Weekly Song - Casting Crowns - Crazy People (Official Lyric Video)

Welcome to a new year and more music!  Did you know I love music? HA!  Well I do.  I love great Christian music and am so thankful for our local Christian radio station WCSG as they share both new and old songs.  This weeks song is a few years old but I heard it recently and was reminded of how great it really is - because aren't we all a little bit crazy? :-)  

Weekly Menu - 2025

 This is our first full week back into our routine which includes planning meals.  I'm still following the basic schedule I set up a few months ago (Crockpot on Sundays, Soup on Mondays, etc.) and it seems to work out fairly well.  I'm also still planning the entire months menu at the start of the month so I can watch for sales and such.  Joshua has also expressed interest in planning a week or two of meals so that may happen later this month.  We shall see! 

Here's are plan for the coming week:

Friday - Joshua and Nate are at my mom's so Darryl and I will enjoy dinner together.  I'm not planning to cook but I am unsure what we will do - we try to keep it as inexpensive as possible so it might just be Little Caesar's Pizza :-) 

Saturday - Some story different day HA!  BUT depending on Darryl's schedule we may use a gift card to see a movie and then get something to eat.  

Sunday - crockpot chicken and stuffing and salad

Monday - Meatball Soup and Rolls.  This was scheduled for last week but we ended up having leftover pulled pork instead of the soup. 

Tuesday - Tacos or Nachos or Rolled Tacos - so obviously something with tacos!  I'm just not sure yet which direction will go.  We really love the nachos so I'm leaning that direction. 

Wednesday - Youth Group returns.  Darryl and I enjoy soup and rolls so we will probably have that - most likely Chicken Noodle. 

Thursday - Baked Pork Chops, "Souper" Rice, and Green Beans

Traditions - New Year's Eve and Day

 Happy New Years!  It is 2025 and that is just crazy!  Who remembers Y2K and all the fear?  Yet here we are 25 years later and that is just hard to believe.  I thought I would share one last "traditions" post around what we do for New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.  

Our New Year's Eve plans are normally pretty simple.  When both Darryl and I worked full time we both always worked on New Year's Eve and then enjoyed a quiet evening at home.  We did start some traditions that we still do today though.  We usually had soup for an early dinner as we would both be home by about 3:30p.  I would make two different soups (and then we would eat leftovers the rest of the week HA!) that we could enjoy.  Then, later in the evening we would enjoy all kinds of New Year's Eve snacks.  It is always fun to "graze" throughout the evening when you are staying up until mid-night!  With kids and job changes (so schedule changes) we have altered things some.  More recently our traditions are to enjoy lots of great snacks for dinner with my mom at our house.  I make all of our traditional snacks and we just enjoy them together.  My mom likes to head home early and then we just hang out together - watch TV, play games, and countdown to midnight.  Some years we set off a few minor fireworks.  

Our New Year's Day traditions are even less exciting HA!  Honestly, we don't really have anything specific.  We all enjoy sleeping in that's for sure!  I will usually make brunch and then we enjoy heading to my mom's for an early dinner.  It is nice to gather together on the first day of the year and enjoy family.  Beyond that, we just enjoy the day.  Some years we take down the tree (and some years I keep it up for another week), or spend time outside (when the weather is unseasonably warm) or go shopping with Christmas money but other years we just enjoy the quiet of the day before all the "things" pick up again and it gets busy again.  

This year will be different (a good different) because my brother and sister-in-law will be in town so we are celebrating New Year's Eve with them at my mom's house with snacks and games and then New Year's Day with a great ham dinner that my mom is making.  

Weekly Song - "Sounding Joy" | Ellie Holcomb

One last Christmas song for you to enjoy before we start the new year.  I teach a co-op class called Joyful and it is built around the idea that we can find Joy in every day life.  So this song naturally fits into that idea - the joy around Jesus coming to earth! 

