Making A Home

Advent Begins

Sunday was the first day of Advent.  The Advent calendar is stocked with treats, activities, and small treasures.  (I've had to supplement a few things for this first few days of advent, before December begins).

Our candles are ready.  (Thanks to Chuck for the log and to my grandpa for his help drilling the holes for the candles.  Bad on me for looking online to find out how many candles and accepting a wrong answer... I had him drill 4 holes, only to discover I needed five!  A trip to Pier 1 solved that problem, with this cute crystal star candle holder for the very special Christ candle.  I also had trouble finding the proper colors... and Walgreens had Christmas colored candles at 4/$1.  So I improvised.  Maroon will stand in for violet.  And a white can be turned pink with the aid of a Mr. Sketch smelly marker.  :)

Our literature is prepared.  We are reading Jotham's Journey again this year (we LOVED it last year), in the evenings before bed.  And in the mornings, Brian will lead us through these short Advent devotions each morning, written by a member of our church congregation.  I love that so many of us will be reading and discussing the same scriptures for this whole season of Advent!

Advent has begun!  Christmas is coming!  What are you doing to celebrate Advent?

Black Friday

This is a chronicle of my adventures on Black Friday, 2009.

I had looked over the ads while at my Grandma's house, to see if there were any great deals to be had on a new laptop (mine is not long for this world.  It sounds like a helicopter, has colored lines down the screen, making it hard to see some letters, won't allow more than a couple of programs open at once, and more often than I can accept, will overheat and start closing programs randomly... not to mention it's on it's third new battery, and is down to about 10 minutes before it dies if not plugged in.)  Walmart had several great deals, and Office Max had one.

The thought of getting up on Black Friday to fight crowds and stand in long lines didn't thrill me.  Nor did the thought of spending several hundred dollars, even if it was for something necessary.  So I left the decision up to circumstance.  I would go to bed Thursday night without setting an alarm clock, and if I was awake by natural means in enough time to make it to Walmart to stand in line, then I would do that.  If I had no luck at Walmart, I would proceed to Office Max.  If I slept through both, so be it.

Well, as luck would have it, nature called at 3:15am.  So I got up, got dressed, and headed for Walmart (ours is open 24 hours, but the sales weren't starting until 5.  I figured over an hour early should be sufficient to stand in line, depending on how many computers were in stock.)  When I drove by Best Buy on the way, their line was already ridiculous... stretching to nearly the other end of the shopping center, with still a few hours to wait... that was not encouraging.  But I got into Walmart, headed for the area where the line was supposed to be forming for one of the three laptops I was interested in, and heard the buzz between customers and employees... ALL of the laptops... all three varieties were spoken for by people standing in line before 2 AM.  I repeat, the sale doesn't start until FIVE!  But there was only one lady standing by the $29 bikes, so I went to stand with her.  $29 is an incredible deal, both children have outgrown the bikes they have, and although I wanted them for their BIRTHDAYS (in July), I couldn't pass up the price... so I stuck around to buy one of each (a boy's and a girl's) which they released for purchase just before 5, fought the crowds through the store (with both boxes in my cart, I couldn't SEE where I was going, and there were traffic jams in every aisle.)  It took me nearly 30 minutes to get to the front of the store, and another 40 minutes to check out! 

Next stop, Office Max.  The deal they had going on their laptops was still VERY good, so I was suprised when I pulled up just an hour before opening that there were only 2 people in front of the store - a couple of early 20's young men who had been there since 4:15.  It was now 6.  I stood with them for a while, read a few pages of the book I brought with me, greeted a few more people that joined the line (comrades in the black Friday trenches), and waited.  At 6:30, the store manager invited those of us that were there (probably 15 of us) into the lobby of the store, offered us Starbucks coffee while we waited, and pointed out where all of the items we wanted in the store were, so we could figure out our game plans.  I loved that!  She invited the next group in, while I and the rest of my front-of-the-line crew went back outside to stand in line, now with hot coffee in hand.  Promptly at 7, they let us in.  I grabbed a cart, walked straight to the man handing out tickets for the computers, then back to the front of the store to grab a printer.  One of the perks of the little meet-and-greet with the manager... she told us about several compound deals.  If you were buying a computer today, you could get a non-wireless printer for $40 off, and they had one on sale that day for $39.99... or a Wireless printer (very convenient for laptop users) for $60 off...and they had one on sale for $74.99!  So not only did I get an incredible deal on a laptop (one of only 9 they had in stock), but I walked away with a brand new 3-in-1 wireless printer for $15. 

