Recipe History

When my paternal grandma passed away, I inherited two of her recipe boxes.

Much of what I inherited from my grandparents has been like sacred ground.  I didn't want to use things, change things, or get rid of anything.

Moving forced me to face some of these decisions.  There were certainly some things I got from my grandparents that I held onto simply because they belonged to them.  I was able to realize this and let a few things go when we moved.  Now I'm starting to see that I should use or enjoy the things I have from them rather than keep them as a shrine.

So several weeks ago, while Nora was napping, I sat down and looked through all the recipes in Grandma's boxes.  I was looking for one recipe in particular.  I never did figure out her system for organizing them (one box has alphabetical cards and one has categorical cards, but neither set of organizing cards seemed to match with the recipe cards).  Someday I may sort the recipes into a different order so I can use them more efficiently, but that's a task for another day.

Flipping through the recipes was like taking a walk in history.  My family history as well as simply past eras.

I thought it would be fun to share some (lots!) pictures of these recipes with you.  My family will probably enjoy this post a lot more than the general public, but I'm putting it out there anyway. :)

I love the assortment found in Grandma's recipes.  They are not uniform sizes or on identical recipe cards.

I love the ones that look super old and show that they've been used, like these:

I love reading Grandma's notes on her recipes.

"Very good"

"Warren likes - Easter breakfast 1980"

"No cholesterol" (she marked recipes that met my Grandpa's dietary needs)

"Very good"

"A&P Spanish Bar (almost)" (I wonder why she added "almost")

"good" and "Sally 8-19-71" (Sally is my aunt)

"This is good"

This might be the funniest note of all:  a tic-tac-toe game!

I included this one because it's from Mae Hund.  She was my grandma's mother (my great grandma), and my middle name is after her.

You may have noticed dates on several of her recipes.  There are actually dates on most of her recipes.

2-3-1980 (February 3 is Jared's birthday!)

October '84

1974

July 1976

Apr. 1964 (And who knew you can make your own French dressing?)

July 7, 1968

Dec. 10, 1977

Feb. 27, '69

I loved reading the dates as well as the events for which the recipes were used.

For funeral dinner

For Beth Knobeloch's 4th birthday (She's my cousin, and she's now in her 30s.)

For "E & J Birthday '96" (That stands for Erik and Jessica--my brother and me)

I have always loved seeing my grandma's handwriting.  It's such a part of who she was.  Flipping through the recipes, I also noticed my mom's handwriting:

As much as I loved seeing all of the personal handwriting, I also love seeing recipes typed on a typewriter:

The backs of the recipe cards also made me chuckle.

Front:  Toffee

Back:  something about belts and wallets (maybe related to my grandpa's leatherwork?)

Front:  Chicken Noodle Soup Mix

Back:  cost of groceries

The back of this recipe had addresses (which I didn't include for privacy sake), and you can see it's written on a page from a planner.

Front:  quantities that various containers could hold (this was in with recipes)

Back:  paperwork from church ministry

Front:  Pineapple Cake from SEMGCO Home Service Department

Back:  Chocolate Picnic Cake and a Gas Energy Conservation Tip

Front:  Florence Kriegsman's Rhubarb Crunch

Back:  Church Attendance Record

Front:  recipe for a fruit dish

Back:  Lane Bryant's apology that their product didn't meet the customer's satisfaction.

Front:  Vanilla Sauce

Back:  Sign for selling Girl Scout Cranberry Steamed Pudding to help fund a trip to Mexico in 1973

Front:  Spaghetti for 200 people

Back:  Some sort of pyramid of people (with my dad on top)

Many of the recipes came from interesting sources.

From a cereal box

From the newspaper

This Orange Gel mold...

From Knox Gelatine, Inc.

From the Hints From Heloise section of the newspaper

From a Velveeta box

From a Parkay box

From Tang (remember that stuff??)

From the Dream Whip box

From a magazine

This recipe was submitted by Sharon Altman, mother of astronaut Scott Altman from our hometown.  My kids now attend Scott Altman Elementary School!

From Central Illinois Light Company

From a seasoning packet

From a newspaper insert

The back of the recipe above

This recipe is from a carton of Egg Beaters with Cheez

I loved seeing some of the pictures on the recipes:

I noticed that Grandma had several duplicates of many of her recipes.

Do you have a lot of tomatoes and want to turn them into berry-flavored jam?  I have four recipes for you.

