"52 Weeks"~~~~Week 20 of 52

Carin over at "Forever in Blue Jeans" has been hosting "52 Weeks" for the past year. She has started a new theme called "Shoot Me" with the same premise which is for us moms to be in the picture(s) on a weekly basis and post about it. I'm still working on the former theme and encourage you to come along and give it a try.

I have yet to post about our trip to Germany and Austria, although I have mentioned it on several occasions and have even included a photo or two.

Melanie and I were really, really cold, but we enjoyed having our picture taken while in Rattenberg, Austria. We all went to see this little village that is transformed for the Advent season every year. People come from all around to visit this quaint town where there are singers, performers, and great little shops to buy Bavarian clothing or maybe even a cuckoo clock. It all depends on what you're after.

Braaten and I were having a sweet cuddle on Daddy's leather rocker. It's easy to fall asleep in that chair.

Just before Christmas my mom's sister, my Aunt Judy, came for a visit. My mom's cousin, Betsy, whom I lovingly call Aunt Betsy, was with her. We shared such a lovely time together for the 8 or 9 days that they were here. We enjoyed serving them and just spending time together.

My Aunt Judy was always there for all of us. She spent lots of time with our family. She and my mom were best friends, at least the way I saw it. They were always very close and shared sister secrets. I'm sure my mom, being a mother of 7, received much support from Aunt Judy. She was and still is our fun aunt. She does cooky things and you just have to laugh. She and I re-bonded since I haven't spent much time with her over the past 15 + years. I went away to college in 1988 all the way in Davenport, Iowa and have been away ever since. Needless to say, I will always cherish the time the Lord provided for us recently.

This is Aunt Betsy. My grandmother and her mom were sisters. She is one of 8 siblings. I don't know them very well as they lived in Pennsylvania while we lived in NJ. They were all busy raising their families as was my mom was busy raising all of us. Mom would refer to her cousins often and loved her Aunt Lou very much.

My beautiful Melanie

Since we got so much snow the other day, we have been taking lots of pictures. It might just be for proof that northwest England actually can and does get snow even if only once ever 30 years or so. Actually, there are parts of England that regularly get snow, it just doesn't happen in Lymm, England very often. It is so rare that the schools have been closed for 3 consecutive days and some might just finish off the week that way. My hubby was even asked to work from home for today and tomorrow just so they can clear out the parking lot. Doesn't that seem funny?

My beautiful Braaten. She turns 12 tomorrow.

Wordless Wednesday! ~ Sound of Music

This photo was taken during the Sound of Music tour that we took in Salzberg. In the background is one of the homes they used for the Von Trapp family.

For more Wordless Wednesday posts, visit 5 Minutes for Mom.

i'm not going anywhere today!

That's exactly what my hubby said when he opened our bedroom curtain this morning and saw this...

and this.

Before we both knew it, little feet and some big feet were running around the house shouting, "Austin, there is a million snow outside!" (Grant was the cutie that said that).

You could also hear, "We don't have school today!" "We don't?!" "No, we don't!" " Yesss!"

And about 20 minutes later, our kiddos were doing stuff like this outside before they even had breakfast.

Playing basketball?

No! Snow-covered basketball, of course!

2 points for Busse.

Gigantic balls of snow were made.

Fletch was in his glory in all of the white stuff.

Happy snowmen were made.

Happy, English kids that have never seen, at least in their own little town, this amount of snow played endlessly!

Sweet hubs made giant snowballs to win the snowball fight.

My sweet little guys posed like this to make me smile behind the lens.

And those giant snowballs made these gargantuan snowmen.

We then headed to the Lymm Dam, which I often talk about, but have never seen in its new beauty.

I love these duck pictures.

Shawn is always willing to pose for me blog. He likes me like that.

OK, this is VERY atypical what you are seeing right here. Do you see where all that mud is? That's generally where you'll find rabbits running around on green grass. Well maybe not at this time of year because they're hiding out, but we've seen it many times and Fletch can vouch for that. Seeing scads of people sledding, a.k.a. "sledging" as is said in these parts, is not NORMAL! There were at least a hundred people roaming around, slipping, sliding, and just having a plain old good time.