Yes, my friends... it was worth the loss of sleep, though I promise myself every year I'm just going to sleep in.  :)

Oh... and on the way home, I swung through the Starbucks Drive-through... to get Peppermint Mochas for myself and my hubby.  Because what some people call "Black Friday"... is referred to as "Pepperming Mocha Day" around here.  Because for every coffee, there is a season.

Turn, turn, turn. 

Thanksgiving 2009

I don't have much in the way of photos from Thanksgiving - just this one shot my mom passed along. 

Note the cute jumper I sewed Hallie - from 11pm when my Grump Therapy friends left on Wednesday night, until 2:30 Thursday (Thanksgiving) morning... while watching a terribly disappointing version of Les Miserables on Netflix Instant View.  (It had no music!!  Where were the songs??)  She wore the jumper Thursday afternoon, for Thanksgiving dinner, then again the next afternoon to go see Unky and Amy (My brother, Brandon, and his wife) and of course Baby Lizzie!

She's now 4 months old, but I'm told at her last checkup the doctor said she was the size of a 7 month old (and remember, she was born early!)  It was fun spending some time with them.  They couldn't be here for Thanksgiving (some of the other side of the family hadn't met the baby yet), but spent Friday to Saturday at my  mom's house.  We had lunch, watched a DVD (I'm told I wasn't the only one that slept through part of it), Brandon came over to my house to secure my wireless network and challenge the kids to Guitar Hero.  Then a bunch of us went out to dinner at a Chinese restaurant that was a favorite of Brandon's (for the Crab Rangoon.)  The food was very good, but the kids meals were pricey - my 3 little ones decided on fish and chips, but evidently when I ordered, the waitress thought I only ordered 1 meal for them to share... which turned out to be just fine, since none of them ate more than the fries!  I'm SO glad I didn't get 3 fish dinners at $6.25 each!  I threatened to take the cost out of their allowance next time they don't eat what they order!

But back to the jumper... by mid-afternoon Friday, she'd torn it already!  So much for 1.5 yards of courduroy and 3.5 hours I could have been sleeping!  And I didn't get around to taking any photos... sigh.  At least I have the one my mom took... of half of it!

Thanksgiving was nice, we had a delicious breakfast of orange rolls, satsuma oranges, and hash-browned omelet (a breakfast casserole with egg, potato, bacon and cheese... yum!)  We had a fairly leisurely morning, put the kids' Christmas trees up in their rooms, watched A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, and got ready for dinner with the family.  Dinner was at my grandma's house, as usual.  Nice to see the family for another holiday... even if I do always end up at the "Bachelder table"... eating with just the members of my own household!  My 18 year old cousin was kind enough to join our table this year... but it wasn't long before I was the only one left at the table (my kids don't eat much at meals like this, Brian followed them to make sure they were behaving, and Kylee finished quickly, too.)  I guess I'm just a slow eater in comparision, but I can certainly be thankful for a few moments alone, too!

My children wrote acrostic poems for Thanksgiving... and while I feel I must apologize for the inappropriateness of Hallie's first entry, I left it as it was, as a memory of her silliness at this age.   Sam's accidentally got deleted by my old laptop... so I'll post it soon if I can recover a copy.

Hallie said she was thankful for:

Toots (that's our family word for passing gas.  Again, my apologies)
Hallie (my name)
All my toys
Nay-nay (my sister)
Kalina (my friend)
Sam (my brother)

Thankful

I am utterly amazed at the blessing God has bestowed upon me.  With not an ounce of deserving.  Some friends were posting on Facebook from November 1st through Thansgiving one thing each day they were grateful for.  Knowing I'd fall behind, I saved them for this post.

