Christmas Baking

The kids and I went to town today to do some Christmas shopping and grocery shopping too.  We went to Best Buy and Walmart--what was I thinking?!?!  

 When we got home, we made 6 different kinds of cookies and candies.  We planned to make 10, but ran out of energy.  

Caeden was happy to smash candy canes!

We made Peppermint Sugar Cookie Bars.  (We substituted more crushed peppermint for the butter mints though.)  They are really yummy.  They taste a lot like Granmda L's candy cane cookies, but are much easier...plus there's frosting!

We also made:

Fantasio Bars

These are good, but I think the recipe isn't really big enough for a 9x13.  Maybe it should be a 9x9?

Green Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies 

So yummy!  Andes Mints...can't go wrong!

Microwave Peanut Brittle

This is easy, but you need to know your microwave and adjust the time.  I burnt the first batch, but when I shortened to the shortest recommended times, it was perfect.

Italian Wedding Cookies

One of my very favorites!

Nutella No-Bake Oatmeal Cookies

Kerplunk!

The kids enjoying a little Christmas break game time...Kerplunk!

PoC Christmas Open House

PoC's Christmas Open House was today, and it was a very lovely event.

I didn't have a chance to take any photos, so these are from Pastor Celia.  The foyer was looking beautiful, with lots of tasty treats.

Jeremy was our front door greeter today, as usual.

Kim made all the hot foods, and this beautiful pineapple cheeseball.

There were new PoC mugs--gifts for everyone who attended.  (Although we forgot to take any.)

In the sanctuary, the pastors greeted folks and served communion to families.  I played piano Christmas music. Pastor Todd prayed a blessing over every family.

In the manger were torn maps to represent our broken world, and crosses to represent the Gift that Jesus is to us.

This was the one photo I did snap today--the Stonekings and Eddins gathering in for communion.  

The staff Christmas party was this evening, but sadly we didn't attend.  I was having a lot of pain from my kidney stones, and sitting at the piano for most of 4 hours made it worse.  Jeremy needed to come home to do some work as well. 

The Open House was a beautiful gift from the church staff to the church family, and I always enjoy being part of it.

Sister Act

Today the girls and I and our friends Dawn and Addie went to Peoria to see the national Broadway tour of Sister Act The Musical. My friend from college at Capital, Megan, is in the cast!

It was at the Peoria Civic Center.

We had great seats that Megan reserved for us!

Of course we couldn't take photos or video during the performance, but WE LOVED IT!!  We had watched the movie last night, but the musical is a hundred times better!  The story line is much the same, and even a lot of the dialogue, but there were some great changes...One, the music is all different from the old tunes in the movie, so that's good.  And, the setting is 1977 Philly, so the costumes and music are extra fun!  And, there are millions of sequins and sparkles!  It really was a great show!  

And, as I told Megan, I got teary at the end of the first act, just watching her up there!  I'm very proud of her and the beautiful way she has handled her career.

After the show, we waited for Megan in the lobby.  The art installation on the ceiling kind of reminded us Disney fans of the art in The Land in EPCOT.

The girls all loved the show, the music, the sparkles, the time together.

After a few minutes, Megan appeared!  It was SO wonderful to see her!  It's been about 13 years--since we moved away from Columbus. In college, we sang together in Chapel Choir, were in A Little Night Music and Children of Eden together, were RA's together, and she was my "little" in Phi Beta.  It's been so fun to keep in touch with her and hear about her adventures over the years, and such a blessing to see her today!

Megan got special permission ahead of time and took us all on a tour!  We got to go up on stage and see everything behind the scenes, including how incredibly heavy her nun costumes are!!  We met some other cast members, saw the wig/hair room, physical therapist, city board (where all the communication and directions and lists for the cast are kept--different at each theatre), and saw Megan's dressing room.  Megan talked with us for a while and answered all our questions about her job and life on the road.  It was really fun and interesting for all of us, and especially exciting for Addie, who is considering a career in musical theatre.  Megan was so good to us, and when we left, I realized she only had 45 minutes before the next show!  

We were hungry, but after finding Chick-fil-a closed on the campus of Bradley, we decided to head back to Bloomington to eat.  Dawn and Addie had never been to Moe's, and it's one of our favorites, so we went there.

We were trying to figure out a way to take our unfinished tortilla chips with us, and someone decided Addie should carrie them in her sweater.  She wasn't quite sure how to handle that, and we all had some good giggles...

It was really a wonderful afternoon.  So blessed to share it with my girls and great friends!

Relaxing!

Monday night, Annah was quite enjoying not having a concert or rehearsal or anywhere to go!  She just sat on the couch and read all evening!  

(She is reading the Hunger Games books for English class, and is enjoying them.  In fact, the class emailed the author with a question recently, and her publisher replied by sending lots of free books and materials to the class!)

Wednesday evening, we watched the Frosty the Snowman cartoons after the kids finished studying for their tests and finals.  It was really nice to have an evening with all of us at home!

 It is now the first night of Christmas break, and we are so glad!  With my silly kidney stones, I didn't really feel like making the house "picture perfect" for them when they got home, but we are glad to be together.

The girls helped me get apricot coconut balls made for the church open house this weekend.


Sylvia got in her jammies and warm socks this evening.  She is ready to relax!

It was kind of a tough semester for the kids with school.  Annah struggled responsibility on some little things.  Sylvia and Caeden were each sick several times and missed some school.  Caeden struggled in math because of missing some important explanation days.  But all of them ended up with all A's on their report card, and I'd say they learned through all of the challenges.  

