Weekly Happenings: This past week didn’t really yield any thing out of the ordinary. We’re just kind of chuggin’ along until Christmas. 🙂
The Weekly Weather: With the exception of a couple of warmer days, we’ve had cold mornings, cool afternoons, and cold nights. We also got a bit of rain, which was nice.
What Paul’s Been Up To: He’s been busy at work and also has been busy working with the management company for our HOA to make sure things get taken care of in our community.
What Sarah’s Been Up To: I went to book club, which was fun. I also experimented some more with my pressure cooker. I made a roast, carrots and onions, and mashed potatoes, all at once. It was nice having it done all-in-one and all at the same time, without having to babysit a bunch of different pots on the stove top and oven.
What Joseph’s Been Up To: He’s pluggin’ along in school. He’s excited that he only has one week left before a two week break. 🙂 He’s also still doing really well with his piano.
What Abigail’s Been Up To: She’s been expanding her imaginative play quite a bit. It’s fun eavesdropping on her as she’s playing; hearing what scenarios she comes up with.
This Week in Pictures:
Cold mornings mean getting to wear my ear-warmer headband and scarf……and boots. Definitely boots.One of Paul’s coworkers occasionally gets these blind bags (meaning the toy inside is a mystery) and gives them to Paul to give to the kids. Last time, they got Black Panther and the Hulk. This time, they got Thor and Captain Marvel.This table used to have a mesh pocket in the center that had a wood panel that covered it up. Abigail has since…dismantled the pocket, but we’ve kept the table around since it’s still functional. Apparently it’s a cozy spot to watch her tablet, as well (I came upstairs after finishing up with piano students to find her like this).A friend of mine gave Abigail this little plush milk carton when she was a baby (it’s got a little smiley face on the front). It’s seriously one of Abigail’s favorites. She came up to me and told me it was her “ingredient stuffy”.Paul used some lights and wrapping paper to decorate the door to his office at work.Getting ready to chop up the carrots……potatoes……and onion to all go in with the pot roast.Time to season the meat! The recipe called for just salt, pepper, oregano, and thyme, but I decided to use my own seasonings instead. The only thing not in the picture is the kosher salt I added at the end.I love that my pressure cooker has a sear setting (you can see the steam in the picture). Since the sides are so high, no splatters to clean up!While the meat was searing, I got the potatoes ready. They went into a ceramic pot with some chicken broth and garlic.When it came time to flip the meat to sear the other side, I was impressed with how much it browned.The ceramic pot with the potatoes in it…it has a silicone cover and a rack that has handles.Cooking the onions a bit before throwing everything else into the pot.I put the meat and carrots in with the onions (along with some more chicken broth, since pressure cookers require liquid in able to work). The rack is what the ceramic pot will sit on.Nice and snug!Once it came up to pressure (which took about 10-15 minutes), it only took 35 minutes to cook the pot roast, veggies, and potatoes.While waiting for dinner to be done, Abigail was pretending to be a Pokemon trainer. She had Pikachu riding on her shoulder. In her other hand was a Pokémon-themed toy from a Happy Meal that looks like a Poké ball (and has a clip on it) but shoots out a disk that has a Pokémon on it.Time’s up! First, I had to take the potatoes out (having those handles is really handy).Looking good!Mashing the potatoes……and pulling out the meat and veggies.Dinner is served!Her style is unbeatable. 🙂Showing me her “hula dance”.Paul also ordered this banner for work. I think it’s only too appropriate that Santa and his elf are wearing masks, haha.Practicing piano.Staying warm and cozy……next to one of my favorite sights of the season.I made her lunch “fancy” (I love that she thinks this is fancy).“Everybody pile on Mom!”We let them have their Christmas jammies so that they could have fun wearing them from now until Christmas.
Weekly Happenings: It’s finally December! I think one reason I love this time of year is because it feels magical. I love the lights, the music, the chill in the air, and the warm feelings that abound. I also love to see it through my children’s eyes. Their joy and happiness makes all the planning and craziness worth it! This past week, we didn’t really do anything too out of the ordinary during the week. We did go to IKEA today to get a storage unit for Abigail’s room. It’s been chilly and a bit rainy today, so I’m glad we’re back in our warm house.
The Weekly Weather: It’s been rather chilly. I think we’ve officially entered late fall temperatures for the most part, but there have been a few days that have been downright cold. One morning, it was even below freezing when we dropped Joseph off at school. Crazy!
What Paul’s Been Up To: He worked from home this last week and he put together the storage unit for Abigail’s room. It looks great and so much less cluttered in there!
What Sarah’s Been Up To: I have pretty much just done my normal stuff. Nothing really out of the ordinary here.
What Joseph’s Been Up To: He had a full week of school after having a full week off. It was a little rough getting him up in the mornings, but we only have to soldier through two more weeks and then it’ll be time for Christmas break!
What Abigail’s Been Up To: She has enjoyed the cooler weather because she loves to wear fuzzy hats. She has also enjoyed getting her one-on-one time with me back.