1. I am saved by Grace.
2. I have a God and Savior who walks beside me and leads me through EVERY day.
3. I have an amazing husband who loves me.
4. My kids have a dad who loves them is so incredibly involved and invested in their lives. 
5. I have a son who is brilliant, and loving, and refines my patience. :)
6. I have a daughter who is sweet and funny and overflowing with life.
7. We have been entrusted with the care of a spunky, adorable toddler for this period of her life.
8. We have a small, but affordable home.
9. I live in a country (and a state, and a county), where homeschooling is not only legal, but supported.
10. I have close friends who are walking the road with me of raising adopted, special needs children.
11. I have more close friends who are like-minded, and support each other in the daily realities of homeschooling and being wives and mothers who want to please God in our calling.
12. I have a large extended family that still gets together for holidays.
13. I have blog readers, some of whom I have never met, who supported me with prayers and  encouraging words when two of our children were taken from us.
14. We were able to be a part this year of the planting of a church in the heart of our town.
15. The pastor and congregation of our church have amazing hearts for God, for the Bible, and for adoption!
16. More and more families are opening themselves up to answer God's call to care for orphans through adoption... this brings me GREAT joy!
17. In a time of great financial difficulty in this country, we are thriving.
18. My husband's work provides insurance for our family at a minimal cost to us.
19. My pantry is full.
20. I have both the means and the ability to make good, wholesome food for my family.
21. Brian's company opted to forgo annual raises this year, so that there would be NO lay-offs.
22. My children love me, despite my MANY imperfections.
23. We have two functioning vehicles.
24. My mom babysits!  We don't have a weekly date night or anything, but we can generally go out on our anniversary, attend meetings with social workers when needed, and more... and that is a real blessing!
25. We just found out one of our former foster kids (S, now age 11, from January '09) is being adopted by someone Brian knows from work!  Hooray!!
26. Tomorrow is the first day of the Christmas season (by my rules).  Decorations, music, movies... and Peppermint Mochas... here I come!

Happy Thanksgiving, Friends!  May you enjoy time with your loved ones as you count your many blessings. :)

Sam and Hallie's Thanksgiving Cookbook

I saw this idea online.  I pulled Sam and Hallie aside individually and asked them to help me make a Thanksgiving cookbook with all of (What they considered to be) the most important recipes.  Here's what they dictated:

TURKEY

Sam: "First we buy the turkey.  Then we let it sit for a few days to let it thaw out.  After it's all thawed out we open the bag which it was trapped in and we find the neck, open it up and take out the neck part.  Then we go to the bottom of the turkey, where I think it's butt is, then we take out two bags, then we take out some pinky stuff.  And then we season the turkey with oil on the top, but don't get it splattered!  Then you fill it with other seasonings and throw it in a turkey bag, put it in a pan, then put it in the oven for 1 hour or so at I think 500 degrees."

Hallie: "First we take out the bones... scary!  Then we wash him off.  And then we put a bag and we sprinkle it with flour inside and we shake it tightly.  And then we put seasonings on the turkey and the last seasoning of all is oil.  Yuck!  Then we put the turkey in a bag and put it in the oven for 400 degrees for 1 or 2 hours."

CRANBERRY

Sam: "I don't know."

Hallie: "I like the cranberry, but I don't know how to cook it.  I would make it like, first, I get some craisins, and then put them in a boiling, boiling, boiling, boiling hot tub, which I call a hot boat.  Then when the cranberry's all done, I mash it a little bit.  Then I put it in a bag, then shake it with all my might.  And I have to hold the bag tightly so the cranberry doesn't fall out.  Then I'd take a handful of cherries and strawberries and then put them in a boiling hot tub.  And I mix them around and I mash them, and then I do the same thing, shake them.  And then I cook it in the microwave for 30 seconds.  And that's how I make it for me."

CORN:

Hallie: "Corn is healthy and very yummy.  Especially corn on the cob.  Well how we mak turkey... I mean corn, well, first we cook it so it won't freeze.  And then, while it's cooking, we melt butter and put it on.  Then when we put it on our corn when it's ready, we sprinkle pepper and that's it."

MASHED POTATOES:

Sam: "You buy the potatoes, then take about 5 or 6 out of the sack.  Make sure you have a big pan.  Then we peel it, then we rinse it, then we cut it in half, then turn it on the flat sides and cut it in half again, put it in a boiling pot until it's ready.  You know it's ready because the potatoes will be soft and it will be boiling even more.  Then you take them out, put it in the mixer, then you mix it and you take it out and serve it."

Hallie: "Well, um, turkey was healthy, too, but I forgot about it.  So first, how we make mashed potatoes is still healthy.  So how we make mashed potatoes is have potatoes, peel them, chop them, then actually... not chop them first.  Well, we rinse them, then chop then.  Then we put them in a boiling tub.  Well, it's actually called a hot boat.  So, when it's done, we mash it and probably add some salt on it and some pepper.  And that's it."