Kidney Stones and Sheep

Today was an interesting day.  After 4 days of back pain, I was pretty sure I had a kidney stone.  I went to my urologist's office, but they wouldn't help me.  So, I went to the ER.  

After a few hours there--including several bodily fluid samples, an IV, and my first CT scan--it was determined that I have "some kidney stones" in my left kidney.  They sent me home with pain meds and told me to call my urologist.  

I keep thinking of this, and at least it makes me laugh...

Jeremy was so wonderful to take half a day off work today to sit in the ER with me.  Then he ran home to get the kids' instruments, picked them up at school, took them to their lessons, picked up my prescriptions and shopped for Christmas gifts for Sylvia's friends, got the kids supper, brought the kids home, then he and went to run wrestling practice.  And he is quite sick with a respiratory thing this week.  He is my Superman.

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On my way home, I was driving down a less frequently traveled country road, when I saw that all these sheep were escaping their pasture and running down the road ahead of me!  I drove up the driveway of the farm they were escaping from and told the farmer that his sheep were on the road.  He said they had just turned off the electric fence to do some work on it, and the sheep were hungry and broke the fence.  He and another guy jumped on their ATV with the sheepdog and herded those sheep back into another pasture very quickly.  I was amazed at the sheepdog, and never knew sheep could run so fast!  

I took this little video of the sheep escaping.  Just now I realized that the song that was on the radio at the time was about shepherds!  Hahaha!

Christmas Lights

It is the kids' responsibility to put together and decorate the artificial tree upstairs.  They were very excited to do it when I first brought the decorations down, but they were too busy that week and didn't make time to do it.  

Finally, after several days of the bins sitting around, Caeden and Sylvia put the tree together.  Later, Annah put the lights and garlands on.  I forced Caeden to put the plastic ornaments on while the girls were at youth group today.  And, it will probably sit unfinished until after Christmas, I'm guessing.  The lights make it look nice enough.

Annah also put up lights in their room and Caeden's room too.

String Project Festival

A couple months ago, the members of the Sinfonia ensemble of String Project were invited to be part of a side-by-side concert with alumni and current String Project teachers.  It meant several extra rehearsals, but Annah and Sylvia were part of the festival concert today and it was a great experience.  

They played some really challenging music and had the opportunity to accompany some high-level soloists.

I didn't record all of every piece, but here is O Holy Night.

 

Chorshat Ha'ekaliptus is a very beautiful traditional Jewish piece.

I was very excited to hear them play Vivaldi's Winter!  (I didn't catch all of the second movement, but it is worth listening all the way through to hear the third soloist.)

At the end of the concert was an audience sing-a-long of Christmas carols with a trumpet soloist.

When the girls first got the music for this concert, they were pretty freaked out.  Annah begged me not to make her do it, because the music was just too hard.  I told her the point wasn't for her to learn to play the music perfectly.  There would be college students and grad students who would know the music; the kids' opportunity would be to sit in with them and learn and just play whatever they could!  They hung in there, and, after the complete experience, the girls were both glad they were part of it!  I was too.  It was a very enjoyable concert!

Tournament Champ!

Today was one of those days that just filled my heart with so much thankfulness I think it could almost burst!  I was pretty bummed that we had two things going on at the same time in two different places...The girls had a long rehearsal and concert in the middle of the day in Bloomington, and Jeremy took Caeden and the wrestling club to a tournament in Gibson City all day.  There was no way we could all be at both events.  

So, I put up a Facebook message this morning and tagged some of the other wrestling parents I thought might be going to the tournament.  I told them that if they happened to get a picture of either of my guys I would love to have one.  Look at all the pictures they sent me!  One dad even posted updates to my Facebook after every one of Caeden's matches because he knew Jeremy wouldn't have time to update me while coaching!  It was so nice!!

I love these pictures--especially the ones with Jeremy mat-side coaching our boy!

Caeden won all of his matches today!  His first he won 14-0, second one was 7-0, and third was 7-0!  Jeremy said he was confident on the mat, took initiative and shot, didn't let up, and did what he knew he was supposed to do.  We are both really proud of him for doing those things! He was the tournament champion for his bracket!  1st place!  He has a giant trophy, but best of all a big smile and an increased love of the sport he shares with his daddy.  Pretty awesome.

Jeremy was pretty pumped about the whole tournament.  They took 18 wrestlers from our club, and had 4 tournament champs, 4 in 2nd place, 2 in 3rd, and 8 in 4th.  For a lot of the boys, it was their first time ever wrestling.  Everyone learned, and the coaches were pleased with the day!  Good stuff!

String Project Winter 2014 Concert

Annah and Sylvia played in the ISU String Project Winter Concert tonight.  We are always amazed by this concert, and are so happy with the experience they get in these ensembles.  

The beginners' ensemble (Dolce) is the largest it's ever been--over 50 kids!  Caeden's school classmate Sophia started String Project this fall and played in this group tonight.  

There are 4 ensembles, at various levels.  The girls are both in the top ensemble now, Sinfonia.  This was Sylvia's first concert in Sinfonia and her first concert on cello!

(Annah is at the edge of the stage second from the left, and Sylvia is also at the edge of the stage all the way to the right in the picture.)

I recorded each song separately, and they are all 5 here in this playlist:

We really love watching the girls perform in String Project.  And we love knowing how much they enjoy making music!  It was a great night!