Want to make homemade ice cream?  I have three choices for you.

And finally, you may have noticed some recipe cards with strawberries on them.  Grandma's kitchen was decorated in strawberries, and she collected all sorts of neat things with strawberry motifs.  Here are a few of her strawberry recipe cards:

I hope you survived this incredibly long post.  There really was no point to it other than to preserve some of what I found in my grandma's treasure recipe boxes.  I never even found the recipe I was originally looking for!

Jessica

Parent-Teacher Conferences

We had parent-teacher conferences last night for both of our boys.  I was nervous and excited beforehand, and now I'm beaming.

When Jared and I got to the car after the conferences, I let out an excited squeal as well as a breath I was apparently holding for about two years.

I reminded Jared of the years past when Nolan had good conferences and we would secretly say to each other, "This is going to be a very different story when Griffin is in school!"

What a difference a couple years' time and about 2 billion prayers make.

I am so proud of my boys for how hard they have worked.  Some of you may remember the very difficult days when Nolan started kindergarten.  I called my sister crying every single day.  Everyday.  Nolan's teacher called me every day at lunch to check in and report how he was doing that day.  This went on for two full months.  It was rough.

Of course you all know we were very anxious about how Griffin would do in school, considering his Asperger's diagnosis and the struggles he has.  Then add in that we moved RIGHT before school started, and you can imagine how nervous we were.

I thought no teacher would ever compare to Nolan's amazing kindergarten teacher, but this year both of my boys' teachers belong in the same Hall of Teacher Fame as that first one Nolan had.  These ladies have been an absolute blessing and answer to prayer for us.

I praise God for orchestrating our move to this house, bringing us to a school that we love, and matching my boys up with teachers perfectly suited to them.

Nolan is at an age (second grade) where he has found his sense of humor.  He says hilarious stuff and enjoys when his classmates laugh at his jokes.  I was wondering if this was perhaps becoming a problem in class, and I was also secretly worrying that he may end up as a Class Clown and forget that he is supposed to be a Godly influence.

Nolan's teacher specifically told us that she loves his humor and that he makes her job better.  She assured us that he knows when humor is appropriate and when it's time to be serious.  She said she's someone who appreciates humor, and I just thought how perfectly matched she is to our Nolan.

That's just one example of how awesome Nolan's teacher is.  She has been so flexible, letting me bring Nora with me when I volunteer in class.  She challenges Nolan to keep learning and developing.  She recognizes where he excels and makes new paths for him.  She sees areas where he needs extra encouragement and finds creative ways to lead him.

Griffin's kindergarten teacher is equally amazing.

Griffin's teacher has a seemingly endless supply of patience for her students.  She is a pillar of wisdom.  She told us that she can see in Griffin's eyes when he's getting frustrated, and she knows how to gently touch his shoulder and talk to him to calm him down.  She also knows his cues for when he's getting bored in class.  She accommodates his personality without judgment.  During our conversation, I mentioned how stressful Christmas programs are for Griffin (and us!), and she immediately changed where Griffin will stand for the program so he will be more comfortable (without us even asking her to make any changes).  She also recognizes his reading and math super powers and continually finds ways to challenge him.  I love that she wants him to keep learning even though he's past grade level in these areas.

(Sidenote:  Griffin's teacher said she gets the impression that Griffin thinks he has to be perfect all the time.  She said he seems to be afraid of making mistakes.  I, uh, really don't know WHERE he would get that tendency toward perfectionism.  It's a mystery, really.  Hmm.)

I could give lots of examples of how she has treated Griffin in a way that solves his problem, calms him down, and teaches him how to handle situations in life.  Her gentle but clear approach seems to be more effective than my yelling.

I just have to share with the world how grateful I am for amazing teachers.  Not all teachers are like the ones we have this year.  I recognize that our teachers have families, health concerns, and lives outside of school.  Not to mention that they have more students than just my boys!  Somehow they manage to care for my kids as if they were the only ones in the classroom.

These parent-teacher conferences gave me a little confidence boost and made me think maybe we're not doing everything wrong as parents.  :)

Griffin has told me before that he tries very hard not to get in trouble at school.  I confess that my reaction was, "Well why can't you make that your goal at home, too?"  I realized last night that I need to just be grateful that he's doing so well at school and has the abilities to follow the rules, interact with kids, make friends, and grow academically.  This is a time to celebrate all that is going well.

