Merry Christmas! We have officially survived Christmas. We still have 2 more Christmas get togethers, 1 on Thurs & 1 on Sat. I really enjoy this time of year but it is so busy. Today I want to try to clean the house so it at least looks presentable. With being gone a lot it seems things just pile up and don't get put away. I need to make some mixed fruit for the gathering tomorrow. I made 2 coffee cakes yesterday for tomorrow as well. It would be nice if the huge pile of laundry somehow washed, dried and folded itself. I could put it away if all that was done.

Filled Coffee Cake
4 eggs 2 c flour
1 c oil 1 teas baking powder
1 c sugar 1/2 teas salt
Mix together and put half the batter in greased 9x13 cake pan. Put 1 can pie filling any flavor on top. Spread rest of batter on top. Mix 1/4 c sugar and 1 teas cinnamon and sprinkle on top. Bake at 350 for 30 min. Drizzle with powdered sugar frosting.
I used peach and apple and both were really good.

Wow, what a crazy day today! I was planning to take the girls to mom & then go to my mother-in-law to help clean her house. Instead I was all over the road. I got a phone call at 7:30 from a neighbor. His wife had a seizure during the night and the doctor wanted them to come in asap. Mom came down and stayed with the girls till they were up and then took them to her house for the day. I took the neighbor to the doctor at 8:15. After talking to the doctor he felt they should do further tests. They got an appointment in Goshen for an MRI at 11:15. After they were done there we grabbed a bite at Burger King then headed to South Bend for a 2:00 appointment with the neurologist?. They felt very good about the doctor they saw and he gave them a lot of advice and answered a lot of questions. He also gave them the options of taking seizure meds or trying a natural course. They are going to think it over then go from there.
While I was waiting at South Bend I got a call that 2 teachers wanted to go to WalMart and pick up a few things. So I got home at 5 then fed the cat. Rachel decided to go along so she brought the girls over and we left from here. We ate at Dairy Queen then went to WalMart. On the way home we were singing Christmas Carols. We had such a good time together. Doretta & Sharon are teachers in the same school. I have been driving Sharon almost every weekend for over 2 years. I really enjoy driving both of them. On Fri. evening is their school program and they want us to come so we are planning on it. Rochelle is so excited about it!
Well it is late and tomorrow is another busy day. Good Night

I know it has been almost two weeks and I really was going to do better. We have been so busy with company and meetings I would almost rather scream. We had company on Sunday the 10th for dinner. I made a simple menu of goulash, corn, applesauce, celery sticks, bread, butter & jelly, ribbon salad and pumpin roll. I prepared most of the food on Fri and the casserole on Sat. All I had to do on Sun was put the casserole in the oven on time bake. When we got home from church I heated the corn, put the food into serving bowls and dinner was served. I do not stress out over having a fancy meal. I would rather do a practical and simple meal and enjoy the visiting.
Rochelle is working on her six year molars and wants to chew on everything. Maria is still working on her two year molars and is grumpy. They are both having problems with diarhea but I feel it is from the teething.
We are looking forward to a relaxing and hopefully slower time during Christmas vacation. LaVern has 1 week off and Rochelle has 2 weeks off of preschool. I would like to take a few days off from driving and try to spend some family time together, sleeping in and being lazy.
On Christmas eve we are going to have our own Christmas, exchanging gifts and just spending time as a family. We are having Christmas with my family on Christmas Day. On Dec 28th we have another Christmas gathering with the guys LaVern used to hang out with. LaVern's family is getting together on Dec.30 for brunch, an all day thing. So in short, 4 Christmas gatherings in one week= tired people and extra pounds to drag around!!
Wishing all well and if I don't write again A Merry Christmas to all!!!!

It has been a busy time in the last few weeks. We have had gorgeous weather in the mid 60's for 5 staight days. I got windows washed and we even washed the sills and the screens. We had 2 birthdays in Nov. now my baby is 2. It seems she is growing up so fast. My oldest is 4 and uite a little lady. This year we decided not to do birthday gifts but Christmas gifts instead. I have gotten a few things for Rochelle but have not found what I want for Maria. We don't have a tree but we do have other decorations up. We felt a tree with babies is not a wise choice. When the girls are older we would like to purchase an artificial tree so we can reuse it. Last week I canned vegtables, potatoes, carrots, celery & onions, and got a total of 82 jars. Most of them were 1 1/2 pint which is the amount I use for one meal. On Sun we have company coming so I have cleaning on the menu. I plan to have goulash, corn, applesauce, ribbon salad and cheesecake. Well, the cleaning is not getting done by itself so I need to run along.