Christmas Baking

I have not written in a long while, I know and my excuse is not busyness, but rather the lack of it. Daddy has had off of work for two weeks and so we have dropped our normal schedule and allowed a much more lax routine to take place of our usually demanding one. I have spent probably less than a 30 min. in total on the computer since Daddy has been home and so my blog has fallen by the wayside. We have simply enjoyed the privilege of having Daddy and Jonathon at home for two whole weeks and have eaten up every minute that we have together.

As Christmas time approached, we began to do our Christmas baking which is divided up into two parts: baking and making up plates for the neighbors and baking for our family. It was amazing to cram 6-8 people in the kitchen at a time. We split up into teams and had about 3-4 baking projects going on at a time.

Lynnae baked some delicious sweet breads that we have been enjoying throughout the holiday season. Cosette, Leisel, and I made Spritz cookies and decorated them with red and green sprinkles, adding variety, color, and a Christmasy touch to our plates for the neighbors.

Even after all that time crammed together in the kitchen like a can of tuna, we still managed to retain our smiles and goodwill toward each other.

Lissy came over during her break from college and helped us bake for one of the days. We had a wonderful time and accomplished a lot in a short time and small space. Jonathon made his delicious toffee and we made some dark chocolate fudge among other things.

Meanwhile, Mommy took Annalise and Austin and set up a storebought Gingerbread house with icing as the glue. Annalise and Austin were thrilled to get to decorate the house and had a great time doing it

Daddy's Little Elf

When I was younger, bedtime was bedtime and there was no arguing with it. It was an inescapable fact that at a certain time we were supposed to be in bed with our heads on the pillow and, at least attempting, to go to sleep. Of course, Jonathon and I were probably the two most difficult children to get to bed that Daddy and Mommy have ever had. Getting us to bed was difficult enough and to actually get us to stay in bed was an entirely different proposition and quite an accomplishment when achieved. So, needless to say, the exceptions to our bed times were few and far between.

Yet Ania, the 9th little one, seems to have figured out and mastered the technique which none of the rest of us ever quite perfected. She has got Daddy's number and when she is put down in bed and, for some reason, does not quite feel like being confined there right at the moment, she calls for Daddy...not Mommy.

On the night that we were decorating the Christmas tree, Daddy was summoned from the festivities by a sobbing voice calling out most pitifully from the wooden cage where she was immured, doomed to hear the sights and sounds of the merry festivities, yet unable to partake, separated by wooden bars and a staircase from the place where she wanted most to be. Her complaint was real enough, after all, Christmas only comes once a year, and she was missing out on the very greatest enjoyments of the holiday, the decoration of the tree. Well, Daddy could not resist the tearful pleading with which she pronounced his name,the eloquence of her very crestfallen face, and the scalding hot tears that raced each other down her plump cheeks.

And so, this is the result...

The tears were replaced by dimpled smiles, the idle hands were busied about the embellishment of the tree, and Daddy was the hero of the hour, her liberator from the unhappy prison in which she had been confined. Altogether, I think that the Christmas tree was improved in appearance by the deft adjustments made by those chubby little hands.

And I don't suppose that the little pixie will soon forget the Christmas that she was able to stay up long after her older brother and sister, Austin and Annie, were put to bed and assist in the decoration of the Christmas tree.

Deck the Halls

Christmas time is finally here with all of the hustle and bustle and to and fro that attends it every year. With Thanksgiving being later this year, it seems that there is even a greater rush in Christmas preparations. On Thursday night of last week, we retrieved all of our Christmas decorations and began the process of decorating. Leisel and I wound the garland up the staircase and strung it with lights (a very delicate process which required great skill).

...While Mommy and Lynnae worked on bedecking the fireplaces with branches and birds and all those wonderful things that bring the wintry outdoors right into your home.

Then on Friday, Daddy, Jonathon, and Austin went out and got a large Christmas tree. They chopped it down themselves and, in fact, it is reported that Austin's muscular arms dealt the final blow that brought it crashing down from it's proud upright position.

Then the decorating of the tree began. Crushed bows had to be removed from boxes and straightened, glittering glass balls were hung gingerly on the tree branches (I don't think that we broke any this year), and ornaments were unleashed in large numbers from their year long hibernation.

