This and That

Well I haven't written for quite a while, having dealt with flu with many people and just being busy. Hopefully everyone is well for a while now. I have a lot of projects to get done now. Welding caps for Travis, 6 pairs of jeans to hem, Easter dress for Alair, Easter dress for Ellie Mumme and possibly skirts for her for their family trip to Germany in the spring. I also want to make Easter pins for Alair and the granddaughters.

I got a message from Cigdem over the weekend and she said she will finish her masters and is turning 30(she will always be 16 to me)and wants to treat herself by coming for a visit this summer! She can't come for Erik's wedding as she is still in school, but will come later in July. I can't wait. We haven't seen her for 11 years.

I guess winter decided to wait until the end of February to show up this year. We are supposed to get a messy storm tomorrow and nasty weather all week. Great! I'm thinking spring now, got Easter things out, winter decorations are put away. Weathermen could be wrong?

Mila"s Baptism

 
 
 
 
 
 
Our granddaughter, Mila, was baptized Sunday at St. Michael's Orthodox Church in Hibbing. The church is beautiful. Allison and Chris were also married in this church. The ceremony took about an hour and 10 minutes. The water started out warm and hopefully still was when after a half hour, Mila was finally immersed..three times. As you can see, she was naked when baptised and then a white garment put on. In the Orthodox church,the whole ceremony consists of The Churching, The Rite of Making a Catechumen,which includes The Exorcism Prayers, The Renunciation of Satan, The Acceptance of Christ, The Rites of Baptism and Chrismation, which includes The Baptismal candles, The Oil of Gladness, The Baptism, The Robe of Radiance, The Chrismation, The baptismal procession and Scripture readings. After the ceremony, the regular church service was held. It lasted another hour and half. Then everyone at church went to the church hall and enjoyed pulled pork sandwiches, cheery potatoes, calico beand, salad, and desserts. We all helped cook. It was very interesting and the most important thing is Mila is now a baptized child of God. Some of the pictures are blurry as everyone kept moving. Mila's sponsors are Chris's cousin, Kate and her husband, Brady.

On Being Grandma

I never realized before that being Grandma is a full time job. That's not a bad thing, but I do have to be flexible. Emily is trying to get Corine to use a bottle so she can go to work without her. She just works part time(12 hours a week) and can bring her. She did at first, but now Corine wants more attention and Emily is working for Thrivent and doesn't do money and is learning money, so it doesn't work well. Sunday after lunch, I tried a bottle of breast milk on Corine. It was slow and she didn't really like it. Then I rocked Natalie to sleep. Aubrey put her in our bed and then I rocked Carly to sleep. She stayed on my lap. Monday I had the "dance run". It starts at 1:50 and goes until 4:45. Tuesday, Emily and girls came over, ate lunch and I rocked Carly to sleep again. Wednesday was my turn to take Claire to ECFE. Then babysat Carly while Emily had a work lunch. Rocked her again. Last night Natalie was throwing up and Aubrey is staying home today as she got no sleep either, but she is bringing the girls over later so she can shampoo the rugs. Tomorrow Kim and I hopefully are going to buy our washing machine, but it depends what comes up. Saturday we are babysitting Brandon so Andy and Christine can go to his work's Christmas party. Sunday, we will have dinner and it starts all over again. Don't get me wrong, I love having them all here. I love it when they cry when they have to go home because they want to stay with Grandma. I just don't get as much done as I would like and I just have to be ok with that. Alair and her nieces and nephew are much more important and I want them to remember coming here often and playing with our toys and rockimg with Grandma.

Washing Machine

Our washing machine has been making some awful noises lately. It still works, just makes noise...scares kids and grandkids and in general makes people ask" What is THAT?!". I had finally had enough and Kim pulled it out and turned it upside down this morning. It was leaking transmission fluid on the floor. He cleaned up the mess and put it back. We are now looking for a stacked unit as Kim is going to build shelves where the dryer sat for more storage space and then hopefully I get the pantry done.

Organization

Thia week I finally feel ambitious. It takes time after all the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season. Family is here a lot and I cook a lot. Last minute projects usually take longer than originally planned, so I get behind on other things and some just have to go by the wayside until later. The basement has been cluttered since I put autumn things out on Labor Day weekend. The kids couldn't play down there and played in Alair's room, which I don't like as they tend to get into things that aren't always age appropriate. Monday I took the tree down and after work,Aubrey came over and helped start organize things in the basement. I will be back at it today and Aubrey is coming again. The girls are on a daddy visit. I also need to clean out my pantry. There are a few things I really can't find and it's frustrating.

Speaking of the girls, Claire will be able to go to the same little school Alair goes to. We pray that it will stay open. Aubrey's ex said alright, but she had to give up some support from him. We are very happy that she will get a parochial education though.

I also am finally writing my Christmas cards. If Martha Stewart says it's ok to send them in January, that's good enough for me!

I have been sewing in the house, as the shop is hard and expensive to heat. I really don't like it. I don't have access to all my supplies and have to keep a list of stuff to bring in as I take other things out. I don't like having the stuff sit in the kitchen on th floor. This defeats the purpose of having a shop. We are looking to find an efficient way to heat the building. It's not very big. We also see where there are leaks and have to seal them up.

Christmas Time

So I have been a little busy. I also made 4 stockings and a dress for out pastor's daughter. Finished that one Thursday before Christmas. Erik's future in laws came over for supper on Friday. I made Boeuf Bourguignon from Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child. I have made it before and knew it took alot of time, so I did it the day before. It also tastes better if it sits a day or so. Kind of like chili or soup. It is very good. Christmas Eve we had goose that a friend of ours shot. That was very good too, except we had been eating all afternoon and not that hungry. Christmas Day we had taco burgers and leftovers. Monday, leftovers. Tuesday,leftovers. Then froze what was left or just got rid of it. Wednesday, Kim is grilling. Nice weather in Minnesota for December. No snow. Strange.

I'm trying to get motivated to get back at things. Kim and I are taking Alair to see War Horse in the next couple days. We don't get to do much with just her. I do have some other projects to do now too. Still have to mail our Christmas Cards. Better get on that!

The Little Ones

 
This is Alair and our 7 grandchildren. Always exciting when they are together, although it is like herding cats.