I know we're not that far into this parenting journey, and there are a lot of ups and downs ahead, but I have to be very purposeful about enjoying the successes, big or small.  I think attending two amazing parent-teacher conferences is a huge success.

We already knew this move was part of God's plan for us, but we got further evidence of that last night.  Nolan wrote a letter to go in the packet of papers his teachers presented to us at the conference.

Dear Mom and Dad, thank you for our family moving so I could be at this AWESOME school!  I hope you are proud of my math because it is AWESOME!!!  Love, Nolan

Ahhhh.  That'll make a mom feel good.

I frequently share my struggles here on this little blog, and I just had to share this triumph as well!

Jessica

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."  Jeremiah 29:11

Nautical Diaper Bag

A friend of mine, Amy, is pregnant with a baby boy, and she asked me to make her a diaper bag.  I made her a diaper bag for her last baby, so this time I made her a similar bag but with a few updates.

Both diaper bags are based on this great tutorial on Noodlehead.  For the first diaper bag, I added a couple pockets in the lining of the bag.  They turned out great, but they were very time consuming.  Amy said she'd be just as happy without the inside pockets.

I also noticed that Amy kept her last diaper bag pretty full, so I increased the size on this one.  :)

Amy wanted something nautical with a navy and yellow color scheme.  She also loves chevron.  She showed me lots of fabrics that she loved, and I chose 4 to use for this bag.

Without further ado, I give you...Amy's Nautical Diaper Bag!

This side has two pockets that seem to come in handy.  I like using contrasting fabric for the outer side of the pockets.  The inside of the pockets is lined with navy fabric with nautical ropes.  I used that same fabric to make my own bias tape for the top of the pockets.  The entire bag (including these external pockets) is made with fusible fleece between the layers of outer fabric and lining fabric.

Inside the external pockets

I added a bow with white rope trim just for fun:

The inside of the diaper bag is a white fabric with giant yellow anchors:

As you can see above, I used magnetic snaps for the bag closure.  A zipper is too annoying when you are in and out of the bag a lot, and leaving it completely open means something might accidentally fall out.  A big magnetic snap seemed like the way to go.

I also sewed in a little tag that says, "With Love in Every Thread."  Just a little message from me to Amy. :)

I didn't want the bag to have a plain backside (trust me, I've lived with a plain backside for far too long...), so I added an anchor applique to the side without pockets.  I cut the anchor from the leftover lining fabric, used Wonder Under to adhere the anchor to the bag, and topstitched (very carefully) around the anchor.  I left some white space around the anchor so it'll fray for a decorative effect.

The bottom corners of the bag are box corners for roominess:

For the straps, I bought navy blue webbing.  I also found yellow and white chevron ribbon, so I sewed the ribbon down the middle of the straps.  I used white bobbin thread to make white stripes down the backs of the straps, but that's the one detail of the bag that I didn't end up liking.  I didn't have the heart to rip it out and redo it.

Since I didn't put any pockets inside the diaper bag, I made two small accessory pouches for Amy.

One is a fully-lined zipper pouch that I made following this tutorial at Flossie Teacakes.

I love the covered ends of the zipper.

I used the yellow chevron for the lining.

The other accessory that I made was a pacifier pocket from this tutorial at Make It & Love It.

It snaps around the strap of the diaper bag so the baby's pacifier is easily accessible.

It's barely visible inside the bag.

Just wanted to share one of my latest projects!

Here are sources related to these items:

• Bag tutorial:  Summer Madras Tote at Noodlehead
• Zippered pouch tutorial at Flossie Teacakes
• Pacifier Pocket pattern and tutorial at Make It & Love It
• Navy anchor fabric:  Michael Miller Out to Sea Anchors Away Navy
• Yellow chevron fabric:  Premier Prints Zig Zag Slub Yellow/White
• Yellow anchor fabric:  Premier Prints Anchor Slub Corn Yellow
• Navy rope fabric:  Cabana II Sailors Knot Navy
• The navy blue webbing and chevron ribbon for the straps are both from Hobby Lobby.
• I also used fusible fleece, a navy zipper, magnetic snaps, and no-sew snaps.

Jessica

Helping in Difficult Times

Several tornadoes ripped through my hometown and several surrounding cities yesterday.  We are so blessed that our family members are all safe and sound, our house is unharmed, and we have electricity.

