Getting ready for Christmas.

I have all the shopping done, and it would remain that way if only Hubster would stop dreaming up things to give the kids… *sigh* men. I have the tree up, and have started wrapping things.. All of my Holiday knitting is done, and I have been working on some relaxing things, I finished my Lady Sweater, I need to take pictures of it still but I love it, it turned out great. I am working on yet another shawl too…

I am also hunting down things that I need to pack into the trailer for a trip to No. Cal for New Years. It is much colder there than here, so I am digging out winter coats and sweaters and such. We haven’t worn these things since we moved here 2 years ago, and can’t buy things for truly cold weather here, so the kids will probably get a bunch of new stuff once we are up there  (we have coats, but the kids have few warm clothes.)

I am also working on putting together our Christmas Dinner menu so that I can get that shopping done and all the prep for that taken care of.

Friday is the last day of school here, until Jan 11th, so the kids will spend the next 3 weeks driving me totally out of my mind.. We will be able to take some of their Christmas presents with us on the trip but definitely not all of them. It will still help with the boredom of a long car trip.

Wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday.

We ended up going out to my step-mother in law’s mom’s house  on Thursday evening, we spent the evening there, had a good time.

On Friday I cooked a traditional Thanksgiving dinner with Turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, rolls and several other items. We ended up having a total of 12 people for Thanksgiving Dinner we had a blast. The kids played kickball outside, the adults found a movie to watch, much to my relief, and I didn’t have to listen to football at maximum volume.

Saturday I got up early and put a prime rib on the smoker, and then I went back to bed. I got up at a more normal time, and started my second big meal, scalloped potatoes, more sweet potatoes, grilled asparagus, more rolls. We ended up with 10 for that meal, and  I have to admit, it turned out even better than the Turkey.

The last of the guests left this morning and I have spent most of the day resting, after standing on my cement floors for the last 3 days, my feet, legs and lower back are hurting. Tomorrow the kids go back to school, and I will be thankful for the peace and quiet again.

Great Weekend.

We took our travel trailer on it’s first trip. We hauled it to Phoenix for my uncle’s graduation from college,  and we stayed in an RV park instead of a motel. There were a lot of things I totally loved about the experience.

Enough beds for everyone without having to rent a second space/room. With 3 kids often end up with at least one child who doesn’t want to sleep with the others, and with the girls getting older, even more so. Plus, my mom made the trip as well, and 3 adults plus 3 kids in one room just doesn’t work so well, so  that is another room and more money. The trailer will sleep 9-10 if we push it. but the 6 of us was very comfortable. I wouldn’t want to do it long term, but for a few days or even a week or two as we travel, it would be good.

No hauling of luggage. Yes, I had to pack the trailer before we left and unpack it when we got home, but there was no hauling of luggage in and out of motel rooms. For a single destination trip this isn’t so bad, but if you are on a long trip where you stop for one night on the way, get back in the vehicle and go more, then stop for another night, it gets tedious, especially with 3 kids.

Food and dishes. Let me state first off that I am not particularly fond of restaurant breakfasts, plus, eating every meal out gets old fast, and very expensive. I picked up cereal before we left, and baked a batch of oatmeal cookies, and we had breakfasts as each person was up and moving around and ready for it. On my own dishes, which yes, I did have to wash but still, better than drive through rubber eggs.

Bedding and beds. I don’t know about anyone else, but I don’t sleep all that great in a motel with unfamiliar beds, and strange bedding. In the trailer, I was able to have my own pillow, again without hauling it in and out of a motel room, I knew when the sheets had been washed last, and with what detergent. And it is my bed,   in time I will get used to it, and it will be more familiar to me.

Rooms. This was one of the best parts. Our trailer is a Bunkhouse model , it has a section that is bunk beds, then a door that closes that room off from the main living space. This was wonderful for putting the kids to bed and then playing games and talking.

