We finally squeezed in an hour to trim our tree. This is the first time we allowed all four to decorate. I gave Addie and Angus the ornaments that wouldn't break if dropped like angels made of yarn and paper ones from school. I told them they were super special and to be very careful with them. I didn't give them very clear instructions so there were several branches with 5 ornaments on them. I fixed those after they went to bed.
Dan is in charge of the lights, the star on top, and the very high ornaments.
Mya and Winter sang in the Living Nativity at church last weekend. Winter played a drum and Mya had a solo. Winter was too dark so her pic didn't come out.
Angus and Addie trying to stay warm
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Photo credit: Sheller Schaller 😊
It was wear a Christmas hat or headband day at school Tuesday. I made them take a quick pick when I dropped them off. Got those reindeer headbands at the 99 cent store in case you need some.
On the way back from church Sunday I noticed holes in one of Angus's last good pants. When I asked him how they got there he replied very seriously, "Somebody put dem daya!" Good thing I just got a bag of hand me downs from a friend.
Addie stuffed socks in her shirt and came into my room and said, "Mommy! I drank so much water that I grew boobs!"
Angus is not buying the whole elf thing. He looked at Sparkles closely and said, "Yeah, dem not real mom." Winter and Addie very much believe they are, thanks to our neighbor who moved the elves when we were gone over night.
Winter definitely writes me way more love letters than hate mail but I'm always so entertained by these.
Check out this pic of my little bro Mike around the same age as Angus. Crazy right? It's like the same little person.
So, my new recommendation is lazy enchiladas. I've been rolling tortillas for years. I had no idea there was a faster way. If you're in the dark like I was, let me change your life. To make lazy enchiladas, you just lay the tortillas flat to cover the bottom of a casserole dish, then pile on the cheese and chicken or whatever you normally put inside your enchilada then lay more tortillas over the innards, add sauce then top with cheese. I will never go back to the old way. Sorry I don't have pics but I'm always in such a frenzy when I make food for some reason. I rarely think to take a pic. Kids are asking home work questions, other kids are asking for a snack, my hands are covered in sauce and cheese... it's madness.
Another good tip if you are making enchiladas for one or two is to use a loaf pan. You can still do it the lazy way. Just tear the tortillas in pieces so they line the bottom of the loaf pan, add enchilada innards like cheese, chicken or beef, top with more tortilla pieces, add sauce, add cheese and voila, lazy enchiladas in a loaf pan.
And to go a step further, we make chips with our leftover tortillas. We always have extras. It's super easy. Grab some tortillas and brush oil on both sides of each of them (or spray them with oil) then stack them, cut them into 6 triangles like a pizza. Spread them on a cookie sheet, salt and pepper them, bake at 400 degrees for 8-12 minutes. It really varies from oven to oven. I have found that 6 tortillas cut in triangles fit on one cookie sheet. Basically free chips right? I like to eat them with the enchiladas as a fork substitute.
I hope your December is coming along. We try to focus on the birth of baby Jesus as much as possible around here but I've accepted that December is going to be a season of me being overwhelmed no matter what. I've eliminated everything I can but life for us will not be easy in December for many years.
For some reason we had two babies between Thanksgiving and Christmas which adds an extra bit of fun to the craziness. And 3 of them are in school with a themed Christmas week with ugly sweater day, Christmas socks day and Christmas hat day and items to bring to the class party and teacher gifts to buy. Then we have church functions the kids are in and a few kid gift exchanges times 4.
And our new fridge broke today, our tree looks dead-ish and our new couch we ordered two months ago, that is replacing the one I like to duct tape together, that we were hoping would be here by now, isn't arriving until after our family Christmas party. I'm going to stop here because it sounds like I'm complaining. And I totally am.
BUT, this year might be the best year yet because my mom and aunt are here staying with us as we speak and my sister Wendy is coming tomorrow to stay with us for a few nights. SO, all is right with the world. And almost everyone RSVP'd yes to our family Christmas party which means I will see all my favorites in my house at one time.
Soooo, I will tackle each Christmas thing one by one and forget a few but mostly do a good job. And I will savor each second with the ones I love.
Merry Christmas to you all! And a Happy New Year if I don't post before then... which I probably won't. 2020! Can you believe it? We don't have flying cars which I kind of expected 30 years ago but that does sound kind of dangerous.
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