8am- Thankfully we were able to sleep in! I checked on the kids when I got up. Stubby was reading The Black Stallion in bed: he was very confused because, “I’m not even halfway through the book and he’s already home! What can the rest of the book be about?” Smiley was drawing on the couch and Squeaky was still sleeping. I got ready for the day and then started making sourdough scones while listening to an Advent playlist from The Rabbit Room. Squeaky woke up and headed straight for the basement to play dress-up and listen to Jonathan Park.

9am- I cleaned up the kitchen while the scones baked and cooled and then rolled out some crackers to bake. We ate breakfast together and listened to our Bible reading plan. We’re all the way up to Revelation- we’ve almost made it through the Bible this year (the kids have some gaps because we missed some days and I didn’t make them catch up).

10am- After breakfast, everyone worked on their morning routines and the main chores that have to be done every day. I made a second batch of crackers.

11am- Smiley banned us all from the basement so she could wrap some Christmas presents. Once that was done Squeaky joined her there and they spent the next couple of hours playing “baby”, drawing, and listening to their story. Mr. McGoozle and Stubby worked on a 3D printing project for awhile. Then Stubby wandered off and Mr. McGoozle continued researching parts to buy for our van. The van needs a new radiator and front drive shafts. I think he found the parts he was looking for and ordered them. I worked on the Oct & Nov book post with some Christmas shopping research interspersed as a distraction.

12pm- We found out that Stubby didn’t know what Tetris was so Mr. McGoozle downloaded it on his phone and on the kids’ tablet and he and Stubby played together for awhile. I finished up the blog and started getting lunch ready. It was a clean-out-the-fridge day so I made an interesting (but tasty!) smoothie that included some leftover cranberry sauce and oatmeal as well as our usual ingredients- water, yogurt, turmeric, cinnamon, vitamin C, elderberry syrup, seaweed, spinach, and frozen fruit. Everyone made themselves a wrap or heated up the leftover hot dogs.

1pm- We ate lunch somewhat together. I read The Story of Christianity, Vol II while I ate. After lunch, the kids went back to the basement to play. Mr. McGoozle and I started working on our charcuterie board for our family Christmas gathering tomorrow. Mr. McGoozle creatively sliced cheese and I packaged up the crackers I had made.

2pm- Cheese and crackers, check! I sat down with some tea to read/pray through the prayers and reading for today in the prayer book I’m using for this season. Mr. McGoozle worked on researching and cleaning up a couple of older phones he’s going to try to sell. Then Mr. McGoozle headed out with all of the kids to go Christmas shopping- Smiley still had a couple of people on her list that she wanted to get gifts for and Squeaky hadn’t started her shopping yet.

3pm- I finished reading the book of Ezekiel and a couple of Psalms to catch up on our Bible reading plan. Then I took a short nap before heading to the kitchen to wash dishes and turn the salami into a display for the charcuterie board.

4pm- While I was in the kitchen, I refilled our honey pot from the big bucket and put it in a pan of water on the stove to soften. I also started some rice in the InstantPot for dinner. I listened to the Behold the Lamb of God album by Andrew Peterson. I’ve practically got it memorized because it’s one of my favorites but I was still in tears and had to stop what I was working on when it got to the titular song. I highly recommend you give it a listen straight through the album– it’s beautiful. I finished in the kitchen (both the work and the crying) and sat down to work on our Christmas cards. Everyone else got home. Stubby asked if he could go on YouTube to learn a better algorithm for solving a Rubik’s cube so he worked on that. The girls and Mr. McGoozle wrapped presents and then hung out in the basement.

6pm- I finished what I was working on and went to fry the eggs to top our rice for dinner. Mr. McGoozle and the kids took turns playing a round of their latest group video game- Crash Bandicoot. We sat down to dinner together.

7pm- We finished dinner with our Advent reading and listening to a song by candlelight (I forgot to take a picture so this is from a couple of weeks ago). The kids worked on their clean-up chores and showered. Mr. McGoozle supervised while I worked on the church bulletin.

8pm- Everyone was clean and snuggled up on the couch for a book before bed. Mr. McGoozle typically does the bedtime routine so I listened to the book in the background and checked email.

9pm- Kids were successfully tucked into bed (and stayed there!). I finished the last big dishes that Smiley couldn’t quite handle. Mr. McGoozle came down and we worked on planning our charcuterie board while he seeded a pomegranate. We sat on the couch together for awhile before I got ready for bed and headed up to the ice box, I mean, our bedroom around 10:30.

Other Updates from the Past Couple of Months

Squeaky

Remains squeaky and hilarious. She decided to copy one of our artist prints in watercolor while the older kids and I were working on an art lesson. I think she did a pretty great job! She loves book and insists that she is doing school this year even though she’s only 4.

Smiley

We’ve joined 4-H and she is taking crocheting and baking as her projects. They’re things we already do but she’s enjoying the company of others. She’s gained a sourdough starter (named Jim) from her 4-H baking leader.

Stubby

He was able to hunt for the first time this year and shot a nice fat doe- dropped her like a sack of potatoes. He helped process the meat and we made quite a bit into jerky. We also became “that family” and took him to his first Rubik’s cube competition. He was a bit disappointed in how well he did but it was a fun experience and we will probably do it again.

Mr. & Mrs. McGoozle

I cut my hair short. And I’m very proud of a watercolor project I did. Mr. McGoozle gets to stay home more! He’s transitioned to a new position at work that involved very little travel and we are all very, very excited.