Price. We did some shopping, and found an RV lot in a nice area  of town, with amenities that we wanted (pool, etc)  and for two nights we paid less than what one night in a  motel would have cost, for a single room, much less the two rooms that the 6 of us would have required.

 

I did discover several things that I had missed in packing up the trailer, I made a list and things will be making their way out there to fill the list. Yes, there is room for improvement, but it was still a far better experience than staying in a motel. 

I haz Stove!!!!

The stove is fixed, the stove is fixed, the stove is fixed!!!! After only 3 weeks with no cook top, I can again use my stove. Parts got delivered Monday, I and I called and scheduled the repair man to come out, he got here about 4:40pm yesterday and by 5:20 he was done.

I immediately set water on to boil for spaghetti, because the spoiled munchkins which have invaded my household had been begging for spaghetti for a week, and the sauce had been in the crockpot since morning.

This morning, I had scrambled eggs for breakfast…. you never realize how much you rely on those 4 burners, until you can’t use them.

The sugar monster

has attacked…. I know I have recently bought sugar… my 9yo remembers having recently bought sugar… but there is no bag of sugar to be found anywhere. We haven’t eaten THAT much sugar, with the girls in school we only make things like muffins (today’s chosen, and had to be abandoned, breakfast) on the weekends, and pretty much the only other sugar eaten around here on a regular bases is in Hubster’s coffee… and HE doesn’t use that much sugar…

argh… so we will have to make a trip to the store today, so that we can have muffins tomorrow..

Some days I wonder…

why I bother to get up in the morning.

First, let me state that it took me over two hours, yes HOURS of laying in the dark, listening to Hubster snore,  last night to be able to get to sleep. Part of it, I admit, was enjoying the feeling of having Hubster back in bed with me. Have I mentioned that I really missed him? And then there was that whole pesky, my brain won’t shut off problem.

So I finally drift off to sleep.. only to be awakened this morning (like most mornings these days) to kids fighting. Unlike most days, I ignored it and tried to go back to sleep. I was aware of Hubster getting up, telling the kids to zip it,  and I heard him on the phone, trying to straighten out business that I was unaware of while he was gone. I still pretended, and tried, to sleep.

Hey, school starts next week, and days of sleeping past 6am will be severely curtailed, I was just trying to enjoy it while it lasted….

Anyway, eventually Hubster comes in and starts trying to get me out of bed… Why? Because he wants coffee… Why can’t he make his own coffee you say? Because he’s to lazy, I mean, because mine tastes so much better. *roll eyes*

He eventually sics our 3 year old on me, sets him up on the bed with me, and quickly leaves the room. Said 3 year old proceeds to jump and bounce and tickle me until I get up.

So, I am up, and dressed, and make his coffee… I know I have to go get Hubster’s uniform first thing, so I head out to do that…. After I get back from that Hubster decides he needs gas in his car, and sends me out to get that.

Ok, I know some of you are asking why he can’t just get gas on the way to work? Well, we get gas at Sam’s Club, much cheaper than anywhere else, and it is in the opposite direction from his work, but well worth the trip out of our way for the savings. Yes, we actually save more than the cost of the trip to get it.S

So, Here it is less than 2 hours after I got up, and I have spent less than a quarter of it at home. Blah. At least it was coolish out side this morning (by coolish, I mean it was under 100, barely.)

The rest of the day hasn’t been too bad, just normal day stuff, feeding three house apes,  packing a lunch, searching for missing uniform components, searching for missing locker key, unloading and reloading the dishwasher, gathering up and sorting laundry, feeding three house apes, cleaning up the mess they have made today, maybe a little time for reading and knitting (Currently working on another pair of socks, this one out of Knit Picks Stroll Kettle Dye, in the Bordeaux color, they are working up nicely.)

As Hubster was getting ready to go to work, he was all dressed in his uniform, and bent over his desk, which sits directly in front of mine, checking something on his computer. Something about the uniform and the pose, and well, HIM, just made me go YUM, and I grabbed my camera and took a snapshot… No, I am not going to share it, because of the uniform, and what is visible on his uniform, it is just not a good idea. But trust me, it is a good picture, and is the highlight of my day, and probably several others.

