Not much going on but I've been knitting and clipping coupons.  I will try to figure out how to keep you all updated on my progress ~ really want to get to using only one blog but for some reason its not working. LOL

You can read more of my recent adventures here and I'll be back soon.  Off to visit some of my friends ~ been awhile since I've done that.

Hello, everyone!!  I'll bet you all thought I dropped off the face of the earth...well, I did for awhile there.  But now Spring is on the way, and I am coming out of hibernation.  We can't wait for Spring to come around here because we are tired of coats, boots, gloves, hats and most especially snowsuits:

Melissa and Megan waiting for Spring.

And speaking of spring, here's a little poem I wrote about Dandelions:

I just can't keep up with it.  :)

If you want to find out more about the

New Harvest Homestead newsletter

Please visit my website

You are also invited to join the NHH Yahoo email group.  The best place on the web to get answers to your homesteading questions!  :)

The sign up button is located on the sidebar to the right.

Blessings!

Lisa

Happy New Year to you ~ it has been a very long time since I've blogged here.  There are some wonderful changes I see too and don't know how I managed to stay away so long.  Though it has become increasingly difficult to maintain several blogs, I will keep this one open so that I can visit from time to time and post.  However, you are all welcome to visit me over at my other blog for the details of whats happening in my world.  I've decided to have one main blog from now on so I can have more time visiting my friends instead of trying to post everywhere. ;D

With the New Year, I'm looking for ways to cut costs, start a garden and live simply.  So what better place to go then to our wonderful community here.  I'm hoping to get some needed advice and start plans so my family and I can have the lovely things I've been dreaming about.

I'm off to read and leave a comment or two.  Talk w/you all soon.

How to Plan a Christmas Cookie Swap

A Christmas cookie swap is when family and friends gather together at another friend’s home, bringing their favorite baked cookies on a platter or tray. All the platters and trays are put on a table. The friends gather around the table; taking take two or three cookies from each dish or platter, to take home. This is the cookie swap. What makes this particular event so wonderful is each person may have a story about the cookies, i.e., where the recipe came from; anecdotes about preparing the cookies, etc.

Are you ready to plan your Christmas cookie swap? Let’s begin with the invitations.
Purchase or make your own invitations and send them to your friends. Set a date and time convenient for all, perhaps a late morning on a Sunday afternoon. Be sure to add an RSVP so you know how many are attending. This will determine how many cookies you need to bake.

The night before the event, begin baking your favorite cookies using either recipes handed down from your mother or grandmother, or new recipes you have made experimenting on your own. Place your cookies on your Christmas plate or tray, cover the cookies with wrap, and set aside in a cool area.

Decorate your main table with a Christmas tablecloth and matching napkins. Use your Christmas cups and saucers; dessert plates; creamer; sugar bowl; and flatware. Arrange a beautiful poinsettia centerpiece for the table. Next, prepare and decorate a second table on which the plates or trays of baked cookies will be placed.

On the day of your event, prepare your coffee pot and tea kettle about half hour before your friends arrive. Finally, your friends come bearing delicious baked cookies, filling your home with a wonderful aroma. Show your friends to the cookie table, and have each friend set down their plate or tray of cookies on the table.

After much conversation, call your friends together for the cookie swap. Gather everyone around the cookie table, and begin the process of each person walking around the table, taking two or three cookies from each tray. When finished, have everyone sit at your main table and the storytelling can begin. Every participant leaves with a selection of cookies that they can share at their homes with visitors and guests.

It is really helpful to have copies of the cookie recipes available for the guests to take home with them.

www.homeandfamilyezine.com

You haven't lived until you've gone shopping at Toys R Us the Saturday after Thanksgiving with 2 babies in a side by side stroller.  You really haven't.  Why we decided this would be a good idea, I don't know, but I did live to tell about it, so tell about it I will.

First, it was so cold outside that I had to bundle them both up like snowpeople in order to take them out of the house.  By the time I was finished, they were like two little soft, stiff stick figures.  I bent them into their carseats which of course I could not fasten  because snowsuits are much bigger than jackets, so I spent the next 10 minutes adjusting the "easy adjust" straps on both seats.  Which are not easy by the way.  By now I am losing feeling in my hands because I had to take my gloves off to do this job and the car doors are open and the wind is whistling through. 

We took our smaller car because it was just Ken, me, Kevin and the girls.  I thought it would be cozy.   I managed to fit both carseats and Kevin's booster in the backseat, but when I went to buckle Kevin in, I realized that the space between his seat and the carseats was about wide enough to maybe fit a slip of paper into- certainly not big enough for me to be able to snap his seatbelt in without seriously injuring myself.  So I unhooked one of the carseats and pulled it to the side so I could strap Kevin in, put it back in place and quickly closed the door just in case somebody popped out.

The drive to the Toys R Us was fine- the babies were happy because Kevin was chain feeding them Cheerios, their all time favorite food in the entire world.   I of course forgot that Kevin doesn't realize how long it takes a baby to chew a Cheerio and before I thought of it, he had Melissa's cheeks stuffed full like a little chipmunk.  A true sign of a mom who is on the edge is when she lets a 4 year old feed the baby.  I reach back and in one deft movement do a mouth-sweep on Melissa and remove 37 Cheerios from her mouth.  She protests of course, because 37 Cheerios in her mouth at one time to Melissa is like the best thing that ever happened to her.  So we listen to her cry until Kevin can insert another one, this time with a stern warning from mom NOT to give her another until she chews and swallows.

