I should be doing chores....

.....before the winter storm hits, but intead, I'm eating the last of the homemade cinnamon rolls. It looked lonely sitting on the plate. And this was the smallest cinnamon roll.

I made these last night, oh so yummy. And so much better than the little tubes you buy in the grocery store! 13 of these babies lasted just under 12 hours.

I only made half of the dough - which made 13 BIG rolls. The rest I put in the freezer. May have to make more tonight. This dough also makes yummy dinner rolls (you know the kind you buy at the store in the bags that you just stick in the oven and bake - just like those!)

Butter Rich Roll & Bread Dough

1 cup water

1/3 cup butter

4 1/2 Tbsp. sugar

1 large egg

3/4 tsp. salt

3 1/2 cups bread flour

3 Tbsp. dry milk

2 tsp. yeast

Dump in bread machine. Set to dough cycle. Come back 2 hours later. Divide in half. Roll each half into 8 inch by 9 inch rectangle. Spread surface with 1/4 cup butter, thinly sliced. Sprinkle surface with 1/4 cup brown sugar and 1 tsp. cinamon. Start at 8 inch side and roll up - slice 1" thick. Put on greased cookie sheet, cover with damp towel, let rise 40 min. Bake at 375 for 10-15 minutes.

For the glaze:

2 sticks Parkay

1 scoop Crisco (yes, a scoop - use a rubber spatula and get a nice big old scoop)

2 lbs. powdered sugar

enough milk to make it the consistency you like.

This is my sugar cut out cookie frosting. Works wonderful and tastes yummy!

Enjoy!
Kris

I should have been making Christmas gifts

But instead I made myself a new wallet, using a tutorial I found from Sew Mama Sew.


And it matches my checkbook cover - what more can I ask for? (just ignore how faded my checkbook cover is!!)


So that was my evening last night!

Kris

Fire Department Christmas Party

Busy, busy weekend. But so much fun.


I feel like I am FINALLY getting a handle on the Christmas gifts to give. Couple big ones to finish up and I will be set.



Yesterday was the fire department Christmas party. Of course, there were crafts:









And food (no pictures there). And a visit from Santa (played by one of the firefighters).






Tyler guessed right off (again) which firefighter was playing Santa. His response when we asked how he knew that it wasn't "Santa" - well, of course it's not the real Santa Claus - he is much too busy to come to a party right now. So he hires helpers, and John happened to be the only one who would fit in Daddy's Santa suit, which the real Santa Claus rents off of Daddy for parties like these. (This is actually Todd's Santa Claus suit, made for him by his mother 18 or so years ago).

Wish somedays that I had an imagination like Tylers!


And....Todd shot a button buck while Tyler and him were in PA - so this weekend he can shoot 1 or 2 more in Ohio, and we should be good to go for winter:)
Kris

We would have gotten 8 eggs today

but I broke 2.

Apparently, turning the dogs' water bucket upside down and jumping up and down on it while you have 4 eggs in each pocket is NOT a good idea.

Off to wash the coat.........

Note to self - next time, take the stupid basket with you or even better yet, run the eggs into the house before doing chores.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Ok, I'm back. And I'm busy making shepherd and angel costumes for the church's Christmas play. Not terribly hard, but not terribly exciting either. Fortunately, it's just 3 shepherd costumes and 2 angel costumes. I've had Jessie's and Tyler's costumes done for some time now, but have to get the others done here before Wednesday. Tomorrow would be better but.....I'm not counting on it.

And here are what the teacher gift coasters will look like:

I tried to make the coasters coordinate color wise with the mugs (and also use fabric from my stash. This fabric is left over from my tree skirt.). Obsessive compulsive, yes.....

I decided on a mug, a coaster and a packet of either hot chocolate mix or cappucino mix for all 4 teachers. Quick, simple yet nice looking. The mugs I found at Pat Catan's for $1.00.

And Tyler and Jessie painted salt dough ornaments a couple weeks ago - I'll attach one of those to each mug. Voila.

In fact, I just may have to make a coaster for my computer desk. Being oak - it would sure benefit if I wasn't setting a hot mug of cappucino on it 24/7......

Kris

Success

I DID IT!!

