December 18, 2014

From Anne:

Well, it's my turn to blog, but I have not been doing a very good job of taking the camera with me wherever I go. Also the past few days have been a blur. So, I forget if these pictures are from today or yesterday, but oh well.

One morning David delivered this to me at the breakfast table. It's his new lego creation, but he doesn't know what it is. I said... Lego computer chip? Lego circuit board?

David also wore a cape all day yesterday. Here he is playing Xbox in a cape:

And here is David, the Cereal Superhero:

TJ doesn't do much besides read his book for school and take out the garbage. Here he is after the garbage run. Perhaps we are all dreary because once again, it is a wet, cold, grey & brown Kentucky winter, as you can see behind him. 

Tonight Jessie wanted to go shopping in Lexington with her friends, and since Tim had to run to Richmond to drop off a computer anyway, he took her to Lex with 3 of her friends. There were gone for most of the evening. So, I put the boys to bed and couldn't get them to be quiet. When I went to check on them they were in the same bunk, which explains the noise. I also took several pictures before this one, but the flash was so bright they kept screaming and complaining. So I said, "Just shut your eyes and smile!" This is the result:

Tomorrow Jessie and TJ are invited to a birthday party and we are having dinner with friends in Lexington.

December 16th, 2014

By Tim

Well, to summarize the day for the kids:

David said the best part of his day was playing with his legos.













Jessie said the best part of her day was finishing her current series of The Office, a television situation comedy.

TJ said the best part of his day was finishing his Christmas play list on iTunes.

We were supposed to have dinner with another family tonight.  However, because the wife/mother of the other family was sick, they canceled.  So, we had an unexpected afternoon and evening at home.








Anne did her usual; balancing the checkbook and getting rid of stuff on her desk!








I decided to spend the afternoon and evening trying out the Yulekake recipe.  I think we have a winner!

For dinner, we had homemade tamales made by a friend of ours from Mexico.










 I made Spanish rice, and the refried beans, tortillas, and chips and salsa made it regular meal.










After dinner, I found the kids cutting snowflakes.  Jessie has been cutting some very intricate ones!  I'm thinking about framing a couple.

Jessie has also decided to help TJ with his hair (for some reason).  

She was growling because we were out of olive oil.  The next thing I knew, she was beating an egg and was going to pour it on his head.  Who knows how the poor kid will emerge!  Judging by the sounds from the bathroom, it could be quite a sight. 

Love,
Tim

December 15th, 2014

Dear Grandma,

I always seem to get stuck doing the boring days of the week! Today I stayed home most of the day, and so did everyone else. We ate breakfast, then David and I finished our chores while TJ did schoolwork (TJ is the last one to have to do schoolwork). When David and I were done with our chores we mostly sat around. He played with legos and I cut out snowflakes. We also started watching a TV show we like called Avatar, The Last Airbender. It's really good!

After lunch, Dad was borrowing Granny Dot's car because we had to transport a new dresser we bought for David. I got to drive her car into Berea with Dad, and that was fun!

(I promise I wasn't taking a selfie while the car was moving!)
When we got back home, TJ, David, and I continued watching Avatar while Dad made pizza dough for dinner

Then we got a package! We all thought it was one of our Christmas presents...

...But it was actually TJ's new peacoat he bought!

Then it was time for dinner. Dad had made everyone calzones!

After that we all watched "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" for family night.
And that was our day!
Love,
Jessie

December 14, 2014

From David:
Well, like every sunday, we went to church this morning and had lots of fun!
Then we went to a friends apartment to eat lunch and it was REALLY NICE they had like a 10 foot christmas tree! then after that we went to dads concert

Then after that we went to a restaurant and i ate\slurped two plates (more like three) plates of jellow 

 and after that we picked up Jessie and TJ from dance or a christmas party.

So thats it for today's blog! come back tomorrow for another (hopefully better) blog!

Friday, December 12th

TJ -

I woke up this morning and the first thing my mom tells me is, "You forgot to blog yesterday." Here I am now.

Friday morning was filled with schoolwork. After lunch, Mom and I went into town. Mom went to a staff meeting at the library, and I went to the college music building to practice piano. 

While we were gone, it was Jessie and David's duty to do table chores while we were gone. Of course they didn't, so that afternoon they were cleaning the kitchen. 

That evening, Jessie and I, along with some friends, went to see a school play that some dancers from our dance group were in. The play was called "The Man Who Came To Dinner." It was a very well put together production.

Now, I've been known to forget to post pictures, but I will break that habit with this post. BOOM PHOTOS YYEAAHHHHHHHHHH.

December 11, 2014

From Anne:

This morning Tim helped TJ with math before he left for work. Algebra again. 

When Jessie got up she started filling out an application to turn into the library today. She is applying for a part-time job as a desk clerk. 

For a treat with lunch, David ate his pomegranate. He loves them. He is also talking about (or to) the pomegranate while cutting it as you see in the picture.

After lunch, we got kind-of lazy. Jessie watered the Christmas tree.

TJ finished up his schoolwork, he is working hard to get done before Christmas. Here he is working on Logic.

