the small scrape that the “hit and run” driver left on the bumper (drama, much, anyone?) but the major damage was indeed gone. What a blessing to have the exact part that we needed in our garage. Now we can keep on driving and notifying everyone of when we brake and when we plan to turn left. HA. Thank goodness. I’d hate to take anyone by surprise….

No time off, even on Thanksgiving November 22, 2012

The thought crossed my mind to take the day off from the daily blogging; after all, it IS a major holiday, right? No one would care if I did or did not blog, right? Everyone is presumably well into their turkey-induced coma (except people like my older brother, who are allergic), and reading is quite possibly the furthest thing from their sleepy minds. But I would know. And I said I would blog every day of November. So here I am.

Of course, on Thanksgiving there is no shortage of ideas to talk about: what am I thankful for? What did we eat today? Are you going to hit the stores for Black Friday this year, and what time are you going out?

We did not have a turkey dinner this year on the actual holiday. Because we did the whole nine yards less than two weeks ago when we were all together, the thought of repeating the entire production was a bit daunting. Instead, we had delicious roast beef sandwiches with a ton of snacks, veggies and fruits, and of course, desserts. Everything was scrumptious and in copious amounts. We have so much leftover, in fact, that we may have to do it all over again on Saturday.

The question remains, though: if turkey wasn’t on the menu, why are we all still so sleepy?

In any case, as we sit around and visit…or look through the ads for shopping tomorrow…or play on our phones…we have so much to be thankful for. We are here, for one thing. Everyone is healthy–or relatively so. The kids are running around and getting along. What a blessing to be able to share special days with their cousins! We had an abundance of food, in a time when many are hungry. We have homes and jobs and cars. These are things we personally may not think too much of but cannot be thankful enough for. We are so blessed to have the basics. I don’t want my kids to ever take the blessings they have for granted, and I know a large part of that attitude will come from my own. It may be cliche, but I want to live with an attitude of gratitude in all things. The Lord has definitely lavished His blessings upon us, more than we can even thank Him for and definitely more than we deserve.

It has been a good, full day (unless you’re a Detroit Lions fan; then it’s just another year, another disappointment.) These are the ones to remember. Thank You, Lord, for allowing me this life.

And now….are there any desserts left?

Thanksgiving break is a beautiful thing… November 21, 2012

We made it to Thanksgiving break. What a relief! For a few days, we get to do what we each enjoy (not that we don’t “enjoy” school, but who doesn’t like a break every now and again?) In any case, for me, ‘what we enjoy’ includes baking and making things in the kitchen! So far today we made two loaves of pumpkin cranberry bread and pumpkin chocolate chip bread. (The cranberry recipe is at the bottom of this post) Our day began today with a trip to the budget salon for boy haircuts, a stop at the grocery to pick up the last minute items I forgot earlier in the week, and a jaunt at the library to check out two dozen books. Hopefully the gaggle of library books will not migrate from our house before they are due back. After our morning errands, it was time to hunker down in the kitchen…and make a gigantic mess. Thankfully, we got the bread baked and also prepared ingredients for tomorrow’s menu items. After that, all that was left was to clean up the wake we had left.

While wrapping up the kitchen activities, I heard Chloe singing a mix of Christmas songs and the timeline song.  I had to at least ask if she’d let me record her singing a bit of it.  To my surprise, she said yes.  Before she could change her mind, Patrick started the music and I started recording.

*Warning*  Worldviews will begin to diverge, like two roads in a yellow wood.  As if homeschooling weren’t enough to cause us to take the road less traveled, we also took another fork within that road into classical Christian education.  One of the best descriptions I have read can be found here.

At five years old, Chloe is the perfect example (though she’s DEFINITELY not alone) that children at this age love to memorize.  They are really excellent at it!  Because we are a classical education family, the young years are spent learning the grammar.  This is not to say we spend all our time learning English, but the grammar of things.  They are learning ”just the facts.”   Of course her mind is not sophisticated enough to debate what caused the Punic Wars or why Japan chose isolationism.  She is not interested.  But she likes to sing (ohhh, does she like to sing) and has learned so many facts through her early years of school.  For now, she is hanging what we call pegs.  The pegs of information will go into her brain and hopefully stay there, so that as she grows and matures, and becomes ready to receive more information, she will have the pegs to jump start from.   Her older brothers are learning the same material as she is, but they are more able to not only learn, for example, the parts of a flower, but draw a flower and label its parts or learn what each part does for the flower.    It is a system that has worked for us and our family as we strive to educate our children.

So all that is prelude to Chloe’s first timeline recording.  She needs a bit of prompting here and there (by me, so please excuse the hideous voice) and Patrick, who isn’t even studying the timeline anymore.  Both he and Hannah are beyond the early stages of this program, but they have both impressed me by what they can recite.  Listening to it all the time will kind of do that anyone.   (You can ask my kids.  I play it a LOT.)   In any case, she’s also just so cute singing it!  She just turned five a few weeks ago and we all just can’t get over her.   I hope you can understand most of what she says (it’s rather humorous when she doesn’t quite remember the words, yet still keeps the beat with a few “hmmms” and “lalalas.”).  All in all, it’s not bad for a few months of learning.

Enjoy!

Cranberry Pumpkin Bread

3 c. flour
1 t salt
1 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t ginger, nutmeg, and cloves
3 eggs
2 c canned pumpkin
1 c canola oil
2/3 c sugar

2/3 c packed brown sugar
3 t vanilla
1 c dried cranberries

Combine dry ingredients. Set aside. Combine eggs, pumpkin, oil, sugars, and vanilla. Stir well. Stir in dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in cranberries. Pour into two greased 8×4 loaf pans. Bake at 350 for 50-55 min. Cool 10 min. before removing from pans.