Sentence a Day -- December 2019

We had a fabulous December.  We got snow (a few times), cooked up some yummy desserts, and made the most of all the holiday season.



1.  Alec and I worked on cooking up a new cookie recipe for the blog-- Upside Down Buckeye Cookies.



2.  The boys and I tackled some schoolwork while watching the snow fall all day long.



3.  With even more snow falling we spent the day plowing, shoveling and playing in the snow.



4.  The boys decorated their gingerbread houses after school.



5.  We went to the Florence Griswold Museum and saw their Christmas decorations.





6.  We met some friends of ours in Newport and went through The Breakers museum; seeing all their Christmas decorations!





7.  My husband and I went out to dinner and finished up all the Christmas shopping!



8.  Alec and I went to a Christmas choral concert and had a great time listening to his friends sing.



9.  We worked together on our Christmas Around the World board and started putting together our first ever Yule log.



10. We spent a quiet, rainy day at home relaxing and wrapping a few gifts.

11.  We finished up our Yule Log and typed up a list of facts about celebrating Christmas in France before Evan left for his first ever hockey game and non-family member sleepover.




12.  We had a great time at our Christmas Around the World homeschooling party and learned all about Christmas traditions in Germany, Syria, Ireland, and Italy.

We made an ornament craft that the family reporting on Ireland brought with them

13.  We spent another quiet day at home wrapping and finishing up our schoolwork for the week.

14.  I worked on finishing up every last thing for Christmas; including one last gift I made using the Cricut.



15. Evan and I worked together to make some Christmas Crack.



16. I spent the afternoon on the phone with the hospital going over all my pre-op instructions.

17. We styed inside while an ice storm raged outside all day.

18.  We got out and went on a nice hike through the ice/snow covered woods.



19. Alec had a makeup karate class and I spent part of my morning at Dressbarn trying on some clothes; buying a new pair of pants and a sweater.




20. Alec and I spent a day cooking up a storm; we made 2-ingredient bagels, homemade English muffins, & turkey pot pie.





21.  We spent most of our day at my in-laws house celebrating Christmas.






22.  Alec and I worked together to make a delicious chocolate chip pecan pie for Christmas day; I'm so thankful he has more patience working with pie crust than I do!



23.  Up early for my outpatient procedure and everything went quite well so I was home by 1 or 2 and spent the rest of the day in bed resting, watching TV, and reading lots of blogs.

24.  We headed to my mother's for Christmas Eve and had a great time with the family; coming home a bit earlier than usual so I could rest.


25.  We had a wonderful Christmas; even if I did nap for a good couple of hours in the middle of the day.

26.  I spent part of my afternoon on the couch with a heating pad but did manage to find some time to play with my new camera and photo sphere.



27.  I worked on some scrapbooking pages and labeled all the photos I took (and printed) from Sept until December.




28.  We cleaned the whole house (well mostly my husband and the boys while I rested) and then we went and got a rather large load of groceries before I settled in to watch Instant Hotel on Netflix.



29.  I finished the book I got on Christmas day; it was pretty cute.


30. After a quick trip to the library I started a new book and spent most of the icy/rainy day working on the blog.


31.  I made a crock pot lasagna and some fresh bread in our brand new bread maker to ring in the New Year.


Comments

  1. Gail Is This Mutton?January 7, 2020 at 6:49 AM

    Loved your pictures! The food you made - the chocolate crack. upside down cookies, Yule log - all looked mouth watering! I don't do much baking or cooking unfortunately - it's only the two of us at home and my husband wouldn't eat it. But I love looking at what others create.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Joanne January 7, 2020 at 7:17 AM

      Ha; I have the opposite problem! With my three boys nothing lasts in this house longer than a day or two. :)

      Delete
  2. collettakayJanuary 7, 2020 at 7:34 AM

    It looks like you had a very busy December! I'm hoping you are healed from your procedure :) I love pecan pie! I might have to get the ingredients to make one now!

    Colletta

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Joanne January 7, 2020 at 4:12 PM

      I got the all clear from the Dr. yesterday; thank you.

      Delete
  3. Rebecca JoJanuary 7, 2020 at 8:16 AM

    I always love seeing what you all bake & create each month.
    That art pallette tree is the coolest thing
    I need an EASYYYYY pecan pie recipe- its my hubs favorite & he buys a full pie at the bakery about twice a month - which is EXPENSIVE! I need to see if I can make one.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Joanne January 7, 2020 at 4:23 PM

      Pecan pie is easy! I promise. Try this recipe: https://www.myslicesoflife.com/2017/12/chocolate-chip-pecan-pie-recipe.html. I have absolutely used store bought crust and omitted the chocolate chips and it turns out just fine that way too. The key is to take it out when the knife comes out clean and not to overbake it as the filling might not look very firm but still be cooked through. It does firm up more as it cools.