This has been a marvelous opportunity to talk to my kids about being grateful for everything we have as well as how to pray for and help others.  After a well-timed devotional tonight about having everything we need, the kids and I had a prayer time that would've blessed anyone listening.  Hearing Griffin pray for his teacher, my sister's family, and all the people who lost their homes was like a soothing balm on my soul.

This is also a great time for me to share with you a post that I've been wanting to write for several weeks.

When someone I know is going through a difficult time, I want--I need--to do something to help.  Then I overthink it.  What if they don't want help?  What if they don't want the particular thing I'm offering?  How many times will I say something completely awkward because I don't know what to say?

Time and time again, I've come back to one go-to way to minister to people:  food.  Food is always the answer.  Food is my love language.

There's plenty of room for overthinking here, too.  Does anyone have food allergies?  Is anyone diabetic?  Is anyone in the family dieting?  Do they like this genre of food?

You see how I can drive myself crazy and often end up sitting back doing nothing.  But I recently discovered how awesome it can be to forget about those worries and just feed someone.

Several weeks ago I had the opportunity to take meals to all of the following people within a two-week period:

• Someone who had a baby
• Someone who had surgery
• Someone in the middle of an ugly divorce
• Someone whose father passed away
• Someone whose spouse was arrested

I was searching online for some meal ideas when I found a great site called Take Them A Meal.  I highly recommend looking around this site.  It is full of tips, ideas, recipes, and guidance to help people minister to others (through food and so much more).

Some of my favorite posts on their site include:

19 Ways to Help During Crisis

10 Tips for Taking Meals to Friends with Cancer

How to Be a Faithful Friend During the Hardest Seasons of Life

Meaningful Items for Difficult Times

*If you only read one link I'm sharing with you today, I'd make it this one!

The post that brought me to Take Them A Meal in the first place was this one:

Top 13 Meal Ministry Meals

This particular post was written by Janelle, the author of the site Comfy in the Kitchen.  After reading this fantastic gathering of her top 13 meals to take to people, I ended up spending a bunch of time looking around her site as well.  (I do this a lot.  I'm on one website, and then I open a link in another tab, and then that site has another link to another blog that I open in another tab...Does anyone else do this?)

 

I read her About Me page and found out her awesome story of how she got involved in "meal ministry."  She takes meals to all kinds of people for all kinds of reasons.  She simply follows God's prompting to know whom she should feed next.  She also cooks for a crowd at her church regularly, and she has lots of helpful things to share about how to balance caring for her own family while ministering to people around her in practical and meaningful ways.  

 

In addition to the two amazing sites mentioned above (seriously, check them out!), I wanted to share two more posts you may find helpful if you're trying to help someone in your sphere of influence.

 

Chemo Care Packages (from Life as a Survivor)

What to Write in a Card (From BestCardMessages.com)

*Click on the occasion (baby, sympathy, get well, etc.) to get ideas of what to write.

I hope you find some of these links useful.  Sometimes we have great intentions and just need a little help turning those intentions into something that is actually helpful.  Whether you're reaching out to a group of natural disaster victims or reaching out to a close friend enduring a trying time, you can absolutely make a big difference by doing little things if you choose your words and actions wisely.  

Jessica

Choices

Yesterday I started my day by reading a note Jared had left for me near the coffee pot (my first stop every morning).  He pointed out that the date was 11-12-13.  I love when other people enjoy those little details as much as I do.

I thought it was going to be a good day.  And let me say that it was a good day.  My day was full of fabulous moments, like when Nora and I went shopping to fill our box for Operation Christmas Child.

However, my day was also filled with...let's call them "choice points."

1.  Jared was in Chicago all day for work.  That meant that I did not have his help for things like making the kids eat dinner and bathe/shower.  We had to ask his mom to come help with the kids while I attended a meeting at church after dinner.  I also had to ask my brother-in-law to pick up Nolan and take him to his basketball practice (while I was at my meeting and my mother-in-law was watching the other two kids).

I hate when my family is scattered.  I hate not seeing each other, and we had already had a crazy busy weekend followed by Jared being gone Monday night for his own church meeting.  And let's be honest:  I hate when everyone is out of my little radius of comfort where I can keep an eye on everyone (which some might phrase as "I hate not being in control.").

So, I chose to be thankful that we had multiple family members so willing to help us with our crazy evening.  What a blessing to have help when we needed it.  I chose to be thankful that Jared was only gone for one day.  He could have just as easily been sent to Russia or China for two weeks instead of to Chicago for one day.  And I also chose to be thankful that I was not the one who had to wake up at 4:30 am!

