Thursday, December 27, 2018

4th Day of Christmas - Benny's Firsts and More

After yesterday's project fail, Stacia and I knew we had to call in a lifeline. Stacia reminded me Jacque had said to call if we ever needed sewing help. We called,  and Jacque spent five HOURS with us. She helped us figure out the pattern. Hint: They print directions on both sides. 🐽

Stacia and Jacque
 I thought she'd stay to help us figure out the directions, and leave us on our own, but she STAYED.  I loved that she told Stacia what to do and then watched STACIA do it, rather than jumping in to do it herself. It was a very beneficial lesson - though she doesn't do lessons. 😉😊😏

Stacia finished one of her projects - I won't show you yet - it's a Christmas secret. She laid out another, cut it out and began sewing. I worked on one of my projects beside her, mine doesn't require a pattern. I love having the table big enough for both of us to sew side by side. When our eyes were going blurry, and our brains were fuzzy, we laid the projects aside for another day.

Our time with Jacque  was the essence of church community. We are blessed.

 At some point during the  sewing, Arielle invited Krista to play in the yard with their family.
Krista (standing) Arielle, Cory and Benny (in front)

Benny's first time sledding and he wasn't loving it! 

They've all gone crazy! 

What is THAT?????

Never again, guys, never.again! 

THIS is how I prefer to travel

Krista got in on the fun

Krista may give Arielle a run for the wipe out Queen title

Krista is working to get individual time with each of her siblings while she is home. She took Arielle and Benny to DQ for Benny's first experience in the play land. This post should be titled Benny's Firsts.....
Now THIS is MUCH better than that cold ride....


Benny offered his opinions on Gramps' car shopping

Wow! Gramps, this is the one! 

We were too tired for games tonight. We forgot the scavenger gift hunt. Arielle loaned us "Christopher Robin." We enjoyed the movie. Thus ends the 4th Day of Christmas. 

3rd Day of Christmas - Projects?

We planned for today to be a restful day.  

Michael continued to look for cars. We want to pay cash. We've set aside a certain amount for the purchase; we'll see what we find.  We want a car which will seat 6. It would be much more convenient when we have out of state guests.  We need a truck -  we are doing a lot of hauling of things now that we live at Wibbly Wobbly Acres. 🐔🐇🐾

The search starts online
The Jeep we have isn't doing as well as we'd hoped. We had to do significant work on it this summer and it looks like it is heading for another significant outlay of money within a year. I love the JEEP - but it may soon be the car the kids learn to drive on. There's a novel idea - learn to drive on something other than a 15 passenger van. 🐽

An extended cab truck seemed like the ideal match for us. UNTIL we considered if we want it to last as long as our last "newer" car (13 years before we downsized), we need to consider one which is convenient for elderly folks to get in and out of, and one  I can get a wheelchair into and out of, if that time comes.....and so we continue to ponder. Exciting times. Michael likes to comparison shop, and he likes a budget. He's happy to look. 

I've been reading this devotional lately and am happy to have lots of quiet time to dig into it a bit deeper. The devo takes a verse/passage a day and does a Greek word study which leads to application. 


Krista spent the afternoon with Bre and had dinner with BreZaak.  Stacia and I determined to work on some projects. Um....as I posted on Facebook earlier....I wasn't too concerned when I flunked home ec. though my teacher TOLD me this was a life skill I would want to know "someday." That day would be today.

We took some classes last year - but this pattern confused us. We thought Krista would be able to help us, but it turns out she sews without patterns. WHAT? She looks at what she wants and just does it. That's how she did advance math too! 😂 We laughed when it was pointed out we shouldn't cut the pattern on top of the material. All's well. We've called in a lifeline and will have help tomorrow to figure out the pattern and be sure we know what to do. Once we figure it out once, we should be able to figure out the others!

We set this project aside and pulled out another couple of sewing projects. Which turned out cute. I can't show you as they're gifts.

After a dinner of leftovers (will they EVER end?), we were ready for the evening's Christmas Gift Scavenger Hunt.
Riddle/Clue: Under the water; above the ground

Riddle Solution and Gift: They figured this out fairly quickly. 

The family gift for the night is a new game: 221b Baker Street. We set up it up immediately, and played a round. They said it would take an hour and a half to solve a mystery. We did it in 25 minutes. I think our viewing of  Monk, Colombo, and Father Brown, finally paid off.  This may be a game we all enjoy....it's strategy, and yet understandable to Stacia and I, and it DOESN'T take HOURS and DAYS to play. 😔😜😕

We ended the night with a nice conversation with Krista. We love school breaks!