My Best Day This Year

I must say, I have some pretty thoughtful kids. They all made Saturday possible, and especially the oldest daughter, Erin, who planned the event.

What did she do? Wellllll she managed to get everybody to schedule a busy Saturday in December to do a special thing for this silly grandma. Erin loaded up all seven grandchildren, yes 7! and brought them 70+ miles to my house. It had to be done early in the morning to get here because of other commitments in the afternoon from some of the families. That meant getting up and hitting the road by 6 a.m. Picking up grandchildren along the way.

During their 70+ mile journey here, the oldest grandson, nine year old Jameson, kept us apprised of their location via text on his Auntie's cell phone. We knew just when they were ready to come tumbling in the door!!!  They were due to arrive by 8 a.m. So we had to get prepared!

Grandpa had been busy cooking up sausages and special snowman shaped pancakes. That was his good contribution to the special day.

I had everything set and ready with 32 dozen sugar cut-out cookies that I baked earlier in the week. I used up three and a half bags of powdered sugar to make enough fresh frosting in the morning. I had to split it up into separate bowls to add food coloring.

I had a wide assortment of decorations and sprinkles. We used parmesan cheese shakers to put the sprinkles in to help control the mess. As opposed to just wide open store containers with kids dipping in with their fingers...lol lol!

I already had three little baking aprons, because usually the grandkids are only here two at a time to help me cook or bake. So earlier in the week I made up five more aprons, including a little tiny one for baby Claire who is only one year old. They were reversible Christmas prints so each child could choose which way they wanted to wear it.

The dining room table was covered in vinyl and ready for the little stinkers to start getting creative. I figured the fun was well worth the memories and the mess.

As soon as breakfast was done, Grandpa took care of all the clean up while Erin and I wrangled all the little helpers around the dining room table. All of them put on their aprons and posed for a pic.

I even managed to get in a pic with most of them....

We had Christmas music playing, including my favorite childhood album Gene Autry's Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. The kids told stories and laughed and giggled throughout the morning. I would spread on the frosting and hand them over to the kiddos to decorate. I was going as fast as I could and barely kept up with them.

Even little Whitney was decorating and she is only 2 years old!

Erin was also keeping Claire, the youngest, busy while we worked on cookies. 

Tray by tray of cookies were transferred back into the kitchen and laid out on the island to get the frosting to harden up a bit. Then they could be stacked into large containers so every family got about 8 dozen cookies to go home with.

Shortly, the cookies were being stacked along the counter tops 

and in staggered trays on top of the stove.

I was amazed, but the last kid to hold out and continue decorating and not take a break was Mason! He is a five year old that seems to really have developed a long attention span. Unusual at that age, especially for a boy!

The others took breaks here and there

 but came back again and again to help finish up.

There was some finger-licking going on, as well as some snitching of chocolate chips. We did an "Eat A Cookie Break" about halfway through and everybody could choose their favorite.

Amazingly we finished up all 32 dozen cookies.

 I didn't expect to get them all done.

Then we had some time for each grandchild to write a letter to Santa. They were then mailed out that afternoon to the Chilton post office, where they will be delivered to the North Pole and be promptly answered by return mail.

It turns out we had almost an hour for playtime before they had to bundle up and hit the road. For some silly reason, the kids started a Christmas conga line. I have absolutely no idea why? Maybe it will become a new family tradition?

The two littlest ones wanted to join in on all the fun. We sang Christmas carols and we made sure the little ones got to be part of the joy. The sugar high had kicked in by now so they were pretty antsy. Although I love them dearly, they really needed to get outside and run around more than anything to burn off some of that sugar!!!!

We carefully packaged up the cookies, along with some Pecan Mexican Wedding cookies I had made the week before.

I got lots of hugs and cuddles and happy times with these grandchildren. My heart was overflowing with joy, and I even get tears in my eyes right now as I write this. What a special day.

That brave daughter of mine loaded up 7 sugar-laden children back into her vehicle to head north.

And there they gooooo

She had to drop two kids off in Green Bay on the east side and then bring two others to meet with our other daughter on the west side... and have lunch with them all in a restaurant. I can't imagine the Sugar High Kids sat well in the restaurant, but what do I know? They are all used to eating out and they know how to behave. Then Erin had to take her three children all afternoon to a crazy wild birthday party at a gymnasium party place. At least her kids could bounce off all of that energy on the trampolines. lol


Honestly, there was a lot less decorations on the floor than I had originally expected to see:

We let the dogs lick up a few decorations for a while, off the floor, but then we put them away in a bedroom behind a shut door so they wouldn't get sick.