      Delete
  4. kitty@ Kitty's Kozy KitchenJanuary 7, 2020 at 8:57 AM

    You had a busy December!! My family would love those upside down Buckeye cookies. The gingerbread houses turned out so cute. I hope you are feeling well after your surgery. May you have a healthy, happy 2020!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Joanne January 7, 2020 at 4:17 PM

      Thank you. We did have a pretty busy month (seems like they always are). My Dr. gave me the all clear yesterday and I am feeling great.

      Delete
  5. Laura of Harvest Lane CottageJanuary 7, 2020 at 10:25 AM

    What a wonderful way to record your memories and share the fun.
    Be blessed,
    Laura of Harvest Lane Cottage

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Joanne January 7, 2020 at 4:16 PM

      Aw, thank you! I started it last year and I find I do love it.

      Delete
  6. AniJanuary 7, 2020 at 11:24 AM

    This is such an awesome idea. I am going to try this in February. My mentality won’t let me start a week a day project after the start of the month. The pic with each line is such a nice addition. Thanks for sharing your month, as I was reading I was thinking how spot on your new blog title is now. Without even realizing it I was like, this is such a cool slice of life. And then the ah ha moment, lol.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Joanne January 7, 2020 at 4:15 PM

      That makes my heart so happy to hear that!! :) Thank you. This comment made my week. I look forward to reading all about your February!

      Delete
  7. Bri RundeJanuary 7, 2020 at 4:26 PM

    Such a fun post to read a little of what has happened each day in your month. Do you guys still have that much snow?!?!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Joanne January 7, 2020 at 4:34 PM

      Right now we don't have any snow; most of our storms aren't lasting past a day or two and then are followed by days of rain so it melts almost right away. Kind of weird winter so far.

      Delete
  8. debs14January 7, 2020 at 5:06 PM

    The area where you live looks so pretty in the snow - hope you are now fully recovered from your op and ready to start the new year fighting fit!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Lisa notes...January 7, 2020 at 6:34 PM

    I love your sentence-a-day post. I keep a one-line-a-day journal (altho it usually ends up being more than one line, let's be real, ha) that I've kept going for awhile. I filled up one 5-year journal already, and I'm on the last year of my second 5-year journal. It's so fun to go back and read on-this-day. But you have photos to go along with yours! Good for you!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Joanne January 7, 2020 at 8:11 PM

      Yeah, it's like an on-line journal with pictures. That helps me not to have to write as much to remember that day.

      Delete
  10. Shiju SugunanJanuary 7, 2020 at 11:52 PM

    Lovely post!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Holly BretonJanuary 8, 2020 at 5:03 AM

    I love everything about this post- what a great idea- your holiday treats sound amazing. We did the Breakers and some other homes last Christmas and it was so beautiful and a special time- Happy New Year!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Andrea NineJanuary 8, 2020 at 7:30 AM

    What a great December and I absolutely love all the sweet treats and the snow! I hope you’re getting a great start to 2020

    ReplyDelete
  13. onceuponatimehappilyeverafter.comJanuary 10, 2020 at 2:49 PM

    How do you stay so slim and trim with all the good eats your fellas are always making? Love the upside down buckeyes. I made some of the traditional ones this year and had such a nightmare trying to get the chocolate chips to melt. This seems like my kinda buckeye recipe.

    Your snow photos are dreamy. Wish we could have just one good snow each winter. Today there are flurries in the forecast. Fingers crossed.

    Our Dressbarns closed. Always liked that store. Visited the one in the Dayton Outlet Mall right before Christmas and overheard the clerk there say it was closing. A shame.

    The painted palettes on the museum tree are so clever. It would be wonderful to be able to do themed trees like that in my house. I would have one for crafts like painting and reading...maybe decorated with bookmarks??

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Joanne January 10, 2020 at 3:41 PM

      I do make the boys give away a portion of what they bake most of the time. My husband brought all the remaining buckeye cookies to work the very next day as I knew I'd scarf up an easy 1/2 dozen without even thinking about it. I also tend to encourage Alec to bake things I don't really like-- desserts using fruit or marshmallows. LOL. I try like crazy to log every bite into my WW app and cut myself off when I reach my daily point allotment-- however, pretty much all bets were off for the month of December. So I was pretty stunned (and excited!) when my 2 week post op visit showed that I had zero weight change from my pre- op visit! I think I just felt so yucky for much of the month that while I felt like I was eating lots of sugary junk I wasn't each much of anything else.

      Delete
  14. Donna @ Modern on MonticelloJanuary 14, 2020 at 11:46 AM

    What a great way to document a very busy month. Thanks for sharing your time with us at #HomeMattersParty

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Joanne January 14, 2020 at 2:38 PM

      I love getting to look back on them each year too. It's so fun to see what our months are like at a glance.

      Delete
  15. Joanne January 16, 2020 at 5:24 AM

    Thanks!

    ReplyDelete

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