So we get to Toys R Us (it's only 10 minutes away), unload the kids and our Jeep side by side umbrella stroller, and run inside.  Now it's time to take off the snowsuits because it's 93 degrees in the store.  This is not easy when you don't have anywhere to lay a baby down.  We somehow manage it through a complicated maneuver that involves Ken holding one baby suspended in air while I unzip and pull off her snowsuit with one hand while holding the other baby in my other hand.  It doesn't occur to me to put my baby down in the stroller while I attempt this.  I am very used to doing things with one hand, it comes natural to me. 

We finally get both babies out of the snowsuits (they are both sweating profusely, by the way) and into the stroller and off we go!!  Hooray!  We're shopping!  Like normal people!  We take 14 steps before we get to the Thomas the Tank Engine train set which the people who work at Toys R Us have thoughtfully set up for 4 year olds to play with.  They conveniently cram this exhibit in the middle of a toy aisle with approximately 3 inches of space on either side of it.  No way am I going to fit my trusty Jeep side by side umbrella stroller through there.  And no way am I going to get away with standing still- these girls want to move!  So Ken hangs around with Kevin and Thomas while I take the babies for a little stroll through the store.

Now having 2 babies in a side by side stroller makes you become A Novelty when you are in any store.  People stop in their tracks and stare at you.  Well, at the babies.  They don't really look at me at all which is usually a good thing.  They turn and whisper to their friend "Oh, look, twins- aren't they sweet?" and smile dreamily as they pass by.  Little kids are less shy- they run right up and yell "Mommy look!  Two babies!" and promptly stick their fingers into the girls' eyes or noses...it's really cute. 

Inevitably a sweet old lady stops me and asks if they are twins.  I say yes. She says rather accusingly, "Well, they don't look ANYTHING alike!"  I say, "Yes I know," and contemplate getting into a discussion about genetics in the middle of the toy store and quickly decide not to.   She asks if they are boys or girls.  She must not notice the pink outfits and the cute "I'm a girl" pony tails I painstakingly fixed before we left.  "They're girls," I say.  She will then ask how old they are, I will say they are almost a year old and she will say "But they're so small!" as though I don't feed them.  I contemplate getting into a discussion about prematurity and adjusted age in the middle of the toy store and quickly decide not to.  I just smile.  At this point Megan starts to twist around to look at me as if just remembering that I am actually here and able to possibly pick her up.  If you stop too long they do that.  She starts fussing and holding her arms out to me.  "I can see you have your hands full," says my new friend.  I smile ruefully and say "Yes, I do," and start to walk away.  She then says "Well they're very sweet," and I thank her.  As I am walking away she calls out  "Just wait until they're teenagers- they'll break your heart!"  Ah yes, another heartwarming discussion in the toy store.  Gotta love those sweet old ladies.

Our rhythm broken, the babies and I continue to circle Toys R Us with them fussing every time I stop which is often because there are people everywhere and displays in the middle of every row.  I am supposed to be looking for a Christmas present for my neice, so I try to shop but it is impossible since I can't make it down most of the aisles.  I spot a cute Hello Kitty stationary set halfway down one aisle but have to pass it up because the row is too crowded and if I stop we will have meltdown.  I take a lap.  Still too crowded.  I take another lap- yes!!  I leave the stroller 2 feet from me while I sidle down the aisle to grab my prize.  By the time I get back a sweet old lady is admiring the girls and eyeing me up like I am a child abuser for leaving them alone.  When I get to her she asks "Are they twins?"  and my fate is sealed.  By the time we are done chatting, both babies are screaming and I am ready to go home.  This new friend informs me that my hands are full and that when my girls are teenagers they will break my heart, and with this news ringing in my ears like Salvation Army bells, I set off to find Ken.

After we pay for our purchases, we decide to scrap the snowsuits and just wrap them around the babies.  Of course this means that the carseat straps are now too loose and I must use the "easy adjust" feature once again.  I get Kevin strapped in with a little less trouble because I never did fasten the one carseat that I moved back in before we left- oops!  We drive home to the lovely sound of babies wailing.  At this point even Cheerios don't work anymore.

When we get home, the girls are so happy to be free that they play beautifully together on the floor until bedtime.  I collapse exhausted on the couch and vow never to leave the house again until they are 4.  Or at least until next Friday  when we go to the grocery store.

The November/December 2007 issue of New Harvest Homestead is now available!

Here's a little taste of the great things you'll find in this issue:

THANKFUL! - NHH readers share what they are most thankful for

Cranberries 101 - A little history and interesting information about this versatile holiday fruit, plus mouth-watering cranberry recipes!

In the Holiday Homestead Kitchen - Christmas cookies and favorite pot-luck take-alongs

Whole Wheat Dough Variations - The Urban Homemaker  shares the many ways to use her whole wheat dough recipe for lots of holiday treats

Last Minute Gifts & Holiday Projects - Be ready to give from the heart with these easy-to-make gifts

And LOTS more!  Don't miss this issue.  Visit my website to find out how to subscribe - www.newharvesthomestead.com

From now until Christmas buy a two-year subscription and receive a third FREE!  See the details on my website or write to me at newharvest@gotsky.com

Christmas Blessings!

Lisa