This Week in Pictures:
My December quote. It made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.This was a little colder than I meant when I was wishing for cooler weather.Luckily, I have nice warm hats and scarves.Abigail was excited to finally get to wear her Minnie sweatshirt.My friend Reagan made this cute hat for Abigail.I don’t often turn on the heat for this thing (I usually just turn on the lights to make it look cozy), but I did this week!“Mom…it is so warm and cozy right here!”A new pressure cooking adventure……using this steamer basket and four whole potatoes, which turned into……mashed potatoes!I added salt, butter, and……cream.Then I mixed them up really well……and set them to keep warm while I pulled the rest of dinner together. It was the best way, yet (no starchy water getting all over my stove top because I got distracted and accidentally allowed the pot to boil over). Soooo yummy!Pretty clouds one morning…Wanting to play Prodigy (a math-based video game) by me, but needing it quiet enough to concentrate on his subtraction. Ear muffs to the rescue! I love sunrises! I love vibrant colors, so when I saw this cool color combo between my nails and my sweater, I couldn’t help but smile a bit. Making shadow puppets on the wall. She was checking out the clouds.She was excited to get to wear my scarves.I couldn’t tell if she was cold or hot, haha.Paul added lights to our tree in the front.I really like the addition.We may have acquired a couple of new fuzzy friends from IKEA today!We moved her dresser over to this wall……and then Paul put the shelves on this wall. We’re going to see how it goes and then maybe get a few more bins, depending on how things go. I love how much less cluttered it feels in her room!
Weekly Happenings: This past week was really nice. Joseph had the full week off for Thanksgiving and Paul had Thursday and Friday off (and he was able to get off work early on Wednesday, too). On Wednesday, we went to the zoo after Paul got home. I packed sandwiches for us to eat for an early dinner (we ate at Brackenridge Park, which is right next to the zoo) and then we checked out the zoo. We also stayed late enough to see the Christmas zoo lights (the zoo was all decorated with lights and music and all sorts of fun like that). It was really fun! Thursday was Thanksgiving. It was just our little family as usual, which was nice. Paul grilled the turkey and I made the sides (green beans, stuffing, sweet potato casserole, and rolls). I also made pecan pie the day before. Then yesterday, we worked at putting the fall decorations away and putting Christmas decorations out. It’s fun to see the kids getting excited about the holidays.
The Weekly Weather: It’s been mild and cool-ish for the most part. Yesterday and today have been even cooler and we’ve had a bit of rain. It rained yesterday morning and then was clear. It’s been sprinkling/raining all day today, though.
What Paul’s Been Up To: He was the only one in the office this past week, but luckily it was a short week. He worked hard to get the lights up outside of our house and he’s also been working to get the holiday decorations for the neighborhood ready. He was going to put them up today, but the weather hasn’t been cooperating, so he’ll need to do that a different day.
What Sarah’s Been Up To: I took this week off from piano students, which was a nice break. I also got all of our inside decorations up. Paul got the trees put together (we have our big one but Joseph has a small tree for his room and Abigail has a small tree that is kept downstairs right now; when she gets a bit older, we’ll probably start letting her have it in her room, too) and “fluffed”. The kids were in charge of decorating their trees, which meant I was in charge of the big one.
What Joseph’s Been Up To: It’s going to be hard to get him up for school on Monday after having a full week off, but luckily, I think he only has three weeks before it’s Christmas break. This time of year goes so fast!
What Abigail’s Been Up To: She has been just loving all the Christmas stuff being up. This morning, she came down the stairs and was in awe about it all (she must have forgotten about it overnight). I love seeing the holidays through the eyes of my kiddos.
This Week in Pictures:
Sunday family selfie! This was right after we got done with church, out by the pavilion for our building.One without Daddy wearing sunglasses.Batman was being a little clingy. 😀All ready for the oven! I’m pretty confident about the filling, since it’s pretty basic, but I’m always a bit nervous about making my own crust……but it turned out pretty good!All wrapped up and ready for the fridge.She was excited that the butterfly wall was still there.On the carousel.She was excited that she got to sit on a Texas animal (a horned lizard). She told me it was her favorite, haha.Y’all. This look. This look right here is why I leave my comfy home in search of fun things.Playing in the “snow” (I think it was soap of some sort). Another family selfie! It was hard to get one where everyone was looking at the camera, haha.Fresh rolls for Thanksgiving dinner! I’m not sure what caused the one on the bottom right to go rogue (I probably didn’t get it balled up tight enough), but that’s okay. We ate it anyway. 😉Plate of yummy food……and a couple hours later, dessert! I also made the whipped cream, so I felt pretty proud of myself about this dessert. 😉I had to document that I actually got my kitchen all cleaned up after the craziness that happened with putting on a large dinner.Snugglin’ the one who was going to bed first. 😉The stockings were hung by the…electric fireplace…with care. 😀She was so excited to get to decorate her own tree.We got this nativity from a family who is very dear to us (the Hustons). It was made in Bethlehem and if you twist the star, it plays “Silent Night”.The big tree.I recently “attended” a virtual Relief Society activity where we did a bingo game. I won this little tree (along with a few other things). Joseph came up with the idea that we turn it into a “Charlie Brown” tree (think “A Charlie Brown Christmas”).The piano this year.Abigail’s nativity (and one that I made as a teenager and have decided she can put next to hers, since she really likes them).Abigail’s tree.I love how this wall looks.Joseph’s tree.A Santa I made when I was a teenager, our countdown, and one of my favorite Christmas quotes).Some perfectly-placed mistletoe. 😉I love how simple our wreath is. 🙂I had to put this guy up pretty high to keep him safe. 😉Kitchen lights.Lights under the breakfast bar.The outside of the house. I love how Paul turns the garage door into a big present.The front porch.This is one of my favorite views. 😍This lighthouse. My mom gave it to me close to two decades ago and it has been a part of my holiday decorations ever since. Anyone who knows me knows that I absolutely love lighthouses…not just for their architecture, but for their deep symbolism as well. Guiding the way through darkness, fog, and storms, through treacherous waters into the safety of the harbor. I feel it especially this year…but I know that if I watch for the light and follow it in faith, I will be able to find my way to the harbor and safety.
Bonus Video: Google Photos took bits and pieces of a bunch of videos that we’ve taken of Abigail and mashed them all together with nice music. It’s a pretty nice video!