SQUASH:

Hallie: "How I make squash.  Well, first we get a squash from the garden or from a store.  And then we cook it in a pot, a boiling pot.  Then we mash it when we're done, and add pepper.  And that's it.  That's how we make squash."

PUMPKIN PIE:

Sam: "First you get the pie pumpkin, you undo it, then you take out all the stuff and take out the pumpkin seeds and make them roasted... but for a pumpkin pie, it's a little bit of a trick.  You have to make the pie with pumpkin filling.  And that's it."

Hallie: "Hmm... I was just yawning.  Well, how we cook it is get a pumpkin from your garden or get one from the store if you don't have a garden or some pumpkins.  You would still have a garden, but you didn't plant pumpkins.  Well, we go to the store or to our garden and then when we pick it, we cut off the peels, take out some of the seeds because we don't want... yeah.  Then we mash it up like mashed potatoes.  Well, then we put it in the oven over 235 degrees.  Then we take it out and then we put it in a pan, then do it again for 235 degrees again.  And then when it's all done, I click.  Actually, I didn't click.  Well, I CUT two pieces in the middle and that's how I made pumpkin pie."

The reveal...

Take a standard sheet of paper, and fold it in half.

Starting at the folded edge, make a cut less than an inch from each side, stopping about 3/4 inch from the end.

Cut open the folded edge between these two cuts.

Flip the paper over and make another cut on each end, from the opposite side, less than an inch from the first cuts, again, stopping before you get to the edge.

Continue flipping and making additional cuts, two at a time, until you get to the center, where you will make one final cut.

Unfold carefully...

 
  
  

And jump!

Walking Through Paper

We picked up volume 1 of "Mr. Wizard's World" at the library.  My kids loved it, as I knew they would.

They couldn't resist trying out some of the experiments... like this one:

Can you cut a hole in a standard sheet of paper big enough to walk through?

We did.

Try it.  I'll show you how tomorrow. :)

Making Clouds

In our ongoing weather study, it was time to talk about clouds.  I had a video from the library, a book or two... and white cotton candy!

We made Cumulus Clouds...

And Stratus Clouds...

And Cirrus Clouds.

And then we ate them.  :)

Hallo-wasn't

That's what Sam calls a Halloween without trick-or-treating.  (I can't believe it took my THREE WEEKS to get around to posting this!)

Our fall festivities this year (being non-Halloween folk) became our first annual (that's the plan anyway... we shall see)...

 "Bachelder Fall Family Fun Night"

When the kids went to bed on the 30th, I got to work making games and treats.

We had a beanbag toss (I used a tall cardboard box to paint a stack of pumpkins with different point values based on the size of the holes, and sewed beanbags out of scraps of a leaf-patterned fabric.)

I made a construction paper tree on a box, and poked a bunch of holes in it.  Through the holes I poked miniature Tootsie Pops, so of which had the tip of the stick colored.  (If they pulled out one with a colored stick, they got to keep it, if it was white, they had to put it back.)

 
  
We had a cake walk (with miniature cupcakes.)

 

We had a fishing game (always one of my favorites).

We made caramel apples.

We decorated HAPPY miniature pumpkins with a sharpie.

We had a ring-toss with a pumpkin and rope-rings.

 
We drank cider. We ate popcorn balls. 

And we had good old fashioned junk food for dinner - pizza hot pockets and chips!

The rest of the family had to come up with a game each, too. 

Brian chose bobbing for apples, which was WAY harder than it looks.  We let the baby "bob" with one hand, which still gave her a challenge.

Sam made up a "guess the number of candy corn in the jar" game.

Hallie made a pictionary game on our whiteboard, complete with a whole big stack of "fall" words on index cards.

I helped Natalie come up with hers... find the candy corn in the popcorn, blindfolded.

And since we were home, we were ready for any trick-or-treaters... with FULL SIZED candy bars.  But alas, we had none.  Not a single ring of the doorbell.  But that's alright... we were having too much fun to stop and answer the door anyway.  We planned to watch a movie to finish out the night, but didn't have time for it.  The games took up the whole evening!

Art Appreciation

This is one of Hallie's latest masterpieces...

Can you tell what it is? 

My guess was wrong.

She said it was a girl riding a horse.

I thought it was a stick figure giving birth.