New Year’s Eve 2013

 

Even though I’m not a particularly crafty person, we decided to attempt another balloon drop this year. It all came together so quickly and beautifully last year – much to my surprise – that I found myself feeling skeptical that it could go as well as it did last year.

Believe it or not, it all DID go just as well as it did last year … with one small, funny glitch.  While we were shopping for supplies in the party aisles, I spotted a big display of glow sticks. They had the traditional sticks that you could fashion into a necklace, but they also had an assortment of swords, wands and silly glasses. So we grabbed a handful of those, too. To make the Big Moment even more exciting, l wanted to save the glow sticks until just before our balloon drop, so I waited until 5 minutes ‘til to hand them out.

And clearly, they were a big hit. In fact, they were such a big hit that everyone was so excited and busy assembling them that when I looked over at our computer countdown clock, it was just ticking past 1 to 0!  We missed our “midnight”! (9:00 EST time, 12:00 UTC time).

Everyone was quiet for a couple of seconds.  Then we started talking about when we should drop them instead and decided to go ahead and just do it then, at 12:04, or whatever time it was.

And we found that a balloon drop is just as exciting and fun at 12:04 as it is at 12:00!  :-) (Mental note: next year get out the glow sticks about half hour before the Big Moment.  :-D)

What else? Oh yes, in honor of the occasion, Courtney counted from 1 to 2,014. By herself. In the piano room.

and Erica demonstrated her amazing flexibility:

 

We feasted on Mini Burgers (hey, those were good!), Pigs in a Blanket, and French fries (yes, we deep fried them). I made the 1-Pan Fudge Cake again to go with homemade vanilla ice cream and all the toppings.

And after all that frivolity and celebrating and feasting, we ended the evening by watching the last 3 episodes of … BBC’s Bleak House!  Ha!  And it was bleak and wonderful and had a happy ending!

“Longbourn” by Jo Baker

Longbourn by Jo Baker
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow, did I really like this book! For the most part, I am drawn to the classics - books which have stood the test of time. Just a couple of years ago, I read "Pride & Prejudice" for the first time and was an instant Jane Austen fan. Soon after reading that, I became aware of the many spinoffs that have been written through the years, however I was not tempted in the slightest to read any of those types of books. Last fall, a friend sent me a link to a review of "Longbourn," which was published in September of 2013. It was such a glowing review that I couldn't resist trying it out. After waiting about a month for it to become available through the library, I devoured it in less than a week. It was fun to read through the story, looking for peeks of the well-known P&P characters, seen through different eyes. My only issue was that Jo Baker seemed to be a little off in her portrayal of Elizabeth as the timid, unsure mistress of Pemberley. Austen gives us very little insight into Elizabeth once she became Mrs. Darcy at the end of P&P, but the picture we are left with is one of a confident, happy woman in a loving marriage. But overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the book - the ending was practically glorious - and wouldn't hesitate to read it again.

View all my reviews

Christmas 2013

I’ve spent the last couple of hours or so combing through all the pictures we took in December. I sorted them, did a little editing and am waiting for them to finish uploading to an online photo album. 237 pictures!  Here’s a screen shot of the collection so far:

In looking at this snapshot of a bunch of snapshots, many thoughts come to mind. First: there are a lot of us. Second: we truly enjoy each others’ company. Yes, these are not new revelations, but it is good to be reminded of the great blessing of family.

Here’s a another screen shot of photos, mostly of the Worley household on Christmas morning. When I look at these thumbnails, I think: abundance. In spite of occasional tight financial times, overall, we have been blessed with the ability to give good gifts to our kids. Incidentally, especially from a kid’s perspective, “good gifts” come in many forms. I think I’ve written before about our friends, the Yokes. About how, when they were first married with four small children, things were stretched so thinly that for their first Christmas in a new home, all they could manage to buy was balloons. They bought as many as they could and spent Christmas Eve blowing them all up. On Christmas morning, the kids woke up to a houseful of balloons that they played with all day. Even as adults, the four kids looked back on this Christmas as their favorite.

This set of pictures was taken at Dull’s Tree Farm. Tradition is such important part of celebrating special events. We have been going to this tree farm since before we had kids. It is a truly beautiful place that just seems to get better each year.