Grandpa and I heaved a big sigh, and started cleaning up all of the little decorations. The vacuum cleaner did a great job as well as a Swiffer Wet Jet. In no time at all the house was back in shipshape and you would never have known we had been descended upon by 7 adorable sugar-laden grandchildren.

It seemed it was over way too soon----

But I have lots of smiles in my heart of the wonderful day.

Plus I have this video from the camera I had set up for about the first hour and a half before it ran out of memory. (it may not work right away because it is still uploading, but you might have to come back and click it again)

Now do you think we sat down and took a break or took a nap? Ohhhh nooooo, not us.

We donned our painting clothes, took out all of our painting supplies, and put a fresh coat of paint on the walls and ceiling in the bathroom. We wanted to do that before installing the wooden stained beadboard below on the lower portions of the walls.

After a quick supper, then I went down into the basement and finished staining the last of the upper cap trim. Now all of the wood was completely stained and polyurethaned and ready to be cut and installed in the bathroom.

More on that in the next blog.

***A special huge thank you to our daughter Erin and son-in-law Waylen for arranging this day.
***A very heartfelt thank you to our daughter Heather and son-in-law Jesse for letting their children come for the day and meeting up in Green Bay afterwards to pick them up.
***And a appreciative thank you to our son Dan and daughter-in-law Heather for letting their kids come in the morning, even though they had a Christmas celebration in the afternoon to attend far away, and then an evening dance recital for another relative.

It was a very long day for everyone, and I appreciated the effort that went into arranging it just for me to have cookie decorating at my house.

I am truly blessed and grateful.

My heart is full of Grandmotherly Love.

Bathroom Facelift - Privacy Lace Applique to Windows

Our bathroom facelift is going quite well. It is our Christmas present to each other and we will probably be done by the end of the week.  Today Steve took care of grinding off any lumps of glue after removing the plastic tiles. He used a power oscillating tool with the flat knife edge.

While he did that, I was busy down in the basement doing the final coats on the beadboards and trim. I think it is going quite well.  I just finished the polyurethane this evening after double and triple checking that the stain colors are right.

I think it takes a special knack to get just the right colors when trying to match the patina of the old wood.  Being 103 years old, it has the golden undertones from the naturally aging pine, which is tough to match.  Then the reddish orange of the stain plus the darkened areas of brown over the years due to aging varnish.  I think I got it pretty danged close!

 (here is an original door in our kitchen with the same coloring) 

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While I am waiting for the poly to dry, I spent the rest of the day working on a few other projects.  Here is the old medicine cabinet that I bought off the Facebook Marketplace for $10. A lady had already sanded it down and then changed her mind on finishing it.  She also broke the mirror.  No problem, our son works for a glass company and ordered a new beveled mirror for me! Thanks, Dan!

I touched up the sanding a bit more, removed the latch and got it ready to stain. I laid a piece of tin foil between the inside box and the front face of the cabinet.  Once the outside stain and poly are done, then I can remove the tin foil and give the inside a fresh coat of white paint.

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While that was drying, I popped a pot roast in the electric pressure cooker, so supper would be done in time when Steve got home, and I could keep playing with my next project! 

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I saw this technique a while back on Facebook and saved the link: 

http://www.littlethings.com/lace-window-treatment/


I did this technique on the french doors between our dining room and my Loom Room. Now that I know how well it works, I am going to do it to our window in the upstairs bathroom.  Here is a blog post of when I did those: 


Adding Lace Applique to French Doors



By using the simple cornstarch and water solution in the instructions shared above, I will adhere the lace to each section of glass.  If I tire of it or do not like the outcome, I can just wash it off with warm water to remove it. 


I found some lace in a thrift shop, from a set of curtain valances.  I wanted something with a bit of pattern to it, not just flowers willy nilly all over. I was happy with these, and it cost me a whole $1.00 !