Tomorrow! Tomorrow!!

I love you, Tomorrow, you’re only a day away!!!

ok, yeah, I have Annie stuck in my head now, but this does express my excitement about tomorrow. Hubster will be home after 3 weeks away. I can barely contain my joy. He is back in this country again, for which I can only be thankful, I was a little worried about those long flights.

I have done a lot of house cleaning, trying to make sure everything looks good when hubby gets home. Major battling with the Laundry Monster, I swear dirty clothes hide everywhere and I can never get caught up.

*sigh*

I decided to try a shortbread cookie recipe, I found it on the Pioneer Woman website, looks good.  I have lots of serving ideas…

I am preparing for school, what to pack in lunches, what do we still need to buy, what we can get away without buying yet, and what is on sale where.

Life goes on…..

It has been a day so far.

I have worked on sorting out items from a co-op I have co-hosted, still waiting on shipping supplies. but we got some of it sorted. The girls helped, I would sit with a box and my spreadsheet, and tell them how many of what item to bring me, and I would pack it into the boxes. We will finish a soon as shipping supplies get here, both boxes and customs forms, because some of the participants are overseas with military.

We got a movie in today’s mail, it is 2 Fast 2 Furious, which I have not yet seen, mostly because it doesn’t have Vin Diesil in it and what is the point if there is no Vin? But #4 came out on DVD, and Hubster is being stubborn about watching #4 without having seen #’s 2 and 3… *sigh* men.  I am sure that once he gets home we will have a marathon, not only of these movies, but of all the things I have recorded over the last 3 weeks. He will want to catch up.

I have battled the laundry monster. He was threatening to eat my house again. I am always shocked at how much laundry a family of 5 can produce. I have more in the washer but it will have to wait until after 7 to get dry.

I mixed up pizza crust, I talked the girls into pizza pockets for dinner. I will make small(ish) circles of dough, add the toppings each child wants, then fold them up and bake. Great  personalized pizza meals. This way, I can make mine with mushrooms and far less sauce than the rest of the family likes, I swear they want so much sauce your toppings slide off. So we put together 4 pockets… 1 for each kid and 1 for mommy…

I have cleaned up some of the scattered mess that three kids always creates, but I am sure there will be more later.

Maybe after my house apes are in bed I can catch some TV and maybe do some knitting. I am not holding my breath.

Christmas in July…

Kinda….

Since I would like to make a lot of my gifts, if at all possible, it has occurred to me to start early, as knitting, and other crafts, can be time consuming, as I am sure you know.

First I decided to look at what I have on hand, my Christmas list, and what each person might like.

• sock yarn, about enough for 5-6 pairs, if the pairs are short, ankle socks like I wear.
• fun fur type yarn, 5-6 balls of it, none the same.
• random skeins of acrylic yarn, in random colors, mostly pastels, and left overs from baby blankets
• wool, some really nice, some not so nice, some undyed, some hand dyed. Various amounts of each.
• Some cotton yarns, mostly in earth tones, all kitchen cotton.

People on the list, who might appreciate hand made items.

• mom, she really likes the socks I have been making, might  like a pair or two
• kids, my 3, and my niece, would love scarves made from the fun fur, if nothing else will make great dress up toys.
• hubster, says he will wear socks I make him, but not in “foofy” colors
• dad, he will wear anything I make him, any color, he likes bright colors too.
• brother, he is hard, he is 11, but they live where it gets cold, maybe he would like a hat and scarf?
• step-mom, she would appreciate a lot of things, but she is allergic to all animal fibers, so anything I make has to be non-animal, maybe hat/scarf or a set of facecloths..
• Mother in law
• father in law
• step mother in law
• grandfather, he gets cold in the winter, maybe a hat, in green, his favorite color.

