Preparations for Christmas

I've always loved barns and farms.  There is nothing more pretty than a red barn...especially with a blanket of snow.  Thank you for stopping by my blog today...here is a recap of my week for you.

This week was a very busy week!  My family would be coming in on Saturday, Christmas was the next week and we had our big Christmas program that Sunday.  I decided to take our Christmas days off school early in order to be able to be home and also be able to get everything done.

Monday, we did a normal day of school.  Tests and grades.  I also cleaned the church building on this day to get that checked off my to-do list!  Full day. :)

Tuesday was our first day off of school.  This week, we had Reagan, Maddie and Aaron so seven kids.  Let's just say there is not many quiet moments in the house.  LOL!

While my husband was home on Monday (his day off), he assembled our new dog crate.  We had one but it was smaller.  This is the largest size they make and it is great for both dogs when we are gone.  He also put new handles on the bathtub and tried to fix our kitchen sink faucet (it won't turn).  We may have to replace that and it would be around $200 so we waited on that.

Helping Sierra with her homework...she says, It is just so much easier when you are here. :)

A lady from our church, LeAne, dropped this craft off at our home for us along with some homemade fudge.  It is to hang Christmas cards on.  Very thoughtful!

The weather was bad on Monday so Belle's appointment at the groomer was moved to Tuesday.  Of course, she came back looking so spiffy. :)

This is what it looks like with cards on it. :)

For dinner, Summer helped me make a new dish with a Mediterranean flair.  Low calorie (that's the goal)!

Beans, tomatoes, onion, garlic, artichokes, fresh spinach...mmm!

Eric and Addie working on their play lines while waiting for dinner.

Wednesday was another busy day!  Of course, we had Baby Aaron - this kid is so sweet!

Grocery shopping for Christmas week!  Yikes!

I did lots of cleaning around the house.  Vacuuming, dusting, and decluttering.  So much easier to keep things clean when you have less stuff. :)  Sometimes it is easy when you have company coming to throw things in closets and dressers, etc. to hide it.  I decided to clean those areas out.  My secretary, my nightstand, my closet.  You don't have to worry about someone opening up something and find a mess.  LOL!  I even decluttered and wiped down all my kitchen cabinets.  No one needs 20 coffee cups in their cabinet.  Only have what you need and can keep neat and orderly!

Thursday was declared errand day for the week.  You know how you think, oh, it won't take that long and then it took all day long.  That was this day!  Ha!

Our first stop was the South branch library for a visit to Santa.  It was very crowded so it took awhile to get it but the girls enjoyed it.

A stop at Barnes and Nobles for a book for my Dad for Christmas...car wash and vacuum, Wendy's for lunch, rental place for the popcorn machine for the Christmas program, another library branch to pick up a book hold, ATM...I forgot all we did.  LOL!

This is how I felt too!  Exhausted!  LOL!

A pretty ending to the day.

Some storms coming for the coming week!

 Even though I am not a late night person, I wanted to get my goodies done for my Christmas boxes.  So I stayed up and worked on them Thursday night.  Peanut butter fudge, Andes mint chocolate fudge, dipped candy canes, peppermint kiss pretzels and white chocolate dipped Oreos.

 I enjoy doing this - giving it to neighbors and friends.

I made extra goodies for my family when they came in - mmm!

It was nice to have a pretty sunshiny day on Friday!  We have been having lots of storms and clouds so sunshine is nice to warm up the cold days.

I went to the church and tried to finish up preparations for that weekend.  Props organized and picked up, ironing costumes, etc.  It was one of those end of the weeks that pizza just is good. :)

Friday was also our last day to babysit Reagan.  I began babysitting Reagan when she was 3 months old and have babysat her full time since then.  She is almost 3 years old.  We have loved having her a part of our family and we will miss her so much.  Her family will be moving to North Dakota in January.  A bittersweet day.  Megan gave me a sweet card, a new mug and a gift card.  Thank you!

It has been a very busy week of work but we are nearly ready!  A little Friday night game and relaxation.