In Indiana, snow in December is not a given, but we sure do love it! About a week before Christmas, we got about 5 inches in a 24-hour period and the younger kids made the most of it!

It’s amazing to me to think that all of this (and more) happened in one month! And of course, it wasn’t all snowflakes and Hershey’s Kisses all month. Mixed in with this was loss and grief, illness (colds that hit days before Christmas and left me with laryngitis on Christmas day), schoolwork, housework, deadlines and longer-than-normal to-do lists. And yet, “unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given” and in Him we “live and move and have our being.” Joy to the world! Merry Christmas!

 

Christmas 2013 online album (all 237 photos!)

The Fourth Sunday in Advent

 

We lit four candles and read about Anna, the prophetess in Luke 2, who served God while she waited on the Messiah with fasting and prayers.We prayed that God might “make us a people faithful in prayer and in hope,” like her. Once again, we sang “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel,” and I noticed this fourth time through it, Grant had picked up most of the words.

We feasted on Roasted Pork Tenderloin, homemade crescent rolls and fresh pineapple, seasoned green beans and a great salad with some of those big croutons. After the meal, the questions started coming about dessert. Even on a typical day, we’re often asked “What’s for dessert?” I’m sure the kids were surprised, maybe even a little concerned that I didn’t have something ready for dessert. Once they opened their Advent gifts, though, they understood: they each got their own stash of assorted chocolates. I might’ve kept back a few pieces for my own stash.  ;-)

I remember as a kid looking forward each Sunday during Advent to watching each of the four candles being lit as we built up toward Christmas day. Advent is a season of anticipation … and waiting.

The Good Dishes

 

A couple of days ago, we started a new tradition at the Worley home: a Christmas Tea. This sent me on a hunt for some nice tea cups. I spent some time shopping in an antique store and saw quite a few tea cups. There were also a few entire tea sets that appeared to have all the pieces intact. These were beautiful sets, hundreds of dollars and neatly stacked and displayed in locked glass cabinets. I marveled that they could’ve lasted for decades without any of the pieces getting broken or chipped. I suppose they could’ve been used a few times without any damage, but I had to wonder if they’d ever been used at all, especially by kids.

We have a couple of sets of good Christmas dishes, one being a gift from Mom and Dad a few years ago (the Christmas tree set in the picture). We get them out every year and love using them throughout the Christmas season. We try to be careful while handling them, but I told myself a few years ago not to worry too much about something getting broken.

The day after I got back from the antique store, we were all getting ready for this first annual Christmas Tea. We made lots of goodies and the girls were setting the table when there was a loud crash over by the hutch. While getting out the saucers, a platter had shifted and knocked one of the saucers onto the floor, shattering it. Everybody was quiet and the daughter holding the stack of saucers froze. My thoughts about the fancy tea sets I’d seen at the antique shop immediately came to mind. Remembering why were having this Tea in the first place – good food, making memories, celebrating the Advent season – (notice where I placed “food” in that list? ;-) quickly put things in perspective while I swept up the shards. We put it behind us and ended up having a truly special afternoon together. I predict that through the years, we will lose more pieces of the good dishes, but the memories and the precious souls who use them are the inheritance we’re passing down.

Moonset over the snow

 

Yes, I know there are people in the world who are lounging on sunlit beaches right now, and that is a lovely thing, but I know would miss scenes like this if I lived in warmer climates. Yay for snow!

The Third Sunday in Advent

 

And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar
Augustus that all the world should be registered. This census first took
place while Quirinius was governing Syria…

This week’s reading came from Luke 2:1-7. We are reminded that Jesus was a real man, born in history during the time of Governor Quirinius, but most importantly the birth of Jesus signifies the beginning of his invasion into the kingdoms of man, bringing them all under His dominion.

As part of His kingdom, we prepare for His coming in big and small ways. Our own Advent preparations included a Sabbath feast, complete with 3 lit candles and “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel,” (Famous Butter Chicken, crescent rolls, and 1 Pan Fudge Cake were the highlights), listening to the Christmas story and singing in the Lessons & Carols program at church, fellowshipping with our friends and family afterward (surely, that is part of “equipping the saints”) and visiting the “house of lights” just up the road from our church.

 

The day is coming; lots of things (big and small) to do still! “Let every heart prepare Him room …”