Then there was this type of thing. You know. The using-anything-you-can-find-to-get-you-from -the-top-of-the-hill-to-the-bottom kind of thing. The all important big, yellow bag.

And, of course, the styrofoam that came from Christmas somewhere under the tree in a box.

Hey, whatever works.

Totally off the subject of snow is my menu plan that is working out fabulously so far. That was Monday night's dinner. Sorry to say that I forgot all about taking photos of my stew and zucchini bread. Oops!

I wonder what Shawn will say tomorrow morning when he opens up the curtains.

Menu Plan Monday & Eat From the Pantry Challenge

It's great to start a new week in the New Year and make a menu plan. I've decided to rejoin "Orgjunkie" and get a serious plan. Taking the time to see what you have on hand coupled with buying a few ingredients to make a plan for the week is very freeing, and yet I don't always take the time. I like plans. I like lists. And I like order. Having said that, I'm not so sure why I often flybytheseatofmypants to make things work. I have more peace when I have a plan because that's the way God made me. He wants me to have His peace, so this is one small way to have that, so here goes.

Monday: Barbecued pork chops, roasted butternut squash, and an asparagus/parmesan puff pastry.

Tuesday: Beef Stew. Need I say more? OK, I will... zucchini bread

Wednesday: Shrimp Scampi & Salad

Thursday: Ham & Cheese paninis (or leftovers from the above nights) :-)

Friday: Penne pasta alfredo with chicken (At my birthday girl's request. Braaten is turning 12 that day)

For this week, I'll leave it at Monday through Friday, but might add the weekends in the future.

As I was stumbling through different blogs and jumping around, I ran across another idea I'd love to try.

It's called "Eating from the Pantry Challenge" hosted by both Money Saving Mom and Life As Mom.

There is only one slight problem. I just had food delivered here, which is a beautiful thing and a whole 'nother post. The food delivery that is. It was £83! The whole idea here is to use what is in your pantry, freezer, and fridge in the effort to use what you already have, saving lots of money along the way. Of course you have to plan for milk, bread, eggs, cheese, fruit and vegetables and possibly some meats. The rest should come from your abundance as it is.

My Goals: To spend £250 in January. With a family of 7, that is a savings. I know we spend a lot more, but I can't give you hard numbers because I am bad at keeping a budget at the moment. That's yet another post and I definitely have to work on that.

I'll let you know how I'm doing at this as I go along. It'll be interesting putting different ingredients together in order to use what we have, but I think it will honor my hard-working husband and God all at the same time.

Whatdaya think? Do you want to join me?

Crazy abut Ceramics!

So do you remember that crazy, somewhat greedy, list I left for "Shawn-A-Claus"? We had agreed even before Christmas that he would get me a new camera lens, a photography book, and possibly even sign me up for a class to learn about photography. I knew it wouldn't be under the tree and that was perfectly fine with me. A new laptop? I don't need one and kind of just threw that on the list for that little blog post I wrote. Honestly. I have a mac and a pc. Why would I need a laptop? The new socks? Oh yeah, my boy, Austin, gave me a five-pack. Wasn't that sweet?

And just as sweet was the fact that my dear husband drove down to an area in England lovingly known as "The Potteries" just to buy me some new, beautiful dishes. Actually he purchased a tea set with a cake plate, cake server, tea cups with saucers, cute little spoons, those little teapot shaped thingies that you put used tea bags on, and a water pitcher from Portmeirion called "Botanic Blue." He got a few other little goodies since Braaten and Melanie were with him at the time and said, "Oh, Mom would definitely buy this... this, and... this." Those girlies are so cute!

I had a wonderful Christmas and my husband, as usual, bought me thoughtful gifts that he knew I would love. My kiddos also gave me some lovely things. They get really excited about purchasing just the right things for everyone.

Thanks Shawn-A-Claus!!