2.  I fell down the stairs.  One moment I was just starting to go downstairs to put something away, and then suddenly my feet were not under me.  I flailed, stretched, and grasped, but I couldn't stop the downward motion of my entire body down those stairs.  I twisted my shoulder in an unnatural angle, smashed my elbow on something, hurt both of my hands and one foot, and got rug burns so bad that I broke the skin in several places before I finally came to a hard stop on my hiney. 

I just laid there for several minutes.  The kids never came and Jared wasn't home.  I assessed my body as things started to throb and burn.  Finally, I got up and slowly headed back upstairs to make dinner for the kids.

I chose to be very thankful that I didn't break any bones or sustain any major injuries.  I very easily could have been yelling for the kids to call 9-1-1 while I tried to figure out who could come watch the kids.  Instead, I went about the rest of my business for the evening, and today my body feels like I was in a car accident.  I'll gladly take that over the many worse alternatives.

3.  I was publicly embarrassed at my meeting at church.  It wasn't intentional, and it just sorta happened.  My comment was misconstrued and it was met with unexpected feedback from one person followed by many more people.  I got embarrassed and felt stupid.  I felt myself mentally shut down, and for the remainder of the meeting I focused ALL of my energy on not crying.  I was the first to leave once we adjourned, and I made it to the parking lot before I broke down.

I had a good friend text me after the meeting to help me process what had happened.  After Jared returned home, I told him about the meeting.  He listened, hugged me, and then helped me understand a possible explanation as to why the initial person responded as he did.  I was still mentally replaying the whole mess as I got ready for bed.

I suddenly remembered a recent uncomfortable conversation I overheard during which several women from our church were talking negatively about the very person who had responded poorly to me at the meeting.  I could hear Satan hissing an invitation to me to give in and join them in their negative talk.  I immediately knew my choice.

"In your anger, do not sin:  do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold."  Ephesians 4:26-27

I chose to protect my relationships with other church members (especially the one who had hurt me).  I will not willingly create an opening for Satan to get in.  I will not perpetuate unrest when I can just as easily choose peace.  I openly admit this wasn't my natural first response, but once the choice was clearly there in front of me, I had to make the right one.

{In case you want the rest of the story, that person actually contacted me this morning.  He said during his morning prayer time, God had brought me to his mind.  ("How I love you, Lord!  You are my defender."  Psalm 18:1)  We each got to clear up what we were trying to say last night, and we restored genuine peace in our friendship.  I praise God for working it out!}

I feel like I've been an internal mess lately.  My patience is short, my frustration is high, and my motivation is stretched thin.  My first response to each difficulty has not been pretty.  Yesterday I was able to move past that initial response to get to the right response.

Did you know you don't have to stay in your first response?  This is a recent discovery for me.  I'm hoping with practice I'll train myself to respond correctly the first time. 

Maybe by 12-13-14.

Jessica

Joyful Moments

I have all my little chickadees in my nest today.  Ahhhh.

I wish we could have slept in today (and by "we" I'm obviously talking about me since the kids get up with the sun).  However, Nora still had her Monday morning ballet class.  I was slightly dreading entertaining the boys there for an hour, but it was actually kinda awesome.

I consented to letting the boys bring electronic devices (iPod and Nintendo DS) to entertain themselves.  Nolan spent most of his time building elaborate towers with the wood blocks in the dance studio waiting room and playing with his mini ninja action figure.

Griffin made a friend.

Yes, you read that right.

My little Griffin was playing his DS when one of the other big brothers got out his DS.  This boy was probably a couple years older than Nolan.  He had forgotten his stylus that he needed to play his game, and Griffin's game didn't require him to use his stylus.  So, with me there to offer him courage, Griffin let the other boy use his stylus.  Then he asked me to ask the boy to come sit by him.  Those two boys sat next to each other playing their games and discussing various strategies for the remainder of our time there.

My heart was happy.

Watching Nora do ballet in her little leotard and tights always makes my heart happy.

Our drive home was full of Griffin's sweet little voice singing.  His repetition of the same songs over and over annoyed his siblings but made his mom smile.  I said, "Griffin, you're such a good singer."  He replied, "I kinda think I am, too."  That was another fun moment since he's usually pretty hard on himself.

I asked him if he's going to sing in his Christmas program.  He said he doesn't know.  I decided not to push it right now.