I have more on my list, but I don’t think some of them would appreciate a hand made gift, and some, we have other things in mind for already.

Second, What I have done so far…

No, no pictures, at least not now. For two reasons. #1, though I don’t think any of my family reads this, lets not take chances, huh? and #2,  And really, the one most influencing the no pictures decision… Hubster has my camera in Germany.

Looking through my stash I found 3 skeins of an alpaca / acrylic blend in a bulky weight, having no clue what else to do with it, I cast on my size 15 needles, and in 2 days I had a hat, and 6 1/2 foot long scarf.  No clue who it will be for, it will go in the Christmas Bag, and that will be decided later.

On the same needles (after the hat and scarf were done, and off of them) I made several (I think I have 4 so far) fun fur scarves. Very simple, garder stitch scarves, from a single skein each. I made 3 in just a couple hours, very fast, but that stuff is a pain in the ass to work with. The kids will love them. Dropped them in the  Christmas Bag too.

Knowing my father (really, I have know him all of my 31 years…) I opted for a washable wool product, and I decided I wanted to make him hunting socks, so they need to be thicker… best washable worsted weight wool I can get around here? Wool-ease, yeah, it isn’t the best thing available for socks, but it should last better than the $30 pair of wool socks he bought last year, and wore a hole in the first day. I picked up 3 skeins, cast on a week ago, and I am about 3/4 done with the pair, and let me tell you, a mens size 12? These things look like you could fit aircraft carriers in them. When they are done? You guessed it, into the Christmas Bag.

I also had on hand 2 skeins of Knit Picks Risata, in biscuit (off white), which is enough to make real socks, that you know, go up the leg a little bit, not just the hide in your shoe style I wear.  So I will make these for Hubster. Off-white counts as non-foofy, right? Anyway, they are about 1/4 done, when they are done, they too will go in the Christmas Bag.

Hopefully I can finish these two projects, and maybe another fun fur scarf or two before hubby gets home, and have moved on to more.. We all have dreams.

Catching up…

I have been working hard at unpacking and getting us settled in. The day after Independence Day, my niece, and my mother, came and spent a week with us, we had a really great time. We painted the girls faces, had pictures taken, played in the pool in the back yard (small blow up pool, but it is water!,) we even took them to the beach one day, it was a blast.

We spent the next week getting things ready for the Hubster to go away fro his annual training, this year in Germany. Gathering up the assload of military crap that had been scattered all over the house and garage in the move. (I swear, that shit breeds in dark corners!) Sorting out what he would need to take, making sure it was all clean, and then packing it. That was a chore! Thankfully not one of mine.

Hubby has been gone for 11 days now, and will be home in just 12 more, we are surviving. The kids are doing well, not seeming to have any adverse effects… my 3 yo was worried that he wouldn’t be able to get Daddy kisses at bed time, but I told him that Daddy left lots of kisses with mommy just to give to him at bedtime, and that satisfies him. My girls plot out dinner each night, meals that Dad doesn’t like, or they come up with some really odd ball game to play with their brother that really drives me up the wall.

I on the other hand… well.. I am surviving. Simply put, I miss him. Sure, we bicker, and we fight, but I miss being cuddled up to in bed, the sometimes so annoying, wait till the lights are out to hold a conversation. I miss someone to watch tv with, I miss the affection. And yes, I actually miss him walking up behind me and grabbing my boobs. (And no, the occasional hot-wheels shoved down my shirt does not make up for this loss, it has an appeal all it’s own.)  I am not sleeping well. I rarely get to sleep before 1am, usually it is closer to 2 or 3 before I finally fall asleep, and then, of course, the kids are up with the sun (I actually heard my 3 yo yesterday waking his sisters up with “The sun is coming up!! The sun is coming up!!”) Someday it will all catch up to me, and I will pass out as soon as I get monsters kids into bed, and I will sleep until they wake me again in the morning. Until then, you may see more late night ramblings.