I made a coat similar to this one, for my niece for Christmas. Now to find her a pair of jeans, and she is set (and I heard through the grapevine that our local Children's Place has little girl jeans on sale for 97 cents. I will so be going there this afternoon to see)!

The coat still needs hems in it and 2 or 3 buttons on the front, but I'll try it on her when I see her this week - so I don't make it too short or too long. Hopefully my SIL will like it!

I don't know why blogger is rotating my pictures - sorry bout that!

Kris

Winter Chores

I thought it'd be interesting to document what I do round here in the winter. Which is basically in my book, get as many layers of clothes on that I can, get out, do the chores, and get back inside.

Todd and Tyler left for PA for the last weekend of deer season this morning. So chores were a little easier on me tonight - but not much.

2:30 - get home from work. Get the fire going, start pizza dough for dinner. Jessie is having 2 girlfriends over to spend the night. Both are great girls, but the 1 doesn't have much of a home life. Really, really nice and polite girl, but.....she was amazed the last time that she was over that people do try and have balanced meals, and dinner in our house is not frozen tv dinners every. single. night. In fact, Jessie probably doesn't know what a t.v. dinner is. From what other kids have said, you cannot get inside the house there is so much Junk/trash/clutter and they don't eat dinner at a table. They eat in the living room with the T.V. on. So I try to cook good meals when she is here, and the last few times she has even wanted to learn how to cook.

Get dressed to go outside. THis means heavy socks, sweatshirt, Columbia jacket, carhart bibs, insulated muck boots. I lost my gloves and haven't broken down and brought a new pair yet. The old ones would show up if I ever had a moment to clean out my closet.


3:00 - The chickens are laying 7 eggs a day most days. Go out, take them water. Collect eggs. Get out the 1/2 bale of shavings left, dump round for them, bring a bag of layer mash up to the chicken coop. Try to carry 50 lb. bag while also carrying a flake of hay in other hand (do you know how akward it is to bend down with a bag of grain on 1 shoulder to pick up a single flake of hay - might have been easier to carry a whole bale up there, but then Todd would know I was feeding the chickens his premium steer calf hay. Not a good idea). Give the chickens feed. Try and get a picture of my favorite rooster.





While I was in the barn getting the hay, I put hay in the horses stalls and fed the cat. We don't give our horses much grain. They are way to fat as it is. Here in another month, they may start getting a handful. We'll see how I feel about it and how they look condition wise. They do get 1 1/2 bales of timothy/alfalfa hay a day between 3 of them.

Outside dog #1

Outside dog #2

Start the water trough for the cows. Put hay in for the heifer calves. Run and get dog food for 2 outside dogs, feed them and break the ice in their water buckets.

Go back and turn off the water for the cows. Walk to barn #2 and check on the steers back there - Todd gave them hay and water this morning, so I should just have to do grain.


Back in the house by 3:25. Take off many layers of clothes. Put more wood on the woodburner - I want it cranking in here!





I'll go out about 5:00 - let the horses in, give the heifer calves and the steer calves 3 buckets of grain between them and I AM DONE FOR THE NIGHT.


The first round only took me 25 minutes. Of course, I spent about 5 minutes trying to get a picture of my favorite rooster:)



And now I have a couple hours to sew - and if the girls behave, I can sew most of the evening!

See ya,

Kris

Blond Moments

I'm not blond .....but sometimes......it sure seems like it!

And I'm undecided. I have 4 (yes 4) teacher gifts that need finished by next Thursday and Friday. The problem is, I CANNOT settle on making any one thing for any of them. Maybe because I don't really know any of them well enough.

And this weekend will be packed. Tyler is going hunting in PA with daddy tomorrow, Jessie is having 2 little girlfriends over tomorrow night to spend the night, Saturday sometime I have to go help decorate the firehouse for a Christmas party, Sunday morning is church and play practice, and the fire department Christmas party is Sunday afternoon.

Any suggestions out there for quick, easy to make, nice looking appropriate teacher Christmas gifts? (I'm not asking for much, am I??)

In other news, our tree is finally up! After we ate dinner tonight, I put it together, figured out the lights, and the kids hung ornaments all over it.

I think the tree skirt makes the tree .....don't you?

Have a good evening!
Kris