Cohagen Chronicles: 2010-12-12

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Challenging, to say the least...

Bet you thought I'd forgotten about the blog challenge, huh?
It's still going! There's a topic this week, then next and we won't start another until the first week of January.

The NEXT blog challenge will be topics that I've been working on. They have a sort of Crazy Mary feel to them, so we'll see how that goes. Anyone interested in joining? Feeling like starting your New Year with some craziness? It would be fun to have a couple more people involved!

The challenge this week is to write about the one book that has affected me the most in my life, so far.

Excuse me?

ONE book?

Besides the Bible?
(Which is FULL of books! I love that! God's Word is made up of a BUNCH of books...He gave us a living library. How cool is that?)

I really did think about this challenge quite a lot. It reminds me of the "If you could only take one book to a deserted island, what would it be?" question.

Darned if I know.

Because a book influences my life nearly every day. And it's not always deep, meaningful influence either.

Sometimes it's finding a substitution for an ingredient in the back of a cookbook. (If you don't have one full egg, use two egg whites. Huh?)
Sometimes it's how to apply eye make up properly. (Thank you, Bobbi Brown!)
Sometimes it's learning that bees wings aren't attached to any muscles, that it's the muscles in the thorax that make them move. (My abs ache, thinking about it...)

Choosing just one influential book would be like choosing one favorite child...I don't think it can be done.

So I think I failed this challenge. But I'm still working on it. Probably, in the middle of the night, I'll sit up straight in bed and say, ".....". For now, I'm flaking out.

Cookie Day Part II

We do other things besides decorate cookies and eat!

The cousins did a lot of sledding. It was perfect; the snow was hard and slick and they just zoomed down the little hills!

We cut a big load of firewood for Grandma. Here's Cowboy PopPops and the Farmer, cutting down the first tree. The good news is that it didn't hit anyone or smash any vehicles...

...the bad news is that it got stuck in a neighboring tree and we had to get B.J. to pull it down with his pickup.

This tree isn't going to catch on anything!

Cowboy PopPops built a fire from some of the twigs and bark, and it was wonderful to be able to warm little toes while the grownups loaded wood. The kids played in the trees, made forts and all sorts of fun tromping around.

When we got home, we unloaded the wood and then...you guessed it...ate a bite.

Meghan, Cari and Tristin had gone to town, so it was a pretty quiet evening. Once we got the babies bedded down on a humongous air mattress, (it WAS huge...and held three girls, width-wise) B.J. and I slipped down to Grandma Dutton's house to watch Round 10 of the National Finals. It was such a treat! We didn't make it through the whole thing....we quit it after the saddle broncs. Guess we're getting old...

This was the first year the kids and I stayed overnight, and it was such a good thing to do.

They got up, rolled off their air mattress and into bed with Grammy!

PopPops made us all bacon, eggs and toast....oh, it was GOOD!

And we had all morning to visit, drink coffee, shower and get ready to eat.

I love Cookie Day.

I love my family!

Monday, December 13, 2010

Cookie Day 2010!

My family has a great tradition that started with the blending of two families when my Dad and Karen got married. Christmas was sort of a mess, because no one knew where to be or who to spend it with....common situation in blended families. We came up with a cookie intensive day, where everyone brings cookies to share and we all decorate sugar cookies that day. It has become our Christmas, in a way, and we look forward to it ALL year. And not just because we adore sampling 20 different kinds of cookies and candy. There's no restrictions on the consumption on Cookie Day. None. Even for the kids.

But the very best part is getting siblings and grandparents and grandkids together for a day that doesn't revolve around presents...just around enjoying each other. This year, Karen's kids were all home for their Grandpa's funeral, sadly. But we were thrilled they were able to come to Cookie Day. Barry's family didn't make it this year, but the rest of us did and it was a sweet time. Here are some of the pictures!

Cousins! Grammy Karen made all of us aprons for Cookie Day and here are the cousins wearing theirs. Clockwise from the top: Tristin, Kamryn, Livvie, Angus and Maggie. We were missing 6 cousins...missed them a LOT, in fact! Angus is the only boy...for a while. We're looking forward to another boy cousin in 2011!

Cari Mae, modeling her apron!

Jen, stirring caramels, in her apron. The caramels were...beyond incredible. I'm drooling all over the keyboard thinking about them. Still.

This is a picture of SOME of the snacks. I do not exaggerate when I tell you that every flat surface in the kitchen is covered with food. What you don't see here is a big roaster of Meghan's shortribs and a roaster of Cari's meatballs with chipotle raspberry sauce. And other dips and chips lurking on the counters and in the fridge. We didn't even get to some of it, despite a mighty effort to eat for 16 straight hours.

I love my family...

Cari and me...the kitchen is so small that we're constantly running into each other, so we just stop and get a hug once in a while. That's good stuff!

B.J., filling his coffee cup AGAIN. I think the boy had about 2 pots worth. He was freezing, the whole two days we were there, and ended up cleaning the chimney on Sunday morning so we could have a REAL fire. This was B.J.'s first Cookie Day, and we were really missing his little family. Maybe someday...

Grandma Dutton, enjoying all the family around.

Grandpa Bud and Cari....Bonnie (Bud's wife) didn't make it because she was sick. I miss her laugh and crazy socks!

See the popcorn cake? That's pretty much what the kids had for lunch. Angus is getting his cowboy apron, here. The kids wore their aprons all day! They love them.

Goofing around in the kitchen...we have so much fun! *Disclaimer: only about 1 1/2 glasses of wine had been consumed at this point. We're NATURALLY this way.