When we got home, I had the kids bring me the dirty laundry hampers (or "hamsters," as Nora calls them) from around the house.  Then I had the kids sort the laundry into piles of similar colors.  Why have I never had them do this before??  They raced to see who could empty their hamper of dirty laundry first.  A little bit of healthy competition gets the job done.

After I started the first load of laundry (one of many), the kids helped me make a batch of sweet bread dough.  I make rolls with this dough, and in my house they're known as "Mama's rolls."  Nolan coined that term years ago.  I am responsible for rolls at our family Thanksgiving, and my homemade rolls freeze very well.  It's just one more thing that I can get done ahead of time, and it seemed like the perfect task for our day at home.

At first Nora was my only helper as the boys sat at the table looking at their Scholastic book orders for school.  Just like I did when I was a kid, they look at the flyers and circle any books they want.  Then they put stars next to the books that they really want.

When the boys finished with their book orders, they joined me and Nora to work on the bread dough.  The kids took turns adding ingredients and stirring until I had to take over stirring in that last bit of flour.  I snapped a couple quick photos on my phone with my flour-covered hands as the kids worked together.

It's not the best picture of Nora, but you can see that she's still in her ballet leotard.

Once we set the kneaded bread dough aside to rise, the kids went downstairs to play TOGETHER.  They were so stinking cute coming up with games and schemes together.

I played Christmas music on Pandora while I emptied the dishwasher.  There's nothing like some festive music to liven up one of my least favorite tasks!

The day is less than half over, and already it's been amazing.  This is some much-needed down time after our jam-packed weekend and before the craziness that's packed into the week ahead.

I'm so thankful for the joy packaged into little moments in this day.  I hope you unwrap the joy that's been prepackaged into your day!

Jessica

Christmas Changes

Confession #1:  I've been excited about Christmas for about a month.

I feel I can finally confess this to you since it is now November.

I have watched White Christmas and Elf, and will be watching National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation in the very near future.

I started my spreadsheet of people I need to buy/make gifts for, amount of money budgeted for each person, and ideas for those gifts.

Confession #2:  I'm already feeling stressed about Christmas.

There's so much to cram into my December calendar with school programs, church plays and performances, a dance recital, Christmas parties galore, birthday parties for two of my children, a birthday party for my niece, and a gathering for a friend's birthday.

We have to find our Christmas decorations (are they in our attic?  garage?  storage unit?) and figure out where to put everything in the new house.  I admit that this part is actually really fun for me.  Or at least it would be if I felt like I could spend money on some new decorations for the new house setup.

I have to come up with gifts for everyone.  I produce gifts for family members, friends, teachers, volunteers, etc.  My husband only selects gifts for me, and even then he picks something from my list of ideas.

I have to teach my kids their lines and songs for their Christmas performances at church.  I have to make sure they each have something "Christmasy" and dressy to wear for these performances, which is an added expense in a very tight month.

I could go on and on about my December responsibilities, but I'm sure you already get the idea because, well, you probably have your own nearly toppling load of responsibilities for this most wonderful season of all.

Last year December nearly did me in.  Literally.  My stress level maxed out, and I threatened to lock my family in our house until January.  I couldn't take one more demand to be somewhere, buy something, make something, and have my family picture-perfect.

This year I have two choices:  self-medicate or make some changes.

I'm making some changes.

First, I eliminated my annual tradition of making my family matching pajamas to wear on
Christmas Eve and Christmas morning.  I've done this every year dating back at least to when we had our first child and possibly before that.  Click here to read about how I made them last year.

Jared and I don't need new pajamas.  The kids have outgrown theirs, but they don't necessarily need homemade pajamas.  So, though it caused me a bit of pain, I ordered the kids matching pajamas from Children's Place.  I got the "Snowman Fleece PJ Set" in green for Nolan, blue for Griffin, and pink for Nora.  I got them for $9 per set with free shipping a couple weeks ago.  They're not the cutest pajamas I've ever seen, but they are super soft and snuggly, and the kids will be adorable in them.  Since they are a winter print, not specifically Christmas, the kids can wear them all winter after Christmas morning.

That's a huge load lifted off of me to not have to hunt down cute flannel, try to get a good deal on it, wash it, dry it, cut out five pairs of pajama pants, sew five pairs of pajama pants, and buy shirts to go with them.

Time and money saved.

