Wishy washer…

The irony is that as I put the first load of laundry in the washer Wednesday morning, I actually gave thought to how blessed we had been to have such a large capacity washer; and I remembered with thanksgiving how John had been able to repair it more than once. 
Imagine my shock when just a few short hours later I was presented with this:
IMG_4326
An error code.

I looked up the code online and tried to fix it myself to no avail.  I needed to wait until John could deal with it.  When he looked into it Wednesday night, he express ordered the part he thought we needed.  We had nothing to do but wait (and continue to accumulate dirty clothes).
Oddly enough, we’d already been operating without an overhead light in the laundry room, because John hadn’t been able to get the part for the fluorescent light.  Stewart had come through with one of the boys’ lamps to help illuminate the room.  It did the trick to give enough light for laundering clothes, but it wasn’t the ideal situation for John to work under.
IMG_4339
We run a pretty tight laundry ship at our house.  Certain things on each day of the week.  It keeps the laundry moving and no one ever runs out of things.  If we know something is coming up schedule wise, we shift the schedule a bit.  It is a system that works really well… when the machines are working!
With uncertainty about how long we’d be without I decided a trip to the laundromat would be wise.  John preferred I didn’t go alone.  I preferred to not go alone.  And Stewart found himself volunteering requested to go.  He was a great help.  We used three side-by-side washers and had it all washed in 30 minutes. 
IMG_4344
I want one of these!! 
IMG_4345
Home to dry, and wait for John to get the part.
(It worked and we were back in business over the weekend.)

Christmas Caroling

My outdoor photos did not come out, so I can’t show you how much fun we had meeting up at church with friends, walking to a nearby neighborhood, and singing on doorsteps and driveways. 
The weather was mild (yay!) and the time went by too quickly.
We headed back to church for some snacks and additional singing.  Marie opted not to join us and stayed home with Dad who was working on a home repair.  The rest of us had a blast and are looking forward to next year.

IMG_4329IMG_4332IMG_4334IMG_4335

The Supporting Cast…

Not everyone was in the play, but they had to deal with lots of activity one way or the other.  They dealt beautifully with late nights and awkward meal times and cleaned up great for church.
Love this little dolls. 
IMG_4302IMG_4303IMG_4304

Scrooge 2015

The kids and I stepped back into Victorian England this year with a repeat production of The Gospel According to Scrooge.  It was such a blessing to be involved, once again, in this massive musical.  It was a lot of work, but it was so much fun. 

IMG_4188IMG_4195IMG_4219IMG_4220IMG_4223IMG_4224IMG_4227IMG_4230IMG_4238IMG_4239IMG_4262IMG_4285IMG_4287IMG_4291

DSC_2785DSC_2787DSC_2798

Nigel sang the solo this year.  He had stepped into the Scrooge role at the last moment last year and had not had time to learn the song.  This year he nailed it. 

DSC_2800DSC_2804DSC_2806DSC_2813DSC_2814

CBS concert…

I don’t have great images.  I sat too close to the front and too far off to the side.  But I enjoyed seeing my SIX kids singing from the platform. 

I’ve been watching CBS Christmas concerts since December 2002.  That’s a lot of concerts.
That’s a lot of joy.

DSC_2764DSC_2768DSC_2780

This unflattering photo is to prove the big kids were there, too.  ♥

DSC_2763

Where a mom can be a mom!

 

We celebrated my birthday on 12/5.  It was almost 60 degrees and dry.  That was a gift in and of itself!  I do think I might be in the running for Mother of the Year as I asked to celebrate at Chuck E. Cheese’s.

IMG_4112IMG_4115

I LOVE their salad bar.

IMG_4116

We all love crowns.

IMG_4117IMG_4118

And the kids all love games.

IMG_4120IMG_4126IMG_4129IMG_4130IMG_4131IMG_4132IMG_4133IMG_4134IMG_4135IMG_4152

Marie really wasn’t unhappy.  She was trying to smirk.

IMG_4153IMG_4154IMG_4155IMG_4156IMG_4162IMG_4164IMG_4166IMG_4168

There’s a tragic funny story about this cake. 
I wanted carrot cake. 
I worked hard to make my multi-stepped, four-layer carrot cake.
And after I made the homemade cream cheese frosting and slathered it all over the cake I took a taste of the left over frosting.
It was bad.
My buttermilk powder had spoiled.
I didn’t cry.  But I came close.  And I went and found a box mix and made this instead.  With mayonaise and cinnamon.   It was a good consolation prize.

IMG_4149

Afterward we went next door and peeked around the furniture store.  Johanna fielded a bunch of misguided “Happy Birthday” wishes before she questioned why she was getting so many greetings.  I removed her crown.  LOL.

The kids test drove some furniture and offered many suggestions.  We took none of them.

IMG_4173IMG_4176IMG_4177

It was a super fun evening.

44

My birthday came on Wednesday.  An all around busy day for us. 
We had CBS in the AM.  I got to be a helper in Katriel’s class.  Those teachers are SAINTS!
Lunch was our regular Wednesday sandwich feast, courtesy of Nan.  She also made cuppy-cakes.
IMG_4081
IMG_4085
We PuSHeD through school and I couldn’t even tell you what we woofed down Steakum sandwiches for dinner.  We hurried through a few gifts and had a HUGE good laugh when I opened the exact same sweater from John that I had opened hours earlier from Nan! 
 
IMG_4088 IMG_4096 IMG_4098
We took Marie, Johanna and Tabitha to an outing they had, and Stewart and Nigel stayed home to shoot a movie.  So, John, Katriel and I went to Target for a few things and then to Panera for a chocolate brownie.  The new Panera in Penfield was a huge disappointment.  The “crummy-design” Panera with super small offerings.  So we hightailed it to the fab-tastic Fairport location and all was right for the night.
IMG_4102
When we all got in for the night Stewart presented his video offering.  That just may be the best gift I’ve ever received.