In fact, we got so carried away with decorating that we began to decorate Leisel. She almost got placed under the tree with all of the rest of the presents.

We lacked a sprig of mistletoe, but Jonathon and Ania just closed their eyes and imagined that it was there anyway.

Lynnae and Jonathon took on all of the decorating jobs in the kitchen which was very altruistic of them, only the bowl of M&M's which we placed on the counter as a energy boost for the decorators, belies the purity of their motives.

Thanksgiving Day

Imagine a center for disaster relief where large groups of homeless people crowd into a small area, with pallets and mats spread out on the floor; a place where even moving around requires intricate chess-like maneuvers. If you can imagine that, you about have the idea of what Grandpa and Grandma's house is like when we invade it. The living room becomes a bedroom for four, utilizing over half the floor and both of the couches. The den is wall to wall mattresses and Daddy and Mommy's room is even worse with a crib, a mattress, a queen sized bed, all of the luggage and a strip of walkway 6" by 2'. Even Grandpa and Grandma are forced to take one little resident into their room. Then imagine 11 people sharing one bathroom that has only enough room for one person to comfortably stand in front of the sink. We have to line people up all the way into the shower just to wait their turn to brush their teeth.

Thanksgiving day we fit 23 people into Grandpa and Grandma's 2,200 square ft. home. The tables stretched out for the entire length of the dining room and half of the living room, but at least, we all got to share the same table (even if you did have to shout to be heard at the opposite end). Despite the crowded conditions, we all had a wonderful time.

The dinner was delicious and we had plenty for all. Everone worked together to make sure the process ran smoothly. Mommy prepared the candied yams and the gravy, Grandma did the stuffing, Andrea did the cranberries, and Annalise helped to peel the potates in preparation for our sumptuous Thanksgiving feast. Uncle Jeff is our official turkey and ham slicer; he earned the job years ago and has regretted it ever since, but somehow has not managed to talk anyone else into taking his place. He just does it too well. Uncle Kevin is usually our professional potato masher, but, as he was not here this Thanksgiving we were obliged to recruit somebody else. Brooks stepped in and did such a good job, producing an enormous mountain of creamy potatoes (with just the right flavor and no lumps) that he and Uncle Kevin may have to fight for the job next year. In fact the entire dinner was a success from beginning to end.

We had an added blessing this year in the addition of Brooks and Andrea's newest little baby. Jack is only about a month old and is such a precious little bundle. How wonderful it was to get to hold a newborn baby again; it has been two years since Ania was that small. What a blessed little bundle of life babies are, each one a unique miracle of God's creation. The tiny fingers and toes, the small cry that sounds like the bleet of a lamb or whimpering of a kitten*, seems to awake in everyone a sense of the wonder of a little child, a new life, another soul to be raised up for God.

*(Jonathon adds "or the yowl of the hyena")

Cohen and Ania made instant friends; they even tried to plan an escape together out of the back door, but were foiled in their attempts by the troublesome screen door and its strong magnetic hold that was beyond their muscle power to move.

And yes, the closeness of the space evidently did get to people because Jonathon and Uncle Kregg got into a desperate wrestling match. It involved several different bouts carried on in a record amount of space between the door, the ottoman and the couch. I am not going to reveal who won because Jonathon would probably never forgive me. Suffice it to say that he is planning on doing some serious working out this Christmas break.

The day ended with the celebration of Grandma's birthday which fell exactly on Thanksgiving Day this year. It was the perfect ending to a special day.

Looking back on it, I think how different our Thanksgiving feast must be from that of our forefathers on the first Thanksgiving. I think of how He has richly blessed our nation since then and how much more we have to thank the Lord for. How insensible we are to His bounties as a country and, even as Christians, it is so easy to forget. The Pilgrims probably had more true thanksgiving in their hearts for the meager fair that they shared in the midst of a colony that was facing another long, cold winter with minimal shelter and illness staring them in the face than most Americans today have with all of our health, beautiful homes, and bounteous feast. The Lord is so good to us and we must be careful never to fall into the sin of ingratitude. As Christians, every day, every hour should be for us a day of thanksgiving; a day to thank the Lord for His blessings to our nation, to our families and most of all to us through the salvation that we have in His Son, Jesus Christ.