This is the ultimate in relaxation for David: playing games on his iPod in his t-shirt and long underwear, lounging on the flannel sheets in MY BED.

Later on, more iPod drama... the boys found out that Jessie had signed up for one of their online games they like to play. They have been bugging her to play it with them for months. Maybe even a year. She succumbed today.

Around 4:00 we took TJ into town for his piano lesson. Here he is going across campus looking like the other college students.

Errand to the bank, David got a lollipop! He's listening to a movie in the back of the car.

Jessie dropped off her application at the library and then when we dropped some things off at Goodwill, Jessie went in and bought some stuff.

When everyone got home, it was pancakes for supper! TJ's hands are blurry in this picture because he was, of course, drumming on the table.

After supper, we had a friend who was giving away a chair and we drove into Richmond to pick it up. I didn't have a chance to take a picture, but it is a nice chair we will have in the library.

Tomorrow - a staff meeting at the library for me and an evening at home, I think!

December 10th, 2014

By Tim

The day started with a trip to my doctor.  Had to have blood work done before my appointment next Monday.  I guess the most exciting thing about that trip was that they had to poke me twice because my vein "rolled." Otherwise, I was in and out fairly quickly.

Last night I was determined to try to make Julekake, but didn't really have a recipe.  So, I searched online and found something that seemed close to what we enjoyed in Wisconsin.  It required an overnight rising, so this morning I got up, shaped the loaves, then baked it after my appointment at the doctor's office.  It wasn't bad, but it seemed to fall short my expectations.








Since no one likes the golden raisins but me, I used Craisans.  Maybe that was it!  Next time, I'll used dried apricots and Craisans.



One of David's friends is a homeschooler who is part of Classical Conversations, and his mom invited Anne to bring the David and TJ along on  on a CC field trip to Ashland, the Henry Clay estate in Lexington.  They had a great time!  One of the paintings had a number of symbols of the era.  One was an anvil, but no one knew what it was except for David and TJ.  So, when the guide asked if anyone knew what it was, David answered.  When the guide asked the group what it was used for, David kept silent.  He wanted to say "Looney Tunes Cartoons and Bugs Bunny," but decided that was probably not the answer she was looking for!


Jessie drove me to the library to volunteer today.  She is applying for a job that just came open there.  She also drove us home after church tonight. She's getting her driving hours in, and driving very well!

The boys both had appointments at the orthodontist.  Both opted for Christmas colors but in different arrangements.  Here is Davids, with the green and red alternating on each tooth.













TJ went more for all one color up top and the other color on the bottom:











David is really enjoying playing with his Grandpa Joe's electric train.  He got creative today, trying to figure out how to make it go uphill.

At first, it seemed a disaster.  The train kept rolling off the tracks!  But, eventually, he problem solved until he realized his books stacks made the curve too high.  He got it working great!  We're hoping to buy more track soon so we can make a longer trail in the room!



Another exciting moment for David came when his new bow arrived!!!  We hope to start lessons very soon!

Love,
Tim

December 9th, 2014

Dear Grandma,

Today I didn't take very many pictures, but I got to do a few fun things!
I woke up this morning and it was my turn to clean the kitchen.

I actually cleaned the kitchen last night also, so it wasn't too dirty and I was soon done.
Then I got ready because I was going to go into town with Mom at noon. It was pretty chilly so I wore a white sweater, my jeans, and my new boots. I was planning on going to the movies later, so I took some of the leftover candy from my party and put it into two paper bags.

One for me, one for my friend Carli!
I went to Berea with mom and she dropped me off at the coffee shop. The guy working there suggested some chocolate flavored coffee drink.

It was really good! Then about half an hour after I got there, my friend Carli arrived with her brother Joey, and we talked for a few minutes before their mom came to take us to the movies. When I went to pay for my drink, the employee gave a me college student discount without even asking if I was a college student, so I only had to pay a dollar for it!

Carli's mom dropped Carli & I off at the theatre and we bought tickets to see Mockingjay pt. 1. That's the last book in the Hunger Games series. I couldn't remember if you've read it or not, but it's not particularly my favorite book in the series!
The movie was really good though. It kind of made me like the book better. But they're splitting the movie into two parts, so I have to wait a WHOLE NOTHER YEAR until the next one! This one ended in a really sad cliff hanger, and Carli and I cried quite a lot.

After Dad picked us up at the theatre and dropped Carli off with her mom, I got to drive home! I've been driving a lot. I think I've driven for almost four hours, and one of those were at night! Driving is a lot of fun :)

Then when we got home we ate dinner, and now I'm sitting on the couch writing this!
Hope you're feeling okay today!

Love,
Jessie

December 8, 2014

FROM DAVID

 

Today I HAD NO SCHOOL WOO WOOOO!!! After my partying we all picked out a tree for Christmas!

This is TJ with the Christmas tree, I think its too big for him...

 Then me, TJ, Jessie and daddy put up the Christmas lights!Those aren't all of them but Dad is going to put up more tomorrow.

And this........... drumroll............. IS THE DECORATED CHRISTMAS TREE!!!!! It matches the Christmas lights!

This is Dad with his 1940 train set. I'm scared it's going to burn the house down cause it sparks a lot.