home life

We enjoyed a quick visit with Mom and Dad over American Thanksgiving and for Saturday morning breakfast I tried to bring a little extra flair to the table to continue the holiday weekend.

The school table became the "internet cafe" for a few days as we needed space for two laptops away from our dining table.

Saturday evening we ate dinner with Joel and Karla and I whipped up some caramel sauce which Karla really enjoys.  Our newest Hello Kitty, a gift from Memmem(my Mom) sat guarding it on the table as we got ready to head out the door.

On Saturday, December 1st, we began our Advent countdown using a wooden truck that I bought last year but never used.  Each night, Seth and Laura take a turn opening a door on the truck to reveal a piece of candy for each of them and a relevant verse for Seth to read aloud.  We also open a wrapped Christmas book each evening to read together.

On Monday evening the ladies from our church had their annual Christmas party at the home of one our church families. The house was so nicely decorated and the kitchen island was laden with delicious snacks and desserts. We were supposed to bring a gift for the gift exchange and having decided to attend at the last minute, I quickly made a small set of wintry note cards and envelopes and added a bag of chocolates to complete the gift.  As the game went on, they changed hands and the last I saw them, they went home with a young girl from our church who seemed very happy with her little gift.

Earlier this week, I tried a little experiment of drying some citrus fruit for decoration.  Some of slices turned out quite nicely and to add to their scent, I used some cinnamon sticks, cloves and fresh cedar from our tree.  It looks quite nice and I have it sitting on my stove to add some color to these shorter days of sunlight.

With the leftover citrus peels, more cinnamon sticks and cloves, I have created a pot pourri  that I have sitting on a back burner that I warm up several times throughout the day.  I've added some fresh clementine peel as we have eaten them.  The scent is amazing.

I wait all summer to roast a chicken for dinner and this year, I have some of my own dried herbs leftover from the garden to season it.  This is one of my favorite meals to make and use for other meals and finally to make chicken stock with the remains.  Another wonderful aroma to fill the house and make the kids sniff appreciatively as they play.

Yesterday, Shane's work had a Christmas party during the lunch hour which required him to bring something from his cultural background.  This was a last-minute announcement from his work so I picked something easy to make while putting the kids to bed.  They are whipped shortbread cookies from my mother-in-law's recipe and Shane grew up eating these pretty, little gems.  There were a few leftover for us to enjoy.  Yummy!