Last week was our baking week for CHRISTmas.  Below are photos of most and recipes:

Aunt Barbara’s Mexican Wedding Cakes. See recipe here.

These are light but taste similar to shortbread

Dipped Pretzel Sticks

These are easy for even the smallest child.

Super easy and super good, creamy fudge. See recipe here.

Anne

Anne

Peanut Butter Cookies With Kisses. See recipe here.

Peanut Butter Cookies With Kisses

We also made:

• Molasses Cookies (See recipe here)
• Peppermint Bark (See recipe here)
• Martha Washington’s Bon Bon’s (See recipe here)

All the cookies laid out for the neighbors

After the plates were wrapped, we drove around town caroling and handing out these lovelies to our dear friends and neighbors. We had a couple neighbors gone, so those will probably be distributed tonight.

A humorous tale from my mother In law:

It’s a beautiful, sunny, fall day and I decide to go apple picking from our King apple tree on a hillside by the pole barn. Normally, apples that fall, roll down the hill and whack the pole barn to stop themselves. About dusk, the deer come down from the woods and eat them.  This whole process goes on each day until they’re gone.

Well, today I grab a bucket and ladder to climb up the tree and shake it to get apples to fall down.  I start up the ladder and realized that the one bad hip isn’t going to support my weight when that leg is on the ladder step. So, I let the other leg be the one to get me up each step.  That works okay until I try to get up the tree. I find the other leg is necessary. So I come back down, then go get Dan’s good, long nylon rope & his pick-up to pick apples.   A big knot ball tied on the end helps weight the rope down while I throw it for about 10 minutes to try to get it over a big horizontal branch and then have the knotted end looped over it enough so I can reach it.   Then I can make a dumb-looking girl-knot that will hopefully keep the loop from pulling apart with tension.

I then bring enough rope down the hill and tie it around the hitch ball (or whatever you call it) on the pick up.  Now I take off with the pick up until it slides to a stop with my foot still on the gas. I back up and go forward in a rocking motion and think, “I must have emptied the whole tree of apples and the task has been accomplished.”  I go back to the tree and the leaves are moving a little and there’s about a bucket of apples on the ground.  By now, after hitting branches on the way down, stuff on the ground and the pole barn, half my work preparing them is done because they are already sliced, partly peeled or spongy and ready for sauce.  I’m picking up the pieces and putting them in my bucket and think I can hear an,  “OH CRUD!!!” coming from the direction of the woods. It’s almost dusk by now.   I look up into the tree and realize that Dan’s good nylon rope is tied around a large, unreachable branch.   OH CRUD!!!

From the mailbag:

Q. Should I have a baby after 35?
A. No, 35 children is enough.

Q. I’m two months pregnant now. When will my baby move?
A. With any luck, right after he finishes college.

Q. How will I know if my vomiting is morning sickness or the flu?
A. If it’s the flu, you’ll get better.

Q. What is the most common pregnancy craving?
A.. For men to be the ones who get pregnant.

Q. What is the most reliable method to determine a baby’s sex?
A. Childbirth.

Q. My wife is five months pregnant and so moody that sometimes she’s borderline irrational.
A. So what’s your question?

Q. How long is the average woman in labor?
A. Whatever she says divided by two.

Q. My childbirth instructor says it’s not pain I’ll feel during labor, but pressure. Is she right?
A. Yes, in the same way that a tornado might be called an air current.

Q. When is the best time to get an epidural?
A. Right after you find out you’re pregnant.

Q. Is there any reason I have to be in the delivery room while my wife is in labor?
A. Not unless the word “alimony” means anything to you.

Q. Is there anything I should avoid while recovering from childbirth?
A. Yes, pregnancy.

Q. Does pregnancy cause headaches?
A. Pregnancy causes anything you want to blame it for.

Q. Do I have to have a baby shower?
A. Not if you change the baby’s diaper very quickly.

Q. Our baby was born last week. When will my wife begin to feel and act normal again?

A. When the kids are in college.

I was amazed to have pointed out to me this afternoon, that my blog has been nominated at the homeschool blogger awards. I am humbled that someone would think of having me on this list!

If you get a chance, please swing by and place your vote. I haven’t had time to check out the other ones. I won’t ask you for my vote, although I would greatly appreciate it, but I will ask that you pick the one you find the best fit.

Here is the link: http://homeschoolblogawards.com/best-homeschool-mom-blog-2008/

You don’t have to be a home educator to vote. Enjoy surfing!

Yes, I am still away. I stopped in at a library to “check” stuff. I guess the internet hasn’t quit working yet, so things must be fine! Heh heh.