Friday photos

A look back on the week, Monday through Friday, through photos-

We had a great week for the most part. If you're reading this, it means that a) I finished the post and published it and b) that it is almost Christmas Eve. So Merry Christmas! If you're reading this and you're coming to my house on Christmas Day, you may or may not get fed. Kidding. Sort of. I'll explain later. 

I thought that I would get a lot done this week or at least a lot of reading (which I have not been doing as much lately) with no work but with all three kids at home, my days filled up quickly with doing things for them and with them. That was wonderful but it reduced my productivity. The week after Christmas will be a busy with my family coming (hopefully!) from out of town. If the teachers and their kids are all healthy after Christmas break, maybe my big, productive break will be in early January ;). It was definitely not this week!

We celebrated Jacob's birthday this week by going downtown to having lunch out with Donnie. Abby was working that day at Donnie's office so she was already there. So just Alyssa, Paige, and Jacob and I drove to Dayton. We had a nice lunch at Uno's (the only place we go when we have lunch with Donnie in Dayton). After lunch, I hung out with Paige and Jacob for a good part of the afternoon before I sent them out to the store to buy a few things we needed. 

My pizza tasted better than it looks ;).

The girls and I had fun in the kitchen one morning that Abby didn't work. We dipped pretzel rods in chocolate and the sprinkled items onto the chocolate.

We also took Ritz crackers, placed peanut butter in between and dipped those in chocolate. I had a friend in law school who made these every year and they have been on my to do list ever since (obvious pretty low on the list since it's taken over twenty years to do them...).

We also dipped Oreo cookies in chocolate.

This is a "blog friendly" picture of the detritus that was under the oven when the old one was taken away to make room for the new one. My stars, there was SO MUCH gross stuff back there...

Here is the new oven. Isn't she pretty? I love how the oven looks but I am not happy in the purchase insomuch as IT TAKES OVER AN HOUR TO FOR TWO CUPS OF WATER TO BOIL ON THE STOVE AND IT TAKES THIRTY FIVE MINUTES TO HEAT UP THE OVEN TO 350 DEGREES. And, I HAVE TO COOK A TURKEY AND HEAT UP A HAM AND MAKE PIES AND A LOT OF SIDES ON CHRISTMAS. Yes, I am felling sorry for myself and literally dreading the next couple of days of trying to get food prepared. I am getting a new stove, a replacement, next week but that won't help me for the weekend and hosting family on Christmas.  I think(?) everything will cook but something is definitely wrong with the heating portion of it (you know, that which is the essence of an oven).

I really like how the tree looks all lit up in the early morning light. I had to go out to Walmart and Kroger on Thursday, the 22nd, the day before a winter storm was predicted to hit and two days before Christmas Eve. I was NOT looking forward to these shopping excursions but needs much... I went really early and the crowds were not bad at all. I saw a twelve foot tree at Walmart for a ridiculously low price (granted, the quality was not great but with ornaments and lights, I don't think the quality would be that big of a deal). I almost bought it on the spot because I do like the idea of having a tall tree in a room that can accommodate it. But then I remembered how much I like this not tall tree. I don't know. For now this will do...

On the 22nd, I also stopped at the library. In case the storm caused us to lose power (I received both a text and email from our energy provider warning that predicted high winds could result in power outages), Alyssa and I wanted books to read. I had my kindle charged but didn't want to take any chances! So I got some books and picked up this gift from the library for being on the board. 

About a minute after I arrived home from the library, I headed out with Jacob to help him with his Christmas shopping. Though I enjoyed spending time with him and giving him my input on gifts to buy, we were both so done with the mall.... well before we were done shopping. (I don't think I have a picture of our outing but wanted to note that we did it this day.)

The storm arrived! Bitterly cold temperatures and snow were predicted for Thursday into Friday. As I'm writing this (Friday) the wind is howling, roads are treacherous, and I am hoping to be inside all or most of the day. 

We noshed on the gift basket and had leftovers for lunch. 

Did some baking with a recipe from this book that I picked up in Hershey, PA at a gift shop when we were at Hershey World. 

This recipe sounded good but I will not make it again. Granted our new oven is janky but even before they went into the oven, things were not boding well. The mixture did not appear to be conducive to baking but I know that we measured everything right (Alyssa was helping me).

Jacob went outside to shovel snow. Bless his heart. The temperature was in minus degrees. 

Lastly, Merry Christmas! 

Bonus lastly, if you think Biden is the bees knees, this is not for you. This parody from the Babylon Bee, a riff on the Mark Lowry song, Mary, Did You Know? is entertaining in a sad but funny way. The Babylon Bee is a satirical site; its getting kicked off of Twitter is reportedly one reason that Elon Musk decided to buy Twitter (and now the Bee is back on Twitter). 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-ULisCUNR4