Second, I'm not stressing about family Christmas sweaters.  I've always gotten coordinating sweaters for my family to wear to our big family Christmas gatherings on Christmas Eve.  Even though I get enjoyment out of having my whole family matching or coordinating, it's just an added expense.

Third, I'm not trying to make all the gifts this year.  Some years I've done exclusively (or almost exclusively) homemade gifts for everyone on our list (except our kids).  Last year I made some and bought some.  This will be a year of buying as well as making.  Making gifts can save money (although supplies can add up), and I feel like they are more personal, but I know I can bless people just as much by thoughtfully choosing a purchased gift.

Fourth, we are not doing any big family projects during this season.  In years past, we have participated in RACK (Random Acts of Christmas Kindness, read here about our experience) and done Advent projects (read here).  Don't get me wrong; we will absolutely focus on blessing other people this holiday season.  But this mama will not be the organizer and chairperson of these grand schemes.  We will take advantage of every opportunity we have to be kind to others, and we'll pray and ask God to use us to bring joy to others.  Just not at the expense of my sanity.

Fifth, I'm working on trying to be more laid back for my kids' birthday parties.  I'm a bit stuck on this one.  Nora's birthday is two days after Christmas, and she is FUN this year.  She's into all things girly, artistic (coloring, painting, etc.), ballet, and tea parties.  She just started enjoying Barbies, and she loves baby dolls.  This girl is my dream come true.  I could throw her the girl party to end all girl parties.  So I have to try to scale back on what my mind is already dreaming up for her party.

Griffin's birthday is December 1, so his party will be the Saturday after Thanksgiving.  He's much MUCH tougher because he doesn't have a normal clear-cut theme in mind, and he doesn't like any foods besides chicken nuggets and macaroni and cheese.  I don't think our families want to each chicken nuggets and mac & cheese.  His favorite thing right now is a video game, and I can't easily make a whole party around it.  Jared pointed out to me that Griffin probably doesn't care about the party decorations and cake decorations as much as Nora will love the details at her party.  So, I'm left with trying to make sure each child feels special and honored, even if their parties are on different scales.  I want to be more relaxed and enjoy their celebrations, but I've still got some work to do to get there.

Sixth, I've adjusted my expectations for how my kids perform at their many Christmas productions.  My perspective on this was recently changed (read more here).  This Christmas season I expect Nolan to fully participate and have a good time doing it.  I expect Nora to sing all the songs and likely do all the motions because she likes learning them (although she has a touch of stage fright, so I'll allow for that).  And I expect Griffin to go on stage with his class and at least stand calmly in his spot.  I will be thrilled if the kids do the minimum required to be present with their classes and not cause a commotion.

Finally (for now), I'm getting the kids more involved in making their wish lists this year.  Typically, I have to come up with a long list of gift ideas.  Family members ask for ideas, and I email out the kids' lists.  I have to run interference to make sure people don't buy the same thing and help people find the specific items.  Jared and I tend to get whatever is left on the list after everyone else buys from the lists. This year Jared and I are going to make our selections from the lists first so we can feel super excited about what we're giving the kids.

This past Friday we had a random open evening, which was a rare treat for our family.  So we took the kids out to eat at Pizza Hut to cash in their Book-It coupons.  Then we took them to Walmart and let them browse at their own pace through every single aisle of toys, which is something I don't think we've ever let them do before.  Any time they found something they want, we took a picture of the child holding the item or standing near it.  We made sure we would be able to identify the item from the picture (sometimes we took a second picture of the item by its price tag).

This was lots of fun!  Plus it took the responsibility off of me to figure out everything the kids might like.  Of course, we had to make clear to the kids that we were just browsing and not buying anything, and we explained that they wouldn't necessarily receive everything that they ask for.  Griffin still thinks that Santa can provide anything, even if it's too expensive for family members to buy.



After we got home and got the kids in bed, we sat down with my laptop.  We located each item online and then added each item to the kids' individual wish lists.  I like to use the website WishPot because people can buy items on the lists from any website (unlike Amazon wish lists which require you to purchase from Amazon), and anyone can mark an item as purchased or reserved, even if they just buy it in a store rather than online.  I can also add notes on any item and set a priority for how much each child wants each item.  When the lists are ready, I'll simply email the list links to our family members, and they can shop from the lists.

So those are the changes I've made so far, and it's only the beginning of November.  I won't claim to be stress-free, but I'm trying to change what I can control and have a better attitude about what I can't control.

You should probably still pray for me as December draws closer.  :)

Jessica