I removed the stitching of the rod pocket so I could use that part of the lace as well. I needed 2 pieces each 22 1/2 inches by 13 5/8 inches. I carefully cut 2 pieces of the lace, lining up the motifs so each window pane is same.  I starched each one to stiffen them up to make them easier to work with.

 Now it was time to mix up the recipe.. this is amazing!  I gathered my supplies:

Take 4 tablespoons of water and 4 tablespoons of powdered corn starch... (I suggest a large 4 cup pyrex mixing cup) ... mix them up until dissolved and it is a watery liquid similar to milk.  Okayyyyyy

Now, in a separate measuring cup, heat up 1 and a half cups of water until boiling!   I used the microwave about 4 minutes.  Pour the boiling water into the milky blend and stir stir stir!  It instantly makes a thick gel!  Like soft pudding!   Amazing!!!

That is enough to do two 13x23 window panes.

In the instructions on that Facebook link above, she used a bristle brush to apply the gelatinous solution to the glass. Sometimes those type of brushes lose bristles. Instead, I chose foam brushes.  I covered the flooring and windowsill underneath with a thick towel to catch drips, and I had a roll of papertowels at the standby in case I needed them.  

Next I started to brush on the gel----

Wow! This was really easy! 

It was not too messy and I worked one pane of glass at a time.

Start the lace carefully at the corner and spread the lace upwards and across.

I would say to be sure your lace is cut to the exact size, because once it is on the glass, you really can not trim it at all.

I found that once I set the lace flat on the window, I could easily press it into place on the thick gel. I could hold it in place on the edge with my fingernail while brushing gently sideways with more of the gel on the top of lace.  The gel is warm, so you have to work kinda fast to keep it thin enough to brush over the lace. It thickens as it cools.

Easy clean up and I would suggest that you use a paper towel to swab all the leftover concoction into the garbage can, as opposed to rinsing it down the sink. It may clog your drain as it cools down and thickens.

Then just toss the foam brushes away.

It's hard to take a pic in the daylight
because the camera keeps adjusting to the light,
and doesn't focus on the lace pattern.
My eye sees it, but the camera doesn't.

Now I stood back to admire my work:

As it dries, it gets more translucent.

I added some taters and carrots to the pressure cooker and set it for another 15 minutes. Supper was done and I was able to work on projects all afternoon.  I LOVE my electric pressure cooker. My friend Linda just bought one and now my friend Rosie is going to get one, once she decides how big or small she needs. 

I went back upstairs after supper to see about taking pics of the lace covered window at night. Much nicer!  It shows the detail better.  

On our house, we have outside storm windows, and then the old lovely wooden windows and frames, and we also added some inside storm windows that slide into place for the winter, and come off and store in the closet for summer.  That is what the solid pane of glass is. This helps with the heat bill, and is a compromise because Steve wants to rip out all the old windows and put in new ones!!! ACKKKK NO!

Speaking of the old wooden windows and frames...  Over the 103 years, there was a lot of different curtain and window shade hardware attached to the woodwork.  I took the brackets off now that we have the lace on the glass for privacy. My job tomorrow will be to carefully fill the holes with a matching wood putty, and clean up the surface, and touch up with some stain and poly. Since I already have it mixed to the right color, it should blend in well. I hope. 

As for my new window covering????

  I love it!!!

Added P.S. ... today is the Third Anniversary of Binney's "Gotcha Day" !!!  The day we adopted her through the combined efforts of the Michigan and Wisconsin Sheltie Rescue groups.  

Three years ago today, this little girl found her *furever* home with us! Thank you to Michigan Sheltie Rescue, Robin Matthews and Carol Sorweide for getting her healthy from the skin and bones heartworm ridden dog she was at the time of the raid on the hoarder. 

Then thanks to Virginia Halverson for transporting her here and Lisa Martin with the Wisconsin Sheltie Rescue for trusting us to take care of her. Finney and Binney bonded instantly and are inseparable best buddies now~  

She seems so happy to have a house of her own, windows to look out of (they were shut into closets and boarded up rooms)  and fresh air, plenty of food, sunshine and all of the things a good little doggie deserves! 

"YOU'VE COME A LONG WAY BABY!" Sassy feisty little girl Binney today. When we got her, she was a scared little timid thing huddled in the corner, her "safe spot". She didn't know about toys or walks or having fun fun fun!

Happy Gotcha Day Anniversary, Binney,

Here is to many many more!!