Weekly Menu - a week of family and a New Year

 Just like that it is the last official week of the year.  This year seems extremely long (January was HOW long ago?) yet it is hard to believe that we are entering 2025.  This week we get to see my brother and sister-in-law, Kel and Deb, as they are home for the holidays from Brazil for the first time in forever.  We get to enjoy them for a Lions game on Monday, New Year's Eve AND New Year's Day.  Somehow I think we are getting the best end of the "deal" of them being home!  

Friday - leftover Lasagna from Christmas, garlic bread and salad

Saturday- we have a family Christmas party scheduled

Sunday - pork loin ans baby potatoes

Monday - Meatball Soup and crusty bread 

Tuesday - News Year Eve.  We are gathering at my mom's for snacks and games.  We will stay as long as those that live/are staying there want to stay awake.  Then we will head home and stay up until mid-night HA! 

Wednesday - New Year's Day! - My brother requested a great ham dinner so we will enjoy a meal with them before saying "See ya Later" once again. 

Thursday - I believe my kids are heading to my mom's for their second annual stay at Nana's over the holidays.  They did this last year and I think all three of them enjoyed it.  I'm hopeful that Darryl and I can get something yummy for dinner.  (I'd settle for Taco Bell as long as I don't have to cook it LOL) 

Chirstmas Traditions - Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

Since today is actually Christmas (Merry Christmas!!) I wanted to share our traditions for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  I find it interesting - and fun - to learn about other people's family traditions around the holidays because we all have such unique things at times!  

Let's start with Christmas Eve!  Some of our traditions are more recent while some have carried through from when even Darryl and I were growing up!  

• Since 2020 we have gone to my mom's house on Christmas Eve.  Obviously during that year, a lot of the traditional Christmas Eve services were not held so we did something else that became one of my favorite nights of the year!.  We go to my mom's where she prepares some wonderful snacks for us all to enjoy (we've been enjoying snacks for Christmas Eve since I was in high school - a favorite tradition!).  My mom's house is lit with Christmas lights and candle light so it is so cozy and warm.  She takes time to read the Christmas story before we open one gift.  (This is a tradition that carries on from both mine and Darryl's childhood).  Eventually we head for home.  We usually stop downtown to get photos by the big Christmas tree before heading home to take photos in PJ's by the tree.  I just love how it slows everything down and gives us time to remember the true reason for the holiday and enjoy just being with family. 

Next up is Christmas Day: 

• My mom joins us on Christmas.  Just like when I was growing up, my guys get to open their stockings before we eat breakfast!  It is a fun way for them to get a few things while waiting for us all to eat!

• I cook breakfast :-)  I include Orange Julius and cinnamon rolls because those are things from Darryl's Christmas growing up.  Once we finish breakfast and clean off the table it is time for gifts!
• Growing up we always opened one gift at a time which helped make Christmas last longer.  We still carry that tradition on with our kids.  It's fun to have time to see whatever everyone gets and, yes, it helps stretch out the morning.  
• Once we are done with gifts, my mom usually packs up her things to go home for a bit.  This gives her time to get her things home, let her dog out, and then come back for dinner.  

• I cook Christmas dinner :-)  There is no tradition to dinner - I've done a variety of things the last few years as I've tried to find the "perfect meal" for Christmas.  This year we are having Lasagna, Salad, stuffed zucchini, stuffed mushrooms, and garlic bread.  Everything is pretty easy!  My husband is going to pick up his dad for the afternoon so I'll have plenty of time to get everything prepped and ready to cook. 

After dinner we just enjoy being together, laughing, and eventually eating some dessert.  My mom usually heads home before it gets dark and we normally settle down for the evening just enjoying the evening.  I like to try and savor those last few hours of Christmas when everything slows down and we can just breath for a bit.  

I pray that all of you also enjoy the beauty of the holiday no matter where you are! 

Weekly Song - Matthew West - Because of Bethlehem

Matthew West never disappoints.  This is such a beautiful song.  Enjoy!