Third Day of Christmas

We are making the most of these twelve days of Christmas this year. We are back at home now. We loaded our stash of gifts under the tree last night. We are now playing with the first round of gifts, and waiting patiently for Beach Grandma to arrive so we can dig in to round two, or is it three? Either way it is a lot of fun.

I asked the kids what their favorite gifts were so far. The answers were: Coug sweatshirt, converse all stars, digital watch, play-doh, remote control motorcycle (both from the boy that received it, and the one who is having a really hard time being okay with not receiving it), klutz book, and wooden blocks. I love that most of the gifts were not expensive or glitzy, but are very much loved.

I finished reading My Life in France, by Julia Child. If you need a fun read that will inspire you to love food and friends I recommend that you read it. It was a fun intro into her cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking, which I got for my birthday. My Dad said that people ask him how I have time to master the art of cooking. I admit that cooking in large quantities, with lots of other demands on my time does squelch the love of cooking at times. But I really love good food, and so do most of my children. My Mom is a good cook, and so is my step-Mom. Once you have acquired a taste for good food, bad food is just not worth wasting your time on. Lately that has meant that I try to do my prep work while most of the kids are at school. I do find watching toddlers and cooking food to have its ups and downs. I let them watch and help where they can. The kids find the fruit of my labor rewarding, so they let me have my space. I also try to make sure they have lots of snacks so that they aren't starving all of the time. They like cheese and crackers and fruit, which keeps them at bay until I can finish dinner. I don't try too many labor intensive meals with too many fancy ingredients. I work with what I can afford, and try to make quality more important than quantity. It is a work in progress, and as Julie Child says, sometimes I create disasters that just cause us to grin and bear it. I love to feed people, and I hope that I grow in this grace this coming year.