Monday, December 21, 2020

Preparing for Christmas Eve.....and Happy Birthday to Deanie!

For some reason Louis Dean and I stayed up so late last night.
We just kept doing one little thing after another and before we knew it - the clock said 2:00 AM.
Louis Dean looked at me and said, "Back in our younger days, this would mean a trip to Whataburger!" We have done that more than once! You can read about it HERE.
Now I feel like Sandra aka Mad Snapper!! I loved her links yesterday.


Since we were up so late, we both slept in.
I went in to wake the kitties up about 10:30 and then I crawled back up into bed and stayed there until nearly 1:00 this afternoon! I had my coffee and quiet time right there propped up on my pillows.

It was about 2:00 when we each got started on our projects.


This is the face of a happy man!!!
He is loving his new deck and says this was the hard part - the rest of it will go fast!

While he was outside 'playing' - I was working on food prep for Christmas Eve.


I'm trying to do as many things ahead of time as I can possibly get done.
It's more fun if you're exhausted and I truly love doing family dinners.
Sweet potato casserole - Done!
I always bake it in this dish.


I make this so often I no longer date it!


The topping recipe is on the back of the page - sometimes I forget that.
Instead of the evaporated milk and the sugar for the potatoes, I used sweetened condensed milk.
First time I have tried this so I wonder if anyone will notice?


My hands are still burning from these peppers!
I mixed cream cheese and shredded Colby to fill them. 
Tomorrow I will cook up a pound of bacon and crumble it to put on top. Then all I have to do is bake them on Christmas Eve.


I made up another batch of caramels.
This time I cooked it for 2 minute intervals, stirring between each one for a total of 8 minutes.


It taste SO good!!
I have one more batch to make in the morning.


Ahhhhhhh......
I heated us up some Taco soup for supper and he ate and went right to sleep.
I lifted the tray and he didn't even wake up.
He slept through an entire John Wayne movie while I was in here in the sewing room finishing up his quilt. He came in and said goodnight, he was so ready to go to bed.

It's not midnight yet so I am going to close tonight's journal entry and then make the rounds turning off all the little lights, locking all the doors and setting things to right for in the morning.

"Thou makest the outgoings of the morning and evening to rejoice."
Psalm 65:8

I love this Bible verse!

And now for Louis Dean.....

"The sleep of a labouring man is sweet."
Ecclesiastes 5:12

~~~~~~~~~~~

OOPS!! 


I rushed back to say Happy Birthday to my sister, Deanie!
She's so special, I think there was an extra bright star in the sky tonight!

14 comments:

Linda said...

Do you love your daily rituals and routines like I do?

Ginny Hartzler said...

Hmmm, so that was Deanie's star! A special birthday for sure! I think it's been awhile since I have seen her here. Hopefully she will be at your party. Looks like the deck is almost done! And Louis Dean is almost done IN, ha ha!!

Bluebird49 said...

I used to be a daily ritual type, kinda. Now, just getting through the day is a pretty big accomplishment, it seems! I still haven't gotten my strength back. 😱

~Lavender Dreamer~ said...

I can't stay up late any more...even when I want to watch the end of a football game! lol But I feel better if I go to bed and get up at the same time every day. You are making some yummies for the holidays. holiday hugs!

Changes in the wind said...

There was indeed a special star in the sky and I got to see it:) We stay more to a sleeping waking routine and don't do well if it gets interrupted. All that food looks great!

Deanna Rabe said...

I'm a night owl, but 2:00 is late! Glad you slept in and were able to rest!

There is so much joy even in these hard times. You shine the light of joy into all our lives!

Happy Birthday to Deanie! What a special gift she got this year!

Susie said...

Linda, I am loving all the pictures. A tummy full of food and some John Wayne music and it's off to la la land for LD. Bless his heart. Wow those caramels look tasty. Tell Deanie Happy Birthday for me. Blessings to all of you, xoxo,love, Susie

Vee said...

Happy Birthday to your dear sister Deanie! Sounds as if you are coping with the busyness of the season very well...

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

The foods all look so good, Linda, and sure wish you could send samples online! Glad that LD's project is going well and he sure did look exhausted in that chair. Birthday wishes to your sister, Deanie, from Nashua, NH.

MadSnapper said...

Happy birthday Deanie... have a wonderful day... now this is a portrait of a hardworking man. makes me smile. he needs to come down here and give smile lessons to bob. LD smiles into your cameara every time, all i get is frowns.
i wrote on the other what a burger, and got the giggles thinking of ten years ago being when you were younger. ha ha ho ho he he... loved it

photowannabe said...

Bless that Man of yours.
I'm glad you captured the picture of LD totally zonked. It shows what an amazing man he truly is.
You two are a fantastic pair and you my dear are the Energizer Bunny. Man you accomplish more in one day than I do in weeks it seems.
Your Christmas Eve is going to be amazing.
Sue

Stacy said...

Wonderful photos of what you have been up to as always. I am trying to get a lot of things done ahead of time, too, so I can just relax come Christmas Eve and Day. The big thing is that the gifts are almost all wrapped. Many years we end up doing a marathon of wrapping on Christmas Eve and that is just terribly stressful! I am so thrilled we don't have it to look forward to this year. My daughter is making some of the side dishes so there isn't much I have to do beyond loading up the ham and all the extras (dips, veggies, chips, crackers, deer bologna, cheese, candy, cookies, etc.) and taking them to her house. The potatoes and green beans I can make ahead or make at her house as we aren't eating until later in the day. I hope you and Louis Dean have a blessed and wonderfully happy Christmas!

Carole said...

Happy birthday to Deanie. I went shopping this morning - so because it's summer my Christmas lunch menu is
Starter - plate of sliced tomatoes, smoked salmon slices
Main - glazed ham and green salad
Dessert - fresh fruit salad and hokey pokey ice cream

Hope your celebrations are perfect for you.

Cheers

Great-Granny Grandma said...

All those goodies look so yummy--especially those cheese stuffed peppers. It's made me so hungry I'm off to raid my refrigerator, haha.